Oh Yeah! Lots More New Cartoons!
Apr 7, 1998

Is Nickelodeon the best place to turn for new cartoons? "Nick" is working to keep kids watching, with a new diverse offering from its new cartoon animation studio. It's called Oh Yeah! Cartoons! Nickelodeon plans to introduce new cartoon characters each and every week with the new show. Kid characters, robot characters, animal characters, in a modern interpretation of classic cartoons.

The new series will debut in July. Produced by Fred Seibert, Larry Huber, and Debby Hindman, the series draws on the talent of 17 animators working out of their new Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, CA/US.

They are: Mike Bell, Bob Boyle, Bill Burnett, Greg Emison, John Eng, Butch Hartman, Larry Huber, Alex Kirwan, Seth MacFarlane, Zak Moncrief, Carlos Ramos, Rob Renzetti, Miles Thompson, Byron Vaugns, Pat Ventura, Vincent Waller, and Dave Wasson. Will these creators usher in a new "golden age" of cartoons for kids? Look for spin-off series coming from the top three or four most successful of the bunch.

Here is Nick's brief history of cartoons, culminating in Oh Yeah!, an animated television series "designed to build on the expectations of the kids who watch Nickelodeon and match it with the creative ambitions of the world's most talented animators."

1991

Nickelodeon begins the era of "creator-driven" animation with Nicktoons, an antidote to the formulas on broadcasters' Saturday morning schedules.

1995

Fred Seibert revives the classic style, short form cartoon, successfully refashioning the most creatively exciting era of animation.

1998

Nickelodeon and Fred Seibert team up to launch Oh Yeah! Cartoons! a series of all new original characters, produced by a cartoon laboratory of modern animation's most talented artists.

Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah half hour has an ambitious schedule. This year alone 39 brand new seven-minute cartoons are being introduced in 13 episodes -- more new characters and cartoons than on all the other networks combined.

Executive producer Fred Seibert has developed a creative atmosphere at the Nicktoons Studios in Southern California. The new studio recalls the famous "Termite Terrace" that created hundreds of Looney Tunes cartoons which stand as the most inventive and popular zenith in the entire history of animation. The studio is at once collegial and competitive, with individualistic artists confident that they are uniquely suited to make the next great cartoon character to join Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Ren & Stimpy or the Rugrats among all-time favorites. Their experience ranges from artists directly out of high school to 30 year industry veterans. And their common bonds are talent, skills, and ambition.

The structure of the show is simple: three brand new cartoons every week, each with a dinstinctive look and personality. Interviews with kids serve to bind these shorts together, as they answer the simple, basic question: "Why do you love cartoons?"

- PBO for ICF

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