Happy 30th Anniversary to Kids WB!

[harry580]

I think the year the block went downhill was in 2006 when kids wb became part of the cw therefore changes happened and shows intended for kids wb moved to cartoon network

 

[RandomMe]

I think the year the block went downhill was in 2006 when kids wb became part of the cw therefore changes happened and shows intended for kids wb moved to cartoon network

Could have been earlier, when at the start of the year, they ended the weekday block. That came just before the WB-UPN merger.

 

[PF9]

And despite multiple moves between homes of first-run dubbed episodes, Pokemon is the only show from the WB airing in any time slot still producing new episodes to this day.

However, Ash is no longer the protagonist.

I would like to see Weigel's networks air reruns of Pokemon, but only the first 25 seasons.

 

[Erased Paper]

Makes me think that it ended unceremoniously.

That is correct.

 

[animegood]

I got into Kids WB when WBPG (now WFNA) first launched 24 years ago. I was 8 at the time. I got into Pokemon and other Kids WB Shows. I would watch Pokémon after school everyday, losing my interest in watching Digimon on Fox Kids and Fox Family.

Before there was WBPG, WFGX (MyNetworkTV) used to carry The WB and Kids WB until it became independent again. WFGX wasn't available in the Alabama side of the TV Market at all until July 2010, then DirectTV and Dish Network didn't carry WFGX until then.

 

[MattBurb81]

Here's another thing to blow your mind: during that final year, The WB had already merged with UPN to form The CW, so Kids WB actually outlived the very network it was on!

And in Detroit, an extra layer was added to that "blow your mind deal" - when WKBD, until then affiliated with UPN, joined The CW, this resulted in Kid's WB moving channels - in this case, moving from WMYD, formerly WDWB (and WXON before that), which had just switched from The WB to My Network a few days earlier.

 

[LinusFan303]

I grew up with cable, and didn't really associate Kids WB with broadcast since in my area the WB was the station from Denver only on cable. (KWGN) Since there's going to be more parts to this , I'll focus on what part 1 focused on.

The WB was ambitious as this launched only 9 months after the network did, and one day before the NBC, ABC, CBS stations all flipped in Denver. Channel 2 was a great spot, but the WB didn't even have the same station amounts as FOX and FOX had also become more aggressive grabbing up high VHF channel spots. So it is amazing the effort put on. Sorry UPN Kids. Tribune really helped out the most, as they gave them top VHF stations in the biggest cities and used WGN Superstation for the national audience to get on cable.
Animaniacs is probably my favorite, though that has to be more said it was FOX KIds show, but still fun. Pinky and Brain was the prefect thing to spin off. It was funny that the WB was confident to put it in primetime and it was strong for that, but they put it on Sunday Nights against 60 Minutes which is very dumb. 60 Minutes dominates that slot, that's why ABC just lets AFV run until the last bit of the Earth clings on. Freakazoid is fun too. It's always interesting how 90's pop culture driven this one and Animaniacs were they be hard to do like that now for many reasons , but one that now things seem to move faster so something that was big when they are making an episode would be forgotten or old by the time they get to it.

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries was fine, not something I was fully into, I like Sylvester and Tweety (though always more pro Sylvester) I liked the mystery concept. Funny enough, I was introduced to this show and Superman: The Animated Series thanks to reruns on Cartoon Network, not through KIDS WB, same with Batman TAS. Good show, haven't seen it in awhile, though.

 

[wonderfly]

From the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:

"Kids WB: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective, Part 2: Action Cartoons and the Pokemon Craze (1998-2002)"​

"This is Part 2 of our month long celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Kids WB. If you need to read Part 1, read it here. As stated previously, the first couple years of Kids WB’s programming focused heavily on comedy cartoons, with bumpers focusing on real life actors hosting the block (with lots of confetti). As time went on though, the bumpers would drop the live action actors, and would start to revolve more around the exploits of an animated Kids WB logo, as it gets into wacky hijinks around the Warner Bros. movie lot. Animated skits would start to be inserted into commercial breaks (reusing animation from the various series). They would even bring back voice actors to deliver lines for the commercials:




Most notably though, starting in the Fall of 1997, Kids WB made the move to start focusing more on a more “Action” heavy line-up."

Read the full article here.

 

[Pooky]

Being from the UK, my memories of KidsWB are all second hand, but some of them are at least contemporary. This is the period where I was reading about it online, and wishing I could watch it.

When my 15 year TZ/AS anniversary was raised in the Café Anniversary thread last month. I mentioned that I lurked on a board that might have been Toozone back in 99. I'm now more convinced after reading Wonderfly's post about Toonzone's KidsWB focus in this era.

Wherever it was I remember reading the review threads where people gave their opinion of the day's show. I remember Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries was not well liked; I've never been entirely won over by it myself. It did not seem like Pokémon was well liked, at least by the hardened KidsWB veterans, I'm sure it also brought new fans to the forums. Someone described it as "Sailor Moon without the pathos". I was quite ignorant of both series and did not really know what it meant at the time, today I am more familiar and I still don't know really.

I remember reading about Histeria! before it aired. When a student at school said they had seen a series about history from the Animaniacs team during a holiday in America I knew exactly what they were talking about.

I knew MIB: The Series aired on KidsWB but this might be the first I've heard that Earthworm Jim started there too.

I expect some of the more self-serious Batfans had a sense of humour failure about this back in the day;

 

[wonderfly]

As it's been brought up (and per the "Happy 25th Anniversary of Toonzone" thread:

Here's what Toonzone looked like in December 1998. (the oldest web archive available. Remember, Toon Zone launched in August 1998).

And here's what the Toonzone Forums looked like in April 1999. Whereas here is what the forums looks like in May 2002, showing the growth (and those old threads are archived on these forums, from May 2001 onward, where as the stuff from 1998 to 2001 is lost to time).

More to say later.

 

[Edward Joseph]

Found some interesting info about some of the plans for the channel made before it's launch date via some Usenet posts (here: WB Channel: New Kids' Shows, Daily Variety Article): From these, here are some interesting tidbits in them:

- There was actually meant to be a show called "Adventure Man" that was planned to debut on Kids WB alongside the other shows that ended up airing. Seemingly a co-production between "Indigo Entertainment" and "Warner Bros Animation" according to this (here: GREY (POW!) TURNS TO `ADVENTURE MAN') Ad Age article, it was going to be a "live action/animated series featuring a genius toy inventor who is able to transform himself into a superhero" as per the October 1995 issue of Television Business International.
- The original lineup was meant to be Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, Earthworm Jim, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid and Adventure Man in that order of timeslot. It instead became Animaniacs, Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid and Adventure Man in that order of timeslot.
- There was meant to be a weekday morning slot called "The Warner Bros. Present ToonTime" featuring classic WB shorts under the name "Merrie Melodies" (likely a placeholder name) and Animaniacs as per a January 8, 1995 McAllen, Texas newspaper. Instead, they were pushed back to weekday afternoons (there WERE already plans for a weekday afternoon slot to be launched in 1995 or 1996) and a weekday morning slot didn't happen till 1997.
- Freakazoid and Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries were BOTH greenlit for 65 episodes and were both intended to be rerun on weekdays mornings no earlier than 1997. In the end, neither show ended up with 65 episodes and Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries was the only show out of it and Freakazoid that ended up with a weekday afternoon run...though it (S&TM) ended up airing LONG after the planned 1997 timeframe in the 2000-2001 season only!

Also, here is a fan review for Kids WB's first week and Kids WB's first week of it's second year right at the time when they premiered from Usenet threads:

Chris! reviews Kids' WB...

groups.google.com

KWB Season 2 week 1 comments

groups.google.com

 

[harry580]

I wonder what happened to adventure man, is it scrapped because the budget for it was:

 

[PicardMan]

The interstitials were pure gold. Anyone remember the battle for the Kids' WB badge:



Or the Kooky Karolfest:

 

[the_joker]

I do have fond memories of watching these shows when I was young. I liked Static Shock, and the crossovers interested me when I was a kid, but now I think it felt out of place in the DC Animated Universe. It was obvious that wasn't the intention when Virgil alluded Batman and Superman as fictional characters somewhere in season 1, and suddenly this show with plenty of hip-hop music is closely associated with other shows with very different feels and tones. I still like Static Shock on its own as a show, but I prefer to skip the crossover episodes nowadays. Strangely, I felt Static was better utilized in that one episode of JLU and didn't feel out of place. Also, the celebrity guest stars date this show.

I forgot that X-Men: Evolution originally aired on Kids WB. It isn't as well-known as its Fox Kids predecessor, but I can't help liking this one better because of its more appealing visuals and better voice acting. Also, having Wolverine as a supporting character instead of a major one was a boon because he wouldn't be able to slash or stab any fleshy opponents in a Y7 show, which hampered fight scenes from the other 2 X-Men cartoons in more than a few cases. That problem was still present to a degree in X-Men: Evolution, but it would be much less so since Wolverine had less screentime.

And there was Batman Beyond, which did the unthinkable and gave Bruce Wayne a successor. I don't remember if the show explicitly stated it was set 40 years after the preceding Batman show. I liked Terry's arc over the show and into the epilogue of JLU. The interactions between Bruce and Terry were gold, and the show did well in contrasting Bruce's seasoned hero status and experience with Terry's teenager status and perspective of a world that was different from Bruce's time.

The Pokemon anime was definitely the most notable addition to the block in the late 90s. I remember the craze for it back in my school days. Since that show was such a hit, I thought Kids WB actually had multiple successful anime, but it looks like only this and Yu-Gi-Oh! were hits. There was also a craze for it in school, though mostly for the card game. And I was part of both crazes. The latter seems to be living on in the West with the card game because I have no idea how much interest there is or was in the succeeding shows.

I did watch a little bit of Cardcaptors when I was young, but nowadays I remember nothing about that show other than a girl holding a staff. I didn't even know the dub messed with the show that much, so maybe I can try watching the show another time, hopefully with the right presentation.

 

[PF9]

My first exposure to the Pokemon franchise as a whole was playing as Pikachu in the first SSB game on the N64, which ironically enough I only played multiple times through renting during the N64's lifespan and would not legally own a copy until buying a digital copy on the Wii Virtual Console in 2010.

I watched an episode of Pokemon by chance on Kids WB during the summer of 1999, it was Attack of the Prehistoric Pokemon. Pikachu was in it, as it was the one belonging to Ash. The episode also had the other playable Pokemon in SSB 64, Jigglypuff. The latter got in to Smash because of its design similarities to Kirby (which had an anime come to Fox a few years later, both it and Pokemon were dubbed by 4Kids at that time). It also helped that Jigglypuff was familiar to many through its recurring role in the anime.

SSB was the first appearance of Pokemon characters on the N64 in the West, Japan already had some Pokemon games on the console, some of which eventually came to the West. This made it the first video game to have Rachel Lillis' voice in English.

It was only sometime after my 3rd grade year started that I really got into Pokemon. By the time the final episode of Master Quest came to the US, I had started supporting Pokeshipping (Ash/Misty).

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

Im thinking I must have watched Kids WB in passing early on because I know I watched Animaniacs and Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries on occasion. My main memories of Kids WB are for like a year when I went through a Pokémon phase. I later watched Xiaolin Showdown with my brother. I really enjoyed the crossover bumpers.

 

[wonderfly]

This was my favorite era of Kids WB, possibly because it was the era where I was actually watching the channel. I've shared the story before, but I moved to a new town and in late 1998 I discovered I had access to Kids WB. I started watching (and recording on VHS) the Batman/Superman Adventures (first time I had watched Batman since 1995!), and then I saw advertisements for their new show "Batman Beyond", and when that premiered in January 1999, I thought we had achieved "Saturday Morning Perfection"! And when I saw that Pokemon was joining the line-up, I could tell this was part of "Anime becoming mainstream" (aka the Anime Boom).

On the flip side, the last episode of Batman Beyond premiered in December 2001, and I have to say, that's around when I officially started to drift away from Kids WB. I had cable by that point, and with the premiere of Justice League on Cartoon Network (in November 2001), I was slowly switching over to watching cable all the time. But that's just me, I acknowledge that Kids WB had a few good years left, including 2002 (with Yu-Gi-Oh taking off in popularity and Pokemon still going strong). The DC Universe was KINDA continuing on Kids WB with Static Shock. We'll touch upon the good and the bad of the next few years in the next review.

---

I didn't want to insert my own Youtube videos (of my VHS recordings) into the article, but I do want to share just a few here. These are my own recordings.

Here's the intro to the Kids WB block (which would air at the start of the broadcast) from the Fall of 1998:




Here's the intro to Batman Beyond (which premiered in Prime Time in January 1999):




And here's the early advertisements for Pokemon (from January/February 1999, when it had become official that it was joining the Kids WB line-up).

 

[Erased Paper]

Kids' WB! didn't air every episode of Batman. There were 24 episodes that never aired there.

 

[LinusFan303]

Hmm 1997-2002.

Pokémon is something I didn't get into my best friend was into it , but not me, I didn't even check out the anime until 2016. (Digimon had me then though) It wasn't something I watched on Kids WB. It probably changed the entire block more than anything else. I probably ironically, would have watched Cardcaptor Sakura if they hadn't chopped it , and not saying that because of the dub thing in the first place, I wouldn't have know that at the time, but they promoted it weird and thought it was just another trying to chase Pokémon thing but with cards.

I also will mention I did watch the random things that aren't as remembered like Histeria! , Detention, Phantom Hunters.

I do like how 2002 is used a stopping year. That's a big year in Network kids TV history as One Saturday Morning was dead, Disney's One Too lost it's branding and was ending the next year, FOX Kids was gone and FOX sold out. NBC gave up doing their own programming and gave over to Discovery. Nick on CBS started before they went back to Nick Jr. KIDS WB was the last commercial block with original programming made for it and/or not outsourced to another company.

 

[wonderfly]

Kids' WB! didn't air every episode of Batman. There were 24 episodes that never aired there.

Perhaps you mean "Fox Kids didn't air every episode"? Fox Kids aired the first 85 episodes, but those 85 episodes moved to Kids WB in the Fall of 1997, and then Kids WB premiered the last 24 episodes (retitled "The New Batman Adventures").