Random! Cartoons is an American animated anthology series that aired on Nicktoons. Much like Oh Yeah! Cartoons, it was created by Fred Seibert and produced by Frederator Studios and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It premiered on December 6, 2008, and ended on December 20, 2009.
Contents
Production
Series creator Fred Seibert ordered 13 half-hour episodes (39 7-minute segments) for the series, which was originally announced in 2005 as the fourth season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Production on the series started in 2005 and ended in 2007. Originally slated to air on Nickelodeon by the end of 2007, it was later halted for release in 2008 on the separate Nicktoons Network channel. The shorts were first released on air and online individually in January 2007.
Unlike Oh Yeah! Cartoons, there is no host. On January 10, 2006, ASIFA-Hollywood hosted an advance screening of six shorts as well as a Q&A session with the filmmakers at the Nicktoons Studios in Burbank, California. Two of the shorts were selected to become television series and one of the shorts was selected to become a web series. Those shorts were Adventure Time, The Bravest Warriors and Fanboy. Adventure Time began airing as a full-length series on April 5, 2010, on Cartoon Network. The Bravest Warriors, under the new name Bravest Warriors, began airing on November 8, 2012, on Cartoon Hangover. Fanboy, under the new name Fanboy & Chum Chum, began airing as a full-length series on November 7, 2009, on Nickelodeon. Animation historian Jerry Beck created on the short for the series Hornswiggle, which was originally conceived as a Terrytoons short featuring one of its characters, Sidney the Elephant. However, it was retooled due to, at the time, licensing issues from its parent company Viacom.
Legacy
Random! Cartoons is the third Frederator Studios short cartoon shorts "incubator" for Nickelodeon. Frederator has persisted in the tradition of surfacing new talent, characters and series with several cartoon shorts "incubators," including (as of 2016): What a Cartoon! (Cartoon Network, 1995), Oh Yeah! Cartoons (Nickelodeon, 1998), Nicktoons Film Festival (Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, 2004), The Meth Minute 39 (Channel Frederator, 2008), Random! Cartoons (Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, 2008), Too Cool! Cartoons (Cartoon Hangover, 2012), and GO! Cartoons (Cartoon Hangover, 2016). These laboratories have spun off notable series like: Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Cow & Chicken, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Larry & Steve (which was the basis for Fox's own Family Guy), Kenny and the Chimp (which was the basis for Codename: Kids Next Door), Grim & Evil (which was split into Evil Con Carne and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy), The Fairly OddParents, My Life as a Teenage Robot, ChalkZone, Nite Fite, Fanboy & Chum Chum, Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors, Rocket Dog, and Bee and PuppyCat.
Filmography
Fred Seibert cartoon shorts filmography