Toonami

[WIP; major overhaul/revamp in progress]

About

Toonami is a programming block originally started on Cartoon Network and currently airing on Adult Swim. Originally airing in 1997 as an afternoon and evening action block targeted towards teens, it would eventually garner recognition for its high-budget CGI advertisments and interstitials, story-driven events, unconventional soundtrack, and acting as a gateway to introduce anime to a larger audience with its airing of series such as Sailor Moon, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Dragon Ball, and through its Midnight Run block. Toonami would end its original run in 2008, before being brought back unexpectedly on Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim in 2012 as part of their yearly April Fools joke. After a large and passionate fan-driven campaign towards Adult Swim, the block would eventually be revived later that year, and has been airing ever since.

History

Toonami was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street. After being brought on by Adult Swim's head programmer Mike Lazzo to make a new action programming block to showcase the network's new lineup of shows for teens, similar to that of previous blocks like Super Adventures and Power Zone from years prior, Toonami was officially launched on March 17, 1997, where in its first incarnation, the block aired on weekdays and was hosted by the villain Moltar from the cartoon talk show Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and its predecessor Space Ghost, voiced by the late C. Martin Croker. On July 10th, 1999, the block was relaunched with a new host, the Toonami Operations Module, or simply T.O.M., a robot on the Ghost Planet Spaceship Absolution, voiced by Steve Blum.

The End

On September 20, 2008, Cartoon Network announced that the Toonami block would end after over 11 years due to low ratings from the block. Later that evening, T.O.M. 4 gave his final speech at the end of the block's final airing, backed by the song Cascade by electronic music artist Tycho. (shown below)

Well, this is the end, beautiful friends. After more than 11 years, this is Toonami's final broadcast. It's been a lot of fun, and we'd like to thank each and every one of you who made this journey with us. Toonami wouldn't have been anything without you. Hopefully, we've left you with some good memories. So, until we meet again, stay gold. Bang.

2012 April Fools Joke

On April 1, 2012, somewhat under 4 years since the ending of Toonami and a few weeks after Toonami's 15th anniversary, Adult Swim began its yearly airing of Tommy Wiseau's The Room for April Fools, before the broadcast was interrupted by T.O.M. for a one-off broadcast of the defunct block, with airings of episodes from series such as Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, The Big O, and Blue Submarine No. 6, alongside a video game review of Mass Effect 3. (incomplete broadcast shown below)

Oh, Hi Adult Swim, I got the results of the test back, I definitely have April Fools.

#BringBackToonami and Revival

The next day, on April 2, Adult Swim's official twitter account posted a tweet saying "Want it back? Let us know. #BringBackToonami". This would launch a passionate fan-driven campaign to bring Toonami back on the air, with numerous people making videos, forum posts, and a song from rapper Richie Branson that would become an unofficial anthem for the movement. On April 4, Adult Swim tweeted "#BringBackToonami We've heard you. Thank you for your passion and interest – stay tuned." A few days later, the channel would air two bumps regarding that status of Toonami, simply replying with [we're looking into it] and [we're listening]. Eventually, on May 16, it would be announced that on May 26, 2012, Toonami would officially return to air as a late night programming block on Adult Swim from midnight to 6 am, with Adult Swim's Twitter account tweeting "Attention Toonami Faithful: We heard you. On 05.26.12 #ToonamisBackBitches".

Reception

Online Relevance

Fandom

Toonami Faithful

Search Interest

External References