Cartoon Network Unveils Programming Slate

NEW YORK, April 4: Cartoon
Network has revealed its programming lineup for 2008, which includes new series
like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,
a sequel to the live-action movie Ben 10: Race Against Time, and the return of the hit animated series Chowder.

Star Wars: The Clone
Wars is slated to air on Friday nights.
Additionally, the roster includes Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the new animated action series from Warner Bros.
Animation; Ben 10: Alien Force;
and the previously announced The Secret Saturdays, which will premiere with 26 episodes in the fall.

The network will devote
Thursday nights to comedy, led by Chowder, which has been picked up for a second season. Thursdays will also
feature existing series such as Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Camp Lazlo and George of the Jungle,
along with new series launches
like this summer’s The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Sunday nights will be the destination for Cartoon Network’s new
as-yet-unnamed movie franchise. Launching in June, the network will showcase a
movie each week, including the television premieres of films such as Ant
Bully, Hoodwinked, Monster House and Open Season, as well as the Cartoon Network debuts of Kicking
and Screaming and Cheaper by
the Dozen.

Cartoon Network is also
developing a sequel to the record-breaking original live-action movie Ben
10: Race Against Time, which was
the highest-rated telecast in the channel’s history.

Meanwhile, the new
programming lineup follows the network’s announcement that it would launch The
Cartoonstitute, a new initiative designed to ramp up its original animation
output. The initiative aims to create up to 150 pieces of programming over a
period of 20 months. Cartoon Network is also continuing its Get Animated
initiative, which looks to help kids lead healthier lives. As part of this
campaign, the network will again be partnering with the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to take its public education campaign Spot the Block to
the next level. A new online and on-air promotion for the Spot the Block
campaign will launch on Monday, April 7. Spot the Block will stress to kids the
importance of regularly finding and reading the nutrition labels on packaged
food and drinks, and using them to make healthy choices.

“Cartoon Network has
proven with the success of great brands and series like Ben 10 and Chowder that we have what kids want,” said Stuart
Snyder, the president and COO of Turner animation, young adults and kids
media. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars
is a game changer for us and continues our commitment to staying in the
forefront of offering kids something completely different than what they are
seeing anywhere else.”

—By Irene Lew