Netflix Cartoons

Netflix isn't slowing its acquisitions of cartoons.

Netflix is adding five children’s shows [four of them animated] over the next year — including new versions of “Danger Mouse” and “Inspector Gadget." ... [The other animated shows are] “Bottersnikes & Gumbles,” based on the Australian book series of the same name; and “Super 4,” a CGI-animated series inspired by Playmobil toys. ... Kidvids are an important part of the Netflix SVOD puzzle, appealing to parents because there aren’t any ads. ...

From the 1950s through the 1970s, TV animation was a Saturday and Sunday phenomenon, controlled by ABC, NBC, and CBS. Then in the '80s that tightly-knit universe unraveled a bit as syndication became a new vehicle for the distribution of animated product. Filmation pioneered it with He-Man and She-Ra; Disney capitalized on it with DuckTales and the "Disney Afternoon."



A quarter century on, television networks are out of the weekend cartoon business, and broadcast syndication doesn't pay the production bills anymore. Now it's cable networks and on-line distributors that propel small-screen animation down the tracks.