When I was a small child—back in the Jurassic Era—I used to get up early on Saturday mornings and plunk myself down in front of the television with a box of cereal. I considered this one of the few privileges of childhood: The inalienable right to Saturday morning cartoons paired with a sugar cereal that might have a toy in the bottom of the box.

Because I am a dedicated mother and also because I now want nothing more than to sleep in a little on Saturdays, I have tried to recreate this experience for my children. I leave the cereal boxes in an accessible location in the pantry (okay, I don’t buy sugar cereals, but I do buy pop-tarts, so don’t go trying to pigeon-hole my buying habits) and encourage them to turn the television rather than wake me up.

I do this because I care.

Of course, these days my kids can operate the DVR better than I can, so if they can’t find something to tickle their fancies, they just watch something they recorded. Like maybe one of the zillion episodes of Ben 10 we always seem to have hanging around.

To me that sort of seems like cheating, because part of the magic of Saturday mornings is watching the stuff that’s only on then. Today’s kids don’t even understand that concept, I suspect. Alas.

Anyway, both the Kids’ WB and 4Kids TV (Fox’s Saturday morning block) have announced their Fall schedules, so you might want to at least program the DVR, if not set your alarm clock.

Check out the Kids’ WB schedule here, but here’s the short version:

07:00am-07:30am Will & Dewitt {new series}
07:30am-08:00am Magi-Nation {new series}
08:00am-09:00am Tom and Jerry Tales
09:00am-09:30am Skunk Fu! {new series}
09:30am-10:00am Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue!
10:00am-10:30am Eon Kid {new series}
10:30am-11:00am Johnny Test
11:00am-11:30am Legion of Superheroes
11:30am-12:00n The Batman

(Take a good look at that photo above, taken from the new Scooby series. Does the gang bear more than a passing resemblance to a pack of Bratz dolls, now, or is it just me??)

Check out the 4Kids TV schedule here:

8:00am Winx Club (E/I)
8:30am Yu-Gi-Oh! G/X
9:00am Chaotic
9:30am Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward
10:00am Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward
10:30am Dinosaur King
11:00am Viva Piñata
11:30am Sonic X

I’m afraid I can’t help you out with the whole breakfast cereal thing, but you can’t expect me to do everything for you, after all.

I always thought that the Emmys weren’t announced until all the famous people put on their slinky dresses and got made fun of by Joan Rivers, but it turns out that some awards are announced prior to the televised event. Imagine! I mean, it’s almost like how many thousands of dollars of jewelry people can borrow is not actually the point. I was surprised, too.

Anyway, I am a bit behind, but last week the winners of the individual achievement in animation Emmys were announced, and Cartoon Network took plenty of the honors.

(Oh, by the way, the article also enlightened me as to the timing: “Because the awards are juried categories, there are no nominations; the categories might have one, more than one or no winners each year. There were no Emmys awarded in the voice-over performance juried area this year.”)

Check out the list of Cartoon Network honorees:

– Sue Mondt, art director for Cartoon Network’s “Camp Lazlo,” episode “Squirrel Secrets,” from Cartoon Network Studios;

– Dave Dunnet, background key designer for Cartoon Network’s “Good Wilt Hunting” (”Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”), from Cartoon Network Studios;

– Narina Sokolova, background painter for Cartoon Network’s “My Gym Partner’s A Monkey,” episode “The Big Field Trip,” from Cartoon Network Studios;

– David Colman, character designer for Cartoon Network’s “Class of 3000,” episode “Eddie’s Money,” from Cartoon Network Studios;

– Phil Rynda, character designer for Cartoon Network’s “Billy & Mandy’s Big Boogey Adventure” (”The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy”), from Cartoon Network Studios

Other notables include Sang-Jin Kim, an animator on Avatar: The Last Airbender (okay, that one’s with Nickelodeon, but you can’t fault a gal for being pleased at Avatar getting some recognition), and Cartoon Network animators Sihanouk Mariona and Thomas Smith pulling down awards for projects with ShadowMachine films.

On a related-but-not-really note, I keep forgetting to mention that Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix (the recent hour-long animated movie) dominated the ratings for boys ages 6-11 on its premiere night (Friday, August 10th). I wasn’t all that surprised, but the press release I received about it used lots of exclamation points and a large font, so I guess it’s even more exciting than I thought.

Clearly, Cartoon Network is on a roll. Congrats to the Emmy winners, and let’s see what you come up with next!

There are no words to describe the excitement I’m feeling. Your intrepid Toy Box Mommy is a lover of words, a nerd of the highest order. I am what happens when that geeky little bookworm in the corner grows up. Words make me happy.

So you can perhaps imagine the elation I felt when I discovered that there’s a new hero in town. It’s time to meet WordGirl:

WordGirl is a new animated series that follows the every day life and superhero adventures of “WordGirl” as she fights crime and enriches vocabulary usage, all in a day’s work. Disguised as mild-mannered 5th grader, Becky Botsford, WordGirl arrived on planet Earth when she and her monkey sidekick, Captain Huggy Face, crashed their spaceship. In classic superhero form, WordGirl possesses superhero strength with the added benefit of a colossal vocabulary. WordGirl has a family and friends who have no idea of her secret identity. As WordGirl, she battles and prevails over evil (albeit ridiculous and comical) villains.

Each episode introduces four new vocabulary words and will reinforce their meaning in a variety of contexts throughout the episode. The vocabulary itself is not necessarily a plot point. The show teaches new vocabulary words to children in a variety of fun and interesting contexts. WordGirl is a superhero spoof, so storylines are funny takes of familiar stories from that genre.

WordGirl enriches young audiences’ vocabulary, closes the gap for those who don’t grow up in language-rich environments, instills a love of language, and fosters better reading comprehension.

Only a superhero like WordGirl, endowed with power punches and dictionary strength, can put the word-wrenching scoundrels back in their place proving once again that crime doesn’t pay… but knowing the right word for the right moment is priceless.

Word up, WordGirl.

There will be a special sneak peek episode of WordGirl on PBS Kids Go on Monday, September 3rd (check your local listings), with the official premiere on Friday, September 8th. WordGirl is a Scholastic Media Soup2Nuts production and claims its target audience to be 6- to 8-year-olds, but I’m guessing even older kids will get a kick out of it. See for yourself:

Want more? There’s another clip here and then—this may be my favorite—there’s also a Jim Lehrer interview with WordGirl. You can also check out a bit of the back story on the series in this article about Dorothea Gillim, the show’s executive producer (and WordGirl’s alter ego).

This kid’s got moxy, and I bet you she could define that for you if you need her to, too.

Yesterday the New York Times reported on a startling discovery: Water is wet!

Oh, wait. That’s not it. Hang on.

Ah, here we are. Right. Actually, they reported that Pokémon is still really popular. This is, of course, fascinating and breaking news…

… if you live in a cave.

More to the point, it’s news if you don’t have a child—and I do hate to stereotype, but preferably a boychild—between the ages of, say, five and twelve living in your house. For people like me, there’s never been any question of the popularity which all things Pokémon are enjoying.

Anyway, the article talks about the brand from a more scientific angle than “my kid is constantly pestering me for this stuff,” which I suppose is interesting. Get a load of this:

Pokémon began in Japan in 1996 and reached the United States two years later. By 1999, it had become such a cornerstone of pop culture that the characters were featured on the covers of Time, The New Yorker and TV Guide; in 2001 the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade added a Pikachu balloon.

But the attention led to overexposure. “One of the things about brands that enjoy enormous popularity is that they tend to also crash,” Ms. Rawlinson [VP of licensing for the brand] said.

Although the games and cards have always sold consistently to their core audience of boys, starting in about 2003 sales of licensed merchandise came to a standstill. “There was very little, if any, product on the shelves,” Ms. Rawlinson said. “It was a very tired time for us.”

See, now, I find this hard to believe, though I suppose it must be true. It certainly has always looked like a group of Pokémon threw up in my son’s room, but I can’t speak for general availability of product, obviously.

The article goes on to detail the rags-to-riches (ha!) story of Pokémon’s revival this past year. Pikachu needs a new pair of shoes, baby.

Sales of the trading cards this year have already exceeded sales for all of 2006, and by the end of the year are expected to triple last year’s total, according to Pokémon USA. The June 4 debut episode of “Pokémon Diamond and Pearl” on the Cartoon Network was the top-rated show that day for boys ages 6 to 11.

Total merchandise sales this year are expected to exceed $50 million, compared with less than $4 million last year, Ms. Rawlinson said.

After the overexposure issues of recent years, the company has learned to be more selective about licensing its name. “We get requests for all kinds of products, but now we turn a lot down,” Ms. Rawlinson said. Would-be Pokémon products that ended up on the reject list include diapers and gerbil cages.

Gerbil cages??? I… that’s just… well, now I’ve heard everything.

And I guess I’ll just have to buy that Dora the Explorer gerbil cage, instead.

Sometimes, the jokes practically write themselves. Skunk Fu? I’m picturing a Pepe Le Pew and the Wonderpets meet Avatar sort of affair, although I’m sure that’s not quite right. (It would be kind of awesome if that’s what it was, though, right?) Well, let’s get the real story:

The story of Skunk Fu begins with the Stork, whom being shortsighted, accidentally delivers an animal of eastern descent to China.

Right. Because there aren’t any skunks in China? Also, we’re still using the whole stork story thing? My head hurts already.

Skunk is a hyperactive and fun-seeking animal; fortunately for him, the kind and well-meaning Panda raised him and continues to teach him the ways of the world. Included in these teachings are martial arts, kung fu, whose philosophical disciplinary strategies enable the soul to flex and form with any variety of circumstances.

Ah, yes. Now we’re making sense. I can remember learning all about how pandas are known for being Chinese, eating bamboo, and being kung fu masters. Obviously.

As Skunk slowly picks up eastern martial arts and attempts to pay attention to wise old Panda’s exercises in philosophical discussion and debate, he becomes more and more aware of a danger that exists in The Valley� a centuries-old battle in which Skunk is destined to play the savior.

Hmmmm. A danger in The Valley, eh? One which only a skunk can save everyone from? Is it… a particularly overwhelming air freshener? One of those vanilla-scented car deodorizers, perhaps? Oh! Wait! I know! The stuff flight attendants use to clean up after people puke, I bet!

The good animals of The Valley live in fear of the evil Dragon, whose historic if not legendary lust for power and control has resulted in many years of fear and suffering for the region. With his minions always out and about—such as lead henchman Baboon and the army of Ninja Monkeys—Dragon is full of pride and isn’t willing to back down from ages of struggle. In the face of this danger, Skunk would rather practice cool new kung fu moves and have fun rather than study the art of Zen and fight off recurrent attacks from Dragon. Yet, with the assistance of additional animals—the combat-ready Rabbit, the skillful Fox, the cowardly Tiger—Skunk may be able to master his mysterious “defense mechanism” and turn the tide in this ageless war in The Valley.

Okay, a dragon is not nearly as interesting to me as air freshener, but I’ll try to keep an open mind. They kind of had me at ninja monkeys, anyway.

A comedy whose characters enjoy being themselves as much as they enjoy interacting with the defining characteristics of others, Skunk Fu (52×13) tells a tale of good versus evil in flash animation with comedy, action and intrigue, like so few other television animation productions. Skunk Fu is about a hero’s journey� but the series is also about the many amusing things that happen along the way. Cited by Betsy McGowen, Kids’ WB! svp and gm as a program with a style and flavor that fits perfectly into the Kids’ WB! line-up, Skunk Fu is the sixth new series coming to the programming block for the 2007-2008 slate.

This is one to keep in mind as the new seasons start rolling out next month. Despite the premise confusing me a little (and if you think I didn’t go do a Google search just to verify that there are, indeed, skunks in China, well then you haven’t been reading me for very long), it sounds like just the sort of thing the kids might really like.

Plus, it does roll off the tongue nicely. Time for Skunk Fu! PU, I smell Skunk Fu. What? You don’t like it? Well Skunk Fu. Heh.

I love it when good things come together. Chocolate and peanut butter, for example. Or that whole crossover thing between Fairly Odd Parents and Jimmy Neutron. Or that really cute Jamie Oliver guy who cooks such lovely-looking food and the creators of Wallace and Gromit.

(Was that too much of a stretch? Because I was feeling it.)

The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald tipped me off and the entire article is available over at The Independent:

Jamie Oliver is to be immortalised as a cartoon character by Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Animations.

The celebrity chef will be presented as a 10-year-old cartoon version of himself in the show called little j.

The series, made by the Bristol-based Oscar winning animators, follows little j on a quest through a surreal cartoon world as he searches for the secret of becoming a great chef.

The cartoon, aimed at seven to 11-year-olds, is populated with bizarre characters such as a depressed ham and a mad scientist called Eggs Benedict.

Even if you’re not already a Jamie Oliver fan (and if not, why not? he’s the Naked Chef! he has that adorable accent!), can you resist the lure of a mad scientist named Eggs Benedict?? I think not.

An Aardman spokesman said that work on the series was expected to start in the next few months. In the series, the character is “easily distracted from his mission to become a great chef by his own infectious enthusiasm and by his friends who just want to have fun”.

The 52 cartoons, each at around 11 minutes long, are being made in collaboration with Aardman Animations and Fresh One Productions, Oliver’s production company.

Speaking about the project, the chef said: “I can’t tell you how passionate I am about kids and food. I really want to pass on a little knowledge in a fun way, to really connect to the younger kids, so teaming up with the incredible Aardman Animations to produce little j was an absolute must.”

I can’t wait. The possibilities for inside jokes alone are nearly endless. Anyone want to start laying bets on which network will snap this one up?

I was just super wondering if it’s super possible to overuse the word super in such a super way that it starts having any super meaning, but I’m not super sure I have the super answer yet. I may have to keep super thinking about it.

In related news, I received a press release from Nickelodeon yesterday announcing the upcoming Backyardigans hour-long TV movie, Super Secret Super Spy. Despite the gratuitous overuse of the word “super,” I am powerless against any television event which promises to be “full of espionage, exotic locales and tickle torture.”

What?

Backyardigans fans won’t want to miss this one. From the press release:

Nickelodeon will introduce preschoolers to the thrilling life of international super spies, covert operations, and remarkable gadgets on The Backyardigans’ first hour-long, primetime TV movie “Super Secret Super Spy” premiering Monday, September 17 from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon. Grammy award-winning recording artist Cyndi Lauper performs the movie’s original theme song “The Lady in Pink,” as Nick Jr.’s five backyard pals move stealthily along to a hip jazz beat in exotic locations including London, Switzerland, the Caribbean and Miami.

Cyndi Lauper? I am so there based on that alone. But here’s a rundown of the super plot:

It’s a recipe for disaster in “Super Secret Super Spy,” as the James Bond-style spy, Agent Secret (Pablo), is on an important international mission to protect the world from evil doers. Tasha is Miss T, the head of the International Super Spy agency who directs Agent Secret to stop the villainous Lady in Pink (Uniqua) from stealing three top-secret containers. Tyrone is the Lady in Pink’s hapless henchman, and Austin plays Agent Secret’s undercover contact who aids Agent Secret and dons new disguises in each locale. A hip jazz soundtrack moves the action along as Agent Secret travels to various exotic locations including Miami Beach, a London pub, a café in Switzerland and a beach cabana in the Caribbean, to obtain the containers before they are stolen by the Lady in Pink. But will Agent Secret and Miss T survive the Lady in Pink’s infamous tickle torture?

The DVD of Super Secret Super Spy will be released the day after the premiere (on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007) and will be available here in the Ty’s Toy Box Backyardigans Store. I don’t want to say too much, here, but I’m just going to go out on a limb and venture a guess that the DVD is going to be extremely super. Just so you know.

If this piques your interest, stay tuned at the Nick Jr. website, too. They’ll be rolling out a new 3-D adventure spy game based upon the movie on Friday, August 31st, and movie clips and music videos will be available there starting Monday, September 3rd.

I don’t know about you, but I think all of this is pretty super.

When we last left off in the world of Teen Titans, DC Comics was threatening to cancel the Teen Titans Go! series and fans were up in arms. We’re big on the TTG series here, so I was hoping it wasn’t true.

Now I’m reading conflicting information and I’m really confused. The fact that I’m confused is nothing new or particularly surprising, but the trying to figure out what’s really happening here is a convoluted process.

Here’s what I know for sure: Tiny Titans was announced last week as an upcoming comic aimed at the 3+ set. Look at that picture, there. Aren’t they adorable? I mean, creepy and strange, but cute? It sort of reminds me of Muppet Babies. Hopefully Tiny Titans will be better than muppets in diapers. Let’s hope.

You can learn more about Tiny Titans over at Wizard Entertainment; I have to admit, as weird as the concept seemed to me at first blush, it doesn’t sound half bad.

Here’s what I’m not sure about: On August 10th, Newsarama confirmed that Teen Titans Go! was being canceled, and I sort of figured that it must be true because the source was DC Comics’ Jann Jones. They were discussing the genesis of Tiny Titans and this exchange took place:

NRAMA: Before we get too far into things, how will these titles fit within the Johnny DC imprint as it stands? Will they be additions, replacements, or something else?

JJ: We’re going to be losing Teen Titans Go! and Justice League Unlimited in the line that I know of. These titles won’t exactly be replacements for those two, though, they’re something completely different.

So. It’s true, then; TTG is on its way out. Right?

Maybe not. Five days later, TitansGo.net quoted the following, which had been sent in from J. Torres:

Just got back from the Chicago con where much confusion over TTG’s cancellation ensued following the announcement of “Tiny Titans.” I’m still trying to get to the bottom of things, but it looks like after the above interview was posted on Friday afternoon, fans begin mobbing Jann Jones and Dan DiDido at the convention complaining about the pending end of TTG. Next thing you know, Jann is recanting what she said in the interview and Dan’s telling fans that TTG will go on. And late last night, after the DC dinner, Jann did say to me that they weren’t cancelling TTG anymore but didn’t give me any details.

So it might be good news for the Titans all around, or maybe in a few days someone at DC will recant the recanting. It’s been known to happen.

Either way, are you going to pass up an opportunity to see what a toddler Raven is like or how much pizza toddler Beast Boy can eat? Of course you’re not.

The connection between popular animated characters and the eager marketing of, well, everything is hardly new. An entire industry has been built upon bringing kids’ favorite shows to life in a myriad of ways: toys, books, music, stage shows, and even food.

If casting a glance around to your nearest fast food restaurant or supermarket isn’t enough to remind you of the character-food connection, let us recall the recent spate of big licensed brands realizing that the American public just may hold them accountable for recommending (or serving) unhealthy foods. Why, Disney made a pledge to go trans-fat free last year and this year Shrek was taken to task for hawking both M&Ms and fitness. The backlash against character branding on unhealthy foods is becoming more frequent.

(Who woulda thunk it? I mean, people getting upset about things like our kids’ favorite heroes telling them to eat junk? What are the odds?)

As usual—because I’m a fickle, fickle person—I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, yes, please stop hawking empty calories to my children. On the other hand, fellow parents, I’m pretty sure those groceries don’t leap into your cart of their own volition; if you don’t want your kids eating it, here’s an idea: don’t buy it. But that’s a whole ‘nother conversation.

This past week saw big strides in terms of the industry putting its collective foot down. First Discovery Kids pledged to license only to healthy food options, then Nickelodeon followed suit, with Cartoon Network coming in to make it a trifecta.

Is this great news? Absolutely. Is it perfection? Well, have your shaker of salt at the ready, of course. Do read through the various stories for all the details—Discovery Kids will still allow licensing of their properties for “occasional sweets such as birthday cakes;” Nickelodeon’s new guidelines have been announced but won’t go into effect until 2009, and they, too, are calling for an exemption for special occasions (most notably, Halloween); Cartoon Network also leaves themselves the “special occasion sweets” loophole.

It’s progress, to be sure. Now, who do we go after about that whole meals-with-a-toy thing that has plagued my existence ever since becoming a parent…?

We’re still in that sort of grey area of television programming seasons where the new stuff hasn’t started coming out yet, but most of the “summer specials” are done. For those of us who were busy enough during the year to miss plenty of programming—enough to keep us, and certainly our DVRs, busy through the summer programming drought—it’s not a big deal. But for our kids, this is tragic.

Which is why channels like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon have managed to keep rolling out some new stuff all summer long, because when else are parents going to let their kids watch way too much TV if not in the summer months?

For Danny Phantom fans, this is your lucky week. According to the press release over at Toon Zone:

Giant asteroids hurling at earth, death defying outer space battles, and the loss of his superpowers to boot — it’s all in a day’s work for the heroic half-human, half-ghost Danny Fenton (voiced by David Kaufman). The super-teen faces his biggest challenge yet in “Phantom Planet,” the one-hour movie from creator Butch Hartman (The Fairly OddParents), premieres on Nickelodeon Friday, August 24 from 8-9 p.m. Leading up to the movie, Nickelodeon premieres brand new episodes of Danny Phantom all week long from Monday, August 20 to Friday, August 24 at 4:00 p.m. each day, culminating with “Phantom Planet.” (All times ET/PT)

Oooooh, there is little my kids like more than a movie-length episode of a show they like. And new episodes all week long? Awesomeness.

They’re kicking it off with a bang, too. Check out tonight’s episode:

Monday, August 20 from 4 – 4:30 p.m. ET/PT, “Eye for an Eye”
Danny and Vlad’s game of revenge begins with childish pranks, and unfortunately for Danny, ends when Vlad decides to run for mayor of Amity Park. By overshadowing voters, Vlad wins the election in a landslide. The new mayor is eager to use his new power to make life as miserable as possible for Danny and his friends. He shuts down the Nasty Burger, outlaws technology, creates new school uniforms, and passes so many new laws in the name of “protecting the children” that Danny finds it impossible to go ghost. He even turns the townsfolk against Danny Phantom by painting him as an evil ghost. Completely outmaneuvered, Danny must find a way to outsmart Vlad and get back some of his freedom or Danny Phantom’s career may be over.

I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else, but I’m pretty sure his career can’t end on a Monday. Just a hunch I have. Still, I’m sure there will be some suspense in there.

Anyway, enjoy the week of phantom-y goodness (that is so a word)!