Boomerang is a television network owned by Warner Brothers made specifically to show Saturday morning cartoons, most from Hanna-Barbera Productions. It was launched in 1992, but it only aired shows from the 60s, 70, and 80s. At first, it was just a block on Cartoon Network, but in 2000 it grew into its own channel. In 2017, it received a streaming service specifically devoted to old cartoons.
Because it merged with Cartoon Network, Boomerang also aired shows like The Amazing World of Gumball, Adventure Time, and Regular Show, which were all created after the year 2000. Boomerang ran several other shows over the years, but only some held up and qualified themselves as fan favorites.
10 The Smurfs Ran For Nearly A Decade
Hanna-Barbera Productions produced The Smurfs based on the Belgian comic series by Peyo, who also worked as a story supervisor on the show. It ran for nine years, making it one of the longest-running and most successful Saturday morning cartoons. The Smurfs had a total of 258 episodes, including seven specials. It was nominated for several Daytime Emmy Awards and won for Outstanding Children's Entertainment Series in 1982 and 1983.
The Smurfs are tiny blue elf-like creatures, each named after their personality, that live in an enchanted forest in little mushroom houses. Led by Papa Smurf, they live peacefully in their village with only one threat: the evil wizard Gargamel. Aside from wanting to eat the creatures, he also wanted the secret to their magic to become a respected wizard in his community.
9 Snorks Was Designed To Compete With The Smurfs
The Snorks are small colorful sea creatures that use the snorkels on their heads to propel themselves around — making a "snork" sound. The Snorks are very similar to humans. The only difference is that they've adapted to the aquatic atmosphere. Some main Snorks include Allstar Seaworthy, Dimmy Finster, Daffney Gillfin, and Tooter Shelby.
Also produced by Hanna-Barbera, Snorks ran for four seasons in the mid-late 80s. Based on comics by Nic Broca, Snorks was made to compete with The Smurfs. Freddy Monnickendam teamed up with Broca and Hanna-Barbera to turn Snorks into a TV series for NBC. While it never reached the same level of success as The Smurfs, Snorks gained fans worldwide.
8 Secret Squirrel Was A Spoof Of James Bond
Produced by Hanna-Barbera, Secret Squirrel first appeared in The World of Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel before receiving his own show in 1966. Running for two seasons, Secret Squirrel was a secret agent/spy parody — specifically a spoof of the James Bond films. In 1993, the squirrel known as Agent 000 received reboot on Boomerang called Super Secret Secret Squirrel.
Secret Squirrel and his right-hand man Morocco Mole work for the International Sneaky Service led by their superior, Double Q. They use a collection of weapons to fight evil, such as a machine gun disguised as a cane, a bullet-proof trench coat, and Squirrel's purple fedora which contains several gadgets. He tangos with a few villains throughout the series, the most common being Yellow Pinkie.
7 The Great Grape Ape Show Led To Several Guest Appearances
ABC ran The Great Grape Ape Show in 1975. It was an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera, and the character Grape Ape appeared on many other cartoon shows, like Dexter's Laboratory, Robot Chicken, and a few Scooby-Doo specials. It only had 16 20-minute episodes, but the character instantly became an iconic fan favorite.
Grape Ape is a 40-foot-tall, childlike purple gorilla that travels in a yellow car with his best friend, Beegle Beagle. Everyone was terrified of the giant ape, except for Beagle and Rosie O'Lady. Grape Ape's form of speech is very simple; he calls his canine friend "Beegly Beagly," and responds to everyone by simply saying "Grape Ape! Grape Ape!"
6 Jonny Quest Was A Pioneer For Action/Adventure Shows
Jonny Quest is perhaps one of the more successful shows created by Hanna-Barbera. It ran 26 episodes on ABC primetime from 1964-1965. Designed by comic book artist Doug Wildey, Jonny Quest was the first science fiction action/adventure show Hanna Barbera produced, and inspired shows that followed. Impressively popular, its reruns ran for 20 years on three major U.S. television networks, new episodes were made in 1986, and a second revival was made in the 90s.
Jonny Quest is about a boy who goes on wild scientific adventures with his genius father who's so smart that he's being hunted by different government agencies. Bringing along Mr. Quest's bodyguard Race Bannon, Jonny's best friend Hadji Singh, and their dog Bandit, the group uses special skills on their adventures, but they also cause some trouble.
5 The Pink Panther Show Started As A Network Filler
The Pink Panther Show was a series of shorts which aired in between shows on different networks. From 1969-1978 it was on NBC, and it ran on ABC from 1978-1980. Produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng, Pink Panther and its iconic theme music became a hit. Freleng later rebooted the show for Cartoon Network, calling it Panther and Pals.
The Pink Panther Show starred the Pink Panther and the Inspector. While the Pink Panther landed in annoying situations which slowly and increasingly frustrated him, the Inspector attempted to stop Pink Panther from doing whatever he wanted. The two were constantly at odds, making for the perfect slapstick cartoon.
4 The Banana Splits Adventure Hour Was About A Band
Produced by Hanna-Barbera, The Banana Splits ran from 1968-1970 on NBC. It's a variety show with different comedy and musical segments. Its iconic theme, "The Tra La La Song" or "One Banana Two Banana," was written by N. B. Winkless Jr. — who also wrote the Rice Krispies theme.
The Banana Splits is a band consisting of four members: Fleegle (a dog and the leader), Drooper (a lion with sunglasses), Bingo (an orange monkey with various accessories), and Snorky (an elephant in pink sunglasses). They play the guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard respectively, and they all have matching hats.
3 Tom And Jerry Won Academy Awards
Another show Hanna and Barbera produced, Tom and Jerry was made for MGM. Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse were first featured in short films from 1940-1958 with 114 shorts in total. It won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film during that time.
The two lifelong enemies come up with different schemes each episode, usually involving physical injury and elaborate mechanics. Tom is typically going after Jerry, presumably to eat him, but it isn't entirely clear. Jerry almost always outsmarts the cat and gets off scot-free.
2 Scooby-Doo Is One Of The Longest Running Cartoons
Scooby-Doo was fully realized in 1969, and has since become the ultimate classic cartoon, and one of the longest-running cartoon shows. Hanna-Barbera introduced Scooby-Doo Where Are You, which only ran for a year (1969-1970), but it ended up having 12 different iterations. What's New, Scooby-Doo? aired for three seasons, and became the most popular version.
Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby are five friends who solve mysteries together. They ride around in the Mystery Machine and arrive at destinations where some sort of supernatural monstrosity is terrorizing the locals. They always investigate and split up to search for clues, leading them to uncover the hoax and send the perpetrator to jail.
1 Wacky Races Was Almost A Live-Action Game Show
From 1968-1969, CBS ran Wacky Races for one season, 17 episodes.The Hanna-Barbera produced show spawned several reboots and spin-offs. One of the original concepts of the show was actually a live-action game show where people would bet on the racers. In 1988, Hanna-Barbera came up with a Wacky Races movie, but it was eventually scrapped.
Each episode consists of a race between 11 racers to win the title of "World's Wackiest Racer." With a total of 23 characters, some cars would have two or three people in them. The main villain of the show is Dick Dastardly and his dog Muttley. Some other racers include Professor Pat Pending, The Slag Brothers, and the fan-favorite, Penelope Pitstop.