Hello and welcome back to picsandportraits.
In case you didn’t know, I am Canadian, fortunately, and in a less connected world
this meant media alternatives, to America at least.
Instead of MTV we had MuchMusic, The Comedy Network instead of Comedy Central and Teletoon,
not Cartoon Network.
Now I grew up in a rural area on the Northern shore of Lake Ontario.
It was so remote, cable wasn’t even available so for TV we relied on a terrestrial antenna.
Weather permitting, this would pick up American channels, usually from Rochester or on a clear
night, Buffalo. Obviously I had seen American shows before.
American content was licensed to Canadian channels but with the news and commercials
this was a window into another culture at the time I was becoming cognizant.
I was unaware of the political differences between the two countries, being six,
and living in such close proximity the line or border was often blurred.
I was exposed to their pop culture, I watched American movies, the toys I played with were
based on American properties, and when I did become aware of Cancon, Canadian content,
the first thing I noticed was budget.
Clearly Canada was working with a lot less.
While the technology had existed for decades, satellite TV began seeing widespread use in
North America with the launch of DirectTV in 1994.
My parents got in on this, which was sort of legal grey area.
Now I did a bit of research and learned it wasn’t technically illegal for Canadians
to own an American satellite and receiver and satellite signals couldn’t be blocked
or region locked.
It was illegal for American companies to intentionally broadcast their signals into
Canada.
This didn’t stop 300,000 Canadians from exploiting this loophole and this grey market
flourished.
Overnight, we went from having maybe 5 staticky channels to nearly 100 in crystal clear digital,
with my favourites being Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
Now I doubt either of these need and introduction. Both specialized in children’s
programming, with a focus on animation.
I loved it but was too young to fully appreciate the fact this was a new Golden Age of original cartoons.
In 1997, satellite television came to Canada, with the two major providers being ExpressVu
and Star Choice.
Both sought to corner the market by offering trade-ins on American receivers in addition
to free programming to those who chose to go legal, my parents included.
That same year the Canadian cartoon channel Teletoon launched, a portmanteau of television
and cartoon.
Both providers carried it, we went with Star Choice.
Unlike Cartoon Network, which largely geared its programming towards kids and young adults,
Teletoon really embraced the medium as a whole, presenting animation that was as eclectic
and diverse as possible, or as the country.
It aired 24/7 and initially its programming blocks were organized by demographic, with
each represented by a different animation style.
From 5 a.m to 3 p.m. content was aimed at preschool-age children, with the promos and
bumpers rendered in claymation.
From 3 to 6, kids, in traditional cel animation.
6-9 was for families, cut-out collage animation and finally, Adults, 9 p.m til 5 p.m. represented
by papier-mâché stop-motion animation.
We have somewhat laxer rules here in Canada as to what you can show on TV, at least we
did back then and the adult bumpers fully-embraced this, plenty of sexually suggestive images,
which I’m sure thrilled many parents tuning in early.
This work was done by Cuppa Coffee Studios, here in Toronto.
Canada has a rich tradition of animation, thanks in no small part to the NFB, the National
Film Board, which had a heavy presence on Teletoon early on.
Leonard Maltin actually hosted a series profiling some of their more popular shorts, Frame by
Frame.
This was because as part of its mandate, Teletoon had to produce a certain amount of original
and Canadian content.
Much of it’s original material was co-produced with other studios and countries, adding its
international flair.
Now I thought I’d look not at all the blocks or shows but some I remember fondly, starting
with Teletoon Unleashed.
This became its late-night, adult oriented weekend block once they abandoned their original
format.
It would eventually merge with the teen-centric block the Detour to become Teletoon at Night,
resembling Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.
It’s first incarnation though, Teletoon Unleashed, hit me at the perfect time.
I was in middle school and this was the second wave of adult animation following the Simpsons,
which also briefly aired on Teletoon early on.
The two hour block, if I remember correctly, started with The Oblongs, starring Will Ferrell.
It originally aired on the WB and followed an impoverished family each afflicted with
some sort of deformation due to radiation.
The Oblongs was followed by my personal favourite, Mission Hill, created by former Simpsons show
runners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein.
It also first aired on WB, and featured 20-something hipsters navigating life in a trendy neighbourhood
in the big city.
Growing up in the country, this was a life I aspired to have.
Looking back, I got it, complete with its mediocrity and eventual disappointment.
I felt the same about the next show, Undergrads, and my college experience.
This was co-produced with MTV and attempted to show the average freshmen year of recognizable
stereotypes, nerd, frat boy, etc.
And lastly John Callahan’s Quads, based on the comics of the late cartoonist.
Callahan was disabled, he became a quadriplegic in car accident, hence the name, Quads.
He taught himself to draw after his accident, after regaining partial use of his hands.
He made his drawings by holding his pen between his two hands. This show featured depictions
of people with disabilities, or otherwise marginalized, and while his work received
its fair share of controversy and even protest, it was warmly received by many with disabilities.
He felt his dark and sardonic takes on disability gave representation to those tired of, in
his words, the pity and the patronizing.
His is quite the inspiring story.
As Teletoon at Night morphed and grew, new series debuted, my favourite of which was
Clone High.
Another MTV co-production, featuring clones of famous people throughout history and the
struggles they experience in high school.
This, like actually all these shows, has gone on to develop a cult following and I think
all deserve to be a lot better known.
Certainly got me through some shit.
While Cartoon Network, and Nick, introduced me to an American cartoon renaissance, Teletoon
showed there was a whole world of animation out there.
I lost Cartoon Network before Toonami debuted so Teletoon was my introduction to anime through
the hybrid Cybersix.
This was a Canadian produced, Japanese animated, sci-fi series adapted from the comics by Argentinian
cartoonist Carlos Meglia.
It was reminiscent of Aeon Flux, with the hero, Cybersix, the result of a genetic experiment
battling their creator while balancing a teaching career.
Some interesting things going on here with gender, as as a hero, Cybersix presents female,
while assuming the appearance and identity of a male teacher who died.
Fun stuff.
Teletoon also aired Ninja Scroll and Dragon Ball Z early on.
They could only acquire so much at a time so you got used to repetition, seeing the
same episodes over and over again.
So much of that original programming tripped me out.
I had known animation as cartoons, of a certain style, and suddenly all this.
However, Teletoon wasn’t all good, there was Nelvana’s horrible Donkey Kong Country,
though A for effort.
This was one of the first television series to be animated entirely with mocap which I
guess is notable.
Also, Calihou, which actually launched the channel, but shitting on this seems unnecessary
given even at the time I was hardly the demo.
I was the target audience for Ned’s Newt, a Canadian/German collaboration featuring
a shapeshifting newt, as well as the French co-production Animal Crackers, another comic
adaptation I remember being on but can’t tell you anything about from memory.
I more or less fell off of Teletoon in 2008.
It still exists today, as does Cartoon Network Canada, but most of my affection comes from
its launch until around 2004, 2005
when it was a huge part of my identity.
So thank you for indulging me.
I know these shows are not exclusive to Teletoon, but this is how I experienced them.
Feel free to leave your memories or comments down below.
I’m also planning on doing a Q&A soon so you can leave a question as well.
We’ll be looking at more Canadian television in a process video over on Patreon.
There’s fresh, free Sleepcore there too.
Support us if you can, give this video a thumbs up.
We’re all in isolation, thanks for spending yours with me.
Stay safe everyone!