70 Fun Facts About 90s Cartoons

Who has voiced Tommy Pickles on Rugrats since the series began in 1991?

Only the unaired pilot used a different actor, Tami Holbrook. Daily also played Dottie in Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

Which 2003-2008 spin-off followed the Rugrats babies as preteens?

The premise came from a 2001 tenth-anniversary special that jumped the babies forward ten years.

Which three shows premiered together on August 11, 1991 as the first Nicktoons?

The trio launched in a single 90-minute Sunday block, and all three were picked from pitches by executive Vanessa Coffey.

Doug Funnie's new hometown on Doug is called what?

The town's residents come in a rainbow of skin colors, a deliberate choice by creator Jim Jinkins.

In 1996, Disney bought Doug from Nickelodeon's parent company and moved it to which network?

Disney had just closed its purchase of ABC, and the retitled Brand Spanking New! Doug aired there that fall.

Who created Hey Arnold!?

The football-headed hero first appeared in claymation shorts before Nickelodeon picked up the series in 1996.

On Hey Arnold!, Arnold's grandparents run a boarding house with what name?

Grandpa Phil and Grandma Gertie share the place with a cast of eccentric boarders in the fictional city of Hillwood.

Rocko of Rocko's Modern Life is what kind of animal?

He is an Australian immigrant living in O-Town, and the show's satire of adult life got it a Netflix revival special in 2019.

Which future SpongeBob creator got his first animation-directing job on Rocko's Modern Life?

He was a marine science educator before animation, and several Rocko crew members followed him to Bikini Bottom.

Ren Höek of The Ren & Stimpy Show is what kind of animal?

His partner Stimpy is the cat, a good-natured Manx. Together they were Nickelodeon's most controversial early hit.

After Nickelodeon fired John Kricfalusi in 1992, Ren & Stimpy moved from Spümcø to which studio?

The newly founded studio was Nickelodeon's own in-house shop, and it later became Nickelodeon Animation Studio.

Which film director served as executive producer of Animaniacs?

He personally approved or rejected the character concepts pitched by creator Tom Ruegger, and his name went above the title.

On Animaniacs, where had Yakko, Wakko and Dot been locked away since the 1930s?

The landmark on the real Warner Bros. lot became so associated with the show that fans still call it the Warners' home.

In Pinky and the Brain, whose voice did Maurice LaMarche base the Brain on?

LaMarche puts the blend at about 65 percent Welles and 35 percent Price, and once voiced Welles for a scene in Ed Wood.

In 1998, Pinky and the Brain was retooled so the mice were owned by which Tiny Toon Adventures character?

The retitled show, Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, was a network-mandated change the writers openly mocked in its theme.

The first Tiny Toon Adventures episode aired in September 1990 as a prime-time special on which network?

After that one-off, the show ran in first-run syndication for two years before its final season landed on Fox.

Which villain was created for Batman: The Animated Series, debuting in 'Joker's Favor'?

Paul Dini and Bruce Timm created her as a one-off henchwoman; she became so popular DC brought her into the comics.

Who voiced the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series?

The Star Wars actor kept the role for decades of DC animation and games, opposite Kevin Conroy's Batman.

The producers of Batman: The Animated Series called its noir-meets-1940s visual style by what name?

Backgrounds were painted on black paper rather than white, which is why Gotham always looks like it is night.

X-Men: The Animated Series premiered on Halloween 1992 as part of which programming block?

The two-part opener "Night of the Sentinels" ran as a sneak preview, and the show went on to reach more than 23 million households.

Who voiced Peter Parker in the 1994 Spider-Man animated series?

Barnes had already been the voice of Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid, and the show ran 65 episodes on Saturday mornings.

Who voiced Goliath on Gargoyles?

The cast was packed with Star Trek: The Next Generation actors, including Frakes as Xanatos and Marina Sirtis as Demona.

On Gargoyles, when do the gargoyles turn to stone?

The clan slept as statues in Scotland for a thousand years before waking on a Manhattan skyscraper.

What is Darkwing Duck's mild-mannered secret identity?

The name spoofs Kent Allard, the alter ego of pulp hero The Shadow, and his city of St. Canard spoofs Gotham.

On TaleSpin, what is the name of Baloo's seaplane?

The show dropped Jungle Book characters into a 1930s aviation world, with Shere Khan recast as a tycoon.

On Goof Troop, who is Goofy's next-door neighbor and old high-school friend?

The used-car salesman's son P.J. becomes Max's best friend, a pairing carried into A Goofy Movie in 1995.

On Recess, the Third Street playground is ruled by a sixth grader with what title?

The playground has its own monarchy, laws and legends, a running joke the show played entirely straight.

Pepper Ann was the first Disney animated TV series created by a woman. Who was she?

The show debuted on ABC's One Saturday Morning block on the same day in 1997 as Recess.

Who created Dexter's Laboratory?

He gave the boy genius an accent because, in his words, all well-known scientists have accents. He later made Samurai Jack.

Craig McCracken's CalArts short that became The Powerpuff Girls was originally titled what?

Cartoon Network executives would not market a show with that word in it, so the heroines were renamed for TV.

On The Powerpuff Girls, Professor Utonium accidentally adds what to sugar, spice and everything nice?

The show premiered on Cartoon Network in November 1998 and later spawned a 2002 theatrical film.

Johnny Bravo’s hometown is named after Elvis Presley’s middle name. What is it called?

The pompadoured hero was loosely modeled on Elvis and James Dean, and Seth MacFarlane wrote for the first season.

On Cow and Chicken, one actor voiced Cow, Chicken and the Red Guy. Who?

The show spun off I Am Weasel in 1999, and both had begun as What a Cartoon! shorts.

On Ed, Edd n Eddy, the boys run scams to buy which candy?

Made at a.k.a. Cartoon in Vancouver, the show became Cartoon Network's longest-running original series.

Ed, Edd n Eddy ended in 2009 with a television film subtitled what?

The finale finally took the Eds out of the cul-de-sac and revealed Eddy's never-seen older brother.

Courage the Cowardly Dog grew out of a 1996 Oscar-nominated short. What was it called?

It lost the Oscar to Wallace and Gromit's A Close Shave; the series then ran on Cartoon Network from 1999.

Beavis and Butt-Head began as which Mike Judge short shown on MTV's Liquid Television?

The full series arrived in March 1993 and later spun off Daria, built around one of the duo's classmates.

Hank Hill of King of the Hill makes his living selling what?

Mike Judge voices both Hank and his mumbling friend Boomhauer, and the show returned on Hulu in 2025.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone developed South Park from two short films sharing what title?

The 1995 short was a video Christmas card that went viral by VHS, years before that word meant anything online.

For roughly how many seasons did South Park kill Kenny in almost every episode?

He was killed off for real in season five, then quietly returned the next season with no explanation.

The English-dubbed Pokémon anime first aired in the United States in which year?

It launched in first-run syndication that September, a year and a half after its Japanese debut on TV Tokyo.

Dragon Ball Z adapts the manga of which artist?

The 291-episode series became a US phenomenon in 1998 when Cartoon Network reran it on its Toonami block.

In the 1995 English dub of Sailor Moon, Usagi Tsukino was renamed what?

The DiC dub also renamed the Sailor Guardians the Sailor Scouts, a term the fandom still uses.

Arthur Read, star of the PBS series Arthur, is what kind of animal?

The show ran 25 seasons from 1996 to 2022, a record for a US children's cartoon until SpongeBob overtook it.

Which reggae artist performed the Arthur theme song?

The track was recorded with the Melody Makers, and the show set the tune in Elwood City for a quarter century.

Who voiced Ms. Frizzle on the 1994 The Magic School Bus series?

The role won her a Daytime Emmy in 1995, and Little Richard sang the show's theme.

Who voiced Gaia in the first three seasons of Captain Planet and the Planeteers?

The show's villains were voiced by stars too, including Meg Ryan, Jeff Goldblum, Sting and Martin Sheen.

Which comedian created Bobby's World and voiced both four-year-old Bobby and his father?

Each Fox Kids episode was bookended by a live-action segment in which he chatted about the story.

Who voiced Nigel Thornberry, the nature-documentary host on The Wild Thornberrys?

The Klasky Csupo show followed his daughter Eliza, who could talk to animals, around the world in the family Comvee.

On Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, which monster carries his eyeballs around in his hands?

The three friends attend a monster school under a city dump, where the Gromble teaches them to scare humans.

On Freakazoid!, how does teenager Dexter Douglas gain his powers?

The Bruce Timm and Paul Dini creation ran two seasons on Kids' WB and won a Daytime Emmy.

Beast Wars: Transformers pits which two factions against each other?

The CGI series was made by Mainframe Entertainment in Vancouver, the studio behind ReBoot.

The original working title for SpongeBob SquarePants was what?

Nickelodeon's lawyers found the name was already trademarked by a mop, forcing the rename before the 1999 debut.

Family Guy premiered on Fox in January 1999 immediately after what broadcast?

The plum slot did not save it; Fox cancelled the show in 2002 before DVD sales and Adult Swim reruns brought it back.

Before Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane's student films starred a man and his talking dog named what?

MacFarlane redesigned the pair into Peter and Brian Griffin when Fox ordered the series.

Who voices Philip J. Fry on Futurama, as well as Professor Farnsworth and Zoidberg?

The show has been cancelled and revived twice, by Comedy Central in 2010 and Hulu in 2023.

Who created CatDog, the Nicktoon about a cat and dog conjoined at the waist?

Its first episode aired after the 1998 Kids' Choice Awards, months before the official October premiere.

In which fictional Oregon town's forest do Norbert and Daggett live on The Angry Beavers?

The beaver brothers moved out of their parents' home to live as bachelors; the show ran from 1997 to 2003.

Daria (1997-2002) was a spin-off of which other MTV animated series?

Tracy Grandstaff voiced Daria in both; Mike Judge had no hand in the spin-off, being busy on King of the Hill.

Disney's Bonkers (1993) was inspired by which live-action/animation film?

It spun off from the He's Bonkers shorts on Raw Toonage and premiered on The Disney Channel before syndication.

ReBoot, one of the first made-for-TV CGI series, was produced in which city?

Mainframe Entertainment's show followed Guardian Bob against the viruses Megabyte and Hexadecimal, airing on YTV from 1994.

Which former Monkee voiced Arthur, the Tick's sidekick, in season one of The Tick (1994)?

Townsend Coleman voiced the Tick himself; the show ran three seasons on Fox Kids.

The Earthworm Jim cartoon (1995-96) aired on which network's children's block?

Doug TenNapel created the video-game hero, who fights evil in a robotic super suit.

On Biker Mice from Mars, which alien species destroyed the mice's homeland?

Throttle, Modo and Vinnie fled the war on Mars to fight the invaders on Earth from 1993 to 1996.

Who voiced New York film critic Jay Sherman on The Critic (1994-95)?

The 36-year-old critic later crossed over into an episode of The Simpsons.

Which Seinfeld actor voiced private detective Eric Tiberius Duckman?

Everett Peck's Duckman ran on the USA Network from 1994 to 1997 and grew out of a Dark Horse one-shot comic.

In 1996, Street Sharks was retitled to feature which new team of allies?

The DIC series promoted Mattel toys and moved to ABC with its extraterrestrial dinosaur partners.

Which veteran Ghostbuster leads the college-aged team in Extreme Ghostbusters (1997)?

The 40-episode sequel to The Real Ghostbusters aired on Bohbot's syndicated 'Extreme Block'.

Which actor auditioned for Superman but was cast as Lex Luthor in Superman: The Animated Series?

Tim Daly voiced Superman and Dana Delany Lois Lane; both returned for the 2006 DVD film Brainiac Attacks.

Fans nickname DIC's 1993-94 ABC hedgehog cartoon what, after its Saturday-morning slot?

DIC made it between Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Underground; it ran 26 episodes.