While Adult Swim is generally regarded as the pioneer of irreverent short-form animation -- especially for 'toons that reimagine past hits -- it wasn't always the king. In fact, the late-night programming block arguably found its birth in a series of short toons and interstitials that ran in the heyday of its daytime alter ego, the venerable Cartoon Network. The brainchild of C.N. Creative Director Michael Ouweleen and Hanna-Barbera chief Fred Seibert, these cartoons reinterpreted the network's properties through stock footage, indie music, and original animation in a wide variety of styles, as well as introducing prototypes of characters that would become some of the most famous in the history of American animation. (warning: monster post inside) [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Dec 30, 2008 - 80 comments

YouTubing this clip of Smedley serving Chilly Willy a tall stack of pancakes [More butter? More butter! More syrup? More syrup! Nice? Very nice!] led me to Chilly's Video Den at Chilly Willy's Sub-Arctic World. [Warning: Comic Sans font and a whole cold-butt-load of .wmv's] [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Nov 7, 2008 - 12 comments

I'm not a big fan of youtube posts. But without youtube, these two favorites of mine would be lost to obscurity. One from Seymour Kneitel, "La Petite Parade". The other is a Tex Avery, "Symphony in Slang". [more inside]
posted by ObscureReferenceMan on Feb 2, 2008 - 10 comments

43 Road Runner cartoons on YouTube. (And one more.)
posted by Silune on Jul 16, 2007 - 55 comments

1, 2, 3,4, 5,6,7, 8, 9,10, 11,12! Classic Sesame Street taught us Counting and other important stuff.
posted by louche mustachio on Jun 15, 2007 - 50 comments

Selected Cartoon Introductions from the 1980s [YouTube]
posted by BeerFilter on Apr 29, 2007 - 69 comments

Gruesomestein's Monsters -- Six new cartoons done in the classic style, posted to YouTube by the genyouwine copyright holder, featuring monsters and ghoulies. For instance, how does a reformed no-longer-wicked witch keep the neighborhood kids from eating her gingerbread house?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste on Mar 14, 2007 - 12 comments

The 50 Greatest Cartoons Ever: the List - including links to the full-length videos of the corresponding toons on YouTube and Google, etc. Based on a twelve year-old-vote by the animation industry, which explains why there are no appearances by Cartman, Bart, or Fry.
posted by tsarfan on Dec 21, 2006 - 71 comments

The Do-It-Yourself Cartoon Kit - a 1961 instructional clip from 85-year old master animator Bob Godfrey, also known for such classic works as Instant Sex, Henry's Cat, and Roobarb. (alert: some links to YouTube)
posted by madamjujujive on Jul 11, 2006 - 7 comments

Education for Death. (YouTubefilter.) Disney-produced anti-Nazi cartoon short from 1943. Look for Hitler's Satanic horns. More weirdness from WWII: Warner Bros Snafuperman, starring Pvt. Snafu (originally created by Dr. Seuss!), who also deals with spies, all while jabbering away in a voice that sounds disconcertingly like that of a certain cwazy wabbit. From Archive. org -- Pvt. Snafu learns about booby traps, in one case literally. Bugs himself joined the Air Force, and was faced with gremlins for his trouble. Superman himself got in on the act, battling Japoteurs. After all, during the War we were plenty worried about those canny Japanese.
posted by Astro Zombie on Mar 23, 2006 - 26 comments