As a kid, I grew up with so many shows that influenced what I eventually became in the world. Shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe , and The Arcadia Trilogy (Trollhunters, 3Below, and Wizards) went on to become mainstream pop cultural icons in our society. Or -- at the least -- shows that stand the test of time. The best part about this? These were all mostly original shows! It was recently annouced over at Annecy, a French Expo for all types of animation from all over the world, that there was alot of Cartoon Network shows making a comeback. Mainly the tetralogy of 2010s shows: Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, and Steven Universe. With the added fact that Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is returning as a preschool show created across the pond. Also, Darren Nefcy, the creator of Disney's modern classic that started shipping wars Star vs. the Forces of Evil being discussed for a revival at a recent Momocon appearence. These annoucements got me thinking about the world of cable animated tv shows. With added Bloomburg reports that Cartoon Network is struggling to stay afloat during the Zazlov era of WB as well as the dwindling viewership across network waves as well as PBS Kids maybe not existing in the near future. All these adding factors just got me thinking about all these shows coming back for streaming and what affect this'll have on our current landscape

Part 1: What, Why and Where are Shows Returning

It’s a bit difficult to figure out everything that is coming back. But I can think of a few shows on my mind. I’ve already mentioned the Cartoon Network tetralogy of the 2010s. Hulu is getting Gumball, as well as Fox adult shows like Futurama, and the upcoming King of the Hill continuation. Prime is adding a Steven Universe spin-off to their already stacked animation catalog. And Regular Show is heading to Cartoon Network's more successful brother channel, Adult Swim. We saw continuations and ending movies for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Metalocalypse, and Venture Brothers. There were conversations and a leaked trailer showing the iconic sitcom Married….With Children coming back as an animated show. Not the only sitcom that has come back, Everybody Still Hates Chris serves as an animated continuation of the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris right when the original Show ended, as well as making Seth MacFarlane’s foul-mouthed Ted character into animation for Peacock. Let’s not forget to mention the past revivals of Samurai Jack, Rugrats, Fairly Oddparents (twice), and Clone High. Frankly, a lot of these shows have shown promise already (Adventure Time:- Distant Lands and Fiona and Cake come to mind) some shows ended on a cliffhanger and a previously announced movie and season 7 (Gumball) and shows that ended that are coming back and took place where things left off (KotH, and ESHC).

Now I wonder what is there to continue with these shows. Yes, some shows are doing new things, the latest Steven Universe is the long wanted Lars of the Stars spin-off show as well as a new take on Fairly OddParents that went for a story driven, 3D animated sequel show that revived audience interest in the series after Butch Hartman, the creator, took a far right turn into evangelical cartoons. And the new King of the Hill promises to bring an older cast of characters with Bobby riding the highs of his 20s, making his way as a talented chef in Dallas. I look toward the first episode of the Hulu era of Futurama, where they made a meta joke where Fry addressed a court about revivals and states, “Don't reboot a show if the quality isn’t there —It’s not just the viewers’ responsibility. Any TV show that truly cares—or, rather, respects—its audience must be canceled every few years. It’s simply the right thing to do”. It’s honestly a true statement; if there is a reason to reboot a show, do it because there can be more story to tell. Adventure Time’s intro has the phrase “the fun will never end” and there’s a lot you can do with the shows they are developing, a preschool show about BMO, the continued multiversal adventures of Fiona and Cake, a more episodic show called Side Quests, as well as a movie being made. Regular Show’s reboot is titled “Lost Mixtapes,” as in mid-episodes that took place right before the space final season. And Lars of the Stars promises to go deeper into gem lore that the original Steven Universe show and the sequel show didn’t have the chance to show. So, while it may seem unoriginal to bring back many of these shows, these animated shows that didn’t have time to wrap up and had more story to tell are coming back to further wrap up and answer some unanswered questions they didn’t have time to discuss. Even then, we get to see some developments that we didn’t think about. In "Fionna and Cake," we get to see Simon Petrikov (who used to be The Ice King) try to fit into a world that isn’t as normal as he once thought it was. As well as try to fit in with the weirder and more technological humans in Ooo. The most significant question affects the other part of creativity: Originality.

Part 2: Originality in Animation

This is an easy thing to burst right out of the bat: No, originality isn’t dead. It’s booming! Some may be adaptations of books or games. However, DreamWorks has built a reputation for creating original franchises based on books. The Bad Guys is an iconic Scholastic series that has recently been adapted. We also can’t forget the fact that they tried to adapt an obscure newspaper funny Over the Hedge into a cult classic animated movie.

Additionally, we can revisit [adultswim] as they have a lot of original shows that are doing well. Common Side Effects and Smiling Friends have been performing well in the late-night block, as they have ordered a season 2 for the former and seasons 4 and 5 for the latter. As well as multiple original shows being commissioned by these guys, the first Spanish-speaking stop motion show called Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is premiering this August, as well as Oh My God Yes, a rather original show that marks a few firsts: first [as] show created by a black woman as well as the first [as] show focusing mainly on a black group of leads, premiering a little earlier into the year. Not only that, but we also have another show called Ha, Ha You Clowns, a show about a scandalously clad, yet emotionally intelligent family of boys and their father who connect after their mother passes, is set to be in the works. as well as a relatively high octane heist show called Heist Safari, from Genndy Tartakovsky set to be made over at the company. Additionally, a new show called Hit Squad, which was developed by Hanna-Barbera Europe and the estate of Gerry Anderson, creator of shows like Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, both of which are quite iconic British puppet spy shows, is set to air on [adultswim].

That’s not the only service making big leaps; Netflix has a new original adult animated show called Long Story Short, from the BoJack Horseman creator, with art done by collaborator and creator of Tuca and Bertie, set to release this August. And let’s not forget Prime Video, who have spent a lot of money on lots of adult animated shows: adaptions of Critical Role’s most iconic campaigns, a helping hand for YouTube sensation Helluva Boss, which will affect Vivziepop’s other show Hazben Hotel, another Prime show, and must we not forget Invincible as well as their helping hand for Glitch’s indie show, Murder Drones, who Glitch has licensed out their other show, Amazing Digital Circus, to Netflix.

Speaking of, we have a cavalcade of shows created on YouTube that are somewhat original: Punch Punch Forever, Monkey Wrench, The Gaslight District, Dungeon Flipper, Lackadaisy, Spooky Month, and many others are making all kinds of splashes across the web. To say originality is dead is hyperbole. We have numerous original shows, adaptations, and original content that are coming or have been released. Frankly, some of these don’t get noticed because we tend to focus on the more popular things before we can notice the original content. However, if we focus on newer things rather than things we’ve seen before, we could see more and more mainstream studios take note and try to create more original content. And that’s already happening thanks to the YouTube indie movement.

Part 3: Current Issues with Originality

We can’t continue this subject without the conversation of originality: successful income and views. Yes, there are shows like The White Lotus and Sirens, as well as examples for this blog, such as We Bare Bears and Craig of the Creek. These shows do well. But in terms of film, it’s a bit harder to place. However, I’ve recently seen a movie that addresses the topics of this article: Elio, Pixar’s latest animated film, which is an original story. It became the biggest bomb in Pixar history, making less than the original Toy Story movie. Unlike that film, this movie had $150 million in production costs, yet it only grossed $20 million. This is a problem because last year, PIXAR released Inside Out 2, and it became the highest-grossing animated movie ever, beating Frozen II. This is a problem because these franchise movies are proven to do much better than their originals. However, Pete Doctor, the director of Up, Monsters Inc., Soul, and the original Inside Out, and current head of Pixar, has stated that there will be a system to their releases. With every original movie in a year, we’ll get a sequel. So, for every Hoppers, a movie directed by the We Bare Bears creator about an animal-loving teenage girl transferring her body into a robotic beaver and her plans on saving the forest from demolition, we’ll get a Toy Story 5. For every movie called Gatto, a new love letter to Italy from the Luca director, Luca Guadagnino, about an indebted mafia cat finding his purpose with a girl, we’re gonna get an Incredibles 3. It’s said they do this to make sure the lights will remain on. But I can’t help but quote Fry from Futurama again: 'Don’t bring back what was planned as a one-off unless the same energy is brought into the sequel, as well as if there’s a drive for this movie.'

One last thing on my mind: we also have to acknowledge that audiences have become accustomed to watching more movies at home, which is where most original films thrive. In a recent example, Sony Animation has achieved great success by releasing its original animated films on Netflix, including Vivo and The Mitchells vs. the Machines. The Machines, the recent K-pop Demon Hunters, and Fixed. Each of these Sony movies has found an audience with film fans, animation enthusiasts, musical enthusiasts, and Saturday morning cartoon fanatics. Even Pixar movies have found audiences on Disney+. Soul, Luca, and especially Turning Red have found audiences on streaming platforms. It makes me wonder about the recent failure of Elio and the success of K-pop Demon Hunters. It shows that some original movies still thrive on streaming, but originals struggle to find a foothold in theaters for some reason. Can original animated movies ever find a place in a theatre again? Honestly, after Elio’s bomb, it depends. If there’s a significant push from studios to market and advertise, then there’s a chance. Look at DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys adaptation, which found great success through word of mouth and strategic advertising. There can be a market for animated original movies; it just really depends on whether studios can invest their time and money in a project that deserves attention.

Finishing Thought

Some may argue that with all the sequels, reboots, and remakes being released during my timeline. Movies and shows are being released that are original, especially in the animated medium. You just gotta scrape the barrels until you find that gold. Even if some don’t find an audience, we see certain originals still connect with the right audience. Whether it be word of mouth, audience appeal, or the basic concept of a story. We are seeing that right now. K-pop Demon Hunters is finding its audience among animation fans and those who don’t have to hide their enjoyment of K-pop through this movie. Even those that bombed eventually find audiences like Elemental. We also see movies like Flow, an independent original animated movie, take home awards over mainstream films like Inside Out 2 or the new Wallace and Gromit movie. Again, audiences are often so nearsighted when it comes to things they know about without taking a closer look and noticing everything original and new that comes out frequently. I say originality isn’t dead in my eyes. All you have to do is look up what's out there at the current time and hop on the bandwagon, so we can see original movies become original franchises without studios needing to backpedal on a fourth SpongeBob and Smurfs movie. All it takes is finding showtimes or an original movie streaming on your service. To help out with some of these originals and continuations, below are some hyperlinks to original shows that are currently available and ongoing, ranging from adaptations to entirely original shows. I can also link a few good continuations, including some that I discussed in this blog.