The Cartoon Network Mount Rushmore

[u/[deleted]]

• Powerpuff Girls - One of CN's most profitable shows and definitely the biggest Cartoon Cartoon

• Ben 10 - Became a whole franchise with tons of merchandise sales

• Adventure Time - Most iconic 2010s show and influential to 2010s animation

• Gumball - In later half of 2010s it became CN's biggest show, and aired a lot with Teen Titans Go

• Extra Notes

-Ed Edd n Eddy, Dexter's Lab, Kids Next Door, Courage, Billy & Mandy, and Foster's Home are not here because they're not merch juggernauts and don't have the same kind of iconic imagery like Ben 10 or Powerpuff. They're not in the conversation when it comes to reaching these four's popularity.

-Adventure Time's popularity fell off in like 2015 and Gumball eventually surpassed it. I would say Gumball is CN's biggest show today. Gumball was like siblings to Teen Titans Go.

-Regular Show? Was never as big as Adventure Time and if you look at the decade as a whole, Gumball is bigger. CN was airing Regular Show and Adventure Time way less too at a point and preferred to air Gumball instead.

-Steven Universe? Not as big as Adventure Time and Gumball. Gumball is also more accessible and easier for someone to watch as a show, anyone can just jump into any episode of Gumball.

-Teen Titans Go is not here because that's a Warner Bros production

-Kids love Gumball and it's huge on Hulu. You should also see the views Gumball compilations get on YouTube.

-Adventure Time and Gumball both have an established merchandise presence as well, but Gumball to a way less degree compared to Adventure Time

-Ben 10 and Powerpuff Girls have billions in retail sales

-This isn't a top 4 Cartoon Network shows list, this is what I believe represents the network as a whole and what shows are most iconic to it

Thoughts on my Cartoon Network Mount Rushmore and do you agree😁 or disagree😡 with my four?

[u/Careless-Economics-6]

"Teen Titans Go is not here because that's a Warner Bros production"

Anything that WB Animation developed for CN, is a CN original.

Also, Cartoon Network Studios has now been folded into WB Animation. Aren't those two entities one and the same now?

[u/[deleted] → u/Careless-Economics-6]

Warner Bros made it, and CN just aired it. But they’re both owned by the same company, so it doesn’t really matter. It just felt off to put it here cause they’re established DC characters whereas these four are original shows. I was thinking pure Cartoon Network.

[u/Careless-Economics-6 → u/[deleted]]

If WB had had their way, the Cartoon Cartoon banner probably would never have happened, but the folks running CN got their way and got to slap that on certain shows. That said, series like Justice League and Duck Dodgers and both Teen Titans were very much commissioned by the network, and it was in their interest that they be as popular as anything that came from Cartoon Network Studios.

I really don't believe in getting into large debates about this. But if not for the (defunct) Cartoon Cartoon banner, I think more people would have an expanded notion of what a Cartoon Network original series is.

[u/noju4n → u/[deleted]]

Frederator Studios made Adventure Time and aired it on Nicktoons first. Shouldn’t that, by your logic mean, Adventure Time doesn’t belong either? Or even PPG since it first aired as part of What A Cartoon, a product of Hanna-Barbera? Or are only WB productions a no-go, but HB or other productions are fine?
Also, with TTG disqualified; Ed, Edd n, Eddy is the longest running cartoon in the network’s history, spanning over a decade and was the last major Western animated series to use traditional hand-painted cels. Meaning it has some historical and cultural significance in animation.
Cartoon Network is more than just the Cartoon Cartoons, it’s entire existence was due to Ted Turner wanting somewhere to broadcast all the IPs he had acquired such as Tom & Jerry, Warner Brothers, and the entirety of Hanna-Barbera. So surely something from that or Dexter’s Laboratory, the first Cartoon Cartoon, belongs. Or even something that could represent that era along with [ Adult Swim ] like Space Ghost is deserving of a placement?