29 Years Ago, Cartoon Network Changed Forever by Delivering Its Best Programming Block of All-Time

29 years ago today, Cartoon Network was changed forever with the debut of its best programming block, and the anime world has never been the same since. In the 1990s and 2000s, Cartoon Network was the place to be. As it started to expand its roster beyond reruns of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons, fans were treated to some of the most unique shows of the time. But one of the big moves the channel had made early on was incorporating other licensed shows from Japan. And it opened up kids of a certain generation to another side of the world.

29 years ago today, on March 17, 1997, Toonami made its first debut on Cartoon Network. Combining the words “Cartoon” and “Tsunami” for its name, the specialized block of programming introduced many cartoon fans to anime and other classic action shows for the first time. Though Toonami has undergone many different transformations over the years, and was even cancelled for a good while, the anime block is still going strong to this day nearly 30 years later.

Toonami Debuted on Cartoon Network 29 Years Ago Today

Originally created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco (who has gone on to hold very important roles with Warner Bros. in the decades since), Toonami first made its debut with Cartoon Network in a much different form than what is seen today. Much like how Space Ghost Coast to Coast started out on Adult Swim by borrowing older Hanna-Barbera characters, Toonami was hosted by Moltar as he introduced the various shows. But even in this earliest era of the block, you could tell that the spirit of it was there right from the beginning. And it came on everyday.

It was something kids could watch on afternoons after school, and offered shows like Thundercats and Voltron. But it started to take its real shape a couple of years after its debut with the first introduction to T.O.M. back in 1999. Heading into the 2000s, Toonami started to fully embrace the world of anime. With T.O.M. as its new host and “curating” a special slate of programs, it not only made each of the offered shows that much more special but made it cool. Which, in turn, made anime cool.

Toonami did things smart with its selected programming. It wasn’t the first block in the United States to offer anime shows (as they had been a staple of Saturday mornings long before), but the tone of the block made it seem like an exclusive club for the kids tuning in. Taking things in a more mature direction later with things like the “Midnight Run” variant that aired later in the evening (and offered more adult oriented shows like Outlaw Star and The Big O), it just all oozed cool.

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Toonami Survived Cancellation & Got Even Bigger

But what ultimately will be Toonami’s legacy is the impact it had on anime and Cartoon Network on a whole. The block was actually cancelled in 2008 due to low ratings, and Cartoon Network would try to revitalize its afternoons with other blocks in its place like Miguzi. It just never quit clicked in the same way. Even with this cancellation, Toonami fans never gave up and wanted to see the block return. It did just that in 2012 as part of a huge April Fool’s Day stunt with Adult Swim. And it’s been much stronger.

The second era of Toonami has been much more prominent than the original. Though TV watching habits have changed, and the line up for the block has become more modern, it remains a pillar of Saturday evenings with Adult Swim and Cartoon Network. In fact, it’s been such a big deal that Toonami even has gone on for much longer than its original run did. It crossed over that milestone back in 2023, and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. It’s because it’s still so cool.

As streaming begins to change and warp the way TV works, there’s something about Toonami that remains special. A block that not only curates shows for you to watch, but also injects personality in between all of those shows makes it so much more appealing. It was the first V-Tuber kind of personality before that was even a thing, and T.O.M. was the on-screen expert guiding fans through this whole new world of action. The core appeal of that is now more prominent than ever as fans want more genuine emotion and care in their entertainment.

With the world getting so hollow, watching anime with T.O.M. and Sara each week gets to be a bigger and bigger highlight even 29 years later. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!