Toonami logo used since April 5, 2014
Toonami (a portmanteau of the words "cartoon" and "tsunami") is one of Cartoon Network's brands, used initially for action-oriented programming blocks on Cartoon Network television channels worldwide, mostly showing American and Japanese cartoons, originating in the United States on March 17, 1997, ending on September 20, 2008, and returned on May 26, 2012 as part of Adult Swim after their April Fools stunt.
The Toonami brand name was subsequently used in the United Kingdom as the name of an action-oriented animation channel replacing a former Cartoon Network owned channel CNX, which had been a Toonami/live-action hybrid network. It has been hosted by two CGI hosts, Moltar, from the show Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and TOM, an original character who is currently on his 5th incarnation (6th counting TOM 3.5).
Overview
In September 2000, Toonami presented special interactive events known as Total Immersion Event|Total Immersion Events or TIEs. These TIEs took place both on-air during Toonami and online at the official site, Toonami.com, and always occurred the week that the block's most popular series, Dragon Ball Z, returned for a new season. The very first TIE was The Intruder, which introduced TOM's companion, an AI matrix known as SARA, who played an integral part in the rebirth of TOM, upgraded from a short Bomberman-esque character (voiced by Sonny Strait) to a taller, stronger, darker, deeper-voiced incarnation temporarily dubbed as TOM 2.0 (voiced by Steven Blum), though it was the same TOM who still hosted the block.
Dragon Ball Z aired in 1998 when Cartoon Network would air one episode of the FUNimation dub every weekday during its popular Toonami time slot (specifically, 5 p.m. Eastern Time). The Dragon Ball TV series was released on 12 June 2001, with episodes 14-16 (picking up where their old 1995 dub left off). However, even the first 13 episodes were re-dubbed, and were aired as a part of a 28 episode test season, beginning on Cartoon Network in August of 2001.
SARA v1.0
Apparently, the show was enough of a hit to continue production. The second season (episodes 29-53) aired in the spring of 2002, and a third season (episodes 54-101) was shown that fall (and later re-run outside of Toonami on Saturday nights). The fourth (and final) season (episodes 102-153) was shown during the fall of 2003. Dragon Ball GT began airing on TV in the US on Cartoon Network with the "first" volume of DBGT in America started with a "Bonus Introduction" to the beginning of the series, and then moves on to episodes 17-19. FUNimation skipped the first 16 episodes of the series, and instead created an additional "flashback" episode (which is English-only) that retells the events of these first 16 episodes, and Dragon Ball had completed its TV run from beginning to end. Unfortunately, DBGT's Cartoon Network run mimicked the DVD release, starting from FUNimation's English-only recap episode. Cartoon Network immediately began repeating the series from its "true" beginning upon its first run-through, however.
On Saturday September 20, 2008, Cartoon Network canceled the block and aired its final transmission. Employees who worked on the block moved to other parts of the channel. At the end of Toonami's final airing, the host, voiced by Steven Blum, ended the block with a final monologue simply reading:
"Well, this is the end, beautiful friends. After more than 11 years, this is Toonami's final broadcast. It's been a lot of fun, and we'd like to thank each and every one of you who made this journey with us. Toonami wouldn't have been anything without you. Hopefully we've left you with some good memories. So, until we meet again, stay gold. Bang." |
Anime was mostly handled by Adult Swim, and a new block "CN Real" replaced Toonami on Saturday nights afterward. Toonami Jetstream remained with the Toonami name until January 30, 2009.
On May 16, 2012, on Adult Swim's twitter, they announced Toonami will return on May 26, 2012. The network issued a press release later that day confirming the block's revival as a Saturday late night anime block. Meanwhile differing and incomplete program lists have appeared on the Adult Swim website and in other TV programming schedules for this new block. New shows listed for the block include Casshern Sins and Deadman Wonderland. Toonami aired Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge on May 24, 2014, and announced the following day that they would air Dragon Ball Z Kai uncut starting in fall of 2014, later confirmed to be November 8, replacing Bleach at 12:00 AM. It was also later revealed that Kai would be airing in 4:3 instead of 16:9, a first for any show on the block (other shows made in 4:3 such as Cowboy Bebop are stretched to 16:9) using custom pillarboxes designed by the Toonami staff. Cooler's Revenge was later rerun on November 1, 2014 in the extra hour cause by Daylight Saving Time ending.
Dragon Ball Z Promos and Intros
"61 million fans can't be wrong! Dragon Ball Z! Only Toonami..." |
.jpg){kind=link}
Dragon Ball Z promo on Toonami
Toonami was very famous for its promos, which showcased upcoming episodes. The Dragon Ball Z promos were particularly loved, and many have been uploaded to YouTube and other internet sites. The first promos were voiced by Moltar, who was the host at the time, but when TOM took over, most were voiced by Peter Cullen (who is most famous for the voice of Optimus Prime) and on occasion TOM himself. Earlier promos on the network for the first three Dragon Ball Z movies had been voiced by Don LaFontaine, whose voice was heard on thousands of movie trailers up until his death in 2008.
Dragon Ball Z Events
Dragon Ball Chronicles
Dragon Ball Chronicles was a Toonami Event, in which Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT took over Toonami for three weeks. Dragon Ball Chronicles lasted from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM through March 29 - April 16, 2004, and was meant to celebrate Toonami's move from Weekday afternoons to Saturday nights, which started on April 17, 2004. Two Pokémon movies, as well as a Transformers: Energon marathon were also shown on the Fridays during Dragon Ball Chronicles, but they were not part of the event.
DBZ President's Day Movie Marathon
DBZ President's Day Movie Marathon was a special marathon of three Dragon Ball Z movies that ran on February 21, 2000 (President's Day) from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Cartoon Network's Toonami block. The three movies shown were The Tree of Might, The World's Strongest, and Dead Zone.
Hosts
Toonami had two notable hosts: Moltar and TOM.
Moltar
Moltar was the first and lesser-known, only hosting from March 17, 1997 until July 10, 1999. He was the animated director of a former original Cartoon Network series, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, who had sent an observer robot titled Clyde 49 to Earth to study the planet.
TOM (Toonami Operations Module), was introduced under his v.1 state (voiced by Sonny Strait), on July 10, 1999. He was a small, wise-cracking robot who controlled the signal aboard the ship Absolution. During September of the same year, he would be joined by the AI program SARA, and custodial robots named Clydes (their name being an homage to Clyde 49).
TOM in his first three states
On September 18, 2000, Toonami aired The Intruder, its first Total Immersion Event (TIE), a special interactive event that took place both on-air and online. The Intruder lasted for eight episodes and culminated on September 27, 2000, with TOM and Sara successfully ejecting the titular Intruder from the Absolution, but at the cost of TOM and the Clydes being killed during the assault. Despite this, TOM's consciousness was transferred into an upgraded body, now voiced by Steven Blum, and was joined by newly upgraded Clydes prior to the final battle with the Intruder. TOM v.2 would be seen from 1999 until March 17, 2003. On April 17, 2004, SARA was given a humanoid hologram body, and the new generation of Clydes, now Clyde 53, were introduced.
TOM's new polished v.3, nicknamed "TOM 3.5"
From March 17, 2003 to March 17, 2007, TOM v.3 was shown, with his origins being explained in the Endgame TIE and online comic. This body was similar to his previous state, however was more muscular and taller, with a smaller head. This version of TOM now introduced a new look to the block, and slight redesign to the Absolution ship. A polished design of this TOM is used for the Adult Swim revival.
TOM in his fourth state, considered the most controversial
On the tenth anniversary of Toonami (March 17, 2007), the block was given a complete redesign, with TOM debuting a new organic look, SARA being replaced with new robots called Two. Flash, Spike, and the setting of the show was moved from space to a jungle area on a rocky planet. The origins of TOM v.4 are unknown, but the overhauled design received highly negative feedback from fans.
The current TOM, TOM v.5.
On April 27, 2013, the Toonami design was rehauled again. The design featured a smaller Absolution, the return of SARA and other things. To promote the new design, the official Toonami tumblr was rebranded with the new look.
Gallery
