In the late '50s, Gene Deitch's Tom Terrific was part of the foundation for animation's television future. It, along with other shows, created animated stars and thrust them into the public consciousness.

Welcome, dear readers, to my humble laboratory. Tonight I propose an interesting experiment in the name of science. For just this week, I am going to alter the physiology of your bodies so that instead of existing on oxygen, you must now survive through the osmotic absorption of...animated cartoons! You have just been converted from obligate aerobes to obligate animaterobes, and if you cannot find sufficient amounts of animation to absorb, well...let's just say that you have likely read your last column on animation, or on anything else for that matter. Since most research suggests that initial brain damage begins to occur in the third minute without oxygen, I suggest you all get busy. Now. Chest getting a little tight? Come on, it's only for a week. So -- what's the first thing you do? You can run to your TV set and hit the remote until you find Nickelodeon or the Cartoon Network, and don't forget that lifeline called Toon Disney. In a pinch you can even survive on MTV or Oxygen (the cable channel, that is), and you just might be able to live through the experiment.

Suppose you don't have cable or satellite? What then! Don't panic -- it will just cause you to hyperventilate. Ah! The DVD player! That's the ticket to your next breath. Calmly now, put the disk containing Iron Giant into the player and hit the menu with all due speed. Mmmmm, the blood is coming back into your cheeks...unless...what's that you say? You don't have a DVD player? My, this is turning out to be a trial, isn't it! Better grab that tape of Akira and pop it into your VCR posthaste. Oh...is it busted, or did the kids cram cookies into the slot again? Well...isn't that a Mac or an IBM on your desk, or dude did you get a Dell? No matter, best log on because your lips are turning blue. Did you find plenty of toons on the Net? I guess so, since you're no longer holding your breath. Good. Now call your cable company on your second phone line; you don't want to risk a crash or a power surge, right?

The Little Mermaid, shown here, along with Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, were pioneers in the current toon boom. They opened the doors to the huge revenue potential that animation has. © The Walt Disney Company.

Very well, let's stop this silly experiment (yes, you can breathe again) and its attendant threat of anoxia. The point of the matter is, if you had to survive under such conditions, you could. There are at least four general resources listed above, and a few derivations thereof for good measure. If this experiment had taken place a mere twenty years ago, all of you reading this column would have been asphyxiated. One of the most overlooked aspects of the toon revolution is the fact that said revolution was made possible through a series of increasingly varied and sophisticated delivery systems, and that these systems interrelated with other factors to produce the cultural phenomenon of wide-based animation fandom.

The Way It Was
1940 was one of the greatest years in American animated cartoons history. Making their debut that year were Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, and Mighty Mouse. Pinocchio and Fantasia were also released in 1940. Yet, if one closely examines the actual tally for that Athenian year, some interesting figures come to light. Seven studios combined for a total of 162 theatrical shorts and two features. The average studio produced 23 cartoons. The total combined running time of these films (including the two Disney features) was 1,342 minutes, or roughly 22 hours of animation. Twenty-two hours of animation for that entire year! For contrast, one season of a 26 X 30 animated TV series by itself is approximately 10.4 hours, about half of the total 1940 output. Now consider this as well -- there was only one way for the public to access these films. Unless one went to a different movie at a different theater each night (due to the practice of block-booking), there was no way to see all the animated product available that year. It is not unreasonable to assume that the average American did not see all 162 animated shorts. It is more likely that this person saw far less than half of it. Thus, even though the amount of animation produced in 1940 was minimal by today's standards the delivery system was more limited still. It is worth noting that (outside of puerile "fan clubs" dedicated to an individual cartoon character) there was no consolidated "fandom," no magazines or journals dedicated to the medium, and no serious study of animation to speak of.