Cartoon Network UK - Continuity and Adverts - 1999

I recently inherited a bunch of someone’s old VHS tapes - I must have been bitten by a radioactive one or something, because I swear I’m magnetized to these things - and lo and behold, I stumbled across a little bit of Cartoon Network! Only an hour, mind you, but beggars can’t be choosers.
This is most likely from sometime in 1999, so I'm reliably informed. But anyway, it starts off with some good news, as Dexter’s father finally discovers who’s got his pig. I’m just as proud as he is.
After the Cartoon Network logo fidgets around a bit, there’s a promo for the channel’s weekday line-up, featuring Freakazoid. Yeah, Freakazoid. Everyone’s favourite superhero, right? I loved him in Avengers: Endgame.
Next, an amusing promo that’s certainly a product of its time. Narrated by Tom Baker, of all people, it’s a fake advert for a series of commemorative Jabberjaw plates, clearly made to parody the incessant Time Life-style infomercials that plagued the channel during this time. It’s pieces like this that really show they cared about the channel’s presentation, even going so far as to parody their own advertising quirks. If only they still did this kind of thing. I would have loved to see Steven Universe poking fun at endless PPI adverts.
Once all the Dexter tomfoolery is over, Cow and Chicken is up next, but not before a promo for Bravo Bravo, a programming block starring none other than Little Suzie. All right, all right - it’s Johnny Bravo. Though curiously not voiced by Jeff Bennett, this concept would later make its way to the U.S. in the form of JBVO, where kids would actually call in and talk to Johnny Bravo as if he were a real person. How come I missed out on THAT while growing up?
There’s a promo for some boring grown-up sport stuff over on CNN, followed by a plug for the short-lived animated series of The Mask, starring Not Jim Carrey. Much like the animated Ace Ventura series, it’s pretty much faded away into obscurity, except for maniacal historians like myself who remember almost anything. I wish somebody would stop me.
After that is a peculiar promo for A-Z Smash Tennis, a marathon of tennis-themed episodes of all your favourite shows, of which there must be a surprising amount. Judging by the start of the promo, it seems this was preceded by some kind of live event where kids could throw around colourful balls and stuff. The channel had a few live events around this time, I believe, although the only one I ever went to was the Cartoon Network Roadshow in Cardiff. (What do ya mean, you don’t know what I’m talking about?)
A creative little ident leads into Cow and Chicken, followed by a few wacky transitions between episodes, and then there’s a promo for the channel’s morning weekend line-up, featuring The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries. It’s a mystery why they thought it fit in with The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter.
Then comes a promo for A.K.A. Not the studio responsible for Ed, Edd n Eddy, but another programming block. This was more of a late-night thing for experimental stuff like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, which I really enjoyed as a little four-year-old, for some reason. (Must have been the joy of having nightly TV all to myself, I suppose.)
Once Cow and Chicken’s done with, we get a promo for the nightly weekend line-up, featuring the world’s greatest superheroes: Batman, Superman, and… Captain Planet. Yeah, kind of fell at the last hurdle there, didn’t they?
More dull grown-up stuff ensues, but then comes the most pretentious promo for The Flintstones ever created. Again, a rare thing when a TV channel actively mocks advertising of the day, given the advertisers are the ones coughing up all the cash to keep the cartoons afloat. All right, so it’s a bit like punching the guy who’s about to give you a million dollars, but we love them all the same for it.
But with class comes crass, as the next promo is for Dexter’s Lavatory, an odd little spin-off that very few people remember. I can’t imagine why. Also note the start time: 10:30 at night. Either the channel was actively encouraging kids to stay up way past their bedtime, or they were intelligent enough to assume adults liked this stuff as well. I enjoy both options.
Finally, after a spot of boxing with the logo, it’s time for Hong Kong Phooey, back when the channel actually showed toons from earlier decades. Nowadays, they’d probably spit in your face if you asked them to repeat Chowder.

[@Gondarth]

There's just something special about Cartoon Network. If you loved it in the 90s, you end up loving it when clips from the 90s appear online. It's the ultimate Nostalgia Time Machine.

[@mutaitomaster]

It feels even better to watch this on a CRT TV or a CRT monitor set to 25 Hz interlaced. This special frequency makes you feel like back in the day.

[@vocalist92]

Tom Baker narrating Jabbajaw collectible dinnerware was a lost memory I'm glad I was reminded of

[@Hulk2k6]

Even if school was gonna be shit that day, it was nice to know this was on when you got in.

[@wwg2005]

4:56 Cartoon Cartoons!!! I'm not American, I just forgot we had Cartoon Cartoons here in EMEA (UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa) which is why AKA Cartoon Aired Monday To Thursday.

[@tbone8612]

thanks for uploading these these are the bumpers and shows of my childhood

[@DennisTamayo]

In September of 1999, Tiny Toon Adventures first aired on Cartoon Network in the UK from ITV.

[@thomaskapun363]

i remember it, a month later Cartoon Network UK was encrypted! But i have one question,was Animaniacs & Freakazoid in UK the TV premiere on ITV?

[@matthewfender1993]

Bravo, Bravo! Weekday Mornings 07:00 AM On Cartoon Network!

[@anasfarahi4401]

You have no idea how amazing you are my friend

[@emmachavarria9361]

That Episode Is Dollhouse Drama.

[@fr3ddytv3]

Do you know anyone else other than Gondarth who releases the full vhs tapes with the shows in them?

[@PrincessStingy]

Thank you so much for this! Very nostalgic. There's a few adverts on Cartoon Network UK that I think about a lot but cannot find anywhere. Could anybody help? 1. Cartoon Network roadshow (I remember my parents took me to the roadshow in Portsmouth!) 2. Ed Edd n Eddy promo set to the song Pretty Fly for a White Guy 3. When CN went off air at 9pm, the characters from all shows would go to sleep and say goodnight to each other in the Cartoon Network logo.

[@brandongill2577]

4:39 The rest of that ID went like this. WORK was trying to mend itself back into the logo and the R popped into the air and the CAT scares the logo away and R lands wondering where the rest of its logo is and cowers out of the screen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqiWh2yea6eFkNE

[@anasfarahi4401]

I think this just might be from 1999 by the way, and seeing HKP at the end, guess that was late at night. EDIT: YES, it is definitely 1999. April maybe. BTW that Captain Planet slot was in fact almost always a Freakazoid slot. I dont know how that happened but I remember it very well. Somebody in scheduling must've hated CP.

[@BacktothePast]

Thanks for the info! I guess I can't blame them for replacing Captain Planet, given it wasn't very good.

[@thomaskapun363]

really? But i remember i see Captain Planet in this superhero block!

[@Hulk2k6]

They showed Captain Planet early in the channel's life but I guess it quickly lost popularity.

[@amaniwhite9622]

Say, what does HKP stand for?

[@thomaskapun363]

​@@amaniwhite9622 Hong Kong Phooey

[@proftornado]

Bruh Imagine if anyone bought those type of Jabberjaw stuff

[@BacktothePast]

I'm still waiting for them to deliver mine.

[@HalfbrickVHS]

Oh goodness i remember watching the A-Z Smash Tennis thing. I recall D for Dodgeball.. cue Dexter Dodgeball, then I for Inflatable.. cue Inflata Dee Dee. I miss when they did fun stuff like this around the schedule. Also never seen that Dexter's Lavatory promo. Been trying to find the equally amusing "Dexter's Neat and Tidy Bedroom" promo with original animation, but it's an impossible task.

[@matthewfender1993]

A-Z Smash Tennis! Next Sunday At 12:00PM On Cartoon Network!

[@robbietehrotten]

If you don't mind me asking, what do the other tapes contain?

[@BacktothePast]

There were about 40+ tapes, so just about every channel imaginable... except for the kids' channels, annoyingly. This was the only clip of Cartoon Network I could find out of all of them.

Out of curiosity, would you want the other two hours of Tex and Bugs?

[@BacktothePast]

Was there anything different in the last two hours from what I already posted?

Tex: a few things. Bugs: Not really, if anything they get worse.

I also got other tapes. They're not Cartoon Network, but are pretty damn good.

[@BacktothePast]

You can email them to me if you want. I'll have a look through 'em and see if I can edit something together.

[@matthewfender1993]

A-Z Smash Tennis! Next Sunday At 12:00PM On Cartoon Network!

[@AceHardy]

🙌💥

[@elizabethramirezsierra3700]

Marc Silk was the best voice of Johnny Bravo

[@elizabethramirezsierra3700]

He's my favorite ❤😍

[@Dementiumfan1990]

I much preferred the American voice of Johnny Bravo, the British one sounds way too weird. Willing to do an ad trade?

[@BacktothePast]

Trade, huh? What kind of adverts have you got?

[@Dementiumfan1990]

@@BacktothePast That weird Smile Train PSA where Aishwarya Rai develops a cleft lip in real time, Sega's Pirate TV advert from the UK, a 7Up advert that is referenced in the game Cool Spot, a spot for the Red Bull Flutag and a couple of radio PSAs for the US Forest Service