Boomerang becomes Cartoonito in the Middle East & North Africa on 4 September – with the best of Boomerang alongside exciting new shows filled with more laughs, more adventures and more friends.
There’s still plenty of room for long-time Boomerang favourites like Tom & Jerry, Mr Bean, Grizzy & the Lemmings and Looney Tunes Cartoons to shine alongside newer friends such as Dino Ranch, Thomas and Friends: All Engines Go and Lucas the Spider. Cartoonito brings them together – while adding brand-new shows like Batwheels, Bugs Bunny Builders and Interstellar Ella – just for starters – offering a wider variety of programmes filled with new friends, trusted fun, and extraordinary adventures for the whole family to enjoy.
With a line-up that champions creativity, teamwork, and inclusion, Cartoonito aims to support every child’s humanness by celebrating their unique selves and encouraging them to interact with others with empathy, respect, and fairness. Vanessa Brookman, Senior Vice President, Kids & Family EMEA for Warner Bros. Discovery said, “I am very proud that in the year we celebrate 100 years of Warner Bros., we are showing our commitment to our youngest audience by launching our preschool offering Cartoonito across EMEA. Celebrating individuality and originality, Cartoonito offers a safe space where kids and their families can laugh and learn alongside beloved characters. We are excited to introduce a new generation to our diverse slate of originals and to welcome them into the world of Warner Bros. Discovery’s iconic IPs with modern preschool adaptations of fan-favourite franchises Batwheels and Bugs Bunny Builders.”
Key unmissable shows that will join Cartoonito’s programming line-up include:
Batwheels – Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, “Batwheels” marks DC’s first-ever Batman preschool series, offering young viewers a high-speed, vibrant CGI-animated iteration of the Caped Crusader. Little ones and their families will ride along with an amazing team of super-vehicles—Bam (the Batmobile), Bibi (the Batgirl Cycle), Redbird (Robin’s racecar), Buff (the Bat-Truck), and Batwing (the Bat-plane)—as they help Batman, Batgirl, and Robin keep the streets of Gotham City safe. Whether it’s facing down the Legion of Zoom or one of Gotham City’s notorious Super-Villains, the Batwheels will use their incredible gadgets and creative teamwork to save the day.
Bugs Bunny Builders – Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the new preschool series is a first of its kind in Looney Tunes history, combining the wackiness, humor, and slapstick of the iconic characters with a modern Humancentric Learning curriculum that will promote children’s fascination with building and design, and help preschoolers cultivate essential skills—including self-expression, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, scientific and mathematical thinking. In the series, Bugs and Lola are managers of the Looney Builders construction crew comprised of Daffy, Porky, Tweety, and more familiar Looney faces. Together, the team helps their fellow citizens of Looneyburg with zany building projects. Whether building a thrilling new racetrack or creating an out-of-this-world ice cream sundae, no job is too big or wild for the Looney Builders when they work as a team and utilize their super-looney tools and souped-up vehicles.
Interstellar Ella – A 3D CGI animated show packed with action, comedy and interstellar adventure as Ella and her friends discover amazing things about comets, planets and all the incredible stuff that makes up their home, the Milky Way galaxy. Produced by Belgium’s Fabrique Fantastique and Canada’s Apartment 11.
Lucas the Spider – A new CGI-animated show from Fresh TV in association with WexWorks Media with CAKE handling international distribution and is based on a viral YouTube hit that follows the adventures of an endearing young spider as he and his friends try to navigate the big world around them.
Mush-Mush & the Mushables – Produced by France’s La Cabane and Belgium’s Thuristar in coproduction with CAKE, Mush-Mush & The Mushables is a new show that follows the endearing Mushable community as they embark on a journey to put the fun back into fun-gi! As pocket-size guardians of the forest, growing up isn’t always easy, but together each day shines just as bright as the one before. The show was created by Elfriede de Rooster and directed by Joeri Christiaen.
Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go – From Mattel Television, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go invites pre-schoolers all aboard and follows the world’s Number One Tank Engine and his friends on their silliest and most musical adventures yet. Produced in vibrant, 2D animation in partnership with Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Studio, the show features a core cast of five young engines: Thomas, his best friend Percy, rival Diesel, the adventurous world traveller Nia and an all-new electric high-speed rail train, Kana.
Toad & Friends – A CG animated show based on Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. The show celebrates the countryside, following the humorous adventures of Toad, Ratty, Mole and Hedge on the riverbank as they learn about moral courage, respect and the value of friendship. Produced by Hoho Entertainment.
Cartoonito will be available as a pay TV channel across the MENA region from 4 September 2023.