ToonHeads "A Night of Independent Animation" (found special of Cartoon Network animation anthology series; 1996)

Promo title card.

Status: Found

Date found: 22 Aug 2023

Found by: Jeremy Jusay

ToonHeads was an anthology series aired on Cartoon Network from 1992-2003. The series featured collections of many cartoons from various animators, usually with certain themes, and in between would feature trivia and background information about the cartoon playing.

Details

On October 20th, 1996, ToonHeads aired a special called A Night of Independent Animation, featuring winning shorts from the ASIFA-East Animation Festival. The special went undocumented with few mentions online. This special aired at 10:00 PM. For a long time, it was entirely unknown exactly what all of the shorts shown in the special were; the following shorts were confirmed to be seen by viewers, some of which were once lost in their entirety.

On August 22nd, 2023, Jeremy Jusay from Augenblick Studios uploaded the entire A Night of Independent Animation episode after getting in contact with Jerico Dvorak. This copy contains the original ads and can be viewed here.

The "Plugman" and "Yak Flack" Shorts

On January 23rd, 2019, a post was made to the LMW forums by James Calico (also known as ceol). The post contained information about a short he had seen as a child but didn't know the title, nor where it had come from.

"One of the short films was so striking that it's stayed with me to this day almost 24 years later. It had a modern style of animation. It was very minimalist, done with just a few simple black lines that create shapes and impressions without details — a man in a suit sitting at a desk, a picture of his family on the desk. A Southern or African American narrator (He has a draw) talks about him and his life. The man finds a chord attached to his foot, and yanks on it. He's never noticed it before, but he notices it goes down the hallway. He follows it gathering it up as he walks. It leads him to an actual wall outlet where he's apparently plugged in. He pulls the plug from the wall, everything fades to white, and the narrator says something like "And no one ever heard from him again."

Lost Media Wiki user and YouTuber Captain B. Zarre ended up bringing up a promo on Cartoon Network for A Night of Independent Animation. The original poster has confirmed it to be the short as well as another user who had seen the short, Terry the Cat, recalling it looking as it did in the promo.

No title was mentioned in the promo, but a very small snippet of what could be the scene of the short with a man pulling a plug from a socket is shown.

The short is thought to be Aaron Augenblick's The Wire, but no confirmation has been made, considering that short is completely lost.

The Paul Fierlinger short is believed to possibly be "I'll Be There" from 1994, as the plot of that short involves a man trapped in an airport, which seems to fit the screenshot seen in the gallery. However, it is not confirmed, as "I'll Be There" is one of Fierlinger's shorts that is completely lost.

On February 28th, 2019, Aaron Augenblick, the creator of The Wire, uploaded the short to his YouTube channel, thus leaving only one remaining lost short from the special.

On March 13th, 2019, LMW user William0619 messaged Paul Fierlinger's Vimeo account, asking them about their lost short from the special. They answered back with:

"Hi. Yak Flack. So long ago... I have no idea where to look for it. Used for in-house USHealthcare on film in the early 90s- never shown on TV. We are miserable when it comes to archiving. Could be on a 3/4 tape in a box in the basement."

This confirms the short's name. It's also possible that it could surface if Fierlinger "does" have the short, but as of yet, he has not been asked to check.

On May 4th, 2019, Paul uploaded the short to Vimeo, therefore making all of the known shorts found. However, there are likely still bridging segments that are missing.

List of Known Shorts

#	Short Title	Creator	Description	Status
1	Another Bad Day for Philip Jenkins	Mo Willems	Philip Jenkins is unwanted. He walks head down, sad, in a suit, hat, and wire-rim glasses. In this nearly wordless animation, bad things happen to him.	Found
2	Buy My Film!	John Schnall	Selling oneself, living to animate vs animating to live, and good old-fashioned hucksterism.	Found
3	The Ballad of Archie Foley	Buzzco Associates	A sentimental look at one man's life, as it passes before his ears.	Found
4	Yak Flack	Paul Fierlinger	A commercial for US Healthcare.	Found
5	The Wire	Aaron Augenblick	A man discovers a wire coming from his back and follows said wire to an outlet where it's plugged into.	Found

Gallery

Images

• 

  A picture of part of The Wire. Taken from the promo.

• 

  A picture of part of Yak Flack. Taken from a longer version of the promo.

Videos

A 15-second bumper for A Night of Independent Animation.

The previously lost short The Wire by Aaron Augenblick.

LSuperSonicQ's video on the subject.

See Also

ToonHeads

• ToonHeads (partially lost Cartoon Network animation anthology series; 1992-2003)

Anthology and Short Series

• Big Bag (partially found Cartoon Network live-action animated puppet series; 1996-1998)
• The Moxy Show (partially found Cartoon Network CGI animated anthology series; 1993-1995)
• Sunday Pants (partially lost Cartoon Network animated anthology series; 2005)
• Villainous (partially found Cartoon Network Mexico online animated short series; 2012-2013)
• What a Cartoon! (found Cartoon Network animated anthology series; 1995-1997)
• Youri, the Spaceman (found Cartoon Network France CGI animated short series; 2002)

Audio

• Adventure Time (lost uncensored episode commentaries from Cartoon Network animated series DVDs; 2012-2014)
• Akazukin Chacha (partially found Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; 1998)
• Ani-Yoko: My Next Door Neighbor (lost Cartoon Network Philippines English dub of anime; 2008)
• Class of 3000 (found original English audio of Cartoon Network animated musical series; 2006-2008)
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy "Matinee Mandy" (lost original English audio of Cartoon Network animated short; 2007)
• Heidi, Girl of the Alps (partially found Cartoon Network India English dub of anime; 2001)
• Mojacko (lost Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; 2013)
• My Melody (lost Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; mid-2000s)
• Out of Jimmy's Head (found Cartoon Network live-action/animated teen sitcom; 2007-2008)
• Spaced Out (partially found Cartoon Network UK English dub of French animated series; 2000s)
• Sugar Sugar Rune (lost Cartoon Network Philippines English dub of anime; 2011)
• Uncle Gus (partially lost original English audio of Cartoon Network animated pilots; 2000-2001)
• Yatterman (lost Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; 2011)
• Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? (partially lost unreleased original voice audio and unfinished/unknown Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2002-2003)
• Zoids Genesis (partially found Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; 2007)

Bumpers and Interstitials

• The Big Game XXVI: Tom vs. Jerry (found Cartoon Network marathon special; 1998)
• Cartoon Network (partially found "High Noon Toons" bumpers from TV channel block; 1994-1996)
• Cartoon Network (partially lost "Nood" bumpers from TV channel; 2008-2010)
• Cartoon Network "Cartoon Network Responds!" (partially lost interstitials from TV channel; 1997-1999)
• Cartoon Network Mayors' Awards of Excellence (partially found interstitials of Cartoon Network Philippines civic campaign; 2000s)
• Cartoon Network NBA All-Star Slam (found interviews of marathon; 2003)
• Cartoon Planet (partially found bumpers of revival block of Cartoon Network animated variety series; 2012)
• Codename: Kids Next Door Mission Weekend (partially found marathon bumpers for Cartoon Network animated series; 2003)
• Fridays aka "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays" (partially found interstitials from Cartoon Network channel block; 1999–2007)
• Hotdog TV (partially found Cartoon Network interstitial series; 2010)
• Ice King Steals Christmas (partially found Cartoon Network UK Christmas themed bumpers starring "Adventure Time" character; 2015-2018)
• JBVO, Toon FM & Viva Las Bravo (partially found interstitials from Cartoon Network channel blocks; early-mid 2000s)
• Tickle-U (partially found Cartoon Network preschool block; 2005-2006)
• VBirds: Perfect (lost Cartoon Network UK interstitial series of British virtual girl group; 2003)

Pilots

• Ben 10 (partially found pitch pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; early-mid 2000s)
• Billy and Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You (found prototype short of "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" Cartoon Network animated series; 1995)
• Camp Lazlo "Monkey See, Camping Doo" (lost pitch pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2004)
• Captain Sturdy (found Cartoon Network animated pilots; 2001/2003)
• Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe (partially lost pitch pilots from British animation studio; 2008-2011)
• Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (found pitch pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2003)
• Imp Inc. (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2001)
• Jeffrey Cat: Claw and Order "All Dogs Don't Go to Heaven" (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2002)
• A Kitty Bobo Show (found storyboard of cancelled second animated pilot for Cartoon Network; 2002)
• Major Flake in "Soggy Sales" (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2001)
• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (partially lost unaired "Wedgies" pilot and short of Cartoon Network animated series; 2007)
• Mess O' Blues (partially found prototype short of "Johnny Bravo" Cartoon Network animated series; 1993)
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey (lost pitch pilots of Cartoon Network animated series; 2003/2004)
• The Powerpuff Girls (lost pitch pilot of Cartoon Network animated series reboot; early-mid 2010s)
• Project Gilroy (lost Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2007)
• Regular Show (non-existent Flash pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; late 2000s-2010)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (partially found pitch pilots of Cartoon Network adult animated comedy series; 1993)
• Squirrel Boy "Kite Makes Right" (partially found pitch pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2004)
• What's Wrong With Ruth? (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2007)

Live-Action

• Bobb'e Says (partially found Cartoon Network live-action clip series; 2009)
• BrainRush (partially lost Cartoon Network live-action game show; 2009)
• Track Rats (partially found Cartoon Network reality short series; 2010)
• The Othersiders (found Cartoon Network paranormal reality series; 2009)

Other Cartoon Network Series

• The Amazing World of Gumball (partially lost deleted scenes of Cartoon Network animated series; 2011-2019)
• The Amazing World of Gumball "The Downer" (lost original draft of Cartoon Network animated series episode; existence unconfirmed; 2012-2014)
• The Amazing World of Gumball "The Rex" (partially found production material of cancelled Cartoon Network animated series episode; 2012)
• Ben 10 (partially found pop-up trivia version of Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2008)
• Chowder (lost pop-up trivia version of Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2010)
• Chowder (lost production material of cancelled Cartoon Network TV film; 2009)
• Codename: Kids Next Door (lost production material of cancelled Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2002-2008)
• Dexter's Laboratory "Rude Removal" (found unaired Cartoon Network animated series episode; 1997)
• Droopy's Guide to the Cartoon Network (found launch preview of TV channel special; 1992)
• Ed, Edd n Eddy "Luck Be an Ed Tonight"/"A Room with an Ed" (rumored/lost unfinished Cartoon Network animated series episodes; existence unconfirmed; 2005)
• Ed, Edd n Eddy "Special Ed" (non-existent unproduced Cartoon Network animated series episode; late 1990s/early 2000s)
• Hall of Game Awards (partially found Cartoon Network award show; 2011-2014)
• I Heart Tuesdays (lost production material of cancelled Cartoon Network animated series; 2011-2012)
• I-10: The Ben 10 User Generated Experience (found Cartoon Network TV special; 2008)
• Mixels (partially found unaired/unproduced episodes of Cartoon Network animated comedy series based on LEGO toy line; 2014-2016)
• OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes "Crossover Nexus" (partially found original 22-minute version of Cartoon Network animated series episode; 2010s)
• Skatoony (found original British version of Cartoon Network quiz show; 2006-2008)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (partially lost Gametap episodes of Cartoon Network adult animated comedy series; 2006-2008)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast "Snatch" (lost script of ending of Cartoon Network adult animated comedy series episode; 1999)
• Sym-Bionic Titan (lost production material of cancelled Cartoon Network animated series episodes; early 2010s)

External Links

• The Wikipedia article on Toonheads.