Dragon Ball Z.

Ronin Warriors.

G-Force.

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

Tenchi Muyo!/Universe/in Tokyo.

Blue Submarine Number Six.

Outlaw Star.

The Big O.

Dragon Ball.

Pilot Candidate.

What do all of these shows have in common, besides the fact that they have been/are/will be on the block? Yeah, they're all anime, but what's the other thing? Yep, that's right. They're not of North American decent.

You might not think there's anything wrong with that, but this is kind of a disturbing trend in the world of Toonami. From 1998 to 2001, there has only been four full-time shows that premiered on the block that have an origin in North America (not counting the week-long Beast Wars event in '98 and I'm not counting Powerpuff Girls, which premiered in '99 on TMR, but already aired in another capacity on CN), and these are, in order, "Superfriends," ReBoot, Batman, and Superman. That's all. For a block that supposed to be a mix of both North American and Japanese action-animation, the former isn't all that much represented on the block. In fact, it's hardly there.

Sure, an announcement for a pair of ReBoot movies was made last year, but overall, there's nothing remotely close to North American products coming to the block. Samurai Jack? Looks to be CCF-bound in July. Justice League? Seems like it's going to be Cartoon Network-bound in prime-time, far from Toonami. I mean, I'm just saying that, well, there should be more "Ameritoons" on the block. And no, Cartoon Network or Warner Bros. Animation shouldn't be the sole producers of them.

There are plenty of studios out there that have products out there. There's DiC, BKN (yeah, I know, they're technically German, but most of their products are developed in Los Angeles), Nelvana, Mainframe, and Sony (yeah, I know they're technically Japanese, but their production studios and entertainment management [i.e. movie and television studios] are based in the States). And no, there's nothing wrong with going to a competing studio for finding products. Afterall, Disney, Viacom, and Fox have a multitude of animators and creators out there that are willing to be more open.

Plus, I'd like to see the Warner animation studios (both WB Animation and Cartoon Network/Hanna-Barbera Studios) to try experimenting with more action. I mean, both studios have strong action franchises behind them. CN/HB has Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears's library of action heroes from Space Ghost to Herculoids to Thundarr to Centurions and Warner Bros have the Rankin-Bass triad (Thundercats, Silverhawks, and Tigersharks) as well as the extensive DC/Charlton/Fawcett/Wildstorm library of heroes and villians. So, it wouldn't be hard to recreate these in an animation form. However, both studios could do an even grander experiment, not unlike the What A Cartoon! experiement, but with new, action-animation creations formed as a result. It could be a weekly thing, showcasing two 12-minute shorts per week, and show it on Toonami. Of course, there could be an even bolder idea, like the end of the run, there could be a vote on which series could end up a full-fledged series on the block. It could be fun.

Let me finish up!