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In order to gain more creative control, Bluth parted company with Spielberg on his next film, the 1989 release ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]''. While the film had the misfortune of opening the same day as Disney's ''The Little Mermaid'', it fared much better on home video.<ref name = "Lenburg">{{cite web|last=Lenburg |first=Jeff |title=Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators |date=June 2006 |publisher=Applause Books |isbn=1-55783-671-X |page=32}}</ref>
The early 1990s were difficult for the studio; it released several box office failures. In 1992, ''[[Rock-a-Doodle]]'' was panned by critics and ignored by audiences; its dismal box-office performance of $11,657,385<ref>{{cite web|title=Rock-a-Doodle (1992) |work=Box Office Mojo |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rock-a-doodle.htm}}</ref> contributed to Sullivan Bluth's bankruptcy. Bluth's next feature, 1994's ''[[Thumbelina]]'' fared no better critically or commercially, while ''[[A Troll in Central Park]]'', also released in 1994, barely got a theatrical release, grossing $71,368 against a budget of $23,000,000 (or ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|71368|1994}}}} against ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|23000000|1994|r=-2}}}} in current terms).<ref>{{cite web|title=A Troll in Central Park (1994) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=troll_in_central_park.htm}}</ref> Bluth and his partner [[Gary Goldman]] pulled out of 1995's ''[[The Pebble and the Penguin]]'' before it was completed due to disagreements with its distributor, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. The remaining work needed to complete the film—thirty percent of the total—was finished by a Hungarian studio, and Bluth and Goldman took their names off the film.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}
Sullivan Bluth Studios closed in 1995. Bluth and Goldman returned to the United States a year earlier to discuss the creation of a feature-animation division at [[20th Century Fox]]; the studio's three previous animated films (''[[Ferngully the Last Rainforest|FernGully: The Last Rainforest]]'', ''[[Once Upon a Forest]]'', and the live-action/animation combo ''[[The Pagemaster]]'') had all failed. ''[[Anastasia (1997 filmAnimation)|Anastasia]]'', a musical remake of the [[Anastasia (1956 film)|1956 film]] with [[Ingrid Bergman]], did far better than any Bluth film since ''All Dogs Go To Heaven'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Anastasia (1997) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=anastasia.htm}}</ref> but the 2000 release of ''[[Titan A.E.]]'', a film far different from the ones Bluth had been making up until then, was a flop. [[Fox Animation Studios]] closed soon afterwards; nearly all [[20th Century Fox Animation|Fox feature animation]] was produced by its [[Blue Sky Studios]] unit until the Fox Animation Studios imprint was revived, without Bluth or Goldman, in 2009.
===Warner Bros. {{anchor|A New Generation of Warner Bros. Cartoons}}===
After parting ways with Bluth, Spielberg turned to television animation, working with the [[Warner Bros. ]] studio to bring back its animation department, which it had abandoned in the 1960s. A team of former [[Hanna-Barbera]] employees led by [[Tom Ruegger ]] formed a new studio, [[Warner Bros. Animation ]], to produce ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]],'' an animated series that paid homage to the Warner Bros. cartoons of [[Termite Terrace ]]. The popularity of ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' among young TV viewers made the studio a contender once again in the field of animated cartoons. ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' was followed by ''[[Animaniacs|Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs]]'' and its spinoff ''[[ Pinky and The Brain|Pinky and the Brain]]''. Not only did these cartoons bring in new viewers to Warner Bros., they also captured the attention of older viewers. Warner Bros., minus Spielberg, continued with work such as ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''. ''Batman'' quickly received wide acclaim for its animation and mature writing, and it also inspired [[Batman: Mask of the Phantasm|a feature film]]. Combined, these four Warner Bros. series won a total of 17 [[Daytime Emmy Awards ]]. ▼{{See also|Warner Bros. Animation}}
▲After parting ways with Bluth, Spielberg turned to television animation, working with the [[Warner Bros.]] studio to bring back its animation department, which it had abandoned in the 1960s. A team of former [[Hanna-Barbera]] employees led by [[Tom Ruegger]] formed a new studio, [[Warner Bros. Animation]], to produce ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]],'' an animated series that paid homage to the Warner Bros. cartoons of [[Termite Terrace]]. The popularity of ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' among young TV viewers made the studio a contender once again in the field of animated cartoons. ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' was followed by ''[[Animaniacs|Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs]]'' and its spinoff ''[[Pinky and the Brain]]''. Not only did these cartoons bring in new viewers to Warner Bros., they also captured the attention of older viewers. Warner Bros., minus Spielberg, continued with work such as ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''. ''Batman'' quickly received wide acclaim for its animation and mature writing, and it also inspired [[Batman: Mask of the Phantasm|a feature film]]. Combined, these four Warner Bros. series won a total of 17 [[Daytime Emmy Awards]].
When Disney's feature animation surged in the 1990s, Warner Bros. tried to capitalize on their rival's success with animated feature films of their own, without the assistance of Spielberg. Their films—''[[Cats Don't Dance]]'', ''[[Quest for Camelot]]'' and ''[[The Iron Giant]]''—failed to come close to Disney's success, although ''Cats Don't Dance'' and ''The Iron Giant'' both received critical praise and developed cult followings. The 2001 live action/animation hybrid ''[[Osmosis Jones]]'', starring [[Bill Murray]], was a costly commercial failure,<ref>{{cite web|title=Osmosis Jones (2001) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=osmosisjones.htm}}</ref> although its home video performance proved successful enough for the studio's TV animation department to produce a short-lived spin-off series called ''[[Ozzy and Drix]]''.
The perennially-popular ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' characters made a comeback. While the older shorts continued to enjoy countless reruns and compilation specials (and a few compilation films), new ''Looney Tunes'' short features were made in the 1990s. Inspired by the success of Disney's ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' and a series of [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]] and [[McDonald's]] commercials teaming the characters with basketball superstar [[Michael Jordan]], the studio produced the live-action/animation combo ''[[Space Jam]]'' in 1996. The film received mixed reviews, but was a major commercial success.<ref>{{cite web|title=Space Jam (1996) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spacejam.htm}}</ref> However, another 2003 feature, ''[[Looney Tunes: Back in Action]]'', was a box-office flop, grossing about three-quarter of its $80 million budget worldwide(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|80000000|2003|r=-2}}}} in current terms),<ref>{{cite web|title=Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=looneytunesbackinaction.htm}}</ref> but received more positive critical reviews. Other modern ''Looney Tunes'' projects were in a different vein. Unlike the original shorts, ''[[Taz-Mania]]'' (1991-1995) and ''[[Baby Looney Tunes]]'' (2001-2006) were aimed primarily at young children, while ''[[Loonatics Unleashed]]'' (2005-2007) was a controversial revamping of the characters in the distant future. ''[[The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries]]'' (1995-2000) and ''[[Duck Dodgers (TV series)|Duck Dodgers]]'' (2003-2005) were very well received shows and were relatively more faithful to the original shorts. ''[[The Looney Tunes Show]]'' (2011-2014) was a modern more adult-oriented sitcom and ''[[Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production]]'' (2015-) was a modernized series of Bugs Bunny shorts in the ''Looney Tunes'' tradition, but both shows still got a slightly better reception from audiences than ''Baby Looney Tunes'' or ''Loonatics Unleashed''.
===Ralph Bakshi {{Anchor|Bakshi returns}}===
[[Ralph Bakshi]], director of ground-breaking animated films like ''[[Fritz the Cat (filmanimation)|Fritz the Cat]]'' and the original ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 filmanimation)|Lord of the Rings]]'' film, returned to animation after taking a short break in the mid-1980s. In 1985, he teamed up with young [[Canadian]]-born-and-raised animator [[John Kricfalusi]] to make a hybrid live-action/animated music video for [[The Rolling Stones]]' ''The Harlem Shuffle'', which was released in early 1986.
The music video put together a production team at Bakshi Animation whose next project was the short-lived TV series ''[[Mighty Mouse the New Adventures|Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures]]''. Bakshi and company worked on several other projects in the late 1980s, but his biggest project, 1992's ''[[Cool World]]'', was a critically panned commercial disappointment.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cool World (1992) |work=Box Office Mojo |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=coolworld.htm}}</ref> In 2005, Bakshi announced that he would begin working on another feature film, ''[[Last Days of Coney Island]]'', which he is financing himself and producing independently. Bakshi suspended production on the film in 2008,<ref>{{cite web
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===Outsourcing animation===
The major reason for the increase in the quantity of American animation was the ability to [[outsource]] the actual physical animation work to cheaper animation houses in countries in South and Southeast Asia. Writing, character design, and storyboarding would be done in American offices. Storyboards, model sheets, and color guides would then be mailed overseas. This would sometimes cause troubles as none of the final product would be seen until the completed cels were mailed back to the United States.
While budget became much less of an issue, overseas production houses would be chosen on a per-episode—or even per-scene—basis depending on the amount of money that was available at the moment. This resulted in obviously different levels of quality from episode to episode. This was particularly noticeable in shows like ''[[Gargoyles (TV series)|Gargoyles]]'' and ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'', where at times characters would appear wildly off-model, requiring scenes to be redone to the dismay of their directors.
==First-run syndicated animation==
The older Bugs Bunny and Popeye cartoons made way for first-run [[Television syndication|syndicated]] cartoons such as ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'', ''[[Rambo: The Force of Freedom]]'', ''[[Thundercats|ThunderCats]]'', ''[[Dennis the Menace (1986 TV seriesanimation)|Dennis the Menace]]'', ''[[My Little Pony]]'', ''[[The Transformers (TV seriesanimation)|The Transformers]]'', ''[[G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1985 TV series)|G.I. Joe]]'', ''[[Voltron]]'', and reruns of ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'', ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'' and ''[[Pink Panther (character)|The Pink Panther]]'', among many others.
InAfter 1987its success with Gummy Bears in 1985, [[The Walt Disney Company]] triedcontinued its luck atwith syndication;. ''[[DuckTales]]'' went on the air thatin September 1987 and lasted 100 episodes. The success of ''DuckTales'' paved the way for a second series two years later, ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]''. The following year, the two shows aired together under the umbrella title ''[[The Disney Afternoon]]''. In 1991, Disney added another hour; the block aired in syndication until 1999.
These cartoons initially competed with the nationally broadcast ones. In the 1980s, national TV only aired [[Saturday morning cartoon|Saturday mornings]], not competing with the weekday and Sunday blocks of syndication aired by local independent stations but; however, by the 1990s, Fox and then WB started airing weekday afternoon blocks. By the end of the 1990s, both syndicated and national TV ended up losing most of its children's market to the rise of [[Cable television|cable]] TV channels like [[Nickelodeon]], [[Disney Channel]] and [[Cartoon Network]] which provided appealing children's entertainment throughout the week at nearly all hours.
==The fall of Saturday morning==
===From Hanna-Barbera to Cartoon Network===
{{See also|Hanna-Barbera|Cartoon Network}}
The late 1980s and 1990s saw huge changes in the Saturday-morning landscape. By now, the once-prosperous [[Hanna-Barbera Productions]] was beleaguered by several factors. First of all, its dominance over the networks' schedules was broken by other studios' shows. Second, when ''[[The Smurfs]]'' was cancelled by NBC in 1990, Hanna-Barbera had no other hits on the air. Finally, its ability to successfully exploit older characters like ''[[The Flintstones]]'' and ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' with new shows was coming to an end; ''Scooby-Doo'' would end a near-continuous 22-year first-run after its most recent [[Younger and junior versions of cartoon characters|juniorized]] version, ''[[A Pup Named Scooby Doo|A Pup Named Scooby-Doo]]'', ended its run in 1991. The 1990 theatrical release of ''[[Jetsons the Movie|Jetsons: The Movie]]'' was a success for the fading studio and earned $20 million (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|20000000|1990|r=-2}}}} in today's dollars).<ref>{{cite web|title= Jetsons: The Movie (1990) |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jetsonsthemovie.htm |work=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> In 1987, [[American Financial Group|Great American Insurance Company]] owner [[Carl Lindner, Jr.]] became the majority shareholder of Hanna-Barbera's parent company, [[Taft Broadcasting]], renaming it Great American Communications.
Great American wanted out of the entertainment business, and Hanna-Barbera was sold to the [[Turner Broadcasting System]] in 1991. Ted Turner had expressed that he mainly wanted ownership of the studio's back catalog; its launch of [[Cartoon Network]] on October 1, 1992 provided a new audience for Hanna-Barbera cartoons, both old and new.
In 1989, producer [[Tom Ruegger]] had led an exodus of Hanna-Barbera staffers to restart [[Warner Bros. Animation]]. At first, the studio was constantly under threat of closure.<ref name="Strike 1">{{cite web|last =Strike |first =Joe |title=The Fred Seibert Interview, Part 1 |work=Animation World Magazine |date= 2003-07-15 |url=http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&category2=&article_no=1800&page=3 |page= 3 }}</ref> However, under [[Fred Seibert]]'s guidance, Hanna-Barbera's new staff (whose ranks included [[Seth MacFarlane]], [[Butch Hartman]], and [[Genndy Tartakovsky]]) created a new generation of Hanna-Barbera cartoons in the 1990s such as ''[[Two Stupid Dogs|2 Stupid Dogs]]'', ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'', ''[[Cow and Chicken]]'', ''[[I Am Weasel]]'' and ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. Alongside these Hanna-Barbera cartoons, shows from other companies also premiered on the channel such as ''[[Space Ghost Coast to Coast]]'', ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' and ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]''. These shows were designed to appeal to adults as well as children, and thus incorporated plenty of "adult humor", such as pop-culture references and veiled sexual innuendos.
[[Time Warner]] acquired Turner in 1996, and thus inherited the rights to all of Hanna-Barbera's creative properties. This allowed Cartoon Network to begin airing all of the classic ''Looney Tunes'' shorts as well (previously, Turner had owned only the ''Looney Tunes'' shorts produced before August 1948, which had become part of the MGM/UA library).<ref>{{cite web|last=Balio|first=Tino|title=United Artists, Volume 2, 1951–1978: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, Volume 2
|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=0299230139|page=106}}</ref> Cartoon Network's success with original programming lead them to move the reruns of old Hanna-Barbera and ''Looney Tunes'' cartoons to their spin-off channel [[Boomerang (channel)|Boomerang]].
In 1997, Fred Seibert left Hanna-Barbera to found [[Frederator Studios|his own studio]].<ref name = "Strike 2">{{cite web|last =Strike |first=Joe |title=The Fred Seibert Interview, Part 2 |work=Animation World Magazine |page=1 |date= 2003-08-04 |url= http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=1825}}</ref> In 1998, Hanna-Barbera moved to the same building as Warner Bros. Animation; the use of the Hanna-Barbera name for new productions ended with William Hanna's death in 2001. Hanna and Barbera continued to work as Time Warner employees and consultants until their respective deaths in 2001 and 2006; the name is still used for productions based on properties originally created during the Hanna-Barbera era. [[Cartoon Network Studios]] now handles most original animation for the network.
===Nickelodeon===
In 1991, [[Nickelodeon]] introduced ''[[The Ren &and Stimpy Show|The Ren & Stimpy Show]]''. ''Ren & Stimpy'' was a wild and off-beat series that violated all the restrictions of Saturday morning cartoons, instead favoring the outrageous style of the shorts from the Golden Age period. The series' creator, [[John Kricfalusi]]—a [[Ralph Bakshi]] protege—was largely influenced by the classic works of [[Bob Clampett]]. In spite of the show's popularity, the show was beset with production delays and censorship battles with Nickelodeon, which fired Kricfalusi in 1992. The show continued under the production of the network-owned Games Animation company until 1996, though many animators departed with Kricfalusi. [[Spike (TV network)|TNN]] revived the show in [[Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"|a more risqué form]] in 2003, with Kricfalusi receiving more creative freedom, but it only lasted ten episodes.
[[Nickelodeon]] also gave birth to hit shows such as ''[[Doug (TV series)|Doug]]'', ''[[Rugrats]]'', ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'', ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'', ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'', ''[[CatDog]]'', ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'' and ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Many of these shows spawned successful theatrical films as well, most notably ''Rugrats'' (which garnered 3 films), ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (which has garnered 2 theatrical films and several TV movies) and ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (which garnered both a [[The Legend of Korra|sequel series]] and a live action film.)
===Other cable networks===
The [[Disney Channel]] switched from pay-cable to basic cable in the late 1990s, and launched a number of successful animated shows such as ''[[The Proud Family]]'' and ''[[Kim Possible]]''. Around the same time, it launched [[Toon Disney]], a channel specifically intended for animation (which has since been replaced by [[Disney XD (United States)|Disney XD]]). Their current most successful series are ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', ''[[Gravity Falls]]'', ''[[Wander Over Yonder]]'', ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew|Mew Mew Power]]'', and ''[[Star vs. the Forces of Evil]]''.
On [[Cable television|cable TV]], [[Nickelodeon]], the [[Disney Channel]], and the [[Cartoon Network]] grew to a point where they were competitive with the broadcast networks.
===Broadcast networks===
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