Cartoon Network Shorts Department

*Cartoon Network Shorts Department*
Cartoon Network Shorts Department
Created by	Cartoon Network Studios
Countries of origin	United States; Australia
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Brian A. Miller (2013-2020); Jennifer Pelphrey (2013-2020); Rob Sorcher (2013-2020); Curtis Lelash (2013–2018); Mike Roth (2017–2018); Nick Jennings (2018–2021); Tramm Wigzell (2018–2020); Sam Register (2020-2021);
Producers	Nate Funaro (2013–2017); Scott Malchus (2017–2021); Sophia Monico (2019–2021); Jackie Buscarino (2021); Ryan Slater (2021);
Original release
Release	May 21, 2013
Related
	What a Cartoon!; The Cartoonstitute; Cartoon Cartoons; List of titles Steven Universe ; Clarence ; Over the Garden Wall ; We Bare Bears ; Long Live the Royals ; OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes ; Apple & Onion ; Craig of the Creek ; Summer Camp Island ; Victor and Valentino ; Infinity Train ; Tig n' Seek ; The Fungies! ; Invincible Fight Girl ;

Cartoon Network Shorts Department is the channel's artist development program for animated pilots that are created at Cartoon Network Studios. It was inaugurated and started in 2013 through online uploading of six titles, on May 21 for a short period, which three of them have been greenlit for a TV series at the start of the program.

The shorts program has since been superseded by the Cartoon Cartoons shorts program introduced in 2021. Nevertheless, a couple of shorts produced from 2017 to 2021 were released under the Cartoon Cartoons label.

The short Mushroom and the Forest of the World was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Format Children's Program.

List of pilots

United States

Title	Created by	Original premiere(s)	Animation by
Clarence	Skyler Page	May 21, 2013 (Online) February 17, 2014 (TV)	Saerom Animation
Lakewood Plaza Turbo / OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes	Ian Jones-Quartey	May 21, 2013 (Online)	Sunmin Image Pictures
Mars Safari!	Ghostshrimp		Eric Pringle and Nick Bertonazzi Jr.
My Science Fiction Project	Audie Harrison		Rough Draft Korea
Paranormal Roommates	Benton Connor		Saerom Animation
Steven Universe: "The Time Thing"	Rebecca Sugar		Rough Draft Korea
Tome of the Unknown: "Harvest Melody" / Over the Garden Wall	Patrick McHale	September 9, 2013 (LA Shorts Fest) May 18, 2015 (Online)
AJ's Infinite Summer	Toby Jones	May 16, 2014 (Online)
Long Live the Royals	Sean Szeles	May 16, 2014 (Online)	Saerom Animation
We Bare Bears	Daniel Chong	May 21, 2014 (KLIK! Festival) August 25, 2015 (TV)	Saerom Animation
Back to Backspace	Dominic Bisignano and Amalia Levari	November 12, 2014 (Online)	Rough Draft Korea
Pillywags Mansion	Sam Marin	November 12, 2014 (Online)	Swazzle
Jammers	Lizz Hickey	May 18, 2015 (Online)	John Berry, Sarah Gencarelli, Sara Pocock, Sarah Ramert and Tom Riffel
Ridin' with Burgess	Andres Salaff		Sunmin Image Pictures
Twelve Forever	Julia Vickerman		Sunmin Image Pictures
Apple & Onion	George Gendi	June 18, 2015 (Annecy Festival) May 2, 2016 (Online) May 14, 2016 (TV)	John Berry, Hozen Britto, Sarah Gencarelli, Bishoy Gendi, Sara Pocock, Sarah Ramert and Tom Riffel
Welcome to My Life	Elizabeth Ito	June 18, 2015 (Annecy Festival) April 7, 2017 (Online)	TeamTO
Bottom's Butte	Minty Lewis	November 20, 2015 (CTN Expo) May 2, 2016 (Online)	Digital eMation
Danger Planet	Derek Drymon	January 19, 2016 (Online)	Rough Draft Korea
Summer Camp Island	Julia Pott	March 17, 2016 (SXSW Festival) December 2, 2017 (CN App) April 25, 2018 (Online)	Rough Draft Korea
Victor and Valentino	Diego Molano	October 29, 2016 (TV) November 1, 2016 (Online)	Sunmin Image Pictures
Infinity Train	Owen Dennis	November 1, 2016 (VOD) November 2, 2016 (Online) February 11, 2017 (TV)	Sunmin Image Pictures
Legendary Place	Calvin Wong	March 4, 2017 (GLAS Festival) November 9, 2018 (Online)	Saerom Animation
The Fancies: "Fancytown"/"The Beach" /"Run Pam Run"/"Sir Tree" / The Fungies	Stephen P. Neary	July 30, 2017 (ABP Festival) May 8, 2019 (Online)	Saerom Animation
Unlovable	Esther Pearl Watson and Mark Todd	August 11, 2017 (HollyShorts Festival) August 10, 2026 (Online)	Rough Draft Korea
Tiggle Winks / Tig n' Seek	Myke Chilian	November 24, 2017 (CN App) January 8, 2018 (Online)
Craig of the Creek	Matt Burnett and Ben Levin	December 1, 2017 (CN App)
Mushroom and the Forest of the World	Madeleine Flores and J. Smith	October 14, 2018 (KLIK! Festival) April 26, 2019 (Online)	MUA Film
Sunshine Brownstone	Audie Harrison	November 17, 2018 (Online)	Iana Kushchenko, Nate Lowe, Sarah Ramert and Adam Scarpitta
Pops & Branwell	Pete Toms and Aleks Sennwald	January 27, 2019 (CFF Seattle) December 14, 2019 (Online)	Rough Draft Korea
Splitting Time	Gleb Sanchez-Lobashov	February 16, 2019 (BAICFF) December 21, 2019 (Online)	Saerom Animation
The Wonderful Wingits	Leticia Abreu Silva	February 16, 2019 (BAICFF) July 20, 2020 (Online)	MUA Film
Outrun Express	Jeremy Polgar	June 3, 2019 (Animatic)	N/A
Cadette in Charge	Henrique Jardim	February 6, 2020 (Online)	Saerom Animation
Trick Moon	Geneva Hodgson	July 21, 2020 (Online)	Digital eMation
Beetle + Bean	Nick Edwards	July 22, 2020 (Online)	Saerom Animation
Genie Hunters	Mike Milo	December 16, 2020 (Animatic)	Inspidea
Wild Help	Niki Yang	January 1, 2021 (Online)	In Efecto Animation Studio
Bird & Squirrel	James Burks	February 18, 2021 (CFF Seattle) February 25, 2024 (Workprint) February 16, 2026 (Online)	Studio Redfrog
Spirit Link	André LaMilza	October 5, 2023 (Workprint)	Takafumi Hori, Tiger Animation and André LaMilza
The Nonsense Tales of Alakasam!	Kyle Arneson and Aaron Preacher	May 4, 2025 (Workprint)	Ancient Order of the Wooden Skull
Afternoon Super	Ben Crouse and Jacob Sluka	February 9, 2026 (Online)	Rough Draft Korea
Greetings from Samson	Tiffany Ford	March 30, 2026 (Online)	Rough Draft Korea
OutRunners	Ashe Jacobson and Adam Ganse	June 8, 2026 (Online)	Tiger Animation
Turtle Rock	Jeff Liu	August 3, 2026 (Online)	Sunmin Image Pictures
The Invincible Fight Girl: Legend of the Swole / Invincible Fight Girl	Juston Gordon-Montgomery	TBD

International

Since 2016, the program has begun to expand to other countries where Cartoon Network Studios accept to commission (but not produce) those local short pilots, and the only title to be noticed in this process is Lasso & Comet.

Title	Created by	Country of origin	Co-production(s)	Original premiere(s)
Lasso & Comet	Ivan Dixon Developed by: Greg Sharp and Ivan Dixon	Australia	Rubber House Cartoon Network Asia Pacific	November 9, 2016 (Online)

Unproduced

These are shorts that were either never released to the public or were cancelled during production.

Title	Created by
Paradise is for the Birds	Brett Varon
Badass Babies	Zach Smith
HUE Chroma Warriors	Eric Trueheart
Kelvin Enus: Rent-a-Genius	John McNamee
Stinkalina	Eva Konstantopoulos and Jon Burgerman
Study Hallers	Ben Adams
Best Coast	Pedro Eboli and Mark Satterthwaite
Mikki and the Soca Teens	TBD
Seed Scouts
Tag Team! Legends of the Ring
The Kazoodles!

Notes

↑ Only puppet show/animated pilot of the program and the entire Cartoon Network Studios filmography.
↑ This pilot was greenlit as a series by Netflix.
↑ Label only; produced as part of The Cartoonstitute.
1 2 Despite these two pilots have being greenlit by Cartoon Network, their series move to premiering on HBO Max.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Released under the Cartoon Cartoons label.
↑ Based on the comic strip of the same name.
↑ Based off the children's book series of the same name.
1 2 Stop-motion
↑ Based off the children's book series of the same name.
↑ Based on the webcomic Samson at Work.
↑ Computer animation using motion capture

References

↑ "Next Generation of Animation - Behind The Scenes, Geek Week, Cartoon Network - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
↑ "Daytime Emmy Nominees: 'Elena of Avalor,' 'Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure' Lead Toon Contenders". Animation Magazine. May 21, 2020. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
↑ "Daytime Emmy Awards: 'Dragon Prince,' 'Ask the Storybots' & 'Last Kids on Earth' Win Key Animation Categories for Netflix". Animation Magazine. July 27, 2020. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
↑ "Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable animated short will be at Hollyshorts Film Festival from August 10–19th!". Twitter. August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
↑ "Motion Scientist". Archived from the original on 2019-07-15. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
↑ Jeremy Polgar (2019-06-03). "Outrun Express" Pilot. Retrieved 2026-05-02 – via YouTube.
↑ Mike Milo (2020-12-16). Genie Hunters: Unleashing Magic and Mayhem in a Perilous Adventure!. Retrieved 2026-05-04 – via YouTube.
↑ "Jiunn Jye Ooi - LinkedIn".
↑ "Bird & Squirrel short accepted into the (Virtual) Children's Film Festival Seattle 2021". James Burks. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
↑ "Animation". James Burks. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
↑ "Jill Calhoun, ACE - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
↑ André LaMilza (2023-10-05). Spirit Link Pilot. Retrieved 2026-06-28 – via Catbox.
↑ Kyle Arneson (2025-05-04). The Nonsense Tales of Alakasam! (2021 Cartoon Network pilot). Retrieved 2026-05-04 – via YouTube.
↑ "CN Doc Short on Vimeo". Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
↑ "SAMSON AT WORK". by tiffanyford. Archived from the original on 2023-12-23. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
↑ "JillCalhoun_AnimaticDemoReel_Vimeo2 on Vimeo". Archived from the original on 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
↑ "Outrunners" (PDF). Léandre Perrin. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
↑ "Turtke Rock! Soul Vibration Saga – Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 90004477 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
↑ "THE INVINCIBLE FIGHT GIRL: LEGEND OF THE SWOLE Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 90296051 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
↑ "Cartoon Network Grows its Australian-Made Original Animation in 2016". Time Warner, Inc. November 18, 2015. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
↑ "Brett Varon - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
↑ "Zach Smith - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
↑ "Eric Trueheart - StaffMeUp.com". Staff Me Up. Archived from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
↑ "KELVIN ENUS: RENT-A-GENIUS Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 97068365 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
↑ "Saeid Zameniateni". Instagram. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
↑ "Saeid Zameniateni (cont)". Instagram. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
↑ "Saeid Zameniateni (cont 2)". Instagram. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
↑ "Saeid Zameniateni (cont 3)". Instagram. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
↑ "STINKALINA Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 97403166 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
↑ "Eva Konstantopoulos - LinkedIn". LinkedIn.
↑ "Ben Adams - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
↑ "MIKKI AND THE SOCA TEENS Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 90080133 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
↑ "Seed Scouts – Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 88944191 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
↑ "Tag Team! Legends of the Ring – Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 97079677 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
↑ "THE KAZOODLES! Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 97431686 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-13.

External links

CN Minis playlist on YouTube

[4] Only puppet show/animated pilot of the program and the entire Cartoon Network Studios filmography.

[5] This pilot was greenlit as a series by Netflix.

[6] Label only; produced as part of The Cartoonstitute.

[HBOMAX-7] 1 2 Despite these two pilots have being greenlit by Cartoon Network, their series move to premiering on HBO Max.

[CC-8] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Released under the Cartoon Cartoons label.

[comic-9] Based on the comic strip of the same name.

[11] Based off the children's book series of the same name.

[SM-16] 1 2 Stop-motion

[17] Based off the children's book series of the same name.

[webcomic-25] Based on the webcomic Samson at Work.

[33] Computer animation using motion capture

[youtube-1] "Next Generation of Animation - Behind The Scenes, Geek Week, Cartoon Network - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved September 13, 2016.

[2] "Daytime Emmy Nominees: 'Elena of Avalor,' 'Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure' Lead Toon Contenders". Animation Magazine. May 21, 2020. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.

[3] "Daytime Emmy Awards: 'Dragon Prince,' 'Ask the Storybots' & 'Last Kids on Earth' Win Key Animation Categories for Netflix". Animation Magazine. July 27, 2020. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.

[10] "Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable animated short will be at Hollyshorts Film Festival from August 10–19th!". Twitter. August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017.

[12] "Motion Scientist". Archived from the original on 2019-07-15. Retrieved 2019-07-15.

[13] Jeremy Polgar (2019-06-03). "Outrun Express" Pilot. Retrieved 2026-05-02 – via YouTube.

[14] Mike Milo (2020-12-16). Genie Hunters: Unleashing Magic and Mayhem in a Perilous Adventure!. Retrieved 2026-05-04 – via YouTube.

[:1-15] "Jiunn Jye Ooi - LinkedIn".

[18] "Bird & Squirrel short accepted into the (Virtual) Children's Film Festival Seattle 2021". James Burks. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2025-11-07.

[19] "Animation". James Burks. Retrieved 2026-06-27.

[:0-20] "Jill Calhoun, ACE - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2025-11-07.

[21] André LaMilza (2023-10-05). Spirit Link Pilot. Retrieved 2026-06-28 – via Catbox.

[22] Kyle Arneson (2025-05-04). The Nonsense Tales of Alakasam! (2021 Cartoon Network pilot). Retrieved 2026-05-04 – via YouTube.

[23] "CN Doc Short on Vimeo". Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2018-10-27.

[24] "SAMSON AT WORK". by tiffanyford. Archived from the original on 2023-12-23. Retrieved 2024-08-16.

[26] "JillCalhoun_AnimaticDemoReel_Vimeo2 on Vimeo". Archived from the original on 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2025-11-07.

[27] "Outrunners" (PDF). Léandre Perrin. Retrieved 2025-11-07.

[28] "Turtke Rock! Soul Vibration Saga – Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 90004477 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-10.

[29] "THE INVINCIBLE FIGHT GIRL: LEGEND OF THE SWOLE Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 90296051 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.

[30] "Cartoon Network Grows its Australian-Made Original Animation in 2016". Time Warner, Inc. November 18, 2015. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2017.

[31] "Brett Varon - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2026-02-09.

[32] "Zach Smith - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2023-08-29.

[34] "Eric Trueheart - StaffMeUp.com". Staff Me Up. Archived from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2022-05-07.

[35] "KELVIN ENUS: RENT-A-GENIUS Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 97068365 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.

[36] "Saeid Zameniateni". Instagram. Retrieved 2026-05-29.

[37] "Saeid Zameniateni (cont)". Instagram. Retrieved 2026-05-29.

[38] "Saeid Zameniateni (cont 2)". Instagram. Retrieved 2026-05-29.

[39] "Saeid Zameniateni (cont 3)". Instagram. Retrieved 2026-05-29.

[40] "STINKALINA Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 97403166 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-13.

[41] "Eva Konstantopoulos - LinkedIn". LinkedIn.

[42] "Ben Adams - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2026-02-09.

[43] "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2026-06-19.

[44] "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2026-06-19.

[45] "MIKKI AND THE SOCA TEENS Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 90080133 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.

[46] "Seed Scouts – Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 88944191 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.

[47] "Tag Team! Legends of the Ring – Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 97079677 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-13.

[48] "THE KAZOODLES! Trademark Application of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - Serial Number 97431686 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-13.