What Happened to Teletoon was Inevitable
Canada had a whole decade to prove to the United States that Canadian animation wasn’t as bad as they think. The replacement of Teletoon’s English feed with Cartoon Network, however, is symbolic of the fact that Canada had proven the Americans right. But that’s just in the realm of children’s programming; the truth can only be found in adult animation.
The Delta State predates Amazon’s Undone & Adult Swim’s Dream Corp as one of the earliest shows to predominately use rotoscoping. It also comes from that rare breed of non-Japanese adult animated dramas that, as demonstrated by the cancellation of AMC’s Pantheon, struggle to co-exist in a market ruled by sitcoms. Delta State is an example of what happens when adult animation is done purely for the art.
The show was produced for Teletoon, which launched in Quebec on September 8, 1997; the English version would launch a month later. Back then, Teletoon was a joint venture between various Canadian companies, and was producing shows for multiple demographics. One such investor was Corus Entertainment; a broadcaster that has since monopolized both the children’s and animation industries in Canada. By 2011, Teletoon was a 50/50 partnership with Astral Media, the former owners of Family Channel; Teletoon would become wholly owned by Corus in 2013.
In the decade since, Corus has produced four adult animated shows: Night Sweats, 2 Nuts and a Richard! (Les Grandes Gueules s’animent!), Doomsday Brothers (Les Frères Apocalypse), and the recent Psi Cops. All four shows have received largely negative reviews from English audiences, and the first three never produced more than 30 episodes. In the case of Night Sweats, Doomsday Brothers, and Psi Cops, of which I have seen several episodes of each, I can say, in my opinion alone, that these shows bring nothing new to the table.
These shows instead use the tired template of shock value made famous by Fox’s Family Guy & Comedy Central’s South Park. Rather than try to do something new and innovative, these shows cling to the outdated notion that all adult animation have to be raunchy comedies. The reason why South Park won a Peabody award is because the show, in its current form, uses extreme content in-service to meaningful social commentary. The difference between Comedy Central’s revival of Futurama, and every other show created for the network, is that Futurama excels at storytelling; while other shows, more often than not, take from South Park’s offensive content, but don’t do anything of substance to supplement it.
In my opinion, Night Sweats, Doomsday Brothers, and Psi Cops are akin to the many failed attempts by Comedy Central and Fox to create quality animation on par with that of Netflix, Adult Swim, and now, Amazon’s offerings.
Netflix Originals, such as Bojack Horseman, F is for Family, and Disenchanted, ushered in a renaissance for adult animation in America because they were among the first major TV shows to break away from the 90s sitcom template and do something new. Meanwhile, Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty needs no introduction at this point. For as turbulent a time as it has become for Adult Swim’s parent company, shows like My Adventures with Superman, Unicorn, Primal, and even the polarizing Japanese anime co-productions show that Adult Swim has evolved beyond their “stoner cartoon” status quo. And then there’s Amazon’s Prime Video; which has been the dark horse of the industry despite the critical acclaim of Invincible and The Legend of Vox Machina. A 2023 Polygon article was on the money when it called the latter show “an animated and serialized fantasy show about adults, for adults.”
Nowhere on traditional, Canadian television today will you find anything on par with the American shows that I just name-dropped. When you compare Corus’ offerings to what you see on Netflix, Adult Swim, and Amazon, it can be concluded that Canadian animation has institutionally failed its audience. The only reason I’m using American examples is because the the U.S still has room to grow compared to where Japanese animation has been; and don’t get me started on the clear drop in quality that “modern” anime has gone through over the past decade. If Canadian adult animation can’t do better than the U.S., it’s pointless comparing them to dime-a-dozen slice-of life shows, cookie-cutter isekai, overrated Naruto clones, and harem shows so unoriginal you’d be better off watching hentai instead.
Where Canada has failed in adult animation, children’s programming remains a lucrative business. But without a modern, critically-acclaimed, multi-generational hit on par with Cartoon Network’s offerings, Teletoon would become a comparatively, irrelevant brand. The relaunch of Teletoon’s English network as a revamped Cartoon Network is a reflection of the fact that it’s the latter brand’s programming, and that of Warner Bros Animation as a whole, which drives its viewership. It’s not farfetched to assume that the original French network, and streaming service Teletoon+, will also eventually fold under the Cartoon Network brand at a later date — a date which will mark the true death of Teletoon.
I’ll leave you with this: the next time Canadian media giants complain about foreign streamers stealing away their audience, remember that these are the same giants that decided to create Netflix clones which required a TV subscription. The same giants that used revenue generated from American shows, not to create better Canadian shows, but to buy more American shows. The same giants that got television laws and regulations abolished just so they can turn iconic brands like MuchMusic into import farms. Even the CBC, with all their government money & commercial revenue, couldn’t save the biggest Black Canadian drama in existence from cancellation because it was a co-production with the biggest African-American network; the same network where anything not made Tyler Perry doesn’t last more than three seasons.
Canadian television sucks for a reason.
