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I'm sure a good number of people remember Cartoon Network's Toonami block that ran from March 17 1997 to September 20, 2008. Throughout it's 11 year run it had 5 hosts (Moltar, and TOM 1,2,3,4) and ran a great number of cartoon and anime classics.

Motar

Toonami started as an after school block in 1997 showing mostly Superman, Johnny Quest and other American cartoons and hosted by Moltar, a former Space Ghost villain. Moltar and his set where replaced in 1999 for...

...TOM 1

TOM would have 4 incarnations and utilize the Space ship the Absolution to broadcast Toonami

TOM 2: http://foxyurl.com/Qj9

TOM 3: http://foxyurl.com/Qja

(TOM 4 would be the most unique of all the TOM avatars and was not received well the current Toonami audience because he was so radically different)
TOM 4: http://foxyurl.com/Qjb

Absolution:


SARA:

SARA is the Absolution's on-board A.I. and other than announcing commercial breaks and returns she often acted opposite TOM in several "Total Immersion Events" that acted like mini-series for the Toonami brand almost making it a show all it's own.

after leaving weekdays in 2004 Toonami moved to Saturday nights, TOM 3 entered and the Absolution underwent a cosmetic change. The real reason for this move was because it was thought that the shows had become too violent for weekdays right after American schools let out.

In 2007 Toonami was cut from 4 hours to 2 hours and most felt this was because of and imminent cancellation of the block. That would come in Fall 2008 with TOM 4's speech

"Well, this is the end, beautiful friends. After more than 11 years, this is Toonami's final broadcast. It's been a lot of fun, and we'd like to thank each and every one of you who made this journey with us. Toonami wouldn't have been anything without you. Hopefully we've left you with some good memories. So, until we meet again, stay gold. Bang."

Toonami would produce an album "Toonami: Deep Space Bass" which contained remixes of the intro music of several of the most popular shows (Tenchi Muyo!, Dragonball Z, Powerpuff Girls, Ronin Warriors, Sailor Moon, and Blue Submarine No. 06)

Another album would be produced by DJ Clarknova called "Toonami: Black Hole Megamix" it was never officially released but was leaked to and is hosted on Toonami: Digital Arsenal
Here: http://toonamiarsenal.com/features/blac ... index.html

With Toonami gone, a chapter of Cartoon Network's history also entered the history books. For me Toonami was more than a 4 hour block of after school cartoons, it really was it's own experience that I will always remember as one of the highlights of my childhood, it was something that I and my friends grew up with and won't forget. I was inspired to make this topic because Wednesday is March 17 and the 13th anniversary of the creation of Toonami so lets all take a moment to salute one of the most important parts of Cartoon Network history.

Wikipedia has a nice list of shows and movies that ran on Toonami: http://foxyurl.com/Qji

That used to be the jumpoff back then. Drangonball Z will always be a legend on Toonami. Most of all, Cartoon Network had not been same after that was gone. That is so cold...

Yea I used to watch Toonami when I could (I didn't have cable back then) Mainly for DBZ and Outlaw Star. I remember they put Toonami on kids WB for a bit but it wasn't that good.

I miss Toonami. Too bad it won't come back.

I STILL can't believe they canceled it!! Thinking about the block, especially hearing the music really takes me down Memory Lane..... It was always the thing I looked forward to after coming home from middle-school through early high school....yup, 4:00, every weekday, I would grab a snack and watch my beloved (and horribly-edited) Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo, Outlaw Star, and Gundam Wing, happy as a clam. XD

MOLTAR WAS THE SHIZZ. TOM WAS LAME!!

I got really mad when they changed him. XD

Moltar was at least FUNNY. >=(