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General FAQs
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A: Operation Time Capsule (OTC for short) was established in October 2006 to provide a centralized location for bumpers, station IDs, promos, and schedules from the old Cartoon Network (CN).
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A: We do not host episodes of any show here.
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Definitions
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Commercial bumpers (or just "bumpers" or "bumps") are those little "we'll be right back" messages that you see when transitioning into or out of a commercial break. FCC regulations require children's programming (such as Cartoon Network) to clearly distinguish between programming and advertisements. Bumpers are very short, less than 10 seconds. On Cartoon Network, the departing bumps (D-bumps or "we'll be right back" bumps) are nine seconds long, while the entering bumps (E-bumps or "back to the show" bumps) are five.
The "coming up next" messages, although similar, are technically "menus" and not bumpers. We include them in discussions of "bumpers" for brevity's sake and because they are similar to bumpers in length and style. They are also called "next bumpers" or simply "nexts."
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A: Station identification (or "idents") are those small clips you see at the beginning of each show. These prominently feature Cartoon Network's logo in some way. FCC regulations require that radio and television stations identify themselves at least once an hour.
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A: Promotional spots (or "promos") are advertisements for Cartoon Network shows or blocks. These are longer than bumpers and can range from 30 seconds to two minutes.
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Sources
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A: Most of the time, content in the archive comes from a kind fan who uploads it either to YouTube or to us. However, as is the case with much of the Powerhouse content, the studio who produced the bumper or an animator who worked with the studio will feature the bumper on their site as part of a portfolio or showreel.
In the past, we have used IRC file-sharing channels, peer-to-peer networks, and bittorrent to find content. We still scour file-sharing networks from time to time. Eventually, OTC will make its entire archive available through several peer-to-peer file-sharing networks and bittorrent.
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A: Cartoon Network contracts other firms to make bumpers, promos, and other such design elements. Although we don't know who made the first series of bumpers (the "Checkerboard" look), we do know who made the others:
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Old vs New
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A: Very debatable. When Operation Time Capsule was created in October 2006, most of us believed that 2004 marked the death of old Cartoon Network. Nowadays, however, some people are looking towards 2007-ish as the death of the old CN.
There are those that also consider the end of old Cartoon Network to be sooner than 2004. Fun fact: the first nostalgic feelings towards old CN were expressed in a Usenet post dated July 1, 1999.
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A: The owner of Operation Time Capsule has not watched Cartoon Network in over a year. He has no strong opinion about new Cartoon Network. Most of OTC Forums members, however, are strongly nostalgic.
Even if you were never a fan of old Cartoon Network, you are still welcome to look around the archive and check out what you've missed out on. :)
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A: Operation Time Capsule denotes the various "eras" in the life of Cartoon Network mainly by the network branding (its overall look). Here is a rundown of the three "eras" covered by Operation Time Capsule:
- Checkerboard era (1992 - 1997) symbolized by the "checkerboard" pattern used in the bumpers. During Checkerboard, Cartoon Network mainly showed classic Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. cartoons from its archives. Near the tail end of Checkerboard, the signature Cartoon Cartoons series appeared on the network: the first, Dexter's Lab, started in 1996. The Toonami block had its start in the Super Adventures action block.
- Powerhouse era (1997 - 2004) named for the "Powerhouse" theme music by Raymond Scott (also known as "assembly line music") that the network used as its theme music during most of this era. The bumpers for this look were all created by Primal Screen and are known for being color-coded according to the time of day as well as featuring the iconic "Powerhouse" theme music, often mixed in with a show's theme song. Powerhouse saw the emergence of Cartoon Cartoons and their eventual dominance on the network. Classic series were relegated to late-night slots. Cartoon Cartoon Fridays premiered in 1999. Toonami also became prominent and helped usher Japanese cartoons ("anime") into the American market. During this era, the network's slogan was "The Best Place for Cartoons."
- City era (2004 - 2007) named for the CGI city where all of the cartoons interact in these bumpers. They were created by Animal Logic. The City look is notable for the new logo it brought with it, featuring the "C" and "N" blocks with "CARTOON NETWORK" spelled out below them, as well as the female announcer and the slogan "This is Cartoon Network." The City era saw the emergence of more Cartoon Network original series, which began to replace both the classic HB/WB series and 1990s Cartoon Cartoon programming. The "Cartoon Cartoons" name was also phased out during this era. Although various other looks, such as "Yes!" in summer 2006 and "Lunchbox of Doom" in spring 2007, were used alongside the City look, the City look itself did not die off the network until fall 2007. The City is still used in European versions of CN.
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Us and Them
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A: It is the position of OTC that, although the user is the one uploading the content, the copyright remains with Cartoon Network and not the user; thus, they cannot prohibit us from mirroring it. We do, however, appreciate that they do this, and credit them whenever possible.
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A: Not at all! By uploading OTC content to YouTube, you give old Cartoon Network fans the ability to rediscover gems from a lost decade. It also makes it more difficult for YouTube to remove the content from their system, if it is easily reuploaded by a different user. We request that you link back to OTC (http://optimecapsule.com/) in the video description, but we can't force you to.
The only downside to this is that it makes searching for new content more difficult, but that's a sacrifice we're willing to take for the good of the community at large.
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Legal Issues
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A: If they do, they haven't told us. Most likely they aren't aware of us; just in case, though, the content in OTC's archive does not infringe on their ability to make money off their intellectual properties, nor does OTC damage them in any way.
If the company were to come down on OTC, however, we would have no choice but to fold. See "Where do you get bumpers?" above for the note about file-sharing networks and bittorrents for the countermeasures we intend to take in that case.
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Operation Time Capsule and...
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A: Cartoon Network XTRA is a retro-themed channel intended to emulate late 1990s Cartoon Network. Operation Time Capsule supports this project.
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A: Operation Time Capsule is not related to Toon Zone, however, OTC began as a project by a member of TZ forums and it has its roots in the Old-School Cartoon Network Nostalgia Thread on TZ forums; several frequent posters on that thread, including the thread's author, also frequent OTC.
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A: Operation Time Capsule is not related to any of those sites, save for CN XTRA. It would be nice if they were, though. Maybe they'd link to us if we asked nicely enough.
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