Saturday Morning Cartoon BUMPERS

"After these messages, we'll be right back"

Chances are if you grew up in the 70's to 90's you know what a cartoon "bumper" is. Born after the new millennium? You may be out of luck.


Cartoon bumpers brought us in and out of commercial breaks. They were the entertaining few seconds to let us know when a commercial was about to hit or when it was time to get back into the cartoon of choice. There was a good variety too. We had animates, claymation, and gnarly CGI depending on the year and broadcast station. Each station had them, ABC, NBC, and CBS all were in on the fun even some other stations like FOX in later years (FOX Kids anyone?).

I came to the stark realization recently when flipping through the same networks 15 years later that Saturday morning cartoons are a thing of the past and with them cartoon bumpers. Some cable stations hold on to the Saturday morning blocks but it is not a dedicated thing that kids ritualistically look forward to any longer. Sad. Cue back in my day we had REAL Saturday morning cartoons!

Some of my all-time favorites include the ABC claymation bumpers. Cowboys, singing groups, and a fire hydrant/dog duo made for entertaining transitions into commercial breaks. Later ABC would introduce another classic bumper character in the form of the "Bump in the Night" characters from the early 90's cartoon classic.

In 1997 ABC began "Disney's One Saturday Morning" with great shows like Recess and Pepper Ann. The bumpers during this block centered around an animated number 1 interacting with real kids. Different, but still fun.

On other networks in various years we were treated to rad CGI imagery, Fido Dido, and Felix the Cat. Fido Dido for those who don't remember was an oddly drawn character from the 90's appearing on the CBS Saturday morning bumpers (1990-1994) and a host of other products including his own video game and 7UP ad.

Felix the Cat has a bit of resurgence in the 90's and was featured on a series of bumpers for CBS in 1994.

Fido Dido on CBS

Felix the Cat

I miss Saturday morning cartoons and the fun bumpers we used to have. I would probably still watch today if given the chance. There was just something really fun about having a block of time during the week reserved just for you as a kid. Sure kids have channels dedicated just to kids programming today but it lacks the special qualities of having a dedicated block of programming each week. It was an event to look forward to, to sit down and be a kid with a bowl of cereal and pile of toys. 

It was fun.

Want to see some bumper reels? Here you are!