Blondie (comic strip) was adapted into a long-running series of 28 low-budget theatrical B-features, produced by Columbia Pictures. Beginning with "Blondie" in 1938, the series lasted 12 years, through "Beware of Blondie" (1950). The two major roles were Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake (whose first starring role was another comic strip character, Harold Teen) as Dagwood. Faithfulness to the comic strip was a major concern of the creators of the series. Little touches were added that were iconic to the strip, like the appearance of Dagwood's famous sandwiches—and the running gag of Dagwood colliding with the mailman amid a flurry of
What a Cartoon! exclusive poolside screenings on 9' x 12' movie screens. Beginning February 26, 1995, each "What a Cartoon!" short began to premiere on Sunday nights, promoted as "World Premiere Toons". Every week after the premiere, Cartoon Network showcased a different World Premiere Toons made by a different artist. After an acclimation of cartoons, the network packaged the shorts as a half-hour show titled "World Premiere Toons: The Next Generation", featuring reruns of the original shorts but also new premieres. Eventually, all of the cartoons were compiled into one program which was used the name "World Premiere Toons: The Show" until the