How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special) animation divisions of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, where Jones was under contract at the time. CBS, coming off the surprise success of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" a year before, allotted Jones and MGM a $315,000 budget, more than four times what Bill Melendez was offered to produce "A Charlie Brown Christmas". The original broadcast was sponsored by the Foundation for Full Service Banks whose sponsor plugs within the original airing were later edited out for subsequent broadcasts. The entirety of the book's text, with some slight embellishment, was adapted into the special; to pad the special to a full 30-minute time slot,
What a Cartoon! of a theatrical cartoon, with each film being based on an original storyboard drawn and written by its artist or creator. The series first aired on February 20, 1995, and the shorts were promoted as World Premiere Toons. During the original run of the shorts, the series was retitled to "The What a Cartoon! Show" and later to "The Cartoon Cartoon Show" until the final shorts aired on August 23, 2002. The project served as the launching point for multiple Cartoon Network animated television series, including "The Powerpuff Girls" (1998–2005), "Dexter's Laboratory", "Johnny Bravo", "Cow and Chicken", "Courage the Cowardly