Remembering Ted Turner

 Media mogul Ted Turner passed away yesterday at age 87. Over the years, Turner was known for many things. He was the man who built CNN, a staunch environmentalist, and a key player in baseball team the Atlanta Braves' rise to prominence. Yet, for animation enthusiasts, he'll always be known as the father of Cartoon Network.

After having acquired much of the old MGM library, as well as Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ted Turner had an impressive cartoon catalog under his belt. Thousands of hours of animation isn't much good if there isn't somewhere to watch it all, and that's where Cartoon Network began. While Ted never acted as the network's president (that honor instead goes to Betty Cohen), without Ted's purchase of those assets, the channel would have never existed. And without CN, it goes without saying that the last 30 years of western animation would be a lot different.

To honor Turner's life and career, I thought I'd share two videos featuring Ted discussing Cartoon Network. The first one comes from a longer interview with Ted Turner, conducted by the Archive of American Television. For the most part, it focuses on the "how" and "why" behind Cartoon Network's creation. 

This second clip showcases Ted Turner introducing Cartoon Network as it launched in Latin America in 1993. As you'd imagine, he walks viewers through what they'll see from the channel, and thanks them for joining.

Thanks for the memories, Ted Turner. While there's a lot of rich American businessman, there's not quite anyone like the mouth of the south.