As of September 2023[update], Cartoonito exists as a TV channel across Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland, where it originated), the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia; as a block on Cartoon Network in the UK, the Middle East, Turkey, the United States, Japan,[2] the Philippines, Taiwan,[3] South Korea,[4] and South Asia; and as a block on Boomerang in Oceania.

Animation began developing Baby Looney Tunes, an original preschool series inspired by a line of pre-existing merchandise.

[8] Cartoon Network aired other programs for 4 to 8 year-olds alongside Baby Looney Tunes, including Hamtaro, Sitting Ducks, and Pecola.

[12][13] After Tickle-U closed on 13 January 2006, some of its series still aired on Cartoon Network until 2007 and as part of the schedule of the British variation of Cartoonito.

The promos for the shows featured on the block had Tickle-U branding and the mascot interstitials were replaced with shots of the main view of the City of Townsville from The Powerpuff Girls (part of Cartoon Network's on-air presentation from 2004 to 2007).

The block was later spun off into a separate channel on 24 May 2007, as Cartoonito expanded its broadcast hours by taking the whole daytime slot formerly given to Cartoon Network Too.

[citation needed] In May 2011, Turner Broadcasting System EMEA announced a rollout of the Cartoonito brand across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; under the arrangement, programming blocks would launch on Cartoon Network or Boomerang channels in that region.

[16] Cartoonito launched as a morning block on Cartoon Network Arabic in the Middle East on 4 September 2011, broadcasting seven days a week.

In Spain, Cartoonito was launched as a 24-hour channel on 1 September 2011 replacing the Spanish version of Boomerang, as part of Turner Broadcasting System EMEA plans to roll out the brand across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics president Tom Ascheim implied about plans for Cartoon Network to attract a preschool audience.

Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics announced in an interview with Kidscreen that Cartoon Network would expand its offerings to include series aimed at family audiences, girls, and preschoolers.

The latter audience would pit the network in competition with established preschool brands like Disney Junior, PBS Kids and the Nick Jr.

On 17 February 2021, it was announced that WarnerMedia's international preschool brand Cartoonito would launch in the United States on Cartoon Network[24] and streaming service HBO Max.

[30] A few days later, the Argentine pay television service Telered announced the replacement of Boomerang to Cartoonito for the rest of Latin America on the same date.

[34] Additionally, starting on 1 March 2022, a weekday hour-long Cartoonito block aired from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on sister channel Cartoon Network.

[50][4] In Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, Cartoonito relaunched as a programming block on 28 March 2022 on Cartoon Network.

It offers a modern approach to preschool programming, built to support each child's unique potential with its educational framework called "Humancentric Learning".

From its initial launch, Cartoonito's original six CGI mascots included Cuba (a red cube), Lolly (a purple cylinder), Ringo (a green ring), Spike (a blue pyramid), Ting (a pink star), and Bubble (a yellow sphere).

The new mascots are Nito (a cyan square), Glob (a multi-colored glob-like figure), Wedge (a magenta triangle), and Itty (a pink circle).