Lisa Furlong Jones, Sharon Karleskint Sharp, and Robert Cass created content and wrote copy for Cartoon Orbit while Noel Saabye and Brian Hilling provided the art and animation.

Beta testing continued into at least November of that year, and a "toononomist" was hired to decide the prices of some 250 character cToons according to senior producer Justin Williams.

This software was a 2D avatar-based chat server where members could decorate their own spaces, and its assets were used in Orbit for displaying and editing cZones.

Similar to JSON libraries, the Communities.com software "used a browser aspect plug-in with a proprietary messaging layout to govern dynamic HTML elements.

"[3] Chat functionality in the finished product was limited to drop-down menus to safeguard children's privacy.

[2][4] To comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, Cartoon Orbit instead had a list of pre-written words and phrases that players could send in a chat box.

[2] According to Jim Samples, content from advertisers was clearly labeled as such so that Cartoon Orbit could predominantly be entertaining "without ruining the experience with too much commercialization.

"[6] Until the complete conversion to Adobe Flash in 2002, references could still be found in the HTML source code to passport "room servers" and links to technical documentation on Communities.com's website.

Scott Gutterman served as the lead at Viant, and Stacie Spychalski, David Gynn, Chris Griswold, Chip Plesnarski, Wan Agus, and others managed plans, requirements and developed the code.

Cartoon Orbit launched in November 2000[9] as an online community with required registration, though an earlier press release noted a planned October 2000 debut.

[13] Shortly after its release, Register expressed a desire to convert Orbit's point-based currency to a cash-based setup, but this never came to fruition.

[14] During Cartoon Orbit's lifetime, the site featured promotions and tie-ins that were carried out through its sponsors.

As part of a larger campaign with Cartoon Network, a promotion for the fund-raising program Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, which entailed exclusive Halloween-themed cToons, was held from October 1 to November 5, 2002.

[15] In 2001, Kellogg's Powerpuff Girls Cereal had a promotional website, EetAndErn.com, where children could earn points to redeem for prizes including cToons.

[22] In December 2007, gToons was revived as "Action Packs" for Transformers: Animated,[23] followed by a Ben 10: Alien Force version becoming available in April 2008.