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    Cartoon Network held its annual upfront yesterday in New York City. For those who never heard the term, an “upfront” is a TV network’s presentation of all its plans and programming for the upcoming year. As the only invitees are media and, most importantly, potential advertisers, an upfront is considered one of the most important conferences a TV channel has.

    It should be noted that Adult Swim’s programming plans were not presented at this meeting. AS is now considered a separate and independent network from Cartoon Network. Thus its own upfront later this month.

    The quick rundown of the programming plans are as follows:

    NEW SERIES:

    * Squirrel Boy. Created by animation legend Everett Peck (Duckman), Squirrel Boy is a tale of a squirrel and his boy. It will debut in July. Veteran voice actors will bring the series' characters to life, including Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Richard Horvitz (Invader Zim), Pamela S. Adlon (King of the Hill) and Kurtwood Smith (Red in That '70s Show).

    * Class of 3000. The half-hour series featuring a group of musically gifted kids at the Westley School for Performing Arts in Atlanta is set to premiere in November. When former student Sunny Bridges returns to regain something he lost on his way to fame, he brings sunshine to the lives of the culturally diverse students. The series was created by Outkast member Andre Benjamin, who will contribute music and his voice talent to the series. Other cast members are Tom Kenny, Crystal Scales (Static Shock), Jennifer Hale (The Powerpuff Girls), Janice Kawaye (Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi) and Jeff Glen Bennet (Johnny Bravo). A dozen half-hour episodes and a one-hour premiere are being produced at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, Calif.

    * My Gym Partner's a Monkey: The half-hour series, from creators Julie McNally Cahill and Tim Cahill, debuted on Friday, Feb. 24 and will air regularly on Fridays at 9 p.m. (ET, PT). Going to school is like a trip to the jungle for Adam Lyon. Due to an administrative mix-up, Adam attends Charles Darwin Middle School for animals-where not getting eaten during class constitutes a good day. Luckily for Adam, he has buddy Jake Spidermonkey to pal around with.

    * Team Galaxy: This fast-paced futuristic adventure follows the intergalactic exploits of three outrageous heroes, Josh, Brett and Yoko, who are forced to multi-task between the tribulations of their regular teen lives and high-flying space adventures. Team Galaxy is set to premiere in late fall.

    * The Land Before Time: Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike and Chomper from The Land Before Time movies continue their adventures in the new animated television series. The series is scheduled to air in the winter.

    * Ellen's Acres: Ellen's Acres tells the amazing adventures of 5-year-old Ellen, her feather duster, her radial tire and the hotel her father owns. At Emerald Acres Hotel, there's not a lot to do and no kids for Ellen to play with. But Ellen's companion is her big imagination and the adventures she creates. Ellen's Acres is scheduled to air in late fall.

    MOVIES:

    CN announced a number of different movie projects, both original and acquired. The major acquisitions are as follows:

    * Re-Animated: After a visit to the amusement park, 12-year-old Jimmy Roberts is never the same. An amusement park mishap forces Jimmy to go into emergency surgery. The only way to save him is to immediately give him a new brain, and the available brain is the frozen one of a famous animator. When Jimmy wakes up from surgery, he discovers that he can see cartoon characters that others cannot. Re-Animated, from creators Adam Pava and Tim McKeon, is scheduled to premiere in the fall.

    * Codename: Kids Next Door, OPERATION: Z.E.R.O.: The Kids Next Door face their biggest adventure yet when an evil threatens to turn both kids and adults into tapioca-eating, hideously wrinkly Senior Citizombies. The Kids Next Door are forced to re-commission their greatest operative ever to battle for not only kids, but for the world itself. The 90-minute feature will debut in August.

    * Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Good Wilt Hunting: For the first time ever, the creators of favorite imaginary friends will be revealed. At the Foster's picnic, creators of imaginary friends visit their old pals. The girl who created Eduardo returns, as do the scientists who studied Coco, but Wilt's creator never arrives. Wilt searches for answers while the Foster's crew follows behind on his journey. The 60-minute movie will air in late fall.

    * Teen Titans Tokyo: When a high-tech ninja attacks Titans Tower, Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy spring into action. Robin finds out the ninja was sent by a mysterious and menacing Japanese criminal known as Brushogun, and the Teen Titans travel to Tokyo to track the villain down. Teen Titans Tokyo will air in late fall. Can JLU movies be far behind?

    Cartoon Network also announced it has picked up the Miyazaki film library that was recently aired on the Turner Classic Movies network. The following films were announced:

    * Spirited Away: It will air on March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
    * Princess Mononoke: March 25 at 7:30 p.m.
    * Castle in the Sky: April 1 at 7:30 p.m.
    * Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: April 8 at 7:30 p.m.

    In another interesting twist, CN also announced it will air the just started Marvel direct-to-DVD movies, starting with Ultimate Avengers 1. Plans for this year include plans for Ultimate Avengers 2 and Iron Man. The fourth title, Dr. Strange, will probably air in 2007 as it only gets released to the market late this year.

    CN also announced it has picked up the following original shows for new seasons:

    * Ben 10
    * Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
    * The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
    * Camp Lazlo
    * Ed, Edd ‘n Eddy
    * IGPX
    * Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
    * The Life & Times of Juniper Lee
    * Totally Spies
    * Naruto
    * Zixx
    * Robot Boy
    * Transformers Cybertron
    * Bobo-Bo-Bobobobo
    * Zatch Bell
    * One Piece

    Finally, Cartoon Network announced it has acquired the rerun rights to both the Batman and Xiaolin Showdown. Both currently air on the Kids WB.

    And for the record, JLU will end its series run the second week of April. But as said before, don’t be surprised if there are original movies also in the works.

November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.