WarnerMedia Kids & Family to launch preschool block Cartoonito in US today

Mush-Mush & the Mushables is on the Cartoonito slate

WarnerMedia Kids & Family’s preschool programming block Cartoonito will launch in the US today with a line-up of originals alongside content acquired from the international market.

The block, available on demand via HBO Max and on linear TV from 06.00 till 14.00 on Cartoon Network, features series including Baby Looney Tunes, Bing, Caillou, Mush-Mush & the Mushables, Pocoyo and Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.

Other shows set to launch at the weekend include Esme & Roy, Lucas the Spider, Care Bears: Unlock the Magic and Love Monster.

Forthcoming preschool originals include Bugs Bunny Builders, Batwheels, Jessica’s Big Little World, Tom & Jerry Junior, Unlimited Squirrels and the recently greenlit Dylan.

WarnerMedia announced a push into preschool programming earlier this year as part of the forthcoming US and Latin American launch of Cartoonito, which began life as a programming block on the short-lived Cartoon Network Too in the UK back in 2006.

It went on to become a standalone channel in the UK, where it remains on air with a schedule predominantly consisting of acquisitions like Masha & the Bear and Fireman Sam.

It has made some headway in EMEA over the years, with its own standalone channel in Italy and presence as a programming block on older-skewing Boomerang and Cartoon Network in markets such as Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Turkey.