For the past few years both Hulu and YouTube, now the grandparents of video-streaming sites, have been the main source for viewing shows from our childhood. While YouTube offers thousands of these shows, many of them are just clips — some of below-average quality — that rarely quench the viewers’ thirst. Hulu, on the other hand, offers full episodes, but not as much variety.
Recently (within the last year or so), two new video-streaming sites have gone online that cater exclusively to kids and, most importantly, our fat, near-middle-aged selves. For this column I thought I’d take some time and review the content on KidsWB.com and the brand-spanking new Jaroo.com.
Jaroo, created by Cookie Jar Entertainment, went online early this month with 50 kids programs targeted at the 4-12 year-old age range. All of the programs are from the company’s vast library of both animated and live-action fare. Two titles that will pop out for older viewers will be Inspector Gadget and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. Other titles that might trigger significant memories are Beverly Hills Teens, Dino Squad, Pole Position, and The Littles.
Jaroo also offers a number of titles that you may not remember or haven’t seen before. For example, Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, a live-action series starring Matthew Lawrence. Or The Wombles, a British stop-motion series about a bunch of pointy-eared, furry creatures that live in burrows. Then there’s Siegfried & Roy. Yes, the former Las Vegas superstars had their own animated series back in the late 20th century.
While Jaroo has a number of unrecognizable programs, you’ll definitely recall all of the shows featured at KidsWB.com. Combining resources from Warner Brothers Animation, Hanna-Barbera, and DC Comics, KidsWB boasts the largest amount of cartoons online. Since the site itself only airs a handful of these cartoons at one time, it’s not certain if their boast is true or not. Perhaps they rotate the cartoons in and out.
Current cartoons in their channel lineup include the first season of The Flintstones (complete with original title sequences), The Jetsons, which for some reason are the rehashes from the ’80s, The Smurfs, Space Ghost and Dino Boy, various Looney Tunes shorts, Thundercats, and The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, which was one of the crappier incarnations of the franchise. In addition to the video channels, there are separate websites for DC heroes, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, and a KidsWB Jr. site that features Baby Looney Tunes. The other three sites have a more extensive selection of videos. For example, the DC Beyond site offers up videos from the various animated Batman incarnations, as well as Static Shock.
Needless to say, both Jaroo and KidsWB have enough material to totally decrease your productivity, while bringing you back to another time in your life that may have been a bit simpler. If you’re interested in watching what you remember, go with KidsWB first. If you’re looking for some new material, then jump off with Jaroo. Either way, you’ll be satisfied.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Nov 05, 2009 @ 14:08 EST5EDT
