by Rollin Bishop

I don't think I'm going to shock anyone reading this by saying that the animation industry, writ large, is having A Bad Time. Between the industry consolidating, layoffs, disappearing funding, generative AI bullshit, and more, there's a distinct lack of hope out there. Enter comedy streaming service Dropout.

Earlier this week, Dropout officially announced Toonout, an animated series of "shortform episodes" that marks the streamer's first scripted animation programming. It's set to premiere on March 24 and will have a grand total of 25 episodes launching every other Tuesday — all the way to February 23, 2027.

While this is the first bit of scripted animation from Dropout, it's certainly not the first time it's dabbled in animation. (And, to be entirely clear, I'm not just talking about, like, the buttholes everywhere and similar bits. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should really watch more Dropout. (I'm serious.))) There are plenty of clips taken from the likes of live-action Dropout shows like Game Changer and then animated, but nothing directly scripted for animation. A particular favorite animated short like this of mine is: "Can Brennan Name ANY Birds???"

Details on what, exactly, Toonout will ultimately look like remain nebulous. Dropout did announce that the first six episodes — again, out of 25 total — will feature animation from the following creators: Raj Brueggemann (Big City Greens, Twelve Forever), Victor Courtright (Thundercats Roar, Aquaman: King of Atlantis), Jonathon Wallach (Big City Greens), Kay Hayes (Monsters at Work, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure), Violaine Briat (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), and Matt Braly (Amphibia). Given that's six episodes and six creatives, it sure sounds like each short will have a distinct look and associated creator.

What we have already seen is a brief animated trailer previewing what to expect, and while I recognize that I'm probably the exact target audience here, it is still a direct hit. Mission accomplished. It's short (get it?) on specifics, but the tone and energy is eerily reminiscent of late '90s, early '00s commercials you might catch on Nickelodeon between episodes of Rugrats or Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. Whether that Nicktoons vibe continues throughout, who knows, but it certainly seems as if somebody really understood the assignment.

Which, I think, is largely what's been missing from the animation landscape lately: an understanding of what worked previously and why, and how to actually carry that forward. I'm not so naive as to count my rubber hose chickens before they rubber hose hatch, but the fact remains that Dropout CEO Sam Reich is putting money in the hands of a bunch of incredible artists and giving them a platform to showcase their talents at a time when independent artists often struggle to make it onto streaming services of any size at all. Just look at the unceremonious release of the latest Cartoon Cartoons for a sterling example. I just hope the end result of Toonout is as satisfying as the teaser.

That's not to say that Dropout is the answer to all of the animation industry's woes. I love a lot of what the company does! Game Changer is appointment viewing in my house and Make Some Noise is only just behind it. Reich seems to regularly talk the talk and walk the walk, and there's a scrappiness inherent to it that I wish more media companies embodied, but it's still in the grand scheme a relatively small outfit.

Animation is expensive; scripted content is expensive. Productions can have much longer timelines than what I imagine a single episode of Gastronauts does, even with all the cooking and scheduling and materials. I can't even imagine what sort of metrics that will define success for Toonout at a company like Dropout. An increase in subscriptions with analytics showing those new users specifically then watched Toonout? What's the value proposition there as opposed to putting that money literally anywhere else?

I don't have answers to these questions. What I do have is a mighty need for big swings, and a desire for companies to actually produce compelling animated shows once again. In a perfect world, Toonout is wildly successful and other media corps see this and recognize that investing in animation is overall a less expensive gamble than a lot of other options.

What I do know for certain is that I will be tuning in to Toonout.