BLERD ALERT! Why ‘Craig Of The Creek’ Will Be Remembered

Black animation has gone through many eras, each elevating the ways that Black culture can be expressed from an artistic expression. Rising from the early days when Little Black Sambo and the now-“Censored Eleven” were our only representation here in America, we’ve thankfully since moved on to more realistic depictions of our people and the overall cultural experience.

We had Fat Albert, Harlem Globetrotters and Jackson 5ive in the 1970s, each pioneering a positive image in their own respective ways. Mister T and The Gary Coleman Show echoed those same messages during the 1980s, followed by a helm of classics from the 1990s ranging from Waynehead and Spawn to The PJs and even something for the music heads with Cita’s World. Black animation lovers had it all to choose from by the turn of the century, including crimefighters in the form of Fillmore! and Static Shock, fam-friendly favorites from The Proud Family to Little Bill and decade-defining classics like The Cleveland Show and The Boondocks.

Then came the premiere of Craig Of The Creek in March 2018 following a successful pilot launch on Cartoon Network a few months prior in December 2017. If you can imagine a world where fan-favorite Black sidekicks like Gerald from Hey Arnold!, Vince LaSalle of Recess fame or Susie Carmichael from Rugrats were the main star of their respective shows, you’d begin to scratch the surface to the broadly imaginative world of 10-year-old Craig Williams.

Rap icon Missy Elliott goes from being an inspiration for the 2020 Halloween-themed “Trick or Creek” (Season 3, Episode 10) to guest starring as double dutch queen Carla in the 2023’s “The Jump Off” (Season 4, Episode 31).

RELATED: 21 Black Cartoon Characters That Broke Barriers On Film & Television

Over the span of six seasons, which spawned a TV movie and spinoff series in the process, Craig Of The Creek managed to break barriers in telling stories that made everyone feel seen. The handling of LGBTQ characters is honest and a huge step forward in how those examples of love can be introduced to a younger audience. One supporting character named Kenneth has blonde hair and blue eyes with the rich brown complexion of a chocolate bar, yet is still one of the greatest examples of what it means to be a Black male role model to the younger characters — shoutout to the first king of the creek!

Craig Of The Creek unfortunately came to end this past Saturday (January 25), and with it the end of an epic era in Black animation.

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While 180 episodes at 11-minutes-per-pop is certainly nothing to sneeze at, there’s something about the show’s structure and wide range of characters that gave it the sense of continuity that we see with a long-running animated series like Spongebob Squarepants, currently in its 15th season after 311 episodes that span over a whopping 26 years. Unfortunately, Craig Of The Creek suffered from the 2022 merger between Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation, which led to the newly-formed Warner Bros. Discovery platform that put an end to classic cartoon haven Boomerang and the entire Cartoon Network website in general. The shift is said to be influenced by the network’s heavy push into the streaming world while putting the focus of on-air programming towards classic reruns and catalog characters like Looney Tunes, Teen Titans and a fan-favorite, The Tom and Jerry Show.

10-year-old Craig Williams leads with Black boy joy in the 2017 pilot episode (“Craig Of The Creek”) alongside close pals Kelsey Pokoly, seen as a step forward in the representation of LGBTQ characters, and J.P. Mercer, who many fans with autism have identified greatly with.

As show co-creator Ben Levin put it back in December 2022, just a few months after the merger was announced, there was definitely more to see from the fictional town of Herkleton. “We collectively channeled our childhood dreams and adventures into each episode, hoping to inspire the kids watching at home or at least make them laugh,” he wrote as an ode to the final writer’s room session, also stating, “The characters and spaces were rich and nuanced and it felt like we could have explored them forever. And we certainly had more stories to tell, but unfortunately, because of this merger, this is the end.”

I’m going to miss this very much.

The Creek was a giant sandbox and we tried to make room for everyone to play. pic.twitter.com/L01UPmvNzl

— Ben Levin (@ben_levin) December 2, 2022

Another reason why losing Craig Of The Creek is felt so greatly is due to what it means for the current trend and future of Black animation. It follows a year where we saw its toddler-friendly spinoff, Jessica’s Big Little World, air its final episodes, MTV deciding last March to axe the Tracee Ellis Ross-starring Daria spinoff film, Jodie, Disney canceling Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur in October, over a year of waiting for season 2 of Matthew A. Cherry’s Young Love, two years with no word of a season 3 for The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder and such a negative reaction to the animated reboot of Good Times that a second season seems highly unlikely. Even with hopefuls like Adult Swim’s Invincible Fight Girl and Lyla in the Loop holding it down for PBS Kids, a show like this is needed right now for the sake of Black representation.

May the legacy of Craig Of The Creek live on to inspire animated shows in the near future that will depict us in all of our melanated glory. Here’s the first episode to get a young loved one in your life (or yourself!) started on a truly era-defining series: