Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends [Animated TV Series] (2004)

Created by Craig McCracken of PowerPuff Girls fame, this half-hour cartoon series got underway when eight-year-old Mac, on orders from his mother, deposited his lifelong imaginary friend Blooreagard Q. "Bloo" Kazoo (who resembles an anthropomorphic security blanket) at a special foster home for the discarded imaginary friends of other children. Although he'd been told that he'd outgrown Bloo, Mac refused to part with someone who'd been so important to him in his formative years, and asked permission to visit the home every day. Elderly Madame Foster, who ran the home, granted Mac's wish, but only until some other child wanted to adopt Bloo -- an eventually that Mac did everything he could to forestall. Other residents of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends are the obsequious, apologetic, slightly frazzled Wilt; Eduardo, a Hispanic "bull monster" who is kind and gentle despite his fearsome appearance; and the infantile, egg-laying Coco, formerly the imaginary friend of a little girl marooned on a desert island (which may explain why Coco looks like a cross between a palm tree, a bird, and an airplane). Helping Madame Foster manage her home is the old dear's own childhood imaginary friend Mr. Herriman, a "veddy proper" British bunny, and Madame Foster's boisterous granddaughter Frankie. A deft combination of wit, whimsy, and state-of-the-art flash animation, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends earned three Emmy awards during its first season on the air. Debuting as a one-shot preview on July 16, 2004, the series joined the regular Cartoon Network lineup on September 3, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi