Atlanta – Cartoon Network has kicked-off a month long celebration for its milestone birthday at its Atlanta, Georgia headquarters, where Turner Broadcasting founder Ted Turner originally launched the network 20 years ago.

Stuart Snyder, President/COO of Turner’s Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media Division, was joined by Turner Broadcasting CEO Phil Kent and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who honoured the network and staff with the city’s prestigious Phoenix Award and proclaimed it “Cartoon Network Day”.

As previously announced, fans across the country are also invited to “Cartoon Network’s Birthday Party” taking place on-air, as the network embarks on an all-day programming take-over to showcase birthday-themed episodes from multiple classic and contemporary cartoon series.

“Cartoon Network’s Birthday Party” will continue each weekend in October, presenting select classic theatrical shorts and network series episodes spotlighting the top six finalists among creatively-themed categories that viewers can vote for on CartoonNetwork.com. The celebration will culminate on November 3 and  4, with an afternoon on-air tribute announcing the fan-selected winners of each category.

Launched on October 1, 1992 with just two million U.S. homes, Cartoon Network has grown to become the number one television network among boys 6-11, and is currently seen in over 175 countries, in more than 365 million households worldwide and in 26 different languages.