The Village Voice blog noticed Dumbo as the backdrop in Cartoon Network’s rebranding of itself to CN Real in a music video featuring Andrew W.K. While this isn’t really about Dumbo, it’s the image they want to convey in their rebranding efforts; as Village Voice states: “Xtreme sports! Fire-eaters! REAL people! Balloons! and oh yeah, cartoons…We are also assured it is “going to shred.” Commenters in the YouTube thread aren’t liking it:

• “Wow, this is like a direct middle finger to everyone. I want the Cartoon Network to actually show Cartoons, okay?”
• “You know why CN Real failed? Because kids don’t want live-action shows! You are CARTOON NETWORK! That means animation! Jesus Christ, are you people trying to kill the network?!”
• “You just don’t get it, do? you? CARTOON Network has (had, actually) a large fanbase of viewers. And guess what they liked to watch? Here, I’ll give you a hint: NOT LIVE-ACTION GARBAGE. I can flip to any other channel and watch that. You’ve just taken the last thing you had and flushed it down the toilet, along with my viewership.”
• “Whatever happened to “The Best Place For Cartoons”?”
• “Wow, and I thought the big wigs were losing it when they totally disregarded Toonami. These guys are clueless.”
• “Stop hiring executives to run cartoon network that don’t like cartoons!!!”

I can see how Dumbo as the backdrop is cool and urban, but the real question is for the marketing experts: Is CN trying to be MTV for a certain generation? and did it succeed?