Since the 1980s, there have been many television shows that have featured famous and well-known cartoon characters (Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, etc.) appearing as children. This trend, often referred to as "Babyficationated" shows or "babyfication," was kicked off by Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, which was based on a sequence in the (live-action) film The Muppets Take Manhattan.

A common trait of many of these spinoffs is their habit of breaking whatever semblance of continuity (however minimal or nonexistent it may be) the previous versions of the characters established; for example, the original Flintstones series stated that Fred and Barney first met Wilma and Betty as adults while working at a resort, an assertion backed up by several later episodes/spinoffs (as well as the second live-action Flintstones movie, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas). However, The Flintstone Kids shows them all as having known each other as ten-year-olds. Another issue not addressed by the animators is the fact that Bedrock, as portrayed in The Flintstone Kids, has a very strong African-American presence, even though Bedrock on the regular grown-up Flintstones series was almost exclusively Caucasian. Exactly what happened to the Bedrock minorities in the years leading up to the Flintstone's adulthood has never been addressed.

Here are a list of some other shows that feature younger versions of cartoon characters:

• Baby Looney Tunes (Warner Bros., 2002): based on the series of Looney Tunes shorts.
  • The show stars the following Looney Tunes characters as babies:
    • Bugs Bunny
    • Lola Bunny
    • Daffy Duck
    • Sylvester the cat
    • Tweety Bird
    • The Tasmanian Devil
    • Petunia Pig
    • Melissa Duck; like the Muppet Babies character Skeeter, Melissa was an original character created for this show.
  • The show has also featured baby versions of Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew, and Marvin the Martian in musical segments between stories.

• The Flintstone Kids (Hanna-Barbera, 1986): featuring the original cast of The Flintstones (Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty) as ten-year olds.
  • In addition the show also has backup segments:
    • Flintstone Funnies, a segment in which the characters (ala Muppet Babies) engage in various imagination-derived "adventures."
    • Captain Caveman... and Son!, featuring Captain Caveman (from Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels), and his son, Cavey Jr.

• Gadget Boy & Heather (DiC Entertainment, 1995): featuring Inspector Gadget as a young bionic boy.
  • There was significant character replacements in this series. The most ones are:
    • Gadget's later niece, Penny, was replaced with his Nanny/partner, Heather.
    • The dog Brain was replaced with a shape-shifting robot dog called "G-9."
    • Finally, the original series' villain Dr. Claw was replaced with Spydra, a pink Spider-Man-esque foe.

• A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (Hanna-Barbera, 1988): featuring Scooby-Doo and the Mystery, Inc. gang's adventures as junior high school students.

• Tom and Jerry Kids Show (Hanna-Barbera/Turner Entertainment, 1990): featuring Tom and Jerry as children.
  • Other segments on this program include:
    • Droopy and Dribble, featuring Droopy Dog and his son Dribble.
    • Spike & Tyke, featuring the bulldog Spike, and his son Tyke. Tyke, oddly enough, is the same age here as he is in the conventional "adult" Tom and Jerry shorts.

• Yo Yogi! (Hanna-Barbera, 1991): featuring Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, Huckleberry Hound, and their friends as teenagers who have various adventures at "Jellystone Mall." Other characters included teenage versions of Ranger Smith, Atom Ant, Magilla Gorilla, and Dick Dastardly.