Cartoon Network Arabic launching in fall

Who knew the Powerpuff Girls were fluent Arabic speakers? Image via Wikipedia

Time Warner’s Cartoon Network is embarking an ambitious plan to launch an all-Arabic channel in the Middle East.

Beginning in late 2010, a free-to-air Cartoon Network Arabic will launch on various satellite and cable systems throughout the Arab world.

Programs on Cartoon Network Arabic will include dubbed versions of favorites Ben 10, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack.

According to Chris Groves, managing director of Turner Broadcasting, Middle East:

“There’s been a great deal of demand for Arabic content in this region, and launching a 24/7 Arabic Cartoon Network channel is a further testament to our growing investment in the region.”

The “growing investment in the region” refers to a series of very real business decisions made by Turner in reference to Middle Eastern childrens television. This past April, Time Warner inked a deal with Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 studio to develop original Arabic childrens programming and another deal was inked with the Jordanian creators of the Arabic-themed edutainment series Ben & Izzy.

One example of the original programming to air on Cartoon Network Arabic is FREEJ, which “follows four grandmothers in Dubai who deal with the challenges of living in a rapidly modernizing city.”

Programs on Cartoon Network Arabic will be dubbed into Fusha — the formal Arabic used in newspapers and speeches — rather than in dialect.