"I keep calling it the Woodstock of television," Seibert tells Mashable. "It is the biggest audience of mass television viewing in the history of moving pictures."
Seibert isn't joking. With over 1 billion unique users watching over 6 billion hours of video each month, YouTube's reach is stunning. According to Neilsen, the site reaches more U.S. adults aged 18 to 34 than any cable network.
It's easy to see why cartoon creators would forego the red tape and high pressure of cable television in favor of the Internet. Taking a cartoon from concept to production is grueling work, requiring a huge commitment from the creators and a huge paycheck from the network. More often than not, pitches never see the light of day.
Simon's Cat is hand-drawn, frame by frame. Tofield himself storyboards the episodes.
Image: Simon's Cat
On YouTube, that process is accelerated tenfold. Operating on a smaller scale with smaller risks, cartoonists can take a chance with more niche ideas and experiment
