Toonami shocked millions with the near annihilation of TOM, host of Cartoon Network's two-hour action-anime block, in last year's interactive Total Immersion Cartoon event, "The Intruder." This year, events turn even more desperate when a hostile ship locks onto TOM's deep space transmission vessel, The Absolution. Toonami's only chance for survival depends upon the viewers and their ability to free The Absolution from the enemy ship in the interactive animated event, "Lockdown."

Last year's "Intruder" focused on an all-consuming alien force trying to eat the ship - a harrowing tale of survival at the end of which TOM had a new, sleeker body and Toonami had boosted its ratings by 50 percent. In an attempt to capitalize on and expand this success, "Lockdown" will feature a similar serialized story with corresponding online action, but also will involve the Toonami community in a complete, team-based role-playing game.

"Last year's 'Intruder' was a tremendous success for us," says Toonami creative director, Sean Akins, "'Lockdown' is light years beyond where we were back then."

Years of digital work have culminated in this entirely computer-generated 3-D animation experience. Dozens of modelers, illustrators and animators have maximized the potential of state-of-the-art technology, many having coming from other computer intensive projects like "The Matrix" and the up-coming "Spider-Man." And "Lockdown" establishes five more intricate, virtual environments in Toonami and will be broadcast in several vignettes starring TOM and "The Absolution."

Registration for the online portion of the event began September 4 at Toonami.com. "Lockdown" itself runs September 17 - 21. Registered viewers pilot remote control "DOKS" robots divided into three teams, all competing to earn the most points throughout the week. The game awards points through various activities, not the least of which is watching the story unfold on Toonami. At the end of the week, the team with the most points wins a unique, downloadable prize. Additionally, Nintendo and their next generation console - Gamecube, helps sponsor "Lockdown" and will host contests featuring Nintendo prizes.

Interactivity has often been touted as the next step in film and animation alike. Cartoon Network can safely be considered the first to pull off such a large-scale endeavor successfully.

"Last year's 'Toonami: The Intruder' event proved the high appeal of simultaneous action unfolding on the air and on the web," lauds Jim Samples, General Manager of Cartoon Network Online. Similar to their television ratings jump, Toonami.com increased its page views by 72 percent from the previous week during "The Intruder."

Other online multi-player role-playing games, such as "EverQuest" and "Ultima Online," have long cultivated that community sense Cartoon Network wishes to reach. Squaresoft will also test the waters with their upcoming "Final Fantasy XI," the first entirely online adventure in the highly acclaimed "Final Fantasy" series. For media in which the most frequent audience involvement is sitting alone in the dark, blending television with online gaming is a challenging but natural progression of both.

"With 'Toonami: Lockdown,' we'll deliver not only the excitement of a multi-media event, but also the power of multi-player gaming," Samples continues. "I am convinced that our fans will go nuts over this."