Animation & Imitation : CARTOONS OFFER A MIX OF MOVIE-SPAWNED SERIES AND OFFBEAT ORIGINALS

It’s 8 a.m. Saturday I Do you know where your children are?

Chances are, they’re hunkered down in front of the TV, crunching cereal and watching wascally wabbits or reptilian crime fighters.

The networks-and the sponsors-are banking on it: To tempt children and parents to tune in, this season’s cartoons include the classic, the faddish and, more than ever, the adult-appealing offbeat. Old characters return in new guises-Yogi Bear and friends are crime-fighting teens hanging out at Jellystone Mall in NBC’s “Yo, Yogi!,” while Fox’s “Tom & Jerry Kids Show” boasts adolescent versions of the Hanna-Barbera staples.

More than ever, celebrities give voice to animated versions of themselves. Bo Jackson, Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan are problem solvers in NBC’s “ProStars,” “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin is a mischief-maker in NBC’s “WishKid Starring Macaulay Culkin,” rapper M.C. Hammer hosts “Hammerman” on ABC, Howie Mandell returns to Fox as 4-year-old Bobby Generic in “Bobby’s World,” and Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd vocally reprise their movie roles in CBS’ new “Back to the Future” series.

One happy result of this season’s competitiveness is a reduction in bland, look-alike shows. Instead, there are a variety of styles, some downright bizarre. Compare “Mother Goose and Grimm,” based on the bulbous-nosed characters in Mike Peters’ syndicated comic strip, with CBS’ interactive “Where’s Waldo?,” taken from Martin Handford’s mesmerizing children’s puzzle books, or with Fox’s oddly drawn “Little Shop,” inspired by Roger Corman’s cult film “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Or, take a look at those three emphatically weird Nickelodeon entries running on Sundays: the Angst-ridden “Doug,” the baby’s-eye view in “Rugrats” and “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” an outrageously oddball buddy series about a cat and a chihuahua.

And then there’s “Riders in the Sky.” This mix of live action, animation and puppetry, starring real-life singing cowboys Ranger Doug, Too Slim and Woody Paul, has to be the longest shot on CBS’ slate. The trio croons Western songs and shares Harmony Ranch with assorted puppets and humans, a talking steer skull and Turbo the Wonderhorse.

“It’s a softer, gentler show,” said Judy Price, CBS vice president of children’s programs and daytime specials.

“Where’s Waldo?” lets kids search for the bespectacled hero concealed in intricate backgrounds. Surprise: When the segments rerun for a third and fourth time, Waldo’s position changes.

Naturally, CBS has brought back its mega-hit “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” a show that NBC’s Al Carosi, vice president of children’s programming, still considers top competition.

“Clearly the big show last year was ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ ” Carosi said. “That’s why we put two of our strongest shows-’WishKid’ and ‘Spacecats’-up against it.”

NBC is counting on the immense appeal of cuddly “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin for “WishKid,” featuring both live and animated versions of the child star.

Carosi describes “Spacecats” and its multi-layered humor, animatronic puppets and animation developed by “Alf” creator Paul Fusco as a “sleeper” with “the potential to be the ‘Rocky and Bullwinkle’ of the ‘90s.”

At ABC, anticipation is high for Walt Disney Animation’s crime-fighting, comic “Darkwing Duck,” thanks to Disney’s heavyweight reputation for quality animation.

The network is also “heavily promoting” “Hammerman,” said Jenny Trias, ABC vice president of children’s programs. Rap master M.C. Hammer’s animated alter-ego is a recreation center worker who helps kids when magic shoes traraform him into a superhero.

Plotting Saturday’s lineups is no giggle. Competition is fierce and the programmers have definite ideas of what works. They don’t always agree. For instance, why are there more and more movie-generated shows? According to Jenny Trias, vice president of children’s programs for ABC, “It’s one of the best avenues for getting kids to Saturday morning.”

“I’m not opposed to movies being the groundwork to TV series,” said Margaret Loesch, Fox Children’s Network president, “if it’s a good, imaginative property for kids. I am oppposed if a network puts all its eggs in that basket. You don’t have diversity and you don’t nurture new ideas.”

But Nick’s Vanessa Coffey, executive producer of animation, said that she “hates the idea” of movie-generated shows. “It’s commerical and it’s not fair,” she said. “It’s cheating kids. I think. Kids like to see new things.”

The shows’ obvious male-oriented slant is not by design, the network programmers say.

“The only time I consciously looked for a male-driven property was a year ago when I locked into ‘Turtles,’ ” said CBS’ Judy Price. “At that time, ABC had taken all of our boys away with ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Beetlejuice’ I I wanted to get them back,” she said, “and not lose the girls in the process.”

“We really don’t look for a boy show or a girl show,” Trias said, “but elements that will appeal to both boys and girls. While it’s been known traditionaly that boys will not watch a female lead, ‘Beetlejuice’ for instance, would not be able to be the character he is without Lydia to play off of . . . “

Each says his or her network is a safe, entertaining place for a child to be in the morning.

Or, as Price puts it, parents “need not worry about their children with us.”

Trias does counsel moderation, however. “I don’t think any child or adult should spend the whole day watching the Saturday lineup,” she said. “I watch the whole lineup for all four networks and I’m barely coherent afterwards.”