Fourth of July holiday starts off with a big cartoon bang and ends with a musical salute

The Fourth of July is a time for picnics, musical celebrations and fireworks lighting up the evening sky.

Every year, television also jumps on the holiday bandwagon and commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence with special programming.

Nickelodeon begins the festivities a day early with Cartoon Kablooey (Friday 5-8 p.m.), featuring three hours of cartoon craziness.

Nick will air selected episodes of its own animated series “Doug,” “Rugrats” and “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” along with the classics “Looney Tunes,” “The Bullwinkle Show,” “Underdog,” “Inspector Gadget,” “Yogi Bear” and “Danger Mouse.”

The Family Channel rings in the holiday Saturday morning with the animated special Liberty and the Littles (7:30-9 a.m.). The Littles’ plane crashes near the Statue of Liberty, where they discover a community of French Littles who have been living there for 100 years. Through the help of the oldest French Little, the Littles gain a new appreciation of Independence Day.

Animated and live-action specials and movies highlight the Disney Channel’s holiday programming. The fun begins with the animated fable Peter No-Tail in America (noon-12:30 p.m.).

Also included in the marathon is the animated Babar Comes to America (1:30-2 p.m.); the claymation-styled My Friend Liberty (3:30-4 p.m.); Uncle Sam Magoo (5-6 p.m.); Johnny Tremain (6-7:30 p.m.), a 1957 drama about one of America’s greatest heroes of the Revolutionary War; Backstage Disney: The American Adventure (7:30-8 p.m.), a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the American Adventure Pavilion at EPCOT; the drama Goodbye, Miss 4th of July (8-9:30 p.m.), starring Roxanna Zal and Louis Gossett Jr.; the charming comedy Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss (9:30-11 p.m.); and Lady Liberty: A Musical Salute (11-midnight), a musical tribute to America hosted by Hal Londen and featuring Martin Sheen, Tony Danza and John Denver.

For ages 4 and up and parents.

MORE KIDS SHOWS

Ahoy, mates! Long John Silver, the colorful peg-legged pirate of “Treasure Island” fame is back, and he’s up to no good in the repeat of the five-hour miniseries Disney’s Return to Treasure Island (Sunday-Thursday 7-9 p.m. Disney Channel). It’s 10 years after his first voyage to Treasure Island and Jim Hawkins (Christopher Guard) is a graduate of Oxford University. When Jim sets sail for Jamaica, Long John Silver (Brian Blessed) joins him on the voyage in hopes of obtaining Jim’s map, which will lead to the fortune in diamonds he left behind on Treasure Island. For ages 9-16.

HBO premieres a 52-part animated version of the beloved Pinocchio (beginning Wednesday 8:30-9 a.m.). Airing daily, “Pinocchio” follows the tale of the puppet from his creation by the lonely woodcarver Gepetto to his magical adventures in his quest to become a real boy. Benny the Mouse, Jack the Fox, Willie the Weasel and the evil Puppetmaster Sneeroff are some of the characters Pinocchio encounters on his journeys. For ages 3-11.

In the 1990 Australian adventure Pirates Island (Friday 7-9 p.m. Disney Channel), four Aussie teen-agers are marooned on a bizarre, forbidding island surrounded by a strange magnetic field and ruled by the infamous Captain Blackheart, a descendant of the pirates who were shipwrecked more than 200 years before. The fearless teens form an underground movement with the natives to plot their escape. For ages 6-12.

Those truly ugly Americans, The Munsters, venture to Merry Olde England after the family inherits a castle, only to discover the British don’t want them to move in the 1966 feature Munster, Go Home (Friday 7-9 p.m. the Family Channel). Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick and Debbie Watson star. For ages 5-11 and baby boomers.

Nickelodeon presents the final installment of Totally Kids Sports (Saturday 5-5:30 p.m.), the cable network’s series of magazine-style sports specials featuring kid reporters. For ages 7-15.