Gush / Western Animation

• Gonna give a shout-out to 6teen and Stōked here (since they're so dang similar), because it is criminal the way they have been treated in the States. There have never been any animated series in America or Canada that have depicted being a teenager as perfectly as these shows. The characters talk, look, and behave all like real high-schoolers, and it's so damn believable that even when the shows get too wacky or crude, the writing still feels like it came from a genuine live-action sitcom. All the main characters on these shows are fantastic, so much that I cannot say which one is my favourite of them. Also, their theme songs are pure awesome. They are easily amongst Teletoon's best series, hands down.
• While is aware of the film's flaws (2 should had lasted longer before he died.), 9 is one of my favorite animated pictures. The animation's amazing(this coming from someone who prefers the 2D animation style), the music's enjoyable, the characters, while flat, are mostly likable, the music's amazing, and the voice acting's is well done.
  • Seconded. 9 quickly rose to the top of my "favorite movies ever" list after I saw it, simply because I feel like it was made for me and people like me. The premise, the design, the characters... I couldn't believe that there was so much awesome packed into 80 minutes of movie.
• Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, anyone? The title may be lame, but the show itself is anything but, what with cleverly written and interesting storylines, creative-looking monsters, three main characters with separate and believable personalities, and a good sense of humor, this is not a show to be missed.
• If no one else will say it, I will: the world of animation wouldn't be the same without Aardman Studios. They are to stop-motion what Pixar is to CG. These guys have given us some truly great stories and characters. There's Chicken Run - a film that manages to be funny, heartwarming and awesome all at the same time, and is in my opinion the unfortunate receiver of the ultimate Award Snub - the majorly underrated and drop-dead hilarious Flushed Away... and, of course, them. That iconic duo who need no introduction; you know who I'm talking about. That charmingly ditzy inventor and his beloved pet. That pet is without a doubt one of the most incredible animated characters ever. He's better an expressing emotion than some Real Life actors are. And he does it all with his eyebrows. Who says you need to have a mouth to win an Oscar?
  • I, who recently found my DVD of "The Were-Rabbit" right before getting Netflix, which has ALL of the Wallace and Gromit shorts, would have to agree. Aardman is a brilliant studio, and it's great knowing that they'll have 2 movies (Arthur Christmas and Pirate: band of Misfits), within months of each other later this year (and early next year)
• Adventure Time. Seriously. Outside of Chowder and Flapjack, this is the best show Cartoon Network has had in ages: amazing animation, unique characters, and an offbeat sense of humor. Not to mention the crapload of stuff it gets away with. Granted, not everyone may understand the show, but it has a large teenage fanbase. The show was originally headed to Nickelodeon, but they wanted to water it down because it was too weird; Cartoon Network greenlit it a few years later and gave Pen Ward more creative freedom, slapping it with a TV-PG rating. I commend CN for making such a bold move.
  • I find it particularly notable that Adventure Time is a clever, fast-paced show stationed in a scenery and style reminiscent of those kiddie shows. It's quite an entertaining contrast.
  • What time is it? Time to gush about this show. I also find this cartoon extremely enjoyable, largely because of the weirdness and the Surreal Humor. But the main reason is because the Land of Ooo is a whole new world, extremely colorful and with a drawn out map to boot! And there are so many princesses. Not to mention it all takes place After the End which is really cool. It also takes dark turns once in a while and stabilizes it with heartwarming moments, which more cartoons now-a-days need. Matt Groening also likes it... so yeah.
  • OK, here's a show that's so awesome, great, good, funny, memetic, amazing, awesome, great, amazing, yougetthepicture-ific, I need you to say it with me! What time is it? I said, WHAT TIME IS IT?!?!?!?! ADVENTURE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Adventures from the Book of Virtues. This is one of the most creative animated series I've ever seen on TV. I mean, it's very inspirational for an edutainment series. It's got some charming and funny characters, a unique all-star cast, and really neat storylines, the animation and backgrounds are utterly gorgeous and very reminiscent of a Disney movie, and the orchestral music is brilliantly done. Not to mention, the adapted source material segments (which mainly consist of stories from the Bible and the Greek mythology) and the life lessons (or at least "virtues", as the show puts it) for kids are great. It's a shame it's being forgotten in the past few years.
• Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Needs More Love. Seriously! It's madcap, hilarious, Looney Tunes-style action, and just fun. The show never takes itself too seriously, which is appreciated. It's one of those shows in which the villains are just as entertaining as the protagonists, especially with the vocal talents of Long John Baldry as Robotnik. And the funniest part? The Ho Yay. Definitely. Hearing Tails say "You look hot, Lucas!" is probably the best bit of the whole shebang. Sonic's always crossdressing and enticing Robotnik, who himself has had some "questionable moments" of the sort. Good Lord I am getting off topic. To sum up, AoStH is a classic series. (You knew it was me, didn't you?)
• Æon Flux. Goddamn it, why can't we have more awesome, sexy, surreal, Mind Screwy shows any more.
• Don Bluth has another gem called All Dogs Go to Heaven. The premise is amazing, and Burt Reynolds and Dom De Luise are perfect voice actors for the titular Charlie B. Barkin and Itchy Itchiford, respectively. Overall, it is a film that is dark, hilarious, sad, and heartwarming at the same time, a combination that everyone should try. Plus, it is as much for adults as it is for kids.
• The fact that The Amazing World of Gumball took so long to get on this list is a sin. This show is one of the funniest I've ever seen, the characters the most diverse, and the animation the greatest. If you want a funny, surreal anything, go watch Gumball.
• American Dad! is the best Seth MacFarlane show. It started slow but it progressed starting with Stan of Arabia. Even the worst seasons (e.g) six and seven can garner a few laughs.
• The action was fun, but a bit scripted. The villains were developed and numerous. American Dragon: Jake Long was pretty good in its first season. The second season made people wonder how such a thing could come from Disney. The artwork became smooth and detailed, the characters were being detailed by the minute, and the plot of the Huntsclan and the Dark Dragon reached its ultimate prime. Shame it couldn't have lasted longer...
  • It gets downright sad when you read just how epic the Executive Meddling truly was. The series creators had a blog up a while back where they vented some of this, and sadly it's since been closed to the majority of the public — but the stories they told rivaled and probably surpassed Firefly's struggles (Your plot is too interesting for those kids! Your fire-breathing dragon has to wear elbow pads and a helmet while flying! We're mandating a fart joke in the pilot! We don't like Trixie sounding like a black girl! Make Jake use slang all the time, even though you wanted it to be a signal of him being about to do something stupid and morally questionable!). It gets awesome again when you realize everything that ended up on the air is what they slipped past this bullshit at immense pain and effort.
    • And then it gets more awesome when a lot of the show's staff and voice cast left Disney afterward, and the first thing they worked on under a freer rein was... Avatar.
    • I love American Dragon: Jake Long as well. It's a shame that so many people are quick to call it terrible because of Jake's Jive Turkey, because there is so much that is fantastic about the series. For one, for a Disney Channel show, it pushed the envelope dramatically with the Jake and Rose storyline. Second, unlike most Disney Channel villains like Dr. Drakken or The Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy, the villains were more threatening than comical, which as someone who likes villains, I think is awesome. Third, the show has so many story arcs throughout the two seasons that there is actually a real story going on in the series, which is pretty rare for a Disney show. Most Disney Channel shows are shows that are two 11-minute episodes long that are in no way connected or are Monster of the Week shows.
• Amphibia. The characters are great. It does an absolutely awesome job at balancing humor and plot. After an episode, you always want more. Just, please. If you have free time: watch it.
  • Second! Amphibia has managed to do something even the likes of Gravity Falls, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Batman: The Animated Series failed to for me: become one of my all-time favorite cartoons ever! Amazing characters who whose struggles and growth make us root hard for them, perfect balancing between silly lighthearted fare and darker serious stuff that can make you laugh or cry hard, a rich and fascinating setting that fills you with wonder and curiosity, gorgeous animation with cute character designs and lush backgrounds, tons of celebration and representation for Asian peoples and cultures (especially Thailand), etc. From the sitcom-styled tranquility of Season 1's silly and charming Power of Friendship adventures to the emotionally powerful (and sometimes outright heartbreaking) intensity of the Wham Episodes, there is just so much to love about this series.
• The Angry Beavers. Everything about this show is almost like Ren and Stimpy, but on a cleaner scale, somewhat. It's very zany, the characters are fun, and even my dad likes the title (ahem...)
• The Animals of Farthing Wood: Let's see. It's got some good animation, memorable characters, an absolutely beautiful soundtrack, some very dark moments, and quite several genuinely sad ones. Although the third season kinda lacks some of these qualities, the first two are utterly brilliant.
• I rediscovered Animaniacs on YouTube recently and realized that they were so much wittier, funnier, and savvier than I ever gave them credit for.
  • It took me by surprise too. After passing them over along with the rest of children's TV back when it aired, to hear wit like this — "All we know is that we like you. We have no taste, but we like you." — is spurring a need for box sets.
  • Animaniacs is made of pure, unfiltered AWESOME!! It's fast paced, hysterical, is funny without being gross, and had the most adult humor in a kids show I have ever seen. It is exactly on the border of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, is well animated, mature and doesn't go out of its way to offend everyone.
  • I was baffled by Animaniacs when I was a kid. Now I know why— do most kids get the Whole Plot References to Les Misérables? Not to mention all the demographically inappropriate humour. And, despite my childhood bafflement, much of the humor works on two levels. The "to be or not to be" "translation" skit works for the adults because the dichotomy of Dot's translations with Shakespeare is hilarious, and for the kids because she says "skullhead". It's just masterful humor.
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force is made of win and epicness.
• Arthur is not just a kids' show, and I know I'm not the only adult who loves it. Anyone and everyone can enjoy it, what with the humor, all of the random popular references ("Brain, if you don't stop, you'll turn into a guy who sneaks around in the rafters dropping chandeliers on people!", not mention parodies like Henry Screaver and Persimmony Glitchet), the lessons that aren't full of Narm, and awesome occasional celebrity appearances (my favorite is Art Garfunkel as The Singing Moose). Some people write it off as a family-friendly version of The Simpsons, but it has its own style. Honestly, some of the humor (especially the more subtle Shout Outs) gets funnier when you become an adult:
  Francine (to Brain): Brain, if you don't stop this now, you'll be some outcast running around in the school rafters dropping chandeliers on people!
• Gonna stand up for Atomic Betty because that show seriously deserves more respect. It created thrilling action and fantastic fight scenes despite having below-average animation, it wasn't afraid to get ambitious in its storytelling or shake up its status quo, and its title character was both incredibly adorable and an amazing badass that both girls and boys alike could admire. And yes, it's theme song was awesome.
• It's...Atomic Time! Atomic Puppet is one of the most cruelly unappreciated cartoons of the 2010's and one of the greatest cartoons to come out of Teletoon. Fantastic animation, a creative premise that makes for fun stories and character interactions, awesome action sequences, and plenty of enjoyable characters. Also the season 1 finale is undiluted awesome. Too bad it never got a season 2, because we need more of Joey and AP kicking evildoer ass.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender does everything right—my only cause for complaint with it is the few things that could have been done even righter, but held back. (Also "The Great Divide," although I got a funny Fan Fic out of it, so I can't complain as strenuously as most.) And never has a family show succeeded so amazingly at blowing The Smurfette Principle out of the water.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most amazing Western Animation series that was based off of the most classic plotline. Avatar also has some of the best female characters in anything ever.
  • Totally! It made me laugh and cry and do quiet mad dances of glee, and once a show does that it has my loyalty forever. Or at least until it tries out shark-jumping (or possibly Turtle-Shark Jumping?), but Avatar never did that. So much love for it. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a Moment of Awesome all by itself.
  • Especially the Grand Finale blows the "Holy Shit!" Quotient through the roof, into space and then through the whole universe, until the recursive nature of the universe - not infinite enough to contain that much awesomeness - curved it back unto itself, creating an infinite cycle...
  • This show, I have very little doubt, will still be praised as one of the best cartoons of the 21st century, far into the future. And the term "cartoon" doesn't even begin to do it justice. It has supreme examples of Mood Whiplash, for one.
  • It's so monkeyfeathering Trope Overdosed (but all of the tropes are used well), and there are many excellent subversions and inversions.
  • It made me feel sorry for an emo character. Normally I can't stand emo characters.
  • I personally found Avatar to be just a really interesting show, until the finale. Then it turned into a CMOA for all of Western Animation.
  • Especially the finale! The fact that they managed to make Azula, who until that point had been one of the poster-children for Magnificent Bastard in training into an utter woobie by showing a gradual mind-break... my jaw dropped and a tear was shed when she saw her "mother" in the mirror.
  • Agreed. It's a testament to the writing on this show that they can attempt to take a supremely despicable character you've loved to hate throughout the series and make your heart ache with pity for her in the end...and succeed oh so well. That is SO hard to do without coming off Narmy...
  • My little brother likes it simply due to the frequency of losses for the main characters. Unlike other children's action shows, they really need to work to attain victory, and the 20-episode seasons preclude excess filler. As for me, I read that the entire staff was forced to buy the entire boxset of FLCL and watch it. Looks like it paid off in spades.
  • The fact that it made me cry when it ended is a testament to its rightful place among legendary storytelling.
  • The one silver lining to the underwhelming disappointment that was The Last Airbender is the excellent prequel manga Zuko's Story. The Back Story we've been dying to see since Episode 3!
  • It has Foamy and the Cabbage Merchant. I defy you not to find some other show whose more popular characters include a voiceless guy who only foams at the mouth and an old guy whose only line is ''MY CABBAGES!''
  • I can't find anything else to watch now. WHY DID IT HAVE TO END???!?
• The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: A well balanced ensemble cast, witty well paced dialogue, shout-outs and continuity nods out the wazoo...and they redeemed Hank "Wifebeater" Pym and made him a cool character. Lemme repeat that: They took the poster child for Never Live It Down and reforged him into a science toting Badass Pacifist!
• Okay, so take a cast of realistic, lovable characters. Now put them in creative, imaginative settings that leave no room for recycled footage. Add some of the best songs in children's animation, and top it off with destroying gender roles (female pirates, female knights, female scientists, male characters showing fear...). Ladies and gentlemen, The Backyardigans!
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold is epic. Epic action, epic humor, Rule of Cool pulled off really well...and the Musical Episode. Squeeeeeee!
  • Not to mention, it has the best version of Aquaman ever. Outrageous!
• For that matter, Beavis And Butthead was a lot better than it seemed to be during it's height of popularity. For a show about the two stupidest guys on the planet, the writing was surprisingly smart and shows how wonderful Mike Judge is at writing about the banal and ordinary. The music videos were something I didn't appreciate as a kid but now they're just hilarious.
• Say what you will about the annoyances the Cash-Cow Franchise has brought, but the original Ben 10 series was just plain alien-superhero fun.
  • Seconded by King Nerd I love all the aliens and Ben and Gwen make such a cool duo with the Grand Finale "Goodbye and Good Riddance" being the bet conclusion to any series ever,it kills me inside that Ben 10: Alien Force din't continue from there.
  • Ben 10: Alien Force is what The Empire Strikes Back was to A New Hope. It deepened the mythos of the franchise, it matured the characters and put them up against the gravest of threats (Highbreed are the best villains in the franchise, hands down), and thanks to a Darker and Edgier tone, it broadened the age range appeal for the audience.
    • And the conclusion of the Highbreed War Arc is on the same type of awesome pedestal as Avatar: The Last Airbender's finale!
• I loved watching Beverly Hills Teens as a kid. It's a silly show, but I was just discovering I liked girls at the time it aired, and this show had a lot of them, who frequently wore swimsuits. Oh, yeah!
• Big City Greens. God, this show is underrated. It's a sweet, hilarious, and endearing little cartoon featuring the funniest and most lovable country folk on TV since the Beverly Hillbillies (which the Greens have a lot in common with - but in a good way). Heck, even the supporting cast are a wonderful bunch. The animation and artstyle is fantastic, and the music is just to die for. And seriously this show is genuinely really funny - never laughed so hard at a kids' cartoon in such a long time.
• Biker Mice from Mars remains one of my favorite shows from my childhood. Solid animation, fun dialogue, great characters, motorcycles, explosions, good writing, the destruction of Limburger Tower at the end of every episode- seriously, pick a feature.
• Bluey is possibly the sweetest show ever aired on the Disney Channel. All the characters are lovable and its morals are well-executed.
• Bob's Burgers - this troper always looks forward to spending time with a cartoon family that genuinely loves and sticks up for its own. Bob is that rare (fairly) competent, sane TV comedy dad, but the stars are the women - Linda the overly-enthusiastic mom, Louise the Axe-Crazy but vulnerable little daughter, and Tina, the oddly comfortable-in-her-skin geeky tween. Also, the show has built up a strong log of great crazy catchy songs.
  • I second that! Bob's Burgers is such a great show. The number one reason I love it though is that its a refreshing change of pace from all the Black Comedy Grossout Shows and Dysfunctional Family sitcoms that crowd adult-aimed animation today. The characters, the humor, the mood, and the family's dynamics all help to prove my point.
• BoJack Horseman is such an incredible show. It starts a bit slow, but it gets better and better with every season. Come for the nuanced portrayals of depression and asexuality, stay for the incisive take on what it's like to be a toxic person. All the characters are so detailed and well-written, and they do a really good job of developing the side characters, too. I'm talking really minor characters, like the security guard at the Nixon Library who desperately wants to believe that Richard Nixon is his long-lost father. Plus the continuity is strong AF, they do a lot of experimental episodes, every choice has consequences, it touches on topics not usually talked about in adult animation, it contains some expert Foreshadowing, and its finale is honestly perfect. It's really good at being a TV show, given that it's in large part about the TV industry. It dives into the disparity between reality and fiction, and the events of the show are refreshingly more realistic than not, but it still knows how important it is to have an escape. There's also tons of surreal humor and animal puns to balance out the depressing undertones. This show is especially good for emerging adults, as it's all about what it means to BE an adult, and how you're responsible for your own actions. It understands how hard life can be, but it also reminds us why life is worth living.
• Wait, no one's mentioned The Book of Life yet? This movie is phenomenal!!!! The animation is GORGEOUS with its unique wooden puppet character design and beautiful Day of the Dead aesthetic. It has a memorable cast of characters, a great soundtrack (to each his own on the songs used), and did I mention that the director is the same guy who made El Tigre?! All flaws aside, this is one of my favorite animated movies of all time!
• Let's give some love to Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, shall we? It was a truly fantastic series that had a great Saturday-morning feel which excelled at balancing action and comedy, while also being a very well-made Affectionate Parody of old sci-fi serials and space operas. And the cast was fantastic too; all of Team Lightyear were fantastic characters, and Wayne Knight was brilliant as Emperor Zurg. This is a series that is just impossible to watch without feeling like a kid again - and isn't that something any great children's cartoon should do for older viewers?
• Camp Lazlo. It was just a nice, simplistic (in a good way) show that one could enjoy at almost any age. Don't worry about the fact that summer camp is lasting a bit too long. It's also a nice throwback to Rocko's Modern Life, for any viewers who've seen that show.
  • Seconded! Was it as good as its contemporaries or Joe Murray's previous cartoon? No. But, the characters, the jokes, and the storylines all had what something that made it as good as Adventure Time, The Powerpuff Girls, or any other beloved Cartoon Network original I can think of. Heart and charm.
• I hate to say it, but, I actually LIKE Captain N: The Game Master. Sub-par animation? Yes. Little to do with the games featured in the show? Understatement. Still fun to watch? Hell yes!
• I've got to add Captain Planet. This show taught us nineties kids a whole lot, and managed to be exciting and interesting too. I still love it, and introduced it to my younger brother, who has declared his desire to become a Planeteer. Tell me you didn't want one of those rings.
• I am actually depressed at being the only person on this wiki who likes CatDog... It doesn't deserve the hatred it gets. It really doesn't. It's probably one of the best portrayals of a relationship between two brothers I've ever seen. Cat may be a greedy jerk, and Dog may be an idiot who constantly hurts his brother and can't control his instincts, but both of them have their good qualities: Cat's willing to stand up for his brother and help him with his goals, and Dog's loyal to his brother and willing to go along with what he wants. It was good and entertaining, with a few heartwarming moments between the two brothers. That, plus the songs were great - listen to "Cat Diggity Dog," and don't tell me you haven't been won over by the vaudevillian style...
  • You're not alone, my friend! CatDog was a show with many Funny Moments and the titular brothers often showed a genuine caring for each other. Not to mention that kickass theme song...
  • I agree. CatDog is my favorite Nicktoon next to SpongeBob SquarePants, and I still have a CatDog doll from when I was two years old!
• Cats Don't Dance. Gorgeous animated movement, unmatched line-quality and colors; golden-age Hollywood shout-outs, likable characters, and an amazing villainess. And, of course, epic show numbers. It leaves you kinda speechless, don't it?
• Centaurworld has amazing music, animation, and characters. The first few episodes of season 2 are admittedly kind of a drag, but they're well worth sitting through to reach one of the greasiest finales of an animated show I've ever seen. Additionally, all the reveals in that finale make the entire series one of the best examples of Rewatch Bonus in my opinion.
• ChalkZone was my childhood defined. I loved to (and still love to) draw and I always wished to be whisked into a world where my creative freedom came to life after I first saw it on Oh Yeah! Cartoons. It's theme song was amazing, the villains were creative, and the main characters were incredibly relatable. It still feels like an adventure to watch at 2:00 AM. Obsession? Yes. I'm sad that it had to end after a good 6 years, but Nickelodeon! Put it on DVD already!
• People who complain about how Cartoon Network has no good shows nowadays are obviously forgetting about Chowder. It's colorful, fun, and a Parental Bonus-packed shows that doesn't treat its audience as if their age is the same number as their IQ.
  • Seconded to the max. Chowder is the best show Cartoon Network has come up with since Ed, Edd n Eddy.
• I'm a bit surprised nobody has brought up Clarence. Despite the odd character designs and unfortunate Creator Breakdown, there are many reasons to love it. It's a surprisingly well-written breath of fresh air from Cartoon Network's love for shows with lots of surreal and weird stuff. The kiddie charm is very strong and endearing after watching a few episodes, the humor works quite well, and it takes issues that children would have a hard time understanding and making them simple. Truly, it's a show with a big heart.
• Class of 3000, aka a great example of how to do a Celebrity Toon. It was a hilarious series was loaded with Awesome Music and thoroughly entertaining characters that all brought something worthwhile to the table. It seriously Needs More Love.
• Clerks: The Animated Series is so good! The show has hilarious plots (Episode 2 comes to mind) and great characters! Of course, ABC made sure it wouldn't get past six episodes, but it shows that having nothing to do with the source material isn't a bad thing.
• Clone High. Hilarious and eminently quotable; unfortunately cancelled after one season.
• Ah, Code Lyoko. Let's face it, there is better action out there. But for a supposedly action show, this Animesque sensation had incredibly compelling character interaction. In addition, Jeremie and Aelita remain my favorite pairing from any work of fiction.
  • Agreed. While seasons three and four had several weaknesses, all in all, the series was very entertaining, and the characters great (I am particularly fond of Sissi Delmas, one of the most lovable of all Libbys.)
  • Thirded. I remember watching this in elementary school and sympathizing with Jeremy. To this day, the show is my all-time favorite show.
  • Fourthed. Even though a lot of the episodes were stock footage (going to Lyoko in particular), there was just something cool about it. And the characters were amazing, especially Jeremy and Aelita. I really loved Xana-William too. He was the dark avatar XANA needed to be more frightening.
• I love Codename: Kids Next Door. All the kids are adorable and badass and hilarious. And I love the Delightful Children From Down The Lane, even if they are a bit creepy.
  • Yes! This show was fun and amazing. Where else could you see an episode involving secret agent children battling the monstrous, sentient food of an evil lunch lady who eventually unleashed a giant sandwich demon upon the town, so the kids fight back with a genetically engineered super wrestler hamster, and the entire time they're singing rock opera? Codename: Kids Next Door is and will always be spectacular.
  • I positively love this show. The thing about it that really impresses me is how simultaneously childlike and mature it is. The Two-By-Four Tech, the wonderfully over-the-top theme villains, that awesome treehouse, all serve to give the series a... erm, delightful tone, just like how an especially imaginative child might see the world. And somehow, it manages to be surprisingly mature at the same time - the characters are well-developed, the stories are sometimes rather dark and sophisticated, but it never really goes too far (at least, most of the time).
• Coraline is one of the best movie adaptation ever. Who knows that kind of movie could've been animated in stop-motion? The voice acting is one of the best in the movie history, the soundtrack is creepy yet impossibly awesome, and the script... well, just look up Fridge Brilliance for details.
  • Second. This movie was made for me.
• Courage the Cowardly Dog.
  • And you should all be ashamed for it. Was it full of morals? Did it have an ongoing plot? Was there any character development besides like... TWO villains of the week turning over a new leaf? No. But it was freaking awesome.
  • Let's not forget that Courage the Cowardly Dog has created some of the greatest works in animated horror made as well as other masterpieces like "Last of the Starmakers" and "The Mask".
• I'd also like to stand up for Cow and Chicken. Out of the many shows accused of being a ripoff of The Ren & Stimpy Show, this is one of the few that managed to be a good show in its own right. It was a surrealist, absurdist show that managed to be consistently entertaining. Not forgetting, well, the Red Guy, one of my favorite cartoon characters ever.
  • Second! Cow and Chicken gets way more hate than it deserves. The main trio were hilarious (Courtesy to Charlie Adler for the vocal talent), the show took on a different sense of humor than R&S, and its Rule of Funny nature made it impossible to not laugh at least once. A lot of the same applies to I Am Weasel too with its Looney Tunes-inspired premise combined with Cow and Chicken's sense of humor making for great laughs.
• Who else loves The Critic? It had a fascinating ensemble of characters, frequently hilarious scripts, and it didn't assume Viewers Are Morons - it was more likely to make fun of people with that mindset. Its frequent use of cutaway gags and rather fanciful universe predates Family Guy while being noticeably wittier and kinder.
  • I do, I do! It was hilarious as a kid, and still just as funny to me now. Jay's father is a walking Crowning Moment of Funny and puts all other Cloudcuckoolanders to shame. He's Secretary of Balloon Doggies ('cause the balloon doggies demanded it), the first black female head of the Ku Klux Klan (who, when running for Vice President, just wants to say AMERICA STINKS!), and the Energizer Bunny on the side.
    • And he posed for the Krazy Glue logo! How do you top that?
  • Me too, and let me tell you something: I liked the smart parodies and humor, but what I really LOVED about this series was the incredible well development drama and storylines. My God, this cartoon had more credible relationship development that most of soap operas
  • I first found it late at night watching Comedy Central with no school the next morning in my middle school years. I got around to watching it again recently and concluded that it was far ahead of its time.
    • Research tells me that Judd Apatow was a writer for it. That explains a lot.
• Cupcake & Dino: General Services. God, easily one of the most underappreciated cartoons of the 2010s. Every episode is an utter delight, from the playful humor to the uplifting themes to the lovable characters to the top-notch animation and Medium Blending. And the theme song is up there with Spongebob Squarepants as one of the silliest, catchiest, and most unskippable cartoon intros ever. Everything about the show is impossible not to smile at, and the fact so few people have heard of it or seen it is criminal.
• The HUB's other awesome series, Dan Vs. is simply genius. It's like all the maturity of a late-night TV-14 animated show, but subverted enough that kids can watch it, and it's still good.
  • Yes, Troper. It is.
  • Dan Vs. is arguably MORE quotable than My Little Pony, with genius moments like the "If Dan jumped off a cliff, would you?" sequence or "England and France had a baby out of wedlock, and that baby was Canada!" And the show keeps trying to top itself in ridiculous revenge plots.
• Danny Phantom. Funny at times, dramatic at others, and having some serious Character Development, it's something that rarely fails to entertain.
  • Seconded. I am completely myopic on my obsession with the series for some four years running now. Also, Vlad is sex on legs.
  • Thirded. I have been in love with the show's entire concept since its very first commercials before its pilot airing in 2004. I immediately fell in love with its execution, and haven't looked back since. For me, the highlights of the 2004-2006 years were those blessed 8:30 Friday night time slots that new DP episodes would air. I don't think there will ever be another show I love as much as this one, what with its Myth Arcs, its sympathetic characters even though they might be villains, and its ability to have multiple-episode arcs while staying episodic at the same time.
  • The night the ninth episode aired where Jazz secretly discovered her brother's Secret Identity, it instantly became my favorite show at the time and the first one I became so obsessed over, I had to find something else to do with it besides watch it over and over. Thus, I joined my first online fandom... and breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't weird that I found the main character so attractive.
    • Oh gosh, that ninth episode. "My Brother's Keeper" is one of the best episodes of ANY animated series I've ever seen. It's extremely touching to see a teenager realistically depicted struggling with depression, self-esteem issues, and a strained sibling relationship. And of course, seeing Danny overcome it all in the end for his sister's sake is heartwarming beyond words. Whatever faults this show may have had, "My Brother's Keeper" is positively sublime, and great showcase of the series at its best.
  • Danny Phantom was the first show that ever got me involved in a Fandom. The last season was weak, but still managed to be better than most cartoons! Nick's decision to cancel it was a major nail in the channel's coffin.
    • Whilst 'Phantom Planet' was a good way to end the show, I am still unsure about their decision to let everyone know Danny Phantom's true identity, and was deeply saddened that they were forced to abandon some brilliant arcs (e.g. Dani Phantom and Valerie Grey). Still... Fanfic Fuel!
• It's hard to believe that something like Daria even existed, it was so smart and brilliantly written. I'm sure I'm not the only person for whom it helped get them through middle school or high school, and the characterizations were just spot-on. It's one of my most missed shows.
  • Daria really does merit more love, for all that it's characters were deliberately over the top it managed to feel utterly natural, hell they even pulled off a love triangle that didn't seem silly. Episodes like Boxing Daria showed that it could be more than just cynical humor too, they really did develop their story into something special.
  • So true. One of the most deserved of a cult following ever. I own the entire illegally downloaded series (shhh), and has even checked out numerous 90's albums from the library, just to compose my own compilations of the music used from the show.
• Why oh why can't we have vigilantes like Darkwing Duck anymore...
  • Agreed, I was shown a clip of the show by a friend and instantly fell in love with it. I then proceeded to watch every last episode on YouTube, and despite being on the idealistic end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, it still managed to keep the balance of action and drama with comedy and slapstick perfectly balanced. The show has some of the most memorable characters to come out of Disney's vaults, both heroes and villains.
• The whole of the DC Animated Universe is the pinnacle of its entire medium.
  • Seconded and thirded on that.
  • Batman: The Animated Series was one of the most badass cartoons in the history of humankind.
    • Da na na NAAAAAAAAAA, NAAAAAAAAAAAAA.. Awesome Music DOESN'T EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE IT.
    • Agree a zillion times. That series set the standard for all superhero cartoons to come, DC or Marvel.
    • Thirded! I drove myself into the poorhouse collecting the first three seasons, but it. Was TOTALLY. Worth it. ^_^
    • Agreed. Though also, despite what others may say, The Batman in it's 2nd, 3rd, and (ESPECIALLY) 4th seasons did justice to the Dark Knight as well.
  • Superman: The Animated Series doesn't get nearly enough credit for how awesome it is, and it proved that the DCAU could do the Myth Arc and do it well. Superman doesn't have as enormous a Rogues Gallery, but the pure concentrated awesomeness of Lex Luthor and Darkseid (not to mention the reimagined Brainiac, Toyman, Mxyptlk, and Bizarro), made sure that it would reach the same heights.
  • Justice League Unlimited is a culmination of every lesson learned throughout the DCAU. Its first season may be the best individual season of any show of all time (and its second is less of a contender, only because it's so unnecessarily Cut Short).
    • Seconded, but I'm going to say the first two seasons (comprising the first story arc- CADMUS) was pure brilliance.This was a show I started watching to laugh at how over the top it was, and this story made me absolutely love it.
    • Thirded, the entire CADMUS arc was amazing. It's thanks to that show that I got into comics. I was so surprised at how genuinely good it was. It remains one of my favorite shows ever.
  • It's been ten years and I still love Batman Beyond as much as I did the first time I ever watched it. I grew up on Batman: The Animated Series and greatly appreciate the care that went into sculpting a new Batman who turned out to be just as awesome as the original.
  • Okay, you ready? Here it comes.... BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER IS THE GREATEST BATMAN MOVIE EVER! PERIOD!! There. I said it.
    • Seconded. It gave us an amazing explanation for what had happened to Bruce that started him on the path to giving up crime-fighting, it finally allowed Terry to prove himself as a true Batman, it brought back Mark Hamill as the Joker, and the animation was amazing. This was, without a doubt, the best Batman movie I've ever seen, possibly the best one ever made.
  • The four main shows of the DCAU: Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League (that includes Unlimited) are just pure and utter brilliance. Intelligent writing, mature storytelling, complex characterization and character relationships with strong emotional investments and universally excellent voice acting. To say that they are great kid shows doesn't do them justice. They're just damn great shows, whether you're a kid or adult. As said above, taken as a whole, they are practically the pinnacle of Western Animation.
• The series of DC Animated Original Movies that Warner Bros. has been cranking out since 2007 with Superman: Doomsday. Without comparing it to the DCAU, I've seen about half of the movies made so far (some of which I own on Blu-Ray), and I've enjoyed them. If I were to specify a few…
  1. Justice League: The New Frontier. A well-made movie that sets the characters in the 50's, when communism was a major threat (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not good with history). There's some genuinely funny moments (Martian Manhunter watching TV), and some very awesome moments as well (King Faraday's Dying Moment of Awesome).
  2. Batman: Under the Red Hood. The plot of this movie, following the death of Jason Todd, revolves around Batman as he confronts the Red Hood, who can be described as (and actually is described as this, in the movie itself) a Batman who "doesn't mind the blood". The voice acting is very sound, and I'm going to say this: John DiMaggio is one of two of the best voice actors for the Joker I've ever heard (yes, even better than the legendary Mark Hamill), tying with Michael Emerson. Under the Red Hood also has, without spoiling it, one of the saddest endings I've ever seen from anything DC Comics. I wouldn't blame you if the ending made you cry, even a little.
  3. Superman vs. the Elite. The voice acting is awesome (George Newbern reprising his role as Superman is a plus), the animation is beautiful, and the story is well-written. This movie also asks some powerful questions regarding the blue boy scout we all know and love. Is Superman, a hero who wears his his underwear outside and follows a strict Thou Shall Not Kill policy, really the superhero that modern day needs? And is "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" still the way to go?
  4. A special mention goes to the DC Showcase animated shorts, which are included with some of the movies themselves. For animated shorts that last only about 15 minutes (26 in Superman/Shazam!'s case), they're very well-made.
• Despicable Me. The main character punches a frickin' shark to get his adopted children. Enough said.
• Detentionaire can only be described in one word — and that is AWESOME!!!! Seriously, this is a show that just sucks you in with its spectacular writing and fantastic characters all wrapped in a brilliantly assembled mixing of mysterious conspiracy and high school drama to create one of the best damn story-driven animated series ever produced - and one of Nelvana's best series, period. Also the theme song is badass.
• Disney is just about my favorite thing ever. Yeah, people may complain about Disneyfication or whatever, but at the end of the day, who cares? The animation is literally the best to come out the US, ever. The music is extremely catchy. The stories and characters are fun and memorable. I just love it.
  • A-men. Why must everything be Darker and Edgier? If you want the originals, go read them, and leave us to enjoy the happiness.
  • And if you really want Darker and Edgier, they've got that too. Have you watched Sleeping Beauty? Disney stuff has happy endings, but that doesn't stop the hardcore stuff from happening on the way.
  • The Lion King and Mulan — my two favorites. Ahhh, I want to watch those again!
  • Beauty and the Beast is quite possibly one of the most perfect things ever committed to celluloid.
  • The Little Mermaid. Ariel is so freaking HOT!
  • Not to creep people out, but virtually all Disney princesses are foxes. (Not literally, unless referring to Maid Marian. Or the less well-known Princess Lotta Lamour.)
  • I had the beautiful experience of not actually seeing Aladdin until I was 16, where I could instantly appreciate how incredibly awesome (and how frequently hilarious) it is.
  • What I especially like about this movie is Aladdin and Jasmine's chemistry. It feels very unforced and natural, probably one the most natural in a Disney movie.
  • On the other hand, I've been a fan of Aladdin and The Lion King since age 4. And my love of them both hasn't waned at all since then. I still act like a giddy 4-year-old when watching them.
  • Even with the Disneyfication and the Plucky Comic Relief gargoyles, I still love The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Having one of the best Villain Songs in Disney history helps.
    • Not to mention one of the best I Want Songs of all time.
    • Let's just call the whole soundtrack to that film Awesome Music. 'Cause it is.
    • I heartily concur (and absolutely cannot get "Hellfire" out of my head!), and happens to like the plucky gargoyles. Could Mary Wickes have picked a better final role in her career, I ask you?
    • I absolutely adore Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's my favorite Disney-movie of all time. This movie is beautiful! The music is beautiful, the backgrounds, the character-designs: it's all so beautifully drawn! I love the movie's theme about loneliness and acceptance, and it has one of the best darker stories in all of Disney-dom. Did I mention it got one of the very best Disney-villains ever? I LOVE this movie!
  • Heck, everything Disney between 1991 and 1996 or so is a thing of beauty on some level or other. Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas (historical liberties aside) "Hunchback"...Brilliance.
  • It wasn't the first feature-length animated film ever, but Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs still deserves credit for the colossal artistic undertaking that it was in 1937, and the fact that it so smashingly works even now. Walt and his animators knew that audiences would demand a lot from a movie made this way, and were determined to give them a movie that would stand alongside what other great, live-action filmmakers were doing at the time and justify its then-huge expense. Given that it was both a huge hit and became the standard for what animated features could/should aspire to in terms of engaging audiences with great characters, an involving story, and gorgeous artwork and carefully considered music, it deserves a lot of love.
  • The Emperor's New Groove succeeded by being a departure from the typical Disney style with hilarious Lampshade Hanging, brilliant use of the Subverted Trope, and copious amounts of Breaking the Fourth Wall, and yet it still retained the endearing character relationships of Disney. It certainly is a very creative and original work especially in Disney context.
    • It's even more awesome considering that Executive Meddling forced the team to scrap THE ENTIRE ORIGINAL PREMISE FOR THE FILM and make into pop comedy to compete with Dreamworks, AND IT DIDN'T SUCK! That's a Moment of Awesome for the company as far as I'm concerned!
  • This movie was the most hilarious animated feature she'd seen as a kid. Still is one of the funniest. David Spade and Disney- who knew?
  • I must say, I consider Treasure Planet to be one of Disney's best films of all time and was very surprised to find out that it doesn't seem to be all that popular. Not only is the concept of Treasure Island in space handled surprisingly well, but even when viewed as a straight adaptation, I found that as far as Disney movies go, Treasure Planet actually does the original novel justice and is relatively free of Disneyfication. Add this to the great visuals, excellent music, and the surprisingly moving friendship between Jim and Silver, and you've got yourself an underappreciated masterpiece.
    • Agreed, this is definitely a movie that Needs More Love...
    • Third. I epically liked the music.
    • Fourth-ed! I loved how the animation managed to merge 2D and 3D graphics beautifully into a world that really takes my breath away! I want to be in the Etherium naooo!
    • Fifth...ded? Though that might just be because I am a sucker for anything steampunk...
    • Sixthed!!!! This is legitimately my all-time favourite Disney animated movie, and I absolutely adore the setting the film created. Who knew simply putting Wooden Ships and Iron Men in space could create a universe so amazing and fascinating that one would definitely want to live in it if they could?
    • I consider the Parental Substitute arc to be a bit overblown and prefers the ambiguity of the original Aesop, which never forgets that a cutthroat pirate is a cutthroat pirate. However, I will agree that is a gorgeous adaptation nevertheless.
  • In a similar theme — Oliver & Company. Listen to "Why Should I Worry" and tell me that is not the coolest dog you have ever encountered in your journies throughout media. Go on. Try and work up the gall to lie that much. I'll wait. (It's Billy Joel, for cryin' out loud!)
  • It must be said, as simply as possible: Song of the South, whatever else it may have, contains some of the best animated characters ever rendered in 2-D in the West, and still, as far as I know, holds the standard for combining live action with 2-D, not to mention some damn catchy songs. Keep Circulating the Tapes, my friends. Keep Circulating the Tapes.
  • Hercules is outstanding, in my opinion a lot better than the myths it's based off of (Hercules killing Megara? Yeah right, they're too cute of a couple for that). Hades is one of the best Magnificent Bastard villains ever, and Susan Egan is amazingly sexy as the voice of Megara.
    • I do not get why people say Disney doesn't care about the myths they base their movies on - they couldn't possibly put a third of the stuff in Greek myth in, it's for kids! And yet they snuck so many references in, proving that they do care.
  • In any case, Disney is apparently on the way of making Darker and Edgier stuff in the future, so there's not really much to complain either.
  • Bambi is the film that made me decide to become a filmmaker. It had a huge emotional impact on me as a kid, and seeing the "Making of" that's on my videocassette immediately after put me on a track I might not be on today without it.
  • Flaws aside, The Princess and the Frog is definitely one of Disney's best films. Wonderful cast (both in the movie and the voice work), using the better parts of the company's animated films (cool Villain Song and Visual Effects of Awesome) and averting the obvious ones, like Love at First Sight, Disney Death, Disney Villain Death or Disneyfication. And it's got Goliath playing as the villain. The plot moved a bit too quick but it don't let it bug you. Princess and the Frog has loads of that Disney magic. Felt just like old times.
  • The Great Mouse Detective and The Rescuers Down Under deserve a mention. The former is a wonderful Sherlock Holmes movie with Vincent Price as the villain and a spectacular climax, and the latter is one of the only good sequels (and one of the only two theatrically released) Disney has ever produced.
  • Tangled proves even further that Disney is still very in-touch with what it does best: fairy tales. Such a good movie with amazing characters.
    • Tangled has become the first Disney film since The Lion King to make over 500 million dollars worldwide. That is saying something in terms of the movie's quality.
    • It's follow up series Tangled: The Series is in my eyes even better than the film. It may have its flaws, but the good more than outweighs the bad it has great characters and writing builds up its plot really well and it does a good job at balancing comedy was epicness. The villains in the show are also really good ranging from sympathetic to completely evil and expand the lore of Tangled really well in a way that makes sense.
  • I love Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers. It somehow strikes a chord in my heartstrings, and at least once a year since the movie came out, I have to watch it again. Every time Mickey Mouse comes up in a conversation, I have to gush about how much I love that movie. Loudly.
  • Even though I can't forgive the movie with some of its racial stereotypes, I still think Dumbo is just as good, if not better, as its contemporary Disney movies. What I absolutely adore about it is the fact that Dumbo (the character) is unlike so many other movie characters; he's just a baby that wants to be with his mother! The animation is stellar, and the music (Oh god Baby Mine) is amazingly beautiful. Oh, and it has the most heartwarming ending in the entire Disney Animated Canon. It's my absolute favorite Disney movie, alongside Fantasia and Pinocchio.
    • Hey now, the racial stereotypes weren't even that bad, considering that the obviously Negro crows were some of the most jovial, helpful, all around likable characters in the whole film.
  • I feel blessed to have Fantasia be the first film I ever watched at age 2, one of my first memories in fact. I can never choose a favorite segment, because the music fits so beautifully with the animation, it's absolutely perfect. It was around age 20 that I started thinking seriously about why I love animation and it harkens back to Fantasia every time; it introduced animation to me, not as something meant only for kids, but as an art form, even if I didn't understand that at the time. Although I love The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and every Pixar movie to date, I still think to this day that if I'd been introduced to animation through any other film I probably wouldn't appreciate it the way I do now.
  • The Lion King, Toy Story 2, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog and The Nightmare Before Christmas are my favorite movies due to their epic soundtracks, visuals, storyline and characters.
  • The Lion King was a miracle for me. I had auditory processing disorder, I didn't register speech as anything other than noise, but when I saw it the first time, I couldn't take my eyes off it. My mom swears that it's because of The Lion King I started taking in speech and sound. Without The Lion King, I would be so non-communicative.
  • My Disney-favourites are The Hunchback of Notre Dame (and now in random order because it's impossible to place:), Robin Hood (1973), The Great Mouse Detective, Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove, The Lion King and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
    • And while we're on this subject, Atlantis the Lost Empire is such a cool movie. This movie have such brilliant characters - the entire team, but especially Milo. He's my favorite Disney-hero ever! And the settings and the way it's drawn with the underwater, underground, and Atlantis itself? BEAUTIFUL! The story, their adventure, and the story of Atlantis and the crystal, is such a cool story. A good story with good characters, in good design. I love this movie.
    • Seconded. Seriously despite it's vibrant art, colorful characters, and cool setting, it was sadly swept under the rug and never revisited. The Disney poster movie for Needs More Love...
  • Frozen was such a good movie with amazing characters and a powerful message. And while I greatly enjoyed Tangled's soundtrack, it falls short compared to Frozen's.
  • I'm glad I'll have the honor to add wonderful Big Hero 6. While the movie putting geeks in a positive light and derailing none of the female characters to love interests were great contributing factors, that's not what really go me, oh no. What got me was how incredibly well Hiro's emotions were handled without making him look like a whiny brat; he didn't have pathetic teenage angst, he was truly miserable, sad and angry. He was so relatable and realistic, while still showing that some of his actions are unjustifiable (ordering Baymax to kill Callaghan, for starters). Another huge factor was that he did very stupid things, but learnt from them, much like all of us did when we were his age (at least it struck a personal cord in this tropette, who were once rebellious). Adding Baymax into the mix adds to its sheer brilliance, conveying that no matter how depressed we are, we do not feel better to isolate ourselves from those we love, and me being someone who suffers depression, agrees 100%. Aside from the very healthy moral, the animation was as fantastic as Disney always does, the characters were likable, and the plot was executed well without it feeling forced or broken (which I personally thought Frozen was riddled with). Not to mention the strongly emotional credit song "Immortals" which blows us away with its message dealing with the loss of someone, and fits so well with the theme of this movie. Disney, keep on being geniuses.
  • The Black Cauldron anyone? A medieval fantasy with zombies! A cute princess, a cute farm boy, a cute little beast, a cute magical pig and a comical old man! Disney's most scariest and threatening villain? OH HECK YES!
  • Allow me to add Moana to this list. Where to begin?! The soundtrack is amazing (co-written by freaking Lin-Manuel Miranda of all people!), the animation is gorgeous, the characters are well-voiced and very lovable, the villain is hilarious but threatening at the same time, and the overall atmosphere of the movie is beautiful. Disney really knew what they where doing when taking inspiration from Polynesian cultures and traditions. Plus, there's a few meta jokes in this movie, too! If you get annoyed by the whole Disney Princess formula, this movie actually pokes fun at it and even lampshades some of its own tropes. All in all, this is one of the best Disney musicals we've gotten in a long time. With that said, "What can I say except 'you're welcome'?"
  • Wow, all of these and Bambi isn't even mentioned. Blasphemy, I say! Bambi was one of many Disney movies I watched when I was young, and it seems every time I watch it, the better it becomes. The art is absolutely sumptuous and unlike anything in the modern day, the characters are all sweet and decently likeable, the story, while it does meander a bit, is relateable and intriguing, the pacing is perfect, and...I just love everything about it! Yeah, I admit I like the book it's based on better, the Disney movie is very near and dear to my heart, and I'll definitely show it to my kids one day. Besides, need we forget Bambi's mom?
• Doug. This was my favorite show as a child, and still is. The characters and storylines are great, and has some catchy songs as well. I prefer the Nickelodeon version, but I don't HATE the Disney one.
• Duck Dodgers. It was funny, clever, well-drawn and had the best theme song ever. I can not gush about the theme song enough. It sounds like the finest Tom Jones impersonator they could fin.... Oh, it IS Tom Jones? Carry on.
• DuckTales (1987) hasn't been listed already? How can that be? One of Disney's first animated TV shows, and adaptated from the work of Donald Duck comic book writer/artist Carl Barks, this was one of the biggest factors in the start of Disney's Renaissance in the late 1980s. How can you not find this, a show about ducks who hunt for treasure, awesome? WOO-OOH!
  • Meanwhile its reboot series DuckTales (2017) is just as good, if not even better than the original!
• Forget about George Costanza, for me, Jason Alexander will always be Eric Tiberius Duckman. What the hell are you staring at?
• Ed, Edd n Eddy managed to use the same characters, the same setting, and the same time of year throughout all its episodes until the last season or so and still be wildly entertaining. Yes, it was stupid humor, but why is that a bad thing?
  • The characters were interesting. Especially Double D, with his brilliance & ability to make complex machines out of garbage. "Stereotypes"? They were more like the Greek archetypes, if anything. And the Greeks invented drama, so there.
  • The scams were wildly imaginative and entertaining.
    • Humor wasn't everything. The episode where Ed thinks he's a monster is legitimately scary, even though you know that it's just Ed in a costume. The last season also pulled a bit of character development out of its ass, leading to an unusually satisfying conclusion in the movie, & also a Moment of Awesome for Ed.
• El Tigre. Good balance of humor and drama, interesting characters, just enough ham to be fun but not narmish, and it's the only series with two contradictory pairings that I can't decide between. Tigre/Frida and Tigre/Cuervo. If that doesn't earn gushability, I don't know what does. Plus I love how social the heroes and villains were outside of work. Why are there no episodes on Youtube!?
• When adapting Dav Pilkey's beloved Captain Underpants series, Dreamworks already knocked it out of the park the first time around with Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, but who would have ever guessed they could do it again with The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants?! An absolutely masterful adaptation of the books that completely and utterly captures their tongue-in-cheek childlike spirit and masterful handling of Toilet Humour (which, let's face it, we all found hilarious as kids), the series still manages to stand out in its own right with its fresh and creative new content, hilarious and self-aware writing, wonderful animation and usage of Medium Blending, and how it is unafraid of getting ambitious with its storytelling when it wishes to be.
• Exo Squad is probably the best war-themed Western animated series, as well as one of the earliest and most successful anime-influenced cartoons, reaching the same, if not higher, level of thematic maturity, quality writing, characterization depth, and animation.
• Family Guy may today be known as an Anvilicious Gag Series, but the first three seasons were pure brilliance, making me laugh almost consistently.
  • Seconded. Yes, it was Anvilicious, but only a show like this could make something like frequent cutaways to totally unrelated segments work so well.
    • Despite how Anvilicious it can be at times, and how annoying some gags are, the series is still capable of producing funny episodes. "Three Kings" best exemplifies this and in my opinion, is by far the greatest episode of season 7.
    • Hell even now it's a Anvilicious Sadist Show it's still awesome.
• Few shows are more criminally underappreciated than Fangbone!, one of the most amazing adaptations of a kids' book ever produced in a country with a long history of great Animated Adaptations (Franklin, Babar, Redwall, etc.), one that enhanced the source material with its worldbuilding, action scenes, character development, and badass theme tune. Star vs. the Forces of Evil ripoff, my ass!
• The Fairly OddParents! deserves far less shit than it gets.
  • I used to watch that show all the time!!! As I grew older, the episodes did start to seem a little simplistic to me...but that doesn't stop me from still enjoying it.
• This might be a bit obscure, but Richard McGuire's short at the end of Fears of The Dark. Fears of The Dark is an French anthology of five black and white horror short films. Most of them aren't anything special but McGuire's is incredible. The way he uses the black and white is unbelievable. There's this one part where the man lights a fire in a black room, and white light rolls over the black and... I can't describe it and do it justice. You can watch part of it here but if you're an animation nerd you owe it to yourself to see the full thing.
• FernGully: The Last Rainforest is one of the most beautiful movies ever made. A lot of people are quick to dismiss it as overly idealistic Anvilicious "tree-hugging hippie crap". I ask "What's wrong with that?". Anyway, the art is gorgeous, the songs are fantastic, and Batty and Hexxus are two of the most memorable characters you'll ever see in a non-Disney animated feature (it's no exaggeration that they have the best songs).
• Speaking of awesome Disney cartoons, it's not on anymore, but Fillmore! is just super-cool, thanks to relying on copious Mundane Made Awesome.
  • Seconded. Fillmore kicks so much ass. A modern-day children's cartoon that parodies '70s Buddy Cop Shows — and pulls it off? Sign me up.
• The Flintstones. Despite being a clone of The Honeymooners, it's still pretty sweet. It's the very first prime time cartoon, it has great visual gags, creative stone age houses and tools, funny voice acting, Ed Benedict's appealing character designs, and that iconic tune.
• I loved Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends as a kid and after rewatching I still do! Sure, it can be mean-spirited, but it's also cute, funny, and full of weird and wonderful creatures and characters. Special shout-out goes to Destination Imagination for being one of the best finales CN has ever done!
• Freakazoid! is funny. What more do you need?
  • Mention that it's a children's show that features former President Clinton, Princess Diana, Bill Gates (who can be mentioned by name because he's a close friend of Steven Spielberg) and even Henry freaking Kissinger. That's what I need.
    Bill Gates. It not only runs Windows, but it washes them too!
• Futurama is the best thing I have ever seen, heard, and bought disturbing amounts of merchandising for. God bless you, Matt Groening, and thank you for giving me something so wonderful to do instead of talk to my friends, exercise, or sleep.
  • Seconded. Also, props to David X. Cohen and the rest of the team as well. I was deathly afraid that Futurama would Jump the Shark when it came back, but I was so beautifully wrong.
  • Thirded(?). Thank you God, for giving me something so wonderfully addictive that I quote it randomly in everyday life, demand merchandise for, draw obsessively, and do so many fanworks for that my friends think I'm deranged.
  • Fourth...ded. It makes me feel good to be a geek, and always makes me smile at the raised brows when people walk in my room and see my giant Futurama poster amongst the pink, sparkles and fashion magazines. Any show that can have such an emotional impact (see: "those" episodes. You know the ones.), and still be a comedy show at the end of the day is a mark of one of the greatest shows to ever exist. Futurama cast and crew, you rock.
  • Fifth...ed...ded. Thank Comedy Central Futurama's coming back. With original voices too. I'm going to enjoy ever nanosecond of the old gang's new adventures...and Zoidberg's too.
  • Sixthded...ed...ded. I pretty much didn't begin watching it until right when it got cancelled off Fox, only viewing it on [adult swim]. Before that I only caught a few seconds at a time, as back then I doubt my parents would want me to watch such a show. But boy am I glad to have become a fan. I love every episode, even the newer ones which I, too, were afraid would be less good. My other favorite show will most likely never be un-canceled, but Futurama's return is glorious enough to make up for it. Anyone else's jaw drop when they first heard that four full-length movies were coming out? It had been hard for me to believe...
  • Agreed. There is so much to love about this show. Its premise allows for both celebrating and skewering common sci-fi tropes, the characters (for the most part) are very charming and likable, and, most importantly, it's really dang funny. Not only that, but this show also loves to go out of its way to pull your heart-strings in all the right ways. I would love to see Futurama return, but I'm quite satisfied with what we have.
  • YES! YES! YES! Futurama is my all-time favourite cartoon and my all-time favourite TV show ever! It has everything I love in a great show, live-action or animated - hilarious jokes, fantastic characters, powerful emotional moments, endless creativity, appealing visuals, etc. Sure, it wasn't 100% perfect (but then again, what is?), but it came pretty damn close.
• Garfield and Friends! The Garfield segments are really funny and has good songs. But what I really want to gush about is the U.S.Acres segments (the farm animals)! I really feel the characters were much better done, then some of their comics version. The episodes get more funnier and sillier and less on a moral in the later seasons. Their songs in the early episodes were pretty good(Orson, Lanolin and Bo have really good singing voices!) My favorite part of the whole series is when Roy Rooster and Wade Duck interacts! Those guys are FUNNY together and I LOVE their love/hate relationship! The duo really crack me up and the moments when they do get along are really sweet. The episode "Fan Clubbing" where Roy and Wade were fighting like kids over an empty club is really funny! I haven't laugh so hard in years before I watched the episodes! The U.S.Acres segments really deserves a chance! Even if you don't love the early episodes, maybe you'll love the later ones!
• Gargoyles deserves a mention here as possibly being the best television show Disney has and ever will, produce. It has interesting plotlines and well written story arcs, top quality animation, and three dimensional, sympathetic characters-including the villains! Truly a work of Genius.
  • Oh dear God, seconded. Goliath. David Xanatos. Win.
  • Speaking of sympathetic villains - Demona. And for those whose memories may have shorted out, skip to 4:40, and watch: 5 words for you all - "The access code is... alone." Sad in its own right, but the entirety of the previous 3 episodes dealt with her background!
  • I never even heard of the show until I was seventeen and got interested in it two years later. However, having watched a few dozen episodes now, I can safely say it's one of the best cartoons ever made. Suck on that, nostalgia filter.
  • Not only is Gargoyles awesome in and of itself, most of the voice actors starred in Star Trek, making it extra fun for fans of both series.
  • Something that bears mentioning is the fact that Gargoyles was one of very few cartoons that did an appropriate Aesop involving guns! Not "guns are bad", but "guns are dangerous, so treat them with respect."
  • As I get older, most of the cartoons that I enjoyed as a child or teenager have seemed progressively stupider, sillier, or just plain cheesier. Gargoyles is not only the exception, it is one of the very very few that has gotten better every single time I watch it. What makes this show so amazing? The interesting cast of well-rounded characters. Keith David's amazing voice acting. The Best Villain Ever. Female characters who aren't Faux Action Girls and don't exist solely as eye candy, love interests, or to be rescued. A willingness to explore dark themes that most other Disney animation wouldn't touch. Take your pick. My only real complaint about this series was that it wasn't longer.
• Generator Rex has done what I thought was impossible and restored my faith in Western Animation. A compelling plot, characters that are deep and Deconstruct common themes often used. It can be serious when it wants to, and still retain humor that's genuinly funny. Plus, The fight scenes are epic and the weapons have multiple areas covered.
  • Seconded, oh so much. This tropette also loves how they avert tropes like Invincible Hero with Rex. Instead of being like other heroes who are made only to be a nice, perfect role model and end up reminding you of a cardboard box, Rex is instead a charming Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and we love him for it. It's also one of the only shows that can seamlessly combine Body Horror and comedy.
  • Thirded. I just caught up with the series and it's the reason I've started getting back into Western Animation. I'd also like to mention that, being Hispanic, I flipped out at the idea of a Mexican-Argentinean hero. Yes, Rex does have quite a horrible accent (though it's canon that he could never speak Spanish well, as his brother points out) and not all of their references are accurate, but for an American animated action show for kids? This is hands-down the best work I've ever seen. Besides that, the show takes a lot of risks with the violence and dark themes it can show, and it really makes me appreciate the work the writers put into it.
• Get Ed: Strong female characters? Check! Awesome mentor? Check! Strong characterizations for males? Check! Savvy villain? Absolutely! Fun Factor? Over 9000! This old Disney show should be remembered and acknowledged more!
• Godzilla: The Series is definitely the best thing to come out of the American Godzilla movie. For one, Godzilla himself. He isn't a lame mutant iguana, he's GOD FREAKING ZILLA here, in all his fire-breathing take-on-the-world-and-WIN badassery. It also scores major points with me for not only homaging a lot of the original Godzilla monsters, but for having Godzilla take on the Loch Ness Monster.
• I LOVE The Golden Age of Animation, all those old cartoon shorts from the 30's and 40's, from the heartfelt and cute ones to the zany slapstick ones. Whenever I'm in a bad mood I'll just sit and watch some old cartoons, and they make me feel better, as they ought to, since their original audiences were going through the Great Depression and World War II at the time. Walt Disney, Tex Avery, Looney Tunes, Popeye, Tom and Jerry, it's all good.
• I'm going to gush about Goof Troop. Instead of being another action-adventure show like most of the shows on The Disney Afternoon, it actually was more like Rocko's Modern Life and Hey Arnold! mixed—and as someone who was primarily a Nicktoon fan growing up, I say that this Disney cartoon Needs More Love. It had great, well-developed characters, a Rotating Protagonist structure that took advantage of natural character differences to set the tone, excellent acting including major roles played by two of my three favorite voice actors of all time (all three if you count the movies), diverse plots, relatable jokes, a realistic child abuse portrayal (much like Arnold, but with the warning signs going in the opposite direction), an understanding of what really matters in terms of "family values", slapstick that was consistently just as funny as it was meant to be, and some episodes I'd probably be willing to watch a million times. Not to mention that the characters are so relatable that the show actually covered the topic of unwarranted grade anxiety. And, speaking as an insider, its portrayal of fat characters was so freaking perfect that I can never believe anyone who says Disney promotes negative body image again.
• Gravity Falls is one of the best shows I ever seen. Its funny moments are generally funny, it's continuity driven fits perfectly, has interesting plot twists that want to make it come back for more, the characters are entertaining, and isn't afraid to thrown in dark punches in its horror without resorting to it being bloody.
  • Seconded. When you've got shit like Dog with a Blog on your lineup, this is a welcome surprise.
  • Thirded. This show is the best thing to come out of Disney Channel in probably about five years. It's got great animation, Adorkable characters, a great adventurous concept and it appeals to many demographics. It's earned its little cult.
  • Fourth...ed? I love pretty much everything about this show, but particularly the interaction and contrast between Mabel and Dipper - they feel like actual family, which, in my opinion, is a feeling Disney shows have been lacking.
  • Fifthed, I'll admit that when I first watched the pilot I was intrigued but I didn't really think they'd do much with the continuity so I didn't stick around for more than a couple episodes. Then come episodes The Inconveniencing, The Time Traveler's Pig, Dreamscapers and Gideon Rises and I was hooked. It has come to the point where I literally squee'd at the stinger scene in Northwest Mansion Noir. I now eagerly await tonight's (highly likely) wham episode, Not What He Seems.
  • Sixthed! The episode Not What He Seems was indeed a wham to end all previous whams. And it was fantastic. Besides the epic finales, this show has amazing humor and character. It shows realistic situations mixed with paranormal monster fights, and every second is either suspenseful, dramatic, or just laugh-out-loud. I completely adore it.
  • Seventhed!! Gravity Falls is my favorite cartoon of all time! It could be funny, scary, dark, dramatic, cute, and intriguing all at once while carrying an amazing fanbase! I have nothing negative to say about it. Alex Hirsch, you're a cartoon master!
  • Eighthed! While I didn't get into the show until the beginning of November 2015, and as of right now, the 24th, there's only one episode left, I wish I had given it a chance sooner. The more I've watched it, the more I love it, and it's now one of my favorite animated shows of all time. The characters are fantastic, the setting is great, the plots, monsters, and animation have some things that I'm really surprised the show has gotten away with, the continuity is strong... I adore it. And while I do feel sad that Weirdmageddon Part 3, whenever it's released, will be the last episode, I'm thankful that this is a show that's been so great and had such a concise story it seems it will end on a great high note.
  • Ninthed! I'm SO obsessed with this show. The animation is AMAZINGLY smooth, the characters are SO relatable, the show's mystery and humor are EXQUISITE, the show is SO ADULT for a kids cartoon. So many feels, so much angst, so much AWESOME OVERLOAD, and Alex Hirsch is hilarious. The relationships feel real, there's SO much to write fanfic about, and Bill Cipher is the best villain ever. Seriously. The guy takes over the falls and the first thing he does is have a freaking party with his friends. He mocks everyone with an air of sarcasm. You can never take him seriously. He replies to "you're insane" with "Sure I am, what's your point?". AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, HE'S A DORITO WITH A TOPHAT AND A BOWTIE. And at the same time, he's menacing as HELL. He drove several characters towards insanity and paranoia, laughs like the personification of CRAZY, and he's SUPER sadistic (and totally cool when paired with a knife and covered in blood in human form) and doesn't give a brick about what you think. They wrote him so menacingly, REAL PEOPLE have been paranoid about him watching him and have had hallucinations of him in REAL LIFE. You never know what he'll do next, and you're genuinely scared for the characters. PLEASE, DO NOT SKIP OVER THIS JUST BECAUSE IT'S ON DISNEY CHANNEL. (Can you tell I'm a 14 year old who uses tumblr way too much?)
  • Tenth'ed! it was just a good show. i'm feeling Awesomenesss Withdrawal . Saying goodbye to it. Is such an amazing bittersweet action. I'll never find a show so good like that. Goodbye Gravity Falls!
  • Eleventh'd! I adore this show. Hm, what to say that hasn't already been said? The theme song was AMAZING!
  • Twelved! I only watched about one episode of the show while it was on air (Irrational Treasure) and while is was alright, it didn't grab me enough at the time to watch anymore. However, years later, after the show ended and I'd seen it show up again and again online and on this very sight, I gave it a watch. After watching a good bit of it online, I loved it. Enough to drop a serious amount of money on the full series Blu-Ray Collector's edition as well as a physical copy of the Journal #3 and a few other items, to get the full experience. Now, after having finally found the time to watch the series all the way to the end in March 2019, it did not disappoint. I just finished powerwatching from Dipper and Mabel vs the Future all the way to the end, and I know that this show now ranks among the best I've ever seen. How do I know this? I cried . . . Sev'Ral Timez. Awesomeness Withdrawal is setting in, but I don't regret taking a trip to a weird sleepy town call Gravity Falls. Even being spoiled on many of the major plot points did not detract from my enjoyment. Whether or not we ever venture back, thank you Alex Hirsch and all those who worked on this series. You gave us a glorious Summer. See you for the next one!
• Green Lantern: The Animated Series: I was skeptical about this for two reasons, one being the Live action movie that was fresh on my mind and the second being the C Gi-ness. But both went out of the window as soon as I started watching. Wonderful animation that's fresh and looks sharp, good writing and characterization, bits of humor to keep the series fresh. And the original characters like Razer and Anya help to keep the pitch perfect. While it may not be the best that western animation has produced in a while, definitely worth a watch. Oh and before I forget, the executive producer? Bruce Timm.
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. It's simply awesome. It takes a setting that could be too serious, or too much of a downer, and transforms it in an interesting comedy resource. It's hilarious to see that all magical places can be full of amusing people. Tee-hee.
  • Seconded. The episode "Who Killed Who" deserves special mention, what with its eerie atmosphere and a fairly epic twist. "She beat death", anyone?
  • Third! But more specifically I would like to point toward Billy and Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure for being a Big Damn Movie that still manages to keep in touch with the show's humor and general weirdness with a great villain and Awesome Moments for the entire cast.
• Grojband is practically the best piece of animation ever. I wish there would be more seasons of the episodes because it's that unique. The characters are well-developed, the villain isn't really that evil, the comic relief is funny and tolerable, and even the background characters have names. Please let this amazing show continue.
  • Second! Grojband is a seriously underrated series, with awesome music by the bucketloads, a great cast of characters (Trina is kinda more of Love to Hate, but Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon are awesome - especially Laney), and writing that really demonstrates its ability to take a simple Strictly Formula and do tons of wacky, hilarious, and Crazy Is Cool stuff with it. It really sucks that it was canned after 26 episodes, because it totally deserved to have more seasons.
• It's so frustrating how badly Harvey Beaks got Screwed by the Network because it is such an amazing show. Beautiful animation and art, cute and likable characters, sweet stories of friendship and childhood, and lots of heart. It's just such a pleasure to watch and, quite frankly, criminal how much this show Needs More Love. Seriously, Harvey Beaks is way too awesome of a cartoon to get only two seasons.
• Hey Arnold! is a show that I don't think was truly appreciated in its amazingness. For a Y7-rated show, they got away with A LOT, but that's not why it was amazing. (It only helps its cause.) Helga is a nine-year-old girl who has unintentionally mentally abusive parents and latches onto Arnold early on her life (at the age of three) arguably to keep herself trudging through life. Plus, the episode "Helga on the Couch" may be one of the deepest episodes ever on a kids' show. It has humor in it, but it's also heartbreaking. Ignore the loose animation style that seems to turn a lot of people nowadays off from the series, watch it with an open mind.
  • Oh, and to continue my case of why the show is amazing, I bawl just thinking about the episode "The Pigeon Man."
  • I've been re-watching the series lately, and now I remember why I loved it so much. It's deep, it has interesting and engaging characters, its urban legend episodes are deliciously spooky without going overboard, and it's surprisingly shippy for a kids' cartoon made in the 90's.
• If there's only one E/I cartoon you should watch, it's Warner Bros' Histeria!! The producer of Tiny Toons and Animaniacs brings us often-hilarious sketches based around historically important events and people, and you gotta love that wacky group of singing children known as the Histeria! Kid Chorus, 'cause if you honestly don't, you've got serious problems.
• Home Movies is just wonderful. Much more subtle and understated than most [adult swim] shows, yet still utterly hilarious. Coach McGuirk is a living testament to the genius of H. Jon Benjamin. And what other show would do something like the Rock Opera of Franz Kafka?
• Okay, Mainframe Entertainment is responsible for several shows that might not have seemed like awesome concepts, but their final execution manages to surpass expectations. ReBoot was already mentioned, and there's Beast Wars, of course, but perhaps one of the best surprises these guys brought about was the Hot Wheels: World Race series. Somehow, the team managed to take what was little more than a marketing gimick and give it a magnificent final form, especially with the Acceleracers mini-series. Characters were fleshed out, action was exciting, the plot went lots of places without ever completely losing focus, and the sheer amount of dis-trust within the entire story really makes it feel real, like the characters are actually paying attention to how insane their situation is. And, minimal product shout-outs, which is a nice bonus. All around, a solid show that, upon viewing again some years after the fact, still holds up.
• Hilda is so good that it will change you (at least it changed me). Unbelievably relatable characters, absolutely stunning artwork, and excellent storytelling. What more could you ask for?
  • Second! There is just so much to adore about this wonderful series. The entire main cast is incredibly lovable (and very adorable too!) and extremely well-developed, the animation and soundtrack are utterly gorgeous, the the worldbuilding and folkloric inspiration is delightful, and the series' overall atmosphere is a perfect combination of fantastical adventure and childhood coziness. Every episode is excellent, and its very best ones make for some of the best television, period.
• Am I the only one who really likes Home on the Range? Yes, it wasn't the best movie that came out of Disney, but it still has quality! The animation is nice, the voice acting is good, the music is beautiful ("Will the Sun Ever Shine Again?" is still a beautiful song), and the comedy is great! I've watched it a hundred times and I still laugh at every joke! Yes, it's a movie about talking dairy cows. Yes, the villain is a cattle rustler who hypnotizes cows by yodeling. All negatives aside, it's one of my favorite Disney movies and I love it.
• How to Train Your Dragon. While experiences differ if you had read the books (which I didn't yet), it was a fantastic film all the same. My only gripe is that, while Astrid is no Satellite Love Interest, the love relationship between her and Hiccup isn't that all that developed. They could be just friends, and it won't change anything.
• So, guys. I just wanted to point out that Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! counts as Western Animation.
  • The Grinch is so cute and has the great Thurl Ravenscroft singing that song. The score is great too; the scene with the Whos singing after the Grinch steals the presents gets me every time.
• What, nobody gushing over Invader Zim? The rapid-fire social satire and perpetual mean-spirited humor that blend the low and high brows of comedy makes for a series that will never, EVER fail to entertain.
  • Not to mention that it supplies hysterical characters that are somehow strangely endearing despite their, uh, eccentricities. Oh, and it painted a lovely shade of gray over the whole Hero and Villain concept. Depending on the point of view, Dib or ZIM could fit either role. And that's just awesome.
  • The incredible Alternate Character Interpretation in this fandom is to DIE for. Seriously.
    • The Cyberpunk-ish and totally dark world of Jhonen Vasquez. He is a mad genius. I finally discovered the show on Netflix in late October 2010... and hasn't gone one day without thinking about it since. Gir and his randomness, Zim and that Napoleon complex of his, Dib and his gigantic head, Gaz and her deadpan humor and personality... what's not to love?
  • It was dark, it was hysterical, it was weird. This show had something that everybody could enjoy!
  • Don't forget the fact that this show managed to turn Squick, various degrees of Body Horror and a just all-around Nightmare Fuel-ish setting into a charming, entertaining and clever social satire. The best part: It's aimed at kids.
• I've got to express my love for Jackie Chan Adventures here. The best moments were definitely the various appearances of Super Moose. That moose was awesome.
  • One moooore thing! There is a lot more to say about this show! It contains almost no stock footage (which is impressive), all the fight scenes are unique, funny, and well-done. The characters are well-developed and interesting, and the storyline is great. Best cartoon this troper's ever seen.
• No love for Jelly Jamm? The main five kids being discount Backyardigans aside, they really work and it's always fun to watch how they bounce off each other. Bello and Mina are really funny, Goomo is the sweetest thing ever, Rita's cute as a button and Ongo is just the best character of anything ever. It's also got some really sweet moments; "Jammbo's Many Worlds" and "White Dodo" are some of my favourite kids' show episodes. No, not just episodes of the series; of children's television in general. It's criminally underrated and definitely deserves 11 minutes of your time.
  • Seconded. It's amazing how many genuinely funny jokes a show like this can crank out (Bello telling the viewers "Today, we're gonna have class!" followed by an off-screen audience booing springs to mind), on top of being sweet. Truly underrated stuff.
• Jellystone! freaking rules! This Hanna-Barbera crossover series is great for fans and non-fans alike. It's got quirky humor, a dozen cameos and mythology gags, reimagined characters with vivid personalities, and a lot of heart.
• Jimmy Two-Shoes is the only show about Hell that will make you laugh out loud regularly. Some say its stupid, but to me, it's got more of a wacky charm. The characters are wonderfully hysterical yet lovable, the music is real catchy, and it is cruelly underappreciated. The show is the perfect thing when you have nothing better to watch and need some good laughs.
  • Seconded. It was really well done comedy and some episodes had me in tears (the ones with the pickle woman come to mind immediately). When it was revealed oh-so-creepily that Heloise has a crush (and a shrine) on Jimmy I nearly died laughing. It is some of the best black comedy I've seen on western animation, rivaled only by Gravity Falls.
• KaBlam!. Hilarious characters, stories, and really deserved more than Nickelodeon gave it. Henry and June have got to be some of the most hilarious characters in the show (June is the Bugs to Henry's Daffy), and they're pretty cute, too. Action League NOW! should be named Funny Moments: The Animated Series. Sniz & Fondue was a funny Slice of Life short with two ferret/cat/mole/thingies who are on the geeky side. Prometheus & Bob was one of the bests. Life with Loopy was also a great short, even if it gave you nightmares, it was still sweet. And The Off-Beats was a really good Peanuts-esque short. Sure, a lot of the later one-shot shorts weren't the best, but it's a great show that Nickelodeon should've treated better. And the main duo were temporarily the mascots of the channel.
• Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil is the first Disney XD's cartoon. The plot is original: a kid who is determined to become the world's greatest daredevil. The animation is bold, the characters are cool and have Hidden Depths, there were plenty of Funny Moments and Heartwarming Moments, the stunts are epic, and the theme song is so damn catchy. Also, this series has something that many cartoons these days lack of: a main character who takes responsibility from his actions. Kick does that whenever he causes disaster. This show may look dumb, but it is one of the best cartoons you will ever see.
• Kim Possible has gorgeous animation, solid storylines, plenty of Lampshade Hanging, and characters that anyone will inevitably fall in love with. What more could you ask for?
  • I am a huge Kim Possible fan. I can watch episodes over and over and still find something new to think and laugh about.
  • I believe it to be the definitive Action Girlfriend show, and thankfully holds up well without the Nostalgia Filter
• Any fans of King Arthur's Disasters out there? What a brilliant show!
  • YOU. ARE. A. FLIPPING. SAINT.
• On that note: King of the Hill. It's wonderfully deadpan in its humor, with the best use of irony I have ever seen. Its characters are flawed, failed human beings who you just can't help but like. They're the type of characters you feel you could actually meet (indeed I know many people who remind me of those characters). And it never, ever resorted to hugely outlandish scenarios or Jump the Shark moments to deliver a laugh. It is, in my estimation, a thousand times better than Family Guy or the modern The Simpsons.
  • When I grow up, I want to live on Rainey Street. And gosh darn it if the show doesn't make you feel like you can. It's the realest, most true-to-life animated show I've ever seen in my life.
• Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts just might be my favorite cartoon. I usually do not like to pick favorites, but my love for this show is just that passionate. For starters, the art direction is a amazing. All the backgrounds are brimming with detail and actually make a post-apocalyptic world look gorgeous and adventurous. The character designs all have a very distinct look to them and are all brought to life by the talented animators very well. The themes of friendship, trust, redemption, and embracing diversity might seem cheesy on the surface, yet they are all executed in earnest ways that lead to several satisfying payoffs and heartwarming moments. The writing in general has no right to be as good as it is. It can be quirky, but also pretty layered when it needs to. A majority of the characters are very enjoyable and well written. Even the ones that are not very important have something memorable or appealing about them. I also give a huge thumbs-up to the soundtrack. Even though the show had a relatively short run, I am glad it ended on a good note and kept its storytelling tight instead of going on too long and/or gaining a toxic fandom. I consider it very underrated and wish more people to watch this and realize its greatness.
• Kung Fu Panda, all the way. What's not to like? Gorgeous, lush animation (as well as a wonderfully stylized, rip-roaring, truly awesome 2-D dream sequence). More laugh-out loud moments than I remember in an animated movie since Emperor's New Groove. Absolutely kickass Training Montage. A hero who is genuinely affecting, good-hearted, and endearing who you actually want to see triumph. Incredible cast of supporting characters. Excellent voice work. A true dedication and proper honor paid to the art of the craft, the integrity of the world they created, and the Chinese culture they were depicting. A villain who, however much you agree he was misguided, tragic, and worthy of redemption, you can't deny was complex, menacing, badass, and thoroughly effective. And wonderful, exciting, memorable music, courtesy of the always inspiring Hans Zimmer * worshipworship* . Dream Works did everything right.
  • Seconded. The fact that Dreamworks did everything right, in my opinion, is enough to make this one a Moment of Awesome. Plus, the MUSIC. PRETTTTTYYY.
  • Thirded. How the HELL did I miss seeing this one in theaters?! Freaking... gorgeous... scenery... animation... music... gaaaahhh...
  • Fourth'd, oh so much. I haven't watched a single movie on DVD so much since The Lion King. Not once has an extremely detailed website got me so hyped. And the music! And the animation! The voice acting (especially Shifu and Tai Lung)! The choreography! It's just awe-inspiring.
    • It's a very good combination of everything that is fun and Kung Fu and "Pure Awesomeness"!!!
  • With a darker tone, a more adult story, greater action and a more menacing villain, Kung Fu Panda 2 is easily the best out of the entire trilogy.
• Speaking of Don Bluth, why has no one mentioned The Land Before Time? Another one of his great classics. This movie had it all: good animation, beautiful music (it's theme song is gorgeous and still remembered), great characters, emotion, a scary villain, and even tastefully taught some life lessons. It has one of the biggest tearjerkers with Littlefoot's mother dying, but Bluth respected children enough to show Littlefoot grieving. This movie is considered more Disney than Oliver & Company which came out at the same time. It's a wonderful, uplifting movie!
  • Exactly! This was one of Don Bluth's best films! And in all honesty, I have a bit of a soft spot for the sequels.
• I realize I may well be the minority here, but I honestly consider The Legend of Korra an Even Better Sequel to the original. The animation is jaw-dropping, the voice acting is pitch-perfect, and the writing is some of the most mature and sophisticated I've ever seen in a cartoon. And major kudos to the writers for taking some real risks: the political parallels and dark, edgy themes are really unprecedented in children's television. The season finale may have been a little weak, but it certainly wasn't enough to condemn the show in my mind. Now if only they'd hurry up with season 2....
  • Agreed on all accounts. Season 2 is looking to be something extraordinary.
  • Looking back after the series finale aired (so here be spoilers) it turns out LOK only ever Growing the Beard and just kept getting better and better and I say that as someone who loved season two which most fans liked least. From how they brought back the Air Nomads to how they had Zaheer be an Enlightened Antagonist who ended up helping Korra to make up for accidentally paving the way for Kuvira to how the way Korra defeats Kuvira is by having heartfelt empathy for and a personal understanding of her. With their willingness to change the status quo repeatedly — be it Korra's previous lives being lost, her leaving the spirit portals open, abolishing the Earth Kindgom Monarchy or leveling downtown Republic City where there now is a new spirit portal. But if I am really honest, what I am still gushing about two days after the finale is that Korrasami is now the Official Couple. I never would have thought they could be even braver than they already have been with everything up to the finale, but they were and here we are. A Nickelodeon cartoon for kids ends with the lead and her best friend getting together, two strong complex bi protagonists are now on a vacation and all the hints and [Ship Tease]s suddenly make sense, add up, come together in the most beautiful final minutes of a TV show I have ever seen <3
  • I agree! It's a shame that people don't like Korra because it's "not as groundbreaking." Well I have something to say, it's a sequel! It's can't be as groundbreaking because it's expanding on a world that already exist. And (in my opinion.), I loved Korra a bit more than Avatar: The Last Airbender. It expanded beautifully on its world! It improved the animation, villains and writing. Korra could've fixed its characters a bit more thought. And regarding the ending, thought it needed better foreshadowing, I still give the creators full credit for having LGBTQ characters. If this is the last Avatar show, man, what a fantastic way to end it.
• The Legends of Treasure Island. I know some people just ignore this kind of stuff, but this show is one of those Darker and Edgier shows (despite In Name Only) that can easily be entertaining. It has a great cast like Hugh Laurie and Dawn French within this series and desperately needs more love. Even the characters themselves are entertaining, despite this series being a 26 episode series. It may have its flaws, but I say give this show a chance.
• The Legend of Zelda cartoon is definitely one of my guilty pleasure shows. Plenty of people ignore its existence, but I adore the cheese factor (not to mention the endless teasing regarding Link and Zelda's potential romance). Plus, I always found it awesome that Zelda really got in a lot of action, even though she still had to be saved by Link sometimes.
• THE. LEGO. MOVIE. According to critics, audiences and fans everywhere, it is HANDS DOWN the best animated movie of all time, or one of the best. Amazing animation, loads of hilarious moments, wonderful characters, loads of beloved Lego characters brought back as awesome cameos, an incredibly likable main cast and a beautiful message at the end. And who could forget the villain realizing that he doesn't need to be the bad guy?
  • YES YES YES! This movie is AMAZING! The animation is great, the comedy is some of the best I've ever seen in a long time, and the voice acting is amazing! I mean, talk about getting the best people to voice these characters. Chris Pratt as the Idiot Hero, Elizabeth Banks as the Action Girl love interest, Morgan Freeman as the wise old wizard, Will Ferrell as the villain, Liam Neeson as the goofy side villain with a Literal Split Personality, Will Arnett as Batman, the list goes on! This movie rocks! EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!
• Let's Go Luna!, from PBS Kids. The show is created by Joe Murray, of all people, and it's surprisingly decent as a result. The writing is pretty clever, the songs are catchy, and all in all it honestly feels like something Nick Jr. or a similar channel would have aired in the 90's or early 2000's. By all means, go check it out if you get a chance!
  • Seconding! As somebody who loved both Rocko's Modern Life and Camp Lazlo, it's so hard not to enjoy this series and just constantly smile while watching this show. It's such a warm, fun, and charming little series that still carries a lot of the lighthearted wit and self-awareness of Joe Murray's previous two shows and has some wonderful animation while also doing a fantastic job at celebrating the diverse peoples and cultures of the world and teaching children about other countries. Truly worth checking out.
• The Looney Tunes series is the greatest collection of animation in the world. Their top directors - Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones - are the top two animation directors in history. They could work in any style, parody or straight, and invented about half of them. Tex Avery, though he didn't truly come into his own until his MGM years, was the first filmmaker to truly demolish the Fourth Wall. There is a reason that they have become the meter-stick against which all animation is judged. The reason is this: they are the flat best.
• In the Loud House! In the Loud House! Duck, doge, push and shove, this is how we show our love! In all seriousness though, The Loud House is definitely a great reason to show that Nickelodeon is starting to get back on track. The characters are all likable, the humor is funny, it has a very heartwarming feel, and seriously...that theme song is awesome.
• Lu & the Bally Bunch is a relatively new show (at time of writing), and (also at time of writing) doesn't even have a Wikipedia page or AO3 tag yet, but I genuinely, unironically see the next Bluey or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic here.
• Anybody remember The Magic School Bus besides me? I loved that show when I was a kid and I recently began rewatching my old favorite episodes. It's still great, but now I'm beginning to understand why. First of all, the science revolved around the plot instead of the other way around in other edutainment shows. You follow the characters on their adventures and as they learn, you learn. The characters were unique and relatable, if not entirely well-rounded and, unlike most edutainment shows that just preached at you, there was a plot. Most important was how the kids solved the problem of the episode - by using knowledge they had and seeking out knowledge they didn't have, with the teacher providing guidance, but hanging back so the kids could work the answer out on their own. That's the best way to learn, as far as I'm concerned; and it worked, too. I learned a lot of science from that show. Plus the idea of imagining yourself on one of those wacky field trips was a blast and who wouldn't expect some kind of wackiness from a teacher with more crazy outfits than the cast of a Final Fantasy game?
  • I remember watching that show in preschool. I understood every second of it. While I really can't enjoy the episodes so much anymore, mainly because I know everything they have to teach inside and out, you have to hand it to the writers. They made 54 episodes spanning a wide range of topics and teaching complex scientific concepts...and they made it accessible to four-year-olds. This show was the entire reason science bored me to death in grade school. "Teacher, do we have to go over plate tectonics again? I already learned all about it when Dorothy Ann lost her books at an underwater volcano."
• Making Fiends, both the web and television series, are among my favorite cartoons. It's the perfect mix of dark humor and Charlotte's optimism, and I can watch it with my little brothers too! The songs are also incredibly catchy. This is one of the only shows I know besides South Park that can creep me out and warm my heart in the same episode.
• The Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon. Guilty Pleasure to some, So Bad, It's Good to many, but I unabashedly love it. The voice acting was excellent, especially Ian James Corlett and Scott McNeil, and the animation was good too. Especially in high-budget episodes. ^^
  • Seconded. Though my friend, a Mega Man fan, tries to pretend this show doesn't exist, I can't help but watch it once in a while out of, say, the guilty pleasure thing.
• Megas XLR. The show is probably the best Western parody of anime and the giant robot genre around, and that's only the beginning. The characters and situations are hilarious, Coop is a complete subversion, and somewhat deconstruction, of the giant robot pilot. Not to mention how ridiculous the show can be with characters that include a Power Rangers/Gatchaman parody team, the Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog as killer parade balloons, a M.O.D.O.K. parody voiced by Bruce Campbell himself, and a Mr. T robot. Yes, they are as awesome as they sound. Why did it have to be Screwed by the Network?
  • Megas XLR is the best show ever! The gags are hilarious, it has fun characters, and I enjoy all the mindless destruction. I really wish it lasted longer.
    • Agreed. WHY IS THERE NO DVD RELEASE YET?!?!
  • '''I''' DIG GIANT ROBOTS! '''YOU''' DIG GIANT ROBOTS! '''WE''' DIG GIANT ROBOTS! '''CHICKS''' DIG GIANT ROBOTS!
    • Nice.
• I spent a great deal of my childhood watching Mighty Max religiously - when you're 5 years old and exposed to a 20 minute, Merchandise-Driven kids cartoon that respects its pre-teen audience as much as Mighty Max did, it really helps you develop a crap filter. The plot was solidly structured and well paced, the monsters, particularly the lead villain, were horrific, and the main trio, while drawing heavily on genre archetypes, were sympathetic and deep. The dialogue was kickass too. The rockin' theme tune - the heavy metal guitar solo really got you prepped and excited for badassery.
• Any fan of animation deserves to sit down and watch Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures. Though it's place in animation history seems to have been tainted by that preacher saying he saw Mighty snorting cocaine in one scene, it's so ahead of it's time it's crazy. Without it, all the great animation of the 90's wouldn't have happened. Check it out.
• Mike, Lu & Og. With all the crazy stuff going on in other Cartoon Network shows, this provides a mellowed down break from the wacky. The designs and characters are funny, some of the plots are pretty good and had some adventurous moments.
• I just love Mina and The Count. Its cute, funny, and charming. As somebody who loves seeing monsters in a more human light whilst keeping their frightening elements, it's a very well-done example of how to do so. Too bad it never became a full series, but we got two awesome cartoons in its wake.
• Oh Mission Hill, why were you cancelled so early? Such great jokes, character development that's rare for an animated series, the perfect balance of crudeness and heart, an eye-popping wonderful color scheme, awesome writing, and one of the most realistic portrayals of post-college aimlessness. The episodes towards the end of the season were just fucking Made of Win, and makes you wish so much it could have had more seasons. Their final episode, "Plan 9 From Mission Hill" is in a class by itself, a love letter to both great cinema AND the So Bad, It's Good cult classics. A great little gem that Needs More Love.
• Monster Allergy is the best show I watch. It's comedy with the monsters.
• Moonbeam City, definitely for me. 80's vibe, the unique character designs, neat and quote-worthy moments, an interesting romance... Shame Comedy Central pulled it after 10 episodes.
• All this and no Moral Orel? You could fill out a list of reasons the show kicks ass on 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in Cyrillic binary and it wouldn't even come close to adequately explaining just how much of a triumph the show is. Here we have a show that so perfectly blends comedy and drama, love and hate, biting sarcasm or empathetic character study, that it's impossible to finish the series an unchanged man.
  • And the third season is AMAZING. Seriously. This show made me think, it made me howl with laughter, it has even made me cry. And I didn't even cry during Grave of the Fireflies.
  • It could have easily just been a straight-up Take That! to religion in general and Christianity in particular. Instead, it turned out to be a smartly-written comedy that explored various aspects of religious faith, and by its third season had developed into a deep character dramedy in order to better explore these themes.
• The Mr. Men Show its a simple and amazing show that appeals to everyone. It really give the Mr Men and Little Misses a good modern look. What makes it so great is it has the chemistry of a great cartoon, the jokes, plots, and the music are all mixed in just the right way.
• My Dad the Rock Star was way better than any Celebrity Toon about Gene Simmons had any right to be. It was funny, it was charming, it was full of fun and lovable characters, and it did a great job at being genuinely touching when it wanted to be when it came to the main character and his weird and wacky family. Truly an underrated series.
• I am absolutely in love with My Life as a Teenage Robot. Funny jokes, wonderful characters (Jenny is just so cute!), great action, a nice retro-esque art style — There's so much to love about this show. It's a shame that it ended on a rather unsatisfying note. Just one more season was all it needed!
• I can't imagine why My Gym Partner's a Monkey gets so much hate. It was definitely a hilarious show that made me laugh harder than anything I've ever watched. It may take place in a world where everyone's a huge jerk, but there are many genuine moments where Jake is shown to care for Adam whenever he's been humiliated. Such a sweet, underrated gem of a show!
• I started watching My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and despite me being an older male, I just can't stop! The characters have their own unique personalities so they're not so flat and bland, the writing is nicely...written, and the humor is appreciative! Count me as an official "Brony"!
  • It helps that they're all adorable. Especially Fluttershy.
  • Seconded. This show is the definition of why you should NEVER judge a book by it's cover. Like many Bronies, I was a bit skeptical hearing about it. I mean really, a show about six cute, colorful ponies having regular adventures while learning about friendship? Then, out of curiosity I decided to watch the show...and I'm so glad I did. The characterization of the main cast is spot on, the self-aware humor rules, and in an age where most cartoons rely on gross out humor or vulgar jokes, this show avoids all of that while being fun in it's own right. All while having the most adorable little badasses you've ever seen. By far, one of the best break-out hit cartoons of the new decade.
  • Thirded. I got into the series similarly to the one above-was very skeptical about it, got curious, and I am now a major Brony and very proud of it. The characters are given fantastic characterization, and are incredibly enjoyable to watch. The humor is great, and I love the fact that the show's creators actually follow the fanbase. And while the show is great on it's own, it holds a special place in my heart-I have a history of frequent depression, but upon discovering this show, it's no longer a problem-all I have to do is watch an episode, and I instantly feel better. Also, for some reason, I've always felt more closely attached to fantasy than reality-and since this show has impacted me greatly because of that, due to it's fantastic characters and world. Sure, it may be a bit weird that a show about cartoon ponies was a life-changing experience for me, but it's the truth. In short, I love this show and don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
  • In particular, I really love the show/brony community's mascot, Derpy Hooves/Ditzy Doo. I really love her. She makes me smile, she has legions of fans to help further her identity and is one of the sweetest ponies I've seen on the show. She is a hard working single mother, she has saved the universe with Doctor Whooves, she has a great friends like Carrot Top, a possible other daughter in Sparkler, she can be either very adorable clumsy or mentally or physically handicapped, she just fills me with so much love I proudly ate a muffin and wore grey on March 1st, aka Derpy Day. It strikes me especially as alot of shows can feel agoraphobic and not want many background characters, one that has taken the internet by storm and paved way for many possible brony or pegasister converts to share her love. And Dinky is very very adorable, more than likely taking it from her mother no doubt.
  • I am a girl, a sixteen year old. I'm bullied a lot. Now, I'm not the type to say a show changed my life... I was always afraid to be myself but this show is amazing and it ended up being the thing to not only make me friends, through the amazing Brony community but I stopped being afraid to be myself, the lessons this show taught me were just the type I needed. These characters showed me sides of myself that until I saw, I couldn't be. So this is my favorite show and for good reason.
  • I became a brony through different circumstances than most bronies. Nine out of every ten bronies became bronies after going through a haters phase. I never really hated it, I was rather indifferent to it. In the end though, I sat down and watched it... and I fell in love with it. As a Christian, it has strengthened me also. Because I am very open about the fact that I watch a girl's tv show (when in reality it has evolved beyond that), it has helped me stand up for Jesus too. Thank you God for making me a brony.
  • Like the person above me, I never really hated the show either - I've always loved cartoons, so watching a show "for little girls" was not really a huge leap for me - but I was weirded out by how much attention it was getting. When I finally saw it, I realized what all the fuss was about: wonderful animation, clever writing, lovable characters, fantastic music, and very witty humor. Not my favorite series, but definitely one of them. It really does deserve its massive fandom.
  • Same here. Had hardly even heard about the show, in fact, until I first saw the Starscream vs Rainbow Dash DEATH BATTLE! (awesome) and heard Glaze's "Rainbow Factory" song (omfg best song ever), following which I expressed some curiosity about it. Through a friend of mine on the internet I found out how easy it actually is to find episodes of the show on YouTube and the rest is history. Anyone here excited for Season 3?
  • This Troper got into the show on a lark and then became one with the herd almost immediately. Ironically, this show is probably the reason that I alienated most of my friends, but who needs 'em when you have SEASON THREE!!!
  • A thing to note about this troper is that I tend to become a fan of whatever's recommended to me. The moment I heard about this show, I knew I was going to be a fan, and I've never been happier. The show's amazing community and fan work really raises it to another level (and the show itself is on a pretty high level without the fans anyway). Not only does it bring people together, it helps people. This is best demonstrated the large amount of stories proclaiming how the show helped them overcome depression, and the scores of Brony Charities out there as well.
  • I agree with the 7th Troper up there. I am a Christian as well, and I never really harbored an actual dislike for the show. In fact, I'm pretty sure that deep down I've always thought the ponies were adorable. My life has gotten so much happier ever since I decided to join the herd. Thank God I'm a brony.
  • When I read about about the brony fandom, I did find it a cute and cool idea, but I never though I would become part of their fandom. One day, my curiosity got the best of me and I watched the show. And immediately, I became a brony. This is a show that not only has very memorable characters, it is genuinely well-written and has everything, from awesome moments, to hilarious moments, to terrifying villains and heartwarming stories. This is my favorite animated series, and among my favorite works of fiction. All I can say is that I am truly happy and grateful that I found such a good show. The show itself, the characters and the AWESOME fandom have made my life brighter and happier. I have a lot of love for this show and the fandom, of which I will forever be a happy and proud member of!
  • I agree on this; when I first heard how this show of all things had a Periphery Demographic of adult males, I was a bit flabbergasted. So I eventually checked it out, and it was...nothing too special; definitely better than most girls shows, but it was just a fun little show that happened to be a part of My Little Pony. Then season 2 came along and I began to fall in love with it, from the beginning of it when Discord is introduced to the end of it with the Changeling invasion (despite a few...less than stellar episodes, but hey; every show has 'em). Honestly, the show ended up teaching me a few things about myself that I didn't know: for example, I was absolutely terrible to my younger cousin in my youth, but seeing "Sisterhooves Social" made me realize I was an absolute jerk and now, she and I are like best friends. The show also made me appreciate pretty much any cartoon and not just the ones aimed at one age group or another, and now I love cartoons more than ever. For a show to change me for the better the way FiM did, even in my late teens at the time, that is some good animation. Also, I like mostly everypony on the show.
• I'm really surprised that Mickey Mouse (2013) wasn't mentioned here. The art style may not appeal to everyone, but in my opinion it has a lot of charm (mention to the redesign of Mickey and Minnie which I think are absolutely adorable). The situations and gags are hilarious with a lot of homages of their old movies. All the characters (yes, even sweet Minnie) have their share of slapstick hilarity regardless of status. They manage quite well to spread the scenarios and gags in only 3 minutes or more, and Mickey is, in my opinion, really lovable in this series, with his "goody-two-shoes" personality sometimes exaggerated to the point of parody. It's like Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes meets the classic Disney characters. It's both a big love letter to those characters, but also a big spoof at the same time, and that's great.
• Canada gets a lot of crap for infamous shows like Johnny Test and Caillou (never mind that the former is technically American), but many people are forgetting the countless wonderful works of Nelvana. And while they've produced plenty of brilliant, thrilling, and/or hilarious shows (Clone High, Detentionaire, Beetlejuice, The Adventures of Tintin (1991), Redwall and many, many others), they're most fondly remembered (and rightly so!) for their many comfort shows for the preschool audience: Babar, Franklin, Little Bear, Rupert, Rolie Polie Olie, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends... All these shows bring a sense of warmth, coziness, sincerity, peace, and heart through their distinctively Canadian grace and tranquility, enchanting children and adults alike for over 50 years. All of them are Sweet Dreams Fuel personified, and it's honestly such a tragedy that these marvelous and beautiful shows (and many others) have had their reputation ruined by others' misdeeds, mistakes, misinformation, and misunderstandings.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas is my favorite Halloween movie and my favorite Christmas movie ever. The score alone is absolutely made of win.
  • Second! I love everything about it! ....It's a true masterpiece of animation. The characters are brilliant, the visuals are charmingly gothic (Although I'm no Goth myself), and the songs are full of awesome.
• Ōban Star-Racers is absolutely made of awesome and win. It's one of the absolute best shows I have ever seen, ever.
• OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is a fun, quirky show with lovable characters and inventive animation. It's truly a shame it didn't get as much love as other CN shows like Adventure Time and Steven Universe because it's awesome. Well worth a watch!
• Olive, the Other Reindeer is an inexorable part of my Christmas Eve tradition. It's clever, creative, fast-paced and witty, with a a genuinely funny and heartwarming story, not just the stock morals and toy shilling. A rather unique animation style, bolstered by a witty script delivered by a fantastic voice cast, topped off with a couple of really cool songs here and there (Drew Barrymore can't sing at all, but she's still fantastic in the lead role).
  • Oh, I totally agree! Even if it was just because Michael Stipe voiced one of the reindeer.
  • YES. I watch it every Christmas and wishes there was fandom.
  • Extra yes here. And there's something hysterical in the backgrounds every few seconds. We watch it every Christmas (even though we're Jewish), and sometimes we still find something new to laugh at.
• Over the Garden Wall is my favorite animated show ever. It's atmospheric, subversive with purpose, idealistic yet intelligent, filled with Scenery Porn, Visual Effects of Awesome and Awesome Music, features sympathetic and enjoyably quirky characters (who are very well voiced; John Cleese's performance in Chapter 5 deserves mention), has a tight and complete plot (some might argue it has filler, but not when you're this immersed in the setting), an unique Fantasy Americana setting, and is overall just a perfect mix of weird, beautiful, hilarious, creepy and emotional.
• Over the Hedge deserves a lot more love - it's one of the few non-Disney movies with heart, charming character designs and beautiful animation all the way through. The celebrity voices aren't half bad and the characters (both animal and human) aren't Ink Suit Actors! One of Dream Works' better movies.
  • Aren't Half Bad?!?! The celebrity voices make that movie! Bruce Willis as R.J.? Awesome! William Shatner as the dad opossum? Hysterical! The Funny Moment in that film is when William Shatner explains the possum philosophy:
    "You have... to DIE... if you want... to LIVE!!
    • I read the original comic strip for about two years before the film was announced. The movie made me laugh more. And you're talking to a guy who sees the flaws first in adaptations and never sees the point of them. (To be fair, yes: Coraline was awesome too. One more statement like that and my "Snob" badge will be revoked, but I could care less.)
• The Owl House is one of, if not the best animated series Ive seen. The characters, storytelling, animation, and more are excellent quality! The whole message that it’s okay to express yourself for who you are and you can find a community with other weird and unconventional people.
• I just discovered the The Penguins of Madagascar. That show is addictive WIN!!!! I seriously think Skipper is a bigger badass than Colonel Jack O'Neill. (Okay maybe not, but he's darn close).
  • King Julien alone is comedy gold, but all the other characters are made of win (certainly can't overlook a certain otter). Add a healthy dose of Ho Yay, lots of Rapid-Fire Comedy and jokes that probably only adults would get.
  • I have to say that the original Madagascar and ''Escape 2 Africa are two of my favorite movies with memorable characters, awesome animation, and The Power of Friendship. And who could forget Nana beating the crap out of Alex, twice!
    • The third movie's not so bad either. It's got the same great comedy, a wonderful villain, intriguing side characters, that circus scene- just the circus scene- and an incredible climax that ties up the series with a well thought out conclusion.
• Gotta give a shout-out to Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero, one of Disney's most underloved cartoons of the 2010s (no doubt, thanks to all the networking screwing...). Great sense of humor, endlessly entertaining characters, splendid visuals, top-notch action sequences, and all the awesome multiverse madness you could think of. Seriously, every single dimension featured in the show should be the focus of its own cartoon series - they're that well-crafted!
• Peter Pan & the Pirates. With Tim Curry as Captain Hook, copious amounts of horror, and well-developed characters, how could you go wrong?
• Phineas and Ferb is surely the greatest TV show Disney's made in this decade. There's something about a teenaged girl being upset by her little brothers' summer activities while their pet platypus is off pestering a mad scientist that really makes it work.
  • The thing going for the Disney Channel these days are the cartoons. The Weekenders and Recess are two of their older shows, and while we're stuck with Anvilicious dramas about superficial girls, you have Phineas and Ferb, a show that goes over-the-top for litte kids and is actually funny.
  • This very pretentious smugy adult LOVES this cartoon...Even the elite has a kiddie side...
    • I love it. My nephew loves it. My sister loves it. My mother loves it!
  • I will state why, outside of catchy tunes and hilarious moments, this show has a genuine heart to it. No one is truly mean, not even the bully and especially not the "Evil" scientist. Refreshing for a kids show. The episode that sums it all up is "Summer Belongs To You." I'm not going to spoil anything but it shows just how well the characters interact and how optimistic the show is.
  • Phineas and Ferb is genuinely warm, genuinely witty, and so rife with tropes that the main entry is two pages long! I started watching it with my son and now watch it whether he's anywhere in the vicinity or not, pepper my everyday conversations with quotes from the series, and shill the show to anyone with the patience to listen. I also have my own Perry the Platypus t-shirt, and no, you may not borrow it!!!
  • I absolutely love this show for its humor, cast of characters, and, as most have said before, genuine heart. Speaking of the characters, I must mention that the Phineas-Isabella pairing is one of the most ADORABLE pairings I've seen in cartoons(I know they're a little young for that, but still); there are definitely some moments where I just wanna say "Aww!" Anyways, if anyones asks if I'm a little old to be watching this show, I'll proudly respond, "Yes, yes I am." :)
  • I really, really think that it is not just too good for a Disney show, it is legitimately one of the best western animation shows, if not the best, that aired in its years, and that includes non-Disney, more adult-oriented cartoons.
  • I am one of the many teens and adults who think that today's kids' shows are hit-and-miss, mainly miss, and longs for the simple, fun 'toons of my youth. Phineas and Ferb could easily be one of those shows that I loved as a kid. It's good enough to compete with the best of them, even taking the Nostalgia Filter into account.
  • After having a panic attack, I was lying down in my mom's room, watching "Summer Belongs To You". And it helped me calm down a bit, working as a distraction. It, along with Adventure Time, are my two favorite shows. But where Adventure Time is mostly sheer insanity and randomness, Phineas and Ferb has some really heartwarming, sweet moments. Its bizarre and funny, but it's got some really sweet moments and even a few tearjerkers. And for being so simplistic, the animation is amazing. All in all, its a fantastic show.
    • That episode you mentioned really helped me out one night when I was depressed. Generally it's just a big load of happy. :-)
  • I just love the sheer insanity and whimsy of the show though I find Candace to be an overused Running Gag and Iseabella to be something of an overpowered cliche I live every one else so I don't mind.
  • Phineas and Ferb is the gift that keeps on giving. Just when you think it's all over, they can't possibly top that last one...bam, they do. Endless creativity, plenty of Character Development, laugh-out-loud humor...the show just gets better and better, and yes, they're making Season 4. (It seems like the type of thing that would be gone quickly, but you have to hand it to Disney Channel—they know when they have something good, and they know when to stop the Executive Meddling and let the creators push their horizons.)
  • Phineas and Ferb, Phineas is a sweet, idealistic Keet and is easily my favorite character, but none of the characters are mean or rude. The jokes are actually funny (the "You are watching Television" joke comes to mind) and it doesn't rely on toilet humor. The show has character development (Buford the bully speaks Latin and French and quotes Voltaire. Baljeet the nerd has a romantic cruse with Mishti, A kiss under the mistletoe with Wendy, an implied crush on both Isabella and Ginger.)and is probably the best show on Family Channel.
  • Phineas and Ferb is definitely the best Disney show ever, and I think it is one of the best animated cartoons of the new millennium. Everything about it is just so perfect. The way that this show has played with, played straight, deconstructed, and subverted storytelling tropes is unmatched. Not only that, the continuity is seriously on another level, despite being a show that doesn't really have an overarching plotline. Phineas and Ferb, the characters, are pretty awesome themselves, and of course, no one can forget Perry the Platypus and Dr. Doofenshmirtz. And I can't forget Isabella. She's really good, too, They're all just so good. Not to mention, unlike a lot of other shows, this show is genuinely funny! It really paved the way for a lot of the cartoons that came out in the early 2010s.
• Pinky and the Brain. Come on, it's a show about two lab mice trying to take over the world. What's not to love?
• Pixar is my favourite thing ever. All their movies are brilliant pieces of work, and no movie before or since has affected me emotionally as WALL•E.
  • Seconded. They are incredibly creative with their subject matter, and even better, they're and not overtly Anvilicious like so many children's movies.
  • Thirded. Pixar tells the stories they want to tell, rather than the most marketable stories for the current trends. That's why their stuff is so damn good—because it's genuine.
  • Fourthed. I can't remember the last movie I saw that had me on the verge of tears well after it was over. I'm not moved by much... which makes the whole thing kind of odd, seeing as it's mainly about a trash compactor who falls in love with a floating egg. Any movie that can pull that off is a masterpiece by default.
  • Fifth'd! Remember at the beginning, how they portrayed that crushing loneliness of being pretty much the only sentient thing on Earth?
  • Sixth'd... Hang on, I'm the first guy. Anyway, the moment at the end, where EVE was desperately trying to save WALL•E? THE best moment in movie history. Ever.
  • Seventh'd. It had a social message about what might happen if we become too lazy and dependent on technology that seemed frighteningly plausible, and yet that message never got in the way of the adorable story of a brave little robot who carved out a life for himself all alone and manages to find companionship. And the fact that WALL•E likes musicals makes the whole thing more adorable. And his bachelor pad is awesome.
  • Eighth'ed: Their storytelling is indeed excellent, but the first sequence that brought me to tears was WALL•E's first sight of space. The animators brought a sense of wonder to every single frame — perfectly appropriate, considering WALL•E's wide-eyed joy in every new thing he encounters.
  • Ninth'd. I saw it with my fella... and then saw it again, and again, as we took first my parents and then his to experience the gospel of WALL•E.
  • Tenth'd? Everything that was said above. And WALL•E himself was SO. DAMN. CUTE. Squee. Gotta love M-O, too. And his fruitless quest to rid the Axiom of "foreign contaminants". The beginning was pure gold. It takes pure genius to make a cockroach look so cute that you just want to hug it. And that you go 'aww. D:' when WALL•E seems to crush it at the end. And when he seems to lose his sentience and then gets it back? Tear Jerker.
  • Up to eleven. There's a reason why:
    • 10 out of their 11 movies have a 90+ % rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Cars being the only exception with 74% and 9 out of 11 movies are in the IMDB Top 250 (except Cars and A Bug's Life — their only other movie with a Rotten Tomatoes rating below 95%).
    • Toy Story is the most critically-acclaimed trilogy in movie history. Toy Story & 2 have perfect 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and Toy Story 3 used to have a perfect rating (now it's 99%) and still has 100% among Top Critics. If you don't go by percentage, they weigh in with 9.4, 9.2 and 9.1 out of 10 - compare that with the 9.5/10 for The Godfather 2. Toy Story 2 is the second best reviewed movie on Rotten Tomatoes and Toy Story is #7 while Toy Story 3 used to be the #1. Toy Story 3 is currently entry #6 on the IMDB Top 250 (it has a 9.1/10 rating, which would make it tie with The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather for the first 3 spots but lacks the mass of ratings).
    • Up was the second animated movie ever to be nominated for an Oscar for best movie, after Beauty and the Beast's nomination resulted in the creation of a new category so that the constant Award Snubs wouldn't create as much controversy. It's only a matter of time until they win the Best Picture Oscar.
    • What I love so much about Up is the variety in it; there's sadness (for Fredrickson's loss) there's hilarity (usually from the talking dogs, especially Dug), there's exciting action sequences, and there's even a touching, happy ending! On a side note, I actually have a golden retriever, and judging from her behavior (and I've heard this is how most golden retrievers behave) I suspect that if she could talk, she would probably sound a lot like Dug, which just makes Dug even funnier for me!
  • And that reason is: Quality is the best business plan.
  • Let me be the first to express my love for Up, which proved that Pixar are the undisputed masters of emotional manipulation and was a damned beautiful movie besides. John Lasseter said it best: "Quality is the best business plan."
  • What, no mention of The Incredibles? That is without a doubt Pixar's best movie. It proved humans could be successfully animated with CGI, had a great story, lots of great humor, and some terrific action scenes to boot. Why exactly hasn't this been brought up?
  • Ratatouille is my favorite movie, period. I love the pacing of the story, I love the characters (Especially the growing bond between Linguini and Remy), the comedy is perfect and well-timed, the food looks gorgeous, and the ending is perfect. The final speech by Ego has to be one of the most well put together pieces of writing in cinematic history. You could say that this movie was delicious.
  • Finding Nemo manages to be incredibly funny, heartwarming, and tragic all in one movie. And Dory is probably one of my favorite fictional characters EVER.
    • Oh Finding Nemo! My heart was captured within the first five minutes of gorgeous animation, raw distilled emotion, and beautiful beautiful music! And then you just kept on getting even more awesome!
    • I am in awe of Finding Nemo's hilarious, sparklingly witty script! Who else could make "P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney" funny? And the voice talent - awesome. Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks deserve a lot of credit.
    • Wanna hear something ridiculous? I work with kids in an after school program, and one day we (me and my 6th grade class) decided to watch Finding Nemo. And at the very end when Nemo and Marlin are racing towards each other after everything that's happened, I started tearing up. In front of my kids. Oh it was ridiculous. But damn I love that movie.
  • I know it's not here, which is a mistake, But Toy Story and it's Sequel really deserve a mention.
    • More than a mention, I'd say—Toy Story is to computer animation what Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is to cel, and the sequel is that rarest of things, a sequel which is actually as good as (if not better than) the original. The reason why awesomeness like The Incredibles and WALL-E exists is because Pixar set the bar high from the start, and then did everything they could to get it higher.
  • Toy Story 2 did the incredible feat of surpassing its already excellent predecessor. When Jessie the Cowgirl started talking about kids outgrowing their toys ... oh gosh, I just started blubbering.
  • And just when you thought Toy Story sequels couldn't possibly come any better, along comes Toy Story 3 to completely blow its predecessor (And possibly even the original) away by delivering everything you were waiting for and so much more. Simply put, to call it an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement.
    • This tropette doesn't really cry at movies, but at the end of Toy Story 3 she was pretty much sobbing and laughing at the same time. A fantastic send-off for a wonderful trilogy.
  • The Incredibles: Proof that even superhero concepts that have been explored to death can be awesome again when they're done right. Not to mention character development arcs for all the main characters, a supervillain who thoroughly subverts the usual supervillainous goals and modus operandi, and the Hundred Mile Dash — one of the most spectacular chase scenes ever put to film.
    • The beauty of this film is that it's not about superheroes who are a family. It's about a family who are superheroes. Family first, superpowers second.
    • The glorious soundtrack is what does it for me. See Awesome Music.
    • It's the best Fantastic Four movie never made.
    • It's also the best Watchmen movie ever made.
  • Monsters, Inc. never fails to give me a case of the warm and fuzzies.
  • Cars 2 offered spades of character development for everyone, a darker story that commented on the pitfalls of modern society, and a free road-trip around the world - INSTANT WIN. To this troper, Cars 2 is easily the best film Pixar has to offer.
  • How has no one mentioned Coco yet? This film is amazing even by Pixar's standards, and that's really saying something. Anyone who claims it's just a ripoff of The Book of Life obviously hasn't seen it. I can't even go into all the reasons I love this movie, maybe someone else can do a better job.
    • It seems to start off with a run-of-the-mill message that we've all seen before, but ends up zigzagging it so hard that by the end of the movie you understand everyone in the story (except for the villain), even when you don't agree with their actions. The art and animation are nothing short of spectacular. And to top it off, everything about this movie – from art to music to environments to characters to themes – is distilled Mexico. If you want to see it, this troper recommends you watch it twice – you'll see everything in a new light after knowing the full story.
• No one's mentioned The Powerpuff Girls yet? That show had such clever humor.
  • The main characters are three little girls who fight crime and have to deal with their everyday problems. Blossom is the smart one, Bubbles the sweet girl, and Buttercup is the tough tomboy. There is no cartoon like this. Not only that, they talk about equality in genders without going preachy about it. One of the greatest examples was the speech that the Girls gave in episode Equal Rights. Let's not forget about HIM. He was terrifying and one of Western Animation's best villains.
• Primal (2019) is an absolutely epic show even by the standards of Genndy Tartakovsky, assuming you're not a stickler for historical accuracy and you can get past all the gore and Nightmare Fuel (both of which tend to be pretty cool in their own right). The animation is stunning (good god, the landscapes alone!), the two protagonists are remarkably likeable and relatable for a Neanderthal and a relatively-unanthropomorphized Tyrannosaurus rex, it has some spectacular (if occasionally veering into Narm Charm) action sequences, and it manages to tell a complex and engaging story that has more heart, drama, and humour than many shows out there without a single word of dialogue from anyone. Oh, and there's an episode with a fucking zombie dinosaur! What more could you want?
• Please give more love to The Raccoons, people. It is a true classic of Canadian animation and the gold standard all Canadian cartoons should be held to. Everything about it just makes one smile, from its art to its characters to its stories to its music to its narration. This show is amazing, and more people need to know about it because it is what all Canadian cartoons should aspire to and what all people need to see as the true representative of Canadian animation.
• Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja. One of Disney XD's best series to date. It is overshadowed by the live action shows and more successful animated series. It has the Kid Hero and the Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World plot, but they point out the cliches and joke around with them. The animation is fantastic (especially the intro and inside of the Nomicon), the characters are wacky and hilarious, and there are plenty of funny and Shout-Out moments in every episode. They have their own slang such as "So Bruce" and "What the juice?". Since season one finale, it has been getting Darker and Edgier and Growing the Beard.
• Rankin Bass' The Hobbit. Two Words: Brother Theodore. His Gollum and the whole awesome sequence in his creepy cave more than make up for the show's painfully '70's animation. Bonus points for using Tolkien's original lyrics in some of the songs, and for not wimping out with the big bloody battle at the end. (And Smaug is impressively badass, too...)
  • And speaking of Rankin-Bass, The Last Unicorn is the best thing they ever did. A grown-up fairy tale with unconventional heroes, clever writing and a Bittersweet Ending. A movie which is scary and heartwarming in all the right places. When will Hollywood wake up and realize that a good cartoon relies more on the quality of its writing, than on the quality of its animation?
    • The Last Unicorn, how I love thee.
  • Seconded! And the screenplay was written by the author also making the movie following the book to a T! An underrated classic, gorgeous animation, great characters and music, beautiful poetic writing!
  • The Flight of Dragons was also a winner. Epic fantasy, beautiful, signature character designs, in-depth dragons, and James Earl Jones? ^_^
  • What about the Christmas specials that made them famous?
• Ready Jet Go! is one of the absolute best shows to ever air on PBS. Everything about this show is amazing. The unique style of CGI that that greatly improves as the episodes go on, the wonderful voice acting (in fact, there are a lot of members from The Ocean Group that work on the show), the clever writing that appeals to kids and adults. The show really knows how to balance education and storytelling beautifully, so not only am I entertained, I also learn a lot while watching the show. The music, courtesy of Jim Lang, is unique and the vocal songs are just lovely. The continuity is surprisingly very strong. In fact, you have to watch season 1 just to understand season 2. The characters are quirky, relatable, and have Character Development and Hidden Depths. In fact, some of the characters in the show are some of the best characters in animation ever. It doesn't pander to kids with trends and memes, and it isn't a 30-minute toy promotion, but RJG! is its own unique gem of a show that deserves more far recognition.
• I adore ReBoot and have for over ten years. Brilliant animation, deep and compelling characters. I can even still recite one episode off by heart!
  • Yeah! Matrix and AndrAIa forever!
  • ReBoot needs way more love. The script is pure genius, and once you get past the first season's episodic nature and into the storyline, the levels of epic go through the roof.
  • Season 3 made ReBoot one of the darkest shows of my childhood. It's amazing what they got away with once they broke free of the BSNP shackles. Main character exile, off-screen head crushing, Replacement main character LOSING AN EYE, and showing the wound WITH BLOOD on-screen. That would never be allowed to air today. It's probably why Mainframe Entertainment could never get a proper DVD release. Thank God for YouTube.
  • This tropette was about five years old when she started watching ReBoot (staying up until 10:00 at night to watch it, which is pretty much considered late when you're a kindergartener), and she's convinced it helped shape her into the proud nerd she is today.
• I find it criminal that Recess is not mentioned at ALL whatsoever on here. This show is so tender. It had stellar characters, a great idea (How many shows have you seen turn Recess into a MONARCHY?), Mundane Made Awesome tactics...I could just go on about this show forever, it's so great! I just wish it wasn't so whomping hard to find on DVD, VHS and YouTube.
  • Recess...just Recess. It may seem like a generic show about a bunch of fourth-graders at school getting in trouble, but there's more. It seems to have been created in a way that not only the kids can enjoy, but their parents as well (such as the movie, which is one big Shout-Out to The '60s). It shows that the kid characters don't need fairies, small superpowered creatures, or superpowers to have an enjoyable show. What we have here are a group of kids that act like real kids. The humor is very witty and there are plenty of heartwarming moments (such as T.J.'s "best friend" essay in "The Break-Up"). Oh, and the main six are pretty Badass Adorable.
• Regular Show is possibly the best cartoon I have ever seen. It's a Quirky Work but the characters are so real and lovable. The humor is witty and edgy, and the character designs are so clever! JG Quintel, I salute you!
  • I must gush as well. This show gives me hope that there are still good cartoons out there, and that creativity isn't dead. I have an uncompromising man-crush on JG Quintel for this show.
• Can't believe there's no mention of The Ren & Stimpy Show yet. No show, earlier or later used Deranged Animation so gleefully and amazingly well. It was pure entertaining to watch with its' nonsensical sense of humour, Status Quo Is God taken up to eleven, unforgettable characters that became the basis of a cartoonish duo, loose, intentionally off-model animation, and popularizing the controversial Grossout Show and Gross-Up Close-Up. This show is an innovative classic that every cartoon fan should be familiar with.
  • Seconded, such an underrated and awesome show, I find myself laughing so much at almost all the episodes and I absolutely love both the main characters.
• Rick and Morty is easily the best original show that [adult swim] has ever made. Great characters, great humor, and great writing, this is a show that is much better and much funnier than it had any right to be.
• The Road to El Dorado. Sure, it was animated. Yes, there was Narm. But it was a cartoon movie with character development, snappy dialogue that wasn't forced, and slapstick that managed not to spoil the undercurrent of seriousness.
  • Having seen that one first at the age of ten, this remains one of my absolute favorite kid's films. Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline in the same voice box together? Seriously, how does it get any better than that?
    • I absolutely adore that movie, and its characters, and its soundtrack, and its animation...
  • Yeah, this movie is one of my all-time favorites. I've been watching it for over 10 years, memorized the songs, can quote it anytime anywhere, and it never gets old. I LOVE this movie!
    • I LOVE this movie! The comedy, the animation, the music, the story, the characters, it's just-AH! I can't put it into words! I just love it so much! It's one of my favorite animated movies of all time!
• Robot Chicken is a very funny comedy. It has wonderful parodies and unusual style. And once I found out that the titular Robot Chicken is a metaphor for average child, watching all that shit all day long, it almost made me cry. No, seriously.
• Rocko's Modern Life, that show made me laugh so hard and made my gut hurt badly. I miss it, they need more shows like that on Nickelodeon today.
• A more classic example would be Rocky and Bullwinkle. Very possibly the wittiest animated cartoon ever produced.
  • YES! Finally, someone agrees with me!
    • Thirded.
    • ''Rocky and Bullwinkle is probably my favorite cartoon ever! Bullwinkle is hilarious, Boris and Natasha are the best animated villains ever, and the surrounding shorts, such as Fractured Fairy Tales and Dudley Do-Right, are always entertaining. A classic.
• Ruby Gloom: The show is hilarious and uses typically scary and villainous characters cutely and funnily. And you know you enjoyed those before and after episode skits. What other children's show stars a re-animated doll, a skeleton, a cyclops, a banshee, a ghost, a bat, three ravens named Edgar, Allan, and Poe, a two-headed monster and a black cat?
• Are we forgetting to gush the most hilarious kid-friendly, Parental Bonus spouting, wonderfully written comedy of all time, Rugrats. Shame on you and Nick for canceling it.
  • Rugrats, Rocko's Modern Life, and KaBlam!. These three cartoons were my favorites while growing up watching Nickelodeon!
  • I was very loyal to Rugrats growing up (ironically, I came to appreciate the older episodes much further on then they were first aired)- Tommy was first a baby when I was one! Not to mention Hey Arnold!, Rocket Power, As Told by Ginger, The Fairly OddParents!, All That...
    • Yeah, Rocket Power was awesome. It was a tale of (mis)adventure and friendship, told through extreme sports. It was so cool!
• Samurai Jack was a good show, a really good show. It was setup so you could start watching it at anytime and immediately fall into it, yet it was worth going back and watching the earlier episodes. Not for anything like deeper understanding of the story or continuity, no the show was just good.
  • I agree that is was a very good show (occasional unwanted "comedy" episodes aside), but I disagree regarding continuity — I love all the little, subtle Continuity Nods that you pick up when you watch the show in one go.
  • He also just watched one of its best episodes - in which Jack shows up at the end, kicks the arses of the bounty hunters plotting to kill him, and doesn't even speak, just walks away into the snowy wastes while the last alive bounty hunter - the princess - snarls in anger, unable to fulfill her contract with Aku to free her people from slavery by killing him. It's a pretty bleak episode. This is one of the best series he's ever seen, animated or not.
    • One of my favorite episodes is the one that solely focuses on a random robot mook that was (un)lucky enough to be created with emotions. After quitting his assassin job due to not being able take it anymore because of his conscience he's blackmailed by Aku to kill Jack. The ending is predictable, but that gives it much more impact, it's one huge deconstruction of the show's own formula. It's brilliant and probably one of the best episodes of the show as well.
  • The interesting thing is that while many of the episodes were highly predictable and full of clichés, they still managed to be awesome. I really don't understand how it worked, but it worked. I miss that show very, very much and hope the promised movie comes out sooner or later.
  • Another notable thing about it is how the show could create such an atmosphere with little more than the 'simple' animation and a gorgeous soundtrack. This troper has only recently seen the series on Netflix and thinks it is wonderful. The apparent simplicity hides a surprising emotional impact even when, as others have said, the content should come across as cliched.
• So Scooby-Doo has always been a great franchise, but there's no denying that its most recent incarnation, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, surpasses all the others by adding a darker tone and Character Development, yet keeping just enough of the Scooby-Doo formula that we know and love to make it still feel like the same group of meddling kids.
• The Secret of NIMH - One of Don Bluth's first brave efforts to destroy the Animation Age Ghetto. If he had just kept to making mature and non-pandering movies like this one instead of trying to emulate Disney, he would have done a lot better.
  • Also if Justin the Rat doesn't make you want splendor at his characterization genius, nothing will.
    • Let's not forget Mrs. Brisby! Actually, there's fan art of Justin and Brisby kissing. If that doesn't turn you, absolutely nothing will.
  • Seconded!
  • I credit this movie with giving me the idea that rats are not scary or gross, but incredibly cool. An opinion I maintain to this day.
  • Thirded! Just watch the scene where Mrs Brisby grabs the stone and then the house shoots out of the mud and magically levitates to safety, with the instrumental version of the movie's theme song playing! It's a powerful scene and brings goosebumps. Deus ex Machina? Maybe but who cares! It's brilliant and it's teaching a lesson that courage and love are the real power!
• I am absolutely in love with The Secret Saturdays. Nice animation, the heroes don't always win, the characters are all entirely lovable, the script is wonderful, the family dynamics work well, and the fact that I have been a lifelong cryptozoology fan is the icing on the cake—especially because aside from cameos it's mostly lesser-known but very interesting cryptids.
  • Second! The Secret Saturdays is one of the most underrated action cartoons ever. The series is an absolute pleasure to watch, from its family dynamic (with possible the most Badass Family ever), its plethora of cryptids that really show how much research the creators out into the show, and its engaging story and characters (including a truly awesome villain). It's honestly such a wonderful little show.
• Remember that scene in Avengers: Endgame with that huge lineup of badass MCU women who don't do anything else in the movie? Now imagine that that shot feels totally earned because these women are at the center of the narrative. That's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. It's impossible not to fall in love with or at least sympathize with any of the characters. The cast is super diverse and the voice acting is amazing. It's got great visuals, mature themes, some crazy good plot twists, and a nuanced take on the cycle of abuse. Not to mention it's super, super gay. And the villains are really well-developed. And it contains a really powerful Deconstruction of The Chosen One archetype. Plus it's such a refreshing antidote to every male-centered superhero movie because of the amount of well-rounded and diverse women. Characters are immensely complex and likable, character design is top-notch, and the story is just stellar. Highly recommend.
• The Shivering Truth is perhaps the most terrifying, hilarious, and beautiful show I've ever watched. A stop-motion show on [adult swim], The Shivering Truth proves that horror can jump into animation, and you can do it really well. Each episode has something different that will either blow your mind, make you shiver in fear, or leave your jaw dropped for hours. We need more horror animation, and especially horror like this.
• The Simpsons. No matter when or even if you think the show Jumped The Shark, you've gotta admit that there's no other show out there that could have pulled off a 20-year run with several good episodes. Even the dullest episodes (yes, even "The Principal and the Pauper") achieve at least a few laughs. I don't think there's any other show that could claim that.
  • I grew up with The Simpsons since I was a little girl and still watch every single episode. It really isn't meant for kids, but the fact that a cartoon can be so funny to adults for twenty years is amazing.
  • Honestly, the current seasons of the Simpsons are really great, no matter what anyone else says. The jokes are great and I love the characters and humour. I don't get all the hate.
• Sonic Boom is nothing like Rise of Lyric. The main team of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks, while sometimes easily definable, actually provide a lot of laughs, and Dr. Eggman's Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain persona in this is nothing short of golden. The plots are entertaining, the jokes usually hit, and unlike something like Teen Titans Go!, its self-awareness comes off as more natural rather than flat-out insulting (it helps that Sonic media has broken the fourth wall before).
• Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) is without a doubt the best of all the Sonic cartoons. Almost everything about it is perfect: animation, writing, atmosphere, voice cast, etc.
• Sonic Underground doesn't get a lot of love, and I can see why. But ignoring all the problems with the show, this is actually fun to watch. Characters that I expected to utterly despise (Sonia and Manic especially) end up turning into actual heroes throughout the series' run, getting some great focus episodes and development on their part. And as for the songs that happen Once an Episode? I admit they're hit-or-miss, but I love it when they hit. And then there's the Knuckles arc, which has plenty of nods to the comics (Athair is in it, Angel Island is referred to as the Floating Island and is powered by a sole Chaos Emerald, etc.) and gives everyone's favorite red echidna plenty of focus. I understand why the show isn't fondly remembered, but I gave it a chance and it didn't disappoint.
• Sony Pictures Animation started okay. They weren't anything spectacular... until 2009 when Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was released and I instantly loved it the first time I saw it. My personal favorite disaster movie. It helps that the directors of that film also directed the 21JumpStreet film and created Clone High for TV, so you know it's gonna be good. I've been interested in their movies ever since... except their live-action/animated movies. AVOID THOSE LIKE THE PLAGUE EVERYONE. AVOID THOSE.
• South Park is a show which, in my opinion, actually gets funnier every year (although season 12 could have been better). I don't know how they do it!
  • Seconded, strangely. Strangely because I am, and have a reputation for being, the most innocent person over 10 I know and usually frown upon Black Comedy. So much that I always assumed I'd hate South Park. Then I actually watched a scene from the movie ("Blame Canada", to be exact)...and I loved it. And now I'm addicted. Weird, man.
  • Thirded. South Park may be offensive and over-the-top, but it's also so much fun to watch, and when the show gets dramatic, it really gets dramatic.
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Especially Zorak. Who can't love him?
  • The Christmas episode sold me. HI MY NAME IS BRAAAAAAK.
    • Flipmode is quite possibly the funniest 15 minutes ever aired on Adult Swim. Just to name a few:
  • My God! Wooden Eels! SURFACE! SURFACE!
  • Zorak is dead! MURDERED! Moltar, serve the first course!
  • DO NOT! DISTURB! THE JUDGE!
  • God, that was violent. I blame....the sea.
  • Dive! Dive! SUCK ON THE PIPES!
  • Hold on Busta, we're going underwater!
  • Who killed Walt Disney!? With a wrench?
  • Hey, wood! We should build something!
  • IT'S SYMBOLIC, Moltar. Things don't always have to do things!
  • I guess now it's a better time than ever to name our first sponsor! Natural Gas. IT GIVES YOU SOME IDEAS, HEH HEH!
  • Then what was the point of sanding my face off!?
    • Every time I see that episode, it puts me in a good mood.
• The Spectacular Spider-Man may even be able to match (or out-do?) BTAS, given time.
  • I'm not sure one outdoing the other is even an applicable notion. It sounds suspiciously like it belongs in the same folder of ridiculousness as an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, two symphonies being simultaneously more beautiful than each other, or a man being his own grandfather.
  • There are two reasons why I love this show so much. For one, there's virtually no Reset Button or Status Quo Is God in this show; characters evolve, friends of Peter Parker or even just random characters from past episodes become major villains, and plots carry on to next episodes, much like a comic book (obviously, this has the problem of watching an episode on TV out of context, but I saw all the episodes online and in order). Now, I'm not sure how often this happens in animated shows, but it's a rather refreshing change. And the other reason why I love this show so much? OMG THE ACTION SCENES KICK SO MUCH ASS, HOLY JESUS FUCK!!!
  • This show is Frakking brilliant. No other words for it. Action is amazing, the animation is amazing, and the storyline is .. You guessed it, AMAZING! Brilliantly developed characters, and gets progressively more arc based and Darker and Edgier as the story progresses . Alas, it was Screwed by the Lawyers ..
  • The older Spider-Man series holds a special place in my heart. Yes, the people had lasers, but dammit I grew up on it. It was a good show, without Status Quo Is God, and it actually felt like a comic book cartoon.
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is just one enormous love letter to the superhero genre and comic books in general, and is a must-see for every comic and movie lover out there - it's for a good reason too! The truly groundbreaking animation is a ten-star banquet for all five senses and it really does feel like a comic page that came to life. Not to mention, NICHOLAS MOTHER-FLIPPIN' CAGE PLAYS SPIDER-MAN NOIR!!!
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was the last hurrah of traditional Western animation, at least in this generation. And what a hurrah it was! It out-Disneys recent Disney. Sure, it has its flaws, but the sheer amount of heart the people working on this film put into it positively makes it glow. It works beautifully on a technical level, too - if digital animation really is the way to go from here on out, can't we at least have more tradiional films like this, please?
  • I first saw that movie when I was nine and obsessed with horses, in a special early screening. It's remained special to me ever since.
  • This movie holds just as special a place in my heart. Even aside from the gorgeous animation, the heartfelt music, and the simple but powerful story, my mother was always a huge lover of horses—I owe my own love of them to her. She was diagnosed with cancer the year before it came out, and got to see the preview for it included on Shrek. She died near the end of that year, and so never got to see Spirit. When I finally got to see it the following summer, all I could think as I watched it through my tears was 'My mother would have LOVED this...'
• Let's give a shout-out to Spliced here, because that cartoon is one of the best Canadian shows that nobody has heard of. Virtually every episode is laugh-out-loud funny in the most insane ways imaginable, and some episodes will leave you rolling on the floor in tears. It's also got what is quite easily the best theme song of any Teletoon series, period.
• SpongeBob SquarePants deserves its legions and legions of fans - how many other cartoons feature a sentient poriferan and his echinoderm friend battling a fish dressed as a cowboy on top of David Hasselhoff?
  • "Krusty Krab Training Video" in particular is Parental Bonus brilliance. "Ah, POOP, you never let us down!" "The ceiling is right, Squidward: you're not a very good employee!"
  • I must say, there is something wonderfully subversive about that show too. How many other shows would have a main character who, when being told that a hat makes him look like a girl, respond with utter hope and sincerity "Am I a pretty girl?" It seems likely that somewhere out there, there floats an academic paper on Subversive Notions of Gender Roles in Spongebob Squarepants, and I would so read it.
    • Seconded. Seriously, how many other animated shows manage to have so many jokes that appeal to such a broad age spectrum, get so much past the radar, and have a long-running and consistent undertone of deliberate Ho Yay, yet still manage to remain such a fundamentally innocent children's show with completely family-friendly morals?
  • The worst part? Seasonal Rot has made the show entirely despised by everyone, and now all those classic episodes have been buried under the newer Flanderized ones...
  • Indeed. The show was great until after the movie. Everybody's annoying tendencies have been bloated to ridiculous levels. Mr. Krabs, Spongebob, and Patrick are the worst examples. I just stick to the seasons when the show didn't make my head hurt.
  • Objection, while I'll admit there are a fair number of new episodes that deserve the hate they get, I find plenty of episodes after movie to be decent. Seasonal Rot has definitely affected the show, but I find everyone who thinks every episode after Season 3 sucks have Nostalgia Goggles on. I still enjoy this show to this day, and while it's not in it's prime, it still a fun show.
  • The post-movie episodes are different from the earlier ones, but they manage to be funny in their own ways most of the time. People should at least give them a chance.
• Star vs. the Forces of Evil just ended its second season and nobody mentioned it yet? For shame! It may have had some Early-Installment Weirdness upon starting, but starting with episodes like these have me convinced it may be my favorite show on Disney XD. Star is essentially Mabel Pines taken up to eleven, except she's a Magical Girl who can Narwhal Blast your face in if you hurt her or those closest to her. There's also Marco, probably one of my favorite male leads in recent memory in that he actually fights the monsters after Star's wand, and that's not counting the worlds the two go to and the characters encountered; there are so many awesome characters that I'd be taking up way more of your time than I need to. And season 2 manages to be even better, with more focus on character interactions and development, several major plot points being reintroduced, and the escalation of the overall plot with the status quo pretty much being shaken by this point. Oh, and it also has some Awesome Music.
  • Star vs. the Forces of Evil is amazing! Really one of the best animated cartoons that I have seen in the 2010s. First of all...STARCO!! While Star and Marco are not a couple (yet), they have some of the best character interactions I have ever seen in animation, and the still-standing Starco ship remains to be one of the greatest ships out there. The supporting characters are really good as well (except for Ferguson and Alfonzo). Beyond that, the series-long storyline has been really great as well. I love Ludo's development, and I just love Toffee in general. He is such a cool villain. I think Toffee might be one of the best villains in Disney cartoons. The show has been really mature, but also can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Star is only at Season 2 so far, and it has already become one of my favorite shows.
• What would Star Wars be like if everyone was even more badass and there was more action? It would be Star Wars: Clone Wars.
  • Also, Asajj Ventress FTW.
  • Also, how General Grievous should have been.
  • What, no love for Star Wars Rebels??? It's just about PERFECT!!
• Steven Universe. Hands down, the best cartoon of this decade. It has interesting characters that you actually want to care for, humor that doesn't rely on gross-outs or black comedy to be funny, gorgeous art and character designs, and Crowning Moments of Heartwarming abound. And don't even get me started on the music! Do I really need to say more?
  • Seconded with all my heart. My personal favorite aspect of this show is the characters; they're all fantastically likeable and unbelievably human. Many of them make mistakes, like the side characters Lars, Sadie, and Ronaldo, but they make up for them with their positive aspects (or by stabbing giant monsters with wooden spears). It shows that nobody is perfect. Additionally, if you don't love them all, you'll have a favorite Crystal Gem in about ten episodes or even less. None of them fit the stereotypes you may expect in a trio. All in all, Steven Universe—both the show and the titular character—have a unique charm to them that I can't describe. This show plays with your emotions, making you truly feel terror or sadness during episodes like "So Many Birthdays" or "Rose's Scabbard," and when it gets to the really good stuff like the Season 1 finale, it makes you jump around the room]
• Stickin' Around!!! One of the most hilariously wacky and ridiculous cartoons ever created, one that fully embraces its silliness and runs with it like there's no tomorrow! Such an underrated series and the perfect show for every child or child-at-heart.
• The Super Hero Squad Show. When I learned of a new Marvel show coming to Cartoon Network, I was excited. Then I was disappointed on the chibi animation it would have. Sure enough, it turned out to be the Avengers in Televised Super-Deformed format... and it was awesome! I'm only familiar with some major Marvel characters like Iron Man, Spider-Man (Wonder when he'll appear) and Wolverine, but seeing all the universe's characters in each episode just makes it great. The animation is actually quite impressive and the voice acting... Well, I'll name two voice actors to give you an idea: Tom Kenny (as Iron Man) and Steve Blum (as Wolverine, reprising his role from Wolverine and the X-Men (2009); only here he has a lighter sounding voice).
• The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. I know it's not as perfect as the games, but I really enjoyed the acting of Captain Lou Albano (may he rest in peace), and how they fleshed out characters like Luigi, giving him the sort of cowardly feeling he would canonically adopt in later games, and even Bowser (King Koopa) was just a load of fun to watch.
  • The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. More action than the predecessor, but the Koopalings had their own personality, moreso than in SMB3 (I like Morton/Big Mouth the most), not to mention that the music actually matches the NES-like notes.
    • Super Mario World...y'know what, screw it, I know the shows aren't very accurate, but I'm a complete sucker for video game-based cartoons...unlike some.
• Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!. I am completely serious. Yes, there were a few episodes that were pretty lame, but overall, this is an incredibly under appreciated series with some wonderful storytelling, great characters/relationships between them, and a desperate need for an ending. (Darnit, Jetix.)
  • Seconding this. So many people I know never even heard of it, but it had a GREAT cast and some of the episodes and plots were fabulous.
• Superjail! is one new series I absolutely adore, and one of the few programs on [adult swim] (Or, really on any program block on TV) that makes me almost constantly happy, and I am not the type who finds ultraviolence funny! It's a show that, despite it's effed-up subject matter, doesn't take a mean spirit to it, which I find weirdly satisfying. Plus, and a big plus this is, the animation is wildly original, a character in itself among several just as hilariously quirky :) .
• I hope I am not the only person here who likes Super Noobs for being funny and action packed. The episodes never get boring after not even a minute after watching them all. I hope they could make a third season of it.
• I am going to get so much hate for this, but am I the only one who actually thinks Super Why! doesn't deserve the amount of hate it gets? I mean, yes, it's saccharine and kinda cheesy, but when you put that aside, the characters are cute (Whyatt was actually my first crush), the general idea is unique, and the superheroes are awesome. I'm proud to say I learned to read from this show.
• SWAT Kats is far and away the best animated series that Hanna-Barbera has ever put onto the screen. Not only was it well animated, but until they meddled twice in season 2, it had the best /plots/ of any HB cartoons. It had plot, action, lots of explosions, lots of color... it was AMAZING and as good as or better than a lot of the anime. Just that it was antrho furries, and there was supposedly a "violence in cartoons" flap at the time. Even with only 25 episodes, it LIVED Ruleof Cool. And the fans will not let it be forgotten.
  • Why this show hasn't gotten a DVD release is beyond me. It deserves one. A good one.
• Sym-Bionic Titan. As if Genndy Tartakovsky didn't prove himself enough as a great director, this show just enforces it! Great, likable characters, fantastic writing and directing, great comic timing, awesome battles, and something I haven't seen in a western animated series for years: A VILLAIN WHO SCARES THE LIVING S**T OUT OF ME! And as if that wasn't enough, there's actual continuity and character development! And as if THAT weren't enough, episode 10 ends with a giant robot fighting a giant monster WITH AN 80'S LOVE BALLAD PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND! It may not be as artistically done as Samurai Jack, but when you worst complaint you have for a show is "it's not Samurai Jack", you know you have something good on your hands!
  • I admit getting into this series because of Lance, but came to enjoy this series for this humor, writing, sad moments, and heartwarming moments. The battles are awesome and the characters all have their awesome moments and I love the music and how they used an actual song from the eighties in episode 10. I can't wait for the next season.
  • Adding to what they said, why this show works for me is the level of subversion or different routes it takes that most TV shows with teens leads end up playing straight with. Bitchy cheerleader? Nope. She becomes a better person and falls for a nerdy guy. Male lead being an idiot while the female is the smarter one? Nope. Lance may be more impulsive then Ilana, but he is clearly not an idiot (as so much as he makes idiotic decisions) who is VERY good at what he does. Bad guys who linger and send their minions to do the work for no reason? General Modula actually has a reason to stay (securing and ruling the planet he conquered) and when he does show up, he often pulls of a villain act that makes him downright scary. Teens with "attitude" who references pop culture and catchphrases that usually end up annoying? Nope. Lance and Ilana speak like actual people. I could name more, but this show is golden.
• I know Teen Titans (2003) had its Anvilicious moments, but by golly, I love that show anyway. Robin may be partly responsible, but still... "How Long Is Forever?" is one of the most heartbreaking and yet beautiful television episodes I've ever seen. And as for "The End"...wow, just wow.
  • Especially Slade's lines in "The End". "For the record, I'm nobody's servant!" Just...wow.
  • Raven + Calling the Old Man Out = Pure, utter CMOA.
  • Oh, seconded seconded seconded. Where will I ever find another show with such engaging and endearing characters, awesome action sequences, genuine humor and heartbreak, that's not afraid to be off-wall-zany one minute and deadly serious the next? Besides Avatar of course...
  • Aftershock. Part. Two. Tear Jerker and Moment of Awesome all in one. And the MUSIC...
  • I would like to give a special mention to the Season One and Season Five finales. The Apprentice episodes have to be one of most seamless and well-written cases of arc-welding I've ever seen and "Titans Together"? Dude... Bad. ASS.
    • Honestly, don't get I started on Apprentice... FAVOURITE. TT. EPISODE. EVER. I love how it shows Robin's dark side, that it has inspired innumerable fanfics, and Slade is such a Magnificent Bastard (it helps that his voice is pure sex...).
  • Now now, let's not forget to include Things Change in the season five finale. Who cried? Definitely not me. *shifty eye*
  • Although the only two English people in the show were villains with bad teeth and terrible skin and there was no non-stereotypical English character to act as contrast... the show still holds a place in my English heart.
    • That said, Beast Boy made a rather epic Brit.
  • This show has got everything; action, drama, heartwarming, hilarity...this pretty much sums up all the awesomeness.
• The 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is just awesome. Funny, true to the source, and remarkably mature for an ostensible "kid's show". I'll miss it when I get all the way through.
  • Amen. Not only does it stick true to the original Mirage comic books, but improves on them. The Turtles receive better characterization and its humor just makes great stories even better. It's like the TMNT version of Batman: The Animated Series. Definitely one of the best cartoons of the 2000s.
• The classic episodes of Thomas & Friends. Drawing on some of the finest source material, and adding great voice talent, amazing model work, and one of the best scores ever (done on a synthesizer, too).
• Time Squad was funny, I mean it had Luke Skywalker/The Joker as the voice of Larry 3000, the Anachronisims, and every rule that makes it fun. I wish people would talk about it more.
  • Seconded! The humor was not half bad, some of the plots were hilarious, and Tuddrussell and Larry's relationship was a delicious ice topping! The old-married-couple-like bickering, the seemingly venomous insults, the pranks and nuisances they did to each other and the occasional Heartwarming Moments were all extremely entertaining and provided hours of great fun to me both as a kid and now.
• I'm aware that Tom Goes to the Mayor is an extremely polarizing series by [adult swim] standards, but I wanted to point out how unique the art style looks compared to anything else on television, even in 2024 (at the time of this writing). I also love the episodes WW Lazers and Wrestling, the former due to Terry's antics and the latter due to the wrestling coach screaming at Tom's stepson. And let's not forget about the Ric-A-Dic Handshake!
• What about Total Drama Island? That show is hilarious. I found myself actually caring about who won, and the jokes are hilarious. Not to mention that Courtney and Duncan made an awesome couple.
  • Seconded. Wonderful, complex three-dimensional heroes and villains, realistic portrayal of teenagers in their not-so-natural habitat. Love and friendship blossoming even under the intense fire of competition. Third season especially, which had the best Awesome Music Teletoon has ever had to offer. And, of course, the hilarious moments that brought tears to all our eyes. Special mention goes to Gwen for being the original series hero, for staying strong through all the crap she took in Action and World Tour, and just for being my favorite. You'll always be a winner in my eyes, Weird Goth Girl.
  • I agree with everything up here, especially the parts about the characters. This show needs a lot more love for its awesome humor, amazing characters and having something that appeals to everyone.
  • King Nerd I have been obsessed with it since the moment I first saw it it's just so bizzare with the funniest host of all time.
  • For that matter, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island; everyone thought the new cast would ruin everything, but as soon as I saw the first episode of it, my mind was completely blown away. In more ways than one.
  • Gonna use the opportunity to give a shoutout to the Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race here. Best entry in the franchise since the nearly unbeatable greatness that was Island. Its change of tone and formula were a breath of fresh air and a nice change of pace, and it was also really great to see both old faces and new, more diverse characters - some who proved just as endearing and memorable as the cast of Island. And of course, the show remains as funny and dramatic as it was before. Such a shame that it only lasted one season.
• Transformers: Animated.
  • Transformers can't get any better than this. Character Development is in full force for the heroic Autobots, who are severely outgunned against their Decepticon foes. We actually get to see Optimus Prime in his younger days working hard to become the hero everyone knows he can be - and his Character Arc is simply the best Character Arc to ever exist in animated television.
  • Transformers. Especially Beast Wars and Transformers: Animated. You get action, interesting characters, and the kind of coolness that can only come from Transforming Mecha. All this, and possibly one of the best toylines of the modern age to back it up, making Merchandise-Driven a blessing rather than a curse.
  • On the subject of Transformers: Animated, it deserved a lot less complaining around the beginning. The characters and plotlines won over quite a few naysayers (me included). I defy you not to find Bulkhead very very huggable or Prowl ridiculously cool. And Optimus gets some surprisingly awesome moments(Endgame, 'nuff said). The 80's kids can keep their G1, I'll be happy with my Animated. <333
    • Can't we keep both? <3
    • Thirded with Animated! It's what introduced me to the whole franchise, and in addition to the heroes, we have some damn awesome villains. I mean, a refreshingly savvy Megatron, a Starscream who still manages to be a Large Ham The Starscream, Anti-Villain Dark Action Girl Blackarachnia, and Evil Duo Blitzwing and Lugnut. They're evil, competent, and fraggin' hilarious.
  • The Transformers: The Movie is probably the most metal kids' movie ever. A bunch of robots (many of which have viking helmets for heads) fighting robotic sharks, robotic squids and a giant goddamn planet to the sound of the best hair metal money could buy? Badass.
  • Beast Wars is brilliant, even though there's no reason it should be. It exists to sell toys. DESPITE this, it's funny, engaging, and even sometimes sweet. It's the best Transformers series, TV or comics, ever, under the writing, the acting, and the often-beautiful animation. I even has a soft spot for Beast Machines, which, if nothing else, tries to do more than sell toys.
    • Someone really needs to make a Beast Wars movie. The perfect preview would be to make it LOOK like King Kong fighting the T-Rex, and right when the T-Rex is about to loose: TRANSFORM and shoot Kong, and then another TRANSFORM and Mecha-Kong shoots back. THEN introduce the characters as Optimus Primal and Megatron. That would be so awesome it would disrupt the space-time continuum. Just keep Michael Bay as far away from the movie as possible.
    • PRIME. First TF show I really got the chance to watch, and I am blown away by the character development, the humor, the plot lines. It's FANTASTIC!
    • OH MY GOSH YES!!! I love Transformers Prime and Transformers Animated, but I have to say that if I had to choose a favorite I'd have to say Prime. I like the animation, the characters (even Miko), the story, just about everything. I also like how they made this version of Arcee an Action Girl, rather than a Damsel in Distress like Transformers Animated Arcee (don't get me wrong I like her too!). Overall, the show is just awesome!
    • Thirded. First Transformers continuity I watched where I actually understood what was happening... and I did not regret it. The humans are just amazing, and the first ones I don't actively hate (except Silas. But I still think he was an awesome bad guy). And the villains. I am a confessed Decepticon fangirl (granted, I do like watching them get humiliated), and Prime does them justice in ways finer than I can put in words, while still making them utterly hilarious (All Hail Starscream... *snerk*). God, Prime and Animated are currently responsible for that four-month ongoing Transformers kick I'm on.
  • Let me tell you a story: After watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, I was sure that nothing in whole animation will ever impress me on that level ever again. Several anime were close but still not enough. Then I watched Transformers: The Movie and my reaction was the same like after watching TTGL – I was staring at the monitor for good five minutes, unable to say anything more than simple wow.You got the touch, Optimus Prime, you got the touch.
• No mention of Tron: Uprising yet? This show has a style all its own, as well as stylized action, an inherently interesting story, and likable characters.
• First of all, let's give some general love to The Venture Brothers. That having been said, let's give some specific love to Dr. Girlfriend who, in my opinion, manages to be one of the most complex, nuanced female characters in television today, even WITH her five-pack-a-day voice. Who knew?
  • Hell, all the characters are complex, nuanced, and interesting. Even the titular Venture brothers, the most cartoonish of all the characters (by Word of God, even), are deep and complex if you pay attention. Even the characters who you'd expect to be one-note jokes in any other show (including, as you said, Dr Girlfriend). One of the best written shows, ever.
    • Damn. Right.
• At the risk of being shouted down, I present Pete Browngardt's Uncle Grandpa. Yes, it's silly and over-the-top. But honestly, this show is refreshing. Not a lot of shows juggle both surrealism and an odd layer of heart at the same time. Not a lot of shows have a completely innocuous premise either. Its simplicity is a boon to the show. The best analogy that I could give for this show is a candy bar (borrowed from a fellow troper). Don't try to look too deeply into it, just consume it and get hyperactive for once; you just might find it sweet as well.
• Wakfu! Oh, Wakfu! If I could live on beautiful animation, Wakfu would be my only sustenance. Ankama really outdid themselves; they've created an expansive, detailed fantasy world with a beyond-loveable Five-Man Band on an epic quest that, despite having a relatively low quotient for originality in its overall premise, shows the blood, sweat, and tears put into it in every frame, and has an irresistible charm that keeps you looking for more. Watching something that people loved creating is good for the soul, and Wakfu is a shining North Star in that department. Many a Heartwarming Moment and Moment of Awesome are contained within this little French beauty, and it hasn't even finished its first season yet (which unfortunately means that non-French speakers either have to go hunting for wild subs or will have to wait for the English dub to roll around). The international fandom for this show is far too small, and woe am I who has no one to fantard over it with.
  • Seconded. The first season is over, and it is one of the most incredible finales I've ever seen in an animated show.
• Even though (at the time of this writing) the show hasn't formally premiered, Wander over Yonder already looks to be an amazing show. The animation, the humor...this entire show looks to be one big, glorious ball of happiness and fun. Not to mention Wander himself looks to be one of the most cheerful, fun-loving and adorable characters ever.
  • Seconded Wander over Yonder is the result of taking what makes comedic cartoons like SpongeBob and Looney Tunes great and combining them with the best elements of the animation of the 2010's. Great writing, good morals (Never hurts to help), and an awesome cast. If you loved the other works of Craig McCracken, you'll definitely love this weird little show.
  • Agreed with all my heart. I binge watched some episodes on Disney XD, and now I consider it to be one of the greatest animated series of the 2010s, if not one of the best cartoons of all time. The animation is absolutely beautiful and mimics that of the Golden Age of Animation. The entire soundtrack is absolutely wonderful, especially in the musical episode "My Fair Hatey", which is the best episode ever. All of the characters, even the villains, are three-dimensional and absolutely lovable. The plots are interesting, it's hilarious, and the pacing/tone are perfect. It can manage to be serious, funny, heartwarming, awesome, and sad at the same time. It's underrated, and I wish there was a season 3.
• Did it keep me up at night as a child? Yes. Can thinking about it or even getting a line stuck in my head keep me up at night now, even though I'm over 20? Yes. Do I have an irrational fear of rabbits, especially anthropomorphic ones because of this movie? Heck yes! But, sweet Frithrah! I love Watership Down and its gorgeous animation, music, and over-all story telling. It's just one of those things that's worth the psychological scars.
• Why is there no We Bare Bears on this page? I mean, seriously; Grizz, Panda, and Ice Bear are some of the most entertaining characters at Cartoon Network's disposal. Their antics are just plain fun to watch, they feel like true companions even when they end up having a conflict, and they also tend to have some really sweet and tear-jerking moments involving their days as cubs. The show is just watching these three interact with the city they live in, and after watching all the episodes released so far, I can safely say this is one of the network's best.
• The Weekenders! The show has great characters and is just so funny. It's also swimming in Running Gags — but they never get annoying. And the theme song's sung by Wayne goddamn Brady, which is the icing on the cake.
  • Totally seconded! What really sets this show apart is its tone - it's very subtle and fairly realistic for a Disney cartoon, but no less funny or endearing for it. The humor is some of the wittiest I've ever seen in a kids' show, and the Running Gags are all brilliant and never grow tiresome. And yeah, that theme song absolutely rocks.
• Does anybody remember Widget the World Watcher? It DESERVES to be on DVD! The story does talk about saving the environment, but it's way more upbeat than Captain Planet.
• Winx Club! It's simply impossible not to love it: practically every character is likable and gets their own important scenes. There are funny moments, dramatic moments, epic moments and the battle scenes are impressive. Here's the best part: there's absolutely no Unresolved Sexual Tension, no Will They or Won't They?, no Love Triangle. Seeing stable pairings from the very beginning is a refreshing change.
  • I am a guy and I can say that yes, this show was pretty cool. I got into it because my sisters made me watch it with them, but I loved the fight scenes, and I also like the Specialists because, compared to the fairies with their magic, they're just guys with hard light tech. And they are AWESOME. The characters were also, for the most part, very well done.
• Don't let the name fool you (it's a play on brainfart!), Wishfart is one of the best shows to come out of Teletoon in the 2010s. It's got a brilliantly creative and colorful cast of characters (seriously, how many other works star a non-traditional teenage leprechaun, a self-centered talking puffin, and a snarky Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl as best friends?), out-there storylines with some of the most wild takes on the Be Careful What You Wish For formula, and a plethora of snappy jokes. Easily one of the most underappreciated cartoons of its time!
• W.I.T.C.H. is one of the best animated shows of the last decade. It's entertaining the whole way through and the animation is lovely. Plus, the cute girls aren't bad either.
  • Well, the first season was pretty generic Magical Girl fare, but the second season (with Greg freaking Wiseman on board) was awesome...especially Nerissa, particularly at the end...
  • Honestly. This series has so much to offer. The Guardians are likable and kick ass. Their powers are so cool - water, fire, earth, and air. Don't forget the heart too. The animation is breath-taking, the male characters are actually useful (not many Magical Girl shows do that). The whole show is a Continuity Nod and has a complex plot. You have to watch the first episode or else you will be very confused.
• WordGirl is fantastically written and wonderful. It's just an excellent series.
  • Seconded. Oh, god, seconded. With a fanbase growing by the week (A fantastic feat for a PBS Kids Cartoon), rich characters, stunningly absolutely beautiful animation, great voice actors, the plot...
• Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum: Where to even start? I was devastated at the cancellation of Ready Jet Go! (mentioned above), but now, I have Xavier Riddle as my number-one obsession (beware; you're gonna see this show mentioned everywhere on the site sooner or later, courtesy of yours truly), and it acts as a Replacement Goldfish for RJG in a sense, at least to me. It may be formulaic, but the way it's structured isn't repetitive/predictable at all and the show has this whole adventurous feel to it. You're on the edge of your seat waiting to see which historical figure the gang will meet. The music adds to this, it's a nice set of violin strings. Speaking of the historical figures, you can learn so much about them. Thanks to this show, I now know about such figures as Mary Leakey, Catherine the Great, Tomioka Tessai, and Anna Pavlova, all of whom I did not know before. The art style is beautiful, it reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes. The three main characters — Xavier, Yadina and Brad — are all lovable in their own way. I recommend this show, and hopefully it gets more attention soon.
• The X-Men: The Animated Series animated series was wonderful. It managed to condense the comics and make them a little more kid-friendly. The fact half the people my age who read the comics now admit this was what started it all for them is good. Also, my first OTP comes from here.
  • X-Men: The Animated Series is the show that got me into the comic. For which I shall be forever thankful. ^_^ Also, their treatment of Dark Phoenix remains my favorite animated moment in superhero TV shows ever.
    • Suugars, X-Men: The Animated Series is purely one of the greatest animated series ever made. They made the show kid-friendlier than the comics: no one ever dies and they have Family Friendly Weaponry (Where did the poor Morlock get the Jedi Lightsabers?). Yet they included all those mature themes (racism, religion) that you just don't see in animated shows these days. Not only that, they gave the printed character life with both the spectacular roles they were given (despite being crippled by The Worf Effect, Wolverine is still badass, and he makes the best lines in the series) and the awesome voice casting (Rogue, Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, I'm specially looking at you).
  • I must say that I probably wouldn't be the X-Men fan I am today were it not for X-Men: Evolution. I know it has its flaws, but... I love it.
• Young Justice (2010), people. Freaking Young Justice. This has to be one of the best DC Animated shows since Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League. They manage to keep the set mythology of the characters, and yet keep it fresh and keep us invested. With every episode, you can tell that the writers genuinely care about what they're putting out there.
  • Seconded. I'd like to also add that this is one of the best series in any media that can pull off Three Lines, Some Waiting and make it this well-paced. Just how many plot threads does season two have? The Light's new partner, the Kroloteans, the Superboy/Miss Martian relationship and why it ended, the Bad Future plot, the Justice League on trial, The Mole plan... And they tie them together nicely, don't leave us on hold too long, and never trip over each other. That takes skill.
  • Thirded. Greg Weisman taking all of the storytelling tricks he's learned and refined from his previous works... and applying them to an alternate DC Universe? OH GOD YES THANK YOU YES

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