Your favorite Western Animated series (and why?)

I think overall, Phineas And Ferb might have been my most serious case.

I do keep warm memories about Animaniacs and specially Pinky And The Brain.

I cannot pick one. And I advise everyone from trying to do so as well.

Legend of Korra, easily one of the best action series to ever come out of the west.

I have really like what I've seen of Archer, I think it has done adult humor better than most shows I've seen.

This may be a bit early to call this, but I think Gravity Falls is on its way there. The writing is clever, the humor is well timed and develops both from the characters and situations, and even with just two episodes under its belt it has already made some memorable and likable characters.

I'd have to say Adventure Time. It's just... I don't know, I guess it's different. On one hand it's pretty random, on the other hand, it builds up an entire mythos. They're not just putting this or that in just for the sake of adventure. It always impacts the dynamic of the entire cast. It even seems that the character with the biggest development is actually the series itself. It's hard to explain what I mean with that. I mean, every character undergoes some character development, but they're still bound to their alignments and character classes. They rarely step out of it. However, the entire series has evolved into something more than what it was. Sure it's still random, but it makes sense now.

I also used to love Hanna-Barbera cartoons, especially the Scooby-Doo serials (yes, also includes those with Scrappy). Two Stupid Dogs also has a special place in my heart, partially because it taught me how to shake, and because of Super Secret Secret Squirrel. But I've really fallen for the newest Scooby-Doo serial, Mystery Incorporated. Call me crazy or a fake animation lover, but I just love the new serial. It's not as silly as the old cartoons, which I by the way still love (I have the Scooby-Doo / Dynomutt Hour DVD collection somewhere).

There is still one animation that I absolutely love, but mostly because it probably belongs in the list of aweful animations. I'm talking about Captain N: The Game Master. To be honest, looking back on it, it wasn't exactly aweful. I mean, sure, today it's horrible with its inaccuracies and stuff, but if you look at it in the timeframe it was released, it's not so bad. A lot of animations back then weren't exactly accurate in comparison to their source material. Captain N was no exception. And sure, Simon Belmont is a bumbling fool, and Mega Man isn't exactly green, but back when I was a kid I didn't know that stuff.

Same goes with the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and the Legend of Zelda animation segments that appeared once in a while. I mean, I once left the Legend of Zelda II: Link's Adventure on just so that Link would probably turn into a frog or something (I've seen that episode once, and thought that it was possible in the game as well, I know, I was stupid back then).

Signatures are for lamers.

I can't say it's my absolute favorite but Ben 10. It didn't demand to be taken seriously, and, for all the characters faults, it was funny and exciting.

RISE

A little French Canadian show called Freds Head. It is a show I'd recommend to just about anyone. It is a teenage show written for teenagers, with serious themes addressed without falling into Very Special Episode issues. And Fred is one of the most amazing examples of a Deadpan Snarker I've seen in Western Animation.

"Evii is right though" -Saturn "I didn't know you were a bitch Evii." -Lior Val

I'll break down my favorites into three categories.

My Nostalgic Favorite: It's a tie between Spongebob Squarepants or Invader Zim. I know that those may not seem "nostalgic" to a lot of you (and I know that Spongebob is still on TV), but IZ ended a decade ago when I was ten, and I'm really talking about Old Spongebob. Both shows were hilarious in their own ways. Invader Zim was weird, dark, funny, and random while Spongebob almost took the opposite approach with it's feel good humor and general lightness. Both series (up until season 4 for Spongebob) are classics.

My Now Favorite: Cliche as it seems, Adventure Time. Adventure Time is pretty much all the good parts of The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy without all of the genuinely twisted dark humor and the toilet humor. (Not that I don't like Grim Adventures, but it did manage to suffer some Seasonal Rot.) It's weird, but the characters are actual people as opposed to weird caricatures of something resembling a person. I dated a guy who was pretty much just like Finn when I was in middle school, and I actually know a girl who was deemed "Princess Bubble Gum" in our senior year book last year because she acted so much like The Princess. It's basically a show about what happens when you put normal people in weird situations that they don't know are weird. And the best part is that because it doesn't address it's weirdness and plays it off as everyday life, it works.

All Time Favorite: The Powerpuff Girls. I know I'm going to get some Dexter's Lab fans yelling about how Dexter is really Genndy Tartakovsky's Magnum Opus, but The Powerpuff Girls really resonated with me more as a child and into my now (young) adult years more than Dexter did. This was really the first show were girls were seen as BAD ASS. They were cute, sure, but they made villains BLEED. There was BLOOD in this show. You never see blood anywhere in animation anymore unless you're watching an epic like Avatar, Young Justice, or Korra. Powerpuff Girls had everything that makes animation awesome. It had great art, great writing, great characters (not just main either), and great humor. It's no wonder it became such a fad in the early 2000's.

edited 1st Jul '12 11:38:12 AM by ithinkabouttrees

ADHD? Bitch please, those are battle instincts!

Tale Spin has to be placed rather high on my list, not only are there strange but enjoyable reinventions of The Jungle Book mythos, but the stories, while prettycorny, are mostly fun and the characters are surprisingly well rounded (especially the chemistry between Baloo and Rebecca). It helps the show doesn't try to take itself too seriously.

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic is also a surprisingly fun show, though I suppose I'm not being that orignal with that on this forum. Let's face it though, a lot of people would have never expected putting a My Little Pony show on their top show list before this gem came along.

Both examples to me show good examples of how simplistic and light hearted shows can still have depthful and loveable characterizations and stories. It helps they are Periphery Demographic at it's finest.

Also similar to Gary CX's Di C fondness, there are also some shows that, while much more flawed and bittersweet, entertain me and take up a lot of my viewing time nonetheless so probably deserve mentioning (eg. The Dreamstone, Sonic Satam, Spongebob Squarepants). More awkward writing or concepts not used to their best potential, but still creative and endearing stories and characters (and usually a lot of decent humor) that draw me in.

edited 1st Jul '12 11:13:46 AM by Psi001

I doubt it, considering the show was created by Genndy Tartakovsky.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Hartman didn't have anything to do with Powerpuff Girls, either.

I put on my robe and tinfoil hat...

Ho shit my bad, that's who I meant. I have no idea why I typed in Butch's name. Probably because I just got back from ripping Danny Phantom. How weird of me. Allow me to fix that mistake.

ADHD? Bitch please, those are battle instincts!

S'all good brah.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Too many to count. Way, way too many to count. I've got favorites all the way back as far as Popeye and Felix the Cat and as recent as Young Justice, and dozens upon dozens of favorites in between.

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.

I've always had a real fondness for Beavis And Butthead. Maybe it's the simple, crude charm that I get from the show, or the characterization in the show that makes me fond of it. I have a good feeling it's mainly because the music video segments on the show helped shape my music taste into what it is today.

Someone wake me from this nightmare, I've become my darkest fear...

Oh boy is this hard. As long as I've been watching cartoons this list could get extensive quick. If I have to limit myself I'll say this.

Avatar the Last Airbender: Great writing, characters, martial arts action and gorgeous animation.

Gargoyles: Greg Weisman is a fantastic writer and this is another series where the writing was beautiful. I think this show taught me about foreshadowing and why villains were often the most entertaining characters in stories and while I don't know for certain it taught me foreshadowing I KNOW it taught me what a smart villain was like.

JLU: I'm going to lead with great writing again (seeing a pattern yet?) but I love the entire series mainly for a single episode. Over the course of the series I'd been screaming at the various members of the JL that if they spent a second explaining "we're the Justice League, we're here to help," instead of going in fists a punching they'd avoid like 80% of their problems. Then one episode they fight and fight and fail to beat the antagonist that episode then, just as it looks like everyone is about to go out in a massive fire fight... the whole episode's problem is solved with a polite request! That made me friggin' giddy. I've never seen that happen in a show before or since.

The spectacular Spiderman: Another Weisman show that did a number of awesome things similar to gargoyles.

Honorable Mentions: Rugrats, Angry Beavers, Hey Arnold and Arthur

Cartoons from my childhood that had wacky adventures and ideas and concepts I'm still finding fascinating even now.

Watching Gargoyles, it is now a serious contender. From here on in, i'm Greg Weisman's bitch.

If you wanna PM me, send it to my mrsunshinesprinkles account; this one is blorked.

It's a tossup between the DCAU stuff (Batman Animated Series, Superman Animated Series, Justice League) and Gargoyles. I had a lot of fun watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold, too.

"@[=g3,8d]&fbb=-q]/hk%fg"

Wow, I enjoy Gargoyles, but it's that good?

I treat all living things equally. That is to say, I eat all living things

I think it's because Gargoyles is Disney's most serious animated series

For me it's Angry Beavers (followed by Timon and Pumbaa)

edited 3rd Jul '12 1:30:42 PM by truteal

http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/ http://sagan4.com/forum/index.php

I just remembered one more the other day that I think is SERIOUSLY underrated. Fillmore! I loved that show to death. The tropes page is right though that it was too good to last. Still it was brilliant taking all the cop show tropes and applying them to a middle school. I alsnao blame this show for my love of snarky women because good lord Ingrid Third was snarky. Plus the show was one of the few cartoons I'd seen at the time with a black protagonist where the fact that he was black wasn't played up or even commented on. It was just quietly there which I kind of liked about it. They pretty soundly avoided stereotyping.

edited 18th Jul '12 9:53:43 PM by windweaver

Both Avatar series. The attention to detail, the characters, the awesome action sequences and fights, the settings, everything has a quality that few other works of fiction, never mind animation, have.

Likes many underrated webcomics

Plus, it had one of the best theme songs ever.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

One of Tara Strong's most underrated roles.

And lol at "You're like a geodude using its harden attack!"

I heard the song was based on something else though.

edited 19th Jul '12 12:04:43 AM by blueflame724

I treat all living things equally. That is to say, I eat all living things

???

And yes, the song is actually the intro to Ookla The Mok's "Das Uber Tuber or the Mystery of Mr. P". It's a song about Mr Potato Head.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Megas XLR - It's funny, that's why.

Avatar The Last Airbender - Epic story, still waiting for Nick Asia to air The Legend of Korra.

Most DC or Marvel animated series - Superheroes vs Superheroes/Supervillains are awesome.

edited 19th Jul '12 1:06:19 AM by Blurring

If a chicken crosses the road and nobody else is around to see it, does the road move beneath the chicken instead?