My Top 10 Favorite Cartoons

I have somewhat complicated feelings for live action television, mainly I like comedies because the focus isn't on story but on jokes which means a show can potentially keep me invested for a long time. Compare that to dramas or action shows where the ongoing story line is the draw and it just has endless potential to lose me, and I just end up not caring about any of it. Honestly, if I was doing a list of all my favorite shows period, it would be all cartoons except the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends and Game of Thrones. So I figured I'd just list off my favorite cartoons instead.

Note: I'm not including Anime on this list because I have a hard time deciding how much I even like a lot of anime when comparing them against each other. It would be much more difficult to try to slot any into this list against some of my favorite shows ever. I'm also not including films, as I could more easily compare those to their live action counterparts.

Second Note: Almost none of these are set in stone, they only as of this moment reflect my feelings on the matter and are subject to change in the future as my tastes and perspective develop.

Some Honorable Mentions:

Chowder- really funny cartoon that came around in Cartoon Network's dumb period of CN Real, and it was a bright spot in a dark time. The fourth wall does not exist and it's superbly funny almost all the time.

Futurama- probably the best adult animated cartoon ever, and if I liked that genre a fraction more this would have made the list proper. The Comedy Central seasons in general though brought it down some, some are good but most are average.

Rugrats- nostalgia is the primary reason I'm mentioning this. I've gone back and watched the show as an adult and while the pre-movie episodes hold up pretty well it's not as great as it was. Still, I have a lot of fondness for it regardless.

Robot Chicken- when it works, it really works and I absolutely love it, but there are enough segments I don't particularly like that have landed it down here. Still, it's a great show no matter what Peter Griffin has to say.

Family Guy- speak of the devil. Honestly, this show might have made the list if we were just talking about... let's say up through season 6. Those episodes are gold and I watched them at just the right age for me to love it. Everything after that though... well, I can't feel good about putting it on a list of my favorite shows when it's done things I just really detest. Brian has been awful since season 7 or so and no one else has been that good either, and a few jokes are just vile.

Rick and Morty- I wanted so badly to put this on the list, but there's a whole part of this show that doesn't work. Rick, Morty and Summer are great, I love seeing them do stuff and go on adventures and abuse each other, it's great comedy and drama. But Beth and Jerry just kill half of the show and it just won't stop bringing them back up. Get rid of that stuff, the marriage problems and most of Jerry's pathetic characterization and this would easily make the cut.

I could talk about plenty more but that's not what this list is about so apologies if I didn't mention something you thought I should have. On with the list.

10. Regular Show

Synopsis: two park workers strive to do as little as possible on the job while avoiding being fired, though their laziness and greed inevitably cause the situation to blow up in crazy and unexpected ways.

There's no real explanation for why I like Regular Show so much. It's an 80's referencing weed-inspired show about two of the most frustrating characters ever. I'm a kid born in the early 90's who has never even known people who smoked weed and I hate characters who are lazy assholes. And yet Mordecai and Rigby don't bother me... all the time. I guess it's because when it comes to it, they really will go the distance to get the job done. Also, it never ceases to amuse and amaze how these simple situations can escalate in the most insane ways. The supporting cast is also pretty good, with very few characters actively annoying me. As the show goes on you feel the camaraderie between all of them, and even though they still anger each other you know they're going to be alright. It's really imaginative and funny and you should definitely take a loot at it.

9. Phineas and Ferb

Synopsis: two step-brothers try to make the most of every day by building impossible devices and machines while their older sister tries to rat them out, meanwhile their pet platypus is a secret agent who battles an evil scientist who wants to take over the tri-state area.

In 2007, Disney Channel was... terrible. The sitcoms were bad and there were no really good cartoons on either so, when I first saw Phineas and Ferb my expectations were pretty low. I really adore this show. I'm such a cynical person and these two boys always provide a counterpoint to that, and they're funny, witty and inventive! The things they've done on the show are just really cool. You see some shows and the kids have built or done something that's out of their league and you just don't buy it because they're kids and adults could barely manage it, so the show does the smart thing and turns it up to eleven. They stop being kids then and start being their own characters, so they aren't just kids building something that you don't buy, it's Phineas and Ferb building something that's impossible! Perry the Platypus and Dr. Doofenschmirtz are hilarious as well, I honestly can't think of a single episode in which I didn't like what they got up to. Unfortunately, the show has a fairly big flaw: Candace.

Candace is the older sister and she's obsessed with proving to her mother that Phineas and Ferb do all the amazing things they do. On paper it's not a bad idea but the execution just... I don't like it. Ashley Tisdale is absolutely grating in the role, and I just never found her shtick funny. She gets hurt and humiliated in her pursuit, and she does this not because she thinks her brothers are endangering themselves and others but because she's jealous and spiteful. I realize that Phinease and Ferb's stories need some kind of conflict, and since the boys don't have any someone needs to be in conflict from their actions but it just doesn't work that well. Obviously, it works well enough because it made my top 10 list, but it could have been higher than it wound of being. Also, Vanessa is... so great. Love her voice.

8. Spongebob Squarepants

Synopsis: a plucky yellow sponge has wacky misadventures in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom along with his friends.

How the hell can I place Spongebob Squarepants on this list? Futurama didn't even make it but this did!? Okay, this is a bit of a cop-out because I'm actually only really considering the first three seasons for this list. When mentioning Family Guy I did say the later seasons dragged it down, but the thing is I actually don't mind Spongebob's post movie seasons. Some great episodes have been in them and at worst they're mildly annoying. I was also about seven when the show first aired so I have a lot of positive nostalgic feelings for the first few seasons, and they hold up. Make no mistake, the first few seasons of Spongebob Squarepants are some of the most amusing cartoon episodes ever. It helps that back then the characters were all done well and none were annoying or overly mean. The gags were smart and only get better as I get older. It's sad that the show has been going downhill for the last decade or so but there is a reason why it got so popular in the first place and definitely earned it's spot here.

7. The Avenger's: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Synopsis: after a mass breakout of super villains from four S.H.I.E.L.D. high security prisons, five superheroes join forces to recapture them, adding new members to their ranks over time and facing ever deadlier threats.

The only reason EMH is this low on my list is because the second season is... not so good. I'll maintain the first season is one of the greatest ever but it just really didn't do well in its second, despite the fact that there are really good episodes in that season. It's honestly difficult to find anything to say about this show because it's mainly the writing I really liked. The animation is excellent, but apart from that it's just how they wrote the characters, the story lines and all that. It's really well done and I like the characters, they all feel like real people with their own strengths and weaknesses having to learn how to work together for a great goal. They have varying goals throughout the show while not forgetting who's actually manipulating events behind the scenes so it's a bit episodic but has continuity. It's a really great superhero show that only gets beat out by one other.

6. Justice League (and Justice League: Unlimited)

Synopsis: seven heroes join forces in order to face threats and foes... uh... it's hard to summarize this actually, kind of like the one above I guess.

So yeah, Justice League is a better version of the EMH cartoon. I mean, it has Batman! Batman actually accounts for a ton of my fondness for this show because I absolutely love Batman, specifically this Batman, the DCAU Batman. But the characters in this show are done slightly better than in EMH and feel more like they struggle with the weight of their responsibilities, which is not really a concern in Marvel. The show has humor, but it tackles things in a less light-hearted manner as well, which normally wouldn't be something I like but it finds the balance between taking things seriously but also recognizing that the things happening are really cool. I actually like Unlimited a little more than the first two seasons because of the increased focus on additional characters and not every episode has to be a two parter. Some of the original episodes felt a little long and unnecessary so I felt the shorter amount of time for a story helped things a bit. Still, I think this is about the best superhero cartoon ever made.

Slight tangent, Teen Titans also sort of fits in here as well, for a lot of the same reasons, but it lacks Batman so I felt obligated to name the one with Batman in it. Still, Teen Titans is fantastic and I wish I could talk about it more but I gotta move on.

5. Ed, Edd n Eddy

Synopsis: three friends design and build scams to trick their neighbors out of their allowances so they can buy jawbreakers at the candy store, but inevitably fail to do so in hilarious ways.

When I think of a cartoon that has made me laugh a lot and is crazy imaginative, I wouldn't have guessed I'd go with this one. But I am. Ed, Edd n Eddy is hysterical. It's good ole slapstick, it's witty, and mean-spirited and loud and dumb and just great. The three main characters bounce off each other so well, and it's really a marvel that they got us to root for these three to both succeed and fail. You want them to get jawbreakers because of everything they go through, and you also want them to fail because it's funny and they deserve it for trying to scam the neighborhood kids. The animation is unique and some of the character designs are super weird and yet it's all very endearing and works, and the sound work is phenomenal. If you really pay attention to the background noises, you'll notice all the work put into it with not only music matching what's going on but sound effects playing at appropriate moments to underscore the comedy on screen. It can get overly mean sometimes, especially when two of the three protagonists get brutally punished for things they had no part in, but most of the time it's just funny. I enjoyed most of the Cartoon Cartoons but Ed, Edd n Eddy was the only one to really stick with me.

4. Dreamwork's Dragons: Riders of Berk (and subsequent seasons)

Synopsis: after proving that vikings and dragons can coexist peacefully, a young viking and his friends must find ways of making it work when problems arise as well as fending off external and internal threats to their home and their dragons.

This is the one entry that I feel comes close to cheating my fondness for it isn't rooted entirely in the show but in its accompanying movies, but screw it. Dragons is a really great show, first on Cartoon Network for two seasons and then streaming on Netflix for the remaining seasons. What helps this show is that it looks and sound very similar to the movies, with most of the main cast reprising their roles from the film (which is very important for Hiccup in particular since it'd be hard to find someone who sounds that similar to Jay Baruchel) and it expands the world of the films. We see new dragons, explore new places, meet new people, both allies and enemies, but most important we get to see the bonds between the riders, their dragons and each other. It's quite well written, few of the characters get annoying and they work off each other well, far better than they do in the movies. Hiccup and Toothless are always great but you also see how Astrid and Stormfly connect, the affectionate relationship Fish Legs has with Meatlug, the antagonistic yet strong bond between Snotlout and Hookfang. Also the twins and their rather dopey two headed dragon. There are story lines that continues through episodes, it's not entirely episodic but there are some self-contained episodes and even some of the ones that further the plot mostly tell their own story,.The dragons themselves are quite unusual, though whether it's inspired by the books or the movies or if they just got to design new ones I don't know, but they diverge from what you'd think a dragon would look like. It helps you believe that dragons are their own kind of group of animals, like a category separate from mammals, birds, reptiles and the like. There's a lot of heart in the show, which is good because that's one of the best things about the movies and it really feels like it's part of them, that they all go together in ways that most movies and cartoon series don't.

3. The Legend of Korra

Synopsis: after Avatar Aang stopped the Hundred Year War and lived his life, we follow his successor Korra as she tries to fulfill her role as the Avatar in a new and rapidly changing world.

The Legend of Korra has a messy history, but the short version is that season one was going to be the only one, but then two was commissioned by Nickelodeon and after that an additional two seasons were commissioned so there's not one continuous story here and there are plenty of pacing problems. Despite that, TLoK is a fantastic show with stunning animation, incredible music and a protagonist that I love and some others kinda don't. It's difficult to talk about this show though since a lot of what I would say applies to it's prequel series which I'm not talking about here. So if I don't elaborate or seem vague, it's because I'm saving it.

The Legend of Korra fleshes out the world of benders, showing us a new time period reminiscent of the 1920s but in their world, in a city that's entirely new for them. This brings up new issues and innovations that didn't exist before, and it's exciting to see how the world's developed. Bending has new uses, not just fighting but a lot of recreation and utility, but it's competing with technology that comes close to one-upping what benders can do. Non-benders find themselves discriminated against, there's gang activity, and the politics are different in peacetime decades after a major war. It's really interesting and the way Korra approaches problems is not the most effective way (she probably would have done better in the Hundred Year War, or at least been more comfortable). Though each season is different, Korra constantly changes and grows as a person, by the end she's matured and become more effective in her role as the avatar without actually changing who she is as a person.

The supporting cast is... iffy though, with Tenzin and Lin Beifong being exceptional characters, while Mako and Bolin, half of the new Team Avatar, are kind of duds, the former being too broody and uptight and the latter way too immature and obnoxious (Asami falls in the middle, not a bad character in the least but receiving far too little screen time compared to the other main characters). The villains also vary in quality, with the Red Lotus being some of the best villains on television, to Amon and Kuvira who have high points but get hurt when their motivations are explored and then there's Unalaq, the worst villain in the franchise. The pacing problems hinder the show at times, especially in the second season where it seems like they had to rush the story, trying to tie it in with the first season and having to start getting ready for the next two as well in a short time frame. Despite the problems though, The Legend of Korra is one of my all time favorite shows, the only one I own entirely on Blu-ray, and I'd happily recommend it to anyone. I have also talked about it on this blog before, so by all means look at my previous posts if you'd like to see more of my thoughts on it.

2. Steven Universe

Synopsis: a young boy learn to control magic powers he inherited from his mother to help his friends/guardians protect the Earth.

I thought I would hate this show. The promos on Cartoon Network were awful when it was new. Steven looked like the most annoying kid ever and I couldn't really tell what it was supposed to be about. It took a review of cartoons (the Mysterious Mr. Enter) to highlight one of the episodes and explain why it was good to make me check it out, and I fell in love with it. Steven Universe is possibly the most upbeat and positive show ever, perhaps only outdone by Phineas and Ferb, but it hides a surprisingly dark backstory within it's pastel colors. I won't spoil anything here though, it deserves to be watched fresh and pure. The first half of season one is a bit on the slow side but if you keep with it you'll see that it's a show with so much to offer. It's got a lot of lore to go through that gets told in the background and very slowly, but it makes it for the slow pace by getting us acquainted with the characters. Steven is the focal point and he's not hard to figure out, but as the show goes on the events he goes through impact him, and you see over time he does mature. He's still a kid and is a bit goofy, and he even manages to maintain a childlike innocence and naivety, but he understands the importance of things and the situation he and the other gems are in.

The slow build is important for us to connect with the other gems too; Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. Garnet is the leader, mainly because she keeps a cool head and efficiently deals with problems and over time we see that though originally she was kind of distant and mysterious she loves Steven dearly and respects him as a member of the team. Amethyst is the second youngest of the group and it takes a while before we really find out what makes her tick, but she's always game to try new things and is the most likely to joke around with Steven. Pearl is the most motherly of the three, she treats Steven like her own child and worries the most about him, and as the show goes on we see she's not as well kept together as she presents herself to be.

The show originally was more slice-of-life kind of show where Steven would accompany the gems on a mission to poof a monster or retrieve something, or he would spend time with human characters and try helping them out. As events happen and backstory is revealed though, it becomes more plot oriented with things happening that directly tie into future episodes, and even past episodes become relevant again. There's a deep and sad story that we still don't fully understand even going into the fourth season, but through all of it Steven Universe is ultimately a positive show that's about healing and moving on from trauma and finding the good in other people and in life.

There are a few problems though, one is Ronaldo, a love-him or hate-him character and I fall in the latter camp. He's a conspiracy theorist who doesn't really care about how he affects other people, so he's just kind of a jerk in addition to being a conspiracy theorist so there's not a lot of reason to like him. Another is Lars, a character who often has to learn to be less of a jerk himself, but never seems to remember that. He's obsessed with how others perceive him and desires to be cool, to the point where he wants to be friends with "the cool kids" not because he likes them or anything but because they are "cool". A major problem though, and it has nothing to do with how the show is made, is the airing schedule. There are times where months go by without any new episodes, only for Cartoon Network to air a week of new episodes, and then follow it up for a bit and then no new episodes for several more months. The worst was summer 2016, where May had five new episodes through the month, a promise of a Summer of Steven, and the nothing through most of June and July before late July and early August aired almost all of season three in three or four weeks.

Seriously, Steven Universe is the best show currently running now and it needs to be watched. It tackles issues that most other cartoons wouldn't touch like they were nothing too tough to handle, including homosexual relationships, abusive and toxic relationships, trauma, consent, and other things that I'm just forgetting. I haven't even mentioned the incredible music in the show, that's how good the show is that it took this long for me to say anything about that! It's a wonderful show and I can't wait to see where it goes.

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender

Synopsis: after being freed from an iceberg, a young Air Nomad must learn to master all four elements in order to restore balance to the world and embrace his destiny as the Avatar.

I might have given this away with my third pick but regardless, Avatar: The Last Airbender is the greatest show of all time. I'm struggling to think of what to even say at this point, I think it's self-evident. The animation is amazing, especially since it's nearly a decade old at this point, the music is so great and fitting, the characters are all well written and performed, the world is fascinating and mystical but still feels like it could be real. Bending is absolutely amazing, it's not magic that you just use incantations and stuff happens or some kind of technology/object that you learn to use, it's a physical art that has mystical effects! It's an art you have to master physically, and could actually learn the moves for in real life, but still is fantastic (as in fantasy). We get to see this world in the midst of a century of fighting, the aggressors are a terrifying force of fire and bigotry and the defenders are worn down after so much conflict for so long. It's a world that desperately needs a hero and watching the goofy kid become that hero is one of the greatest adventures I've ever seen.

I'm probably going to spoil things for this series, because although it'd be better to see it unspoiled, it's old enough that you ought to have by now, so fair warning now if you want to watch spoiler-free.

This show comes about as close to perfect as anything can get in my books. I can't think of a single character that I thought was bad, and even the weakest episodes of this series are better than any episode of other cartoons. Aang's development as a character is marvelous. He doesn't lose his core but he grows up, starting off as a goofy kid afraid of his destiny into a mature, kind and gentle person who will do what it takes to bring balance to the world, but in the way he chooses. The other main characters develop well too, especially Prince Zuko who makes the most radical change from an angry, misguided teenager obsessed with reclaiming his honor to a man at peace with himself who realizes he is on the wrong side and strikes out alone to help the one person who can bring balance and in doing so, finds his honor. He is easily the most interesting character on the show, but that's underselling the others, all of whom are a joy to watch as well, Katara is motherly but hides a deep pain and ferocious anger, Sokka is sarcastic and intelligent but feels inferior to everyone else because he's not as physically capable thanks to a lack of bending, and Toph is a blind earthbender who learned to see with her feet and is potentially the most awesome, bad ass character ever created (hyperbole? perhaps). I didn't even mention Iroh, Zuko's wise uncle who has a dark past but is the nicest character in the show, Azula, Zuko's crazy sistes who's a firebending prodigy and scarily intelligent, Suki, Sokka's love interest and surprisingly capable in many situations even after you know how cool she is, and so many others!

I have to mention the finale to this show by the way. It's the best culmination to a show I have ever seen, everything comes together in a two hour experience that brings almost all the plot lines and character development to a conclusion, gives everyone something important to do and features the best work done by the animators, musicians and actors. Zuko's duel with Azula deserves special mention, it's hauntingly beautiful as two siblings who have such a complicated and antagonistic relationship come to blows, and it's just sad that it's come to this, but epic in the way you know it was destined to happen. And of course there's Aang's fight with Fire Lord Ozai, a fight that's been building up since day one and it delivers, the tensions rises almost continually and only when it's finally over can you relax, and realize how much you were into it.

I could ramble on an on about this show, but I'll stop it here. Avatar: The Last Airbender is my favorite cartoon, my favorite show, of all time. It's actually difficult to think of anything else I love as much as this series, maybe the Legend of Zelda games or Jurassic Park movies, I don't even love the Harry Potter books as much as I love Avatar. I can't conceive of any show that could dethrone this one, not even Steven Universe has come close. Not even the creators of this show doing another show in this universe got close! I could watch this show anytime, any episode, and be happy. Obviously, if you haven't seen it already, I urge you to seek it out.



That's my top 10 favorite cartoons list. If I didn't mention a series or you have a specific question I didn't answer, leave a comment asking me about it and I'll either address it directly or do a follow up post or something. Thanks for reading.

-Subtle