[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of popular culture. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com]
In honor of yesterday’s golden anniversary of The Flintstones—the show first aired on Sept. 30, 1960—we’ve compiled a list of television’s essential animated series. While each of these series are worthy contenders for a list of the best of all time, they also have flaws are worth considering.
(Note: This list includes only cartoon series that were original television series that were not based on other media (i.e., comic strips). For that reason, cartoons from the WB canon (e.g, Looney Tunes) and those based on comic books (e.g., Batman, Superfriends) were not considered. We’ll discuss those in future posts.)
Here are our top twenty animated television series:
20. The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (1959-1964)
Why it’s great: Predating the Flintstones by a year, R&BS was the first animated series to try to appeal to both adults and children.
Why it’s not so great: It may be nostalgia fodder, but it’s also completely unwatchable.
19. Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1994-2004)
Why it’s great: Everything said by Brak. Like this.
Why it’s not so great: The human guests who made appearances were often unworthy of the show. (Bobcat Goldthwait? Sheesh.)
18. Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972-1985)
Why it’s great: Based on Bill Cosby’s hilarious stand-up routines about his childhood.
Why it’s not so great: The Junkyard Band was horrible.
17. Pinky and the Brain (1995-1998)
Why it’s great: Best opening dialogue—ever:
Pinky: “Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?”
The Brain: “The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world!”
Why it’s not so great: Included too many dated pop culture parodies.
16. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970)
Why it’s great: Set the standard for the animated comedic-supernatural-crime procedural.
Why it’s not so great: Every episode had the same stupid plot.
15. The Huckleberry Hound Show
Why it’s great: First animated series to win an Emmy.
Why it’s not so great: Introduced Yogi Bear, who would go on to get his own very annoying series.
14. Mighty Mouse
Why it’s great: The catchy catchphrase: “Here I come to save the day!”
Why it’s not so great: It’s basically Superman. As a mouse. A mouse. Ridiculous.
13. Underdog (1964-1973)
Why it’s great: It’s basically Superman. As a dog. A dog. Genius.
Why it’s not so great: Essentially a Mighty Mouse rip-off.
12. South Park (1997-Present)
Why it’s great: Blisteringly sharp satire. . .
Why it’s not so great: . . . that often degenerates into scatology and blasphemy.
11. The Jetsons (1962-1963)
Why it’s great: The Flintstones, set in the future.
Why it’s not so great: It really was just a Flintstones knock-off.
10. Tom and Jerry
Why it’s great: You could root for both of them . . . to hurt each other.
Why it’s not so great: More violent than a Quentin Tarantino movie.
9. The Ren and Stimpy Show (1991-1996)
Why it’s great: Unabashedly subversive, funny, and gross.
Why it’s not so great: Sometimes a bit too gross.
8. Beavis and Butt-head (1993-1997)
Why it’s great: Showed how amusingly stupid American teens could be.
Why it’s not so great: Inspired kids in ways that showed how stupid American teens could be.
7. King of the Hill (1997-2009)
Why it’s great: One of the most sympathetic—and conservative—portrayals of small town life ever on television.
Why it’s not so great: Had all the right ingredients to be great, yet never really gelled into a must-watch series.
6. The Powerpuff Girls (1998-2005)
Why it’s great: Awesome concept (kindergarten girls with superpowers who were created in a lab using sugar, spice and everything nice.), perfectly executed (earned five Emmy nominations).
Why it’s not so great: Some episodes didn’t include Mojo Jojo, the greatest monkey villain in history.
5. SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-Present)
Why it’s great: Engagingly silly.
Why it’s not so great: Silly turns to annoying after viewing more than one episode at a time.
4. Schoolhouse Rock (1972-2001)
Why it’s great: Made learning semi-complicated subjects fun.
Why it’s not so great: Thirty years later, I still can’t get the songs out of my head.
3. The Smurfs (1981-1990)
Why it’s great: Unexplainably addictive.
Why it’s not so great: The ubiquitous use of “smurf” as a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb.
2. The Flintstones (1960-1966)
Why it’s great: I’ll let my colleague Mary Ellen Kelly explain: “With the debut of The Flintstones, Hanna-Barbera broadened the scope and course of TV cartoons for all time by bringing them out of the early evening/Saturday morning kiddie ghetto and into prime time, for an adult audience. They did this, of course, by cleverly adapting the immediately recognizable, highly popular half-hour sitcom format of The Honeymooners into a cartoon set in an imaginary time and place no actor-populated sitcom of the day could hope to match.”
Why it’s not so great: The Great Gazoo
1. The Simpsons
Why it’s great: The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed Gunsmoke as the longest running American primetime entertainment series. Won 7 Primetime Emmy Awards, 27 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine’s December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century’s best television series. One of the best television shows of all time.
Why it’s not so great: Not as consistently funny as it used to be.
Which cartoon series should have made the list?
October 1st, 2010 | 8:57 am
Gummibears – or is it disqualified because it is based on a candy?
October 1st, 2010 | 9:07 am
The Simpsons lost their mojo about five years ago. I rarely even crack a smile, much less laugh at it anymore.
Became to self-consciously “The Simpsons” (if that makes sense) and therefore became dumb.
The sure sign it’s lost its edge? I am no longer mad if I miss an episode.
October 1st, 2010 | 9:12 am
While you certainly ranked ‘The Smurfs’ too high, special thanks for leaving off the consistently overrated and eminently forgettable ‘Futurama’.
I would have also included ‘Start Trek’, the animated series and ‘SuperFriends/Challenge of the SuperFriends’. (“Wonder twin powers — ACTIVATE. Form of a glass of water, shape of an oragutan”)
Currently on Disney Channel, ‘Phineas and Ferb’ is excellent, but it’s run hasn’t been long enough for all-time greatness.
October 1st, 2010 | 9:16 am
[...] Joe … Rocky and Bullwinkle is not unwatchable and “boxtops” as the new international currency standard is pure [...]
October 1st, 2010 | 9:18 am
R&B “unwatchable? Surely you jest.
I quote from the first episode of the show, where Peabody graduates from Harvard, “wagna cum laude.” What about where all the characters in Dudley Do-Right end up in Snidely suits, leading Inspector Fenwick to catch their “counter counter intelligence napping napping”?
I vote for R&B at the top of the list.
October 1st, 2010 | 9:56 am
Ladies, Gentlemen,
The Pink Panther. Including the bits with the Ant and the Aadvark.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:05 am
Smurfs?!!?? You gotta be kidding me. Proof positive that Germans have no sense of humor.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:06 am
And you left out Animaniacs.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:19 am
Shouldn’t there be at least one Japanese or Japanese-influenced cartoon on this list? I’d venture that Robotech alone had more influence on an entire generation of teenaged males than anything here, and at precisely the time when pretty much no other cartoon on TV was worth watching.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:21 am
The Tick!
October 1st, 2010 | 10:22 am
Ducktales, Talespin, and Darkwing Duck.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:23 am
(Where else would we ever have heard such deathless wisdom as, “You can’t fight crime with a macaroni duck!”?)
October 1st, 2010 | 10:26 am
Yeah, Stuart’s right. You left out Animaniacs!?
It was perhaps the only show (animated or not) that could get me to laugh until I cried.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:31 am
The original Jonny Quest.
The original Jonny Quest.
At number 1, I think I would vote for–let’s see–the original Jonny Quest.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:34 am
Which cartoon series should have made the list?
Uh, HELLO, Family Guy is better than at least five of those entries.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:36 am
yes, “animaniacs” ought to be here too. …while Bill Clinton plays the sax…”, Godfather pigeon…
October 1st, 2010 | 10:41 am
Yes, Jonny Quest. The episode where Race’s girlfriend, Jade, trying to find out where he is, pulls a gun on a bartender and says “Maybe this will improve your memory” says it all. Plus cool giant spider robot spy that knocks out guards with its weird suction cup stethoscope.
October 1st, 2010 | 10:48 am
If the list is supposed to only consist of ONLY original television series, Tom & Jerry doesn’t belong on it. Those characters originated in theatrical shorts just like the “Looney Tunes” characters did. It did not start as an original TV series.
October 1st, 2010 | 11:01 am
“The episode where Race’s girlfriend, Jade, trying to find out where he is, pulls a gun on a bartender and says “Maybe this will improve your memory” says it all.”
Dear GKC: My favorite lines, I think, were from “The House of Seven Gargoyles” episode: Jonny says, “In my country, we have a saying: Seeing’s believing.” And Hadji (from India) replies: “We have a saying in my country, too–I’m from Missouri.”
October 1st, 2010 | 11:04 am
I got the original series DVDs to show my kids. For cartoons, they had only seen the contemporary Saturday morning pablum, and “Jonny Quest”–right from the opening credits scene of the attacking pteranodon–blew their socks off.
“Tom and Jerry,” too. But that’s for another thread….
October 1st, 2010 | 11:17 am
1. This should have been titled “20 Essential American Animated Television Series.” I can think of plenty of Japanese series that I would rate higher than many of these.
2. The writing of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show is erratic overall and the animation reeks of cheapness, but the Moose and Squirrel and Dudley Do-Right episodes are so consistently good that I would rate it as not merely the best American animated show but one of the best television shows of any kind ever broadcast.
October 1st, 2010 | 11:49 am
Another vote for Jonny Quest. It was the 3rd Hanna-Barbera primetime show and their first dramatic series. If Scooby Doo can make the list for being the template for lots of knockoffs, so should Jonny Quest, which was way superior to Scooby and all it’s own knockoffs.
It was hi-tech too. Harrier jets, flying jet packs, laser cannons, robotic spies, submersibles and more.
I also think the Jetsons is way overrated. Without the great theme song, would it even be remembered today?
Rocky and Bullwinkle should be higher on the list too. Still one of the greatest cartoon series almost 50 years later.
October 1st, 2010 | 12:18 pm
The Pink Panther may not have made the list because the concept of a Pink Panther (and probably nothing else) came from the Peter Sellers movies.
But it HAD BETTER make on of the future lists!
And I join the chorus of boos for the dissing of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Aesop and Son and most of the Peabodies were pretty bad, but the Fractured Fairy Tales deserve a mention as well. And really, who could forget Captain Wrongway Peachfuzz? Compared to Tom and Fercryinoutloud JERRY?
October 1st, 2010 | 1:15 pm
ATHF
October 1st, 2010 | 1:18 pm
Sealab 2021 — what, no love for Adult Swim?
Liquid Television
October 1st, 2010 | 3:23 pm
You know, I couldn’t help noticing that almost all of the cartoons listed were based on humor instead of action. And the one or two action toons were heavy on the humor too (like Scooby Doo).
You gotta have at least a few more action cartoons in there, even if animated action is more charming to us as kids than adults. It shouldn’t be hard, all you’d have to do is take out the Smurfs and Ren and Stimpy. Let’s face it, R&S was brilliant for the first season or two, and then the original writers/creators left and it took a nosedive.
October 1st, 2010 | 3:33 pm
Although it is relatively new, I would add “Phineas and Ferb” to the list. Excellent songs and clever jokes that appeal to kids and adults.
October 1st, 2010 | 3:41 pm
If it lasts long enough Phineas and Ferb will get on this list. A very witty show done by guys who did Family Guy, I think.
I also think Disney’s Recess was very well done, as well as Kim Possible. Loved watching those with the kids.
October 1st, 2010 | 4:20 pm
I like you Joe but when you go off the rails it’s usually while passing over the Grand Canyon. Rocky and Bullwinkle was light years ahead of it’s time and of all your other choices. Fractured Fairy Tales, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and any episode where Boris says the words “moose and squirrel”.
October 1st, 2010 | 4:23 pm
Ah, I was getting upset that “The Simpsons” wasn’t on this list, until I reached the end. Well done!
October 1st, 2010 | 5:06 pm
Quite frankly, I was disappointed that my favorite cartoon was left off the list: Captain Caveman. Undoubtedly the greatest superhero of all time. And, three perfectly good reasons to back up this claim:
1) He could fly.
2) No matter what object or device that he needed to help solve a problem, save someone or something, or otherwise, he could pull it out from his hair.
3) Three beautiful women as sidekicks.
What more could a superhero ask for?
October 1st, 2010 | 5:24 pm
I liked Dave the Barbarian and Johnny Bravo, but I admit neither would make most people’s top 20 list.
October 1st, 2010 | 5:32 pm
Also, I would move Pinky and the Brain into the top 10, maybe the top 5. My daughter and I had a running gag when she was growing up.
Dad/Brain: Are you thinking what I’m thinking Pinky?
Daughter/Pinky: I think so, Brain, but how are we going to get the bacon flavoring into the pencils?
October 1st, 2010 | 6:47 pm
1. Tennessee Tuxedo and his Tales;
2. The original Jonny Quest;
3. Gumby
October 1st, 2010 | 8:00 pm
“Tom and Jerry” may have been violent but they never came close to matching the carnage of “Herman and Catnip”. That cat was sliced, diced, disemboweled, set on fire and electrocuted six-ways-from-Sunday in every episdoe. You’d think eventually he’d just settle for his bowl of Friskies.
What made it not so great: “…all the mice are feeling gay.” What the…?
October 1st, 2010 | 8:33 pm
Eventually, I’m a kid. Maybe, parents have
different point of view. Well, it’s good to have a kid on this website. Most of these shows kids find amusing (Spongebob, E.T.C)
Gerard (age 8)
October 1st, 2010 | 10:09 pm
Samurai Jack, Exo Squad, and the really actually very funny The Tick!
And Rocky and Bullwinkle definitely has to be #1.
The original Tartakovsky Clone Wars was pretty good, too.
And maybe a shout-out to the completely ridiculous Green Hornet sendup, Hong Kong Phooey.
October 2nd, 2010 | 12:14 am
Jonny Quest . . . absolutely!
I’m showing my age, but Holy Cow! No one has mentioned Popeye?
And what about FELIX THE CAT??? The Professor, Rock Bottom, the Master Cylinder and Poindexter! C’mon!
And I then always relished the little triumvirate of Tom Slick, George of the Jungle, and Super Chicken (“You knew the job was dangerous when you took it Fred.”).
October 2nd, 2010 | 12:55 am
I know this is just click-fodder, but couldn’t you summon someone with the requisite pop culture knowledge? To include 1 Hanna-Barbera show would be controversial, 2 silly, and this list’s choices…awful.
The lists just perpetuate the stereotype that Christians have awful taste in art produced after 1920. Hand the reins to the Christian hipsters!
October 2nd, 2010 | 1:50 am
I disagree with Buzz. Futurama is in general far funnier than The Simpsons.
And yes, there ought to be some Disney shows on there. Darkwing Duck is probably the best, but I really loved the Aladdin series. It’s far the best of the “movie sequel series” Disney has made.
October 2nd, 2010 | 1:25 pm
Dear Steve: Wow, you opened up some memories.
When you feel your life’s in danger
When you’re threatened by a stranger
When you think that you will take a lickin’
Call for Super Chicken!
And of course:
In his Thunderbolt Grease-Slapper,
once he’s on your tail,
He won’t quit, because
He knows there’s no such word as fail
to Tom Slick, Tom Slick!
October 2nd, 2010 | 5:21 pm
Dexter’s Laboratory, if only because of having two geeky kids, the older short and intense, the younger gangly and ditzy:
Dee-Dee: Ooo, Dexter! What’s this button do?
Dexter (in thick Austrian accent): Yooo are so stooopid!
And his mom was hot.
October 2nd, 2010 | 10:11 pm
Dear Craig,
At the risk of inciting an “oh, bother are your kidding?” Super Chicken’s sidekick Fred the lion seems to me now like some allegorical Christ figure, like a satirical version of the C. S. Lewis hero. Fred was the real savior, giving up his power and the credit, suffering the fool that was his “boss” Super Chicken. Super Chicken, meanwhile, is us – all ego and bungling – stumbling toward a resolution, taking credit where none is actually due, and loved (or perhaps just tolerated) by Fred just the same.
That’s how I remember it anyway. Thanks for the lyric. All glory to Fred in the highest!
October 3rd, 2010 | 12:41 am
No Venture Brothers? Dear Lord, scandalous enough to leave it off the top three, but off the list altogether? You’re just begging for a steaming helping of Brock Samson “countercriticism.”
October 3rd, 2010 | 2:50 pm
Here’s a better list, based upon impact to the industry. Titles in alpha order, not order of rank.
8 Man
Aim for the Ace!
Astro Boy
Azumanga Daioh
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad
Brave Reideen
Candy Candy
Captain Tsubasa
Chobits
Cowboy Bebop
Doraemon
Dr. Slump
Dragon Ball
Future Boy Conan
Galaxy Express 999
Gatchaman
Glass Mask
Getter Robo//Getter Robo G
Genshiken
Gurren Lagann
Invincible Super Man Zambot 3
K-On!
Lupin III
Macross
Magical Princess Minky Momo
Maho Tsukai Tai
Maison Ikkoku
Mazinger/Mazinger Z
Marvelous Melmo
Mobile Suit Gundam
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Neon Genesis Evangelion (anime)
Obake no Q-tarō
Pokémon (anime)
Planetes
Patalliro!
Patlabor
Paranoia Agent
Princess Knight
Queen Millennia
The Rose of Versailles
Saikano
Sailor Moon
Serial Experiments Lain
Space Battleship Yamato//Space Battleship Yamato II/Space Battleship Yamato III
Space Pirate Captain Harlock
Space Runaway Ideon
Speed Racer/Maha Go Go Go
Star of the Giants
Tetsujin 28-go / Gigantor
Time Bokan
Tomorrow’s Joe
Urusei Yatsura
Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl
October 3rd, 2010 | 3:28 pm
Um—no. That’s the uber-geek list.
October 4th, 2010 | 12:37 am
Smurfs is based on a Belgian comic book series.
October 4th, 2010 | 11:15 am
[...] ridiculous dissing of Rocky and Bullwinkle last week reminded me of one of those startling experiences of moral disjunction one has from time [...]
October 4th, 2010 | 11:44 am
I offer “Avatar: The Last Airbender” with a three year arc for children no less.
October 4th, 2010 | 11:49 am
I offer “Avatar: The Last Airbender” with a three year arc for children no less. That’s the Nickelodeon series, not either of the two movies with parts of the title.
And is R&B really 50 years old? Where does the time go? “I gotta get another hat.”
October 4th, 2010 | 3:03 pm
It’s a shame that Joe Carter, who had done such wonderful things, has disgraced himself by dismissing R&B, one of the great triumphs of American popular culture.
October 4th, 2010 | 3:17 pm
James Nuechterlein one of the great triumphs of American popular culture
Oh my. The multiples defenses of R&B have caused me to worry about the aesthetic sophistication of the average FT reader (and editors-at-large).
The only rational explanation that I can think of is that the memories of the cartoon have been covered with a nostalgic gloss and that people have forgotten how truly horrible they are to watch. I would recommend that people watch three episodes in a row to see what I mean, but I wouldn’t want to be responsible for a epidemic of suicide attempts that would result from people losing the will to live.
October 4th, 2010 | 5:21 pm
Oh please, Mr. Carter. Most sane people wouldn’t want to watch three consecutive episodes of any of these shows. Relative to the others, Rocky and Bullwinkle still stands up (though uneven in quality, to be sure) as cleverly written and effectively pitched to kids and adults.
October 5th, 2010 | 11:13 am
“The only rational explanation that I can think of is that the memories of the cartoon have been covered with a nostalgic gloss and that people have forgotten how truly horrible they are to watch.”
Nope. In the Netflix age, you don’t get off so easy. Watching three episodes in a row has been a frequent pastime for me in the last few years, as I’ve been slowly sharing the R&B oeuvre with my kids.
I’ll grant you there’s no accounting for taste, Joe, but please, lower the horse a little. Some of us actually like the broad, satirical cornballity of it. You know, coming from a fan of Tom and Jerry, this is all rather hard to take. As I said, there’s no accounting for taste — if you like endless animated graphics of two animals running in circles and bashing each other, fine, but you might consider that there’s something about the off-kilter humor and period flavor of R&B that appeals to people in a rather different way. ;-)
October 5th, 2010 | 4:47 pm
I confess that Mr. Peabody made me who I am today.
October 7th, 2010 | 3:42 pm
RE: Smurfs. Gargamel, the top heel, is dressed as a monk. That knocks it off the list for me, to be replaced by Looney Tunes, which, as far as I know, never dissed anyone’s religion.
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