Whether you call it a ‘cartoon’ or an ‘animated series’, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of my life watching all kinds. Mostly in my childhood, though, which made compiling a list of my all time favourites trickier than I thought.
I came-of-age in a time when you didn’t decide what was on TV - that was up to the magic box itself. You got what you were given and it wasn't always what you wanted. This certainly isn’t the case anymore, so my generation might have been the last that simply watched things because they were ‘on’. Because of this, there are a dozen or so shows I don’t particularly care for yet have seen many episodes of. Especially cartoons. So I had to draw a distinct line between those I’m most familiar with and those I enjoyed most. In all honesty, I highlight plenty of shows here that I’ve only actually seen a handful of episodes of - but enjoyed those far more than, say, some entire series I consumed merely because, back in the day, nothing else was on.
The other wall I hit was a hard truth: because I was so young when I watched a lot of these, my memories are more often of the show in general than individual episodes. Plenty of ‘toons made the cut that I couldn’t begin to tell you anything about beyond their basic premise. In fact, it seems the show's characters in these instances made more of an impression on me than the plot of any given episode. Proof once again that personality goes furthest. Time also moved differently as a kid - at the time, it may have seemed as though I watched a particular cartoon every day after school for a whole year, when in reality I did for only a week or so. So it’s no wonder I can’t remember a single storyline, having only seen each episode once over twenty years ago.
Another snag - as soon as we start talking about our favourite long running TV shows, we’re compelled to point out which season(s) we prefer. No more so than when discussing an animated series, because they have the unique ability to run forever. Mostly because cartoon characters don’t age, people. They just don’t. And any voice can be replaced/recreated. Just ask Casey Kasem and Matthew Lillard. Poor saps. So, when it comes to titles on this list with more seasons than one cares to count, just know that I’m probably most fond of the earliest ones, as, let’s be honest, that’s usually where the highest quality hides.
Lastly, I must confess that I’ve cheated a bit; generalized by lumping together entire franchises into one pick, mostly when it comes to shows that have never-ending incarnations and/or were entirely made up of previously released theatrical shorts. While on the other hand have been, at times, very specific about just which series in a franchise I’m referring to and most fond of. This might enrage purists, to whom I apologize.
Basically, all of this means that I’ve got too little to say about some choices and too much to say about others. I figure it’s all or nothing. After little deliberation, I’ve decided to let this list speak for itself and leave any and all commentary up to you.
Here are my fifty favourite animated television shows.
