The 15 Best Animated TV Shows, Ranked
Updated
Born with Autism (formerly classified as Asperger syndrome), Tyler B. Searle has been obsessed with storytelling since he was old enough to speak. He gravitated towards fairy tales, mythology, the fantasy genre, and animated movies and shows aimed at family audiences. When not writing, Tyler enjoys watching more cartoons and reading fantasy books in his home in Ontario, Canada.
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The art of animation is almost as old as cinema and has evolved into a diverse and creative landscape. Using an artist's imagination, creative worlds and imaginative characters can come to life in exaggerated and stylistic ways, resulting in visuals that can never be recreated in live action. This is especially seen in the world of television: though their budgets are limited compared to animated films, the longer run time of television shows allows them to get more creative to keep their premises fresh over multiple episodes.
The best animated shows are the ones that merge their creative ideas with strong writing and characters to create something truly timeless. Regardless of what decade they came from, new audiences continue to gravitate towards them and take delight in watching them. Some of them have even been able to influence future shows and change popular culture.
15 'Over the Garden Wall' (2014)
After catching a frog (Jack Jones), half-brothers Wirt (Elijah Wood) and Greg (Collin Dean) find themselves lost in a forbidding forest called the Unknown. They meet a talking bluebird named Beatrice (Melanie Lynskey), who offers to take them to a woman named Adelaide (John Cleese) who can help them. However, they are warned by a mysterious woodsman (Christopher Lloyd) to beware of the Beast (Samuel Ramey), a mysterious figure who will try to break their spirits so they become two more lost souls in his forest.
Over the Garden Wall was Cartoon Network's first miniseries, and it is amazing how much detail is packed into its ten eleven-minute episodes. The Unknown is a fascinating and terrifying location to explore, full of clever nods towards classic mythology, folk tales, and plenty of inspirations from rubber hose cartoons from the early 20th century. The characters are all charming and play beautifully off each other, such as Wirt's timid nature clashing with Greg's curiosity.
14 'Gravity Falls' (2012–2016)
Twins Dipper (Jason Ritter) and Mabel Pines (Kristen Schaal) are sent to the town of Gravity Falls to spend the summer with their great-uncle, Stan (Alex Hirsch). Upon arriving, Dipper notices that strange, supernatural activity surrounds the community, ranging from ghosts and gnomes to bottomless holes and time travel. Yet the greatest mystery involves a series of journals written by a mystery writer that detail a greater conspiracy linked to the Pines family.
Gravity Falls captivated audiences with its well-crafted mystery and wonderful writing. Each episode is full of subtle clues that leave audiences wondering, and details set up in one episode pay off later down the line in creative ways. The characters all go through strong emotional journeys, especially Grunkle Stan, whose backstory ranks among one of the most emotional episodes of any animated show.
13 'Adventure Time' (2010–2018)
The land of Ooo is a strange, magical place divided into various kingdoms devoted to a single theme, such as ice, candy, fire, and slime. Many evils threaten the inhabitants, but fortunately, Finn the Human (Jeremy Shada) and his best friend/adopted brother, Jake the Dog (John DiMaggio), are ready to heed the call to adventure. In between his heroics, however, Finn works to maintain a healthy relationship with his friends, such as Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch), BMO (Niki Yang), and Marceline the Vampire Queen (Olivia Olson), which helps him grow into a more capable hero.
Adventure Time is aptly described as a show that grew with its audience, with the early seasons focusing on one-off adventures and surreal humor, only to expand into more existential concepts as the characters grow and mature. This has continued even after the show ended, with spin-offs like Distant Lands and Fiona and Cake. The show's cast is huge and diverse in its many personalities, and nearly all of them receive personal arcs, ensuring none end the show as they were introduced.
12 'Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!' (1969–1970/1978)
Mystery Incorporated is a team of teenage detectives consisting of Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Velma Dinkley (Nicole Jaffe and Pat Stevens), Daphne Blake (Stefanianna Christopherson and Heather North), Norville "Shaggy" Rogers (Casey Kasem), and their talking Great Dane, Scoobert "Scooby" Doo (Don Messick). They travel around in their colorful van, the Mystery Machine, and investigate all sorts of cases involving supernatural spooks and mysterious figures. They always end up being someone in an elaborate costume, but until the mask comes off, the investigation is full of chases, traps, and motivation via Scooby Snacks.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! kicked off one of the longest-running and most beloved franchises in all animation. The original series is still worth a watch thanks to its simple but ingenious formula and likable characters, especially Shaggy and Scooby, who would become the protagonists of their own spin-off shows. It's also cool to see how creative the designers could get with the various monsters the gang faced, not to mention the mysteries are pretty well crafted for a kid's show.
11 'SpongeBob SquarePants' (1999–Present)
In the underwater town of Bikini Bottom lives SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny), a sea sponge who lives in a pineapple. His day-to-day life involves working as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, trying to get his boating license, and catching jellyfish with his best friend, Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke). Some of his other friends include his cynical and artistic co-worker, Squidward (Roger Bumpass), his crustaceous cheapskate boss, Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), and a scientist squirrel from Texas named Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence).
SpongeBob SquarePants is the longest-running Nickelodeon show and remains one of its strongest. SpongeBob SquarePants' early seasons in particular are beloved by children and adults for its unique style of comedy, which does everything from surreal visuals to clever wordplay, and simple but creative plots that practically write their jokes. Then there are the characters: each of them is strongly characterized and distinct, allowing for varied plotlines that explore their personalities and hilarious interactions.
10 'Daria' (1997–2002)
Daria Morgendorffer (Tracy Grandstaff) is an intelligent but slightly misanthropic teenager from Lawndale, Texas. Due to her sharp wit and controversial stance on life, she often finds herself an outcast with little understanding of day-to-day life. Fortunately, she has a best friend in Jane Lane (Wendy Hoopes), an equally intelligent artist who helps balance Daria's negative outlook.
Beginning life as a side character in Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria found immense success in her show thanks to quality writing and social commentary. The show has remained timeless thanks to its unapologetic look at 1990s discontent, which has helped it maintain a following with new generations who feel the same way about their decades. Finally, the show was full of strong moral lessons for all ages to learn from, such as dealing with trauma, expressing emotions, and maintaining integrity.
9 'Gargoyles' (1994–1997)
In 994 AD, a clan of gargoyles—creatures who turn to stone during the day—is massacred by Viking raiders, and the survivors are turned to stone by a magic spell that can only be broken "when the castle rises above the clouds." One thousand years later, billionaire David Xanatos (Jonathan Frakes) decides to test the legend by moving their castle to the top of his New York City tower. Though unfamiliar with this new world, the gargoyles pledge to protect Manhattan from threats mundane and magical, and find an ally in Detective Elisa Maza (Salli Richardson).
Gargoyles was Disney's attempt at an action series, and it shocked audiences thanks to the quality of its writing. The series bridged the action with fascinating worldbuilding that included mythological creatures from cultures all around the world, and heaps of melodrama that often saw the characters forced to make difficult choices. Speaking of the characters, nearly every one of them goes on a compelling character arc, and a fair few of them are brought to life by the talented cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Iconic Fandom Should You Join? Harry Potter · Lord of the Rings · Star Wars · Star Trek
Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you put on when you need cheering up, how deep you go into the things you love, what you argue about, what you keep on your shelf. Answer them and we will tell you where you belong. Four of the biggest fandoms on earth are taking new members, and they could not be more different from one another.
⚡Harry Potter(Wizarding World)
💍Lord of the Rings(Middle-earth)
⚔️Star Wars(A Galaxy Far Away)
🖖Star Trek(The Final Frontier)
01
What do you put on when you need cheering up? Nobody is brave about this one.
02
How deep do you go into something you love? There is no shallow end here, only different deep ends.
03
What do you and your friends actually argue about? Every fandom has one argument it has been having for years.
04
How do you feel about a room full of strangers? Every one of these comes with a very big room.
05
Where would you rather spend a week? Pick on instinct rather than on budget.
06
What do you believe about people, mostly? All four of these stories have an answer, and they disagree.
07
What is actually on your shelf? Look over at it before you answer.
08
What do you actually want from a story? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your fandom.
Membership Confirmed Your Fandom Is…
Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you would be having within a week.
Harry Potter
You belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting you.
- You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within about five minutes and has never stopped.
- This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every single person in your life would be.
- The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you do with things you love.
- The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the arguments are about to start all over again.
Lord of the Rings
You belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture.
- You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it.
- This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly alarming, and it has good reasons for that.
- Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all, which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes.
- Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make that argument.
Star Wars
You belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity.
- You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that.
- Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly 1980 with no sign of resolution.
- The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score and the look of a used and dented galaxy.
- You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good time.
Star Trek
You belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done.
- You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major franchise still willing to say the future might be better.
- The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else.
- Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar.
- You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you will always find somebody willing to have it.
8 'South Park' (1997–Present)
Four boys named Stan (Trey Parker), Kyle (Matt Stone), Eric (Trey Parker), and Kenny (Matt Stone) live in the town of South Park in the Northwest United States. For the most part, they try to go about their normal lives, but due to the town's eccentric residents and dysfunctional nature, that is easier said than done. Oftentimes, the boys find themselves in the middle of crazy events, including cults, monsters, and exaggerated current events.
South Park remains one of the most topical comedy series of all time thanks to its quick turnaround and willingness to make fun of everything and everyone. When not making jokes, the show also tackles heavy subjects, such as religion, sex, abortion, and censorship. This has led to many episodes of the show being labeled as controversial, which has only cemented its place in the public mind.
7 'The Flintstones' (1960–1966)
The first animated series to air in prime time, The Flintstones takes place in the Stone Age town of Bedrock. It follows Fred Flintstone (Alan Reed), a hard-working family man who works at the quarry with his friend and neighbor, Barney Rubble (Mel Blanc). In their off time, the two have a habit of getting into all sorts of trouble, much to the frustration of their wives, Wilma (Jean Vander Pyl) and Betty (Bea Benaderet and Gerry Johnson).
The Flintstones has captivated audiences for decades thanks to its hilarious use of anachronisms. Despite being set in prehistory, everyone acts and lives like a 1960s community, using sarcastic dinosaurs instead of modern technology. Due to its limited animation, a lot of time and care was put into the writing, crafting plots and characters that feel relatable to the average watcher, which has helped the show's longevity.
6 'The Boondocks' (2005–2014)
Former Civil Rights activist Robert Freeman (John Witherspoon) decides to move out of Chicago with his grandkids, Huey and Riley (both Regina King), to the predominantly white neighborhood of Woodcrest. They quickly make acquaintances with the neighboring Dubois family and Uncle Ruckus (Gary Anthony Williams), the neighborhood's jack-of-all-trades worker who is also a white supremacist (despite being black). Any dream of the Freemans living a quiet, happy life is shattered quickly, because each day sees them getting caught in the middle of hot-topic race relations and political conflicts.
Though The Boondocks is set in the 2000s, its unapologetic look at politics remains surprisingly timeless. The show was never afraid to tackle uncomfortable social issues, presenting them with the right mix of hard-hitting commentary that attacks all sides and hilarious comedy. On a technical level, its anime-inspired animation gives it a very distinct style, and the voice acting is phenomenal.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.