Benjamin James Lancaster
I love cartoons and I love ranking things, so I compiled a list of the top 6 cartoon shows ever made. If there's one thing I know about the internet (and I'm not sure there is), it's that it loves lists.
Now you're probably thinking, why 6? Why not a top 5 list? The long answer has something to do with the history of animated television being too vast and varied to be incapsulated in just 5 entries, coupled with the fact that a top 6 list is unusual enough to maybe garner a smidge more attention than just another top 5 list in a sea of internet top 5 lists - but the short answer, and the truest one, is that I didn't want to leave off Batman because it's great and should not be forgotten.
Each of these shows are exceptional in all respects, but I have focused on three categories as a criteria for comparison: animation style, voice work, and uniqueness.
Top 6 Best Cartoon Shows Ever Made
6. Batman: The Animated Series (1992 - 1995)
Style
First and foremost, the animation style is stunning and unlike any other show that has come before or since. The aesthetic is an art deco, 1930's, Chicago-like Gotham City, where mobsters shoot tommy guns and wear full suits with matching fedoras. The exaggeratedly blocky chins and square shoulders of the men, and the tiny wastes and heart-shaped hips of the women, are as much a part of Gotham's landscape as the rounded skyscrapers or grotesquely deformed villains.
The show is incredibly dark – not just thematically, but visually. Unlike most cartoons, that start with a white backdrop and colour in the scenes from there, the animation for Batman began with a black backdrop, and light was strategically and sparingly added to create brooding shadows. This ingenious use of colour (or the lack thereof) gives the cartoon a film noir look that suits the mood of Batman perfectly.
Voice
The casting in this show is inspired. Kevin Conroy is a gravelly and strong Batman, and a smooth and silky Bruce Wayne. The villains are all great, suitably menacing or intelligent, as appropriate. And of course, in one of the greatest vocal chameleon acts of all time, an unrecognizable Mark Hamill (yes, that Mark Hamill) is outstanding as the Joker. His gleeful high notes and terrifying low notes are as iconic as anything Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger created using their whole bodies.
Uniqueness
Aside from the animation technique, which was completely new, Batman is unique in how cinematic it is. The framing of the shots, the orchestral music, the complex themes – they all combine to make each episode more like a short film. Despite being a children's cartoon, the psyche of Batman and all its dark caverns is fully explored. He has nightmares, he has guilt, he gets mad, and he second guesses not only his actions, but his very existence. Batman remains to this day a great example of how intelligent storytelling and darker themes do not have to be sacrificed to make a show appealing to kids.
The show has become the quintessential blueprint for Batman characters to anyone who watched it. The origin stories told in the cartoon are in many cases more compelling than those told in the comics or movies. When I think of Mr. Freeze I think of the cartoon Mr. Freeze – skinny, bald, pale, eternally sad – and certainly not of Arnold Schwarzenegger!
5. Adventure Time (2010 - Present)
Style
The most striking thing about the animation in this show is how bright it is. Every episode is like a rainbow on acid. The facial expressions of the characters can be either incredibly simplistic, or finely detailed as necessary. Only Adventure Time could find its protagonists firing a huge beam of multi-coloured ice cream from the mouth of a giant plant at evil, adorably-dressed piglets wielding magic faery wands that sprinkle dancing dust upon a village of terrified mushroom people – and justify this absurdity so soundly in the plot that the audience doesn't question it for a second.
Voice
Finn (the human, voiced by Jeremy Shada) is perfectly young, enthusiastic and naïve, and Jake (the dog, played by John DiMaggio, perhaps better known as Bender from Futurama - a close runner-up for this list) is a rough-sounding party animal-type, but with more warmth and love in his voice than the robot character he’s famous for. The rest of the supporting cast also delivers pitch-perfect, character-appropriate, whacky performances.
Uniqueness
This is one of the most unique shows ever made. It has an incredible mix of surreal, stoner-like madness, and emotionally deep and logical characters and plots. The post-nuclear fall out world of the show is impressively consistent in its bizarreness.
At the heart of it all is a friendship between a human and a dog that is sweeter and more pure than most relationships you will find on television. There is a profound joy and naivety to this cartoon that is refreshing. The characters gleefully break out into song and dance all the time. They genuinely love each other and want to do what is right. They are true adventurers. Every episode finds them embarking on some quirky quest together, and many begin right in the middle of an insane adventure already in progress. There is often a lesson to be learned along the way about being a good friend and an honourable person, but these lessons are never cheesy as the action carrying them is so colourfully insane you don’t even notice your heart being warmed.
Also, it’s funny. Like really really funny. That goes a long way.
4. Samurai Jack (2001 - 2004)
Style
Samurai Jack is the most beautiful television cartoon I have ever seen. The animation style is akin to that of Powerpuff Girls (and has much of the same talent behind it) but without the thick, black outlines that are a staple of that show. Removing the outline lends the animation a more realistic and picturesque quality than Powerpuff Girls. The character design is wonderfully outlandish, and the landscapes rendered in this show are marvellous – sometimes colourful and lush, sometimes ominously stark and dead. The futuristic setting means the show can feature both recognizably earthly terrains and fantastical backdrops, both of which are always visually striking and creative.
Voice
Although Jack – voiced by Phil LaMarr, another Futurama cast member (Hermes) – is primarily silent, when he does speak it is with the calm, deep voice of an ancient zen warrior. The silence of the title character adds to the slow, thoughtful mood of the show. Aku (voiced by the late and great Mako Iwamatsu) is also fantastic, equal parts over-the-top humour and sinister, demon-like gravel.
Uniqueness
Samurai Jack is the story of a noble Samurai warrior on a quest to defeat an evil demon named Aku. Jack is from the ancient past, but in an epic battle against Aku during the first episode, the demon casts him into the distant future where aliens and space travel are commonplace, and Aku has taken over the planet earth. The plot alone is very unique.
One of my favourite things about this show is how quiet it is. Several episodes have little to no dialogue, and the story is told primarily through the visuals. There are many lengthy sequences of Jack walking through richly-coloured terrain, with only the sound of the birds in the trees and his sandals hitting the ground. This atmospheric focus is wonderfully singular to Samurai Jack.
The action in the show is some of the best cartoon action around. The fights are artful, epic, and highly stylized. Most of the enemies are robots, so Jack can skillfully slice these beasts in half, with black oil spewing out of their severed bodies like blood, without it looking too violent for children. Like the two previous shows on this list, Samurai Jack deftly walks the line between child and adult entertainment without sacrificing its quality.
2. South Park (1997 - Present)
Style
The animation of South Park is certainly unique, although far less beautiful than Samurai Jack or Batman. Originally the show was not drawn, but instead was made with construction paper cut-outs. The animation style was essentially stop-motion and the characters, not being fully articulated models, merely bobbed up and down like penguins with their legs tied together to convey walking. The show has maintained this flat, paper cut-out aesthetic over the years despite the fact it's animated entirely with computers now. This makes it distinctive when compared to all the other ‘adult’ cartoon shows on television.
Voice
The voice work is also unique, in that it is actually quite grating to listen to. Most characters, adults and children both, are performed by the creators, using the computer to affect the pitch and tone of their voices. This makes many of the voices sound crude, high-pitched, silly, computery, and, frankly, kind of annoying. But their inflections and dialogue are hilarious and they know the exact kind of archetypal voice that best fits their characters; each performance is geared towards getting the most laughs possible.
Uniqueness
South Park is the love child of two men: Trey Parker and Matt Stone. They produce, write, direct, and even voice every episode. They have complete creative control over their show. Due to the advances in computer technology and the simplified nature of the animation, they are able to create each episode, from conception to completion, in less than one week (see the documentary Six Days to Air). This is a ridiculously quick turnaround time for a major television program, and it means the show is able to stay incredibly current. For example they aired an episode about the newly elected President the day after the election.
To me, the biggest reason South Park is so amazing is how ballsy it is. It is insanely ballsy. It looks crude; the voices are annoying; it is horrifically graphic, both sexually and violently; it mercilessly and pointedly tears to shreds any and all powerful celebrities; it even ridicules all religions and belief systems. But it excels despite all this (and in part because of it) because it is smart, thoughtful, relevant, and super duper funny.
It also takes risks in how it breaks its own conventions. After over fifteen years of having one of their characters die a gruesome death in nearly every episode in what appeared to be a simple running gag, they suddenly gave that character an awareness of his own situation, and he confesses to the audience that he remembers every single death he has ever been put through, and that he is essentially living in a Groundhog Day-esque nightmare. They've also put out entire episodes in a completely different style from their regular show, both visually and thematically. There is an episode that takes place within the game World of Warcraft, and one that is done in Japanime style. There is even an episode where the town and its residents start to morph into Simpsons characters.
Which leads us to number one...
1. The Simpsons (1989 - Present)
An obvious choice for number one, perhaps (especially for anyone who knows me), but there is a reason The Simpsons has endured for over 25 years: it is the funniest, smartest (S-M-R-T-S-T!), and most innovative cartoon show ever made. Or was, in its hey-day. The five-year span between seasons three and eight of The Simpsons is the most hilarious and brilliant thing humankind has ever produced. You can quote me on that.
Style
The animation style has evolved drastically over the nearly three decades the show has been on the air. It began with loosely drawn environments with very little background detail and no straight lines. The characters were more rubbery, and their elastic facial expressions and movements were closer to Looney Tunes than real life. As technology advanced, along with the show's popularity, the animation became tighter and the lines straighter. The physicality of the characters became less cartoony and more life-like. Now, the yellow-skinned, four-fingered, over-bite-ridden character drawing style has become iconic.
Voice
The voice acting in The Simpsons is the best of any cartoon show, ever. Instead of hiring zany comedians to do silly, whacky-sounding voices, they hired real, talented actors (some of whom happen to be comedians too) who helped the writers flesh out real characters instead of mere caricatures. The emotional depth they bring to the residents of Springfield is a huge reason the characters are so simultaneously relatable, tragic, and hilarious. The range of their talent is impressive as well. Nancy Cartwright not only voices Bart, but most of the children on the show as well. And between just Dan Castellaneta, Harry Shearer, and Hank Azaria, they make up about 85% of the population of Springfield.
Uniqueness
It may be hard to believe now, with so many similar shows that have come since, but The Simpsons was a pioneer for television cartoons and for sitcoms in general. The social satire, the fully realized characters, the rapid-fire jokes, the small town foibles, the modern family dynamics – The Simpsons was the first cartoon to incorporate all these elements and still be immensely funny. Visual gags that now seem tired were mind-blowingly funny when The Simpsons first created them. They respected their audience and knew how to manipulate our expectations for comedic effect. It is entirely thanks to The Simpsons that we have shows like Family Guy, King of the Hill, Bob's Burgers, and a host of others.
There is no doubt the quality has dipped over the years. Plots have been repeated, old characters have been carted out and irrationally reinvented, and flash-in-the-pan guest stars have been used to get ratings. The humour is now more derived from shock, randomness, cruelty, and pop-culture references and less from intelligence, insight, the soul of the characters, and cultural commentary. Ironically, these negative changes are a result of The Simpsons having to compete with the comedic style of other shows that they themselves spawned, like Family Guy.
Because of this dip in quality, I struggled as to where to rank this show – but I chose to judge it by its best moments and not its worst. And The Simpsons at its best cannot be touched.
3. Rick and Morty (2013 - Present)
Style
While the look of the earth-bound characters and settings are not particularly inventive (the Smith / Sanchez family and their neighbourhood isn't far off from that of the Simpsons or the Griffins, really), it's the extraterrestrial beings and otherworldly backdrops that showcase Rick and Morty's brilliant creative design. The ingenious concept behind Rick and Morty allows the show to continously travel to fantastical locations like the inside of a homeless man's body, a dimension made of asses and shit, and an entire mico-verse contained inside of a car battery, as well as introduce imaginative characters like Mr. Meeseeks, Birdperson, and wise-cracking, time-travelling, fourth-dimensional testical beings.
Voice
As with all the programs on this list, the voice work in Rick and Morty is a big part of what makes the show successfull. This is thanks in most part to the show's co-creator Justin Roiland. He voices the two titular characters, who are about as different in temperament as you can get: Morty is an unsure adolescent who questions and panicks his way through his grandfather's adventures, while Rick is brash and confident and constantly on the verge of vomiting. These performances are impressive not just due to the difference in tone, but also for all the stuttering, burping, and fragmented sentences that come out of their mouths, giving the charaters a more realistic feel and Roiland's performance an improvisational quality that is very fun to watch. Some moments (like when the characters tune in to watch some interdimensional cable) even delve into full-on improvising. Also, shout out to Chris Parnell whose smooth, deadpan voice is a perfect match for Jerry's dopey and frustrated everyman.
Uniqueness
In a genre that was starting to feel stagnant and repetitive (cartoons sitcoms portrying not animals or ninjas or comic book heros, but "realistic" modern families) Rick and Morty is the most original show to come out in recent memory. Yes, it is about the dynamics of a middle class, suburban family, but the show's concept allows it to be so much more. It explores scientific and philosophical ideas which are profound, possible, problematic and positively fascinating. Multiverse theory, religious dogma, notions of identity and morality - these are not just background themes, but are at the forefront of the show's discourse.
One of the greatest achievements of this show is the creation of Rick Sanchez. He is an amazing, compelling, and horrifying character. Nihilistic, hedonistic, and brazenly selfish, he still manages to be sympathetic and heroic. Somehow. His nihilism rings true given that he lives his life largely in other dimensions and on other planets, dealing with problems that make the puny worries of the Smith family laughably insignificant by comparison. He thinks he is smarter than everyone else because he is smarter than everyone else. And despite his string of outrageous and morally dubious choices, he still has a conscience and the capacity for love, as shown in his romantic relationship with a hive-minded omni-being, and in the season two finale when he gives up his freedom to save his family.
Rick and Morty is one of the smartest shows on television, but despite the intelligent way it explores its complex themes, it remains painfully funny and poignant. It is not just a show for science nerds and philosphy majors, but taps into larger, universal questions about the human condition and mortality. Funny, brilliant, creative, unique, touching, absurd, and relevant, I hope Rick and Morty will continue to have a long and celebrated life in this universe.