Need Cartoons to watch

[Scowling Dragon]

I need some good E for everyone cartoons to watch. I want some clever kid friendly shows to watch....for my uh........sister.....yeaaaah......

OK fine! What if I prefer to watch kids cartoons then most adult stuff! Its a personal preference!

A sense of Scale like KND

Being really clever like Batman TBATB

Really funny like Adventure time

These are all qualities Im looking for. Any good shows? Old or new?

[GoblinArchmage]

My absolute favorite show as a child was "Dexter's Laboratory." Keep in mind, though, that I am only referring to the original run of the series from the 90s, which I think was only two seasons. Some years after it ended, Cartoon Network brought it back, but it had different animators, voice actors, and probably different writers as well. It wasn't nearly as good.

[Kitten Champion]

Power Puff Girls, Teen Titans, Batman the Animated Series, and Fairly Odd Parents are all I can think of.

[Hands_Of_Blue]

Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated. It is awesome.

Sadly, Cartoon Network has the rest of season two's episodes stuck in hiatus limbo for apparently no reason whatsoever.

[Ravens_cry]

I second almost all of those.
Earthworm Jim is pretty funny, in a delightfully ridiculous kind of way. Yes, it's a tie in to a 90's video game, yes, your only hope to watch it is bad VHS rips, but it's still a lot of fun.
The Adventure's of Sam and Max: Freelance Police kept the wackiness of the original quite successfully I think.
Along with Batman: The Animated Series Justice League, Justice League, and Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series, basically most of the Timm-verse I can personally recommend. The only parts I can't are those I have not seen.

[Jerthanis]

I'm an unreasonably big fan of Ben 10, but I think I might recognize you as having posted in a previous thread about Ben 10, so I might not be recommending something you haven't seen.

If you're into cartoons, you almost certainly have seen Gargoyles, but if you haven't, it's more than worth it.

A series I remember loving to death and back when I was a kid, which I saw again recently and found only okay is Pirates of Dark Waters.

I personally really liked X-Men Evolution. While it was pretty weird to put the characters in a public highschool and then make a big deal over keeping the existence of mutants a big secret, and the power struggles of the two factions wound up being pretty meaningless... and the show ends on a pretty stupid note... still I liked it for having some actually really entertaining portrayals of the characters and having really interesting plots. I liked the 90s X-men cartoon a lot (and its sister show, Spider-Man TAS), but many of its episodes were interesting setups followed by a million hours of fighting and not a lot of character oriented moments. Evolution I felt balanced the characters, plots and action really well overall.

Speaking of X-Men and Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! Unfortunately its last episodes pulled some huge plot developments and left most of them unresolved for the next season... and then Disney bought Marvel and the show had to be cancelled as a result (since it was airing on a non-Disney channel or something)

In case it isn't obvious, these tend towards the Action-Adventure more than the comedy, so I'm not sure if they're what you're looking for... still, they're my recommendations.

[BlasTech]

Kim Possible? It's definitely got a style of self-referential humour in it, while still maintaining adventure/action and a sense of scale too.

[Geostationary]

Wakfu (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/Wakfu?from=Main.Wakfu) is always a good one to check out; it's a French series tied into a mmo, but it has a good mix of humor, action, and wonderful storytelling; also, the first season's villain is best described as a "clockwork time ninja". Look here (http://brotherhoodoftofu.tumblr.com/) to find episodes.

Samurai Jack is also fun and stylish, with lots of variety in its episodes.

[Scowling Dragon]

Thanks guys. I know, and have watched, and have loved most of these, but thanks for the few extra anyway.

[Nameless]

Here's some of the ones I watch:

Gravity Falls
Tron: Uprising (most under-rated modern cartoon on the face of the planet)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Green Lantern: The animated Series
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Adventure Time
Bravest Warriors
Regular show
The Amazing world of Gumball
Powerpuff Girls
Samurai Jack
Invader Zim
Fosters home for Imaginary Friends
Chowder
Dexter's Laboratory
Ed, Edd & Eddy
Xiaolin Showdown
Jackie Chan Adventures
Courage the Cowardly Dog

There's more but... I can't think of them at the moment.

[LaZodiac]

Most of what I'd suggest was already said! I'll say some from my past, and some newer shows!

Beast Wars (Beasties in edited Canadian rereleases). It's the single best Transformers cartoon. That is, untill...

Transformers Animated! Imagine a combination of Gurren Lagann, Ghost in the Shell, and Transformers. It's this.

Reboot, an amazing show and the first show ever (aside from Beast Wars, who also made Reboot) to use computer generated graphics as opposed to drawn art! Really fantastic.

Jimmy Twoshoes. An upbeat show about a kid who accidently gets sent to hell after getting run over by a car. His goodness corrupts hell and turns it whacky. None of this plot is ever actually said, only implied.

[Grinner]

I will second these:


Invader Zim
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
Ed, Edd & Eddy
Jackie Chan Adventures
Courage the Cowardly Dog


And add this:

Transformers: Armada

[erikun]

I might as well second My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It is surprisingly good, for what you'd expect, and a lot better than most cartoons aimed at older audiences (although that isn't much of a high bar).

I also want to recommend Totally Spies! It's a silly James Bond-parody along with the highschool girl-parody, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

If you are fine with anime, then I'll recommend Heartcatch Precure as well. It is definitely the most action-y of the Precure series, with likable characters and tends to go above the silly magical girl plots you typically see.

You've probably seen Animaniacs by now, but if not, you really should.

[Aotrs Commander]

If you can locate them, W.i.t.c.h and Centurions are among my favourites.

W.i.t.c.h is a bit in the MLP:FiM vein; it's a nominally "girl's" show (based on a comic series I think) in which five girls get super-powers. However, what it is extremely good at - especially in the second season - is good characterisation, a really back-and-forth plot with plenty of twists and both sides actually fighting really smart. I highly recommend it.

Centurions is completely the opposite end of the spectrum. It's an Eighties cartoon, and one I would best describe as a real action-movie or a cartoon. (Google the intro on youtube, that'll give you a good idea of where it's at!) There's no over-arching plot (and the series finale was the origin story!) However, while it might not be as deep in characterisation as some, it might be loud and sometimes cheesey - what it isn't is dumb. It has some clever writing; there is quite a lot of thought behind it (like when the air ace needs to catch something really fast, they give him the orbit-capable weapon system, because obviously, that is capable of going fastest to achive exit velocity. It's little touches like that that really make it.)

And there is an undercurrent of seriousness behind it as well; no-one is immune to getting hurt, even occasionally by Random Robot Drones; it shows that sometimes, even a Doom Drone Strafer gets lucky. (Not even the Animal Sidekicks (sic) - which by the by are probably the best I've ever seen of that; they actually fit, they aren't cute comic relief (they don't talk) and they appear sparingly nad when it makes sense).

Doc Terror is a genuinely nasty threat. He's no Skeletor or Miles Mayhem or even Megatron. His plan is to make everyone in the world into cyborgs (oh and by the way, unlike say, Sonic, once you get cyborged, it's permenant) and he's quite happy to kill off most of the population of the planet in the process. His schemes, therefore, are correspondingly lethal, and he achives a level of credible global threat you don't see that often.

It's one of my favourite cartoons period, and unlike most of the eighties/ninities cartoons I've got on DVD and re-watched, Centurions was actually better than I remembered it.

[thompur]

I might as well second My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It is surprisingly good, for what you'd expect, and a lot better than most cartoons aimed at older audiences (although that isn't much of a high bar).

I also want to recommend Totally Spies! It's a silly James Bond-parody along with the highschool girl-parody, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

If you are fine with anime, then I'll recommend Heartcatch Precure as well. It is definitely the most action-y of the Precure series, with likable characters and tends to go above the silly magical girl plots you typically see.

You've probably seen Animaniacs by now, but if not, you really should.

Yes! Also, the classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts. They are the greatest animated shorts ever created!

[Kitten Champion]

Speaking of X-Men and Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! Unfortunately its last episodes pulled some huge plot developments and left most of them unresolved for the next season... and then Disney bought Marvel and the show had to be cancelled as a result (since it was airing on a non-Disney channel or something)

I was curious since I missed this show. Its animation takes getting used to, but it's exceptionally well written. The Spectacular Peter takes a nice balance between nice kid with problems, inexperienced heroic figure, scientist, and snappy joker. Likewise his friends and acquaintances don't feel like caricatures. The villains are occasionally sympathetic figures, and are interesting generally. The voice acting is superb, very well suited to the characters and diverse.

It's far better than the Disney version, which Flanderizes the characters extensively, pushes the moral a bit too heavily, and has way too much ADHD ingrained its pacing and editing.

I can see why you'd regret its passing.

[Soras Teva Gee]

W.i.t.c.h is a bit in the MLP:FiM vein; it's a nominally "girl's" show (based on a comic series I think) in which five girls get super-powers. However, what it is extremely good at - especially in the second season - is good characterisation, a really back-and-forth plot with plenty of twists and both sides actually fighting really smart. I highly recommend it.

Second this so very hard.

I also of course recommend MLP:FiM as a great show.

[Ravens_cry]

Yes! Also, the classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts. They are the greatest animated shorts ever created!
Duck Dodgers (The Series, though it hardly needs to be said the shorts with Daffy as Duck Dodgers are also worth watching) was quite good. Oh, and Tiny Toons. Seriously, if you are going to watch Animaniacs, watch Tiny Toons Adventures.

[Giggling Ghast]

I think Jimmy Two-Shoes and Johnny Test are OK. And still on the air, unlike some of these suggestions.

You should check out at least one episode of Rocket Monkeys for the theme song. "Give them a mission and they'll do their best/But their best is relative, don't you forget!"

[LaZodiac]

Totally Spies!

I love you forever for reminding me of that amazing show. It's VERY self aware, especialy in regards to the fandom it gained.

(It had an episode where the fan favorite character was both tied up and turned into a furry. They know their audience HARD).


W.i.t.c.h.

If I recall, W.I.T.C.H, like the show Winx Club, is originaly french, and the english dub is absolutely horrendous. So watch em in the original language.

Also, speaking of monkies, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go is actually rather fantastic, for a show that's very obviously trying to be a parody of anime, atleast in the name.

There's also the show Spliced. It's...absolutely horrifying if you think about it for even a second, but it's also rather hilarious.

[DigoDragon]

My daughter introduced me a while back to Transformers Prime and I find it quite interesting.

[LaZodiac]

Oh yes, Transformers Prime. It's basically the best since Transformers Animated which is saying a LOT.

[Maxios]

When I was younger, I watched four shows that reasonably fit your requests:
Duck Dodgers (Daffy Duck in space. My grandfather liked this one just as much as I did.)
Ed, Edd n Eddy (Three kids try scamming other kids in their Cul-De-Sac in the pursuit of the almighty dollar jawbreaker. By far the best cartoon ever aired on Cartoon Network, I've seen every single episode of it.)
Scooby Doo (Technically speaking, I watched every single Scooby Doo show but I'm grouping them into one because I don't want to have to type out every single one.)
X-Men Evolution (X-Men as teenagers, really good at parts and really crappy at other parts)

Other awesome shows that don't fit your requests:
Every Marvel cartoon in the 90s. I watched every single one. Except Spider-Man Unlimited (which sucked so bad that the first time I saw it, I wished I could punch the guy who came up with it.)
Every DC cartoon in the 90s. Batman TAS and Batman Beyond were really, really great.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Avatar: The Legend of Korra

No! NO! Gahhh! Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!

...

So yeah, I hate that show.

Anyway, I don't know what you mean about scale exactly, but Code Lyoko is a really good show (admittedly, if by scale you meant the fact that there are a lot of other kid agents, the only people who are fighting the threat in Code Lyoko are the main characters). Season one is largely episodic and season two sees some fairly major changes to the personality one of the recurring minor characters (she's still recognizable though), but it's pretty good.

Phineas and Ferb is an absolutely brilliant series. Everyone except the mom has been involved in one creation or another, including the absent-minded father. They make jokes about the meta ("it is a cartoon, sir" "Carl, what have I told you about breaking the 4th wall?" "sorry sir", and that one time Buford mentioned how they've had way more than 104 days). They make references. They have an overarching canon despite the silliness and episodic nature. They don't take themselves too seriously.

Also recommend Gravity Falls, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and most of the other stuff in the thread.

[Aotrs Commander]

If I recall, W.I.T.C.H, like the show Winx Club, is originaly french, and the english dub is absolutely horrendous. So watch em in the original language.

W.i.t.c.h's English dub was good, in my opinion.

Winx Club, of which I've only seen the first season, got points for having a plot arc and surprisingly good combat scenes, even if the dubbing (and the spell incantations) was fairly meh.

[Sean Mirrsen]

If you can locate them, W.i.t.c.h and Centurions are among my favourites.One of the few occasions where I side with the lich for a reason other than his massive arsenal of interesting weapons. Those two shows are both very good.

I'm not sure I can even recommend any show that hasn't already been mentioned. Way back when I quite liked EXO Squad, but it's kinda hard to find nowadays.

[Daer]

I didn't notice thundercats mentioned yet. Specially the new one.

[BlasTech]

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR, OF STAR COMMAND!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dic_Hhnh9zg)

*dun dun dun dun dun da dit da da da, da de da da da da da da da da da da*

(Sorry, couldn't get the theme song out of my head once it came back)

[Metahuman1]

The current Version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is actually pretty good. George Taki is Doing the Voice of Master Splinter.

Thought that was worth throwing out.

[Kitten Champion]

I remember really enjoying the Men In Black animation, moreso than the movie.

Along those lines, Roswell Conspiracies was a remarkable bit of fun SF -- merging MIB with Stargate. Ended way too soon.

[Nameless]

No! NO! Gahhh! Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!

...

So yeah, I hate that show.


Well, that's just like, you're opinion, man... *flicks hair*

[Southern Cross]

I'd also recommend The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon. Sadly short-lived (Only lasted two seasons BTW) but closer to the comics originals than the Whedon movie. Despite some flaws (they had Mandrill, but not Nekra and Captain Mar-Vell is clearly based on his Ultimate counterpart) still well worth watching.

[kitep]

Argh! I thought I was going to be the first to mention The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I also like Young Justice and Justice League Unlimited.

Comedy wise, you've got Earthworm Jim, The Tick, Futurama

I also recommend Tripping the Rift - it's animated, but not a cartoon (and can be a bit NSFW in parts)

[Cespenar]

Mad Jack the Pirate, anyone?

[johndibble12]

The shows which i prefer to kill time are:- Phineas and Ferbs, Dexter's Laboratory, Oggy and the cockroaches, Jhonny Bravo, Tom and jerry, ben ten,justice league..

[Manga Shoggoth]

If you don't mind the age of the thing, Danger Mouse was also very good. Very British in its humour, though.

[Fri]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is Fillmore. It's a what-do-you-mean-it's-not-awesome parody of noir detective story/police procedural movies set in school, with the titular fillmore being a member of the school safety patrol. It plays with police procedural tropes like chase scenes, angry "finish this case in 24 hours or I get your badge" bosses, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vl4EGJRuow

[Metahuman1]

I recall from my child hood an a cartoon that ran on Disney, Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers.

I seem to recall there were a bunch of little things that sort of made it work, like the bad guy having a whole evil plot to get an ingredient he wanted for a special meal, and then he's going over the preparations his henchmen have been making were there taking kitchen terms all too literally and making a mess, the end joke was when he got to "A Pinch of Salt." in the recipe book and stopped and looked up at the henchmen as the camera panned outside the room and said "Don't tell me. You pinched the salt."

And the henchman replied "Of course not. The mole did."


It might not be as good as I'm remembering, but surely it's at least worth looking at.

[Scowling Dragon]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is Fillmore. It's a what-do-you-mean-it's-not-awesome parody of noir detective story/police procedural movies set in school, with the titular fillmore being a member of the school safety patrol. It plays with police procedural tropes like chase scenes, angry "finish this case in 24 hours or I get your badge" bosses, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vl4EGJRuow

Heh. That intro has me intrigued already. And why didn't that bicycle explode? :smallfrown:

[Cuthalion]

My Little Pony:FIM
Transformers:Prime
All I watch. And that online.

[The Extinguisher]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is Fillmore. It's a what-do-you-mean-it's-not-awesome parody of noir detective story/police procedural movies set in school, with the titular fillmore being a member of the school safety patrol. It plays with police procedural tropes like chase scenes, angry "finish this case in 24 hours or I get your badge" bosses, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vl4EGJRuow

This thread in general is making me nostalgic, but I completley forgot about this show. It's fantastic.

[Beacon of Chaos]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is Fillmore. It's a what-do-you-mean-it's-not-awesome parody of noir detective story/police procedural movies set in school, with the titular fillmore being a member of the school safety patrol. It plays with police procedural tropes like chase scenes, angry "finish this case in 24 hours or I get your badge" bosses, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vl4EGJRuow
Oh wow, yeah I'd forgotten this show too. It was so good though.

I can't think of anything that hasn't already been said. I'm watching the new TMNT now (5 episodes in, it's really good).

Gravity Falls is a good show too.

I think I might check out some of the other suggestions here when I have the time.

[Ravens_cry]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is Fillmore. It's a what-do-you-mean-it's-not-awesome parody of noir detective story/police procedural movies set in school, with the titular fillmore being a member of the school safety patrol. It plays with police procedural tropes like chase scenes, angry "finish this case in 24 hours or I get your badge" bosses, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vl4EGJRuow
Thanks for telling me about that. Being a lot of fun to watch on Youtube, which is pretty much the only way to watch it.

[Anarion]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is Fillmore. It's a what-do-you-mean-it's-not-awesome parody of noir detective story/police procedural movies set in school, with the titular fillmore being a member of the school safety patrol. It plays with police procedural tropes like chase scenes, angry "finish this case in 24 hours or I get your badge" bosses, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vl4EGJRuow

Oh wow. I've never seen that one before, but I just watched the first episode, and that is some high quality work. They really left no stone unturned as far as police procedural tropes. Destroying the fishing rod was a master stroke.

Nice gem from this thread.

Edit: Oh, look, the female lead is voiced by Tara Strong. That woman is everywhere.

[bmosley45]

These are old ones, from the 90s, but I would check out Pirates of Dark Water, Mighty Max, the original X-Men, Exo-Squad, Biker Mice from Mars.

From today, I would check out the Misadventures of Flapjack.

I have been wanting to check out Regular Show.

[Hiro Protagonest]

These are old ones

Ooh! That's right!

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. There was also a 2002 He-Man that I've heard good things about, but it was cut short at two seasons. It's very black and white in morality, and is definitely a kid's show, but it's pretty good, and the 2002 version is more mature.

She-Ra, the sequel show to the original He-Man, is much worse, though. He-Man is fine if you like black-and-white stuff where heroes usually act a bit dumb in the name of good, but She-Ra is just bad. Neither side of the war has a basic grasp on military procedures (at least the original show had Duncan, AKA Man-at-Arms, working on technology. The rebels don't even have that, despite plenty of opportunities to capture enemy laser guns/batons (because, y'know, they can't look like guns for some reason)), and the horde taxes and convicts people just for the sake of being evil, not for any kind of ruthless efficiency. Naming conventions in She-Ra are also the worst I've ever seen.

[Forderz]

Chiming in with more support for MLP:FiM, Fillmore, and Jackie Chan Adventures.

JCA is what would happen if you put Jackie Chan and Indiana Jones in a blender.

[thompur]

I almost forgot one of the greatest cartoon series of all time. From the '60's:
Johnny Quest!

[Scowling Dragon]

Oh wow. I've never seen that one before, but I just watched the first episode, and that is some high quality work. They really left no stone unturned as far as police procedural tropes. Destroying the fishing rod was a master stroke.


I agree. I have a theory that anything dramatic + Child values= Almost instant comedy. Or at least entertainment.

edit:

*SPITTAKE*

"Your as solid as a geodude using its harden attack"

:smalleek:

Thats the most unexpected line ive ever heard. Disney actually paid Gamefreak royalties for something they could have used somehow else?

Holy ****!

second edit:

*SPITTAKE AGAIN*

HOLY CRAP DID THAT WAXER JUST EXPLODE?

[Ravens_cry]

Yes, yes it did.:smallbiggrin:

[Scowling Dragon]

Man. This cartoon has allot more variety then I expected. And portrays "Criminals" allot more as just confused people just looking for a way by then by jerks. Cool.

And the Partnership is cool. Like the main duos chemistry. Also love the shows multi-racial cast, and the way it treats them: It doesn't bat an eye.

There isn't an episode dedicated to kids in wheelchairs. They are just "There". And they are not always the good innocent guys.

Nice job show. You treat race and other stuff like that better then 99% of all TV.