# Greatest Cartoon Series Ever?



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

My kids are watching a crazy amount of cartoons on Netflix these days and it's got me thinking about all the cartoons I loved as a kid. What were your all time favorites?

I was a huge fan of _TaleSpin_ and _Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers_. My kids have never seen either series. For them it's all about the Backyardigans, Horseland, and Calliou.


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## JD Rhoades (Feb 18, 2011)

It's a tie for me between Bullwinkle and Roadrunner. 

But Animaniacs was pretty awesome, too.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

JD Rhoades said:


> It's a tie for me between Bullwinkle and Roadrunner.


I was always so sympathetic to the coyote. He had such a frustrating life. LOL


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## JD Rhoades (Feb 18, 2011)

Dara England said:


> I was always so sympathetic to the coyote. He had such a frustrating life. LOL


I know! And technology never works right for me, either....


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Looney Tunes, Transformers, and the early years of The Simpsons.


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## Guest (Feb 28, 2011)

Dara England said:


> I was a huge fan of _TaleSpin_ and _Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers_. My kids have never seen either series. For them it's all about the Backyardigans, Horseland, and Calliou.


Yes, so good. Also, I'll throw South Park into the ring. When they're good, they're very good.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

The Smurfs, Gummi Bears, Dungeons and Dragons, Muppet Babies, Pirates of Darkwater, Care Bears, Duck Tales, Grape Ape... you already took Tail Spin and Chip and Dale, loved those too.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Kids these days get stuck with really lame cartoons it looks like. 

I don't think anyone has included GI Joes, Thundercats, He-Man, Voltron, Back to the Future cartoon, The Real Ghostbusters...


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

"The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour" was the best ever. Anyone who claims otherwise is wrong.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

As a Kid, 
Hanna-Barbera:
MacGilla Gorilla, Huckleberry Hound, Pink Panther

As an Adult, Johnny Bravo & Dexter's Lab


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## vikingwarrior22 (May 25, 2009)

ballard street n pearls before swine


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## DaveW (Feb 2, 2011)

My ten-year-old used to love Tom and Jerry.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

You might guess from my avatar, but to me the Simpsons are hands down the best. For toony toons, I like Scooby Doo.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

Sonic the Hedgehog when I was a kid. I loved waking up early to watch that show.


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## Sofie (Dec 30, 2008)

Scooby Doo and Johnny Quest


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

my son watches Star Wars: Jedi Knights or something like that....its actually quite good and would have been my fav at that age too.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

My most recent memories with my youngest were of Sonic the Hedgehog for fun.
And Reboot - one of the best.
The Best was Pirates of Darkwater.

Not including anime of course.

just sayin......


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

NogDog said:


> "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour" was the best ever. Anyone who claims otherwise is wrong.


This


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

My kids are following in my footsteps and becoming fans of Scooby Doo.

There's some other great toons already mentioned on here.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

If you are talking Scooby Doo, they HAVE to be episodes pre-Scrappy doo.


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## Sofie (Dec 30, 2008)

> If you are talking Scooby Doo, they HAVE to be episodes pre-Scrappy doo.


Definately! That is one annoying little dog.


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## Philip Chen (Aug 8, 2010)




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## Jennybeanses (Jan 27, 2011)

Smurfs!!! I waited every week for Saturday so I could watch The Smurfs.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Sofie said:


> Scooby Doo and Johnny Quest


Jonny Quest was the greatest cartoon tv series ever! Without that show I might have grown up NOT thinking it was perfectly acceptable to travel to obscure places to see ancient ruins, big telescopes, or a rare animal. How boring life would be then!

Daria was about as good, despite being on MTV

And the Looney Tunes are probably the greatest cartoons (I can speak of Jonny Quest the way I did 'cause Looney Tunes weren't originally produced as a tv series).

And obviously I am a fan of "Perils of Penelope Pitstop", "Dastardly and Muttley" and "Wacky Races", even though they were


Spoiler



[email protected]


 compared to Looney Tunes! Wacky Races had something going for it, what other cartoon series had TWO separate spinoffs that were genuine spinoffs, not just remakes (possibly thinly-disguised) of the original show?


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## thejosh86 (Mar 1, 2011)

It might not be too old yet, but I've always been able to watch and rewatch every episode of Futurama an embarrassing amount of times.


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

For classics, it has to be The Hillbilly Bears, very closely followed by The Flintstones.  Looney Toons, of course, always appreciated, especially the Roadrunner shorts.  One of my favourites that no one else has ever heard of was The Island Of The Bears, which I'm pretty sure must have been French originally because it was so dark and bizarre and amazingly good.  But my definite absolute no-question favourite childhood cartoon (well, I think I was about sixteen at the time it showed, but still) was ReBoot, especially in the later seasons when they had actual character development and story arcs, virtually unheard of back in those days (for western cartoons, anyway).  The Earthworm Jim cartoon was brilliant, too.

Moving into more modern times, The Simpsons was once great, but Futurama outdid it in every possible way, especially in the later series when it started exploring deeper themes like loneliness and loss.  I loved The Critic too, cancelled far too soon.  Duckman, also great, with some excellently sad episodes amongst all the hilarity.

Lately there have been some fantastic new series--Avatar was utterly amazing and I can hardly wait for The Legend Of Korra.  Adventure Time is hilarious and awesome.  Also, the new Scooby Doo series, Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, is surprisingly excellent--darker and more realistic than other incarnations, it has proper plots, allows the characters to become more than one-note jokes, and it has moments of genuine emotion.  As well as that some of the 'monsters' are brilliantly threatening and it has some great gags (Fred and his traps are a stand out).  Best of all, of course, is that there's not so much as a mention of Scrappy Doo.

And that's not even going into non-western series.  The world is full of wonders, and many of them are animated


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## ReaderK (Jan 5, 2011)

Thundercats, Hoooooooo!


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## TheRiddler (Nov 11, 2010)

Most of mine have gone, but I'll list them anyway:

Thundercats
Dungeons & Dragons
Jason & the Wheeled Warriors
Ulyses
X-Men


I'm not really counting Simpsons or Futurama, as these are more for adults, but they are awesome - in terms of longevity, nothing can touch the Simpsons


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show really is timeless.  It's something I could watch with my kids, even when they were small, and we all enjoyed it at our own level.

I love Scooby-Doo for its nostalgia quotient, but wouldn't put it up there with Rocky and Bullwinkle in terms of quality.  Still, it's been around so long and in so many incarnations that it seems to have the same nostalgic appeal for my 20-something nieces and nephews and my teenaged daughter as it does for me.  It's hard not to love Scooby and Shaggy and Fred and Velma and Daphne.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Big fan of Yogi Bear.  Too bad they had to ruin the original with the recent movie. The ranger didn't like that.


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## William Meikle (Apr 19, 2010)

Dara England said:


> My kids are watching a crazy amount of cartoons on Netflix these days and it's got me thinking about all the cartoons I loved as a kid. What were your all time favorites?
> 
> I was a huge fan of _TaleSpin_ and _Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers_. My kids have never seen either series. For them it's all about the Backyardigans, Horseland, and Calliou.


A British vote here, for DANGERMOUSE. Chase it up on youtube if you can -- it was extremely subversive for its time. I love this one especially


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

williemeikle said:


> A British vote here, for DANGERMOUSE. Chase it up on youtube if you can -- it was extremely subversive for its time. I love this one especially


I can't believe I forgot this one--my favourite episode was the one where Penfold came third in a Penfold lookalike competition.


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## JD Rhoades (Feb 18, 2011)

Ben White said:


> I can't believe I forgot this one--my favourite episode was the one where Penfold came third in a Penfold lookalike competition.


Crumbs!


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

"So, Brain, what are we going to do tomorrow night?"
"Same thing we do every night, Pinky,"
"What's that?"
"Try to take over the world!"
"snaarkkk"

Pinky and the Brain was cool, even though I was an adult when I watched it.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Cliff Ball said:


> "So, Brain, what are we going to do tomorrow night?"
> "Same thing we do every night, Pinky,"
> "What's that?"
> "Try to take over the world!"
> ...


Ooh, yes, how could I forget Brain?!


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## RichardDR (Jul 8, 2010)

I liked any cartoon with a subversive sense of humour.  Rocko's Modern Life, Cow and Chicken, Ren & Stimpy, Angry Beavers, (animated) ALF...


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## Coral Moore (Nov 29, 2009)

williammeikle said:


> A British vote here, for DANGERMOUSE. Chase it up on youtube if you can -- it was extremely subversive for its time. I love this one especially


Totally second Dangermouse!  It's even more amusing now that I'm an adult.


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## ayami (Feb 28, 2011)

These may be a bit modern compared to most of the postings here, but some of my favorites are Pokemon (childhood love), Samurai Jack and Gurren Lagann.

Yep, big anime nut here


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## 💯 (Jan 23, 2011)

Dara England said:


> I was a huge fan of _TaleSpin_ and _Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers_.


We must be around the same age because these were a few of my favorites growing up as well. Throw in Gummi Bears and DuckTales... ahhh nostalgia.


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Here are some that haven't been mentioned:

Darkwing Duck ("I am the key ring on the sardine can of justice")
The Tick
Doug (gotta love Pork Chop and killer tofu)


A new favorite that I watch with my two-year-old is Phinneas and Ferb. I crack up every episode, no matter how many strange looks I get from my wife.


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

> "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour" was the best ever. Anyone who claims otherwise is wrong.


I second this motion.

Looney Tunes - Foghorn Leghorn was my favorite character.


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## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

I'm definitely a huge fan of the Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour. Scooby Doo was also a big favorite and I used to watch Josie and the Pussycats while eating my cereal with a J. and the P. spoon that came in a cereal box. Remember when cool things came in cereal boxes? I also loved Johnny Quest but you had to be tough because it came on at 6:00am.

In more modern times, I was glad to see someone mention Cow and Chicken, one of the most trippy, insane cartoons ever--watching it was like being in that giggly altered state without having to break any laws, if you catch my drift. And finally, I *was* Daria in school, so it was like watching home movies!


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## DaveW (Feb 2, 2011)

drenfrow said:


> I used to watch Josie and the Pussycats while eating my cereal with a J. and the P. spoon that came in a cereal box. Remember when cool things came in cereal boxes?


Okay, since you mentioned cool stuff in cereal boxes, does anyone remember when they used to put record singles _on_ the boxes? You'd cut them out and play them on your record player. I remember getting a song from the Archies that way. A full box of cereal with half the back of it cut off, lol.


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## Steve Silkin (Sep 15, 2010)

Way into the past: Who remembers Johnny Quest?


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Steve Silkin said:


> Way into the past: Who remembers Johnny Quest?


That was on my Saturday morning don't-miss list for at least a couple years.


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

> Way into the past: Who remembers Johnny Quest?


As a kid I named my dog Bandit because it was the dog's name on Johnny Quest and I liked the name. My dog was way cuter than the dog on the show...But hey, I had a cat named "Pufnstuf" too .


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

Johnny Quest rocked while Scooby Doo and Hong Kong Fooey ruled their part of the hemisphere.

But I am with William, the all time best was *DANGER MOUSE!
*


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## JD Rhoades (Feb 18, 2011)

Steve Silkin said:


> Way into the past: Who remembers Johnny Quest?


Meee!

Back in the day, my housemates and I would turn on Jonny Quest reruns on Saturday mornings as our "hangover entertainment."


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Steve Silkin said:


> Way into the past: Who remembers Johnny Quest?


I am just barely old enough to remember the very first broadcast of Jonny Quest, when it was on in the evenings. My mother had told me that there was a new show coming on that she thought I might like, and boy was she right! It made a great impression on me, there aren't a lot of things I remember from that age. I'm still a fan almost fifty years later! I struggled with understanding the changes of setting in the episode (Mystery of the Lizard Men), and it was the first time I'd ever heard of a laser (I was in the first grade, so that was pretty sophisticated stuff for me!)


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## JD Rhoades (Feb 18, 2011)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I am just barely old enough to remember the very first broadcast of Jonny Quest, when it was on in the evenings. My mother had told me that there was a new show coming on that she thought I might like, and boy was she right! It made a great impression on me, there aren't a lot of things I remember from that age. I'm still a fan almost fifty years later! I struggled with understanding the changes of setting in the episode (Mystery of the Lizard Men), and it was the first time I'd ever heard of a laser (I was in the first grade, so that was pretty sophisticated stuff for me!)


And who could forget the High Voltage Energy Beast?


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## Cindi_LeeJm (Mar 3, 2011)

Stuff I loved as a kid: Inhumanoids, Dungeons and Dragons, Sailor Moon, Dogtanian, Ducktales, Wild Fire, G-Force, Little Wizards, etc.
Stuff I love as an adult: A lot of anime like Fushigi Yuugi, Naruto, etc. Spongebob (yeah it's in there  , although the earlier seasons were funnier)


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

My top three are: 

1. Batman: The Animated Series.  Great art style, dramatic plots with emotional depth, and best appreciated by adults.
2. Daria.  I was in high school at the time, and it resonated with my own experiences.
3. Venture Bros.  A glorious parody of all things superhero, scientific, and 1960s.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

JD Rhoades said:


> And who could forget the High Voltage Energy Beast?


Ah, The Invisible Monster! That episode, and the episode with the big robot spider spy were the two best ones!

This website will interest fans of the series. Even has a moderately-active discussion board! I stop in a couple of times a month.

http://classicjq.com/


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## Cathymw (May 27, 2010)

I love anything made by Warner Brothers (Looney Tunes, Tiny Tunes, and definitely Animaniacs)

With my last name, I naturally had to love Wile E. Coyote. Just once, I wanted him to catch that darn bird.


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## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

DaveW said:


> Okay, since you mentioned cool stuff in cereal boxes, does anyone remember when they used to put record singles _on_ the boxes? You'd cut them out and play them on your record player. I remember getting a song from the Archies that way. A full box of cereal with half the back of it cut off, lol.


I had that same single! Sugar......ah, honey, honey.


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## Chris Northern (Jan 20, 2011)

Dangermouse. Wasted on kids.

Pinky and the Brain. Hilarious.
    Pinky: Gee Brain what are we gonna do tonight?
    Brain: The same thing we do everynight Pinky. Try to take over the world!

And Family Guy. Kids shouldn't be watching. Brian and Stewie in the 'road movies' take-offs are a riot. 

You now know more about me than an analyst ever would.


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## Sofie (Dec 30, 2008)

> Okay, since you mentioned cool stuff in cereal boxes, does anyone remember when they used to put record singles on the boxes? You'd cut them out and play them on your record player. I remember getting a song from the Archies that way. A full box of cereal with half the back of it cut off, lol.I had that same single! Sugar......ah, honey, honey.


You are my Candy Girl and you got me wantin' you.

I loved the Archies!


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## Bob Mayer (Feb 20, 2011)

Calvin and Hobbes


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## vikingwarrior22 (May 25, 2009)

*Ballard Street / Pearls before Swine* and Gary Larson's stuff...


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I just had a conversation about cartoons from our childhood with my girlfriend.  Anyone remember the Godzilla Power Hour?  The one with Godzilla and his nephew() Godzooky?  Or how about the King Kong cartoon?  They both had these ridiculous (and yet awesome) theme songs!  

As for today, I still watch the Fox Animation Domination on Sundays.  I cannot get enough of Family Guy and the Seth McFarlane stuff.


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