With new episodes of Steven Universe showing at this moment (offer not valid in all areas, and will likely no longer be true when you read this, even if it’s right now), I’ve been once again binging old episodes and marveling in the quality of the show. As a fan of many utterly terrible cartoons (I love ‘Underdog’ for the puns and vocal work, but it’s really low-budget and even my beloved Hanna-Barbera action shows were full of recycled and sometimes just plain bad animation), it’s really sort of marvelous to see a show that gets so many things right, with writing, animation and character design all top-notch, leading to today’s awarding of the Cartoon Crown, which is totally a thing you’ve heard of and not something I made up…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) would also make arguments for ‘Jonny Quest’, the show which convinced me that the late Mike Road deserved every acting award they make, asking: Which animated program will you award the coveted Cartoon Crown?
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I place my vote with Disney’s Gargoyles. It gives you everything that a child – or child at heart – could want.
Avatar: Legend of Korra is hard to beat; and its predecessor Last Airbender is right there nipping at its heels.
This is tough. I really like old Disney cartoons, as well as 80’s He-Man & Transformers. Harvey Birdman is amazing too. My favorite however, is probably anime series which are also numerous. I think right at this moment its New Game!
Looney Tunes all the way. That’s not saying that there have been great animated shows over the years. Young Justice, Gargoyles and Samurai Jack rate up there.
Young Justice, it was just so fantastically well done and did a superb job skirting the line between “kid show” and “grown up show”. There was depth and compelling story arcs side-by-side with the kid friendly superheroics and goofiness, something that many shows (including many I enjoy) have trouble finding a good balance with.