25 cartoons to get obsessed with, now and forever

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The connection between cartoons and youth often casts an unfair stigma: that cartoons are for kids, kids who can suspend disbelief to relate to talking to animals or who still believe that magic can exist.

That’s not only an unfair assessment, it’s inaccurate. Animation is a medium through which all kinds of stories can be told, including stories as emotionally complicated and textured as those of any prestige drama. Not all cartoons are cheeky or slapstick; not all cartoons are meant to impart lessons to kids who are still figuring out the world. Plenty aim to relate to and entertain grown-ups, too.

“You’re dead if you aim only for kids,” goes one apocryphal quote from Walt Disney, about working in animation. “Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.” And it’s true: Cartoons are for everyone. The goal of any good cartoon is the same as that of any good piece of entertainment. They are meant to be enjoyable and inspiring, no matter who (or how old) you are.

While the wide variety of animated TV series in existence may seem daunting to some, there’s something out there for everyone. So below, we’ve listed 20 great shows to help get you acquainted — or reacquainted — with cartoons. Whether you usually watch TV with family or prefer to settle into these beautifully constructed worlds on your own, the list offers diverse entry points to suit all preferences.

 

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For the whole family​

The Simpsons’ world is much bigger than just the Simpsons family itself. Fox

The Simpsons (1989-present; 31 seasons)​

A lot of younger adults have never known, or can barely remember, life before The Simpsons. The show's 31 years (and counting) on the air make it by far the longest-running American sitcom in history, animated or otherwise. It’s so recognizable, quotable, and memorable as to be inextricable from modern culture, and not just in the US, but all over the world.

It is unfathomable to me that anyone could watch an episode of this groundbreaking sitcom and not at least smile. Unsurprisingly for such a long run, the show’s quality has sagged over the past decade. But when The Simpsons is firing on all cylinders, it’s the kind of comedy you’ll need to pause several times, because you’re laughing too hard or too loudly to hear what anyone’s saying anymore. Every element of The Simpsons is meticulously considered for its joke potential, from blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em sight gags to subtle turns of phrase.

Maybe The Simpsons has lasted so long because of its extremely basic premise: Here’s a working-class American family, and here they are, living their lives. This simple conceit lends itself to being riffed upon in both small and extraordinary ways. Or maybe the show’s success stems from how dense the town of Springfield is, with an expansive cast of characters that offer endless story possibilities and permutations. Or maybe what’s most lovable is how, even when Homer is chosen to go to space or baby Maggie shoots Mr. Burns, The Simpsons always resets at the end of the day. Everything is a constant in Springfield.

If you’re overwhelmed by the episode count, here’s my hot tip: Don’t worry about missing most episodes beyond season eight. Season nine is when the show began its decline from straight perfection to a more of a crapshoot. And now that you know where to look, if you somehow have never seen any episode in full (which, how?) ... please go do that. —Allegra Frank

 

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Fox

Bob’s Burgers (2011-present; 10 seasons)​

Bob’s Burgers is The Simpsons’ heir apparent: Both comedies air on Fox, star quirky, working-class families, and take place in vague American cities full of odd neighbors, friends, and frenemies. The show also borrows from The Simpsons’ sense of pure love for all of its characters: No one on Bob’s Burgers is judgmental or cruel or mean, not even the Belcher family’s slightly sadistic youngest daughter Louise.

The series is also as funny and marathon-able as any great sitcom should be. It’s loaded with approachable pop culture gags, absurd stories and characters that never get too out-there, and tons of excellent original music. I recently asked my best friend, a huge Bob’s Burgers fan, how many times she thinks she has watched the show now: 50 times and counting for her favorite episodes.


I asked what keeps her coming back. “Bob’s Burgers is a really refreshing family comedy, because it was the first show in a long time where the family actually likes each other, despite the chaos,” she explained. “The Belcher weirdness/quirkiness/whatever you want to call it is always celebrated and made relatable, rather than derided.” —AF

 

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Adventure Time (2010-2018; 10 seasons)​

The 2010s saw a renaissance in 11-minute cartoons for both kids and adults, pushing a fledgling trend of the 2000s ever further. The best of these 2010s shows, for my money, was Pendleton Ward’s 10-season series Adventure Time.

Loosely built around the adventures of a human boy named Finn and a stretchy dog named Jake, Adventure Time expanded and shifted from its initial standalone adventures to become one of TV’s most ambitious shows. By its end, it was a sprawling epic about the last human boy coming of age in a post-apocalyptic weirdo paradise, struck through with contemplative silence and frenetic joy in equal measure. And even though the episodes are extremely short, with 283 to get through, you’ll have plenty to keep you busy for a while. —Emily VanDerWerff

 

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Futurama (1999-2003 and 2008-2013; seven seasons)​

Futurama comes from The Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening, but the two series don’t share much in common beyond that. Futurama is a sci-fi comedy that also dabbles in romance, slapstick, and fantasy as it builds out the story of Philip J. Fry, who’s cryogenically frozen on New Year’s Eve 1999 and wakes up in the year 3000. There’s a lot of time travel and aliens and talking heads in jars, but there’s also true romantic tension and strong friendships. Futurama is, at its best, whip-smart, elegantly plotted, heart-wrenching, and joyously silly.

(Note that by “at its best,” I really mean the show’s original four-season run on Fox. The network unceremoniously axed the series in 2003, but after reruns on Adult Swim energized a new fanbase, it became a poster child for TV’s “brilliant but canceled” vault. Comedy Central later brought it back for more, but its disappointing second run lacked the earlier seasons’ wit and heart.) —AF

 

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Home Movies (1999-2004; four seasons)​

Home Movies is an odd bird — but what a beautiful odd bird it is! Precocious elementary school kid Brendon is obsessed with making movies with his two best friends. The kids’ cheap-o films usually mirror the themes of the show’s larger plot outside of Brendon’s basement, where he deals with his brassy single mom, alcoholic soccer coach, self-loathing teacher, and whiny neighbor kids.

The show is animated in the unique but slightly off-putting Squigglevision style, which makes the characters look like they’re fizzling in a microwave at all times. Its earlier seasons also follow very loose scripting, leaving much of the dialogue to improv — which some viewers may find to be too unpolished or meandering for their liking. But every member of the cast gels perfectly with the rest, as if they’ve been performing as their characters for their entire careers. (The thing that maybe holds up the least is a recurring, sympathetic character voiced by Louis C.K.)

Though dearly departed broadcast network UPN axed the show (from the folks behind Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist) after five extremely low-rated episodes, Adult Swim saw the same potential I saw in Home Movies, and rescued it for another 47 installments. The laidback comedy is unique but often uproariously funny, and the characters are each lovable in their own weird way. Co-creator Loren Bouchard went on to create Bob’s Burgers, and Home Movies has a lot of that same pleasant spirit. —AF

 

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Aggretsuko dedicates at least one scene per episode to some heavy metal karaoke. Fanworks/Netflix

Aggretsuko (2018-present; two seasons)​

If you’re a fan of the adorable Sanrio mascot Hello Kitty (who is definitely a cat and not a human girl thank you I will be taking no further questions!), it may be time to trade in HK for her arguably much more relatable friend Aggretsuko. Aggretsuko is a red panda working a dead-end job that she puts up with all day, only to let out her rage in drunken, aggressive, heavy-metal karaoke at night. It’s fantastic and bizarre and hilarious.

It might sound pretty one-note from that summary, or even a bit more adult than you’d expect from a show from the Sanrio universe, but there’s just enough quirky cuteness to entertain preteen Hello Kitty lovers too (see: some great spoofs on social media, and Aggretsuko’s best friends are sweet and loving). But as it goes along, episodes make use of the cute veneer to tackle heady themes like gender roles in the workplace, power dynamics in relationships, and what it means to be ... well, a true adult. Who doesn’t ask themselves that question daily?


Also, Aggretsuko and everyone else on the show is extremely cute, so prepare to wanna buy so much merch after you watch. Capitalism! —AF

 

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C

Rick and Morty (2013-present; four seasons)​

Rick and Morty is much deeper, darker, and more emotionally complex than its popularity and reputation for attracting toxic fans might suggest. The show’s trans-dimensional hijinks can be super fun and funny (and horrifying in a David Cronenbergian body horror-type way), and the tangents the show veers wildly toward are great comedy writing. There are small moments in some episodes that don’t have any big payoff until much later on, and then fundamentally change everything that has happened before and after in shocking ways.

A lot of this success is attributable to co-creator Dan Harmon, whose beloved sitcom Community became known for its witty storytelling and integration of pop culture goofs. Rick and Morty delivers on both of those. But Harmon’s public struggles with his mental health also influence Rick and Morty more obviously than they did Community. Depression, family strife, and unhealthy coping mechanisms abound. These give the show its strong sense of hopelessness, uncertainty, and self-actualization that makes it more than just funny: It’s often very moving and profound. —Allegra Frank

 

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BoJack Horseman is packed with visual jokes and references, even in darker episodes. Netflix

BoJack Horseman (2014-2020; six seasons)​

When I tell people that BoJack Horseman is one of the best shows of the last decade, some of them look back at me, puzzled: Isn’t that just the really depressing Netflix show about a horse with man hands?

To which I say: Yes? But also, extremely no? BoJack Horseman isn’t all tears and death and drugs and booze and abuse, though it does involve those things. It’s also really, really funny — funnier than almost any other show on this list, I’d argue, especially if you appreciate a good pun or parody.

BoJack (Will Arnett) is a literal horse-man and former sitcom star looking to keep his dimming fame bright. Decades of addiction and unresolved trauma and self-sabotaging behavior have marked him as impossible to work with, production poison. The only people in his life who can stand him are his roommate Todd (Aaron Paul), his agent Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), former TV rival Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins), and Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie), who’s been hired to ghostwrite BoJack’s autobiography. Half of these characters are anthropomorphic animals, by the way — much of the show’s silliness and best moments stem from its mixed-up world of humans and animals.

But it’s wrong to write off or dismiss the darker aspects of it, because those boost BoJack from just a brilliant riff on Hollywood culture to something challenging and honest. My friend and former colleague Julia Alexander summed up the show’s emotional, lasting impact in a beautiful piece on Polygon:

For all of BoJack’s worst qualities, he was never dishonest about his true self. BoJack is the first person to admit his flaws and, what makes his tale even sadder, is that he wants to change but can’t figure out how to do so. That’s what makes us want to root for him to survive, and to win — there is a little piece of BoJack in all of us. He confronts the self-realizations that we might be too scared to do ourselves.

 

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Tuca & Bertie (2019; one season)​

Tragically canceled after one season — I will never forgive Netflix for that — Tuca & Bertie was one of the best shows of 2019, and consistently scratched an itch I didn’t even realize I had. Created by Lisa Hanawalt, a main designer and producer of BoJack Horseman, the show centers on two 30-year-old bird women who are best friends: Bertie (voiced by Ali Wong), an anxious and self-doubting songbird, and Tuca (Tiffany Haddish), her free-spirited Toucan friend. They’re often joined by Speckle (Steven Yeung), Bertie’s sweet, dependable robin boyfriend. It’s a show about friendship, being a woman, trying to figure out your career, understanding your emotions, navigating tough decisions, and figuring out that making mistakes doesn’t spell the end of the world. And it’s completely delightful.

Thankfully, Adult Swim renewed the series for a forthcoming second season. I’ll be waiting for it. —Alissa Wilkinson