Top cartoons poll!

[Jimmy Kustes]

This poll is a bit primative, but it could serve as a gateway to arranging the Toonzone Top 100 Cartoons of All Time! !

Here are the picks:

Looney Tunes
Batman the Animated Series
Popeye
The Simpsons
Animanics/Pinky and the Brain
Tiny Toons
Flintstones
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Dexter's Laboratory
Powerpuff Girls

Could someone edit the poll to this:
Dexter/Powerpuff Girls
Rocky and Bullwinkle

[Danielle]

Ooooooooooh this is hard. How the heck are we supposed to choose?!

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

I object to the choices available...

[Jimmy Kustes]

I like the Baby Plucky avatar, Danielle!;)

Joe Tully has a better system, but this will have to make due for now.

I agree Leaping Larry Jojo, there are some cartoons I have never seen like Aeon Flex, so my system isn't exactly accurate. If such a list were created, we would at least need to agree on one rule and that would be that the forum would have to be at least civil.

Some people think Looney Tunes is the greatest cartoon while others think Rude Dog is, thats how the Wizard List was created.
:cool:

[Sharklady]

I think a more effective way to determine our own Top 100 would be to have everybody submit a list of their ten (or more) favorite cartoon series- we could compile a much longer roster from those. The order could be determined by adding up the list rankings of each nominee, so the cartoon with the lowest sum would be #1, the second-lowest would be #2, etc.


For the record, here's my own Top Ten list:


10. Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and Quick-Draw McGraw (Hanna-Barbera was *so* much better in their early days!)

9. 'Men In Black' (frequently original, with a whole spectrum of inventive extra-terrestials)

8. 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' (I can't help it- I've got a certain fondness for reptiles)

7. 'Loony Tunes' (this is the averaged-out rating; LT includes a *lot* of cartoons and their quality varied greatly)

6. 'Batman: The Animated Series' (I don't think I need to say more)

5. 'George Of The Jungle' (see comments beside #2)

4. 'The Simpsons' (groundbreaking, and at their best they were the funniest show on TV)

3. 'The Powerpuff Girls' (cute title toons, believable character interaction, and Mojo Jojo is my favorite animated supervillain)

2. 'Rocky And Bulwinkle' (a classic in every sense- proof that limited animation can work well, when combined with quality scripts and world-class puns)

1. 'Pinky And the Brain/ Animaniacs' (IMO, their best eps are as good as television cartoons ever get)

[happyheathen]

5. 'The Simpsons'

4. 'Tiny Toon Adventures'

3. 'Animaniacs'

2. 'Rocky And Bullwinkle'

1. 'Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies'

those wishing to display their poor taste, may, of course, disagree:D

[tvisland]

This is the easiest question ever on this website...
By far and wide the Looney Tunes are the greatest!
No other even come close.
A distant second would be the Simpsons.
And farther down the scale would be
the Flintstones.:o

[BourgeoisBuffoon]

10. SpongeBob Squarepants (simpy funny, and saved Nick's butt in that time)
9. Garfield and Friends (one of the first great non "ad for thier toy" shows)
8. Histeria! (hey, it's a GOOD show :) )
7. Batman: TAS (good animation, very serious, I like that)
6.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (first great action show I ever saw)
5.Animaniacs (need I explain this?)
4.Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies (what can I say? Without these no other toons would be around)
3.Tiny Toon Adventures (started the Silver Age...)
2. Dexter's Lab (started up CN's glory)
1. Simpsons (what Sharklady said)

Those were the best toons I ever saw...and the ones I'd really be watching on TV anymore. 'Course, most are in reruns or (ocasionally about to be) canned, which says something... :(

[Jimmy Kustes]

I think the problem with Wizard's list was that they choose the top cartoon series they would watch in their free time, and not the greatest ever. If that was the case, SGC2C would win, because most of the episodes get missed. I have seen almost every episode of Animanics, Tiny Toons, Dexter's Lab, Batman, Simpsons, Flintstones, and almost all of the WB classics. So if I had to choose to watch between Clerks or One Froogy Evening, I would watch Clerks.

To further explain I will give you a sample of an analogy in preparation for the SAT this Saturday:

SEINFELD: 70'S SHOW
Batman The Animated Series: Family Guy

[Craig Marinaro]

I'm not gonna count "Looney Tunes" as a television series, since very little LT material was actually made for TV originally (and the stuff that *was* made for TV wasn't all that exceptional).

I'd have to go with:

1. The Simpsons (probably my favorite TV show of all time--at its peak it had highbrow humor, slapstick comedy, character depth, poignancy, and some of the cleverest parody ever done all woven into one neat little package--a grand scope with a cast of hundreds and limitless exotic locales, yet it never lost sight of the small details)

2. Pinky & the Brain (who'd have thought it was possible to do so much with a regular cast of two characters and one recurring premise? Whether parodying films, poking fun at human nature, or shamelessly self-referencing, P&tB was at its best brilliantly creative, and at its worst pretty darned entertaining)

3. Batman: The Animated Series (a "children's show" daring enough to actually give characters psychological depth? The really great episodes are some of the most powerful things ever created for television--and even when the scripts weren't up to par, the vocal cast never failed to come through)

4. Gargoyles (a personal favorite--mixing the greatest elements of Disney movies, action shows, soap operas, sci-fi, noir films, Shakespearean drama, and myths and legends from numerous cultures--with a continuous story arc to boot!)

5. Freakazoid! (the best episodes had the same philosophy as a Robin Williams standup routine--don't dwell on anything long enough to give the audience a chance to think. It doesn't really matter what's going on, as long as something is going on, and it's something unexpected. Satire, parody, slapstick, and puns all have there place, but when you get right down to it, there's nothing like good ol' random silliness to get one really laughing)

6. Animaniacs (not consistently great, but when it was great, it was *great*)

7. The Bullwinkle Show (one of the earliest TV cartoons, and an undeniable influence on everything that followed. It works on so many levels!)

8. The Ren & Stimpy Show (wonderful offbeat little piece of work--grossout humor can be so much fun when it's done well!)

9. Space Ghost Coast to Coast (still my favorite CN show--just the concept of taking a little-known '60's superhero and turning him into an animated talk-show host is so great, and his patter with his guests and costars rarely fails to leave me in stitches)

10. Garfield & Friends (one of the most amusing things to come from Saturday morning animation. The jabs at the sorry state of most other '80's TV animation were great, and the gimmicky shorts and the "sequel" episodes set the stage for the irreverent feel of '90's animation)

[Anthonynotes]

My choices, assuming that theatrical cartoons are allowed as well as made-for-television cartoons in determining the "best / most important cartoons ever" list:

10. Misc. early Hanna-Barbara (Yogi Bear/Quickdraw McGraw/Huckleberry Hound): Quickdraw as "El Kabong"...heh....

9. "The Flintstones" (original series): What can I say? Barney was pretty funny, along with the gadgets/stupid "rock" puns...plus, it's another groundbreaking show: TV's first prime-time animated sitcom, lasting for six seasons there (and was the longest-running until the "Simpsons" broke its record).

8. The various "Peanuts" specials: the best of the lot being"A Charlie Brown Christmas", of course, though I also enjoyed the "This Is America, Charlie Brown" miniseries made in the late 80's/early 90's.

7. Modern WB humor-cartoon output ("Tiny Toons"/A!/PatB): As noted by others, it was WB's "Silver Age"/animation renaissance...

6. "Batman: the Animated Series": a 90's classic, and probably the best treatment of superheroes in TV animation. Paved the way for the "Superman"/"JLA" cartoons as well....

5. Fleischer's output ("Popeye", "Betty Boop"): Same as for Disney, though probably in a less obvious way (behind-the-scenes technological developments). The "Superman" cartoons they made are still held in high esteem...

4. Disney's output ("Toy Story", "Steamboat Willie", etc.): Disney's influence on animation historically can't be ignored (including the pioneering of various animation developments [cartoons with sound, animated features, bringing back the idea of well-made weekday afternoon cartoons via "DuckTales", computer-animated features like "Toy Story", etc.].

3. "The Simpsons": Groundbreaking for the modern tone of many cartoons, though I think it's either tied with #2 or a bit below it (taking points off for it decline of late/staying on for probably too long past its prime...).

2. "Rocky and His Friends"/"The Bullwinkle Show": A TV classic....the "Wayback" machine, cheap puns galore and a squirrel who flies.

1. Looney Tunes ("The Bugs Bunny Show"/"The Roadrunner Show"/etc.): Sorry, Homer, but contrary to the "Wizard" people's opinions, Bugs *is* the king. :-)

Honorable mentions for important/best cartoons:
MGM's "Droopy" cartoons (sorry, not a "Tom and Jerry" fan, hence the singling out of Droopy)
Felix the Cat (first animated superstar)
"Gertie the Dinosaur" (one of the first animated shorts)
"Josie and the Pussycats" (first cartoon IIRC to feature a non-stereotyped African-American character)
"The Jackson Five" cartoon (first to feature African-Americans in a non-stereotyped lead role; edged out "Fat Albert" by several years IIRC, but maybe not "Josie" for all I know)
"Akira" (popular Japanese "anime" feature)

-B.