So if you could select 2 or 3 cartoons to show people how cartoons can be serious...

[I.R Joey]

what would they be???

Here's my team.

BTAS. (Maybe Prophecy of doom)

GundamW (it talks about the essence of our fighting spirit better, then many live action shows)

I could probably use alot of anime in this situation, but there are so many I haven't seen.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Any Gundam would be a better example than Gundam Wing. That show has so many holes and the characters really don't make sense. Plus, they are incredibly stupid--their actions seem to be 'cool' for the sake of 'cool'.

Serious? Gundam 0080 would be a good choice. 6 episode show with only 2 major Gundam battles. The show focuses more on the civilians, and the ending is a one-two bitterly ironic punch to the gut for anyone who ever thought war with robots would seem cool.

Zeta Gundam would be better. Turn A Gundam. V Gundam. Heck, IMO, even the original Gundam is better.

I'd say that they should see these TV shows:

BTAS

Zeta Gundam

Little Princess Sara

Animated movies?

Grave of the Fireflies. It made Ebert's top 100 greatest movies of all time list. I have problems with the movie itself, but there's no denying the sheer emotional wallop guts the viewer with.

[Psycho Fox]

Good list but any Gundam series would do so why limit it to just Gundam Wing.

[NewMaxFranklin]

My picks:

Gargoyles

BTAS

Spider~Man

[Clayface]

I'd say:

B:TAS (I've already hooked lots of people with it)

Gargoyles

Princess Mononoke (movie rather than show, but its still got the same impact).

[don Jaime]

Barefoot Gen deserves mention, as does the Superman episode where Darkseid kills Turpin.

[Calhoun07]

Grave of the Fireflies is actually one I did use, showing it to my mom. She usually turns her nose up at animation that isn't Disney, and had a lot of apprehensions before I showed her the movie, but she really got into the movie and even rewound it (yeah, those were the days of VHS, what can I say?) to watch the ending again. She bought Iron Giant and Titan AE on her own, so I like to think I had some kind of good influence on her.

Cowboy Bebop is another AWESOME series I would show anybody in a heart beat to let them see how good animation can be.

Others, Heavy Metal, Titan AE and Iron Giant. Barefoot Gen is also an excellent one.

[Vigo Sprax]

BTAS
Cowboy Bebop
BB

[I.R Joey]

What's wrong with Wing? I liked it. I had such a great time last summer psycoanalyzing each of the charecters. I think they all made sense, and I really don't see any holes. My only complaints about the series are Hero and Relleana not getting together, and some plot holes in EndlessW. Other then that I think it's completly solid.

[Calhoun07]

I, personally, could never get into Gundam Wing. I can't place my finger on it, but I just did not like the series, tho I do have the first DVD.

[icecold]

B:TAS is all you need, but because you asked for three I'll add Spider-Man and X-Men.