Steve Greene, Kristen Lopez, Liz Shannon Miller, Michael Schneider, Jeff Stone, and Christian Zilko contributed to this list.Ĭourtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection 62. Animation is a genre for all ages and all stories, no matter when you’re able to start watching. Seek out what you haven’t seen and remember fondly those you have.

Honed from a list of more than 100 programs, the below ranking still only illustrates a sliver of the storytelling diversity animation has captured over the last century. That’s a damn shame, so to help remind everyone of the genre’s extensive impact and utmost significance, the IndieWire staff has put together a list of the Top 50 animated series of all-time. Animated series can be dismissed simply because so many viewers see the medium as less substantial than anything done in live-action, thus eliminating even the best of the bunch from discussions of TV’s elite programs. With all that in mind, animation needs a little extra celebration. Oscars 2023: Best Animated Feature Predictionsįrom 'Nymphomaniac' to 'Little Ashes': Unsimulated Sex Scenes in 36 Films 'The Simpsons' Features First Deaf Voice Actor, Use of ASL in Latest Episode There are cartoons, anime, short films, short series, short films turned into short series, web series, adult-oriented animation, and that’s before digging into all the individual genres, like old school slapstick comedies (a la “The Flintstones”) all the way up to the ever-more-popular dramatic animated series (including “ BoJack Horseman”). Of course, animation is also one of the more expansive TV subsets, with dozens of different tones and styles that make comparisons often feel like apples and oranges.

Adult cartoon pictures