Soon the comic strip was focused on him, and Olive even dumped her longtime boyfriend Ham Gravy to become Popeye's main squeeze. Though it’s been off the air for over 15 years audiences are still drawn to its enigmatic animation style and quotable lead character. Though many of these movies are primarily aimed at children, studios ensure that they are easily enjoyed by kids and adults alike. The animation itself wasn't much to speak of, but the stories told over the course of its 256 episodes were kiddie cocaine to those of us who grew up in the '80s. But for those of you who've never seen The Tick, or read the Ben Edlund comic book series that it's based on, you sure missed out on some rich chocolate, because it was the first great lampooning of the superhero genre. That was the basic premise. The plastic equine toys from the ’80s have had a remarkable endurance among collectors, but the Hasbro franchise really hit the big time when Faust’s cartoon deepened the mythology of the ponies and created a media and merchandising phenomenon. The series is an interesting take on free will and the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it.". Sorry guys, we have a soft spot for it too, but when you look at The Spectacular Spider-Man, it's clear that this show, while significant for Spider-Man, was a stepping stone along the way as far as creating a truly great show based on the character. But it's the most recent series that we're giving the highest slot to, as it has quickly established itself as the definitive animated version of Spider-Man. 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. Of course, Mighty Mouse also needs to be singled out for one other reason -- the wonderful theme song, which remains as catchy today as ever, and of course was the inspiration for a famous Andy Kaufman bit. The show's simple and colorful art style lends itself well to the cinematic scope and frenetic action sequences that fill each episode. Some of the best written shows within the last fifteen years have been cartoons. Starring the entire main cast of the Clerks films, not to mention Alec Baldwin as the Lex Luthorish Leonardo Leonardo, Clerks was able to do a lot more broad comedy and parodies than the films, with episodes evoking everything from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to the unfortunate results of a Transformer transforming with a person inside him. And yes, the Popeye cartoon did give a much needed shot in the arm to the U.S. spinach industry, which is not only fascinating, but might also constitute a high crime. Perhaps the subtle joys of “Teen Titans Go!” can best be summed up by this logline from a Season 1 episode: “Robin and the Titans become annoyed when Beast Boy and Cyborg will only say the word ‘waffles. They all fell to the power of the real Ghostbusters! -- had a wide range of powers, including strength, speed, endurance and the ability to assume the form of electricity. Throughout the annals of TV history, cartoon stars have shone brightly, bringing joy to children and adults alike. The show's incredibly fast production schedule allows Parker and Stone to write and produce episodes almost up to the day they air, something unheard of in the animation genre, where it normally takes months to produce a half-hour episode. #31daysofhalloween #thecro, Day 27—The Craft (1996) The animation was often crude, but we were still transfixed on this parade of stupidity. Neither did we. So no tearing out of throats for this vamp, but rather a pursuit of fame and fortune was the purview of Count Duckula....much to the chagrin of his faithful assistant Igor, who does his best to get his master back to his old vamping ways. The first season, which lasted just five episodes on UPN before being picked up by Cartoon Network, was produced in production company Soup2Nut's Squigglevision, the signature style of Dr. Katz. R.I.P. One of the best animated shows of all time? It doesn’t feel like a cartoon in the typical sense. And instead of just giving a comedian their own sitcom, why not just have a show that gives a bunch of comedians a chance to run with their best material. The Simpsons is not only the longest running American animated program, it's also the longest running American sitcom, and is currently tied with Gunsmoke for the longest running American primetime series. I don’t know what’s harder to believe, that there was a time where cartoons were played during prime-time or that The Jetsons became a worldwide sensation with only one season. Most of the earlier anime that we got, like Astro Boy and Speed Racer, were softened for American audiences and had a lot of the more mature themes and scenes removed, but Robotech had a bunch of that stuff left in. But it certainly kept the character in the public consciousness long after his initial popularity had waned. Made up of Blossom, who’s the leader, Bubbles, the emotionally fragile one with a heart of gold and Buttercup, the Raphael of the group. Of these international filmmakers, none is more popular than Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli, who directed 11 of the best animated movies. While nothing could recapture the perfection of the original Looney Tunes shorts, Tiny Toon Adventures was a worthy homage to those shorts, made up of funny and creative episodes that included moments of subtle and smart humor for older viewers. Johnny Bravo the show, like Johnny Bravo the character, was mindless fun -- a show that never tried to be anything more than it was but was still enjoyable for both kids and adults. The show is about Dipper and his younger sister Mabel who are sent to stay the summer with their great-uncle Stan in a town filled with nothing but paranormal oddities. They were either educational, humorous and/or action packed. His pimp ride was a red Chevrolet Camaro G3 that transformed into a gull-winged fighter plane. Fans of true Japanese anime think Avatar is a cheap American knockoff, and there's no denying that the show borrowed heavily from anime. Not a TV show as much as an ongoing series of shorts that made the Saturday morning circuit for almost 30 years, Schoolhouse Rock! #31daysofhall, Day 28: The Crow (1994) FMA is one of those special anime that became more than a mere animated show; it was a powerful weekly drama. And who did they get to do the voice for Garfield in the movies in order to echo the old Lorenzo Music dry tone? The Pokémon franchise wasn’t just limited to the television show, which is still ongoing. As with all of the series that spun-off from Batman: TAS, the focus was on presenting a more "realistic" version of the DC universe. We all know the spiel. Soon, it was not only ok to admit you liked cartoons but it became socially acceptable. Seemingly unafraid to take on any subject, Matt Stone and Trey Parker have created a forum for their opinions that's unfiltered and raw, making some of the freshest comedy currently on the air. If nothing else, this series gave all children of the '80s plenty of iconic battle cries and proclamations. While other animated series based on comic books had adapted specific stories before, the 1992 X-Men series gets a lot of credit for making a much bigger overreaching attempt to translate some of the most iconic and popular comic stories of all time and letting them play out over multiple episodes. On the heels of the success of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim launched several series using previously created animated characters in offbeat and bizarre new situations. The cowardly Great Dane with a speech impediment who solved crimes with his, like, totally groovy teen friends captured imaginations with the light horror elements, hilarious catchphrases, bonkers mysteries, elaborate Rube Goldberg-like traps, and goofy characterizations. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Evaluating animation can be trickier than other genres. If watching Awesome X blast the ever-loving hell out of his own "robotic" Xticle fighting force, seeing the greatest supervillain of all time (we just said that) Killface shove his fist up a man's half-corpse and then use him like a puppet, or see the blue collar Decepticles -- "More than you bargained for!"