The golden age of American animated television may have begun with The Simpsons 30 years ago—although we’d argue 1991’s Nickelodeon slate was the real start, but we’ll spare you the semantics—but one thing is for sure: there’s no better time to watch cartoons than now, with streaming services and traditional networks both putting out high-quality works so regularly it’s like they fell from the sky. The list of shows below represents our editors’ picks for the greatest animated shows to be produced within the last 10 years, from paradigm-shifting mega-hits (Adventure Time, BoJack Horseman, Steven Universe) to offbeat cult favorites (Bee and Puppycat, Over the Garden Wall, Undone) to sequels and reboots that speak for themselves (Samurai Jack, The Legend of Korra). Anime isn’t included here, but don’t worry about that—we haven’t forgotten it. Grab your remote and get bingeing.
Adventure Time
This goofy game-changer by Pendelton Ward follows Finn and Jake through their adventures in the post-apocalyptic land of Ooo. With simple character designs that let intense emotions shine and a ukulele-laced soundtrack that goes to some pretty dark places, it will be impossible to remember the 2010s without thinking of this iconic series.
Bee and PuppyCat
This delightfully weird little web series follows Bee, an unemployed 20-something who works intergalactic temp jobs with a rather strange pet: PuppyCat (who looks like a cat and smells like a dog, because we know you were wondering). Fans of the series (of which there are many) rejoiced last year when Frederator released the trailer for the continuation series, Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space. We’re waiting.
Bob’s Burgers
The Emmy-winning Fox show about a quirky family who runs a burger joint has been running for almost a decade now, but it’s anything but stale. The Belchers continue to delight viewers with wacky antics, catchy original songs, and plenty of burger puns.
BoJack Horseman
It’s no secret that we at The Dot and Line have a soft spot for Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s Sad Horse Show, considering our numerous packages on it. Probably because we’re masochists. But the Netflix show continues to absolutely kill it with every new season, and oh boy, it hurts so good.
Castlevania
Netflix’s anime adaptation of the 1986 Konami game is the vampire hunting adventure series we didn’t know we needed. True enough to the lore to satisfy nostalgic fans and fascinating enough to win over new audiences, the story follows vampire hunter Trevor Belmont, Speaker Sypha Belnades, and Alucard, son of Dracula, as they fight to stop hell from being unleashed on 15th Century Wallachia (part of contemporary Romania). Strangely inspiring storylines and a variety of new characters earned Castlevania a top spot in the 2010s. Now if they’d just release the new season before the next decade!
Gravity Falls
A show about growing up and finding your feet, Gravity Falls proved that kids cartoons can be incredibly complex, riffing on The Simpsons and The X-Files and finding an ambitious, mysterious, hilarious groove of its own. Throughout the series, showrunner Alex Hirsch and his crew planted clues to spur the audience into figuring out the coming pieces of the plot themselves, making this crypto-romp through the Pacific Northwest not just an excellent watch but a mystery for its viewers to help unfold.
Over the Garden Wall
This 10-part miniseries of 11-minute episodes is, against all odds, one of Cartoon Network’s greatest artistic achievements. An autumnal reworking of Dante’s Inferno set in a quirky but haunting dreamworld that blends harsh Germanic fairy tales with wistful, sepia-toned Americana, it matches a first-class voice cast with extraordinary music and atmosphere and spins a tale that unveils another subtle secret with every rewatch.
Primal
It’s fitting that a dialogue-free, intimately brutal action series about a rough-and-tumble prehistoric past closed out a tech-obsessed decade in which our political climate grew progressively more polarized and violent. Primal is many things, but it’s first and foremost a love story between man and beast, and its simple aesthetic and narrative belie the intricate technical achievements director Genndy Tartakovsky’s team accomplished with its five short episodes.
Regular Show
One of the best original series to air on Cartoon Network, the Regular Show perfected the kind of weirdness most shows only dream of. Paying homage to the bizarre adventures you find yourself in with friends—probably while stoned, but shh, don’t tell—the show never thought sentient gumball machines or wacky talking animals were a bridge too far. If you’re a fan of Parks and Recreation, you’ll want to watch this show to keep up with Mordecai and Rigby, groundskeepers who would give Leslie Knope a run for her money.
Rick and Morty
You knew we were gonna include this one, broh. Sure, people talk about Rick and Morty so much that it’s like, “Shut the hell up about Rick and Morty already,” but then you watch it and suddenly you’re the one who won’t shut up about Rick and Morty, and then you’re singing “take off your pants and your panties, shit on the floor!” It’s a slippery slope.
Samurai Jack (Season 5)
The triumphant return and staggeringly bittersweet end of Samurai Jack was a coup for fans of legendary animator and action filmmaker Genndy Tartakovsky. It also proved that Tartakovsky’s eye for style, slow pacing, and weirder directing quirks—which never got as much air in his work on big-budget features like the Hotel Transylvania—had not diminished. Instead, Samurai Jack’s ending is perfect, and his story belongs as much to the 2010s and a fandom that never got tired of asking for more as it did to the turn of the century, when the show first premiered.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
A reboot of the 1985 series created by Noelle Stevenson, this modern sequel to She-Ra: Princess of Power is a heartfelt exploration of friendship, family, and what it means to be strong. The series follows Adora as she discovers her role as legendary hero She-Ra, meets the princesses of Etheria, and grapples with her past. Come for the heroics, stay for complicated baddies like Catra, Shadow Weaver, Scorpia, and Hordak, all fully-developed characters whose complexity undermines the frequent children’s TV show trope of the simple, unrepentant villain.
Steven Universe
Teaching us about gender, feelings, friendship, and how to make the world a little bit better, Steven Universe ushered us into a more colorful and creative decade. Stocked with rich characters and helmed by non-binary creator and artist Rebecca Sugar, the show has made history for the LGBTQ+ community with important moments including the first ever same-sex wedding in a kid’s cartoon. It’s also one of the most moving explorations of childhood trauma in all of media and a phenomenally serialized space opera war story to boot. This is another favorite here at The Dot and Line, and for many good reasons.
Summer Camp Island
Sugary sweet and subtly funny, Summer Camp Island is Julia Pott’s love letter to those transitional periods of life, where you decide (a little at a time) how your life’s going to go. Join Oscar and Hedgehog for their magical camp experience, where they overcome anxieties, embrace their wild sides, and learn that being your best self is a little easier with some help from your best friend. The detailed backgrounds are also an absolute treat.
The Amazing World of Gumball
Video game references! A variety of animation styles! Sooo many jokes! Ben Bocquelet’s surreal comedy series follows the dysfunctional Watterson family as they take on work, school, and saving the town of Elmore, where life has done more than find a way— it’s found its way into everything. Gumball, a blue cat, and his brother Darwin, a fish with legs, may have only been around for a decade so far, but they’ve found a permanent place in our hearts.
The Dragon Prince
The Dragon Prince shows us that leadership can come from the most unexpected places—including from an adorable baby dragon. This Netflix original makes its viewers feel like they’re watching Saturday morning cartoons all over again. Created by Aaron Ehasz, the head writer of Avatar: The Last Airbender—who’s much better at writing for television than he is taking responsibility for his failures—the show does a remarkable job of touching on the particular emotions and challenges of childhood while adding in some extra blood magic along the way.
The Legend of Korra
Avatar: The Last Airbender, perhaps the best show of the 2000s, was about the adventure that began the building of a better world. Its underappreciated sequel was about the messy struggle to maintain it. A nuanced depiction of class politics, history, political philosophy, social responsibility, trauma, and the nature of compromise, Korra balanced serious ideas with serious action, making it as fitting a successor to Avatar as Avatar Korra was to Avatar Aang.
Tuca and Bertie
Don’t lie— you’re dancing to the theme song RIGHT NOW. Despite its short run, Lisa Hanawalt’s Bird City–centered series is sure to leave a lasting legacy. With smooth and quirky animation, an iconic song about having a mental breakdown in a grocery store, and Ali Wong and Tiffany Haddish voicing the titular characters, this show was peak 2019, and the decade is better for it.
Undone
From our boy Raphael Bob-Waksberg and BoJack writing alum Kate Purdy comes Undone, a rotoscoped wonder following 28-year-old Alma as she grapples with her new relationship with time. We won’t give any more away, but suffice it to say that it’s a glorious model for how animation can be used to tell stories that live action never could.
Young Justice
Young Justice is bigger, bolder, stars way more marquee heroes, and is full of a lot more adolescent angst and heart than any of CW’s Arrowverse live-action shows or the DC Extended Universe’s movies. If you want an experience that matches the re-readability of the comics—that tells serious stories making you constantly ask questions like, “Wait, was that Geo-Force? Wait, GEO-FORCE is a main character???”—this is the show for you.
Writing: Elly Belle, Marley Crusch, John Maher, Sammy Nickalls, and Eric Vilas-Boas
Thanks for reading The Dot and Line, where we talk about animation of all kinds. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
