The 34 Best Animated TV Series (A Fan's Guide)
I absolutely love the ability animated shows have of sucking you into an imaginary world. Maybe it’s because animated works don’t try to do all the work of imagining the content for you, like modern CGI shows try to do, but actually invite you to be an active participant in the experience. Or, maybe it’s the sheer range of content and style.
Anime is one popularized form of animation (literally, the word anime is derived from the word animation and, within Japan, is used to refer to all forms of animation. Outside of Japan, “anime” is generally used as a reference for Japanese-derived animation). Anime began to become a broader part of global culture in the later 1980s and through the 1990s, during which time the earlier term “Japanimation” started to become supplanted by “anime.” Within anime, there is a broad range of sub-styles and genres, and cross influence between Japanese animation and other animation styles have led to all manner of growth in the art form as a whole.
But animated shows started long before anime, or even film itself, was conceived. There are examples of animation precursors going back at least 4000 years to Ancient Egypt, where instructional representations using sequential images have been found, but even earlier depictions of sequential imagery exist, and even ancient cave paintings show a human fascination with capturing both a representation of movement and something of the soul of an experience.
From shadow plays, to magic lanterns in the 1600s, to animation finally being included in films during the early 1900s, the history of animation is the history of human thought and passion for design. Our imagination and our need to capture the experiences we have of the world we live within, live within this art form, and have gone on to produce some of the most incredible expressions of life ever mustered.
Modern animation shows exist in multitudes, filling every possible niche interest area, ranging from the comic to the deeply dramatic, and everything in-between.
Now, we’ve got some astounding animated shows that have even been turned into live-action projects due to the sheer overwhelming support brought by their fans. With content providers battling it out for the next big bingeworthy hit, it seems likely that more inspiration will be drawn from animated series in the future.
But, while you wait for the next live-action remake, why not enjoy the original, and maybe let yourself have a bow of cereal with your Saturday morning cartoons.