The 30 best cartoons even adults can enjoy

We rank the 30 best cartoons even adults can enjoy.

There was a day where cartoons were just for kids. After school, kids would race home to see Scooby Doo, or in later years something like Tiny Toons or Duck Tales. Saturday mornings used to be the golden shrine of cartoons for kids, with Super Friends and The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour leading way to The Smurfs and Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers. However, thanks to the elimination of many Saturday morning cartoons and the rise of Netflix and other streaming platforms offering 24-hour entertainment, things have changed.

As kids from the ’80s and ’90s grew up, they held their love for cartoons, while younger kids seem more interested in video games or streaming options. Adults have now become the target audience for many animators in modern-day television, with even shows geared towards kids having a lot to offer adults watching in the background, or in some cases, those without kids watching cartoons on their own time.

With Adult Swim making adult cartoons specifically for grown-ups and even shows on Cartoon Network making sure to make their programming as adult-friendly as they can, here is a look at the 30 best cartoons that even adults can love.

30. The Amazing World of Gumball

The Amazing World of Gumball is an animated series created for Cartoon Network, debuting in 2011 and airing over 200 episodes and six seasons to date. The cartoon features the story of a 12-year-old cat named Gumball Watterson and his family, including his smart sister Anais, working mother Nicole, lazy stay-at-home dad Richard and best friend, Darwin. The series was a mixture of a family comedy and a school-based cartoon and shares a lot in common with The Simpsons, with an even more absurd premise.

For the kids, there is a lot to love in Gumball, as the colors are bright and vibrant, the action is ridiculous and over-the-top, and the comedy is slapstick every step of the way. There are also a lot of lessons involved when it comes to kids overcoming troubles at school and in life that remains relatable to kids currently in school.

However, for adults, there is so much more. Much like other Cartoon Network shows like Adventure Time and Regular Show, there is a lot to love in Gumball for the adults in the house. While this is not an adult cartoon, it is a cartoon that knows that adults will watch it with their kids. Adults can appreciate the real-life backgrounds that the cartoon characters interact in, and there are also real-life items they associate with such as a puppet and more.

While the stories and lessons are for kids, the ridiculous action and hyperactive animation give adults something to marvel at. Much of the humor is over-the-heads of younger kids but remains very funny to anyone who loves absurdist There, and the songs and pop culture references are all there to keep adults entertained.