The 30 best cartoons even adults can enjoy

9. Adventure Time

Already mentioned in this countdown was Regular Show and Steven Universe. While those were instrumental in bringing adult cartoons that they could love as much as kids, the one that stands at the top of the Cartoon Network mountain is Adventure Time. This was the story of a boy named Finn and his adoptive brother, a dog named Jake.

Adventure Time is a fantasy epic at heart. Finn and Jake live in a post-apocalyptic land called Ooo and often go on adventures to save the kingdom, which is ruled over by Princess Bubblegum. They battled the somewhat evil, yet morally conflicted Ice King while also having run-ins with sometime ally Marceline the Vampire Queen. Along the way, Adventure Time is also a love letter to J.R.R. Tolkien, Dungeons and Dragons and classic video games.

This is not an adult cartoon and is aimed squarely at kids, but the smart writing, creative storytelling, and genre-bending tales are enough to make this a huge cult hit for adults and teenagers, many of whom are never embarrassed to quote and profess their love for the cartoon.

Fans recently learned, sadly, that like Regular Show, which started the same year, Adventure Time is also coming to an end. The final tenth season will air in 2018. There have been 274 episodes to date, including specials, and fans have just one more year to enjoy new adventures of Finn and Jake in the wonderful Land of Ooo.