I say, I say... this is a more accurate Top 20, boy. Thoughts?

1. Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies
2. Golden Age Disney shorts
3. The Simpsons
4. Tom and Jerry
5. The Flintstones
6. South Park
7. Popeye
8. Rocky and Bullwinkle
9. MGM-era Tex Avery shorts
10. The Ren and Stimpy Show
11. Batman: The Animated Series
12. SpongeBob SquarePants
13. Peanuts
14. Betty Boop
15. Beavis and Butt-head
16. Scooby-Doo
17. The Jetsons
18. Woody Woodpecker
19. Felix the Cat
20. Dragonball Z

Spongebob could take Batman, and Betty Boop could drop below Beavis and Butthead. Those are my only suggestions. Great top 20.

Thanks, and cool suggestions. The way I see it, Batman: TAS, as groundbreaking as it was, would take influence, innovation, and critical acclaim, while SpongeBob would take impact, popularity, and cultural significance. Batman excels in the influence criterion probably as much as SpongeBob does in popularity. So, it seems pretty close to me, overall.

As for Betty Boop vs. Beavis and Butt-head, Betty certainly takes influence (for being such an early, seminal cartoon), and B&B probably take innovation (for their juvenile, explicit characterizations -- plus their foray into the music video medium), and then they seem pretty much neck-and-neck in the other criteria. So, again, it looks like a close match.

It's a bit tough between Betty Boop and Beavis & Butthead. B&B definitely had a massive influence on the more crude and adult direction cartoons have taken in the past 20 years.

Betty Boop though, while today she's mostly a character who appears on t shirts that girls wear despite never seeing a single one of her shorts, her influence on animation can't be denied.

She was the first major star for the Fleischer bros studio (who were Disney's main rival in the the 20s and 30s) and for a time her popularity rivaled Mickey Mouse. The hays code that was established in June, 1934 was her undoing, forcing her to lose many of the character traits that made her an icon, and that lead to her decline in popularity and Popeye stealing her thunder.

But her shorts from 1932 to 1934 were masterpieces of surreal, rubber hose animation and helped establish the Fleischer bros as a powerhouse in 1930s animation that only Disney surpassed. Her shorts were very ahead of their time, they touched on sexual themes that were quite controversial for the period.

But they're very influencial in animation too. The Fleischer bros practically invented the groundbreaking technique of rotoscoping and the Betty Boop shorts in particular feature use of it that is still very impressive to look at today. Their shorts were very groundbreaking in the expressiveness of their animation (even without use of rotoscoping) and for their very surreal and trippy imagery. And for their masterful syncing of animation with music. The use of jazz and ragtime music was also something that set them apart from Disney.

Everyone from Bob Clampett to Tex Avery to Osamu Tezuka to Ralph Bakshi to John Kricfalusi is highly influenced by the Fleischer style. As are cartoonists like Robert Crumb.

I'm polishing the list up, bit by bit. Here's the next 10:

21. Animaniacs
22. Family Guy
23. Gumby
24. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
25. Yogi Bear
26. Pokémon
27. Alvin and the Chipmunks
28. King of the Hill
29. The Pink Panther
30. Transformers

How about The Huckleberry Hound Show for the top 50? He's the first of the iconic Hanna-Barbera characters (not including Tom and Jerry). His show is also where Yogi Bear made his debut before he got his own spinoff show.

And it was the first Hanna-Barbera production to become a true success, playing a major role in Hanna-Barbera becoming the dominant force in TV animation in the 1960s.

Sorry, but, am I really the only one who thinks Tom and Jerry is EASILY the #1 most important cartoon of all time?

Probably so, boobs.

Yes.

Anyone else think The Boondocks should be Top 50 at least? The show has ridiculous amounts of acclaim.

Top 50 seems a bit much at this point, but I agree that it needs to move up quite a bit.

Yeah, there's no way it beats out Looney Tunes, Disney or The Simpsons. I think it's current position is absolutely perfect.

I think it's The Herculoids, actually.

ever notice the kid calls his father by name, Zandor, but mom is just mom? Bad parenting.

Hmmm, Astro Boy really should be top ten or fifteen, considering he's almost like Japan's Micky Mouse.

Space Ghost: Coast to Coast should be pretty high for innovating the reuse of cells to create something new. This influence is limited to the Adult Swim Glory days, but I still feel like it's a really important innovation.

Something you should think about adding: Kimba: The White Lion, gigantic influence on The Lion King.




Yes, you are. It owes a lot to early Merry Melodies/Loony Toons. I think Loony Toons and Silly Symphonies/Disney shorts are neck and neck for the number one spot.