The ILX Animated Series Poll Results Thread is part of this complete breakfast

62T. Gumby
44 points, 3 votes, 1 firsts

62T. Xavier: Renegade Angel
44 points, 3 votes, 0 firsts

61. Liquid Television
47 points, 3 votes, 0 firsts

60. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
49 points, 4 votes, 0 firsts

I watched this because the internet seems to adore it, but I except for the episode the introduced us to Bo’s dads (which is genuinely excellent episode and easily the funniest of the series), I had a hard time enjoying it. I still contend that Catra is the protagonist in a Lucifer/Paradise Lost register.

77. The Critic
rewatched a few episodes for this poll. the first episode involves jay dating an actress who viciously dumps him when he gives a bad review of her acting. the other episode i watched ended with a parody of the crying game revelation scene with the woman secretly being barney the dinosaur. yeah, this hasn't held up. i remember the Shockwave™ episodes being even worse.

76. Rugrats
i remember some parents of young children being superfans of this in rec.arts.tv. i thought it was just ok. good theme song.

74. Astro Boy
one of my votes. one of my first experiences with serial storytelling. the circus episode is engrained in my mind -- i guess my parents had it on tape.

68. TMNT
this was a pleasant comedy show for kid me. i grew out of it before it ended.

64. Sailor Moon
another one popular on usenet, especially among people who knew little about anime but thought they were experts. "some noobs think sailor moon is for adults because it's anime, but it's not REAL anime", etc. i liked the episode where a bunch of main characters died before being brought back. it was a combination of several episodes into one for the english market.

59. Magic Roundabout, The (1965-1977)
49 points, 5 votes, 0 firsts

58. X-Men (Fox Kids, 1992-1997)
49 points, 5 votes, 0 firsts

I voted for this though I'm pretty sure it was a nostalgia trip for me. I wlll say that it was my first sustained exposure to the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix saga (I only read the Claremont comics much later into adulthood), and I ate it up like a kid eating glue.

57. Ulysses 31
50 points, 4 votes, 0 firsts

56. DuckTales (1987-1990)
51 points, 6 votes, 0 firsts

I watched the hell out of DT as a kid. I still remember the episode where the British butler screws up the triplets' baseball game because he doesn't understand the rules. The episodes with Gizmoduck were probably my favorite because I expect he was the Poochie of the era and I didn't know better.

55. Rocko's Modern Life
51 points, 6 votes, 0 firsts

54. Sealab 2021
52 points, 4 votes, 0 firsts

i liked the episode where a bunch of main characters died before being brought back. it was a combination of several episodes into one for the english market.

just two! the last two of the season. they're heartbreaking :(

53. Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
52 points, 5 votes, 0 firsts

That said, near zero desire to go back and rewatch it

vinnie! it's worth it! ok there are many not-great sailor moon episodes but idk i also just love to watch it. the villain designs, the outfits, the infinitely recurring transformation scenes, the increasing queerness from season to season. it's like gay comfort food for me.

52. Ivor the Engine
53 points, 3 votes, 1 firsts

also sailor moon has a really compelling narrative about friendship and eternal love and time travel and interdimensional beings and utopian moon kingdoms, it kicks goddamn ass

i love the look of mr benn and ivor. never seen them before today.

51. Hey Arnold!
53 points, 4 votes, 0 firsts

That's the last one for today! Tomorrow, we'll get 50-41, and get to see the handiwork of Lovely Assistant Thermo!

Sealab TOO LOW

Hey Arnold is all-time for me purely on the basis of the episode where Helga goes to therapy

Noteworthy for being a show set in a city (forget if it’s literally New York or just extremely New York-like) when I feel like the suburbs, or at least detached single family housing, were the predominant setting for kid and family shows.

60. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
After the initial arc of adora leaving the horde, there's a series of episodes that are so inconsequential that they could have been 80s she-ra episodes. it does improve once the story kicks back in. haven't made it to season 2 yet. by the way, the first two volumes of noelle stevenson's lumberjanes are well worth seeking out.

57. Ulysses 31
watched an episode for the poll. fascinating SF/F setting, with some surprisingly good animation, but then the need for kid-friendly sidekicks is a big negative. i am guessing daft punk liked it.

56. DuckTales
i was watching the annotated foodfight on youtube, and one of the notes was "you could be watching ducktales right now". a note to keep always in mind.

53. Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
i ranked this pretty highly. a highlight is laura the receptionist, a great creation with a perfect voice acting performance. the recent audible podcast episodes are good too.

She-Ra’s most recent batch of episodes really start going places. Catra is the best character and Scorpia is my strong wife.

i think sealab was the first of the williams street adult swim shows i saw and i've never really revisited it but it seemed very funny to me at the time

vinnie! it's worth it! ok there are many not-great sailor moon episodes but idk i also just love to watch it. the villain designs, the outfits, the infinitely recurring transformation scenes, the increasing queerness from season to season. it's like gay comfort food for me.

ugh brad, you are so good at making me want to listen to and watch things, but I don't think you're gonna get me this time. I have a strong desire to go back and rewatch many specific moments, but there's SO much filler in between those moments. maybe someday an AI can figure out exactly what I liked and only show me that stuff

xp

77. The Critic
Orson Welles voiced by the guy who did Pinky kicks serious ass.

Sealab TOO LOW
FOR REAL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uWW--w4SRs

x-men the first from my ballot to place and tho i don't know how the show would hold up now here really the nostalgia was irresistible - not only an animated staple but essentially my introduction to the x-men and still to my mind the core true x-men team (even tho maybe kitty would've been better in the jubilee role...).

Maurice LaMarche is a legend

MOVE IT FOOTBALL HEAD

Tangentially related but have people seen this Youtube series?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut0MovHdKvY

The Garfield installment is truly epic.

And by epic I mean cursed.

Magic Roundabout and Ivor the Engine way TOO LOW. I’m going to assume people just haven’t seen them. I’d have thought maybe The Magic Roundabout would have had some transatlantic success because of its cult stonery vibe, but perhaps not. It was originally a French show that a British studio wrote completely new scripts and characters for. It is mad and timeless and has the best theme tune ever.

I’ll wait for imago to wake up and eulogise the wonders of Ivor the Engine, which was my second place vote.

Magic Roundabout was my #13 and Ivor the Engine was near the bottom. My ballot was almost entirely based on childhood nostalgia but the placing was somewhat arbitrary.

I should have been gentler in my previous post, as the spirit of the shows would prefer.

In my excitement I didn’t even notice Hey Arnold. As a child I loved it for its depiction of a world that wasn’t resolutely cheerful. Most of the characters are poor and a lot of the games and fun the children have (from memory) are improvised in the streets around fantasy stories. It was a lot about finding hope and lightness in dark places, and not at all in a maudlin or melodramatic way.

Sailor Moon infinitely too low you savages, knew i shd've voted

She-Ra’s most recent batch of episodes really start going places. Catra is the best character and Scorpia is my strong wife.

Agreed. The second part of the second season (which Netflix is calling season 3, but it's quite obvious they just cut season 2 into two halves so they could release the first half earlier) is some really strong stuff, so I would recommend anyone who was lukewarm about first season watching these episodes too, before passing judgment. Scorpia is indeed awesome, and I love how they've made Catra into a three-dimensional character with understandable motivations, while still refusing to give her a clichéd "hidden heart of gold" redemption arc.

Ah shit Cities of Gold, Ulysses 31 and Hey Duggee all would've done a lot better if I'd got round to a ballot.

I’d have thought maybe The Magic Roundabout would have had some transatlantic success because of its cult stonery vibe, but perhaps not. It was originally a French show that a British studio wrote completely new scripts and characters for. It is mad and timeless and has the best theme tune ever.

Otm. Missed voting in this but it would've been high on my ballot (and I never saw it as a child). It really is the best theme tune of all time.

My 1 and 2 have landed outside the top 50 :(

They're about as different as two animated shows could be, but Ivor The Engine is the loveliest thing imaginable and Xavier: Renegade Angel is pure, delirious chaos

Here inside five minutes I hope you can understand why Ivor is, was, and shall always be my #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfLM5Lt6jOQ

also I was another Magic Roundabout vote obv

I ended up cutting Ivor the Engine but I just remembered Idris the Dragon, who I *adored* as a child. All dragons are called Idris in my brain b/c of that lil guy. Damn.

yeah I could have easily posted the Idris introduction episode

https://i.imgur.com/jHIN9dB.jpg

50. Maxx, The
56 points, 4 votes, 0 firsts

I'd've had Noggin the Nog above Ivor tbh

sorry i didnt vote but i couldnt lean on what i thought was good in 1972

yeah me neither, this whole "I liked it when I was 8" criteria seems deeply stupid to me

in a poll of cartoons, i know

To be clear the whole concept of polling a tiny population of forum posters who are mostly the exact same age about their media preferences is pretty stupid! It’s diverting though.