The '90s was a great decade for animated entertainment. Many of the cartoons and anime that people talk about to this day had their first run just before the turn of the century and shaped an entire generation that still fondly remembers the colorful characters from their childhood.
The nostalgia for the '90s as a whole has grown over the last few years and allowed some of the beloved cartoons from the time to regain popularity on the internet, introducing them to groups of kids that were born years after most of these shows stopped running. For people who grew up alongside these cartoons, however, rewatching them now from the point of view of an adult is an interesting affair.
10 The Adventures On The Magic School Bus Are Still Great
Based on the book series of the same name, The Magic School Bus was one of the most popular shows for children for its education-made-fun approach. The critically acclaimed cartoon followed school teacher Miss Frizzle and her class as they went on all kinds of adventures on the titular Magic School Bus.
While the adventures were certainly entertaining to children at the time, it's surprising how well they still hold up on that front, even if some of them are so truly bizarre and nonsensical that one can only laugh. Miss Frizzle's eccentricity might seem a lot more relatable now than it did back then.
9 The Powerpuff Girls Show Is Comedy Gold
Perhaps one of the most well-known cartoons from Cartoon Network, The Powerpuff Girls showed everyone that yes, even kindergartners could be heroes. The three main girls, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, remain pop culture icons to this day, but the show itself deserves way more credit than it usually gets.
Apart from the wonderful character designs, which are unique and colorful for each and every character, the show's humor is still surprisingly fresh and genuinely funny. In fact, some of the gags were subtle enough that they were probably designed with an adult audience in mind, reaffirming The Powerpuff Girls' position as one of Hanna-Barbera's best cartoons.
8 X-Men: The Animated Series Remains The Best X-Men Adaptation Yet
Hands down the best adaptation of the Marvel Comics superheroes to this day, the '90s X-Men animated series was many fans' first introduction to characters like Wolverine, Storm, and Professor X. Despite airing on Fox Kids, as a retelling of the original comics, the show discussed several serious topics like religion and mental illness.
As such, X-Men was mostly a show for fans of superheroes rather than just a children's series. While most of the stories were written specifically for the show, they did loosely adapt a few storylines from the comics that fans should find familiar and entertaining to this day.
7 The Jokes In Rocko's Modern Life Need A Closer Look
Rocko's Modern Life was made with both children and adults in mind since the beginning, which earned the show more than a few raised eyebrows. The cartoon follows wallaby Rocko, who upon moving to the U.S. finds himself in a variety of funny situations with his other animal friends.
Rocko's Modern Life includes an array of jokes that can easily fly over people's heads the first time around —like that time a slug character was reading a magazine called 'Playslug'— but a rewatch and an adult perspective can easily help understand the hilarity behind them.
6 The Parents From Rugrats Are More Relatable The Second Time Around
When people think of '90s cartoons, their minds immediately fly to the Rugrats. The Nickelodeon show mainly focuses on the adventures of a group of toddlers, including fan-favorites Angelica and Chuckie, and has won a number of important awards over its long run.
Rugrats is also known for its adult characters, who often get their own storylines alongside the toddlers. Revisiting the show is great purely for nostalgia, but picking out some of the subtler details about the adults is definitely an interesting thing to do, especially when one starts to relate to their hectic lives.
5 Johnny Bravo's Humor Hits Different When Viewers Get The References
A true legend of pop culture humor, Johnny Bravo was another of Hanna-Barbera's hits to premiere on Cartoon Network. The show stands out for having an adult, unlikeable main character despite being in a children's network, and for its abundance of guest stars and pop culture references.
It's not surprising to see the titular Johnny Bravo meet up with Adam West and Donny Osmond in a couple of episodes and then to have Hanna-Barbera characters like the Mystery Inc. or Fred Flintstone crossover into the show. Catching these references is fun, but finally getting to enjoy Johnny as a character is one of the best things to come out of a rewatch!
4 Hey Arnold! Is The Best Nickelodeon Sitcom Ever
Hey Arnold! transcends from cartoon into animated sitcom quite effortlessly and gracefully, with a large cast of diverse characters and relatable situations that solidify its place as one of Nickelodeon's best of the best. The show was probably many kids' first introduction to sitcoms in general, so it deserves full points for that.
Watching Arnold navigate urban life with his friends while Helga agonizes over her secret love for him is great the first time around, but the drama only intensifies with subsequent rewatches, especially if the series is watched back to back.
3 Courage The Cowardly Dog Is Just As Disturbing As It Is Funny
There's no other cartoon series like Courage The Cowardly Dog. The show is a bizarre amalgamation of genres, with truly disturbing scenes that turn into hilarious comedy bits and vice-versa, and a lineup of frightening characters that scarred millions of kids well into adulthood.
But the simple story of Courage, an anthropomorphic dog that lives in the middle of nowhere with its owners, is one that is worth revisiting for its petrifying imagery and absurdity. Getting creeped out by Freaky Fred's eerie smile and King Ramses' late '90s CGI is an experience that bears repeating.
2 Batman: The Animated Series Did The Comics Justice
Hailed as the best adaptation of the Dark Knight, Batman: The Animated Series is a show that is better appreciated after several rewatches. The show is lauded for its film noir aesthetics and themes and is known for having a star-studded voice cast. Most notably, viewers love the series for Mark Hamill's acting as Batman's archnemesis, the Joker, and for the modernization of Batman's storyline and crime-fighting style.
The series also marked the debut of one of DC's most famous female villains, Harley Quinn, who would go on to achieve higher levels of mainstream popularity after Margot Robbie's portrayal in Suicide Squad. All in all, Batman: The Animated Series is the show every Batman fan goes to after another version of the character gets a questionable interpretation on the silver screen.
1 Peter Parker Is At His Best In Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Similarly to other superhero animated series of the time, Spider-Man: The Animated Series was applauded by many for being faithful to the source material and having one of the best interpretations of Peter Parker and Spider-Man's enemies.
The show was one of the most-watched Saturday morning cartoons of its time, making it an instant classic with fans of the superhero genre and boosting Spider-Man's overall popularity, which led Marvel into producing the first live-action trilogy starring Tobey Maguire. Despite the many movies that came after —and the many others that are yet to come— fans still go back to the animated series for more comics-accurate Spider-Man stories and characters, preferring this version over anything Marvel has done with the character since then.
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