There was something special about 2000s cartoons. Maybe it’s nostalgia talking, but from the animation styles to their often twisted storylines, cartoons of this era just hit differently.
Thanks to the doors that 1990s cartoons had opened, the stories told in a lot of early 2000s cartoons got to be more experimental, and the burgeoning influence of Japanese anime meant Western cartoons were becoming more visually interesting, too. Ultimately, compared with whatever the kids are watching nowadays, we’re pretty sure 2000s cartoons are wackier and weirder, for the better. (Cut to a scene of me googling “what cartoons are the kids watching today” and feeling tremendously old.)
Of course, many of the best 2000s cartoons, from Cartoon Network fan favorites to the golden era of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, lived on well past their original heyday. A handful are even slated for upcoming live-action reprisals. Others, sadly, have slipped into the camp of forgotten 2000s cartoons — but that can make them all the more fun to reminisce on.
Below, we’ve rounded up 27 of the best cartoons from the 2000s that’ll get you nostalgic (and maybe explain a little more about the person you’ve become than you’d want them to). While some may have technically first hit Saturday morning screens in the 90s, we think these all fall pretty solidly within the 2000s cartoon canon!
1. The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004)
This is the family you wanted to be a part of when you were younger. The main character, Eliza, can talk to animals — which comes in handy, given her family has a tendency to travel to all reaches of the world. Her parents are wildlife documentary filmmakers, and Eliza’s 16-year-old sister and adopted brother get in all sorts of wild predicaments. When it comes to kids cartoons, this one really encouraged imagination, the kind of “pretend” that made you wonder how you and your family would react to the same adventures.
2. Recess (1997-2001)
Recess is a beautiful time, when school takes a pause and play becomes the priority. This show tops our list of early 2000s cartoons and follows six elementary school students as they interact with fellow students, teachers, and whoever else weaves into the classroom storyline. Each episode focuses on the happenings of recess, highlighting all of the real-life moments of being a kid: crushes, getting in trouble, friend fights, and more. Two words: Highly relatable.
3. Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2001-2015)
This is one of those old cartoons where the one-liners still find their way into your teenage (and adult) vocabulary. The three main characters are endearing: Frylock, a box of fries with a no-nonsense attitude; Meatwad, a meatball with a super-sweet outlook on life; and Mister Shake, a — you guessed it — milkshake with a tendency to bully. You can never guess what’s coming up next in these episodes, they are wildly unexpected and definitely not for younger ears. But it would feel incomplete not including this one, since it helped shape the humor of so many.
4. Teacher’s Pet (2000-2002)
In Teacher’s Pet, the story focuses on a nine-year-old Leonard Helperman and his experiences at school where his mom is his teacher. On the first day of fourth grade, Leonard’s dog, Spot, decides to dress up as a new student named Scott Leadready II — without telling Leonard. Eventually, the secret gets out, Spot continues to attend school (becoming very popular in the process), and hijinks ensue.
5. Home Movies (1999-2004)
Eight-year-old aspiring filmmaker Brendan Small likes to make home movies with his friends, Jason Penopolis and Melissa Robbins. Each episode digs into one of their home movies, often recounting Brendan’s life with his mom and adopted sister. This one spoke to those creative kids who loved storytelling as they grew up.
6. Star Wars: Clone Wars (2008-2013)
This series takes place in the years between Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Fans of the movies remember this detailed dive into the ongoing battle between the Galactic Republic and Sith Lord Count Dooku’s Confederacy of Independent Systems. For a generation who peppered their rooms with Star Wars posters, this was an exciting addition to the storyline.
7. Teen Titans (2003-2006)
Teen Titans shares the lives of five teenagers who also happen to be superheroes. In addition to handling all of the curveballs thrown at a teen just getting through life — crushes, arguments with friends, family struggles — they also save the world from evil villains on a regular basis. After all, didn’t we all wish we were superheroes at some point in life?
8. Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015)
Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher have the summer vacations we all wish we could have had growing up. The show spotlights their breaks from school and the adventures that come with them, from building a giant rainbow that spans the Tri-State area to battling monsters.
9. Family Guy (1999-present)
This show is still going strong decades after its release, and for good reason. The sassy one-liners from the family’s infant son, Stewie, set the tone for the serie’s maaaaany “evil genius” plot lines — always ideated by Stewie. While other cartoons may have made you wish your family could wiggle right into the story, Family Guy was more of a “watch with disbelief” situation.
10. Spongebob Squarepants (1999-present)
Another classic that’s still pumping out new episodes, Spongebob Squarepants has single-handedly produced some of our favorite memes. His adventures with Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks, Mr. Krabs, and the rest of the Bikini Bottom crew are worth revisiting again and again.
11. Codename: Kids Next Door (2002-2008
We’re pretty sure the 10-year-old operatives of Kids Next Door, a secret organization that battled villainous adults, had the cartoon world’s coolest treehouse. There was something vaguely Out of the Box-y about it — if the playhouse in Out of the Box featured, y’know, high-tech weaponry.
12. Kim Possible (2002- 2007)
Here’s the sitch: Kim Possible and her cargo pants were pure early-aughts Disney Channel gold. Plain and simple. Also, Dr. Drakken and Shego? Talk about some iconic 2D adversaries.
13. The Proud Family (2001 - 2005)
Penny Proud and her girl gang were great, but we all know Suga Mama was the real reason we watched this show. It combined cartoon-level absurdity — remember the peanut humanoids in The Proud Family Movie? — with slice-of-life relatability, as Penny navigated her early teens in a multi-generational household. Get to know the Prouds again before the show’s revival, featuring both the original cast and big-name guest stars like Lizzo, Lil Nas X and Normani, comes to Disney+ in 2022.
14. Courage the Cowardly Dog (1996 - 2002)
We know, we know. A good chunk of Courage aired in the 90s, but there’s no way a circa-2000 cartoons roundup would be complete without it. A combination of sci-fi, horror and black comedy, it’s a supremely eerie show that still manages to feel unsettling today.
15. The Fairly OddParents (2001 - 2017)
The Fairly OddParents ran on and off for 17 years, with 10 seasons of Timmy Turner, Cosmo and Wanda’s shenanigans. That makes it Nickelodeon’s second-longest running show after Spongebob, but its original stretch, between the years 2001 and 2006, was its best. There’s a live-action reboot coming, but something tells us Chip Skylark and his shiny teeth in 3D form just won’t feel the same.
16. Ed, Edd N Eddy (1999 - 2008)
This cartoon was essentially a nine-year advertisement for Jawbreakers, the candy of choice that repetitively named friend trio Ed, Edd and Eddy are constantly trying to buy with the money they’ve swindled from neighborhood friends.
17. CatDog (1998 - 2005)
Of the 2000s Nickelodeon shows, this was one of the best, featuring the ever-dopey Dog and his conjoined sibling, the fame-hungry Cat. The episode where Cat enters his and Dog’s stomach to look for their pet fish is some actual body horror, and CatDog feels appropriately in keeping with other disturbing Nickelodeon favorites AAAHH!!! Real Monsters and The Angry Beavers.
18. The Powerpuff Girls (1998 - 2005)
The Powerpuff Girls premise was simple but effective, making it an all-time classic of the Cartoon Network 2000s shows era — and well past it. There’s a live-action reboot (eventually) coming, and if fans have anything to say about it, The Proud Family won’t be the only cartoon comeback on this list featuring Lil Nas X. After the “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” music video was released, fans started calling for him to be cast as HIM, the famously queer-coded PPG villian. If The CW can pull that off, they can take our money!
19. As Told By Ginger (2000 - 2006)
This was, honestly, an important show. Like Hulu’s Pen15 but in cartoon form, As Told By Ginger was relatable, featuring conversations about preteen girlhood that other shows weren’t having. From fighting her mom for permission to start shaving her legs to battling an addiction (to caffeine, but still), Ginger’s storylines felt real. The show earned praise, too, for letting its characters age and develop throughout the series, a rarity for cartoons at the time.
20. My Life As a Teenage Robot (2003 - 2009)
This show was a hit in the “extremely unordinary teen girl strives to be ordinary while also saving the world” catalogue of cartoons. Created by Rob Renzetti for Nickelodeon, it’s in good company with other shows the animator and director has worked on. Among them? The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack and Whatever Happened to… Robot Jones? Talk about a best-in-class 2000s cartoons resume!
21. Johnny Bravo (1995 - 2004)
Johnny Bravo was, in a word, a tool. The sunglass-wearing, pompadour-sporting cartoon’s sole mission in life was to get women to go on dates with him, but as a kid, it was actually pretty entertaining to watch. Maybe that’s because we hadn’t yet reached the age of fending off Johnny Bravos in real life. (Just a theory.)
22. Rocket Power (1999 - 2002)
Unlike a lot of cartoon characters of this era, the kids on Rocket Power were actually likeable. And by likeable, what we probably mean here is that they were, well, cool? Reggie was an aspiring publisher! With a zine! Who was also crazy athletic and had purple hair! Case closed.
23. Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005 - 2008)
It almost feels unfair to call this one a 2000s cartoon — the impact and influence of Avatar has been so enduring, perhaps more so than any other show on this list. Both the series’ storytelling and the world it created, full of telekinetic characters who can “bend” one of the four elements, are pretty incredible. Here’s hoping the upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation proves more successful than Avatar’s first TV-to-movie attempt.
24. Danny Phantom (2004 - 2007)
Though the whole teen-slash-accidental-superhero shtick was already a little overdone by the time Danny Phantom came out, something about the show still worked. It felt a bit more adult, and darker, than most of the other Nickelodeon shows on air at the time, and its use of the paranormal was creative. Plus, Sam was kind of goth fashion goals.
25. Invader Zim (2001 - 2006)
Invader Zim is frequently listed as one of the best-ever 2000s Nickelodeon shows for a reason. Earning fans for its darkly funny writing and boundary-pushing art style, it set a new bar for what so-called “children’s” cartoons could look like (and what they could get away with). Although it only lasted two seasons, Invader Zim won an Emmy and gave way to its own fan convention, InvaderCON, cementing it as a cult classic.
26. What’s New Scooby-Doo? (2002 - 2006)
What’s New Scooby-Doo?, the show’s ninth incarnation, helped the Mystery Inc. crew live on for another generation, as did the live-action movies that coincided with it. This chunk of Scooby stories attempted to bring the show into the 21st century — the gang uses the internet! — but ultimately kept the same mystery-solving formula that made the original such a classic.
27. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2003 - 2007)
This was another horror-comedy Cartoon Network classic, telling the story of the overly sanguine Billy, his cynical sister Mandy and the Grim Reaper. The fact that death personified stars front and center in a children’s cartoon was, even for the network that brought us the likes of Courage the Cowardly Dog, bold, and it’s not a stretch to think that Billy & Mandy helped make more than one new fan of the macabre.
