User blog:Jkl9817/Top 30 Animated Shows of the 2000s, Part 2 (20-11)

So, the first part of this thing was a lot more successful than I expected, and people liked the initiative (although older users like Jessica and Gideon didn't have much to say). Fortunately, Adventure Time was the most hated-on of the ten, and Yin Yang Yo! was the most beloved, which means people are more or less in agreement with the list for now. The second part goes below; please comment too.

== '''20. Xiaolin Showdown (2003-2006) Originally aired on Kids' WB''' == The best thing about this show wasn’t the characters, or the writing, which were tolerable at most. What made it such a treat was the way it felt like one of those cult anime series you used to watch as a kid. Like such shows, it offered an amazingly textured world of mysticism and consistent entertainment; The Shen Gong Wu magical artifacts, and the way they were put into the stories, it was all plain genial, and terribly complex for a Western show. Also, if you had the patience to ignore one-dimensional disasters like Raimundo, the story arcs were pretty engrossing and character-driven.

== '''19. The Emperor's New School (2006-2008) Originally aired on Disney Channel''' == Disney Animation Studios’ second golden age in the ’90s gave birth to numerous god-awful television spin-offs, such as Aladdin, The Legend of Tarzan and Hercules: The Animated Series. The one show from this pack that was really worth watching, though, was The Emperor’s New School, which brought Kuzco back in an effort to finish college so he could return to his Emperor duties. The movie’s clever, nonsense, meta-fictional humor was entirely present in the series, which expanded on the source material’s universe beautifully and with frequent, sincere laughter. The extensive use of running gags and catchphrases was another plus, and the show would occasionally take time to poke fun at things such as reality shows, musical episodes, academic bureaucracy, The Twilight Zone, and itself.

== '''18. The Fairly OddParents (2001-) Originally aired on Nickelodeon''' == I’m including this modern-classic-gone-bad for the old days. Prior to its revival in the 7th season, The Fairly OddParents was arguably the smartest kids’ show on television. The storylines were so unrealistic and fantasy-oriented that the show had room for everything, which was used well in its early years with countless recurring characters and new settings that enhanced the life and times of Timmy Turner, the ever-10-year-old boy whose godparents could grant wishes. Pretty much everything was made fun of at some point, and some characters were downright brilliant -- Mr. Crocker still remains as the best example of a crazy incompetent professional with an out-of-this-world obsession daytime television has ever seen. It’s too bad, though, that, like Spongebob Squarepants, The Fairly OddParents has become progressively worse over the years, so much so that watching an episode of the newer seasons can make me cringe.

== '''17. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-) Originally aired on Cartoon Network''' == First there was Star Wars: Clone Wars, a low-profile traditionally animated cartoon set between the 2nd and 3rd installments of the Star Wars franchise. Then Lucasfilms made Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a CGI movie expanding on that show, and then a television spin-off called Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Sounds a lot repetitive, right? It is indeed, and that’s this show’s primary flaw; whenever there’s too much action, it just feels like more of the same. However, it does a great job of expanding on the original characters and introducing some new ones, and some of the show’s many storylines are really great indeed. The dialogue is great as well, probably because it was crafted aiming at an older audience than that of, say, Adventure Time. But the most striking aspect of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is technical; like some critics pointed out, it’s probably the most photorealistic cartoon ever.

== '''16. Chowder (2007-2010) Originally aired on Cartoon Network''' == The biggest compliment I can give Chowder, arguably the most recent cartoon to have achieved the status of Classic, is that it was the single most influential show for the newer generation of Cartoon Network. The show’s beautiful unpaired art was surely the inspiration for the elaborate visuals of shows such as Adventure Time and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, as well as its surreal farce-esque humor, which I always loved. The show on itself was also great, with humor that fluctuated between poignant satire and complete nonsense, very good characters (the mysteriously pathetic Gaspacho being my favorite) and a unique style no cartoon has been able to equate ever since.

== '''15. Duck Dodgers (2003-2005) Originally aired on Cartoon Network''' == For starters, pretty much anything Looney Tunes is one step ahead regular cartoons. The sci-fi comedy Duck Dodgers, based on a successful ‘50s short, was no exception. Daffy Duck “played” Duck Dodgers, the pettifogging, incompetent leader of a galactic force against 24th Century Earth’s biggest enemy, Mars. His smarter sidekick was The Eager Young Space Cadet (Porky Pig), a sidekick so submissive he’d let Dodgers take credit whenever he was the one to actually save the day. Needless to say, the show gifted us with superior writing, amusing characters and steadfast laughter only comparable to the classic Looney Tunes cartoons.

== '''14. Danny Phantom (2004-2007) Originally aired on Nickelodeon''' == What started as a bland, somewhat formulaic teen-oriented Ghostbusters rip-off ultimately became better as a whole than Butch Hartman’s “other” creation, the longer-lived The Fairly OddParents. The lead was Danny, a 14-year-old who received ghost powers and had to fight other ghosts who attacked his town. In between ghost hunts, the show offered some very sweet character-driven arcs, creative background stories for each of the recurring villain ghosts (a lot of whom were voiced by top-notch television actors like Patricia Heaton and Jon Cryer), lots of tasteful, if simple, humor (a great running joke consisted of an incompetent Box Ghost who failed to even be taken seriously), and well-crafted situations whenever Danny’s normal life got in the way of his ghost routine.

== '''13. Time Squad (2001-2003) Originally aired on Cartoon Network''' == This show featured one of the most interesting premises I’ve ever seen for a cartoon: a brawny cop, a pessimistic robot and a genial eight-year-old boy travel back in time from year 100,000,000 to make sure history follows the course it’s supposed to. Like all good ol’ Cartoon Cartoons, it had wonderful characters, intelligent humor, and distinctive visuals. But the thing about it was getting to see tens of historical figures portrayed in the most unlikely way possible, which made for plenty of laughter and history questioning. The only reason I can see for its early cancellation is that, no pun intended, it was too ahead of its time.

== '''12. Phineas and Ferb (2007-) Originally aired on Disney Channel''' == A few episodes into the first season, it was clear that Disney Channel’s new effort was no regular crowd-pleaser. Loaded with wit and featuring perhaps the best characters in any Disney show ever, Phineas and Ferb has become an instant classic in no time. The episodes revolve around two stepbrothers trying to make the most of their summer vacation, which is very fun to watch, largely thanks to their crazy old sister. And the subplots focusing on a crime-fighting platypus versus an incompetent and socially awkward evil German scientist are pure gold. Also, the musical numbers kick Glee’s ass.

== '''11. Kim Possible (2002-2007) Originally aired on Disney Channel''' == Seriously, no one that’s ever heard the beep of Kim Possible’s communicator will ever be able to forget it. One of Disney Channel’s biggest hits yet (possibly the biggest), it followed a high school cheerleader who also happened to be a fierce crime-fighter. Sounds cheesy, yes, but somehow it became one of the most entertaining things to air outside primetime in the past ten years. That’s largely due to the great, textured characters, from the wayward lead and the tridimensional villains to the hilarious sidekick and his pet mole. Whether we were watching Kim fight some ugly psycho or go out on a date, we couldn’t help being drawn into it.