Random Nostalgic Cartoons You Never Realized Were Actually Super Progressive (13 items)

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  (#7) Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

  • Charles Adler, Christine Cavanaugh, David Eccles

  The short-lived Aaahh!!! Real Monsters was mostly silly fun, but there was one character that was a notable standout: The Gromble. The Gromble is the headmaster of the school. He is also a four-legged male monster always wearing two pairs of high heels and wielding a riding crop. The Gromble's choice of attire is never an issue for any of the other characters and is not a subject of ridicule.

  The show presents him as a ruthless taskmaster who happens to prefer clothing not typically associated with his gender. By treating this so casually, the show quietly made a case for withholding judgment and accepting others' personal preferences.
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  (#3) Rugrats

  • Elizabeth Daily, Christine Cavanaugh, Nancy Cartwright

  The Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats centers on a group of rambunctious babies and toddlers who are always getting into imaginative shenanigans, and the undercurrent of progressive commentary remains strong. Chuckie is raised by a single father. Angelica's mom is the breadwinner in the family, and her husband Drew is Angelica's main caretaker. Tommy's mom, too, is the family's main financial support system, while her husband struggles as an inventor.

  Notably, these husband aren't emasculated by this - it's simply their lives. Several supporting characters also represent cultures outside of the main cast. These characters are not presented as stereotypes or tokens; Kimi Watanabe, for one, becomes an assertive and vital part of the ensemble.

  Individual episodes also tackle subjects that have become far more relevant. In one, Phil and Chuckie question gender norms and are mocked for wearing dresses, which they don out of a curiosity the show portrays as innocent and in no way shameful.
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  (#5) Recess

  • Andrew Lawrence, Ashley Johnson, Jason Davis

  Recess focuses on the misadventures of six elementary school students. Luckily for them, they have Miss Grotke as a teacher. Miss Grotke is one of the show's regulars, and she never shies away from telling it like it is. She challenges conventional thinking on everything from Thanksgiving and the Founding Fathers to Beowulf and other sacred cows, sliding social commentary and even radical literary criticism into her lessons.

  How many other kid-friendly animated teachers would advise their students to be wary of the white and Western male perspective of their history books?
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  (#10) Braceface

  • Alicia Silverstone, Vince Corazza, Peter Oldring

  Braceface was geared toward preteens and took on surprisingly mature and open-minded subject matter. The main character, Sharon Spitz, deals with many issues animated shows tend to shy away from, including her first period, unhappiness with her body, and even becoming a vegetarian (and staying one).

  Sharon wasn't the only character to inspire progressive conversations. Maria Wong, one of Sharon's best friends, endures racism and insensitivity at school. Braceface was also one of the first shows to include an openly LGBTQ+ character: high school student Dion, who is assigned to mentor Sharon.  
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  (#11) The Bugs Bunny Show

  • Mel Blanc, June Foray, Jim Backus

  Bugs Bunny is always the underdog up against the establishment, but he uses his brains and guile to win every time. He has exposed generations of young viewers to the beauty of opera and he may well be the animated world's first drag superstar, frequently donning dresses to seduce and outwit his enemies.

  He wears a dress and heels so often that it's difficult to keep track. Not to mention the dresses somehow always make him more powerful. 
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  (#12) Invader Zim

  • Andy Berman, Richard Steven Horvitz, Rosearik Rikki Simons

  Jhonen Vasquez used his animation to challenge hard truths that most cartoons made for children would not address. Zim is an incompetent, self-obsessed alien who attempts to take over Earth. Although his plans always fail, Zim is somehow still considered an "invader," which baffles his female counterpart, Tak, who has put years of hard work into earning that title. Similarly, Gaz is often caught in the middle of Dib's pointless feud with Zim, and yet Dib takes the credit when Gaz succeeds in commandeering Tak's spaceship. 

  Vasquez is not shy about emphasizing the horrors of life on Earth, horrors like being ignored by a career-obsessed father or the fact that friendship is hard work and is easily stripped away... unless your only friend is actually a robot who dresses like a dog, eats a lot of waffles, and is obsessed with the concept of doom. 

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