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Description
I can't believe a whole decade has gone by. That makes two that I've been alive to see in their entirety XD. I don't think I fully appreciated the weight of what that meant when 2010 came by and I was still in high school, probably because my life was a lot more stable and consistent in that time. In comparison, in these past ten years I graduated high school, got my driver's licence, completed four years of university, got a full time job, got into anime, got back into drawing... and of course watched tons of cartoons both new and old to help me through it all, when I needed to destress and forget about life for awhile or just to have some plain old fun.

Quick List:

2010: Regular Show
2011: The Amazing World of Gumball
2012: Gravity Falls
2013: Rick and Morty
2014: Over the Garden Wall
2015: Harvey Beaks
2016: Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia
2017: Ducktales 2017
2018: Hilda
2019: Infinity Train

Honorable Mentions:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012):
  It really pained me not to have it on here, but it was just rotten luck that it came out the same year as Gravity Falls.
Milo Murphy's Law (2016):
  I loved this show way more before it started turning into Phineas and Ferb by forcing Doofenshmirtz in it and giving him way too much screen time.
Tangled the Series (2017):
Haven't seen all of it but what I have seen is simply astounding. Easily the best cartoon based off a Disney film.
Moomin Valley (2019):
  This show introduced to me to what has now become one of my most favorite franchises. <3
Mao Mao: Masters of Pure Heart (2019):
  This show is just insane, and gut-bustingly funny! Also you can just SMELL the anime off of it.

Still to watch:
Bojack Horseman
Bob's Burgers

Original meme template by YoshiEmerald .
Blank Template

2010: Regular Show

In the late 2000’s I’d lost pretty much all interest in Cartoon Network – to me the channel just didn’t have anything worth watching anymore. It was Regular Show that brought me back to it. You could call it my first cartoon of the decade. Maybe my tastes had changed by then and it was this dumb sort of adult-but-not-exactly-adult humor that appealed to me now, but whatever it was, I found Regular Show funny. It was creative too, turning the mundane into life-or-death situations in really unique and hilarious ways. It went a bit downhill when it started to dwell more on relationship drama, but from what I saw of the finale it ended on a good note, and had a really enjoyable movie to boot.

2011: The Amazing World of Gumball
(Edit, May 2020: Right now I would put Detentionaire here instead of Gumball, as I just recently finished all four seasons of that show and absolutely loved it. But I'll keep Gumball in its place in the template and my thoughts on it below since that was my opinion at the time of making this.)

Well, never judge a book by its cover as they say – despite its unconventional style that initially led me to believe this show would be the height of stupid, Gumball ended up having some of the smartest comedy I’ve ever seen in a kid’s show; its dry sarcastic wit, visual humor, and its painfully accurate portrayal of awkward but relatable situations often had me in stitches. Not only that, but it accomplished something I’ve never seen another show pull off without being cringey, which is making modern internet jokes. I also have to give it huge props for the voice acting, especially for the kids, and of course for its creative use of several different forms of media. Honestly when I really thought about it, The Amazing World of Gumball had to be the best show running on Cartoon Network for the longest time, at least in my book.

2012: Gravity Falls
Before Gravity Falls came along, I never really thought of cartoons as a source of mystery or intrigue. Well this show pretty much made it its mission to prove me wrong. I really can’t believe the amount of passion and detail that went into this show to bring out the conspiracy theorists in its fans, from the coded messages to the foreshadowing, to the nearly airtight continuity. I only really got into the show in the middle of its second season, but even then I got to experience some of the most irreplaceable aspect of being part of the GF fandom, which was collectively theorizing on just what was going to happen next, and what mysteries still needed answering, all the while being teased by creator Alex Hirsch. And even though future fans won’t ever really get to know what it was like while the show was airing, leaving the mystery aside, it’s still just a fantastically funny and enjoyable show in its own right. The characters are all incredible and memorable, the comedic timing and dialogue is always on point, and there’s hardly a bad episode to be found. Best thing? It knew to quit while it was ahead, with just two solid but complete seasons that leave you wishing there was more, in a good way.

2013: Rick and Morty
Okay, hear me out – I don’t think Rick and Morty is the greatest show on Earth or anything, or even one of the greatest. At the very least, you don’t actually need a high IQ to get it – honestly it’s pretty on the nose about its messages sometimes. BUT, looking at the lineup of cartoons from 2013, it really was only ever going to be either this or Steven Universe, another show with a bit of controversy around its objective “goodness”. Me, personally, I stopped really enjoying SU and dropped it a long time ago, whereas I’ve been keeping up with Rick and Morty and, yeah, I do still like this show. Is it as funny as it used to be? Maybe not. I still think Rick is an awesome character, still get at least one or two laughs an episode even when they’re not good, and by gosh do I just love all the ideas and concepts that make up this world. Maybe I haven’t seen enough sci-fi cartoons for a frame of reference but I really admire all the imagination that went into the gadgets, inventions, creatures, and strange phenomena that Rick and his family encounter every episode, even ones that only serve as a throwaway joke or a subplot. And when the show does tackle sci-fi concepts that have been used many times before like talking to animals, going into people’s dreams, or erasing memories, it always does it in its own weird, over-the-top and cynical way. For better or worse, no amount of butt humor or phallic imagery could keep me away from this show.

2014: Over the Garden Wall

Over the Garden Wall was an absolute gift that not enough people are grateful for in my opinion. I don’t think there’s ever been anything like it on Cartoon Network, though I am certainly hoping for more cartoons like it in the future. Sure it might have familiar elements to it, like the straight man and cloud-cuckoolander duo, and the Adventure Time style randomness. But there’s also an atmosphere of the urban fable, and of course the Halloween theme, not to mention the very obvious allusions to purgatory. And I just eat that stuff up! It’s a perfectly portioned slice of autumn, a modern Grimm’s fairy tale, with great art and animation, Lewis Carroll-esque strangeness, and unforgettable characters that will both delight and terrify.

2015: Harvey Beaks
Harvey Beaks surprised me in a good way. At face value it looked like just another forgettable cartoon, but sitting down to watch it I’d find myself entertained all the way through. It’s just a feels good slice-of-life show, a fact that is evident right from its beautiful and uplifting opening theme. The kid characters are all so enjoyable. They’re familiar archetypes, but the combination of great voice work, funny dialogue, and simple but fun situations made them very dear characters to me, even the ones that I would usually expect to dislike like Dade or Princess. There’s a sweet kind of innocence to the show that I hadn’t realized I’d been missing from cartoons; the joy of watching a bunch of kids playing around, using their imagination, or making mountains out of molehills due to not yet fully understanding the world around them. That’s not to say the show didn’t tackle more serious issues as well, such as dealing with the death of a friend or saying goodbye. I actually physically couldn’t stop myself from crying at the finale every time I watched it. It’s really a shame this show got thrown under the radar and was cut short, but for the run it got, it wrapped up pretty well.

2016: Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

This not only became my favorite show of the decade, but my favorite cartoon of all time. To me, Trollhunters is as close to being a perfect show as I’ve ever seen. Keep in mind, this is a completely subjective opinion that I will totally understand someone else not agreeing with if they’ve seen it and thought it wasn’t especially good; it’s just something that completely appeals to me personally on practically every level, exactly my kind of story, a modern fantasy akin to Harry Potter. It has great animation on par with a theatrical release, it has lovable characters, it’s equal parts action, comedy, and drama, and it has a complete and linear story with a fulfilling ending, where almost every episode matters and furthers the plot. Best of all, it makes use of clichés in a way that really works, having the characters react to familiar concepts used in fiction such as “the Chosen One” or “hiding the truth from parents” in surprisingly realistic and relatable ways. I’m okay with Trollhunters remaining a more niche kind of show and not having an especially large or vocal fanbase, but I think more people need to know about its existence and give it a try, and perhaps, like me, even come to recognize it as a stellar epic fantasy story too.

2017: Ducktales

When I first heard about a Ducktales reboot, I never imagined that it would end up becoming one of my favorite ongoing cartoons of the decade, not least because I never had any interest in the original show. I’ll admit the flash animation, art style, and voices of the Duck triplets threw me off at first, but it didn’t take long for them to grow on me when the show itself was just so good. It’s super funny, heartwarming, and of course, full of fun adventure. The characters? Just awesome; Scrooge, Donald, Launchpad, GLOMGOLD, the multitude of villains and allies, and of course the triplets and Webby, each with their own recognizable and vibrant personality. If this wasn’t literally a reboot of an already existing franchise I’d call this a spiritual successor to Gravity Falls, it just has the same kind of likability in regards to its characters and comedy. This is a prime example of what a show created by passionate people, who are clearly in love with the original source material and lore judging by the amount of clever references and cameos, would look like.

2018: Hilda
Between this, Harvey Beaks, Gravity Falls, and Over the Garden Wall, it'd seem like I have a thing for woodsy themed cartoons. What can I say, I’m a sucker for urban fantasy. Unlike either of those latter shows though, Hilda is a lot lighter and laid back in tone, with a brighter color palette and a more cutesy kind of art style. It’s admittedly not as laugh-out-loud funny, but it is… fun, and lovable. I watch this show and I want to be Hilda, and meet all these different creatures and explore the world. Hilda herself is a wonderful protagonist, and definitely stands out on her own as a strong and spirited female lead in a time where almost every show has a spirited female lead. The magical creatures that accompany her are also all very likable, and creative, and again, they make me wish I could be Hilda so I could befriend them. This is a show that, while it might not have anything epic or deep going on in its plot like Gravity Falls or reach the same levels of weird and unsettling as Over the Garden Wall, was almost never boring, and somehow felt real enough to make you believe you could live in its world and be fairly comfortable, even cozy, staying there.

2019: Infinity Train

Infinity Train seemed like the answer to my wish for another mini-series in the same vein as Over the Garden Wall, though I still like that show better. I know I wasn’t the only one who wanted this more than anything to become a full show after seeing the pilot a few years ago. It’s just the kind of strange and mysterious I like, with a resourceful protagonist and silly travelling companions exploring a world run by its own rules. I’ve talked about how the “Down the Rabbit Hole” trope was one of my favorites, and this show checked all the right boxes. It’s a fun and dangerous adventure that gives its main characters a tight, suitably emotional arc of growth. What’s cool about the setting of the show as well is that it’s not just another Wonderland where nothing makes sense and things just happen randomly for the sake of weirdness; each car runs on some kind of logic, the train actually has a purpose, and a little bit is revealed about its inner workings every episode. Seeing the hows and whys makes it feel more grounded, and, much like Hilda, makes you wish you could visit… though preferably not for too long!

Description
I can't believe a whole decade has gone by. That makes two that I've been alive to see in their entirety XD. I don't think I fully appreciated the weight of what that meant when 2010 came by and I was still in high school, probably because my life was a lot more stable and consistent in that time. In comparison, in these past ten years I graduated high school, got my driver's licence, completed four years of university, got a full time job, got into anime, got back into drawing... and of course watched tons of cartoons both new and old to help me through it all, when I needed to destress and forget about life for awhile or just to have some plain old fun.

Quick List:

2010: Regular Show
2011: The Amazing World of Gumball
2012: Gravity Falls
2013: Rick and Morty
2014: Over the Garden Wall
2015: Harvey Beaks
2016: Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia
2017: Ducktales 2017
2018: Hilda
2019: Infinity Train

Honorable Mentions:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012):
  It really pained me not to have it on here, but it was just rotten luck that it came out the same year as Gravity Falls.
Milo Murphy's Law (2016):
  I loved this show way more before it started turning into Phineas and Ferb by forcing Doofenshmirtz in it and giving him way too much screen time.
Tangled the Series (2017):
Haven't seen all of it but what I have seen is simply astounding. Easily the best cartoon based off a Disney film.
Moomin Valley (2019):
  This show introduced to me to what has now become one of my most favorite franchises. <3
Mao Mao: Masters of Pure Heart (2019):
  This show is just insane, and gut-bustingly funny! Also you can just SMELL the anime off of it.

Still to watch:
Bojack Horseman
Bob's Burgers

Original meme template by YoshiEmerald .
Blank Template

2010: Regular Show

In the late 2000’s I’d lost pretty much all interest in Cartoon Network – to me the channel just didn’t have anything worth watching anymore. It was Regular Show that brought me back to it. You could call it my first cartoon of the decade. Maybe my tastes had changed by then and it was this dumb sort of adult-but-not-exactly-adult humor that appealed to me now, but whatever it was, I found Regular Show funny. It was creative too, turning the mundane into life-or-death situations in really unique and hilarious ways. It went a bit downhill when it started to dwell more on relationship drama, but from what I saw of the finale it ended on a good note, and had a really enjoyable movie to boot.

2011: The Amazing World of Gumball
(Edit, May 2020: Right now I would put Detentionaire here instead of Gumball, as I just recently finished all four seasons of that show and absolutely loved it. But I'll keep Gumball in its place in the template and my thoughts on it below since that was my opinion at the time of making this.)

Well, never judge a book by its cover as they say – despite its unconventional style that initially led me to believe this show would be the height of stupid, Gumball ended up having some of the smartest comedy I’ve ever seen in a kid’s show; its dry sarcastic wit, visual humor, and its painfully accurate portrayal of awkward but relatable situations often had me in stitches. Not only that, but it accomplished something I’ve never seen another show pull off without being cringey, which is making modern internet jokes. I also have to give it huge props for the voice acting, especially for the kids, and of course for its creative use of several different forms of media. Honestly when I really thought about it, The Amazing World of Gumball had to be the best show running on Cartoon Network for the longest time, at least in my book.

2012: Gravity Falls
Before Gravity Falls came along, I never really thought of cartoons as a source of mystery or intrigue. Well this show pretty much made it its mission to prove me wrong. I really can’t believe the amount of passion and detail that went into this show to bring out the conspiracy theorists in its fans, from the coded messages to the foreshadowing, to the nearly airtight continuity. I only really got into the show in the middle of its second season, but even then I got to experience some of the most irreplaceable aspect of being part of the GF fandom, which was collectively theorizing on just what was going to happen next, and what mysteries still needed answering, all the while being teased by creator Alex Hirsch. And even though future fans won’t ever really get to know what it was like while the show was airing, leaving the mystery aside, it’s still just a fantastically funny and enjoyable show in its own right. The characters are all incredible and memorable, the comedic timing and dialogue is always on point, and there’s hardly a bad episode to be found. Best thing? It knew to quit while it was ahead, with just two solid but complete seasons that leave you wishing there was more, in a good way.

2013: Rick and Morty
Okay, hear me out – I don’t think Rick and Morty is the greatest show on Earth or anything, or even one of the greatest. At the very least, you don’t actually need a high IQ to get it – honestly it’s pretty on the nose about its messages sometimes. BUT, looking at the lineup of cartoons from 2013, it really was only ever going to be either this or Steven Universe, another show with a bit of controversy around its objective “goodness”. Me, personally, I stopped really enjoying SU and dropped it a long time ago, whereas I’ve been keeping up with Rick and Morty and, yeah, I do still like this show. Is it as funny as it used to be? Maybe not. I still think Rick is an awesome character, still get at least one or two laughs an episode even when they’re not good, and by gosh do I just love all the ideas and concepts that make up this world. Maybe I haven’t seen enough sci-fi cartoons for a frame of reference but I really admire all the imagination that went into the gadgets, inventions, creatures, and strange phenomena that Rick and his family encounter every episode, even ones that only serve as a throwaway joke or a subplot. And when the show does tackle sci-fi concepts that have been used many times before like talking to animals, going into people’s dreams, or erasing memories, it always does it in its own weird, over-the-top and cynical way. For better or worse, no amount of butt humor or phallic imagery could keep me away from this show.

2014: Over the Garden Wall

Over the Garden Wall was an absolute gift that not enough people are grateful for in my opinion. I don’t think there’s ever been anything like it on Cartoon Network, though I am certainly hoping for more cartoons like it in the future. Sure it might have familiar elements to it, like the straight man and cloud-cuckoolander duo, and the Adventure Time style randomness. But there’s also an atmosphere of the urban fable, and of course the Halloween theme, not to mention the very obvious allusions to purgatory. And I just eat that stuff up! It’s a perfectly portioned slice of autumn, a modern Grimm’s fairy tale, with great art and animation, Lewis Carroll-esque strangeness, and unforgettable characters that will both delight and terrify.

2015: Harvey Beaks
Harvey Beaks surprised me in a good way. At face value it looked like just another forgettable cartoon, but sitting down to watch it I’d find myself entertained all the way through. It’s just a feels good slice-of-life show, a fact that is evident right from its beautiful and uplifting opening theme. The kid characters are all so enjoyable. They’re familiar archetypes, but the combination of great voice work, funny dialogue, and simple but fun situations made them very dear characters to me, even the ones that I would usually expect to dislike like Dade or Princess. There’s a sweet kind of innocence to the show that I hadn’t realized I’d been missing from cartoons; the joy of watching a bunch of kids playing around, using their imagination, or making mountains out of molehills due to not yet fully understanding the world around them. That’s not to say the show didn’t tackle more serious issues as well, such as dealing with the death of a friend or saying goodbye. I actually physically couldn’t stop myself from crying at the finale every time I watched it. It’s really a shame this show got thrown under the radar and was cut short, but for the run it got, it wrapped up pretty well.

2016: Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

This not only became my favorite show of the decade, but my favorite cartoon of all time. To me, Trollhunters is as close to being a perfect show as I’ve ever seen. Keep in mind, this is a completely subjective opinion that I will totally understand someone else not agreeing with if they’ve seen it and thought it wasn’t especially good; it’s just something that completely appeals to me personally on practically every level, exactly my kind of story, a modern fantasy akin to Harry Potter. It has great animation on par with a theatrical release, it has lovable characters, it’s equal parts action, comedy, and drama, and it has a complete and linear story with a fulfilling ending, where almost every episode matters and furthers the plot. Best of all, it makes use of clichés in a way that really works, having the characters react to familiar concepts used in fiction such as “the Chosen One” or “hiding the truth from parents” in surprisingly realistic and relatable ways. I’m okay with Trollhunters remaining a more niche kind of show and not having an especially large or vocal fanbase, but I think more people need to know about its existence and give it a try, and perhaps, like me, even come to recognize it as a stellar epic fantasy story too.

2017: Ducktales

When I first heard about a Ducktales reboot, I never imagined that it would end up becoming one of my favorite ongoing cartoons of the decade, not least because I never had any interest in the original show. I’ll admit the flash animation, art style, and voices of the Duck triplets threw me off at first, but it didn’t take long for them to grow on me when the show itself was just so good. It’s super funny, heartwarming, and of course, full of fun adventure. The characters? Just awesome; Scrooge, Donald, Launchpad, GLOMGOLD, the multitude of villains and allies, and of course the triplets and Webby, each with their own recognizable and vibrant personality. If this wasn’t literally a reboot of an already existing franchise I’d call this a spiritual successor to Gravity Falls, it just has the same kind of likability in regards to its characters and comedy. This is a prime example of what a show created by passionate people, who are clearly in love with the original source material and lore judging by the amount of clever references and cameos, would look like.

2018: Hilda
Between this, Harvey Beaks, Gravity Falls, and Over the Garden Wall, it'd seem like I have a thing for woodsy themed cartoons. What can I say, I’m a sucker for urban fantasy. Unlike either of those latter shows though, Hilda is a lot lighter and laid back in tone, with a brighter color palette and a more cutesy kind of art style. It’s admittedly not as laugh-out-loud funny, but it is… fun, and lovable. I watch this show and I want to be Hilda, and meet all these different creatures and explore the world. Hilda herself is a wonderful protagonist, and definitely stands out on her own as a strong and spirited female lead in a time where almost every show has a spirited female lead. The magical creatures that accompany her are also all very likable, and creative, and again, they make me wish I could be Hilda so I could befriend them. This is a show that, while it might not have anything epic or deep going on in its plot like Gravity Falls or reach the same levels of weird and unsettling as Over the Garden Wall, was almost never boring, and somehow felt real enough to make you believe you could live in its world and be fairly comfortable, even cozy, staying there.

2019: Infinity Train

Infinity Train seemed like the answer to my wish for another mini-series in the same vein as Over the Garden Wall, though I still like that show better. I know I wasn’t the only one who wanted this more than anything to become a full show after seeing the pilot a few years ago. It’s just the kind of strange and mysterious I like, with a resourceful protagonist and silly travelling companions exploring a world run by its own rules. I’ve talked about how the “Down the Rabbit Hole” trope was one of my favorites, and this show checked all the right boxes. It’s a fun and dangerous adventure that gives its main characters a tight, suitably emotional arc of growth. What’s cool about the setting of the show as well is that it’s not just another Wonderland where nothing makes sense and things just happen randomly for the sake of weirdness; each car runs on some kind of logic, the train actually has a purpose, and a little bit is revealed about its inner workings every episode. Seeing the hows and whys makes it feel more grounded, and, much like Hilda, makes you wish you could visit… though preferably not for too long!