With today’s virtually unlimited access to entertainment, it is hard to believe that there were times when your only option was to wait for cartoons to come on TV. Remember waking up early on the weekend and dashing to the living room to catch Saturday morning cartoons? But even if you are young enough to have only watched cartoons on streaming services, you surely have seen some cartoons from the 60s.
This was the era when animated cartoons started growing in popularity, after the animation studio Hanna-Barbera introduced their first animated sitcom, The Flintstones. A lot of shows from the 60s, both short and long format, are considered classic cartoons because, despite their age, their compelling stories are still popular among children and adults alike.
Even today, Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters created back in the 60s continue to conquer the hearts of younger generations. From Yogi Bear to Scooby-Doo and the gang to the entire Jetson family, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, along with many other incredible creators, surely gave us a lot of fantastic cartoons to watch.
What cartoons did you grow up watching? If you have a favorite cartoon or character from the 60s that we didn’t mention on this list, give us your recommendations in the comments. And don’t forget that though we compiled the list in the order published by Ranker, it is totally up to you to rearrange it. Vote for your most favorite TV shows from the 60s to help them climb to the top!
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#1 The Jetsons
Premiered on September 23, 1962
With humans beginning to explore space in the mid-20th century, the influence of this topic on culture and entertainment was inevitable. It came to be known as the Space Age and encompassed literature, cinema, cartoons, and other forms of entertainment. Created as a part of this culture, the Jetsons are a family who live in Orbit City some time in the future. Their daily life might be full of futuristic gadgets and appliances, but it is also full of comic, sitcom-style situations.
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60points
#2 The Bugs Bunny Show
Premiered on October 11, 1960
What’s up, doc? After this phrase, you didn’t even have to read the title to know exactly who this post is about. This show about a human-like bunny, his friends and adversaries, changed its format and even its name several times, but the main characters, all with their own distinct personal traits, never failed to entertain you. After all, it takes a very special show to stay on air for forty long years.
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58points
#3 The Flintstones
Premiered on September 30, 1960
Your textbook might be historically correct in representing the Stone Age, but The Flintstones are so much more fun to watch. Two families, the Flintstones and the Rubbles, might be living in the prehistoric era, but they have all the conveniences of the modern American family. While a lot of the plot was deliberately written in the style of the 60s sitcoms, some of the humor is also derived from the anachronisms this cartoon series is full of.
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56points
#4 The Pink Panther Show
Premiered on September 6, 1969
Hard to believe it, but yes, Pink Panther is that old. Centered around the adventures of a somewhat goofy, yet sly anthropomorphic panther, throughout the years it was followed up by various formats, including feature-length cartoons and live-action movies. And of course, everybody knows the Pink Panther theme music which has become an iconic depiction of a situation where the protagonist is required to be stealthy.
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52points
#5 Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
Premiered on September 13, 1969
I bet you are already singing the theme song of this TV show in your head or even humming it out loud. Four teenagers, Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy, together with their talking dog Scooby-Doo are expert detectives who can solve any mystery. Very often, they debunk a supernatural occurrence to find out it had a very practical explanation, and the perpetrator only used the supernatural to scare off everyone.
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51points
#6 The Yogi Bear Show
Premiered on January 30, 1961
Yogi is an anthropomorphic bear who lives in Jellystone Park. His main goal in life is to steal as many picnic baskets as possible while avoiding being caught by the park ranger Smith. Besides his goofy personality, Yogi is well-known for his very distinct manner of speaking and a number of catchphrases. The similarity of Yogi’s name to the baseball player Yogi Berra who was extremely popular at the time caused some controversy in the industry.
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48points
#7 The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show
Premiered on November 19, 1959
This show aired under different variations of its original name and was structured as a variety show. It revolves around the adventures of a flying squirrel and a moose. Their nemeses were, however, human spies Boris and Natasha who worked for the Fearless Leader. The Bullwinkle Show was well-known for its quality writing and humor that appealed to kids and adults alike.
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47points
#8 The Huckleberry Hound Show
Premiered on September 1, 1958
Huckleberry, or Huck for short, is a hound, and that’s pretty normal. But he is also blue, and that’s slightly unusual for a dog. He can also speak, specifically in a North Carolina Southern drawl. Huck has various career ambitions in life, and he tries them all, though not particularly succeeding in any. This TV series was one of the six TV shows in 1960 and the first animation in history to win an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming.
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39points
#9 Popeye The Sailor
Premiered on June 10, 1960
Popeye first appeared on the silver screen in 1960, but his character was created 30 years earlier for a comic strip. The TV version kept his appearance and most character traits, and of course his incredible strength powered by consumption of spinach. Many of the episodes were taken directly from the comic strip and not the previous theatrical releases of the animation.
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38points
#10 Wacky Races
Premiered on September 14, 1968
Inspired by the 1965 comedy The Great Race, this cartoon show was all about racing around North America for the title of the World’s Wackiest Racer. Competing in the race, there were eleven drivers who are very different from each other, so you have plenty of choice who to root for. All of them are allowed to use the weirdest contraptions to help them win or at least make their opponents fail. The series were very popular and later developed into several spinoffs focusing on individual drivers.
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37points
#11 The Mr. Magoo Show
Premiered on November 7, 1960
You would probably think that a cartoon about an elderly retiree would be of no interest to kids. Well, Mr. Magoo proved this wrong. Time and time again, he would find himself in comical situations due to his extreme poor eyesight and absolute refusal to address the problem, and people around him would often consider him a lunatic. But as luck would have it, he always managed to make things work out for him.
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37points
#12 Top Cat
Premiered on September 27, 1961
Though it initially failed ratings in prime time, as a Saturday morning show, Top Cat became increasingly popular. The titular protagonist and his gang of street cats live in an alley and constantly come up with unrealistic plots to become rich overnight, though none of them usually work. Their main antagonist is policeman Charlie Dibble who keeps trying to evict them from the alley or at least to clean it up and stop using the police phone box.
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33points
#13 Jonny Quest
Premiered on September 18, 1964
If you love a good action-adventure story, you are going to love Jonny Quest. This classic cartoon that later developed into an entire franchise, revolves around an 11-year-old boy who is not particularly fond of school but is rather intelligent and trained in various athletic disciplines. Together with his bodyguard, his best friend, and his dog, he accompanies his scientist father on many adventures, often ending up in various perilous situations they have to find their way out of.
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32points
#14 Underdog
Premiered on October 3, 1964
Superheroes come in all shapes. And one of them is an anthropomorphic dog. Known to everyone around him as a shy Shoeshine Boy, he hides his secret alter ego of Underdog for the time when his sweetheart Sweet Polly Purebred (or sometimes, the rest of the world) is in trouble and needs rescue from numerous villains. Whenever he is in his superhero cape, Underdog speaks in rhyming couplets.
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32points
#15 Snagglepuss
Premiered on January 30, 1961
What was it with large felines and the color pink in the 60s? Not only Pink Panther, but also Snagglepuss are bright pink, and in addition to that, Snagglepuss wears a collar, a bowtie, shirt cuffs– but no shirt! His love for theater often affects the way he speaks, using dramatic catchphrases, soliloquies, and regularly breaking the fourth wall.
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28points
#16 The Dudley Do-Right Show
Premiered on April 27, 1969
Dudley’s adventures were developed as a parody on the melodrama and silent films dating to the beginning of the 20th century. He is a not very smart but cheerful member of the Canadian Mountain Police. His main occupation is to chase Snidely Whiplash and rescue Nell Fenwick, the daughter of his inspector. Funnily enough, though Dudley seems to have a huge crush on Nell, she gives more attention to his horse (very aptly named Horse).
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24points
#17 Speed Racer
Premiered on April 2, 1967
Automobile racing was a popular topic in the 60s not only in the US but in Japan as well. Following the original manga, this series focuses on the race driver Go Mifune and his adventures in the world of racing. The story and the style was inspired by two movies that were popular in Japan at the time: Viva Las Vegas with Elvis Presley and Goldfinger from the Bond franchise.
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22points
#18 The Magilla Gorilla Show
Premiered on January 14, 1964
How many people would be willing to have a gorilla as a pet? Presumably, not many. That’s why Magilla spends most of his days eating bananas in the window of the pet shop he lives in. Mr. Peebles, the owner of the pet shop, tries reducing his price as the way to finally sell Magilla, but it only works temporarily, for example, when thieves need a gorilla to assist them in the bank robbery. After that he is inevitably returned to the pet shop. Magilla remains very optimistic though and is pretty happy with his life.
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20points
#19 Spider-Man
Premiered on September 9, 1967
There are tons of Spider-Man adaptations but this one was his first appearance on TV. It followed the classic storyline from the comic books quite closely, from Peter Parker’s origins as Spider-Man to the radioactive bite and subsequent decision to become a superhero and fight evil.
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20points
#20 The Deputy Dawg Show
Premiered on January 1, 1960
Deputy Dawg was first designed as a character for a different show but half-way through the production became the protagonist of his own series. He lives in a community with various animals and spends most of his day establishing law and order and trying to please the Sheriff. When he is not on duty, Deputy goes fishing with his friends.
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15points