Highlights
- Cartoons in the 90s started exploring more mature themes, creating layered characters and intense storylines for a wider audience.
-
Duckman
and
Gargoyles
were among the best mature cartoons of the 90s, each pushing boundaries with unique storytelling. - Shows like
Spawn, Daria, The Maxx, The Simpsons,
and
Batman
captivated audiences with their creativity and bold narratives.
As the 90s came around, the appeal of cartoons began to spread from kids to their parents. This is mainly due to studios branching out into more adult-oriented stories, jokes, and themes to, among other things, bring in more eyes and increase their viewership.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all mature cartoons were raunchier or less kid-friendly, though there was a fair bit of that. What it really meant was that cartoons started to explore more intense themes and storylines, along with including more layered characters. What follows is a list of the absolute best mature cartoons that the 90’s had to offer.
10 Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man
IMDb Rating: 7.7
- Release Date: March 5, 1994
- Genres: Animated Sitcom
- Seasons: 4
- Number Of Episodes: 70
Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man thrived at finding comedy by putting characters through some of the hardest situations to deal with. For example, there’s an episode all about running away from paying taxes, and another where Duckman’s best friend, Cornfed, finds out he has an illegitimate child.
This unabashedly made for some immensely poignant animated television for most of its run. Unfortunately, the show ended after many believed it tapered off during its 4th season, leading to a terribly egregious cliffhanger that we can only hope gets addressed in a future reboot.
9 Aeon Flux
IMDb Rating: 7.8
- Release Date: November 30, 1991
- Genres: Adventure, Science-Fiction
- Seasons: 3
- Number Of Episodes: 21
Aeon Flux is one of the rare sci-fi shows that forces the viewer to relearn how they consume the medium. This was especially true during the show’s infancy, as it was presented in bite-sized, two-minute-long shorts for two “seasons,” with the main character dying at the end of each one, replaced by a clone for the following episode.
It was also uniquely animated, showcasing its boldly sensual nature. And somehow Aeon Flux still managed to include some mind-boggling scientific concepts that were conveyed incredibly well. It’s an impressive series that is hard to compare to anything else.
8 Gargoyles
IMDb Rating: 8.0
- Release Date: October 24, 1994
- Genres: Fantasy
- Seasons: 3
- Number Of Episodes: 78
Mythical creatures and magic wielders abound as the Gargoyles awaken from their own 1000-year slumber. As such, they take it upon themselves to become New York City’s protectors, a job brought forward from their old lives.
Much of the action and drama in Gargoyles takes place under the stars, giving the show an inherently darker tone. Fitting, as it was meant for a slightly older audience. In fact, the entire show is predicated on a massacre that occurred years prior, at the home of the Gargoyles, Castle Wyvern, something that no doubt alarmed the censors at Disney.
7 Todd Macfarlane’s Spawn
IMDb Rating: 8.1
- Release Date: May 16, 1997
- Genres: Action, Horror
- Seasons: 3
- Number Of Episodes: 18
Spawn’s story is a classic at this point, following Al Simmons on his quest for revenge following his own murder. After making a pact with a demon, Spawn is allowed to return to earth, where he vows to protect the woman that he left behind.
The animated series made sure to stay faithful to this story and all the brutality that it called for. It was bloody and vulgar, just like it’s original source material, and as such, called HBO home for it’s relatively short tenure. This show even won an Emmy in 1999.
6 Daria
IMDb Rating: 8.1
- Release Date: March 3, 1997
- Genres: Comedy, Teen Drama
- Seasons: 5
- Number Of Episodes: 65
Where Beavis and Butthead plays its two dimwitted leads for laughs, the show’s spin-off, Daria, gives viewers a smart, albeit dry, lead. The show follows the jaded Daria through her years in high school, as she simply exists among the absurdities of everyday life.
It’s not a terribly goofy show, with episodes focusing on simple ideas like trying to get out of a school field trip, or trying to survive wearing high heels. But it’s hilarious, especially if the viewer thought high school and everyone there just “wasn’t it.”
5 The Maxx
IMDb Rating: 8.3
- Release Date: April 5, 1995
- Genres: Action
- Seasons: 1
- Number Of Episodes: 13
Based on the comic series of the same name, The Maxx TV show’s seedy atmosphere and darkly-comedic nature were standouts in its era. The Maxx himself is a burly amnesiac who is in a constant push-and-pull with a sexual deviant known as Mr. gone.
A dark show, to be certain, but one that revels in the convoluted nature of the comic book to draw viewers into its mystery, and it’s all brought to life through its soft-jazz soundtrack and some surrealist animation.
4 X-Men: The Animated Series
IMDb Rating: 8.4
- Release Date: October 31, 1992
- Genres: Action
- Seasons: 5
- Number Of Episodes: 76
Outsiders probably see a show like X-Men: The Animated Series as just another kid-friendly action-packed comic book jaunt. However, looking at the show in hindsight, it’s an extremely mature tale that kids, teens, and adults alike can take something out of.
While its script is full of dialogue that is just woefully “of the era,” the show keeps with the X-Men comic’s known themes of otherness and found family. Meanwhile, characters keep their complicated backstories and relationships that were established in the comics, like Mystique being the adoptive mother of Rogue, or Magneto’s important background as a holocaust survivor.
3 South Park
MDb Rating: 8.7
- Release Date: August 13, 1997
- Genres: Comedy
- Seasons: 26
- Number Of Episodes: 328
The hand-made stop-motion animation of early South Park was wholly unique at the time of the show’s premiere. Even more so was the wildly offensive nature of its jokes and episode premises that has followed it into this millennium.
In its early years, the show found success with running gags like Cartman’s various catchphrases or Kenny dying each episode in gruesome fashion. Over the years, though, the show has done a great job of toeing the line between satire and just straight-up making fun of real people, ideals, and ways of life, finding a way to show respect to (almost) everyone it lambastes. No one is safe from South Park’s mockery, including South Park itself, and 26 seasons later it still hasn’t lost its bite.
2 The Simpsons
IMDb Rating: 8.7
From Donald Sutherland, to Kirk Douglas, to Michael Jackson himself, being a guest on The Simpsons has been a career highlight for stars since the show’s early years. That’s no doubt because of the consistently hilarious writing throughout its entire tenure.
The Simpsons has some all-time great episodes of television, like the two-part Who Shot Mr. Burns event. It’s ridiculous concepts like these, along with some biting social commentary, that have kept fans coming back for more for the past 3 decades and 35 seasons.
1 Batman: The Animated Series
IMDb Rating: 9.0
- Release Date: September 5, 1992
- Genres: Action
- Seasons: 2
- Number Of Episodes: 85
Batman: The Animated Series is one of the best cartoons ever made, because it’s unafraid to “go there” while still ultimately catering to a younger audience. While action-packed, the show is unafraid to slow things down to see the humanity behind the cowl.
It’s rife with references to classic cinema, like the Citizen Kane snowglobe bit at the beginning of the episode “Heart of Ice”, alongside some pure comic-book action that helps to show reverence to what The Dark Knight represents. And, of course, who could forget that it gave us the late, great, Kevin Conroy as the iconic voice of the Caped Crusader?
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