Before the 1950s, audiences were still traveling to the theaters to catch a glimpse of their favorite animated cartoons. During those years, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, and their respective gangs appeared in short films created for the big screens. Animation for television was too expensive, and the techniques were too intensive to produce shows.
Beginning in 1949, the very first little snippet of animation was made for TV. It was called Crusader Rabbit, a show that was broken down into segments which ran between three to five minutes. These were like little TV series that proved popular, but difficult to manage. Still, Crusader Rabbit had tested the television waters and proved that the medium had potential, it just had to be fine-tuned.
Since the first cartoon aired on TV, animation and television have become intertwined. Shows likes The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo proved how valuable and long-lasting cartoons can be, and networks discovered the ideal timeslots to air and the demographics to target. Over the course of the last 60 years, a lot has changed in television animation. It all starts with one episode pushing the envelope and trying something new, which then becomes the standard, expanding the limits. These are some of those trailblazers.
Here are the 15 Most Radical Cartoon Episodes Ever Aired (And 5 That Never Made It To Air).
Aired: The Huckleberry Hound Show - Huckleberry Hound Meets Willie
In terms of cartoon studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions are one of the giants. After being let go from MGM where they created Tom and Jerry films, the duo of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera started doing their own thing. They started off with The Ruff and Reddy in 1957, a short cartoon that aired before and after a kid’s show. While successful, Hanna-Barbera weren’t satisfied. They felt cartoons could be more than filler, so they pitched the first 30-minute cartoon, The Huckleberry Hound Show.
Since no one knew if kids would watch a single cartoon that long in the late ’50s, the show was made up of three segments: one with Huckleberry Hound, one with Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, and one with a soon-to-be iconic cartoon character named Yogi Bear. On September 30, 1958, “Huckleberry Hound Meets Willie” aired, making history as the first full-length cartoon made for TV.
Aired: Daria - The Misery Chick
For many young MTV fans in the late ’90s, Daria was ahead of its time. When the show found its audience, however, it took off and became one of the more popular shows of the era. The intelligent, strong and snarky teenager was relatable to all fans, but she looked and acted like a much smaller group.
Daria must confront who she is after being called misery chick by a jock in the episode of the same name.
This season finale is powerful and well thought-out. It looks at the differences in people and how people interact with the world around them. Daria isn’t depressed, but she is reserved. She’s not pessimistic but realistic, and sometimes critical. In one of the episodes best lines, Daria acknowledges her difference by saying, “I’m not miserable. I’m just not like them."
Aired: The Hardy Boys - Footprints Under The Window
While it may be shocking that the first positive African-American male character didn’t appear in a cartoon until 1969, it is true. It happened on the animated The Hardy Boys show, and the character was Pete Jones. The episode “Footprints under the Window” aired on September 5th and Pete Jones, one of the band members, smashed through the awful stereotypes that plagued Black characters in animation for years. Before Pete, animators created African-American people as cringeworthy caricatures.
One of the motivations behind creating Pete Jones was almost certainly due to the popularity of Jimi Hendrix at the time. The rock-themed cartoon featured the Hardy Boys traveling around to gigs and solving mysteries at the same time. To rock fans, a jab at Pete Jones would be a jab at Hendrix, making it doubly offensive.
Never Aired: Postcards from Buster - Sugartime!
Postcards from Buster, the spin-off of Arthur, featured the same type of child-friendly content as its predecessor. So, what did the episode “Sugartime!” do so wrong that it was pulled from the PBS schedule before airing? Apparently, it featured some content that some, including the former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, found offensive. Though it has been included on the show’s DVDs, it never aired on television.
In the episode, Buster travels to Vermont to learn about maple syrup.
While there, he meets several children with same-sex parents. Vermont had legalized same-sex civil unions early, so this was educational as well. Not according to Spellings, though. She wrote to PBS, claiming that “many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode.”
Aired: The Flintstones - Little Bamm Bamm
More than any other cartoon in history, The Flintstones shattered all boundaries and limits set before it. Broadcast for the first time on September 30th, 1960, The Flintstones aired on primetime, the first cartoon to do so. It ran for six years and almost single-handedly changed the cartoon landscape. Among other things, The Flintstones was the first cartoon to discuss infertility and adoption.
In fact, The Flintstones were one of the first shows in history to touch this topic. Period.
It first came up in the episode “Little Bamm Bamm”, when Barney and Betty, saddened that they cannot have a child, wish for one on a falling star. The next morning, the Rubbles find a surprise on their front porch, a baby boy named Bamm Bamm. The Rubbles then go through the adoption process to become Bamm Bamm’s legal guardians.
Aired: Steven Universe – Alone Together
It can be argued that Steven Universe is the most progressive cartoon on television. Rather than ignore complex topics, the show addresses them in creative and impactful ways. Of all the episodes aired, “Alone Together” might be the most radical. At least, in terms of discussing gender and intimacy - a big challenge in a kids’ show. “Alone Together” approached these topics delicately through fusion, the act of dancing, and connecting into one being.
Though the concept of fusion and intimacy are obviously close, “Alone Together” presents the entire process carefully and respectfully. There is consent, understanding, and balance throughout.
When Steven and Connie fuse, they become Stevonnie and are told, “You are not two people. And you are not one person. You are an experience. Make sure you’re a good experience.” Stevonnie is also presented as an agendered person, a rarity for any show, let alone a cartoon.
Aired: Josie And The Pussycats - The Nemo’s A No No Affair
When The Hardy Boys broke ground with Pete Jones in 1969, the ripple effect was quick to make its mark. One year later, on September 12, 1970, Josie and the Pussycats aired the episode “The Nemo’s a No No Affair”, and Valerie Brown became the first recurring positive African-American female in a cartoon. Though Valerie had already appeared in the comics, it wasn’t a given that she would appear on the show.
Before Valerie, African-American women in cartoons were often stereotypes or simple caricatures.
Valerie changed that. In the show, she isn’t just attractive, stylish, and talented - she is the intelligent one of the group, a trait that animators and writers still rarely give to give African-American characters. After Pete Jones and Valerie Brown broke down the wall, Fat Albert took over and took it to the next level.
Never Aired: Tiny Toons
Over the years, the “One Beer” episode from Tiny Toons has become a cult classic because of how intense and over the top it is. Designed to showcase how dangerous and destructive drinking and driving can be, “One Beer” took things to an obscene level. Technically, the episode did air, but it was pulled right after that and banned from airing ever again.
In the episode, Buster, Plucky and Hampton share a beer and get intoxicated. They then steal a cop car, get involved in a high-speed chase and drive off a mountain to their demise. Sound farfetched? That’s honestly what happens. It’s really no wonder that the episode was pulled. While the information might be useful, the execution is insane.
Aired: The Proud Family - Culture Shock
Even though The Proud Family certainly wasn’t the first animated show to focus on an African-American family, it is modern and deals with challenging issues of race and culture in modern ways. Perhaps no other episode is as enlightening and groundbreaking as “Culture Shock”. Airing two years after 9/11, this episode takes on Islamophobia, racism and multiculturalism in a way cartoons rarely have done before.
In “Culture Shock”, the kids are asked to switch cultures with a classmate, Penny switching with a Muslim student. The episode does well to represent the Muslim experience in America as an American experience. While this episode surely speaks to non-Muslim viewers, at the time, it was also big for Muslims in North America.
Aired: Adventure Time - Fionna and Cake
Fans of Adventure Time don’t need to be reminded how progressive the show is. It seems that every episode looks at cartoons in a new and exciting way. But of all the applause-worthy episodes, “Fionna and Cake” takes the… well… you get it.
In this third season episode, we meet Finn and Jake’s gender-swapped alter-egos, Fionna and Cake.
The adventure is filled with the gender-swapped counterparts of all the characters, except BMO, who is genderless. One of the most entertaining aspects of the episode is that, aside from switching the genders of the characters, the show remains completely intact.
The adventure is entertaining and the dialog effective without ever being stereotypical. It perfectly shows how effective gender fluidity can be when utilized properly. Not only was “Fionna and Cake” the highest-rated episode up to that point, but the characters were quickly hailed as some of the series’ most popular.
Aired: The Flintstones - The Blessed Event
It might not seem like a big deal, but, in 1963 when “The Blessed Event” first aired, husband and wife characters were rarely shown sharing a bed. When it comes to cartoons, Wilma and Fred in bed together was the first time it happened.
This cartoon is also one of the first to address pregnancy and child birth. It wasn’t long before this episode aired when Lucy and Ricky were still sleeping in separate beds on I Love Lucy - they couldn’t even say they word “pregnant.”
The Flintstones were the true trailblazers in animation on television. Pebbles’ birth was part of an arc, the first multi-episode story in the show, and likely the first for any cartoon. Even though the show was meant for adults, the addition of the kids, Pebbles and Bamm Bamm, opened it up to new audiences, and helped it spawn several different spin-offs.
Never Aired: Dexter’s Laboratory – Rude Removal
Intended to air as part of the second season of Dexter’s Laboratory, “Rude Removal” was never aired because of the implied profanity within the episode. In “Rude Removal,” Dexter invents a Rude Removal System to take out Dee Dee’s rudeness. However, after fighting near the machine, Dexter and Dee Dee end up being split into two halves: a rude half and a well-mannered half.
The rude halves then go on a spree of inappropriateness and profanity.
Eventually they are contained and fixed, but not before busting everything up. While all the profanity in the episode was bleeped out, the censors weren’t about to let kids watch the bleeping episode, so it was banned. It later played at a few festivals, but it has never been released to the public and likely never will.
Aired: The Legend of Korra - The Last Stand
Considering The Legend of Korra started in 2012 and finished in 2014, it seems rather outrageous to suggest it did anything radical, but it most certainly did. In the series finale, the lead Korra takes the hand of her female friend Asami, in a big moment. Aside from confirming to many fans that the main character of this animated show was attracted to the same-sex, a very radical concept on its own, The Legend of Korra did something else that was totally new.
It moved a character from an ambiguous orientation to a same-sex one.
Throughout history, especially regarding the main players, homosexual characters are that way from the start. There is rarely any self-discovery. The Legend of Korra went away from the norm, planting seeds, but waiting to confirm the theory until the end. This is rare for television in general - for animation, it is unheard of.
Aired: Reboot - The Tearing
In 1995, Toy Story made history by becoming the first computer-animated feature film. It forever changed the way animated films are made and helped reshape animation. But, before that, there was Reboot. On September 10th, 1994, “The Tearing” aired on ABC for kids everywhere and became a huge success. Though Insektors, a French kids’ show, used computer animation the year prior, Reboot was the first in North America. It was also the first full-length show to use only computer animation.
Blazing a trail in computer animation on television was not without its speedbumps. Apparently, the Broadcast Standards and Practices unit (BSP) asked the animators to tone down Dot’s curves by making them less shapely. The result was Dot’s blocky chest, what the animators called the monobreast.
Aired: South Park - The Big Boat Ride
When South Park first aired, it was a jolt to the collective systems of viewers everywhere. It became the first show to get the TV-MA rating in 1997 due to its language and taboo topics. People were wondering when it would take on the hard issues, which only took four episodes. In the fourth episode, Stan’s dog is revealed to be homosexual, which sends the boys on a journey to understand it better.
They did this in subtle ways, crass ways and every way in between.
The episode was nominated for an Emmy, and Trey Parker credits it as the episode that really made the show, saying “[it] was sort of what really made South Park popular. I think this was our breakout show in a lot of ways. … This was sort of the show we chose to represent the series.”
Never Aired: The Angry Beavers – Bye Bye Beavers
Even though the final episode of The Angry Beavers “Bye Bye Beavers” was included in box sets, it never aired for a few different reasons. In the very meta episode, the beavers come to realize that they are disappearing. After coming to grips with the fact that they are cartoons, they try to overcome being over. In the end, despite screaming April Fools, the episode ends, and the show really was over.
According to Richard Horvitz, one of the lead voices, the crew knew they were being cancelled, so they created this meta episode. Some sources claim, however, that by breaking the fourth wall, the show broke one of Nickelodeon’s cardinal rules. Though that is done in other Nickelodeon shows, “Bye Bye Beavers” breaks the fourth wall in perhaps the biggest way, by acknowledging their cancellation. Pulling this trick in a final episode might impact re-runs, so Nickelodeon pulled the plug.
Aired: Pepper Ann - Dances with Ignorance
Stereotyping and misappropriation has been done in many different ways over the years in all television mediums, but it’s not often dealt with so effectively on a children’s cartoon as it was on Pepper Ann.
In the episode “Dances with Ignorance”, Pepper Ann learns that she has bit of Native in her heritage. She gets excited and takes on many of the stereotypical forms of the culture, including the clothes, building tipis, and even sends up smoke signals. When she meets a Native family, she embarrasses herself by showing off everything she has learned.
“Dances with Ignorance” does many things well, but, above all else, the subtleties of the Native representations are best. The Native family made up of Dave, Carol, and Bob are modern and distinct from other Native families, cultures, and heritages. It takes her some time, but Pepper Ann eventually learns this truth.
Aired: The Simpsons - Simpson and Delilah
The Simpsons were the first to do many things in animation, but this moment may be the most groundbreaking. On October 18th, 1990, “Simpson and Delilah” had Homer hire a new secretary, Karl (Harvey Fierstein). Near the end of the episode, Karl reacts to Homer calling himself a fool, by saying “My mother taught me never to kiss a fool” and then kissing him.
Though it may have gone somewhat undetected, this was monumental.
This animated kiss happened before the one on L.A. Law, and 10 years before Dawson’s Creek. When asked about it, creator Matt Groening said, “I think that given the nature of TV these days, the fact that we did is beyond any other cartoon and is pretty outrageous. I’m not happy that it was outrageous, but it was for TV standards. I think we thought we were being subtle.”
Aired: Hey Arnold! – Helga On The Couch
On the surface, Hey Arnold! was a simple children’s program. At its core, it was insightful, enlightening, and influential. Before “Helga on the Couch” aired, Helga Pataki was understandably complex, but the details of her life were hazy at best. Intuitive fans could read into her behaviors and see hints of a destructive home life, but hints were all they got.
Then, in this 1999 episode, a psychologist visits the school and wants to see Helga. Through flashbacks and home life scenes, a clearer picture of Helga’s family life comes out. Helga is the product of a possibly depressed and addicted mother and a distant father. This episode also highlights why and when Helga first fell in love with Arnold. She loved him since the first day of pre-school, when he complimented her bow and shared his umbrella.
Never Aired: Powerpuff Girls - See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey
Even though the Powerpuff Girls episode, “See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey,” is available on some streaming sites today, it was originally banned from airing in 2004. In the episode, the girls, wishing for world peace, are granted it by a gnome. The only stipulation is that they give up their powers, to which they agree. In this new utopia, however, the people worship the gnome and begin a cult.
The girls then confront the idea that, without free will, the world may actually be worse off. It turns out, that by stripping the people of their free will, the gnome becomes the evil that is vanquished. Though this episode tackles complex issues, that’s not why it was banned. Apparently, the reason was that “[the network] claimed that the metal beams in the destroyed buildings looked too much like crosses and one of the hippies looked like Jesus.”
Which one of these cartoons shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments!
