From Adventure Time to Avatar: The Last Airbender, there are some so-called “kids’ shows” that are so deep and profound and subversive, every adult should watch them. There’s a certain stigma attached to a fully grown adult watching television made for children, but any parent knows there’s some great TV aimed at kids that the rest of us aren’t privy to.
Some children’s shows have a transgressive, surreal sense of humor that appeals to audiences of all ages, like SpongeBob SquarePants. Some of them deal with heavy themes in the context of a kid-friendly cartoon, like Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These shows were made for kids, and they’re great for kids, but every adult should watch them, too.
Phineas & Ferb
The premise of Phineas and Ferb is simple: the eponymous stepbrothers set out to make the most of their summer vacation by spending each day doing something memorable. But within that conceit, the writers had a lot of fun.
Phineas’ older sister Candace is always trying to bust him, and his pet platypus has an ongoing feud with a local supervillain, and the way those running gags coalesce in each episode is always a wonderful surprise. It’s refreshing to see a show as funny and upbeat and inventive as Phineas and Ferb.
Gargoyles
Gargoyles is a masterpiece of urban fantasy. It revolves around a supernatural race of gargoyles that turn to stone during the day. After 1,000 years of enchantment, a bunch of gargoyles from medieval Scotland are reawakened in modern-day New York, where they become the city’s nocturnal protectors.
When it premiered in the 1990s, Gargoyles was noted for having a much darker tone than the average kids’ entertainment. It deals with Shakespearean themes, soapy melodrama, and complicated story arcs befitting of a prestige TV drama.
Regular Show
The wonderfully weird Regular Show is hugely popular among younger viewers, but its story and characters are actually more relatable to adults. It revolves around the lives of two 23-year-old slackers — a blue jay named Mordecai and a raccoon named Rigby — who work as groundskeepers at the local park.
Their friends include a tiny ghost, an immortal yeti, and a gumball machine. In each episode, Mordecai and Rigby get into all kinds of comic misadventures while slacking off work. It speaks to adults more than it speaks to kids (but kids love it, too).
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars managed to redeem the prequel trilogy with The Clone Wars. The Clone Wars took the familiar characters and concepts from the prequels and proved how great they could be with stronger writing. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padmé, and even Jar Jar were all better-written characters in the TV show.
The manufactured conflict between the Republic and the Separatists points to the sinister machinations behind any war. The Jedi’s dubious tactics point to the indoctrination process of any organized religion.
Kim Possible
Kim Possible is a high-octane James Bond-style action thriller crossed with a high school coming-of-age story. Kim is a secret agent constantly being called out to save the day from nefarious supervillains, but she’s also just a typical teenager trying to navigate the nightmare of adolescence.
Every episode combines a grounded high school storyline with a far-fetched save-the-world spy storyline. The latter is always a delightfully self-aware riff on the tropes of Bond, Mission: Impossible, and the like, but the former is relatable and funny and emotionally engaging.
Gravity Falls
Gravity Falls is basically Twin Peaks for kids. Like Twin Peaks, it takes place in a strange little town full of supernatural creatures and paranormal phenomena. The series focuses on a brother and sister who move to the titular town to live with their great-uncle (“Grunkle”) Stan and help him run his tourist trap, the Mystery Shack.
During their stay, the twins investigate local mysteries and try to get to the bottom of the weirdness in their town. Gravity Falls has a massive fan base spanning children, teenagers, and young adults. Its surrealism struck a chord with viewers of all ages.
Batman: The Animated Series
Along with Tim Burton’s movies and Adam West’s live-action TV show, Batman: The Animated Series is one of the quintessential on-screen portrayals of Batman. The shadowy, expressionistic animation looks like a comic book brought to life, and the late, great Kevin Conroy is the definitive voice of the Dark Knight (they even brought him back for the Arkham video games).
Like all the best Batman stories, Batman: The Animated Series is a moody detective noir set on the streets of Gotham City. This isn’t Batman for kids; it’s just classic Batman.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an action-adventure fantasy series about a bunch of superpowered martial artists, but you’ll be surprised by how deep and profound it is. The elemental superpowers and martial arts fight scenes are what drew kids in, but the creators used that conceit to explore some really heavy themes.
The show touches on war, genocide, authoritarianism, gender inequality, class inequality, political corruption, and the concept of free will. It’s been hailed as one of the greatest TV shows ever made, period, not just one of the best kids’ cartoons.
SpongeBob SquarePants
Like The Simpsons or a great Pixar movie, SpongeBob SquarePants is fun for the whole family. Its irreverent humor appeals to audiences of all ages. In fact, the only reason SpongeBob goes to boating school in addition to his career as a fry cook is so kids could relate to him, not just their parents.
There’s a surrealism to SpongeBob that goes over a lot of kids’ heads, but adults can appreciate how transgressive it is. It has grossout gags, absurdist non-sequiturs, and some delightfully dark twists that make it a subversively mature children’s cartoon.
Adventure Time
Adventure Time is a wonderfully absurd spin on the familiar fantasy genre. It follows two best friends and adoptive brothers — a boy named Finn and a shapeshifting dog named Jake — on a series of hilarious adventures in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo.
That refreshingly simplistic setup has allowed the writers to deconstruct fantasy tropes, create zany supporting characters, and tell a touching tale of the bond of brotherhood. Adventure Time is fiercely original and irresistibly charming.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
