I'm sticking with Western animation only, and I'm only doing shows airing during the 2000 to 2009 era. Any show that begins before and/or ends after 2000/2009 is only judged baqsed on episodes aired during the decade.
Also note, this is a list of the ten cartoons I found to be the best. They are NOT the most influential or popular. So expect one or two oddities on account of my bad taste.
Counting down to the #1 animated show of the decade.
10. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy - I liked the goofily twisted yet family-friendly versions of fantastic characters and situations offered by this show. It wasn't always the best, but there were some great aspects and episodes of this show.
9. Jackie Chan Adventures - Oh boy, a real-life person based toon. I'm sure that this will just be a big ego trip for... hang on... are those shadow ninjas being led by an ancient imprisoned dragon demon thing seeking to destroy half the world using magic talismans? And that's just the first season? And the titular character is actually a sympathetic goofball over his head most of the time? And the child sidekick and mentor are interesting twists? Huh. Goes to show something.
8. Futurama - I don't need to sing this show its praises. If anything, I need to explain why it's only #8 on my list. Really, I'm taking it down a few slots largely because some of my favorite episodes happened after 2009. Really, only half of Futurama's episodes fall in the 2000's decade, and my favorites were generally towards the end. So yeah. If this were for the entire current generation of animation (circa 1997 to today), this one might have actually fared better.
7. Star Wars: Clone Wars - This 3entire show was really just a bunch of 5 minute action clips meant to hold over Star Wars fans until Episode 3. But quite frankly, they were some of the best 5 minute chunks of action I've seen in any media. Also, it made the Original Trilogy's cast of characters memorable, no small feat.
6. Phineas and Ferb - Rarely does one find a piece of media that is able to use a couple of plot devices endlessly without them getting old. The twin conflicts of oblivious genius brothers and their older sister, parallel to a world of spy action with evil science and a platypus agent, should have gotten boring after about six episodes. Well, the writing made sure this never happened, as did the imagination shown by the animators.
5. Teen Titans - IMO, this was the best "Super Hero Team" show of the decade. Teen Titans was a very versatile show, with a cast of characters and animation style capable of a full range of emotions, from dark to silly to dramatic to absurd. The five core characters were each likeable and they had a great chemistry. Unfortunately the show's villains, though far from bad, did not quite reach the same heights as the heroes did. Also, we never got a great connection between the super-world and the everyday world they fought in. Still, this show's many great one-off episodes and the ocassional strong multiparter make this one of the decade's best.
4. South Park - The highest ranking show on this list that began before or after the 2000's, South Park's inclusion this high may seem a bit weird. However, in my mind, South Park can be divided into three distinct eras: The first five seasons (1997 to 2001), which established the universe and set the tone, the Golden Age of Seasons 5 through 14, lasting into 2010, and the more recent episodes, which I have not found as enertaining. Coincidentally, that Golden Age in the middle mostly overlaps with the 2000's decade. Now, I'm not the hugest fan of "Adult Animation." I find it to be often juvenile and pointless (American Dad). But South Park in this middle era achieved a trinity of elements that made it memorable: R-rated grossness, witty humor, and insightful commentary. In the worst episodes, only one of these elements would stand out, but even then it would be worth watching. And when all three elements aligned, you had some of the most memorable slices of television so far this century. The Post-9/11 epsiode, in my mind, marked a turning point in America's grieving process. That's some powerful TV.
3. Justice League/Justice League Unlimited - The culmination of a decade of universe-building and over half a century of lore, these twin shows, which can barely be separated, represented the best interpretation of a comics universe ever put on TV. Sure, we had shows like some of the Marvel crossovers of the 90's, and Young Justice was an admirable attempt more recently, but Justice League captured the full breadth of the massive and fascinating DC universe better than any other show before or since. The multi-part episodes of the original show allowed for more complex plots than typical in animated shows, and Unlimited's ongoing story arcs were worth tuning into again and again. If the show had any weakness, it was due to it tackling something so large that it could not possibly succeed. Any small fragment of this show could have been its own series, and sometimes I wished we got a few shorter series instead of this massive epic. But then I watch the show some more, and forget about those niggling doubts.
2. The Spectacular Spider-Man - The best representation of the classic superhero I've found in any media. Animated shows and films, live-action movies, comic, novels... none of them reach the heights of this tragically short-lived series. It's a bit hard to say why I love this show so much, but ultimately, it comes down to another holy trinity: Spider-Man, Peter Parker, and where the two lives overlap. The hero, both in costume and out of it, has a full plate of problems, and the two inevitably collide at points. But Peter Parker is a smart, tough kid, and is able to rise to most of these challenges, with the help of allies, friends, and family. The show's surprisingly wide cast is as well developed as a mere 26 episodes can allow, and include some of my favorite interpretations of certain characters. It's not perfect; the animation style, though fitting, can look a bit weird at points, and the ocassional line of writing or acting falls flat. But this is, in my mind, the best this genre has ever gotten.
1. Avatar: The Last Airbender - This show should not exist. In an age where traditional animation was falling before an onslaught of immature Shrek knockoffs, something as finely crafted and deep as Avatar: The Last Airbender should never have existed. What was so good about this series? Well, almost everything about the show was great. But what really sells the show and makes it something I return to regularly is the cast of characters. Aang is a great child hero. Toph is badass. Zuko is how you do a guy with a tragic past without making the audience bored. Iroh is my favorite cool old guy in all media, beating out Gandalf, Dumbledore, etc. Azula is the best villain ever to come from Nickelodeon. Hell, even the "weaker" characters like Katara are strong enough to carry great episodes. And the wide cast of one-off and minor characters each leave a mark that help one identify the universe. Seriously, I think the entire show only had one less than good episode. If over 98% of your episodes are good or better, you're doing it right.
Shows that I have not seen enough of to include on this list include Kim Possible, Samurai Jack, the recent Scooby-Doo series. Also, like I said, I'm not counting anime. Not to mention that I'm probably forgetting some great shows. It's hard to remember a decade of animation offhand!
And let me end my post with a realization: I am a bigger sucker for superhero styled shows than I realized. Especially when you consider that Danny Phantom and Batman: The Brave and the Bold could each have been an honorable mention.
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