The 40 most popular 1960s animation TV shows, ranked. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Sazae-san
1969 · JP
The adventures of Sazae Fuguta and her family and friends in their Tokyo suburb.


Fuse
1962 · SU
Fitil is a popular Soviet/Russian television satirical/comedy short film series which ran for about 500 episodes. Some of the episodes were aimed at children, and were called Фитилёк, Fitilyok, Little Fuse. Each issue contained from the few short segments: documentary, fictional and animated ones. Directed by various artists, including Leonid Gaidai who presented his famous trio of Nikulin, Vitsin and Morgunov into the cast. It was called in USSR as "the anecdotes from the Soviet government".


The Flintstones
1960 · US
The misadventures of two modern-day Stone Age families, the Flintstones and the Rubbles.


Astro Boy
1963 · JP
In the year 2000, Dr. Boyton creates a super-robot in his deceased son's image. He calls the robot Astro Boy. Astro Boy can swim oceans, leap over mountains, even fly into space on his own power. However, Astro Boy can't replace his son. Dr. Boyton becomes dissatisfied with the boy robot and disowns him. Astro Boy is befriended by Dr. Packadermus J. Elefun of the Institute of Science, who guides him through his adventures. Endowed with super strength, rocket-powered flight, a selfless heart and a kind demeanor, Astro Boy fights a never-ending crusade against the forces of evil!


Popeye the Sailor
1960 · US
Follows the adventures of the famed spinach-eating sailor man. Popeye is one of the most popular cartoon characters of all time. This spunky but loveable spinach-eating sailor continues to delight young and old with his comic adventures, and the entire gang is around to provide plenty of rousing fun and action: Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, Wimpy and Bluto.


The Jetsons
1962 · US
Meet George Jetson and his quirky family: wife Jane, son Elroy and daughter Judy. Living in the automated, push-button world of the future hasn't made life any easier for the harried husband and father, who gets into one comical misadventure after another!


The New Adventures of Superman
1966 · US
The New Adventures of Superman is a series of six-minute animated Superman adventures produced by Filmation that were broadcast on CBS between 1966 and 1970. The 68 segments appeared as part of three different programs during that time, packaged with similar shorts featuring The Adventures of Superboy and other DC Comics superheroes.


Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
1969 · US
Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and the talking dog, Scooby-Doo, travel on the Mystery Machine van, in search of weird mysteries to solve.


Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines
1969 · US
Dick Dastardly and his snickering canine co-pilot Muttley plot to stop Yankee Doodle Pigeon aboard their World War I flying machines.


Star of the Giants
1968 · JP
In 1969, at the press conference of Nagashima Shigeo who was joining a professional baseball team, Yomiurhi Kyojin, a ball was thrown at him by a boy. He was Hoshi Hyuma, and a thrown ball meant a letter of challenge. His father, Hoshi Ittetsu, had trained Huma since he had been very young to achieve his dream to make him a professional baseball player.


The Marvel Super Heroes
1966 · US
This cartoon series, characterized by extremely limited animation, features five of the most popular super-powered heroes from Marvel Comics: the Incredible Hulk, the Mighty Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Sub-Mariner.


Tiger Mask
1969 · JP
A villainous masked wrestler becomes a hero for the sake of protecting the orphanage in which he was raised.


The Yogi Bear Show
1961 · US
From his home in Jellystone Park, Yogi Bear dreams of nothing more in life than to outwit as many unsuspecting tourists as he can and grab their prized picnic baskets all while staying one step ahead of the ever-exasperated Ranger Smith. Yogi's little buddy, Boo-Boo, tries to keep Yogi out of trouble but rarely succeeds. That's okay because not even Ranger Smith can stay mad for long at the lovable, irresistible Yogi Bear.


Spider-Man
1967 · US
The bite of a radioactive spider transforms a teen into a superhero.


The Mr. Magoo Show
1960 · US
The Mister Magoo Show is an American animated television series which was produced from November 7, 1960 to February 2, 1962. A single episode included five five-minute shorts and could either be aired together with bumpers as a single half-hour show, or it could be split up with one short aired each weekday, along with other cartoons. It was produced by United Productions of America.


Thunderbirds
1965 · UK
Thunderbirds is a 1960s British science-fiction television series which was produced using a mixed method of marionette puppetry and scale-model special effects termed "Supermarionation". The series is set in the 21st century and follows the exploits of International Rescue, a secret organization formed to save people in mortal danger with the help of technologically advanced land, sea, air and space vehicles and equipment, launched from a hidden base on Tracy Island in the South Pacific Ocean.


Top Cat
1961 · US
Top Cat, known as T.C. to his alley cat friends, is a mischievous prankster who lives in a trash can in the alley ways of New York City. He and his alley-cat cohorts think of get rich schemes and assorted pranks which are mostly involving and aimed at Officer Dibble, their nemesis and friend. T.C. manages to get out of his tight situations with hilarity and charm and even helps Dibble on occasion who is underscored by his overbearing sergeant...


Kimba the White Lion
1965 · JP
The adventures of Leo, a young lion cub who becomes king of the jungle when his father, the previous king of the jungle is killed by a human hunter.


The Magilla Gorilla Show
1964 · US
Magilla Gorilla is a fictional gorilla and the star of The Magilla Gorilla Show by Hanna-Barbera that aired from 1964 to 1967.


The Atom Ant Show
1965 · US
Operating out of his private anthill, the formidable Atom Ant picks up distress calls via his built-in antennae and heads out to battle a fearsomely delightful array of dastards including Bug Fat Dynamo, Crankenshaft, M.D. and his arch-nemesis Ferocious Flea. Sharing screen time with our hero are Precious Pupp, a rascal of a mutt who hides his antics from the kindly Granny Sweets and the Hillbilly Bears, the most ridiculous bears to ever come from the Blue Ridge Mountains.


Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
1967 · UK
Captain Scarlet heads up an international intelligence agency as they battle against the Mysterons, an alien species from Mars that vows vengeance after a misunderstanding with humans.


The Secret Squirrel Show
1965 · US
The half-hour The Secret Squirrel Show included three individual cartoon segments: "Secret Squirrel", "Squiddly Diddly" and "Winsome Witch".


The Peter Potamus Show
1964 · US
Peter Potamus is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The main segment featuring Peter Potamus and his diminutive sidekick So-So the monkey. Peter is big, purple, and friendly, dressed in a safari jacket and hat. Episodes generally consisted of Peter and So-So exploring the world in his hot air balloon, which was capable of time travel at the spin of a dial. When faced with a precarious situation, Peter uses his Hippo Hurricane Holler to blow away his opponents. The second segment, Breezly and Sneezly, featured a polar bear named Breezly Bruin and his friend Sneezly the Seal who used various schemes to break into an army camp in the frozen north, while trying to stay one step ahead of the camp's leader Colonel Fuzzby. The final segment, Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey, featured three dogs named Yippee, Yappee, and Yahooey who work for the King, a short, complaining ruler who is often on the receiving end of their antics.


Cattanooga Cats
1969 · US
Follow the adventures of the Cattanooga Cats, an anthropomorphic band of cats.


Cackling Kitarou
1968 · JP
Kitarou, a ghost, spends his afterlife helping humans in need of his skills. He thwarts the plans of evil spirits who live to torment humanity.


Wacky Races
1968 · US
Wacky Races is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera that originally aired in 1968. The show is a parody of traditional car races, featuring a variety of eccentric characters and their outlandish vehicles, all racing across different terrains in a madcap competition for first place. The series is centered around a group of 11 racers, each with their own unique vehicle and distinct personality. The main characters include Dick Dastardly and his dog Muttley, who are always trying to cheat and sabotage the other competitors, although they never succeed. Other notable racers include Penelope Pitstop, the glamorous but tough driver; the adventurous Red Max; and the lovable duo, the Slag Brothers, who drive a massive, rock-like car.


Tijuana Toads
1969 · US
Poncho, a pushy but experienced toad, shows his apprentice Toro how to catch flies and otherwise survive the pitfalls of being a toad.


Les Shadoks
1968 · FR
Les Shadoks is an animated television series created by French cartoonist Jacques Rouxel which caused a sensation in France when it was first broadcast in 1968-1974. The Shadoks were bird-like in appearance, were characterised by ruthlessness and stupidity and inhabited a two dimensional planet. Another set of creatures in the Shadok canon are the Gibis, who are the opposite to the Shadoks in that they are intelligent but vulnerable and also inhabit a two-dimensional planet. Rouxel claims that the term Shadok obtains some derivation from Captain Haddock of Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin and the Gibis are essentially GBs. The Shadoks were a significant literary, cultural and philosophical phenomenon in France. Even today, the French occasionally use satirical comparisons with the Shadoks for policies and attitudes that they consider absurd. The Shadoks were noted for mottos such as: ⁕"Why do it the easy way when you can do it the hard way?" ⁕"When one tries continuously, one ends up succeeding. Thus, the more one fails, the greater the chance that it will work."


Space Ghost and Dino Boy
1966 · US
Intergalactic policeman Space Ghost navigates the cosmos in his tricked-out spaceship, The Phantom Cruiser, battling villains like Brak and Zorak in his legendary suit and powerful wristbands. Dino Boy teams with caveman Ugh and dinosaur Bronty to go primeval on the ancient menaces of their primitive home.


Aquaman
1967 · US
Aquaman is a Filmation animated series that premiered on CBS on September 9, 1967, and ended June 1970. It is a 30-minute version of The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, repackaged without the Superman and Superboy segments. The show is composed of previously-aired adventures featuring the DC Comics superheroes Aquaman and his sidekick Aqualad, the Atom, the Flash and Kid Flash, the Green Lantern and Hawkman. The Justice League of America and Teen Titans are also featured in team adventures.


Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor
1967 · US
Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor is a science fiction animated series created by Alex Toth for Hanna-Barbera Productions, which ran on CBS from 1967 to 1969. Despite Moby's name coming first, he had only one short per half-hour episode, sandwiched between two with Mightor; the same structure was used the previous season for H-B's Frankenstein, Jr. and The Impossibles.


Sally the Witch
1966 · JP
Sally is the witch princess of the Magic Kingdom who longs to visit the mortal realm, presumably to make friends her own age. One day, by mistake, Sally teleports to the "mid world" (Earth), where she uses her magic to fend off a couple of burglars menacing two schoolgirls. Immediately befriended by her new acquaintances — tomboyish Yoshiko Hanamura (known affectionately as "Yotchan") and girly Sumire Kasugano — Sally decides to stay on Earth indefinitely, leading to mischief. As with Samantha Stevens in Bewitched, Sally tries to keep her supernatural abilities secret, assuming the role of a human child. In the final episode, Sally's grandma informs her she must return to the Magic Kingdom. Before leaving, Sally tries to tell her friends about her origins, but no one will believe her. Then her elementary school catches on fire, and Sally uses her magic to put it out. Her powers thus exposed, Sally's time to leave has finally come. She waves farewell to her friends, and returns to the Magic Kingdom. Being so popular in Japan, mostly the same way as classic Hanna-Barbera characters are in America, a second series was produced 20 years later. The second series continues a few years after the original ending, and finishes with the Original video animation Sally the Witch: Mother's Love is Eternal, in which, at the end, Sally finally becomes the ruler Queen of the Magic Kingdom, but worries about leaving her friends behind.


もーれつア太郎
1969 · JP
No overview available


Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
1969 · US
Toon version of the Archie Comics witch who uses her powers to aide the uncertainty of adolescence.


Underdog
1964 · US
Underdog, also known as The Underdog Show, is an American Saturday morning animated television series that ran from October 3, 1964, to March 4, 1967, starting on the NBC network until 1966, with the rest of the run on CBS, under the primary sponsorship of General Mills, for a run of 62 episodes. It is one of the early Saturday morning cartoons. The show continued in syndication until 1973. Underdog, Shoeshine Boy's heroic alter ego, appears whenever love interest Sweet Polly Purebred is being victimized by such villains as Simon Bar Sinister or Riff Raff. Underdog nearly always speaks in rhyming couplets, as in "There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!"


The New 3 Stooges
1965 · US
Larry, Moe and Curly Joe bring their mastery of mirth, merriment and mayhem to plenty of places from the Old West to Outer Space and everywhere in between. The hijinks never stop as The Boys bumble and fumble their way from one zany adventure to the next in this animated slapstick series.


Birdman and the Galaxy Trio
1967 · US
Granted the power and wings of an eagle by high priests, Birdman defends the rights of mankind across the universe accompanied by his constant companion, an eagle named Avenger.


Fitil (Film Magazine)
1962 · RU
A satirical film magazine produced by various film studios in the USSR from 1962 to 1991 and in the CIS from 1992 to 2003. The magazine's issues consisted of various stories: feature films, documentaries (with dubbed characters), and cartoons.


The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series
1962 · US
The series included three short cartoon segments featuring funny animal characters: Wally Gator, Touché Turtle and Dum Dum and Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har.


Frankenstein, Jr. and The Impossibles
1966 · US
Boy genius Buzz Conroy’s powerful robot, Frankenstein Jr. cranks into action along with a group of crime fighting superheroes disguised as a beatnik rock group, The Impossibles, making hot-rockin’ musical justice!
1960s television was the medium's first confident decade, when the Western and the variety show gave way to a broader range of genre programming in colour.
Animated television covers everything from long-running adult satire to prestige anime. It's a format where a distinctive visual voice can survive far longer than in film, and where some of the sharpest writing on TV lives.