The best cartoons of the 1980s
The top 3 according to 1,070 votes from people: The Transformers (1984-1987) · DuckTales (1987-1990) · Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996). (Updated Dec 27, 2025.)
Saturday mornings in the 80s: Transformers, DuckTales, the Turtles and He-Man, ordered from SlashFilm, Collider and Ranker's fan vote.
Top 15
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1
The Transformers (1984-1987)
Autobots versus Decepticons; number one in Ranker's fan vote.
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2
DuckTales (1987-1990)
Scrooge McDuck and his nephews; four Daytime Emmy nominations.
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3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo.
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4
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985)
Prince Adam and the power of Grayskull.
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5
She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
One of the first female-led action cartoons.
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6
ThunderCats (1985-1989)
Lion-O and the Sword of Omens.
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7
The Smurfs (1981-1989)
Hanna-Barbera's little blue villagers.
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8
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983-1986)
The Joes against Cobra.
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9
Inspector Gadget (1983-1986)
A bumbling cyborg detective and his niece Penny.
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10
Jem (1985-1988)
A record-company owner and her rock-star alter ego.
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11
Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985-1991)
Disney's first big TV cartoon series.
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12
Muppet Babies (1984-1991)
The Muppets as toddlers.
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13
Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983-1990)
The singing chipmunks return.
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14
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1989-1990)
Chip and Dale run a detective agency.
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15
The Real Ghostbusters (1986-1991)
The animated continuation of Ghostbusters.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (3)
DuckTales should be number one, that theme song lives in my head rent free.
ThunderCats was my whole childhood.
Inspector Gadget deserves to be higher, Penny was the real hero.