A subject I have a lot of interest in, but can’t find much info on, is the reception of western cartoons in Japan.

The book Anime Bible 2002 offers a list of what was considered to be the 45 best (or maybe most remarkable) American cartoons.

But since the book is in Japanese, I have no idea who is doing the judging or by what criteria, though the list seems to organized more by chronology than as a measure of quality.

1.      Steamboat Willie, 1928

2.      Bambi, 1942

3.      Superman, 1941

4.      Tom & Jerry, 1940

5.      Popeye, 1933

6.      Felix the Cat, 1919

7.      The Flintstones, 1960

8.      The Jetsons, 1962

9.      The Little Lulu Show, 1935

10.   The Looney Tunes, 1930

11.   Tiny Toon Adventures, 1991

12.   Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, 1947(?)  (The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries premiered in ‘95.  So they probably meant to list the original Sylvester and Tweety cartoons)

13.   Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, 1969

14.   Scooby & Scrappy-Doo Show, 1969.  (Really, Japan?)

15.   Josie & The Pussycats, 1970

16.   The Wacky Races, 1968

17.   Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, 1969

18.   The Fantastic Four, 1967

19.   Spider-Man, 1967

20.   Transformers, 1984

21.   He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, 1983

22.   G.I. Joe, 1983

23.   Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, 1967

24.   Johnny Quest, 1964

25.   Batman, 1992

26.   Batman Beyond/Batman of the Future, 1999

27.   X-Men: Evolution, 2001

28.   Justice League, 2001

29.   The Simpsons, 1989

30.   Dexter’s Lab, 1995

31.   The PowerPuff Girls, 1998

32.   Cow & Chicken, 1997

33.   Angela Anaconda, 1999

34.   Ed, Edd’n Eddy, 1999

35.   Space Ghost, 1986.  (This entry is kind of confusing.  The book uses a picture from Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which premiered in ‘94, but Space Ghost first came out  in 1966.  It could be referring to the show Space Stars from 1981 which had Space Ghost segments.)

36.   Johnny Bravo, 1997

37.   Iron Giant, 1999

38.   ReBoot, 1994

39.   Beast Wars, 1996

40.   Toy Story, 1995

41.   Atlantis, 2001

42.   South Park, 1997

43.   Spawn, 1997

44.   Samurai Jack, 2001

45.   Shadow Raiders, 1998

So there you have it.  The list seems to be geared more towards TV shows, but it has a few movies too.  Kinda wish it listed some more off-beat examples of animation.  Where’s Heavy Metal?