Remembering What a Cartoon!: The Ten Best Shorts

Thirty years ago today, Hanna-Barbera's What a Cartoon! began on Cartoon Network. A series composed of creator-driven shorts, to say the show was a game-changer would be putting it lightly. It launched the careers of creators like Genndy Tartakovsky. It was the birthplace of shows like Johnny Bravo. It injected the fading Hanna-Barbera studio with some much-needed energy.

However, you all know this. You don't need me to tell you the shocking story of how Larry and Steve was essentially the pilot of Family Guy. We all know of the show's impact, but what about the cartoons themselves? That is what I'll be focusing on today. To celebrate thirty years of What a Cartoon!, I give you my picks for the ten best cartoons of the bunch. I don't know the consensus on these, so I'm sure your choices are far different from mine. If you have a list of your favorites, I'd love to see it in the comments. Now, onto the toons!

10. Help? (Bruno Bozzetto)

Created by Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto, Help? is as simple as it is effective. Our protagonist, Jof, gets his finger pricked, and heads to the hospital to get it checked out. The problem is the hospital staff does everything but take care of his finger. Much of the humor comes from the doctors and the many situations they get Jof into. All of the usual procedures you endure in a doctor's visit are here and taken to their absolute extremes. More than anything, this short perfectly captures what it's like to get help for everything but the thing you actually needed it for, a situation I think everyone can relate to. The art style is also one of my favorites, as it is one of the more unique styles seen. It's got a great look, great comedy, and great animation. What else do you need?

9. Awfully Lucky (Davis Doi)

Of the many cartoons in this series, Awfully Lucky might have my favorite premise. The short follows a positively unlikeable fellow who gets ahold of a pearl which bestows the owner amazing luck. However, that is then followed by bad luck. It's a solid premise, and some genuinely funny jokes come out of it. There are a few you can see coming a mile away, but there are several curveballs, too. Really, it's a shame that we didn't get more shorts that follow this premise, especially as the ending hints at more to come. It's entertaining cartoon hijinks held together with an intriguing hook that leaves you wanting more. 

8. Boid 'N' Woim (C. Miles Thompson)

Boid 'N' Woim follows, of all things, Boid and Woim. It's your typical cartoon chase, and it's a rather entertaining one at that. The art and animation are both on the simple side, but I love the colors used here. The red in the desert setting is especially lovely and pops off the screen. The characters are again, simple, but I love how Woim is animated. Thompson got some great humor and acting out of a character who has no limbs at all. It's no Kaa from The Jungle Book, but it works for what this short is going for. There were a lot of cartoons in this series that followed the exploits of a particular duo, but for my money, few did it better than Boid 'N' Woim.

7. Cow and Chicken in No Smoking (David Feiss)

The beginning of what would become Cow and Chicken, No Smoking is a story focusing on Chicken ending up in Hell after smoking, and Cow trying to get him out. If that's not an A+ premise, I don't know what is. Feiss had been employed at Hanna-Barbera for quite some time before this, but No Smoking really allowed him to show the world what he was capable of. The animation is fast and frenetic, and the look of the short is unlike almost any other short from this series. The cherry on top is the voice work, done almost entirely by the underrated Charlie Adler. He's great in every role, but his take on the Devil (otherwise known as the Red Guy) is legendary. It's a great cartoon from start to finish, and you can tell why this one got a full series. 

6. The Powerpuff Girls in Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins (Craig McCracken)

The first short to air in this series, Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins is also one of the best. This short introduced the world at large to the city of Townsville, the Powerpuff Girls, and the villainous Fuzzy Lumpkins. Though this runs shorter than an average episode of the series, you still can get a good sense of the show's world, the girls and their personalities, and their supporting cast. It's also fun to watch simply to see its differences from the series. Several characters look vastly different, and a couple sound different as well. There's a fun premise, strong action, and like any good superhero story, a memorable villain. Not too bad for a short that spawned two cartoons, a feature film, an anime, and a buttload of merchandise!

5. Buy One, Get One Free (Charlie Bean)

This short focuses on two cats, both with vastly different personalities, holding a house party while their owners are on a date. The plot isn't anything to write home about, but it's the execution of it that makes this one of my favorites. It's got some stunning backgrounds, strong character designs, and two leads who bounce off each other better than you'd think. One cat is on edge, and the other is laidback, making for some entertaining moments between them. And speaking as a cat owner, I feel like anyone who has had two cats feels like that describes their dynamic perfectly. Kind of like Help? from earlier, this takes an everyday story (cats running amok while their owners are away) and injects it with some classic cartoon comedy. Add in an impressive list of cartoon veterans and you've got one of the best shorts here!

4. Yuckie Duck in I'm On My Way (Pat Ventura)

Pat Ventura did probably more shorts for What a Cartoon! than any other animator, so obviously one would end up here. But of all his shorts, his second Yuckie Duck cartoon is my favorite. Yuckie is back, and this time around, he plays the part of a paramedic. The art direction is even more simplistic than his other shorts, but the comedy is the best it's ever been. I especially love how a heart attack is depicted. Rather than the usual trope of a character fainting, maybe with their chest-pounding out, the heart becomes sentient and pummels the victim! That's a funny subversion, and the animation sells it. I'm On My Way was the last time the world saw Yuckie Duck, and that's a shame. He absolutely could've held his own show in the way say, Cow and Chicken did. But this cartoon ensured he went out with a bang. Or two or three.

3. Johnny Bravo (Van Partible)

The first Johnny Bravo short, this one is pretty in line with an episode of the series it spawned. Johnny wants to impress a zoo keeper, and so he embarks on a quest to find a gorilla that's escaped. The story is effective, but a good story is nothing without a compelling protagonist, and Johnny Bravo definitely fits that bill. He's funny, sports a design that tells you a lot about his character and is brilliantly brought to life by Jeff Bennett. There is also slapstick aplenty in this cartoon, usually at Johnny's expense, but I think this short's strong spot is its pace. It never lingers on anything for too long, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. I also believe that's true of the actual Johnny Bravo series at its best. In all honesty, Johnny Bravo is one of my favorite of the early Cartoon Network series, so it's not surprising that this short is one of my favorites as well.

2. Dexters Laboratory: The Big Sister (Genndy Tartakovsky)

While the original Dexter's Laboratory short is great and all, I think Genndy's follow-up, The Big Sister, was even better. Dexter's Laboratory is great as an introduction to the characters, but this short feels more true to Genndy's animation interests. It's basically a giant robot fight, and we all know he loves his fight scenes. Though it's not on the level of something like Samurai Jack, even this early in his career, the timing is excellent and the "fight" is well executed. Also like Johnny Bravo, The Big Sister is very well-paced. Each scene tells us the essential information and does so as fast as possible. In a day and age where so many cartoons seem chockful of preamble and exposition, this is a breath of fresh air. Besides, when everything is said and done, you simply can't beat giant robots!

1. Courage the Cowardly Dog: The Chicken From Outer Space (John R. Dilworth)

Do I need to elaborate on this one? With a title like that, you know you're about to watch something great. This short has a strong premise, and the execution more than lives up to everything it promises. Unlike the Courage series, there is no dialogue in this cartoon. The animation and visuals provide the humor, and they do it well. Before I sat down and watched these to prepare for this list, I hadn't watched this in probably twenty years. I was legitimately surprised by how much I was laughing. From beginning to end, it's a laugh riot, especially the "showdown" between Courage and the chicken. And clearly, I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Courage got his own cartoon that remains a fan favorite to this day, and this short is why. It delivers on its premise, has all the elements you want in a great toon, and truly feels like something only this particular creator could've made. Not only that, but it's the only cartoon out of this whole series that got nominated for an Oscar! Even the Academy knew this was great stuff!

That's everything for today, but I've got two links to share to keep the anniversary celebration going. Starting off, I highly recommend you check out my chat with Fred Seibert. We talked at length about his Hanna-Barbera days, with a heavy emphasis on What a Cartoon!. Vulture also put out a great retrospective for the series in 2020, complete with quotes from many of the individuals involved in the series. It's also very in-depth, providing far more extensive commentary on the show than most sources online. Now, I open the floor to you. What are your favorite shorts? Are there any hot takes you have about a specific cartoon? Let me know in the comments.