Top 10 Cartoon Characters of all Time

I came across this old project the other day as I was sorting through and archiving some of my old files. We were working on this about a year ago and as lead on this project, I still feel a personal disappointment over the fact we were unable to finish. It’s a real shame - this would have been an important piece of work had we ever released it.

There were two contentious issues we could not bring to resolution, the source of which is our esteemed, but maverick colleague Scott TECHRITER. (“Picking up 24”). Not unlike other collaborations, ours deteriorated into a contest of egos with ST steadfast in his refusal to scale down his list to ten as you can plainly see. His refusal to limit his selections to ten was not because he could not make up his mind, but rather due to his eagerness to show off how much he knows about cartoons.

The more significant major obstacle was Scott TECHRITER’s outright rejection of two of the four lists. It is his staunch opinion that both Snoopy and Charlie are ineligible for consideration because they are “comic strip”, not “cartoon” characters. This called into question the proper working definition of “cartoon character”, and WEBSTER’S*, the usual arbitrator in such disputes, is not helpful.

We developed the following:

”A fictional human or non-human being, portrayed less than realistically, who embodies characteristics or traits resembling those found in human persons. Such characteristics can be realistic but may also be exaggerated for humorous effect. This fictional being must be a character in a continuing story-line presented in a visual medium.”

We believed this to be correct until someone pointed out that under this definition, Spider-man qualifies as a cartoon which is obviously incorrect.

Everyone knows Spider-man is not a cartoon.

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Slowpoke
Bugs Bunny
Bart Simpson
Snoopy
Daffy Duck
Mickey Mouse
Fred Flintstone
Charlie Brown
Wile E Coyote
Tweety Bird
Donald Duck

Bob (“Meal of the Day”)
Bugs Bunny
Fred Flintstone
Bart Simpson
Charlie Brown
Homer Simpson
Snoopy
Barney Rubble
Daffy Duck
Tweety Bird
Mickey Mouse

Chris (“The Rules of the Game”)
Mickey Mouse
Bugs Bunny
Homer Simpson
Fred Flintstone
Optimus Prime
Winnie the Pooh
Tweety Bird
Bart Simpson
Barney Rubble
George Jetson

Scott TECHRITER
Bugs Bunny
Mickey Mouse
Jonny Quest
Space Ghost
Daffy Duck
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Wiley Coyote
Road Runner
Bart Simpson
Fred Flintstone
Sylvester
Marvin the Martian
Homer Simpson
Barney Rubble
Scooby Doo
Tom and Jerry
Yogi Bear
Mighty Mouse
Donald Duck
Astroboy

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* footnote: We disregarded OXFORD as an approved resource because we believed the British are not “progressive” enough to appreciate low-brow North American cartoons. Undoubtedly any reference of “comic” in Oxford’s will involve Shakespearean connotations referring to mood and story resolution, and happy endings etc etc etc. . .(?!)