Top Ten Cartoons With the Best Pilot Episodes

The Top Ten
1 The Fairly OddParents The Fairly OddParents is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon.

This should be number one. I love the pilot episodes like a lot. And they are nicely done.

2 Adventure Time Adventure Time is an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada) and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio)—a dog with the magical power to change shape and size at will. Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo. Throughout the show, they interact with the other main characters Princess Bubblegum (voiced by Hynden Walch), the Ice King (voiced by Tom Kenny), and Marceline the Vampire Queen (voiced by Olivia Olson). The series is based on a short produced for Nicktoons and Frederator Studios' animation incubator series Random! Cartoons. ...read more.
3 Courage The Cowardly Dog Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated horror comedy television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network as part of the network's Cartoon Cartoons block.
4 The Amazing World of Gumball The Amazing World of Gumball is a British-Australian-German-American-Irish children's animated television series created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network.

The pilot shows Gumball and Darwin as younger selves.
It was shown in Adult Swim.

I totally agree the pilot episode was amazing!

5 The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening that originally started on April 19, 1987 as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. It got its own series on December 17, 1989 and is still running as of 2023, making it the longest running animated sitcom. It is about a man named Homer Simpson and his family (wife Marge and children Bart, Lisa and Maggie and pets, Snowball II and Santa's Little Helper) going through a long series of misadventures.
6 SpongeBob SquarePants SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator the late Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. SpongeBob is currently the most popular show on Nickelodeon, as well as the longest running show, running for 23 years, and is beginning its 13th season. The show revolves around a sea sponge called SpongeBob SquarePants and his adventures under the sea. The show is considered to be one of the best Nickelodeon and cartoon shows of all time.

Impressive animation for it's technology, witty humor/memorable quotes. Count me in.
"Today's the big day, Gary! "
"meow"

I'm naked my favourite line oh yeah and Barg n' Mart home of all your Spatula needs.

Do you smell it that smell the kind of smelly smell that smells smelly anchovies

7 Dexter's Laboratory Dexter's Laboratory is an American comic science fiction animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network, and the first of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The show is about a kid scientist named Dexter that has a sister named Dee Dee that keeps breaking into his lab.
8 Apple & Onion
9 Hey Arnold! Hey Arnold! is an American animated television series created by Craig Bartlett that aired on Nickelodeon from October 7, 1996 to June 8, 2004. The show centers on a fourth grader named Arnold, who lives with his grandparents in an inner-city boarding house.

Almost nobody got to see the original, but thank god for the remake episode (24 Hours To Live)!

10 Gravity Falls Gravity Falls is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation that first aired on Disney Channel, and then on Disney XD from June 15, 2012 to February 15, 2016. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines and his twin sister Mabel in the fictional town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, while on summer vacation.

Best show ever

Asides Love Death and Robots, this is the best pilot episode for animated show

The Contenders
11 Rugrats Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon.

Tommy's hands designs look like adult hands if you pay attention closely.
And his voice grammer sounded very well.

The actual name of the pilot was "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing"

12 Steven Universe Steven Universe is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. The show's based around a young boy by the name of Steven Universe, who is a hybrid of a gem and a human. He lives with his gem friends, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl.

The animation in the pilot wasn't great, but overall it was good. I'm glad the animation improved as the series went on.

13 Codename: Kids Next Door Codename: Kids Next Door (also known as Kids Next Door or by its acronym KND) is an American animated television series created by Mr. Warburton for Cartoon Network.
14 Pound Puppies (1985)

I liked the pilot the one with the characters like you see in the those toys, merchandisers, other products, etc, they should kept the main characters like that in the series instead of replacing some characters for the different ones and should kept the designs.
Plus I like Howler that has more comical personality with a lot of howling in the pilot version.
They should kept it like that for the series.

15 ChalkZone ChalkZone is an American animated television series created by Bill Burnett and Larry Huber for Nickelodeon.
16 Sailor Moon Sailor Moon is a Japanese shōjo manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Nakayoshi from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 tankōbon volumes. ...read more.
17 Outlaw Star Premiering in 1998, Outlaw Star is a space western anime series based on a manga by Takehiko Itō. It chronicles the adventures of a group of outlaws in a spaceship as they search for a legendary treasure. The series is known for its blend of science fiction and fantasy elements.

They made that for the trailers in 1996 or 1997. They should have that as a pilot episode.
But what really curious me is that Jim has a purple bunny rabbit, I don't why the bunny never made it to series. That's a pretty good question.

18 Phineas and Ferb Phineas and Ferb is an American animated comedy-musical television series. Originally broadcast as a one-episode preview on August 17, 2007 and again previewed on September 28, 2007, the series officially premiered on February 1, 2008 and ended on June 12, 2015 on Disney Channel, and follows Phineas ...read more.
19 Avatar: The Last Airbender Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in an Asiatic-like world in which some people are able to manipulate the classical elements by use of psychokinetic variants of Chinese ...read more.
20 Bubsy

What could possibly go wrong? Here's your answer!

21 The Loud House The Loud House is an American animated television series created by Chris Savino for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around the chaotic suburban everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud and his ten sisters, to which he survives as the middle child and only son in a large family of eleven children. ...read more.
22 Bob's Burgers Bob's Burgers is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for The Fox Broadcasting Company. It premiered on January 9, 2011 and is still running as of 2022.
23 My Little Pony (1984)

They should kept Firefy, Twighlight, Applejack, especially Bubbles and the designs like that for the series.

24 Regular Show Regular Show is an American animated television series created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network that premiered on September 6, 2010. The series revolves around the lives of two friends, a blue jay named Mordecai and a raccoon named Rigby—both employed as groundskeepers at a local park.
25 Battle Toads
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