9 Greatest Animated Shows With Fewer Than 40 Episodes

Image via © 2024 MARVEL Published Sep 7, 2026, 2:22 PM EDT Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, and conducts interviews. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His novella, The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain, was released in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family. Sign in to your Collider account When it comes to finding new cartoons to watch, sometimes you want something short that you can get through in a reasonable time. Other times, you may be looking for something brief that will entertain your kids. Wherever you find yourself in your search for animated media, there are plenty of great shows out there that stunned viewers in under 40 episodes — from classic cartoons to modern 3D animation. We've already put together a list of the greatest animated shows under 50 episodes, but we wanted to narrow our focus even more to the 40-episode range. Whether you prefer older material or enjoy new cartoons, there's something here for everybody. While shows like Gravity Falls, ThunderCats, and the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! all fall above that 40-episode threshold, there are still plenty of solid animated series out there worth diving into. Here are some of the best. 'Justice League Unlimited' (2004–2006) Image via Cartoon Network When it comes to superhero animation, there are few shows that surpass Justice League Unlimited. A continuation of the original Justice League animated series, this sequel follows the newly expanded League as they battle new threats both foreign and domestic. Batman (Kevin Conroy), Superman (George Newbern), Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg), and Green Lantern (Phil LaMarr) help lead these costumed heroes in a series of standalone epics and serialized plots that lead to some epic showdowns. As one of DC's greatest animated masterpieces, JLU is everything a fan could want from superhero animation. Not only does the series build on the foundation of previous DC Animated Universe installments, but it offers character studies on some of the more obscure and underappreciated figures in comic book lore. Justice League Unlimited is the gold-standard for how to tell a team-based superhero story, and it continues to delight all these years later. 'Invader Zim' (2001–2006) Image via Nickelodeon Created for Nickelodeon by cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez, Invader Zim is probably one of the most beloved cartoons of its era. Although the series only ran for 27 episodes (plus the original pilot), Zim (Richard Steven Horvitz) is committed only to the goal of universal domination — though he's consistently his worst enemy in achieving it. Along with GIR (Rosearik Rikki Simons), Zim does all he can to rule the Earth, but humorously fails at every chance. The series was a fun mixture of sci-fi, horror, and comedy that leaned more into slapstick humor than anything else. Still, Invader Zim garnered a faithful audience over the years, and even long after its cancellation, folks returned to the underappreciated cartoon cult classic for more. Eventually, Zim returned in the feature film Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus. 'Jonny Quest' (1964–1965) Image via Hanna-Barbera Productions Yes, that's right. The original Jonny Quest, regardless of how popular it has become, only ran for 26 short episodes. Also known as The Adventures of Jonny Quest, the program followed the young hero (Tim Matheson), his father Dr. Benton Quest (John Stephenson, Don Messick), his adoptive brother Hadji Singh (Danny Bravo), special agent "Race" Bannon (Mike Road), and their faithful dog Bandit as they found themselves investigating strange occurrences around the world. These were the type of adventures every young boy wanted. While certainly not the only classic cartoon of its era to gain infamy despite a small number of episodes (Space Ghost was another), Jonny Quest is one of the most important of its day. Reruns ultimately made it popular with viewers from different generations, and the series was revived years later with The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (which ran a bit longer). To this day, Jonny Quest is one of the few classic animated characters without his own animated movie. 'The Spectacular Spider-Man' (2008–2009) Image via Sony Pictures Television Some may be rolling their eyes seeing The Spectacular Spider-Man on this list, but the truth is that this is probably the best Spider-Man cartoon ever made. Josh Keaton voices teenage Peter Parker as he moonlights as Marvel's greatest Wall-Crawler, protecting New York City (and his friends and family) from the likes of maniacal villains who keep popping up around town. Not only does Spectacular focus on Spidey's costumed adventures, but it does great work establishing Peter's personal life as well. As far as superhero cartoons go, Spectacular Spider-Man is among the most grounded. It takes its time to unveil certain aspects of Peter's life and Spidey mythology, while also faithfully re-imagining certain aspects of the original comics for younger audiences. That said, the show never talks down to the viewer, and offers a mature tone while still maintaining a family-friendly atmosphere. For the most notable installments, here are the best Spectacular Spider-Man episodes to start with. Collider Exclusive · Star Wars Quiz Which Force UserAre You? Light Side · Dark Side · Or Somewhere Between The Force is not a binary. It is a spectrum — from the serene halls of the Jedi Temple to the shadowed corridors of Sith space. Ten questions will reveal where you truly fall. The Force has always known. Now you will too. 🔵Jedi Master 🟡Padawan 🔴Sith Lord ⚫Inquisitor ⚪Grey Jedi IGNITE YOUR SABER → 01 What is the Force to you? Your relationship with the Force defines everything else. AA living energy I must be worthy of — it is not mine to control. BSomething vast and mysterious I'm only beginning to understand. CNeither light nor dark — just a current I choose to ride. DPower. Pure and simple. The strong take it; the weak don't. NEXT QUESTION → 02 When you feel strong emotions — anger, grief, love — what do you do? The Jedi suppress. The Sith feed. Others choose differently. AAcknowledge them, then release them. Attachment leads to suffering. BFeel them fully, then decide what to do — they're not the enemy. CBury them. Emotion is a liability I can't afford to indulge. DUse them. Passion is the engine of the dark side for good reason. NEXT QUESTION → 03 The Jedi Council gives you an order you disagree with. You: How you handle authority reveals your alignment. AFollow it. The Council's wisdom surpasses my own perspective. BVoice my objection clearly, then defer to the decision. CComply outwardly while doing what I think is right. DIgnore it. The strong don't answer to committees. NEXT QUESTION → 04 You are offered forbidden knowledge that could give you enormous power. The cost is crossing a moral line. You: The dark side's pull is never more than a choice away. ARefuse without hesitation. There is no cost worth that price. BWeigh it carefully — sometimes darkness holds real answers. CFeel the pull but walk away — for now. DAccept it. Power justifies the method used to obtain it. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Your approach to training and learning is: A student's habits become a master's character. ADedicated but humble. There is always more to learn from my masters. BRigorous and patient. Mastery is earned through years of discipline. CEclectic — I draw from every tradition, not just one. DRelentless and brutal. Pain accelerates growth. Rest is weakness. NEXT QUESTION → 06 In a duel, your lightsaber fighting style reflects: Combat is the purest expression of a Force user's philosophy. ADefense and composure — I wait for my opponent to overcommit. BFast and instinctive — I trust the Force to guide my movements. CUnpredictable — I blend styles to keep enemies off-balance. DOverwhelming aggression — I end fights before they begin. NEXT QUESTION → 07 A defeated enemy lies at your feet, powerless. You: Mercy — or its absence — is the truest test of alignment. AStrike them down — compassion toward enemies is naïve and costly. BNeutralize them permanently. I can't afford loose ends. CSpare them if I can — but stay clear-eyed about the risks. DOffer them a chance to surrender. Every being deserves that. NEXT QUESTION → 08 The Jedi Code forbids attachment. Your honest view on love and bonds: The source of the greatest falls in the galaxy. AThe Code is right. Attachment clouds judgment and invites suffering. BLove is not a weakness — the Jedi Code got this one wrong. CI have no attachment — only loyalty to my master's mission. DI feel it deeply but struggle to reconcile it with my training. NEXT QUESTION → 09 Why do you use the Force at all? What's the point? Purpose is the difference between a knight and a weapon. ATo learn. I'm still figuring out what I'm capable of. BTo protect and serve. The Force is a responsibility, not a gift. CTo survive — and maybe carve out something worth having. DTo dominate. Strength demands to be expressed, not contained. NEXT QUESTION → 10 At the final moment — light side or dark side pulling at you — what wins? In the end, every Force user faces this moment. What does yours look like? AThe light. I choose peace, even when darkness would be easier. BNeither fully — I carve my own path through the middle. CWhoever I serve — my loyalty defines me more than my morality. DThe dark. Power is the only thing that's ever actually been real. REVEAL MY ALIGNMENT → Your Alignment Has Been Determined Your Place in the ForceThe scores below reveal how the Force sees you. Your highest number is your true alignment. Read on to understand what that means — and what it will cost you. 🔵 Jedi Master 🟡 Padawan 🔴 Sith Lord ⚫ Inquisitor ⚪ Grey Jedi Disciplined, compassionate, and deeply attuned to the living Force, you have walked the path long enough to understand its demands — and accept them. You lead not through authority alone, but through example. You have felt the pull of the dark side and chosen otherwise, every time. That is not certainty. That is courage. You are earnest, powerful, and brimming with potential — and you know it, which is both your greatest asset and your most dangerous flaw. You act before you think, trust your gut over your training, and sometimes confuse impatience for bravery. The Masters see something in you, though. The question isn't whether you have what it takes — it's whether you'll be patient enough to find out. You are not simply dangerous — you are certain, and that is worse. You have decided what the galaxy needs, and you have decided you are the one to deliver it. Your power is genuine and formidable, earned through sacrifice that would have broken lesser beings. But examine your victories carefully. Every Sith believed their cause was righteous. The dark side's cruelest trick is that it agrees with you. You were forged in fire and reshaped by those who found you at your lowest. You serve, because service gave you structure when you had none. Your allegiance is not to an ideology — it is to survival and to the master who gave you purpose. But there is something buried beneath the conditioning. The Jedi you hunt? You recognize them. Because you remember what it felt like before the choice was taken from you. You have looked at the Jedi Code and the Sith Code and found both of them incomplete. You walk the line not out of indecision but out of conviction — you genuinely believe both extremes miss something essential. The Jedi don't fully trust you. The Sith think you're wasting your potential. They're both partially right. But so are you. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'Green Lantern: The Animated Series' (2011–2013) Image via Cartoon Network Another superhero animated series starring Josh Keaton in the titular role, Green Lantern: The Animated Series is an excellent take on the Green Lantern mythos that likewise repurposes the best aspects of the comic books into a format perfect for all ages. When Green Lanterns Hal Jordan (Josh Keaton) and Kilowog (Kevin Michael Richardson) steal the Interceptor spaceship to respond to a distress call in "Frontier Space," they encounter the villainous Red Lantern Corps, whose sole desire is to destroy the Green Lanterns. GL:TAS not only establishes why Hal is often considered the greatest Green Lantern, but it also introduces new additions to the mythos in the form of the redeemable Red Lantern Razer (Jason Spisak) and the A.I. known as Aya (Grey DeLisle). Some have counted Green Lantern among the best superhero cartoons ever made, and we can't argue with that. It's one of the few that got better with each episode. 'Star Wars: Clone Wars' (2003–2005) Image via Lucasfilm No, we're not talking about Star Wars: The Clone Wars here, but rather the original animated epic by Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky simply titled Star Wars: Clone Wars. The animated microseries was released in segments between the theatrical runs of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, chronicling the battle between the Jedi Knights and their clone army and the Separatists' battle droids. As far as Star Wars is concerned, this installment is nearly perfect. Between the stunning animation and excellent character work done with Anakin Skywalker (Mat Lucas) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) in particular, Clone Wars was every Star Wars fan's dream back when it first aired on Cartoon Network. It was the best piece of marketing that Lucasfilm ever released regarding the prequel trilogy, and certainly holds up all these years later. The Clone Wars is great, there's no doubt about it, but Clone Wars was truly something special. 'Freakazoid!' (1995–1997) Image via Kids' WB When it comes to action-adventure sci-fi comedy programs in the mid-'90s, Freakazoid! certainly wasn't the only game in town. The Tick and Earthworm Jim were other popular superhero satires that gained notoriety at the time. However, it was Freakazoid! that has gone down in infamy as one of the best of its kind, invented by Batman: The Animated Series scribes Bruce Timm and Paul Dini (and produced by none other than Steven Spielberg). The catchy theme song was no doubt a help. Freakazoid! was originally meant to be a superhero show with comedic undertones, but it quickly morphed into a bonkers animated series that rarely let up. It's the type of cartoon that has no problem with meta humor or self-referential gags. Freakazoid (Paul Rugg) himself is always living up to the name, making the life of his alter-ego Dexter Douglas (David Kaufman) a bit more hectic than the teenage computer wiz ever anticipated. But he always did it for our amusement, and amused we were. 'The New Scooby-Doo Movies' (1972–1973) Image via Hanna-Barbera Productions We weren't able to include the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! on this list due to its slightly high episode count, but there was no way the Mystery Inc. gang wasn't going to make it on this list in some fashion. The second series in a long run of Scooby-Doo cartoons, The New Scooby-Doo Movies were extended 40-minute mysteries that paired up Scooby (Don Messick) and the gang — including Shaggy (Casey Kasem), Fred (Frank Welker), Daphne (Heather North), and Velma (Nicole Jaffe) — with every popular celebrities, fictional or otherwise, every week. The New Scooby-Doo Movies were a blast. Want to watch the Mystery Inc. gang team up with Batman and Robin? No problem! The Harlem Globetrotters? Sure! The Three Stooges? Absolutely! The sky was literally the limit when it came to who this Scooby-Doo series would bring on — even Dick Van Dyke made an appearance. Though it only ran for 24 episodes, The New Scooby-Doo Movies is one of those cartoons that you can't believe happened, but you're better off having seen. For its modern equivalent, check out Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? for more! 'X-Men '97' (2024–Present) Okay, this one may be a bit of a cheat... X-Men '97 is not only still running (having been renewed already), but it's technically a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series. As such, the show relies heavily on pre-established Marvel Animated Universe lore and mythology that comes back into play here on this program. That said, newcomers can still enjoy this animated epic that follows the battle between mutants who wish to coexist with the world and those who wish to subject mankind to their whims. What's great about X-Men '97 is that it expertly captures the tone and feel of the original show while still making itself accessible to new fans. Unlike most X-Men media, it doesn't so narrowly focus on Wolverine (Cal Dodd) that it looses sight of its best cast members. In fact, Cyclops (Ray Chase) finally gets his due as the leader of the X-Men. With two seasons under its belt thus far, X-Men '97 continues to remind us that one can both honor the source material and tell original stories simultaneously if one has the care to do so. X-Men '97 Release Date March 20, 2024 Network Disney+ Directors Jake Castorena, Emi Yonemura, Chase Conley Writers Charlie Feldman, Anthony Sellitti, Beau DeMayo, JB Ballard Franchise(s) X-Men Main Genre Animation Seasons 2 Producers Danielle Costa, Sean Gantka Characters By Jack Kirby, Stan Lee Creator(s) Beau DeMayo Distributor Disney+ Main Characters Cyclops, Mystique, Rogue, Beast, Magneto, Gambit, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Professor Xavier, Storm, Nightcrawler, Jubilee Producer Charley Feldman Streaming Service(s) Dis Where To Watch Disney+ Executive Producer(s) Louis D'Esposito, Kevin Feige, Larry Houston, Brad Winderbaum, Eric Lewald, Julia Jane Lewald, Victoria Alonso, Beau DeMayo, Matthew Chauncey