Cartoon Tier List Template
A cartoon tier list template is a ranking grid preloaded with animation styles and eras, ready to be sorted into S, A, B, C, D and F tiers.
Drag an item onto a tier, or tap it and then tap a tier.
Items to rank
Making a cartoons tier list
Cartoon rankings tend to be driven by nostalgia more than by quality, and that is fine as long as you admit which one you are doing. A list titled best cartoons and a list titled cartoons I watched after school are both legitimate; they are simply not the same list.
Try ranking animation styles rather than individual shows. It forces a judgement about craft instead of a memory test, and the result is far less predictable.
What is in this template
- Saturday morning
- Prime time animation
- Stop motion
- Claymation
- Cel animation
- CGI animation
- Cutout animation
- Adult animation
- Preschool animation
- Anthology shorts
- Superhero cartoons
- Comedy shorts
- Musical cartoons
- Educational cartoons
- Web animation
Frequently asked questions
- What makes a good cartoon tier list?
- Pick one axis - nostalgia, animation quality, or writing - and stick to it. Cartoon lists collapse fastest when childhood favourites are scored against technical merit in the same grid.
- Should cartoons and anime be on the same tier list?
- They can be, but the comparison rarely works. Different production traditions, different runtimes and different audiences mean most people end up ranking familiarity rather than quality.
- Are cartoon tier lists just nostalgia?
- Often, and that is fine if the list says so. The way to get past it is to rank on a stated craft criterion such as animation quality or writing, which usually reshuffles the top tier considerably.
