The Animated Things Club Ranks The Best Cartoons For Girls

I just discovered the pretty cool Animated Things Club podcast the other day, but already it’s impressed me with the breadth of the topics. Needless to say, the latest one is the topic of this post. Yes, they’ve decided to look at what are the best cartoons for girls to watch.

Naturally that’s a mammoth task and co-host Suzannah Rowntree has wisely decided to break things down into manageable chunks. She’s also assembled a formidable list of qualifying criteria that covers all the bases. Essentially, she is rightfully looking for the best all-around show, not necessarily the one with the most female characters or most suitable, inspiring stories or themes. Nope, she’s seeking out shows that inspire girls with content above and beyond the mundane. That’s something that should be admired because a lot of the time, we look at a show as being appropriate for girls or otherwise aimed at them, but neglect to take everything into account. With that in mind, it’s healthy to remember that a show that’s good for girls can have a male lead. I’d argue that a well-balanced show is better than a one-sided one, but I’m getting off-track.

This week’s podcast lists those cartoons that didn’t make the list. The reasons are numerous but the gist of it is that while these shows are very good, they fall just that wee bit short. Brown Bag’s DocMcStuffins does get a shout out so that’s certainly a positive sign for the Dublin-based studio.

I eagerly await the rest of the series (and secretly hope that some of my favourites make the grade).