Vindicated By History / Western Animation

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• 6teen performed very poorly when it came to the United States from Canada, with the series failing to gain an audience twice, first on Nickelodeon and then on Cartoon Network, compared to its sister series Total Drama Island, which became a network darling and was such a hit in America that additional seasons were commissioned in response to its overseas success. In contrast, 6teen was heavily Screwed by the Network and pulled off the air very quickly after the finale aired on CN, with most people dismissing it as a boring poor man's substitute to Total Drama. However, as Total Drama suffered heavy Seasonal Rot, renewed interest in 6teen arrived and many came to appreciate it for having the same humour and teenage drama but benefitting from a smaller cast and a grounded Slice of Life tone that allowed for more consistent writing and characterization, as well as broader storytelling potential. Ultimately, 6teen developed a solid post-airing fanbase amongst American viewers and a better lasting reputation than Total Drama.
• American Dad! was initially seen as a shallow knock-off of Family Guy with hamfisted attempts at political humor. The show gradually stepped out of the former's shadow, grew its beard, and became more character-driven, with a change in its style of humor to surreal, Denser and Wackier antics (in an example of Tropes Are Not Bad). Some have argued that the show not only has better writing than Family Guy, but that it's also the best of Seth MacFarlane's trio of adult animated shows (with The Cleveland Show being the worst and Family Guy being in the middle, since it started out good before it went downhill, while American Dad started out bad before it got better).
• The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes like other Marvel cartoons in the 2010s was looked down upon, being seen as kiddy fluff compared to the DC animated works and the show was not renewed for a third series. Since then, however, the show has become a fan favourite, considered easily the best Avengers cartoon due to being true to the 60s comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, having a genuinely scary depiction of Ultron (unlike the film) and for bringing characters such as Ant-Man and The Wasp into the mainstream and developing them before even the films did. The show was also celebrated for keeping in line with the comics rather than just trying to ape the MCU like Avengers Assemble did.
• Back at the Barnyard was generally dismissed as yet another product of Nickelodeon's Audience-Alienating Era at the time, with fans not caring for its dumb jokes and bizarre nature. It didn't help that the movie it was based on was largely considered mediocre. Nowadays, the show has started to gain status as a Cult Classic (some of it ironic, some of it genuine), with fans who love its absurdist nature and consider it a Fountain of Memes.
• Batman:
  • The Batman was loathed when it was on air. Due to it being the first Batman cartoon made outside of the DC Animated Universe since the latter's inception (as well as airing alongside it for the first two years), making drastic changes to many characters' appearances and backstories and the early stories putting more focus on action and high-tech gadgetry than compelling plots, many fans and some critics derided it as "unwatchable" and a "22-minute toy commercial." It was also disliked due to the "Bat-Embargo" it supposedly caused, as any Batman character other than Batman himself could not be used on Justice League Unlimited while The Batman was airing because it was believed by DC that multiple concurrent Batman shows would confuse young children. ^note The Batman was affected by the embargo as well, since they could not use Two-Face, Scarecrow or Ra's al Ghul in the show due to their appearances in the The Dark Knight Trilogy and Robin didn't appear until season four due to his usage in Teen Titans (2003), which ended production shortly before said season of The Batman aired These days, it's looked back on fairly positively, with many people (including former critics) acknowledging that it's actually a pretty good show and arguing that it handles certain things way better than even BTAS ever did (the action being one big example as TAS' action scenes haven't aged well). Also The Batman got appreciation for avoiding the Franchise Original Sin of turning the Dark Knight into a Manipulative Bastard who alienates his allies, especially compared to the DCAU version whom infamously dated Batgirl.
  • Batman Beyond has always been given good reviews, but never the amount of acclaim that Batman: The Animated Series has. However, as it went on, fans began to love it more, and more, as it's now considered one of the best in the DCAU.
  • Batman: The Brave and the Bold had very vocal critics for skewing in a heavily Lighter and Softer direction, but is now looked back on as a fun, campy romp, with many former critics admitting that they wound up liking the show after giving it a second chance and that it isn't the cheap, kid-centric program they initially thought it was. The announcement of a crossover movie with Scooby-Doo was met with open arms.
  • Beware the Batman faced a large amount of criticism for numerous reasons, between the use of CGI animation, its radical interpretation of Alfred and the choice to use nearly all obscure Batman villains. However, it is seen less harshly in recent years, mainly due to being one of the last serious DC animated series, the last Batman animated series in a long time, and the show's quality improving throughout the season. Being Screwed by the Network also earned it plenty of sympathy.
• Ben 10:
  • When it first came out, Ben 10: Alien Force was bashed by fans of the original series for its completely different tone. Nowadays, people generally agree that it had the best balance of humor and seriousness out of any of the franchise's installments, and gave the characters a much-needed dose of maturity and Character Development.
  • The following two installments, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse, are much more divisive as many people believe they went too far off the Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness, but again these two have gotten a more positive response following the controversial response of the 2016 reboot, though they are still quite divisive (especially Omniverse).
• Bob's Burgers: Back when it first aired, the show gained many detractors, largely due to its animation style and being yet another dysfunctional/idiosyncratic family show cut from the same cloth as The Simpsons and Family Guy. But after Growing the Beard in its second season, which included becoming a more lighthearted comedy and focusing on the heartwarming interactions between the Belchers, therefore stepping out of what was expected of an adult animated sitcom, the show has become widely considered the best animated FOX sitcom since The Simpsons (or at least Futurama).
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, similar to The Legend of Tarzan, Hercules: The Animated Series and Aladdin: The Series, never got much acclaim compared to the films it was based on, and Toy Story creator John Lasseter wasn’t fond of it. Come 2022 with the release and underperformance of Lightyear, which was meant to be the true Buzz Lightyear spin-off, and now a lot more people are appreciative of the show for expanding Buzz’s lore in exciting and interesting ways while keeping Buzz’s personality from the Pixar films. In contrast to the 2022 film, which is a grounded methodical story, jarring with the fun aspects that made Buzz so beloved and iconic in the first place.
• Captain Planet's episode "A Formula for Hate" was, during the 2000s and The New '10s, one of the show's most mocked episodes, and it wasn't just because The Nostalgia Critic made fun of it. However, people stopped laughing after 2020 brought about massive waves of disinformation very similar to what the episode depicted. It's now considered less of an unintentionally funny episode and more of a Cassandra Truth.
• Most of Cartoon Network's original programming from 2004 through 2009 (Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Camp Lazlo, Class of 3000, Chowder, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack) were all initially brushed aside as mediocre or bad by many. They've since gained more popularity for being among the best and most fondly remembered shows during the height of CN's Audience-Alienating Era.
  • Class of 3000 received mixed reviews and opinions during its run, and soon got the ax for having low viewer ratings. Today, it's considered one of the better shows that Cartoon Network introduced during its Audience-Alienating Era.
  • Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi got a lot of hate during its run, had very few fans or defenders, and viewer ratings were quite low compared to other shows airing on the network back then. But after being Screwed by the Network, the general consensus started to change, and, while it isn't as popular or as beloved as other Cartoon Network shows, it has gained a pretty sizable fanbase and following.
  • The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack stands out in particular as some of the storyboard artists for the show have gone on to make smash-hit shows.
  • The daytime block Miguzi was seen as a Replacement Scrappy due to replacing Toonami on weekdays (which moved to Saturdays only) and having a much Lighter and Softer tone. As time went on, people started to enjoy the block due to running popular shows like Teen Titans (2003) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) and introducing new favorites like Code Lyoko and Totally Spies! (the latter channel hopped from ABC Family finding newfound popularity on CN). There were quite a few people sad to see the block go in 2007 (a year before Toonami originally ended) after being Screwed by the Network. Nowadays, the general consenus is it was a good idea, just could've been executed a little better.
• ChalkZone: While the premiere episode gained the highest ratings for a Nicktoon premiere at the time (March 2002) and was well liked among its target audience, older Nickelodeon fans detested it for various reasons: Mainly being too "safe", "tame", or "cute" compared to other Nick shows at the time (such as SpongeBob) and some Misblamed the show for replacing Invader Zim (when in reality, ChalkZone was delayed for two years and had equally bad treatment from Nick), though it was more of an extremely Broken Base as it also had many defenders. Nickelodeon itself even overlooked the show in favor of its other Nicktoons. After the show ended, it started to gain a cult following and now many Nickelodeon fans regard it as being one of the best Nicktoons of the 2000s decade.
• Chuggington rather notoriously has been dogged by the fandom of fellow train-centric show Thomas & Friends for...basically all of its life, with fans of the latter loathing Chuggington and deriding it as being a "ripoff" and "too unrealistic and bouncy". However, in recent years, the show's reception has turned around somewhat, especially after Thomas had its attempted "Big World! Big Adventures!" relaunch (which was both a failure and poorly received), and then the subsequent "All Engines Go!" spinoff, causing many fans of that show, even the ones who once derided it, to give this one a second look. These days, while it's still not regarded as being a "masterpiece" by any means, it's also not regarded as being a bad show either, and it's managed to gain at least some respect for doing its own thing and being what it is without ruining a pre-existing IP, unlike the aforementioned "All Engines Go!" (which has gained an even poorer reception than this show ever has).
• Challenge of the GoBots spent most of its lifespan struggling in the shadow of Transformers before getting canceled and being mostly remembered as a Shoddy Knockoff Product. But then the rights to the series were acquired by Hasbro, who folded it into Transformers. Afterwards, many Transfans wound up giving the series a second look and found that it was actually a fairly decent cartoon for the time, being So Okay, It's Average at worst. In the years since, hostility towards Gobots has gone down greatly, and the series is now generally viewed as good in its own right, just suffering from having to compete with Transformers.
• Clone High was met with mediocre reviews and low ratings when it premiered back in 2002 due to its serialized format, cheap animation style, and Audience-Alienating Premise (Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist clones of historical figures enact parodies of teen dramas). These, along with massive backlash in India against its portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi, led to the series being cancelled after a single season. In the years since, the show has come to be a Cult Classic that is now considered one of the best animated series of the 2000s due to having a quirky sense of humor with clever history-themed jokes and being a serialized series that was legitimately good at parodying high school dramas. So much so that MTV began playing reruns of it on their new MTV Classic channel, then put it in its entirety on Nelvana's Retro Rerun Youtube for free, and then, lo and behold, renewed it for two more seasons.
• Duckman, while by no means a critical flop (it was nominated for three Emmys, after all), it was stuck on USA Network, a channel not known for cartoons and it failed to advertise the series properly before sticking the show at an undesirable time in its final season. People have since come back to the series and have marveled at how ahead of its time the series was with its witty social commentary (most of which is as, if not more, relevant today as it was in the mid-90s) and snappy dialogue.
• Family Guy:
  • The first two runs of the show proved fairly unpopular, despite being given a time slot during prime time. It was cancelled after the second season but fan demand was enough to give it a third season. It was shuffled around to worse and worse time slots, until it was finally cancelled for the second time and for good (back then, at least) after the third season ended. Its impact gave it Sacred Cow status, and DVD sales were large enough to have the series revived. The show went on to become one of the highest rated shows on Fox during its run.
  • Season 4 (the first after the show came back from cancellation) of Family Guy wasn't met much with praise when it began airing. Many fans were hating on it to the point of someone working on the show stepping in and defending that said season. But now, the fourth season is considered to be the golden age. For some people who tuned in the show since its return, it's considered to be hands down the best season. For people who have loved the show prior to its return, it's considered consistent compared to the other uncancelled seasons.
• Fanboy and Chum Chum, once one of Nickelodeon's most hated Nicktoons when it came to internet discussion, has gotten a kinder reception in the years since it ended. At the very least, people are more willing to talk about the show's more positive aspects, such as the admittedly imaginative (if often absurd) storylines, very expressive and vibrant CGI animation, and the show's cast besides the eponymous characters being likable and distinct. The general consensus nowadays is that it's all-in-all a perfectly fine Nicktoon, especially if you can put up with the antics of the two lead characters as well as the show's other characters can. Helping the show's case is that shows considered to be far worse than Fanboy & Chum Chum, such as Breadwinners, have come out since it ended.
• When it came to the United States in 2016, Fangbone! had a rough time, being wholly ignored by Disney XD and dismissed as little more than a poor man's Star vs. the Forces of Evil by many viewers. Not helping matters was that Atomic Puppet quickly took its timeslot, painfully overshadowing the show. However, in the years since its brief run, renewed appreciation for the show and its strengths in writing and characterization has arisen, alongside wider awareness of its true origins as an Animated Adaptation of a series of books from before Star vs. the Forces of Evil was even a thing. This was especially compounded by Star vs. the Forces of Evil falling into major Hype Backlash due to Seasonal Rot. In fact nowadays, some people now believe Fangbone! to be the superior series, even going as far to say that it would likely have had a better run and more satisfying conclusion than Star vs. the Forces of Evil did if it hadn't ended on a cliffhanger.
• Futurama, although never as big a hit as The Simpsons, always had a relatively big audience, but failed to become a Cash-Cow Franchise. Most people expected a similar Simpsons-style show, but all they got was a satirical science fiction series that wasn't as recognizable as a Nuclear Family set in modern times. Eventually the show was even cancelled, but thanks to high DVD sales, high ratings from reruns on [adult swim], and fans sharing files on the Internet, it eventually became a popular cult show and was revived on Comedy Central. The following seasons proved highly popular. Further vindicated as while The Simpsons would continually suffer ongoing Seasonal Rot and Disenchantment would get mixed reception, Futurama and its conclusion would be looked back on far more fondly in comparison. It’s not to hard to find people nowadays who actually prefer Futurama over The Simpsons.
• God, the Devil and Bob caused massive controversy over its perceived blasphemous content in 2000. To the point where it was cancelled after just four episodes. However, after it received its entire run on [adult swim] in 2011, people started to realise that it wasn't a Take That! at Christianity but surprisingly profound with its commentary on human nature and showcasing God and the father of all evil as, well... people. It was also surprisingly ahead of its time with its takes on generational trauma.
• The Hanna-Barbera television animation studio had been up and running since 1957, and had several notable instances of this throughout its history:
  • While its properties have been enjoying at least middling success due to the popularity of its earliest shows, most notably Huckleberry Hound, it was the early '60s success of The Flintstones which established a rock-solid TV empire for them. They could throw together whatever they wanted and not worry about the ratings. Two such shows came out of this early freedom, The Jetsons and Top Cat, neither of which lasted more than one season during their initial runs. Hanna-Barbera subsequently built stable franchises out of these underrated works over the course of a few decades, to the point where their status as mainstream classics became undisputed.
  • For awhile, the studio themselves was seen as somewhat of more of a hindrance than an actual help. Some even went so far as to say that they set back animation due to their rather large library of Strictly Formula shows with Limited Animation. This sentiment has largely died down after the Turn of the Millennium and The New '10s - when people realised they were a little harsh on shows that were largely viewed out of their original context. Plus, some of Hanna-Barbera's higher budget and passion projects were more easily spread thanks to the internet, letting people realise that they weren't bad - they just had to work with what they had, and it often wasn't much.
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002) was critically acclaimed by critics and fans alike when it came out, but it had little advertising and poor toy sales and the show ended up only lasting two seasons. However it's gotten more attention over the years particularly in the late 2010s when reboots have become controversial. A lot of people who discovered this show praised it for being ahead of its time and being faithful to the source material while having its own creative spin. It's gotten further vindication with the release of Masters of the Universe: Revelation as that show became controversial upon release among fans to the point some wished that this series was continued instead.
• Invader Zim barely lasted for two seasons on Nickelodeon (with the second half of Season 2 never even being produced) as it was unable to maintain high ratings, and it was just too expensive to keep making. In the following years, it has become a Cult Classic favorite, ranking alongside SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phantom, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats (1991), Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life and the Avatar franchise as the most popular show in the network's history. Zim is now used in Nicktoon games and merchandise continues to sell well, with the series getting a movie on Netflix.
• Looney Tunes:
  • When it initially came out, Baby Looney Tunes was negatively received by the animation community, seen as a downgrade compared to its predecessors in the franchise and used as proof in arguments that Cartoon Network was getting Lighter and Softer for the worse. However, it became more positively regarded over the years, thanks to people who'd watched it as kids looking back on it fondly, and nowadays it's generally regarded as a decent attempt to get younger children into Looney Tunes.
  • The Looney Tunes Show got mixed opinions when it came out and while it was running. But after a few years, it has been looked at more positively, seen as one of the more ambitious Looney Tunes projects. Especially after the release of New Looney Tunes which is often criticized for trying too hard to copy the original shorts and lacking its own identity. A decision of this series was to retool Lola Bunny from a bland Action Girl into a ditzy Valley Girl who has personality and character. Some fans wish that this characterization found new use in Space Jam: A New Legacy since Lola reverted back to her old one. Other fans wished to see a mix of the two, like Lola's portrayal in New Looney Tunes.
• Moral Orel had a lot going against it where its season 1 finale was aired first (because it aired close to Christmas) and people had thought it was a large polemic against Christianity. But it was able to get its steam picked up so that it was greenlit for two more seasons, but unfortunately Adult Swim asked the crew to make the third season darker than the second. An act that Adult Swim regretted deeply and caused it to get Cut Short during the third season. However since then, it has been cited as a major influence to shows like BoJack Horseman and it even had a prequel special greenlit. As of The New '20s, not uncommon to find video essays on YouTube talking about how the show was very much smarter than people interpreted it during the mid-late 00s when it aired.
• My Life as a Teenage Robot unfortunately premiered during a period when older demographics were bitter with Nickelodeon's cancellation of Invader Zim and shunned the network, before Danny Phantom and Avatar: The Last Airbender's debut was enough to win them back, and was one of the largest victims of network screwery of any show in the network's history which more or less doomed it to a quick death. Nowadays, it is considered as one of the best Nicktoons from the 2000s and is recognized by Nickelodeon far more often as of this writing then it was when it was actually in production.
• Oggy and the Cockroaches was initially criticized by American viewers as nothing more than a Tom and Jerry rip-off, rolling their eyes and calling its brand of slapstick tired. Over time, however, many started looking back more fondly on the show, appreciating its more surreal elements, especially in the earlier seasons.
• The Ren & Stimpy Show: The Games episodes were once one of the most reviled cartoons in the history of animation, and its low ratings and critical backlash, following John Kricfalusi's firing^note Which, it must be pointed out, he really brought on himself, at least in part. had led to the show's demise in 1995. After the failure of Adult Party Cartoon, and further stories about what happened behind the scenes at Spumco (from Billy West, Bob Camp and many other colleagues of Kricfalusi's, a book documenting the events of the show's history, released in 2013 entitled Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story, the Troubled Production and negative reception of Cans Without Labels, and allegations of statutory rape against John K.), the Games episodes nowadays are seen as either not as good as the first two seasons, but good in their own right, or better than the Spumco episodes that had preceded it (it's very telling that Bob Camp is usually the one out of the two creators of Ren & Stimpy, that is asked to attend conventions on a frequent basis). Either way, most people agree that the Games episodes fare better than Adult Party Cartoon did.
• Rugrats:
  • The Dil and Kimi episodes of the original 1991 series, when they were new, were the most hated of the cartoon's run on the Internet due to flanderizing the baby talk. Many people thought that the show was over-saturating the network. But in later years, those seasons are as held in as high regard as their predecessors. Some viewers hardly noticed the changes (minus additional characters and Nancy Cartwright replacing Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie) that happened throughout the show's run and think that the show has been consistent in quality.
  • All Grown Up! was poorly received on launch by Rugrats fans for the bizarre premise of the Rugrats becoming tweens, but nowadays, the show has gained a cult following. Many cite its somewhat ambitious attempt to actually grow with its audience, pitching the characters as tweens and teens with changing issues. When Rugrats was rebooted in 2021, a number of fans have admitted that they'd have preferred a continuation of All Grown Up! that featured the 'Rats in high school, college or even as actual grownups with kids of their own.
• Sanjay and Craig started off disliked like many of the other post-2009 Nicktoons on Nickelodeon. Not unlike Bob's Burgers however, its second season saw an improvement. The gross-out humor was dialed back, while the focus on the characters and storytelling over cheap laughs increased. This did wonders for the show, and before long it had gained a noticeable fanbase and was considered one of Nickelodeon's saving graces alongside Harvey Beaks. In the end, there were sighs of disappointment rather than sighs of relief when it was cancelled, which is more than could be said for some of its fellow Nicktoons such as Breadwinners.
• Scooby-Doo:
  • Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! received negative reception when it was released in 2015, for its derivative art style, Flanderization of the characters, and being seen as a step down from the universally-loved Mystery Incorporated. In the years since it ended, especially in the wake of 2023's loathed Velma, many have decided to revisit and praise the series' constantly great comedy and writing, its version of Daphne, enjoyable merits, and respect it has for the franchise in general while being a clever spin on the series.
  • Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue! was once considered the worst incarnation of the franchise. When Max's Velma premiered, it was so poorly recieved that it made a lot of people change their opinions on the series and start reevaluating it for being a fun and different version that didn't change the characters too drastically (not counting the Art Shift the show suffered from).
• While The Simpsons was always a popular, acclaimed show, many will be surprised to learn that it has been accused of Seasonal Rot for almost as long as it has been around:
  • Entertainment Weekly published an editorial criticizing the show for supposedly losing its way, back in Season 4. Nowadays, Season 4 is considered by many, including Entertainment Weekly, to be one of the greatest seasons (if not the greatest season) of The Simpsons.
  • The Scully era (seasons 9–12) was often criticized due to the Denser and Wackier tone and zany plot twists when it was airing. But now, some people will gladly defend the era and consider season 9 and (to a lesser extent) season 10 part of the golden age.
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog had a large hatedom back in the day from SatAM fans, and those who thought it was just bad in general. In the mid-2000s, with the rise of the YouTube Poop and several memes stemming from the show, it is now regarded as a classic due to its silly humor, So Bad, It's Good nature, Deranged Animation, and the crazy antics of Robotnik and his minions Scratch and Grounder. Scratch and Grounder themselves were even the inspiration for henchman robots that Eggman would use in further incarnations or games in the franchise, such as Orbot and Cubot, and Decoe and Bocoe.
  • Sonic Boom was often dismissed out of hand when it was new, due to its connection with a pair of notoriously low-quality games, controversial changes to characters' personalities and designs, and perceived nature as a generally low-effort cash-in. It struggled in ratings during its time on Cartoon Network (mainly due to a lack to advertising and being put in horrendous time slots) and came to an end after its second season. Over time, though, its reputation started to grow as more and more people gave it a chance and discovered that far more love went into production than was previously assumed, and its clever writing, dry sense of humor, and colorful animation won it a lot of fans. Today it's a bona fide Cult Classic, viewed as the only true standout of the Boom experiment. Many in the Sonic community are clamoring for a third season.
• Spider-Man:
  • Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, a CG show by Mainframe Studios meant to be a sequel to the 2002 film was released on MTV and subsequently barely seen by anybody. The series was canceled after a cliffhanger and would eventually would fade into obscurity in the mainstream’s eyes, however those who did discover the show were in awe of the 3D animation, Neil Patrick Harris’s voice acting of Spidey, a returning Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin and the fact the series had a mature Darker and Edgier tone compared to the rest of the Spider-Man cartoons. The series would get nominated for several awards, Neil Patrick Harris would reprise his role as Peter in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and there was plenty of excitement when Mainframe Studios in 2020 said on Twitter they’d happy to make another season if given the green light. Additionally Marvel’s What If…? (2021) series has been noted to have a very similar animation style to Spider Man The New Animated Series.
  • Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) was very polarizing when it debuted due to its radically different take on the Spider-Man mythos, and coming off the heels of the much-loved and Cut Short The Spectacular Spider-Man. With the show now over, many people are more willing to admit that it did have its strong points. It helped that the quality increased every season.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Back when they first aired, Seasons 4 and 5 were seen as unworthy follow up to the first 3, due to the Flanderizations of several characters, more reliance on grossout and/or mean spirited humor, and weaker stories and gags. As time goes on, however, many came to appreciate both of these seasons, as they retained some charm from the first three seasons and do have charm of their own, to the point where you won't find as many SpongeBob fans who hate them as back in the day: especially compared to Seasons 6 to 8, they’re seen as masterpieces (they are still seen as inferior to Season 1-3, but not by a whole lot), some even going as far as to include Season 4 (and 5, to a much lesser extent) as part of the show's Golden Age.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars initially garnered a divisive reception. It came hot off the heels of the polarizing Prequel Trilogy and supplanted the well-loved yet non-canon Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series. It also introduced concepts foreign to the then-Expanded Universe, such as Anakin having a Padawan that was never mentioned in the movies and so on. Furthermore, the show aired on Cartoon Network at a time when said network was airing little new original programming. After Growing the Beard during its second and third seasons, reception became warmer. The target audience used the show as a gateway into the franchise. Some of the series' concepts continued to be controversial topics for Legends fans for the Retcons of previously well-received stories such as Star Wars: Republic Commando. After its cancellation, the Legends EU was retconned. Among other Broken Base responses that still continue as of this writing, The Clone Wars is now fondly remembered. Its renewal for a seventh and final season came to the joy of many, and its final four-episode arc is almost universally held as a high point for the franchise as a whole, even rivaling the previously untouchable original trilogy in fan acclaim.
• When Teen Titans Go! premiered in 2013, it went on to become one of the most hated shows of the 2010's for multiple reasons. At first, it was because it was a comedic reboot of a beloved cartoon that ended up getting cancelled, ending on a cliffhanger. It ended up dominating Cartoon Network's schedule at the expense of other shows, adding fuel to the fire. However, after the release of a critically acclaimed theatrical movie and some more reviled reboots (The Powerpuff Girls (2016), Ben 10 (2016) etc), many viewers have admitted that the show got better after the movie, and could be genuinely funny at times. The fact that Cartoon Network began to cut down the amount of reruns the show got around this period also helped ^note it's still Adored by the Network, but not as much as it was from 2015-2017. Then, the 2003 Teen Titans would eventually return in a crossover, which pleased many fans looking for some closure to the 2003 show.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
  • Back when the season premiered, the 2k3 show's sixth season Fast Forward was hated and heavily criticized, being seen as the point when the show's Seasonal Rot began. Over time, however, it became a little better regarded than what it used to be back in the day. At the very least, it's seen as having an interesting if flawed concept that didn't fully get to grow and blossom, especially with regards to Space Usagi, the Triceraton Shredder, Leatherhead coming back, and the Dark Turtles making a full Heel–Face Turn in the unproduced FF episodes. And there were at least a few characters from this season who became popular enough that fans would like to see them in future installments such as Viral and the Dark Turtles or who did appear in future installments like the IDW series (ie: Dunn, Jammerhead, Torbin Zixx) but with the benefit of better writing. While very few people would list Fast Forward in their top five list of Ninja Turtle stories or installments, the season these days is being judged a little more fairly and enjoyed on its own merits rather than being compared to the previous Mirage-inspired seasons. And to really put things into perspective, even up to today, practically nobody is clamoring for Back to the Sewers (the final season that isn't being more positively evaluated today) characters like Khan or the Green Mantle to make any sort of comeback and those characters have largely faded into obscurity, whereas now fans are much more open to Fast Forward characters and concepts making their way into future TMNT media and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW) has given a chance for some of those characters to have a second go in a new medium.
  • Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was for the most part seen as an alright animation despite the initial apprehension. Then in August of 2020, news came out that it was apparently canceled, and people started posting stills and clips to twitter mocking it as "CalArts" TMNT. This actually resulted in a few people agreeing, but a lot of people experienced the opposite. For every one who agree this was "CalArts TMNT", there were plenty of other people pointing out the animation and the art is actually pretty good and that it gave the turtles unique visual characteristics outside of their weapons, voices, and headbands. It already happened when they won back the crowd in 2018 and again in 2020 when a Periphery Demographic outside of furries discovered it.
    • Among TMNT fans themselves, Rise had a much more uphill climb to popularity. When the first few episodes appeared, the whole fandom trashed everything from the designs to the animation to the writing to the turtles themselves. It didn't help that Rise came out very shortly after the much-beloved 2012 series finished its run. But after the show's end, plenty of people took another look at the series and found it was actually pretty good, both in terms of animation and character designs—things that were bashed to no end when the show first premiered—and in its takes on the franchise's characters, with the turtles' much stronger bond commonly being cited as a highlight. Overall, Rise has gone from being nigh-universally disliked to having a strong fanbase all on its own; not bad given the initial fierce backlash.
• Thomas & Friends:
  • The fifth series was not well liked by the online fandom early on due to diverging from The Railway Series as well as the darker tone and excess amount of crashes. However, over the years it has gained popularity. Some see them as just as good as the earlier series, being that these were the last episodes Alcott worked on.
  • The sixth and seventh series were seen as Seasonal Rot, primarily due to the changes in tone as well as its long gap (Three to four years) from the previous series. Some people look back upon this and thought they were a little harsh, especially since these were the last episodes directed by David Mitton, while the sixth series often had David Mitton writing the stories and allowing for some more conistent quality.
• ThunderCats (2011) caused a huge Broken Base among fans of the original Eighties cartoon for its Darker and Edgier take. In later years, it has gotten a more positive reception (especially in the light of the announcement of ThunderCats Roar which has caused an even larger Broken Base). Several viewes agree that it was a better reboot from CN than other reboot efforts (Teen Titans Go!, The Powerpuff Girls (2016), Ben 10 (2016)). This is helped by the fact that it was cited as one of the influences for Voltron: Legendary Defender, which is seen as the show's Spiritual Successor.
• Tiny Toon Adventures was overlooked in favor of other WB cartoons such as Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Freakazoid! back in its time (being cancelled to make room for Animaniacs didn't really help matters). Nowadays, it has become extremely popular, being considered by many fans to be the true successor to the Looney Tunes.
• This is very common for Transformers, due to the fandom being notoriously cautious towards new series. Its practically tradition for every new entry in the franchise to face a period of reflexive hatred before tempers cool and people form more constructive opinions. Usually the vindication happens while the series is still running, but sometimes it takes the passage of time to redeem them in the fandom's eyes:
  • Bob Budiansky, the writer of much of The Transformers (Marvel), was widely derided in the early online fandom for his liking of childish or absurd stories (Ratbat leading the Decepticons, evil car washes, wrestling leagues). Simon Furman was instead seen as the series' My Real Daddy for comic fans. At a certain point, however, people realized just how important Budiansky had been to the early history of the franchise. He wrote all the profiles and came up with almost every character name for the first three or four years. Fans started to notice that his comic run still had its share of decent or unique stories (even today). While Furman is still considered the better writer of the two, Budiansky is less remembered as "that guy with the stupid plots" and more remembered as "that guy without whom Transformers would not exist". Fans have also become more aware (and understanding) of the fact that Budiansky, far more than Furman, suffered from a high amount of Executive Meddling. He was forced to push out new characters at a near-impossible rate, instead of giving them time to develop.
  • The third season of The Transformers was once the most derided season in the fandom, due to keeping all of the controversial changes from the movie, adding several widely loathed characters like Wheelie and Daniel Witwicky, and switching the primary animation studio from Toei to AKOM, resulting in near-constant animation errors. Since it came out on DVD and became widely available alongside the rest of the series, many fans have taken another look at it. Many episodes of this season are regarded as some of the series' best. Check any top ten list of G1 episodes and season three episodes will make up almost half of the list, at least.
  • Beast Wars got this treatment from a lot of classic Transformers fans, especially early on. This was due to its complete overhaul of the Transformers concept. The Transformers were now divided into Maximals and Predacons, they utilised organic animal alternate modes and the series was completely CGI. However, as time went on, Beast Wars won a lot of fans over thanks to its quality writing and character work. History has been very kind to Beast Wars, and it is now considered one of, if not the best Transformers shows. The days of "trukk not munky" are long over, with many of the show's former detractors praising it for saving the franchise.
  • When first aired, Beast Machines was harshly criticized for its radical changes from Beast Wars, Continuity Lock-Out, strange premise, even stranger character designs, and a litany of other issues. The toyline was a flop and the show ended after two seasons. This brought an end to the Beast Era and caused Hasbro to perform their first big Continuity Reboot with the Unicron Trilogy (itself an example of this trope). For a few years, it was often regarded as the worst Transformers series ever. But as time passed, people began to calm down and actually rewatch the show. They slowly realized that the series actually made a lot of big strides for the franchise. Nowadays, the series is regarded by many as an underrated gem that — while not without flaws — was far better than people were willing to give it credit for.
• Around the show's arrival in late 2013, everyone more or less passed Uncle Grandpa off as yet another stupid show of the late 00's - early 10's. As the show went on, and especially after it ended, its reputation has softened considerably, with its animation style and humor being seen as unique instead of awful, with positive comparisons to The Golden Age of Animation. It helps that creator Pete Browngardt went on to produce Looney Tunes Cartoons, which brings Looney Tunes back to its original Golden Age glory. After one episode ("Fleas Help Me") inexplicably survived the Great HBO Max Purge of 2022, many memes were created hailing Uncle Grandpa as a Memetic Badass.
• The VeggieTales episode "The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment!" was generally seen as one of the worst in the series after it came out due to its randomness and bizarreness. These days many people love the episode for those very reasons.
• Wait Till Your Father Gets Home was, when it first aired, extremely controversial (So controversial it was canceled) because it wasn't like Hanna-Barbera's usual stuff, where the Animation Age Ghetto was the rule.. Despite achieving some popularity (enough to get guest stars, a common thing in The '70s, as well as three seasons) it's now seen as a little more fondly thanks to its influence on shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, F is for Family, etc. Some even view it as better than stuff airing 50 years later thanks to having a nice art-style, sharp humor, and properly dealing with adult subjects.
• X-Men: Evolution was not warmly welcomed when it first debuted in 2000. X-Men: The Animated Series (which is the most beloved and influential portrayal of the team) was definitely a Tough Act to Follow and the choice to turn a lot of the X-Men into teenagers was considered a tacky attempt to appeal to the teen demographic and the revamp of certain characters, such as turning Rogue from a spunky spitfire to a reclusive goth irritated some long-time fans (especially since the X-Men Film Series had given Rogue a similar treatment). Since then however the opinion on Evolution is very different with many fans who grew up in the 2000s considering it their favourite X-Men show, the character writing particularly in the second season is considered as genuinely good and it also helps the series introduced fan favourite X-23, who would become a Canon Immigrant to the comics. The series would be further vindicated when Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) came out and unlike Evolution did a disservice to all the characters not named Wolverine.
• Young Justice (2010) was aired sporadically for two years when it first came out and featured a year-and-a-half hiatus halfway through its second season, in addition to having its slot moved around. Eventually it was canceled after its second season despite passionate fan response and high critical acclaim. With the announcement of Season 3 on the DC streaming service, the show has received a new level of exposure and is being praised for its serial nature, well-written characters, and thoughtful take on the DC universe.

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