It's always a tragic thing to see a project made with much love and care canceled before it can really take off. While there are some series lasting so long that people debate on when it could possibly end (The Simpsons), others meet the unfortunate fate of being snuffed out prematurely. Whether it be from network disputes, poor ratings, bad time slots, or all of the above, fans of animation seem to always be able to cite their own particular examples of a show that ended too soon.
Update September 5, 2023: This article has been updated with more animated shows that were canceled far too soon.
In the current age of reboots and revivals, each entry on this list may not have to lay dormant forever, with certain examples already having been brought back in some form. Despite this, the sour feelings left from their initial unexpected conclusions can still tend to linger, as fans never got to see how things would've been had the curtain not fallen early. Here are the best cartoons that were canceled too soon.
12 The Oblongs
Lasting only 13 episodes, 2001's The Oblongs was an episodic comedy released on The WB and later airing reruns through Adult Swim. The show centered around the titular family, who all were in some way mutated by the radioactive waste that they happen to be surrounded by. Though the initial pitch by creator Angus Oblong was popular enough to incite a bidding war among three networks for the rights, the show failed to garner enough viewership, and was pulled from The WB with five episodes yet to have aired.
The show would gain relative popularity through its reruns on Adult Swim, which also aired the remaining five episodes. Charming designs paired well with the talented voice cast, sporting the likes of Will Ferrell and an excellent Pamela Adlon as main characters. Themes of family values and stark social commentaries also help the cartoon maintain a fresh voice even two decades later, leading this to be one toxic family that's worth revisiting.
11 Dave the Barbarian
Though another episodic comedy, Dave the Barbarian, was aimed more towards younger audiences, airing on the Disney Channel from 2004-2005 for a total of 21 episodes. A royal family from the Middle Ages protects their kingdom from evil while the King and Queen are away, to varied degrees of success. Fast-paced jokes featuring constant fourth-wall-breaking humor made the cartoon seem almost too ahead of its time, and despite critical praise, it was pulled off the air due to low ratings.
Being a more untraditional style of show than what was typically airing on the network, Dave the Barbarian often gets overlooked when fans think of the best animated series on Disney Channel during the era, though is still appreciated by those looking for something a bit more on the weird side to satisfy their Disney fix.
10 Green Lantern: The Animated Series
While Superman and Batman had multiple animated series, Green Lantern finally got his own in 2011, aptly titled Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Despite having a CGI design, the series was similar in tone and design to the Bruce Timm and Paul Dini DC Universe series like Batman: The Animated Series (Bruce Timm was one of the creators of Green Lantern: The Animated Series). It followed Hal Jordan and Kilowag as they investigate a Red Lantern uprising at the edge of Guardian of the Universe space. In their journeys, they meet a former Red Lantern named Razer and their ship's computer, Aya, who gives herself a body and becomes part of the team.
The series was meant to tie in with the release of 2011's Green Lantern, but once the film was released and bombed, all hope for the series faded with it. It was part of the short-lived DC Power Hour block on Cartoon Network alongside season 2 of Young Justice. Both got canceled, but while Young Justice returned for two additional seasons years later, Green Lantern: The Animated series only lasted for 26 episodes.
9
8 Sym-Biotic Titan
Moving away from the comedy genre, Sym-Biotic Titan was a short-lived action-adventure series airing on Cartoon Network in 2010, having only made it to 20 episodes. Three aliens from a war-torn planet find themselves having to pose as high school students in order to keep their identities hidden from those who would attempt to destroy them. A critical and audience darling at the time, it seemed as if its cancelation was entirely unfounded, though speculations have been passed around that Cartoon Network's inability to acquire licensing for an accompanying toy line to be the leading theory to the show's end.
Fans still hold out hope that creator Genndy Tartakovsky will revisit the project, especially after the animation director had done the same for other cartoons he had created (and even more so, considering that ten additional episodes had been fully written before the cancellation took place). It was a tragic end, though one that might not be forever.
7 Megas XLR
In the early 2000s, Cartoon Network certainly had many of us spoilt with choices regarding action drive cartoons. Megas XLR is an original production from the network, taking many cues from Japan's ever-popular format of mecha anime. In the story, a stolen robot from the future named MEGAS is sent to the past and found by Coop and Jamie, who proceed to modify the machine by switching the control center with a muscle car.
Megas XLR is nonsensical, silly, and self-aware, making it fun to watch. The show didn't have the most significant fanbase, but it was worth enough to get two seasons and 26 episodes in total. It was slashed due to production costs as the show was costly to make. Most of the show's stories revolve around the adventures of Coop and Jamie alongside Kiva, the original pilot of MEGAS, and their efforts to save humanity from the invading forces of the Glorft.
6 Samurai Jack
Another of Genndy Tartakovsky's creations, and arguably the most popular alongside Dexter's Laboratory. Samurai Jack stood out in a big way among the playful comedies airing on Cartoon Network during the early 2000s, though despite enjoying critical and audience praise, it was canceled before it could reach its long-awaited conclusion. Luckily for fans, a final season was released in 2017 to provide an ending to the narrative Tartakovsky had created years prior.
Though having found its conclusion and rectified its initial cancellation, a 13-year gap still took place before the airing of the last episodes, one that drove fans crazy, wondering when and how the animated series would wrap up the feud between the time-traveling samurai and the evil demon Aku.
5 Clone High
What is perhaps the most talked about example of an unjust cancelation within the animation community would be the likes of MTV's Clone High. Following the lives of high school students who happen to be clones of famous historical figures, the show would see its demise after a large-scale scandal surrounding its depiction of Gandhi as a teenage womanizing rapper. MTV executives eventually got cold feet and pulled the show from the air, hoping to avoid any further controversy and rejecting creator Christopher Miller's ideas of either removing the character or revealing him actually to be the clone of Gary Coleman. Many years and fan theories later, a new version of the series finally premiered on Max in 2023, continuing the story of the show's one and only season.
4 Inside Job
Inside Job was an animated series that aired on Netflix from 2021 to 2022 and sadly was only given one season, with ten episodes airing in 2021 and eight in 2022. The series was a workplace comedy set in a world where conspiracy theories are real. The series received positive reviews from critics and fans alike, and despite all that and ending on a cliffhanger, Netflix decided to cancel the series after only one season. It was one of many cuts Netflix made to its animated division in 2022.
3 The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was the first show made by Marvel Animation after being acquired by Disney. The show premiered in the fall of 2010 on Disney XD and lasted for two seasons and 52 episodes. Although many more Marvel shows have launched in the Disney era, no Marvel series has shown the level of craftsmanship and love for the source material that this show did.
The original lineup mirrors the original team from the comics, with Iron Man, Wasp, Giant-Man, Thor, and Hulk assembling the fight menaces none could face separately. Captain America, Black Panther, and Hawkeye would join the team as the series advances. Many storylines mirror the comic books, with particular attention to the SHIELD prison breakout and a far superior version of the Secret Invasion story arc.
2 Wolverine and the X-Men
The X-Men didn't get any love for many years after Marvel merged with Disney. Wolverine and the X-Men is a stand-alone series that begins with an intriguing setting: A surprise attack takes out Jean Grey and Professor X, and the teams go into disarray. Sometime later, Emma Frost joins up with Wolverine to get the team back together and find out what happened the day they were attacked.
The show produced by Marvel Entertainment (a sub-branch of Marvel Studios at the time) went on for only 26 episodes. Still, it fleshed out many characters while taking a few elements of the comic book, such as placing Magneto as the ruler of Genosha and the team getting back together to deal with the Hellfire Club and The Phoenix Force. Since the Nicktoons Network transmitted the show, it never got a chance for renewal as Disney did not want their new brand on their biggest competitor.
1 The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man was a series that got caught up in bad timing. Premiering in 2008, shortly after the release of Spider-Man 3, the series was meant to be a new Spider-Man cartoon for a new generation that would retell popular stories and mix elements from the classic 60's comics, Ultimate Universe, and the Tobey Maguire films. It is often regarded as one of the best adaptations of Spider-Man.
The series, however, was made by Sony, and in 2009, Disney purchased the rights to Marvel Comics. They canceled production on The Spectacular Spider-Man in favor of a new Spider-Man series they would own completely for their own network, Ultimate Spider-Man. This meant The Spectacular Spider-Man only lasted for 26 episodes and left many plotlines left unfinished. While the character returned in a small cameo in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it is unlikely the series will return in any form.