There are huge amounts of cartoon characters, some of which have been around for along time and others that are quite new. They vary a lot, both in the age that they appeal to and the sorts of things that they appear in. Here is a Top 5.
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse was Disney’s first real big hit and he is still amusing children today. For a character, whether cartoon or not, to be able to do this is quite a feat. Mickey has changed his look over the years but always has had a black body and is well known for his red shorts. He has a girlfriend Minnie Mouse and is often seen alongside his friends Donald and Daisy Duck. Mickey has a characteristic squeaky voice and is a friendly and happy character.
Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson is the son in the Simpson family. His character is loved by boys who like the fact that he is naughty and so very cool. He started by having a slingshot in his pocket and often falls out with his father because he gets him in to trouble. He is hated by his well behaved older sister, Lisa especially when his pranks end up making him popular and cool and he doesn’t get into trouble. Like all of the Simpsons, he never seems to get any older and it is likely that he never will.
Spongebob Squarepants
Spongebob is a character that lives under the sea. He has a few friends who seem to be even more stupid than he is. He has a pet snail. He is always optimistic and cannot see the danger or negative implications of many situations which can really annoy the other characters. He works in the burger bar and has all sorts of fun underwater adventures. He is appealing because he is funny and also has interesting adventures. There is therefore a mixture of fun and excitement in his stories.
Kim Possible
Kim Possible is a school girl who leads a double life, being a crime fighter as well. Every episode sees her working hard to save the world, with her friend, later boyfriend Ron Stoppable. It is great to see a string female character in a cartoon with a stupid sidekick. She normally has to fight against Doctor Drakken but often his much stronger and more capable sidekick Shego. The stories often feature school based problems as well as secret-agent and action type story lines, sometimes intermingled. This makes it something which children can relate to but also a lot of fun.
Ben 10
Ben Tennyson is an interesting character who at ten years old found an Omnimatrix which was an alien device. It allowed him to transform his shape in to ten different alien ones and therefore he was forced to save the earth with the help of his sister and Grandfather. After this original series there was Ben 10 : Alien Force and then Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. The first is set five years after the original show and is more scary than the first. It is good that the show evolved with its audience as they grew older, it changed to become more appropriate for its older audience but it will not be able to always do this as most children grow out of cartoons.
