These 33 '90s Cartoon Characters Were Fan Favorites Of Film And TV Viewers
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There are many cartoons that stand the test of time, but '90s kids will agree there were an endless amount of epic animated shows and movies during this decade.
Nicktoons Productions / Via giphy.com
Exhibit A is Gerald Johanssen, aka the "definition of cool."
While the list could go on and on, these 33 cartoon characters were the greatest of the '90s.
1.Susie Carmichael
Where you watched her: Rugrats
Voiced by: Cree Summer
Fun fact: In addition to voicing Susie, Cree has played a long list of animated roles since the early '80s. This includes parts like Numbuh 5 in Codename: Kids Next Door, and both Peabo and Cinnamon Jones in The Proud Family.
2.Arnold Shortman
Where you watched him: Hey Arnold!
Voiced by: Mainly three different actors — Lane Toran, Phillip Van Dyke, and Spencer Klein
Fun fact: The show's creator, Craig Bartlett, confirmed in 2016 that Arnold's full name is Arnold Phillip Shortman (with his middle name, Phillip, being an homage to his grandpa).
3.D.W. Read
Where you watched her: Arthur
Voiced by: Five people over the course of the series — Jason Szwimer, Michael Caloz, Robert Naylor, Oliver Grainger, and Ryan Ehrenworth
Fun fact: In a July 2021 Finding D.W. podcast episode, casting director Debra Toffan answered the question why D.W. was always voiced by male characters. She said, “I think because D.W. is a rough-and-tumble little girl. She’s a little brat.”
4.Johnny Bravo
Where you watched him: Johnny Bravo
Voiced by: Jeff Bennett
Fun fact: The character's name drew inspiration from the full name of the show's creator, Efram Giovanni Bravo Partible.
5.Dexter
6.Gerald Johanssen
Where you watched him: Hey Arnold!
Voiced by: Jamil Walker Smith
Fun fact: Even after Jamil hit puberty, he voiced Gerald. His deeper voice was written into an episode, "Gerald's Tonsils," which explained that the character's voice had change as a result of a tonsillectomy.
7.Daria Morgendorffer
Where you watched her: Daria
Voiced by: Tracy Grandstaff
Fun fact: The show was made by MTV with the goal of increasing the network's female viewership.
8.Beetlejuice
Where you watched him: Beetlejuice
Voiced by: Stephen Ouimette
Fun fact: Stephen said in a Saturday Morning Rewind interview that he did nine callbacks before securing the role of Beetlejuice.
9.Sailor Moon
Where you watched her: Sailor Moon
Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi and Kae Araki played Sailor Moon in the Japanese version of the series. Tracey Moore and Terri Hawkes first voiced the role in English. Linda Ballantyne and Stephanie Sheh later took on the part at different times.
Fun fact: At one point, Disney planned to secure the rights to make a Sailor Moon film.
10.SpongeBob SquarePants
Where you watched him: SpongeBob SquarePants
Voiced by: Tom Kenny
Fun fact: Tom has won two Daytime Emmys for voicing SpongeBob.
11.Anastasia
Where you watched her: Anastasia
Voiced by: Meg Ryan
Fun fact: The yellow ballgown Anastasia wears at the close of the film was based on a dress worn by the real-life Anastasia, according to PopSugar.
12.Balto
Where you watched him: Balto
Voiced by: Kevin Bacon
Fun fact: Balto was a real-life dog who led a sled dog team that delivered vital remedies to people suffering from diphtheria in 1920s Alaska.
13.Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup
Where you watched them: The Powerpuff Girls
Voiced by: Tara Strong as Bubbles, Cathy Cavadini as Blossom, and E.G. Daily as Buttercup.
Fun fact: Craig McCracken told CBC Radio in 2018 that he originally named the group the Whoopass Girls when developing the characters.
14.Doug Funnie
Where you watched him: Doug
Voiced by: Billy West
Fun fact: Doug creator, Jim Jinkins, told HuffPost in 2014 that Doug's name was initially Brian.
15.Tommy Pickles
Where you watched him: Rugrats
Voiced by: E.G. Daily
Fun fact: E.G. once completed a recording session as Tommy for the show while she was in labor, she told The Guardian in 2015.
16.The Joker
Where you watched him: Batman: The Animated Series
Voiced by: Mark Hamill
Fun fact: Mark used various chuckles for the Joker based on the character's mood because he felt his laugh should be "like a musical instrument," he said in an interview for Batman DVD extras.
17.Homer Simpson
Where you watched him: The Simpsons
Voiced by: Dan Castellaneta
Fun fact: Homer is named after the father of The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening. Matt told Entertainment Weekly in 2010 that he wanted "to both amuse ... and just annoy [his father] a little bit" when creating Homer Simpson.
18.Cat and Dog
Where you watched them: CatDog
Voiced by: Jim Cummings and Tom Kenny
Fun fact: CatDog was based on a character Peter Hannan included in an unpublished book, A Few Superheroes You've Probably Never Heard Of, he told The Washington Post.
19.Olie
Where you watched him: Rolie Polie Olie
Voiced by: Cole Caplan
Fun fact: Although there have been no recent updates, in December 2020 the show's creator, William Joyce, wrote on Twitter that he was working on new Rolie Polie Olie episodes.
20.Ord
Where you watched him: Dragon Tales
Voiced by: Ty Olsson
Fun fact: Once Dragon Tales became popular with young kids, Ty would sometimes call sick children and do his Ord voice over the phone to cheer them up.
21.Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo.
Where you watched them: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Voiced by: Mainly Rob Paulson, Cam Clarke, Barry Gordon and Townsend Coleman
Fun fact: This series was the first time the TMNT characters were seen on screen.
22.Jack Skellington
Where you watched him: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Voiced by: Chris Sarandon, and singing voice by Danny Elfman
Fun fact: Disney wanted Jack Skellington and other Nightmare Before Christmas characters to have eyes, but Tim Burton rejected this idea.
23.T.J. Detweiler
Where you watched him: Recess
Voiced by: Andrew Lawrence and Ross Malinger
Fun fact: Some iconic child stars voiced T.J. in this series — Andrew started his career with Brotherly Love and Disney Channel movies, while Ross played Jonah in Sleepless in Seattle.
24.Belle
Where you watched her: Beauty and the Beast
Voiced by: Paige O'Hara
Fun fact: Belle was the first Disney princess to have brown hair.
25.Fievel Mousekewitz
Where you watched him: The American Tail films
Voiced by: Phillip Glasser
Fun fact: Steven Spielberg produced the first two American Tail films, and Fievel was named after his grandfather.
26.Lola Bunny
Where you watched her: Space Jam
Voiced by: Kath Soucie
Fun fact: Lola was created for Space Jam when animators thought drawings of Honey Bunny, Bugs Bunny's love interest, that were from the '60s looked too much like Bugs.
27.Ms. Frizzle
Where you watched her: The Magic School Bus
Voiced by: Lily Tomlin
Fun fact: In 2022, Lily told Variety she was initially hesitant to accept the role of Ms. Frizzle as she believed she was "not good at any kind of voiceover." It was only after sending a test tape to Scholastic that she agreed to voice the part.
28.Nigel Thornberry
Where you watched him: The Wild Thornberrys
Voiced by: Tim Curry
Fun Fact: Tim voiced both Nigel and his father, Col. Radcliffe Thornberry, in the series.
29.Pikachu
Where you watched him: Pokémon
Voiced by: Ikue Ôtani
Fun fact: In a 2004 interview with Manga University, Ikue said when she went in for her Pokémon audition, she thought she was trying out for the role of Meowth and she brought the wrong script with her.
30.Rocko
Where you watched him: Rocko's Modern Life
Voiced by: Carlos Alazraqui
Fun fact: Rocko was originally supposed to be yellow.
31.Dot Warner
Where you watched her: Animaniacs
Voiced by: Tress MacNeille
Fun fact: Tress has revisited the role of Dot for the Animaniacs reboot, which launched on Hulu in 2020.
32.Courage
Where you watched him: Courage the Cowardly Dog
Voiced by: Marty Grabstein
Fun fact: Series creator, John R. Dilworth, first included Courage in his Oscar-nominated short, The Chicken From Outer Space.
33.Cow
Where you watched him: Cow and Chicken
Voiced by: Charlie Adler
Fun fact: Charlie used the voice of Audrey, played by Ellen Greene, from Little Shop of Horrors as a source inspiration when auditioning for Cow.
