As 2017 draws to a close, we’re taking a look back on a lot of things. One standout has been the year in TV, a year which featured 450+ scripted shows airing across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms. You can take a look at Collider’s TV EditorAllison Keene’sbest of the best in TV hereandChris Cabin’s ownTop 25 list. But for me, the focus will be on top-notch animated series debuts you may have missed in 2017. That narrows down the list significantly since shows likeTrollhunters,The Simpsons, andDragon Ball Superare merely continuing their epic run from year to year. Instead, I’ll put the spotlight on new shows that are worth your attention.
Rather than give you a ranked list, which is kind of silly considering the wide range of stories on display here, I’ll be breaking down the 2017 debuts by audience age. Kids who loveVampirinadefinitely aren’t ready to jump straight intoCastlevania, unless their parents are awful/incredibly cool. I’ll also be including some honorable mentions that entered the scene this year but didn’t make as big a splash as the others. So with that being said, let’s get into the best animated series debuts of 2017 that you might have missed!
Vampirinais a Disney Junior toon that centers on the titular vampire tot and her family as they travel from Transylvania to Pennsylvania. This is like a super-cute take onThe MunstersorThe Addams Familywith a bit of the “new kid in school” thrown in for good measure. The cast, featuringJames Van Der BeekandLauren Grahamas the parents to up-and-comerIsabella Crovetti’s title character, is top-notch, with veterans likeDee Bradley Baker,Wanda Sykes, andPatti LuPonealong for the ride in the supporting cast. And sinceVampirinahails from Primetime Emmy-nominated and BAFTA-nominated producerChris Nee(Doc McStuffins) you know it’s quality stuff.
Adapted from Disney Publishing’s popular children’s book series “Vampirina Ballerina,” written byAnne Marie Paceand illustrated byLeUyen Pham, with songs from Broadway composersMichael KoomanandChristopher Dimond(The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes) and composerLayla Minoui(Castle) it went on to be Disney Junior’sstrongest premiere of the year, following our next installment.
Mickey and the Roadster Racers
Mickey and the Roadster Racersis another Disney Junior toon that reimagines Disney’s very famous mascot and his friends as racecar drivers situated in Hot Dog Hills. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Daisy and Donald take their super-cool cars all over the world on amazing races. It was another strong performer for the network this year and it will be coming back for a second season. So all you kids ages 2-7 out there, rejoice!
But this show’s not all about the racing. Off the track, Minnie and Daisy also run their own successful business as Happy Helpers, solving problems for anyone in need of a helping hand. The stories are designed to impart social and emotional lessons about friendship, teamwork, optimism and good sportsmanship. And it’s got quite the creative team behind it, including the Emmy-nominatedRob LaDucaandMark Seidenberg(Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,Jake and the Never Land Pirates).
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Amazon’s original animated seriesIf You Give a Mouse a Cookiemade its way into a regular season rotation this year after airing a pilot back in 2015 and launching a Christmas special just last year. But if that title alone gives you the nostalgia chills, you’ll want to check this series out. The art style captures the beautiful illustrations fromFelicia Bondwhile the stories expand on the clever little logic circles established by authorLaura Numeroff. And while these tales are told in a roughly 12-minute chunks, each segment in the half-hour episodes start with Mouse asking for the same item, which is a cute way to reinforce the if/then puzzles that are secretly teaching your little ones some basic logic functions.
Be sure to check out my interview with creator/showrunnerKen Scarboroughherefor a little more insight on howIYGaMaCcame about!
Spirit Riding Free
Netflix’s animated original seriesSpirit Riding Freetakes the adventure of the classic animated movieSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarronand imbues it within a kid-friendly story of friendship and overcoming challenges. Already enjoying its third season this year, the show’s 20 episodes follow three newly minted best friends Lucky (Amber Frank), Pru (Sydney Park), and Abigail (Bailey Gambertoglio) as they ride off into various adventures on their steeds Spirit, Chica Linda, and Boomerang.Aury Wallington’s (Gravity Falls,Sex and the City) creation, a DreamWorksTV production, offers up the perfect family-friendly Wild West series for every young cowboy or cowgirl-in-training out there!
The Magic School Bus Rides Again
Netflix brought nostalgia back in a big way and with a modern twist inThe Magic School Bus Rides Again.The classic 90s series featured Ms. Frizzle (Lily Tomlin) as the energetic and unconventional science teacher who took her classroom full of optimistic and curious students on wild educational adventures. Frizzle is back as a professor in this reboot, but the adventures are led by the animated antics of her younger sister, Fiona Frizzle (Kate McKinnon). McKinnon takes up the mantle of the magic-powered, science-based educator with vigor, making these all-new adventures feel fresh yet familiar at the same time. Modern scientific understanding meets cutting-edge animation in this Netflix series, which is as entertaining as it is educational.
Niko and the Sword of Light
We’re getting a little older with our animated content now, though shows like Amazon’s original adventure seriesNiko and the Sword of Lightare still perfectly suited for younger audiences. Based on a comic book of the same name,Nikooriginally arrived on Amazon back in 2015 as a pilot but made its way onto the network as a proper series this past summer. It centers on the 10-year-old title character (Andre Robinson) who awakens in a very strange and dangerous world to find himself the last hope for humanity. While that sounds a bit tropey, pretty much everything that happens from there on out is original and unexpected, from the arrival of the decidedly not heroic Mandok (Tom Kenny) and the truly impressive Lyra (Kari Wahlgren), to the wild, exotic locales the trio travels to, and the manner in which Niko and his magical sword dispatch their many,manyenemies. The adventurous series earned itself an Annie Award nomination, which should clue you in that it’s very worth the watch.
Danger & Eggs
Speaking of Amazon, the absolute delight of a series that isDanger & Eggsis one that likely flew under almost everybody’s radar. Co-created byMike OwensandShadi Petosky, who have worked together on varying projects likeMad,Super, andYo Gabba Gabba!,Danger & Eggsis, on the surface, a very silly series about a thrill-seeking young girl named D.D. Danger (Aidy Bryant) and an over-protective, safety-conscious egg named Phillip (Eric Knobel). But it soon becomes quite apparent that there’s much more to this series. It’s been lauded as the first co-creation by an openly transgender creator, thoughDanger & Eggsalso stands on its own merits for offering increasingly mature and complex lessons learned throughout the series, along with a mysterious mythology, the layers of which only start to be peeled back by the season finale.
The show’s strengths include its incredible imagination and the courage to deal with common themes like trust, friendship, and following the rules, but surprisingly complex issues like confirmation bias, personal accountability, the comforts of routine, and complications from depression, anxiety, and identity disorders are also addressed in approachable and understated ways.Danger & Eggsis worth another watch whether you’ve seen it already or not.
OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes
Don’t worry, Cartoon Network gets in on this list with the excellent addition toIan Jones-Quartey’s body of work,OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes. It’s not always easy to predict which new debuts are going to be hits, especially with tricky younger audiences, but it was clear from the early looks at this series that it was a winner in the making. It’s got a zany energy, a spin on the superhero genre, and the heart and soul of shows likeSteven Universe; can’t miss.
OK K.O.!centers on its title character, K.O., a wannabe superhero who trains alongside his mentors while working at Gar’s Bodega in Lakewood Plaza shopping center. The coming-of-age story plays heavily on superhero tropes in new and hilarious ways, but it also folds in a lot mysterious mythology (the setting takes place in an undetermined future and is pretty post-apocalyptic) and friends-and-family relationships along the way. The good news is that the first season ofOK K.O.!lived up to the hype, but thegreatnews is that it’ll be back in 2018 for a second season!
Disney’s DuckTales
It’s not all Disney Junior on this list! Disney XD took a bold move with the reboot of the classic Disney animated seriesDuckTales. That bold move paid off in a big way. The newDuckTalesis an adventurous romp that goes well beyond the borders of Duckburg and into international tales of mystery and mythology. In the show’s 10 episodes so far, Scrooge, his nephews, Webby, and Launchpad have already traveled to modern haunts like spooky abandoned subway tunnels, the arcade-like Funzone, and a very dangerous luxury resort, but they’ve also tangled with mummies and the dangers of Mount Neverrest.
Additionally, you may’t really beat this cast, which includesDavid Tennant,Danny Pudi,Ben Schwartz,Bobby Moynihan,Kate Micucci, andBeck Bennett, along with some fantastic guest stars. It’s a worthy reboot, a rare thing to find these days.
That wraps up the animated series debuts for the little ones, but some Honorable mentions for kids shows include:
Spider-Man
Disney XD also gets the first entry in the somewhat older category of new animated series here with the 2017 rendition ofSpider-Man. This cartoon has gotten some flack from the fandom, more out of spite for replacingUltimate Spider-Manthan for anything creatively related. That’s a shame since this take, led by voice actorRobbie Daymond, actually puts the focus on science and splits time between Peter Parker and his costumed alter ego. Now while the “science” on display might be more on the fictional/comic book side of things than real-world, practical applications,Spider-Manis better suited for slightly older audiences who might be inspired by these scientific curiosities.
But for Spider-Fans out there, this show is absolutely packed full of enemies, allies, and all sorts of Easter eggs from the pages of the Marvel hero’s mythology. There’s a new spin on them since a lot the characters get their start at one of New York’s elite academic institutions, with both the students and the teachers equally capable of becoming heroes or villains, depending on which of their personality traits proves the strongest. It’s a very unique take on a familiar tale and one worth revisiting.
