5 Forgotten Action Animated TV Shows Worth Revisiting

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There are five exciting animated action shows that deserve another watch, even though they’ve faded from memory. Action and animation work really well together, and some of the best animated series recently have been action-packed. Animation lets creators do things that simply aren’t possible with live-action filming.

Series like Arcane, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Invincible are among the best shows of the last decade or two, and they’ve all redefined what animated series can achieve. However, animation and action have a long history, and many excellent shows from the past have unfortunately been lost to time.

TV shows can disappear for many reasons. They might launch when audiences aren’t ready, get overshadowed by competition, lose their home when a network fails, simply be poorly made, or just fall out of public interest. These five animated action series, unfortunately, have been forgotten over time.

Butt-Ugly Martians (2001-2003)

The Nickelodeon show Butt-Ugly Martians first aired in 2001, but it only ran for one season – which likely explains why most people have forgotten about it. As the title suggests, the Martians in the show aren’t very appealing to look at. And that’s not just a criticism of their design; it was one of the first shows to use computer animation, and the animation quality reflects that.

I recently stumbled upon this really quirky show about three aliens – they call themselves B.U.M.s, short for Butt-Ugly Martians – who are sent to Earth with the mission of conquering it. But the funny thing is, they actually love Earth! They decide to ditch the invasion plan and just live here, sending back fake reports to keep their Martian bosses happy. It’s definitely a weird one, but it has a certain charm that’s hard to resist.

Godzilla: The Series (1998-2000)

Following the 1998 film Godzilla, Godzilla: The Series picks up the story from the end credits – specifically, what happens after that hatching Godzilla egg. The series features a version of Godzilla, now known as ‘Zilla’, and feels like an early version of the recent show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.

The series centers around Dr. Nick Tatopoulos and his team, who raised Godzilla from an egg and now work with the now-grown creature to defend cities from dangerous, mutated monsters. It features great animation and is highly entertaining.

Street Sharks (1995-1997)

The cartoon Street Sharks came out with a line of action figures, signaling a lot of high-energy action in the show. The series follows four brothers who, through an accident, combine with shark DNA, transforming them into powerful shark-human hybrids. They use their incredible strength to battle all sorts of monster-like villains.

Despite being sharks, these characters are still playful and love simple things like milkshakes, hot dogs, and skateboarding. The show is obviously designed to sell toys, but it’s so imaginative and over-the-top that it’s hard not to enjoy. It even spawned a spin-off series called Extreme Dinosaurs.

Action League Now! (1995-2002)

Let me tell you about Action League Now!, a truly wild segment from the ’90s Nickelodeon show KaBlam!. KaBlam! was this awesome sketch comedy series, and Action League Now! was easily a highlight. What made it so great? Well, it was filmed in this incredibly rough, but charming way – think stop-motion animation mixed with just… someone chucking action figures around. It sounds silly, and it was, but it was brilliantly so!

The Action League is a show about a team of superhero toys – action figures, dolls, and the like. Unfortunately, they’re not very good at their jobs and usually end up injured by common things around the house, like fans, vacuum cleaners, and even pets.

Codename: Kids Next Door (2002-2008)

Codename: Kids Next Door was one of the first animated shows on Cartoon Network, but it’s often forgotten when people talk about the network’s best series. The show imagines a world where being a kid is amazing – grown-ups are the bad guys, and kids have awesome secret bases.

This cartoon centers around five kids who are secretly part of a worldwide organization called Kids Next Door, or K.N.D. Each kid has a number from 1 to 5 as a code name, and together they use their unique skills to battle things kids hate – like homework – and stop adults and teens they consider villains.

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2025-11-22 01:39