When it comes to TV, having a high-quality show doesn’t mean that it’s going to stick around until the creators are ready to end it. In the world of big business, money motivates people above all else. If a show isn’t bringing the big bucks in, then it’s likely to get permanently cut from the network. It’s sad but true.
Over the years, we’ve experienced this more times than we can count. So many fantastic cartoons and television shows were canceled prematurely for silly reasons, regardless of how good or bad they were. As a matter of fact, there are many shows from our childhoods that were canceled and never gave a proper ending, leaving us wondering for the rest of our lives how it would all turn out.
As numerous shows have reached this inevitable fate, it wasn’t just profits that caused them to be canceled forever. Sometimes, there were fairly outrageous and political reasons that shows were taken off the air. Other times, the creators hilariously poked fun at the network and got their products removed. Whatever the cause may be, TV shows were rarely canceled because they were bad. After all, Teen Titans Go! is still on the air and is even getting its own movie.
Get ready to rub some salt in old wounds as we look at 20 cartoons in the 2000s that were canceled for shocking reasons. We desperately want many of these projects to get a proper ending, as some of them have been left on cliffhangers.
20 Back To The Past
The story of Jack the Samurai as he was displaced throughout time, vowing revenge on the demon Aku, was one of the greatest projects to come from Cartoon Network. However, the show was canceled before there was a proper end. Aku was still alive and Jack was still in the wrong era of time.
The reason that Cartoon Network canceled it is that there were many complaints that it was too violent for kids that were watching the channel. Because of this, when the show was brought back for a final season, it was pushed over to Adult Swim. This way, they could keep the show running until the end, and those who cared about it would have a way to watch its end.
19 The All-American Dragon
Disney Channel had some legendary shows in its heyday, but they’re all in the grave now. One show that received such a criminal ending was American Dragon: Jake Long. Starring American-Chinese boy Jake Long, he was blessed with a genetic set of dragon powers that moved him to be the protector of New York.
However, the show had a significantly different art style in its second season that got some backlash.
This change in direction dropped off the viewer base enough that Disney chose to cancel it. The sad part is that the show never got a proper ending, and there were several questions that we’re still asking ourselves to this day. That said, at least the Dark Dragon was defeated for the time being and Jake’s dad discovered the dragon secret.
18 Move It, Football Head!
One of the greatest shows in Nickelodeon history was Hey Arnold! Starring the lovable boy Arnold and his eclectic cast of friends, the show was incredibly interesting among young and old people alike. Creator, Craig Bartlett, was so great at characterization that each cast member felt intentionally unique and well-developed.
Moving forward from that point, it’s such a shame that the show was canceled before we ever learned where Arnold’s parents were and whether he and Helga would get together. The reason the show was canceled is not because it wasn’t getting views, but because Craig Bartlett signed on to do a show for Cartoon Network. Nickelodeon didn’t like this and forced him to scrap any plans he had to finalize Hey Arnold!. At least we finally got The Jungle Movie, which tied up some of these loose ends.
17 Gone Too Soon
Superheroes are big today because of what was established in the past. Countless productions of animation led to the massive movies we see today. One of the most acclaimed superhero shows of the 2000s was Teen Titans. Starring the likes of Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven, this show was about character and had such depth that anyone who watched it was immediately captivated.
However, the production was reportedly canceled because Cartoon Network wanted to make room for other projects, considering that they weren’t the ones who developed the show. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when the opportunity arose to bring the Teen Titans back, we got Teen Titans Go! instead.
16 He’s A Phantom
Butch Hartman has had a fantastic deal with Nickelodeon. After creating the mega success of The Fairly OddParents, he went on storyboard other shows. One of his most popular creations was Danny Phantom, which told the story of Danny Fenton, who got in contact with mysterious ghost energy that turned him into a superhero.
The show was quite well-made, but it was very expensive to create.
Nickelodeon ended up canceling the show because the ad revenue from their viewers wasn’t enough to keep supporting the project. However, they did give Hartman the opportunity to create a finale for the series, so there’s at least some closure for fans. We found out how Vlad would try and take over the world, as well as if Danny and Sam would end up together.
15 We’re Still Angry
Classic Nickelodeon had very iconic cartoons that defined many childhoods. One of them was Angry Beavers. Starring the duo of Norbert and Daggett on their adventures throughout North America, it earned its namesake by constantly putting these two at odds with each other. There were several jokes about beaver kind in general as well as various stabs at pop culture.
When it came time for the show to end, the creator put together an episode called “Bye Bye, Beavers.” However, Nickelodeon prevented them from airing it because the episode was constantly poking fun at the network, stating how creators would never get money from any reruns. Nick wasn’t a huge fan of this, and the show ended an episode early as a result.
14 The Cowardly Network
Not all kids’ shows were designed to play on the horror element, and that’s why Courage the Cowardly Dog was so memorable. Debuting on Cartoon Network, if often dealt with supernatural elements and haunting visuals that other shows wouldn’t dare to. Needless to say, it got away with a lot of things.
However, the creepy nature of the show was enough to stir some controversy among concerned parents. Yet, it wasn’t the imagery that ended up breaking the camel’s back. As a matter of fact, one episode was heavily criticized for seemingly promoting lesbian relationships. As such, reports say that parents wanted the show to be forcibly canceled as a result. Alas, we have no proper ending to Courage, Muriel, and Eustace.
13 Comedy Gold
Around the time that Chowder came out, Cartoon Network was trying to grow up with its audience. Instead of appealing to the younger demographic, they were trying to create shows that older kids would appreciate more. In this vision, Chowder was a bit of a contradiction, having the smart writing and visual humor that younger kids would enjoy more.
Unfortunately, it got to the point where the show was bringing in more younger viewers, which was going against the network’s image.
Because of this, they chose to cancel the show. The sad part is that Chowder had suffered a bit of identity crisis. The humor devolved as the show went on. Most fans only remember the first few episodes.
12 Not So Spectacular Spider-Man
If you ask superhero fans what the best Spider-Man cartoon was, most of them would say Spectacular Spider-Man. This show brought several interesting twists to the classic Spider-Man lore while still delivering on the iconography that has made the character so popular. There was serious depth involved with this version of the wall-crawler, and many people were ready to get on board.
However, after Disney bought out Marvel, they wanted to bring all of Marvel’s cartoons under the same banner. Sadly, this led to the cancellation of Spectacular Spider-Man, as it didn’t quite fit with the vision that Disney was going for. They tried to have a connected animated universe that ran parallel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
11 Canceled By Proxy
Warner Bros enjoyed giving their popular superheroes specific cartoons that would relate to kids and adults of all ages. Two of the biggest DC cartoons were Superman: The Animated Series and Batman: The Animated Series. However, there was a third big series that they tried to create called Green Lantern: The Animated Series.
The cartoon was released to coincide with the Green Lantern film that was supposed to launch DC’s cinematic universe. However, the movie turned out to be a critical and financial flop. As a result, the animated series was canceled after its first season, as Warner Bros felt no one would watch it after seeing the movie that became universally hated for all time.
10 Another Gone Too Soon
Cartoon Network would occasionally pull together some fantastic ideas for shows that would end up writing themselves. Among them was Ben 10. Starring a kid who found a mysterious watch that transformed him into ten different aliens, it was a phenomenal setup to a great cartoon. We got to watch the characters grow up as the show progressed, and more aliens entered the scene as well.
However, the animation required to fuel the show was incredibly expensive.
Despite the money they were making on merchandise, Cartoon Network couldn’t quite afford to fund the show. Because of this, they decided to continuously reboot the series with shows like Ben 10: Alien Force.
9 Two Action Titans
To be clear, Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra weren’t prematurely canceled. Each of those shows got a proper ending that the fans deserved. The reason these shows made it on the list is because of how Nickelodeon treated them.
Despite the overwhelming popularity and demand of each of these productions, Nickelodeon stopped distributing them on the network like they used to. It all went downhill after M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender film became such an infamous failure. Since then, any show in the Avatar universe hasn’t properly aired on TV. When the last season of The Legend of Korra came out, it didn’t even air on Nickelodeon. The only way fans could watch is by using the Nick app or going online.
8 Not A Financial Genius
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was one of the few CG animated shows to debut on Nickelodeon. Following the kid’s movie that was successful to garner support, the show was more of the same. Featuring the adventures of Jimmy and his group of friends, we got to see him create inventions that went wrong as well as wrestle with powerful aliens and professors.
There was a season 4 planned for the series, but Nickelodeon didn’t green light it. The reason for this is that the show itself was expensive, using all of that CGI. Put simply, the show wasn’t popular enough to be able to fund the animation company that put it together. It’s sad to see it go too, because the writers had some heavy ideas for the final season.
7 A Silly Rule
One of Disney’s best movies in the early 2000s was Lilo and Stitch. It was so popular among fans that they were motivated to turn in into a TV show on Disney channel that saw the title characters searching for the 625 experiments that were thrown into Hawaii. The resulting Lilo and Stitch: The Series became a massive hit among kids and fans alike, garnering a lot of support.
However, the project was canceled after a mere 2 seasons.
The reason for this is that Disney had a 65 episode rule that prevented any more support for the show after a certain point. Needless to say, fans of the series were upset that the show ended. There was a lot of potential for more experiments to appear. That said, at least the show had a proper ending.
6 Sadly Forgotten
It was a tough time in the mid-2000s for a new show to debut on Nickelodeon. My Life as a Teenage Robot dropped in the midst of other cartoons like Danny Phantom, Teen Titans, and the unprecedented success of SpongeBob SquarePants. Because of this, the show ended up getting left by the wayside quite a bit.
Nickelodeon eventually put out a TV movie for the show that was a decent production, but it didn’t get the ratings that they wanted. Despite the fact that the executives all loved the project, they decided it was time to see the adventures of Jenny Wakeman come to an end. Fans of the series are still upset about it to this day, as the show had a lot to love.
5 To A Place Called Canceled Island
One of Cartoon Network’s cult classics in the 2000s was The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. The stories of this young boy and all his strange friends sat positively with audiences, yet it suffered a similar fate to Chowder. It had a unique art style with a direction, but it ended up getting left on the cutting room floor a few years after it debuted.
Nobody is sure why the show was definitively canceled, and there are a lot of ideas. Some say it was because the show didn’t get enough ratings. Others say that it was because JG Quintel left to create Regular Show. Some say that it was because the creator no longer had the time to keep working on the show and opted not to do another season.
4 Its Cancellation Wasn’t Imaginary
Craig McCracken is one of Cartoon Network’s best animators. Creating titles like The PowerPuff Girls, he went on to put together the award-winning Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. This show was an immediate success, gaining a lot of attention and love from their targeted audience. Yet, after a good number of seasons, the show ended up being canceled.
The reason for the show’s cancellation is unclear.
There has been a lot of speculation, and some state that Cartoon Network just wanted to let the show end before it overstayed its welcome. Whatever the reason, we’ll miss seeing Mac walk to the legendary mansion and have adventures with Bloo, Wilt, Eduardo, and Coco.
3 Earth’s Mightiest Cancellation
When it comes to cartoons starring the Avengers, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was one of the best. Audiences praised its serious storytelling as well as one of the best opening themes in animation history. Fans were ready to follow Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to the very end. Yet, it was canceled prematurely. This upset a lot of people as the show had developed an impressive fan base.
Not only will there never be a proper end to the series, but it was replaced with Avengers: Assemble so that the cartoon would more closely resemble the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As you might imagine, fans were enraged by this. Since then, Disney hasn’t been able to churn out a decent Marvel series, leaving fans of the company to watch DC’s animated productions.
2 Grab Your Friends!
When Pendleton Ward debuted the original Adventure Time short, Cartoon Network was ecstatic and ready to sign on with him. The show instantly became one of the best on the entire network and is extremely popular with people of all ages. However, all good things must come to an end, and the same can be said for Adventure Time.
The show was just recently canceled due to the viewer base no longer being as big as Cartoon Network would like. What makes this a bitter pill to swallow is that Adventure Time is hardly aired anymore. They stopped airing it in favor of shows like Teen Titans Go! and Ben 10. The fanbase has perished because there hasn’t been an opportunity to keep the fanbase excited.
1 Invading Your Television Screens
Alas, we’ve come to the poster boy for cartoons that were canceled before their due time. Invader Zim is easily one of Nickelodeon’s best cartoons if not the best. Starring the Irken invader Zim and his incompetent robot GIR as they try to take over the Earth, there is a lot to love with this series.
It was dropped for a lot of the same reasons that Cartoon Network dropped Chowder.
It had an audience, but it wasn’t Nickelodeon’s target audience. They were bringing in older viewers with the show and decided to cancel it before Jhonen Vasquez could give it the send-off it deserves. Thankfully, Nick has greenlit a TV movie for the series to serve as its finale, but there’s no telling if it’ll ever release. We sincerely hope it does, as there definitely needs to be a proper ending to this wild and wacky saga.
