Top 10 Best Cartoon Crossovers

These two shows could not be any more different. “Steven Universe” is essentially a magical destiny epic with an overarching narrative while “Uncle Grandpa” is… well, not. It’s hard to really put Uncle Grandpa, both the show and the character, into a single category, which is what makes this crossover so interesting; getting to see the fourth-wall breaking weirdo enter Steven’s world and screw with reality, causing everyone (especially Pearl) to freak the heck out. It was a delight that even hardcore “Steven” fans could enjoy, since, at the end of the day, “Say Uncle” was just a fun April Fool’s day crossover and is not part of the “Steven Universe” canon.

Both of Matt Groening’s wildly successful animated series have referenced each other countless times, from Groening himself appearing in “The Simpsons” as the creator of “Futurama,” to a pile of discarded Bart Simpsons dolls. However, it wasn’t until 2014 that the shows actually crossed over. Well, there was a comic book crossover, and Bender did show up in a previous episode, but “Simpsorama” was the first time the two cartoons “officially” crossed over. And what a crossover it was, involving time travel, monsters mutated from Bart’s DNA, and, of course the Planet Express crew working together with the Simpsons only after trying to kill them.

Two teen heroes, two awesome power sets, one big crossover. Comedic crossovers are great and all, but it’s hard to beat a killer team up between two uniquely powered superheroes like the crossover between “Ben 10” and “Generator Rex,” aptly titled “Heroes United.” The TV special followed a lot of the unwritten crossover “rules” — the heroes meet through an alternate dimensional portal and fight at first before eventually teaming up to defeat the bad guy — but it never feels cliché or boring. In fact, the action in “Heroes United” is a whole lot of fun, especially when Ben and Rex combine their powers for the final showdown.

While the crossover between “Archer” and “Bob’s Burgers” leans a bit more into the cameo category, we’re gonna go ahead and count it just for the hilarious meta nature of it all. We are of course talking about the fact that the voice of Sterling Archer, H. Jon Benjamin also provides the voice for Bob Belcher, a fact that was poked fun at in the “Archer” episode, “Fugue and Riffs.” In the episode, Archer has lost his memory and has been running Bob’s Burgers, that is until a group of Russian hitmen attack him and force him back into his secret agent life.

Whoa mama! The Scooby-Doo gang has had quite few team ups and crossovers in their decades-long cartoon career — including “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” — but none were quite as funny as their run-in with Johnny Bravo. After breaking down on the way to his aunt’s spooky old house, Johnny catches a ride in the Mystery Machine, leading to all the classic Scooby-Doo tropes as Johnny and the gang pursue a ghostly gardener haunting the home. But, as it turns out, the ghost was actually Johnny’s aunt trying to scare him off because she doesn’t like him very much. Jinkies!

What happens when magic and science collide? You get the “Jimmy Timmy Power Hour,” an ambitious and unlikely crossover between “Jimmy Neutron” and “The Fairly OddParents.” The first entry in this cartoon crossover trilogy was more of a switcheroo between the two characters, but the sequels actually saw the two characters clash and eventually become inter-dimensional friends. As strange as these crossovers were, they were still tons of fun and loaded with action, and seeing the characters animated in different styles was definitely one of its biggest draws.

It’s hard to imagine a show about two kids befriending Death crossing over with a series following kid operatives who fight against adult tyranny, but Cartoon Network managed to pull it off with “The Grim Adventures of the KND.” After Billy gets into some supernatural related trouble, he seeks the help of the Kids Next Door, leading to a strange series of events that results in Mandy running the KND and a giant supernatural pants monster. Yeah, this one is pretty weird, but it still makes our list, and it even gets bonus points for multiple references to other Cartoon Network series, including an extended cameo from Ed, Edd and Eddy.

Seth MacFarlane’s “Family Guy” has been called a blatant rip-off of “The Simpsons,” which is why the eventual crossover between the two came as a bit of a surprise. Nonetheless, “The Simpsons Guy” brought the two family centric animated sitcoms together to somewhat mixed results. The episode was criticized for leaning too heavily into the shock value humor of “Family Guy,” but the crossover also deserves some merit for poking fun at the differences between the two series, as well as the blatant similarities, the latter of which is pointed out in a wonderfully meta way – which is part of the reason why “The Simpsons Guy” earns the number three spot on this list.

Of all the unlikely crossovers on this list, this one definitely takes the cake. Seriously, who would imagine that Kim Possible would ever show up in the world of “Lilo & Stitch?” Even weirder, this was just one of four other crossovers with “Lilo & Stitch,” the others being “Recess,” “The Proud Family,” and “American Dragon: Jake Long.” Crazy, right? But, as strange as this crossover was, it was still a ton of fun, following Lilo as she calls upon Kim Possible’s services to help rescue Stitch from Drakken’s clutches.

Before we get to our number one, here are a few honorable mentions:
- “Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel”
“Phineas and Ferb” (2007-15) vs. Marvel Comics (1939-)

- “Totally Mystery Much?”
“Totally Spies!” (2001-15) vs. “Martin Mystery” (2003-06)

- “Hercules and the Arabian Night”
“Hercules: The Animated Series” (1998-99) vs. “Aladdin” franchise (1992-)

Hanna-Barbera cartoons are some of the greatest classics of animation, which is why this crossover between two of their most notable properties, “The Jetsons” and “The Flintstones,” is our number one pick. This crossover followed the Jetsons as they met the Flintstones after being accidentally sent back in time… or were they? On top of being a great crossover, this TV movie also contributes to the dark theory that “The Flintstones” takes place after “The Jetsons,” their primitive technology and prehistoric-looking society being a result of the pollution and radiation implied by the future of “The Jetsons.” Of course, nothing is confirmed, but that doesn’t make this crossover any less awesome.