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Animation has always had a hall of heroes. From the early days when cartooning was little more than static images on a page with little word blurbs to today’s modern era of high-quality animation with the likes of Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar, each generation has its highest echelons to which all others strive to equal. Forty to fifty years ago the men to beat included Mel Blanc, Walt Disney, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Needless to say there are new illustrators on the throne and it’s fair to speculate that they’ll leave as long a lasting impression as the greats who came before. Like in the past, don't be surprised if a large share of the animating bests come from television, it does seem to be the medium where it thrives most.

Matt Groening

The Simpsons, the longest running cartoon series of all-time and, even more impressively, Fox Network’s longest running show, has the prestige of having added words to the dictionary, creating recognizable catchphrases, and having a pretty solid run of 8 hilarious seasons (sandwiched between 2 dry ones and about 10 awful ones). The eight seasons of greatness are complemented by the surprisingly good Simpsons Movie and, of course, everybody’s favorite misfits of the year 3000, Futurama. As The Simpsons gradually decays in Sunday Primetime, Futurama’s return (possibly to Comedy Central, but chances are Fox will snatch it up for the Sunday lineup) could spell rebirth for the legacy of a man whose most famous creation has begun to annoy the once rabid fanbase it boasted in its heyday (Matt Groening and George Lucas ought to chat about that). However, as much as The Simpsons has floundered since season eleven, Groening’s influence on modern animation can’t be denied. As South Park has said, The Simpsons already did it. And it’s true.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone

Ah, the simplicity of paper cut-out style cartooning (done by a piece of software). Parker and Stone may have gotten their start pre-South Park, but the antics of Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, and Stan (and now, increasingly Butters – which is great), provide some of the sharpest social commentary on television. Even better is the fact that their rise seemed to coincide perfectly with the gradual decline of The Simpsons. It was the perfect tandem. While The Simpsons, Family Guy, and the rest have all taken on many of the same subjects covered by South Park, none have ever done so with such blinding disregard for people’s feelings. Religion (dum dum dum dum dum), abortion, racial tension – everything is fair game, and it’s why the show has remained relevant in between the filler episodes which do little more that cover a throw-away topic of the week. If you have any doubts about the appearance of Trey Parker and Matt Stone on this list, consider the following: for the first six years of the show’s existence “Oh my God, they killed Kenny!” was perhaps the most common phrase to be found on a novelty t-shirt. Prior to South Park (and still to this day) few shows if any have embraced the faux-minimalist animation approach South Park uses. It just goes to show that a cartoon about making statements can succeed in spite of “lesser” animation.

Hayao Miyazaki

Studio Ghibli may represent the sole source of legitimate competition for Pixar at every year's announcement of Best Animated Film. Dreamworks might get nominated, Sony might produce something notable, but only Miyazaki's works present a rival that often wow critics and leave people in a sense of wonder. I write this, and yet comically enough, Ponyo, Miyazaki's latest didn't get a nomination for Best Animated Picture. Even so, Miyazaki's best films include Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away. While each has its own distinct take on the world (tragedy, war, wonder), but always with a stalwart defense of the natural world, each is a masterful work of art that few CGI films can ever attempt to match. There's just something magical about Miyazaki's devotion to the hand-drawn art that almost makes you ashamed to appreciate something as comparatively soulless as a computer's rendered frames. The first Hayao film I saw in theaters was Princess Mononoke and I remember going in with a bit of resistance - but I left with my jaw dragging on the floor. The beauty of the animation counters the sometimes hideously gory portrayals of violence in a way that no animator today can equal. While I don't think I can legitimately give Miyazaki credit for generating Disney's renewed interest in hand-drawn films, I think he's a strong figurehead keeping the seemingly antiquated art alive.

John Lasseter

Pixar is an Oscar-winning, crowd-pleasing powerhouse. John Lasseter might not be able to take all the credit, but he gets a nice share. Find me a child who doesn’t want to watch Finding Nemo any hour of any day and I’ll eat my words, but Pixar has in fact ushered in a new era of digital animation. Pixar has found the perfect combination of touching go as storytelling and top-of-the-line presentation that everyone else is attempting to catch up with. I won’t go as far as to say that Pixar hasn’t struck out once or twice. Cars? It did well overseas, but it was unbearably bland. A Bug’s Life? A prettier but dumber, anatomically incorrect, and less funny version of Antz. For every miss, however, there are two hits. Remember when Toy Story burst onto the scene? Now, you can see how the animation has improved, but back then the film was visually creative and stunning. Pixar perfectly captured the sense of wonder inherent in the exploration of the world through new perspectives and continued that tradition in every film it made. Pixar has since become synonymous with top-end animation just as Google is with searching for something on the Internet. “How was the animated film?” It was good, but it was no Pixar. John Lasseter, we salute you.

Bruce Timm

If you want to credit someone with salvaging the DC name from the television hell the campy live Batman series sent it to that would be Bruce Timm. Introducing Warner Brothers to its first animated series that wasn’t in some way related to the Looney Toons legacy, Bruce Timm gave them a whole new breed of cartoon to work with. Drawn on black paper instead of the traditional white, Batman: The Animated Series had a dark and brooding tone that no other cartoon at the time dared to adopt. The studio took Timm’s concept with the understanding that while suitable for children, the target audience would easily skewer to an older generation (and would find new fans as more children grew up with comic books). The series was a critical and commercial success leading to a really kick-ass feature film and two more animated series. Superman, also helmed by Timm, took the Boy Scout in blue and gave him a few seasons to show Timm could do old-fashioned on top of gritty and dangerous. It wasn’t the same smash as the first series, but it opened up the doors for what may have been Timm’s crowning achievement (thus far). The animated Justice League Series is a triumph. With an outstanding voice acting cast, great multi-part stories, and a scope the likes of which no cartoon had ever attempted before or since, Justice League represents the cream of the crop. Timm has since sidelined himself from having a direct role in current DC animation, and can you blame him? He devoted over a decade to the development of various DC titles, give the man a break. But who knows, maybe he’ll make a glorious resurgence in the coming years. We can only hope. Bruce Timm set a new standard for the animation of everyday animated series, one that few today live up to?

Seth MacFarlane

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the man who is taking over Fox’s Sunday primetime spot one show at a time. Having just inked a large deal to produce more and more shows in the next few years, the man seems to be going nowhere but up. Nevermind that Family Guy hasn’t been as funny for the last 3-4 seasons, or that The Cleveland Show and American Dad are just repackaged, diluted versions of Seth’s first creation – the man’s presence in the current animation pantheon can’t be denied. When Family Guy began it had something new: a lightning fast wit that never pulled its punches in politically incorrect areas. The pattern seemed to be solid gold – until the pattern itself became the subject of ridicule. Considered by some (*cough* Parker and Stone *cough*) to be written by manatees who push balls labeled with pop culture icons about in a tank, the references may be off-the-wall but they typically involve some 60s-90s pop culture icon doing some seemingly mundane task with Peter. It became woefully predictable. But the show prevails all the same and MacFarlane’s career is still going strong. Perhaps even more indicative of Family Guy’s success is how The Simpsons writers seemed to change the winning formula of their own program to attempt the snappy referential style of the rival show. It didn’t work, however, and The Simpsons continue their downward spiral.