Animation isn't a genre — it's a medium — and we can see that in the wide range of stories that it's been used to tell for decades. That diversity is showcased by the best animated series on Hulu, which include very adult comedies, futuristic space Westerns, semi-modern takes on classic characters, and brain-bending drug trips. The list below spotlights the wild array of programs Hulu is currently streaming, both Hulu originals, as well as shows that originated on networks, including Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and FX/FXX. There's some truly brilliant storytelling below — as well as some delightfully silly fun.
For more recommendations, check out our list of the best shows on Hulu, the best animated shows on Netflix, or the best cartoons for adults.
Editor's note: This article was updated October 2023 to include Duncanville.
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Adventure Time (2010-2018)
Creator: Pendleton Ward
Cast: Jeremy Shada, John DiMaggio, Hynden Walch, Tom Kenny
By far the best animated series to come out of the 2010s, Adventure Time is a strange, surrealist, fun, and sometimes melancholic show about a boy and his dog fighting evil monsters in a post-apocalyptic planet ruled by magic and candy people. With a premise that is, at the same time, simple and extremely intricate, the show manages to find the perfect balance between seriousness and child-like wonder to tell beautiful stories with complex, genuine characters that are sure to win over even the most cynical of hearts. Come for the wizards and monster butt kicking, stay for the beautiful portrayals of long-lasting love, old age, and mental illness. – Elisa GuimarãesWatch on Hulu
Duncanville (2020-2022)
Created By: Amy Poehler, Mike Scully, Julie-Thacker Scully
Cast: Amy Poehler, Ty Burrell, Riki Lindhome
Running for three successful seasons, Duncanville follows the wild imagination of Duncan, who, outside of his exceptional dreams, lives a very unexceptional life. Sometimes whimsical and always innovative, Duncanville pairs a fun animation style with a great voice cast, including the likes of Amy Poehler, Ty Burrell, and even guest stars like Wiz Khalifa. Unlike other shows of this nature, Duncanville excels at finding true depth in its characters but never fails to put them in the sort of unexpected scenarios fans of adult animation have come to expect. Hilarious with a heart of gold, Duncanville is an easy watch with plenty of content to dig into. - Jake HodgesWatch on Hulu
Praise Petey (2023-present)
Creator: Anna Drezen
Cast: Annie Murphy, John Cho, Kiersey Clemons, Stephen Root
A truly bizarre premise for an adult animated comedy, Praise Petey, from Anna Drezen (Saturday Night Live), centers around a Manhattan socialite named Petey, voiced by Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek), who inherits a cult from her father. When Petey leaves the big city for a small town that worships her, she’s forced to lead her new followers in hopes of saving their lives and town — without sacrificing herself in the process. In addition to the ridiculous plot, Praise Petey also features an incredible cast lending their voices to the shenanigans, including John Cho and Kiersey Clemons, as well as icons Stephen Root and Christine Baranski. – Yael TygielWatch on Hulu
The Amazing World of Gumball (2011-2019)
Creator: Ben Bocquelet
Cast: Nicolas Cantu, Kyla Rae Kowalewski, Teresa Gallagher
The Amazing World of Gumball, or just Gumball if you’re cool, is a hilarious animated series that takes the tropes and archetypes of traditional family and school life television shows and flips them on their heads with a unique sense of humor and a fantastic cast of characters. The series follows a blue cat named Gumball (Jacob Hopkins) and his adopted goldfish brother Darwin (Terrell Ransom Jr.) as they get into hijinks around the town of Elmore, California, in an amazing world that slowly becomes more fantastical and fleshed out with lore and recurring nemeses. A standout aspect of Gumball is the show's willingness to embrace different forms of visual styles like stop-motion, live-action, and even puppetry. – Tauri MillerWatch on Hulu
Mother Up (2013)
Creators: Marnie Nir, Katherine Torpey
Cast: Eva Longoria, Jesse Camacho, Gabrielle Miller, Rebecca Husain
A simple premise incited by a ridiculous foundation, Mother Up is an animated comedy series that features the voice of Eva Longoria (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) as Rudi, a former music executive-turned-suburban single mother. While only lasting a single season of 13 episodes, Mother Up played with expectations as it chronicled Rudi’s transition from a Manhattanite to the subdued ‘burbs of Canada. Co-created by Marnie Nir and Katherine Torpey (The Perfect Man), Mother Up also utilizes the voices of Jesse Camacho (Locke and Key), Gabrielle Miller, and Rebecca Husain. – Yael TygielWatch on Hulu
Regular Show (2010-2017)
Creator: J. G. Quintel
Cast: J. G. Quintel, William Salyers, Sam Marin, Mark Hamill
Created by J. G. Quintel, Regular Show features his voice, along with the talents of William Salyers, Sam Marin, and Mark Hamill. An animated series, Regular Show follows a couple of best friends, a blue jay and a raccoon, who work together as groundskeepers. Regular Show introduces a handful of unique identities, including a yeti named Skip and a ghost named Hi-Five Ghost. With over 250 episodes, Regular Show is easily comparable to shows like Beavis and Butt-Head and Rocko's Modern Life but focuses on originality and humor, allowing it to stand out. – Yael TygielWatch on Hulu
Spy x Family (2021-present)
Creator: Tatsuya Endo
Cast: Takuya Eguchi, Saori Hayami, Atsumi Tanezaki, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Yûko Kaida
Based on the manga created by Tatsuya Endo, Spy x Family follows an elite secret agent who, determined to cozy up to a high-profile politician by infiltrating an elite school, must go deep undercover as a family man named Loid (Takuya Eguchi). Upon building his family, Loid learns that his wife is a deadly trained assassin and his newly adopted daughter is telepathic. Spy x Family is a delightfully comedic series merged with a bunch of action and a hint of sci-fi, told through gorgeous animated artwork and clever storytelling. – Yael TygielWatch on Hulu
The Powerpuff Girls (2016)
Creator: Craig McCracken
Cast: Amanda Leighton, Natalie Palamides, Kristen Li, Tom Kenny
Rebooting the beloved children's series, The Powerpuff Girls reintroduces the lab-made crime-fighting little girls: Blossom (Amanda Leighton), Bubbles (Kristen Li), and Buttercup (Natalie Palamides). A cute animated show with a playful approach to evil and ick, The Powerpuff Girls blends action and adventure with pretty imagery and pastels. The reboot of the series maintains the girls’ origin story of being built by their father figure, Professor Utonium (Tom Kane), from a mixture of sugar, spice, and everything nice, with his extra dash of Chemical X. The Powerpuff Girls continues their story of sweet-as-pie superheroes using their magically enhanced abilities, along with their undeniable adorableness, to protect the citizens of their home, Townsville. – Yael TygielWatch on Hulu
Brickleberry (2012-2015)
Created by: Roger Black, Waco O'Guin
Cast: Daniel Tosh, Kaitlin Olson, Roger Black, David Herman
Brickleberry follows a group of park rangers as they work at a fictional national park – and all the shenanigans that ensue. The cast is large and eclectic, including Steve (David Herman), who takes his work way too seriously and doesn’t seem to be particularly good at his job despite always winning Ranger of the Month; Woody (Tom Kenny), a harsh man with a military background; and Ethel (Kaitlin Olson, Natasha Leggero), a kind and humble woman who was assigned to get the park back on track. If you’re looking for something irreverent and hilarious, make Brickleberry your next watch. – Taylor GatesWatch on Hulu
Crossing Swords (2020-2021)
Created by: John Harvatine IV, Tom Root
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Luke Evans, Alanna Ubach
Crossing Swords combines fantasy and adventure with black comedy to highly entertaining effect. The show follows Patrick (The Great’s Nicholas Hoult), a peasant who gets his dream job as a squire in the royal castle. However, life turns out to be anything but luxurious, as the castle is filled with thieves and frauds. To complicate things even further, Patrick’s criminal siblings also come back to make his life difficult. The animation is unique, as medieval children’s toys portray all the characters – a hilarious juxtaposition considering how raunchy and decidedly NSFW it all is. – Taylor GatesWatch on Hulu
Hit-Monkey (2021-present)
Creator: Josh Gordon, Will Speck
Cast: Fred Tatasciore, Jason Sudeikis, Olivia Munn
Outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, lesser-known Marvel properties are finding their footing, including Hulu’s adult animated action series, Hit-Monkey. Created for television by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, Hit-Monkey is a trippy series about a Japanese snow monkey who is tethered to the ghost of an American assassin, voiced by Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), who mentors him in the art of vengeance in hopes to take down the underworld of Tokyo. Graphicly violent, Hit-Monkey takes advantage of being animated to defy the laws of physics and taste in an attempt to stand beside other vicious adult animated series, like Invincible and Harley Quinn. – Yael TygielWatch on Hulu
Archer (2009-present)
Created by: Adam Reed
Cast: H. Jon Benjamin, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, Adam Reed, Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Lucky Yates
Archer began life as an extremely sharp and funny satire of the James Bond universe, with a crackerjack voice cast led by the always brilliant H. Jon Benjamin. And for its four seasons, it was already a top-tier adult animated series. Then, came Season 5, and the reveal that when creator Adam Reed gets restless, he's not above completely changing the premise of his show — a move he'd pull several more times, rewriting reality for his established characters by transporting them from the real world to golden era Hollywood to space to Danger Island. Those wild creative choices, along with the beautifully rendered animation and, again, that amazing voice cast (Aisha Tyler should be in everything), make Archer a show worth revisiting over and over. - Liz Shannon MillerWatch on Hulu
The Awesomes (2013-2015)
Created by: Seth Meyers, Mike Shoemaker
Cast: Seth Meyers, Ike Barinholtz, Emily Spivey, Taran Killam, Kenan Thompson, Bobby Lee, Paula Pell, Rashida Jones, Bill Hader, Josh Meyers, Rachel Dratch
Did you know that Seth Meyers co-created an original animated superhero series that ran for three seasons on Hulu? That’s okay, not many people did either. But The Awesomes is well worth your time and attention if you’re looking for an escape from the ordinary and a break from the same-old superhero story.
The Awesomes follows the title team of comic book-inspired superheroes led by the son of the greatest superhero of them all, Mr. Awesome, as they attempt to fill the sizable shoes of the heroes they’re replacing. The voice cast alone is worth watching for, including Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, Kenan Thompson, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, Will Forte, Amy Poehler, Kate McKinnon, Colin Quinn, Fred Armisen, Tina Fey, Andy Samberg, Chris Kattan, Cecily Strong, Vanessa Bayer, Noël Wells, Nasim Pedrad, and Aidy Bryant as well as SNL writers Steve Higgins, Emily Spivey, Paula Pell, Tim Robinson, Alex Baze, and John Lutz.
The Awesomes also fills that niche between the squeaky-clean Disney-fied superhero stories of the Marvel Comics universe and the very-adult stop-motion animated adventures of SuperMansion, so while it’s not exactly family-friendly, it’s perfectly suited for teens and above. Check it out today if you missed out on the off-kilter adventures back in the halcyon days of the mid-2010s! – Dave TrumboreWatch on Hulu
Bless the Harts (2019-2021)
Created by: Emily Spivey
Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jillian Bell, Ike Barinholtz, Kumail Nanjiani
A lot of animated series, especially shows that originated on Fox, have what might be best described as "big dude energy," which is why Bless the Harts stands out as a wonderful contrast to those shows. It's still damn hilarious though, thanks to creator Emily Spivey, who brings her Saturday Night Live-trained comedic sensibilities to this show about a struggling Southern family. The stellar voice cast includes a dream trio of Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Jillian Bell, and the show's wry edge gives the show a fresh voice. The title of the show is based on a classic expression popularized by genteel ladies below the Mason-Dixon line — if someone tells you "bless your heart," it's... not a good thing. - Liz Shannon MillerWatch on Hulu
Bob's Burgers (2011-present)
Creators: Loren Bouchard and Jim Dauterive
Cast: H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, John Roberts, Larry Murphy, David Herman
Few series are as consistently delightful as Bob’s Burgers, which has nine seasons currently available to stream on Hulu, each one just as full of laughs and feel-good family comedy as the last. Centered around a hamburger chef and his freak flag-flying family of oddballs, Bob’s Burgers is a treasure trove of running gags, from the catchy-as-hell ditties to the puntastic hamburger recipes in every episode (which, can confirm from the tie-in cookbook, are delicious,) and it’s packed to the brim with #relatable characters. – Haleigh FoutchWatch on Hulu
Cowboy Bebop (2021)
Created by: Hajime Yatate (AKA Shinichirō Watanabe and the Sunrise creative team)
Cowboy Bebop. Often cited as the gateway anime to end all gateway animes, this classic 1998 Sunrise series didn’t even have the benefit of a strong manga following to base its success on. Instead, the show’s mature themes, noir sensibilities, and complex characters drove it from cult icon to international classic in just 26 episodes. (Yoko Kanno‘s incredible and inseparable music was undoubtedly a big part of this success and it’s worth watching the series just for it.)
Following a ragtag team of space-based bounty hunters attempting to scrape together enough Woolongs for their next meal and to patch their aging spacecraft, Cowboy Bebop features action-packed episodic arcs alongside deeply emotional character stories that will have you invested in just about everyone who pops up onscreen. There’s the tormented, too-cool-for-school, former spy-assassin, Spike Spiegel; the hard-nosed former detective with a heart of gold, Jet Black; the cursed femme fatale with a heartbreaking past, present, and possibly future, Faye Valentine; and the wildcard hacker extraordinaire Ed (along with pooch pal, Ein) who’s hard not to love. Despite some silliness played for levity along the way, this one’s at it’s best when it’s super-serious. If Cowboy Bebop doesn’t at least make you just a bit more interested in this thing called anime, not much else will. - Dave TrumboreWatch on Hulu
Death Note (2006-2007)
Created by: Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata (manga)
Adapted from the Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata comes Death Note, a tense cat-and-mouse tail between a serial-killer high school student and the detectives attempting to take him down. It’s an incredible crime story that keeps the supernatural to a minimum, save for its central conceit: The title tome can take the life of anyone whose name is written in it thanks to the power wielded by the shinigami or Death Gods. That’s quite a bit of responsibility placed on the shoulders of a teenager, even one as brilliant as Light Yagami.
And that’s what makes Death Note (the anime, not the recent live-action adaptation) such a joy to watch. It’s a very cerebral series that spends more time walking viewers through the complicated webs woven by both Light and the equally gifted but eccentric detective known only as L. The threads of tension are drawn taut throughout these episodes you find yourself wondering, “How is Light going to get out of this one?” only to be amazed by the answer. Just make sure you have some potato chips and apples handy. - Dave TrumboreWatch on Hulu
Family Guy (1999-present)
Created by: Seth MacFarlane
Cast: Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, and Seth Green
It’s become rather uncool to like Family Guy, and the show’s humor has at times crossed the line, but the FOX series has stood the test of time for a reason. There’s something endearing about the antics of a dumb-dumb like Peter, childlike yet confident, and the relationship between Stewie and Brian could sustain its own TV show (and often kind of does). The show is at its best when it expands its world-building to tackle unique stories, but most episodes — especially from the run during which Seth MacFarlane was the showrunner — are good for a few big laughs. - Adam ChitwoodWatch on Hulu
Futurama (1999-present)
Created by: Matt Groening
Cast: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Tress MacNellie, Phil LaMarr, and Lauren Tom
The possibilities within the world of Futurama are quite literally boundless. This sci-fi series was a follow-up to The Simpsons in that it hailed from the same creator, and while Futurama is definitely funny and sweet and has similar animation style, it’s overall a very different show. Following the exploits of the bumbling crew of a delivery space shuttle service, Futurama gets into time travel, far-space travel, universal apocalypses, invasions, cloning... pretty much any sci-fi conceit you can think of, Futurama has done it. And it almost always turns out compelling, endearing, and extremely funny. - Adam ChitwoodWatch on Hulu
The Great North (2021-present)
Created by: Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, Wendy Molyneux, and Minty Lewis
Cast: Nick Offerman, Jenny Slate, Will Forte, Dulcé Sloan, Paul Rust, Aparna Nancherla, Megan Mullally, Alanis Morissette
From the same creators behind Bob's Burgers comes another story about a family just trying to get by but now it's set in the great Alaskan wilds. The Great North follows the Tobin family, made up of patriarch Beef (yes, Beef) (Nick Offerman), daughter Judy (Jenny Slate), older son Wolf (Will Forte), Wolf's wife Honeybee (Dulcé Sloan), middle son Ham (Paul Rust) and youngest son Moon (Aparna Nancherla). While the mood is certainly in the same vein as Bob's, Offerman's Beef is perhaps even funnier than Bob as the even-keeled outdoorsy dad. Loving and supportive, a character who might seem like a closed-minded father figure is delightfully accepting of his kids passions and pursuits. Whether it be Judy's art projects or Ham's baking masterpieces, he's there to lend a hand or just support. If you enjoy the Blechers, then you'll love the Tobins. — Therese LacsonWatch on Hulu