Best places to watch cartoons online: Why we love Boomerang, Crunchyroll, and more

Netflix has everything your little cartoon binge-loving heart could want, and you probably know that, because they own the streaming market.

And if you're a lover of animation like I am, Netflix is a veritable treasure trove of shows and films to enjoy. If it wasn't for Netflix I may have completely missed Star Wars: The Clone Wars after Cartoon Network decided to drop it. I even got to revisit my childhood through films like Atlantis: The Lost Empire and The Iron Giant, aka the films that helped make me the animation lover I am today.

But this isn't about me, this is about what you and what you want to watch. Lucky for you, there are plenty of options here. Since Netflix is a content hub, you can easily jump from a popular new film like Sing 2 to more classic fare like Space Jam. Just make sure to check the coming-to and leaving lists at the end of each month to see what is going to be added and removed.

What won't leave anytime soon are any of the Netflix originals available to binge to your heart's content. With Netflix working to ensure half the content offered is original content, there's only going to be more to enjoy.

For now, take a look at some of what's already available. There's family fare like Voltron: Legendary Defender, Skylanders Academy, and Trollhunters that will keep you and the kids entertained for hours. But if you're looking for that next binge obsession there's BoJack Horseman, Castlevania, Big Mouth, or F is for Family. Even animé fans get in on it with B: The Beginning and Devilman Crybaby.

Sign up today and you get the first month free. After that, there are three subscription options available. There's the basic for $9.99/month, standard for $15.49/month, and premium for $19.99/month.

Disney announcing their own dedicated streaming service may be the best thing to happen to streaming all year. Between all the classic films and shorts held in the "vault" to the franchise domination of Marvel and Star Wars, it wouldn't be lacking in content.

Disney+(opens in a new tab) is available for $7.99 a month. That's less than $10 a month for an absolute boatload of content.

Here are just a handful of the movies you'll be able to enjoy: Toy Story, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Mulan, Inside Out, and Hercules. That's not to mention all the shorts starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and all the other characters that laid the foundation of what Disney would be. Plus, all the Disney Channel Original Movies are on board. Although those are not cartoons, they're an added bonus.

For cartoon and animation lovers this is a must-get. No other company in Hollywood is as synonymous with animation as Disney is, even with all the live action films and shows filling the pop culture lexicon right now. After all, where would cartoons be without Steamboat Willie?

There's also new original content made just for Disney+. And, there's an option to get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for at $19.99/month.

Unfortunately, a price hike is coming for Disney+ subscribers. The current Disney+ plan without ads will see a $3 increase from $7.99 per month to $10.99 per month ($109.99 per year). A basic plan with ads will launch December 8, 2022 at $7.99 monthly. While certainly not ideal, the cost is still relatively low considering the amount of content within the service.

Who would have guessed back in 1994 that an online bookstore would grow to be one of the most dominant companies on the planet? 

Today, Amazon arguably has the number two video streaming service in the world right now with Prime Video. And if you're a cartoon lover, Amazon has a great collection of shows and films to choose from.

There is plenty to stream for free for Prime members like Megamind or Seasons 1 through 6 of SpongeBob SquarePants. But if you want, pretty much all of the shows and films Amazon has are available to buy. Now that might not sound like a big deal, but with the shifting landscape of streaming services, this is a big advantage. You won't fall victim to something like Netflix's system of adding and removing content every month.

Because of this, Amazon has excellent variety when it comes to all the animation is has on tap. If you're a child of the '90s, you can revisit the early days of Pokémon and re-learn the Poké-Rap that graced most episodes. Or if you're looking for good holiday fare, the Charlie Brown films are available if you want to revisit the lives of the Peanuts gang.

So if you're one of the few who still haven't signed up, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial to get a taste of what Amazon has to offer. After that, Prime will be $14.99/month and get you access to Prime shipping, Prime Video, music streaming, cloud storage, e-books, and plenty more. If you'd rather opt out of all the Prime perks and simply subscribe to Prime Video only, it'll cost you $8.99 per month.

So many of the best cartoons are still available on traditional TV, and cutting cable can mean having to ditch some of your favorite shows until the entire season is released at some unspecified time after it has aired. Try telling that to a Rick & Morty die-hard and see if you don't get a bad case of side-eye.

That's where Hulu has been able to carve out its space in the streaming game. Most other services force their users to play the waiting game when it comes to anything released in the theaters and on TV first. Hulu still can't do anything about the theater part, but it does make the TV bit way easier to deal with. Hulu built itself on offering new episodes of network shows immediately after airing.

Given the amount of cartoons still on traditional networks, you can get an idea of just how many shows will be at your fingertips. (And yes that includes Rick & Morty.) Similar cartoons available to binge from season one include Bob's Burgers, the over-the-top Archer, and mainstays like South Park and Family Guy.

And while the list of movies may not be as robust as other services under the sun, it does have some that are worth your attention. There's The Polar Express for anyone who wants to be relive childhood magic. Or for more modern animation styles, there's Despicable Me or Hotel Transylvania.

All you have to do is decide which plan best fits your needs. You can sign up for the basic plan for $6.99/month to keep up with your favorite shows or get the $12.99/month plan to watch with no commercials. But if you want more of a direct replacement for cable, there's Hulu Live, which comes with all of the Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ content as well. Most importantly, this will get you access to over 50 channels of live TV, and you won't have to wait for the newest Archer episode to be added after it airs.

Like Disney+, a price hike is on the horizon for Hulu. Expect the ad-free premium plan to jump to $14.99 and the ad-supported option to rise $1 to $7.99.

Back in 1988, a film was released in the U.S. that introduced mainstream Western audiences to one of the best forms of animation out there: animé. The film in question was Akira, arguable the best animé film ever made.

Anyone who decided to take the leap after seeing Akira discovered the veritable treasure trove of animé that Japanese audiences had for years. It also offered the same kind of variety that Western animation did, so anyone could find a show or film that spoke to them. Of course it may not have been that easy to find any animé shows or movies in the west back in the late '80s.

Thankfully, it isn't the 1980s anymore and there are plenty of ways to get your animé fix. More and more streaming services are adopting animé into their catalogs of content, but it's only a small piece of the pie. If all you care about is animé, the best service is easily Crunchyroll.

Crunchyroll has carved out its space in the streaming landscape by being the one-stop shop for all things animé. With over 800 shows and more constantly being added, it's a veritable treasure trove of content to get lost in for hours and hours. But the biggest benefit of it is being able to keep up with the latest and greatest coming out of Japan almost immediately after airing.

Keep in mind that it means a good bit of reading with the shows too. All the shows available to stream are subtitled with no dubbed option available. That might be a turn off for some viewers, but sometimes watching in the original language is the superior way. Even if you have to read subtitles, you'll always have a clear idea of the tone and scene shifts without taking away from what's happening the way a bad dub job can.

If you want to sign up, head over to Crunchyroll's website and get the first 14 days free. You then have the choice between three plans: Fan ($7.99/month), Mega Fan ($9.99/month), or Ultimate Fan ($14.99/month). Each subscription tier will get you unlimited access to the Crunchyroll library with no ads, new episodes one hour after Japan, and access to digital manga. The Mega and Ultimate Fan tiers also offer offline viewing, streaming on multiple devices at once, and more.

It's getting to the point where every media outlet is going to have some type of content streaming service. Even CBS has its own streaming service that's anchored by shows like Star Trek: Discovery.

So it shouldn't be surprising to hear the DC Comics launched its own streaming service in 2018 for the dedicated fans out there. This is the one-stop-shop for everything DC-related, from new comics to the original Superman films and everything in between.

DC has developed a surprisingly deep library of animated content to enjoy going all the way back to the old Max Fleischer Superman cartoons of the early '40s. The animated series available to binge include Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and Justice League, to name a few. It will also play home to the long demanded third season of Young Justice called Young Justice: Outsiders.

And it isn't just the TV series that you'll be able to enjoy. DC's catalog of animated films is as deep and diverse as those of some major film studios. Admittedly, the early offerings are a little light at the time this is being written but that's only because of how new it is. And that's not to take away from the excellent animated films to enjoy currently. Batman lovers will be especially happy with choices like Batman: Assault on Arkham, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, or Batman: Under the Red Hood (that's a lot of brooding).

You can sign up for a seven-day free trial to try it out. If you like all the content DC has to offer, you can choose between the $7.99/month option or just pay $74.99 for the year outright.

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Atom Ant, The Jetsons - where would cartoons be without these characters? The antics of the many Looney Tunes and the family dynamics in The Flintstones can still be seen in shows like Family Guy and The Simpsons. And there are enough ways to catch the newest stuff out there, so why wouldn't there be a way to enjoy these classics and even some more modern fare too?

Boomerang filled that role for a long time on network TV. Originally starting out as the sort of "Turner Classic Movies" arm of Cartoon Network, it acted as the home channel for people to enjoy the cartoons of yesteryear. Over time it would grow into its own entity and add more programming that could be viewed as modern classics to bring together older and younger viewers. (And to make me feel old.)

Thankfully you don't have to keep cable to enjoy the library of cartoons it has accumulated over the years. You can watch for free for a week, then sign up for Boomerang's streaming service for only $5.99/month to enjoy all the classic cartoons your heart can handle.

The list of cartoons available to watch reads like a who's who of classics. Looney Tunes, Garfield, Droopy Dog, Yogi Bear, and Johnny Quest are just a few of the classic series available to revisit and introduce to a new generation. You can also find more modern fare like Courage the Cowardly Dog and Baby Looney Tunes that offer something new while honoring the past in its comedy.

The movies available to watch on Boomerang are also a perfect avenue to introduce your kids to classic characters in a modern way. The animated Scooby-Doo movies available to enjoy can be the perfect gateway for your six-year-old into the world of classic Scooby-Doo and makes for good bonding time. And at the end of the day, isn't that what it's all about?

One of my favorite things to ask animé fans is what shows or movies got them into the genre. I can thank the original iteration of Cartoon Network's Toonami block that aired after school. Dragon Ball Z, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star: can you think of a better set of cartoons to close out a kid's day?

The company to thank for most of this is Funimation. Funimation was the company responsible for dubbing most animé series into English for Western audiences who couldn't bear subtitles. But if you don't want to wait for their latests efforts to hit TV, they have a solution for that too.

Funimation can be your streaming source of all the best dubbed animé that Funimation has to offer. You can sign up for a 14-day trial and afterwards will only pay $5.99 a month for ad-free access to entire Funimation library. For more simultaneous streams and offline viewing, it'll cost you just $2 more per month.

And when we say best, we mean best. Funimation's available catalog consists of some of the biggest and most popular animé that have been given the dub treatment by Funimation over the years. If you want to experience classics of the late '80s/early '90s there's Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, or YuYu Hakusho. But if you want to catch up on some current fare, there are new episodes of My Hero Academia, Fairy Tale, Ace Attorney and more being added weekly. You can even find a few classic films sprinkled in, like Akira.