Awesome Web Animations That Deserve to Get A Full Series

Still frame from animated series Hazbin Hotel, episode 'Scrambled Eggs'. web animations

Now that Hazbin Hotel has made a big splash in its Amazon premiere, other spectacular web animations have begun to hope for a full series treatment. Not every cartoon on the internet has the fortune of turning into a full series, but many have great potential.

Have a look at the pilots, miniseries, and shorts that, given the opportunity, would make an amazing full TV series. 

1. Rachel and Her Grandfather Control the Island

Rachel and Her Grandfather Control the Island - From GO! Cartoons
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Cartoon Hangover.

Before gracing YouTube with multiple feature-length animated films, Jonni Peppers created an animated short about a girl and her grandpa secretly ruling over an island. Rachel and her Grandfather impersonate God to convince the island’s president to change the law so they may surveil the land with surveillance robots disguised as trashcans. 

2. Welcome to H-ll

Still frame from Welcome to Hell [HI-DEF Release] on Youtube.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Erica Wester.
Condemned to the underworld for their crimes in life, Sock has a new job. His first assignment to drive a high schooler to take his own life hits a snag when his target, Jonathan, proves more resilient than expected. A friendship between the two blossoms, making things awkward between Sock and the big man downstairs.

3. The Summoning

Still frame from The Summoning - from GO! Cartoons.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Cartoon Hangover.

The cat witch Claire needs troll fat to complete her demon-summoning potion, so she and her friend Edgar travel to Swamp Giant Head Island to get some. This short perfectly mixes cute, creepy, and funny.

4. Sublo and Tangy Mustard

Sublo and Tangy Mustard season 3 snapshot.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Aaron Long.

This Canadian animated series stars two men so dedicated to their jobs that they never take off their mascot suits. It starts as a bunch of gags between the two titular slackers but gradually takes on more emotional weight. The focus increases on their coworker Katy as she navigates artist dreams and bad relationships.

5. Becky Primm

Still frame from Becky Primm on Youtube.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/karlhadrika.

Teenage misanthrope Becky Prim hates everything except her best friend and her favorite smoking bench. When the cheerleaders claim her bench, Becky goes on a journey through the afterlife to get it back (anyone noticing a pattern with these web animations?).

6. Burger Boss

Still frame from Burger Boss created by Rachel Kim on Youtube.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Rachel Kim.

Basil and Olive work at their family burger restaurant, and their mom intends to retire soon. To decide who inherits the diner, the two siblings get sucked into a Donkey Kong-style arcade game and battle for the grand prize. The short film ends by hinting that the two siblings will continue their rivalry with a brand-new family restaurant.

7. Planet Panic

Still frame from Planet Panic on Youtube, created by Gene Goldstein for Nicktoons.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Nicktoons.

“Mission, mission, mission, yeah!” Pibbles rides along with their mentor, Zeus, to learn the trade of being a hero in a city full of giant monsters. Nickelodeon made a big mistake by not approving this short for a full series, but it’s not too late to make things right.

8. Long Gone Gulch

Still frame from the LONG GONE GULCH pilot episode available on Youtube, created by Lopside Animation.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Lopside Animation.

Old West sheriffs Rawhide and Snag always catch the bad guy but stay perpetually on the mayor’s bad side for their childish and destructive behavior. This Kickstarter sensation set new standards for crowdfunded animation with its professional quality and 90s/2000s Nickelodeon-style humor.

9. Local 58

Still frame from Local 58, the analog horror short series on Youtube under the same name. This series creates nostalgic PSAs, infomercials and other forms of media that are altered to appear sinister in nature.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Local58.

All other analog horror pales in comparison to Local 52. The short-form series has brought us fake PSAs for an invasion of the United States and the sinister nature of the moon that feels real enough to keep us up at night. With execution this great, the idea of a bigger and better version sounds very tempting.

10. Under the Influencer

Still frame of Under The Influencer, the internet short.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/LazyPillow (Yotam Perel).

It’s humiliating enough for a teen when their dad has a midlife crisis. But when Dad dyes his hair and desperately chases the YouTube influencer dream, the humiliation rockets to the next level.

11. Big Top Burger

Bigtop Burger still frame.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Worthikids.

Worthikids’ most popular series has slowly progressed from absurdist shorts to something much more significant. It turns out that the comedy show about a clown-themed burger food truck had an emotional core under the surface and deep lore hidden in its fantastic theme song.

12. Bad Kid Stuff

Still frame from Birthday (Bad Kid Stuff).
Image Credit: Youtube.com/vewn.

Vewn’s Bad Kid Stuff series follows a couple of “bad kids” through the ultra-violent, overstimulating chaos of modern society. It packs an incredible amount of visceral comedy and pathos in such a short timeframe; who knows what could be done in a full-series format.

13. Punch Punch Forever

Still frame shot from PUNCH PUNCH FOREVER!
Image Credit: Youtube.com/bopy.

Speedoru mixed Newgrounds humor with Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho-style anime aesthetics. This short about a young girl entering a fighting tournament against demons would be great if expanded into a full series.

14. Blackford Manor

Still frame from "Blackford Manor" - Cartoon Hangover Shorts # 10.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Cartoon Hangover.

Josette has found herself as a maid in the creepy, gothic Blackford Manor. She starts investigating when she realizes she’s never met the master of the house and notices mysterious bloodstains around the house.

15. Welcome to My Life

Still frame from Welcome To My Life from Cartoon Network Studios Shorts.
Image Credit: Cartoon Network.

Before City of Ghosts, Elizabeth Ito rocked the internet with the Cartoon Network short “Welcome to My Life.” The short explores a young monster boy who faces discrimination at his school. City of Ghosts’ quality ensures that a Welcome to My Life series would have a stellar reception.

16. Captain Yajima

Still frame from CAPTAIN YAJIMA on Worthikids animation.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Worthikids.

Worthikids took the power of the open-source animation program Blender to this high among web animations. Imagine stumbling upon a VHS of a lost Japanese stop-motion animated sci-fi show from the 70s. “Captain Yajima” creates that illusion perfectly.

17. Lackadaisy

Still frame from the Lackadaisy pilot on the Youtube channel of the same name.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Lackadaisy.

In 2023, the long-awaited animated pilot adaptation of the hit webcomic Lackadaisy finally premiered. The series takes place in Prohibition-era Missouri as a bootlegging war begins to stir. The cinematic style, along with its energetic shootouts and car chases, makes the prospect of more episodes very exciting.

18. Urbance

Still frame from Urbance.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Joel Dos Reis Viegas; Steambot.

In a futuristic city, men and women have been segregated in order to combat a deadly virus that activates during intimacy. The longer they stay separated, the more violent animosity between them grows as they’re monitored by the inhuman lifeforms who control them.

19. Satina

Still frame from Satina Wants a Glass of Water (Pilot).
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Hannah Daigle.

Fatherhood has its challenges, but having a half-demon as a daughter puts parenting on hard mode. The first episode has already shown us how much trouble Dave gets into when he brings his daughter Satina to the office. Still, a full series would have the potential for even more fire-breathing and portal-opening shenanigans.

20. Obituary

Still frame from Obituary - A Grave Beginning (Cartoon Series Pilot).
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Belated Media.

June became an orphan thanks to a falling piece of space junk crushing her parents right in front of her. Since then, she’s lived in a cemetery with a bunch of ghosts as her family. She has a rough first day at high school, but she’ll make it through with the help of her ghost family and her new (living) friend.

21. Tyler and Co.

Still frame from Tyler and Co. cartoon animation on Youtube.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Cartoon Hangover.

Tyler lives in the most messed-up house ever. An upside-down front door has him and his friends locked inside. The only way out: an attic full of snakes. These goofy characters and creative setting have the potential for plenty more fun and adventure.

22. Welcome to Doozy

Still frame from Welcome to Doozy - From GO! Cartoons.
Image Credit: Youtube.com/Cartoon Hangover.

Ex’s plan to impress her coworker with a homemade bento box goes awry when her friend Lou accidentally curses the onigiri into a giant monster. Who wouldn't love to see more magic spells and bunny taekwondo from these characters?

Author: Norbert Daniels Jr.

Title: Writer

Bio:

Norbert has been a writer for print and online publications for over a decade, mostly focusing on pop culture, video games, and anime. When he's not writing, he's taking photos or practicing music.