YouTube, as an open platform, has allowed independent creators to build their content just like the way they want it. Without any management layers in between. In such cases, multimedia artists (or you might call them animators), have the full-fledged access to create animated videos for entertainment or educational purposes.
For you and fellow animation junkies, YouTube provides tons of animation channels with a wide range of animated content. So you can find something that perfectly suited to your tastes and sense of humor!
What interests you? Slice of life humor? Satirical movies and TV shows reviews? Or nursery rhymes for the ankle-biters? You can easily find them with a bunch of different types of animation techniques and styles on the platform.
As an Explainer Video Production Company, we are going to give you references for the animation channels that are worth watching. That’s why we’ve created a broad-ranging list of them.
The list below is not based on any external study of data such as total viewers or subscribers count. The order of the channels on the list is also random. You can filter through this list of the most suitable channels you might be your new favorites.
Categories
Video Style
Total Subscribers
Total Viewers
Estimated Annual Earnings
pencilmation
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUAL--p3qAa27luR0IYbjZA
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
12M -14M
6B - 7B
$13M
Feb 1st, 2007
United States
Pencilmation is an animated series created by Ross Bollinger, which pencil-drawn stick figures and doodles come to life. The series mainly focuses on a character named Pencilmate, who has been featured in many of Ross' works.
He creates each video for not-too-serious adults. It takes the basic idea of characters drawn on paper and turns it into something entertaining and creative. The stick figure-ish characters are created simply but engaging.
TheOdd1sOut
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo8bcnLyZH8tBIH9V1mLgqQ/
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon
12M - 14M
2B - 3B
$2M
Aug 30th, 2014
United States
One of the main reasons viewers stick around on this channel is its unique storytelling that involves a particular sense of humor.
Some of its most popular videos talk mostly about himself in school or college– no wonder most of the viewers can relate to those videos and instantly become fans. Not to mention the use of iconic characters that always hook the viewers for a new episode every week.
ExplosmEntertainment
https://www.youtube.com/user/ExplosmEntertainment
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon, Live Action
10M - 12M
2B - 3B
$1M
Sep 3rd, 2009
United States
ExplosmEntertainment produces short, up to 3 minutes of animated comic videos, best known for “Cyanide & Happiness”, which is overwhelmingly popular among fans of the webcomic.
Mainly using stick-figure animation, primarily made with Adobe Animate, they are producing their series in a hysterical, often very random, and sometimes a little dark -- but all done for humor. Besides, the channel also pushes visual comedy through the animation.
How It Should Have Ended
https://www.youtube.com/user/HISHEdotcom/
Films, Entertainment
Cartoon
8M - 10M
2B - 3B
$1M
Mar 5th, 2007
United States
How It Should Have Ended rewrites parts of the plots and endings for popular feature film as the alternate version, in funny ways.
They also have a popular, uber hilarious mini-series called “Super Cafe,” starring popular superheroes, particularly Batman and Superman. In the series, the characters usually discuss blockbuster trailers, upcoming movies, etc.
This “Super Cafe” is well-known among superheroes or sci-fi movie addicts.
Domics
https://www.youtube.com/user/D0MICS
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon
8M - 10M
800M - 900M
$500K
Aug 11th, 2012
Canada
Domics is a channel run by a young Canadian man, who also goes by the name of Domics. Domics describes his video as a sort of “draw my life” channel – and that’s really what it is.
A lot of his animations are used to illustrate certain aspects of his life, both past and present. The animation and voice work are both pretty simple, but they mesh together really nicely to give the jokes a decent amount of punch. It’s a technique that you’ll see a lot as we go through this list, and Domics is definitely one of the top examples in this category.
sWooZie
https://www.youtube.com/user/swoozie06
Entertainment
Cartoon
8M - 10M
1B - 2B
$500K
Feb 9th, 2006
United States
sWooZie focuses on storytelling more than the quality of the animation, usually portrayed with simple drawings or stick figures, making oddball content you won't find anywhere else online.
Occasionally, it features a mash-up of animation, confessional videos, and gameplay. They also upload quite frequently, which makes his channel great for subscribing.
CrashCourse
https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
10M - 12M
1B - 2B
$800K
May 20th, 2006
United States
CrashCourse is an educational youtube channel. Racking more than 10 million viewers on YouTube, and counting, CrashCourse has a worldwide audience in and out of classrooms.
From courses like Astronomy to US History, CrashCourse transforms the traditional textbook model by presenting information in a fast-paced format. While the show is an immensely helpful tool for students and teachers, it also has a large viewership of casual learners who independently seek out online educational content.
Jaiden Information
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGwu0nbY2wSkW8N-cghnLpA
Entertainment
Cartoon
8M - 10M
800M - 900M
$2M
Feb 17th, 2014
United States
Jaiden Information is a YouTube channel that produces animation videos that literally tells about itself.
Amidst a sea of personality-based vlogging and gaming-driven “Let’s Play” channels, Jaiden brings out original story animation content that creates heavy engagement to its subscribers.
TED Ed
https://www.youtube.com/user/TEDEducation
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
10M - 12M
1B - 2B
$1M
Mar 1st, 2011
United States
The educational arm of the annual TED conference is held each spring in Vancouver. On their YouTube education channel, you’ll find a growing library of carefully curated educational videos, many of which represent collaborations between educators and talented animators.
TED-Ed's goal is to pair educators with animators, and create a series of lesson-based animated shorts aimed at teachers and high school students.
Little Baby Bum
https://www.youtube.com/user/LittleBabyBum/
Animation for Kids
3D
22M - 24M
20B - 21B
$25M
Jun 22nd, 2011
United States
Little Baby Bum is one of the most popular channels for children on YouTube with colorful 3D animations in beautiful HD resolution. The channel's lineup includes baby songs, nursery rhymes, and interactive videos.
What’s making it separate from any other kids' channels is it’s unusually long videos, this channel's videos are mostly 30 minutes long, even though most other channels are only 5 minutes, or less -- to help the parents that generally have to keep pressing the 'play' button.
In this channel, they can just press play and leave your child to watch it while they get something else done.
Simon's Cat
https://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
Entertainment
Cartoon
5M - 8M
1B - 2B
$300K
Nov 14th, 2007
United Kingdom
Simon's Cat is an animated series featuring the mischievous and hilarious antics of a fat fluffy white cat and his owner Simon. With a bunch of exciting and interesting stories about long-suffering as a cat owner, this channel is a popular cat-related channel on YouTube.
Since the videos that are uploaded to this channel narration-less, it relies heavily on the visual and sound effects to give the viewers the sight of animated gags and physical comedy.
Other than the entertaining story, the channel is also pretty well-known for its simply drawn character and white background.
Andrei Terbea
https://www.youtube.com/user/andreiterbea
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon, Live Action
1M - 3M
100M - 200M
$100K
Apr 30th, 2013
Romania
This channel is named after the owner, Andrei Terbea. The channel uses spot-on 2D animation to do small mini-series or commentary about the news that happened recently.
His commentary content covers various YouTube and YouTuber related topics, making it easier for the viewers to understand what is going on within the platform.
It tackles trending topics in a different type of perspective, often playing the devil's advocate and seeing the brighter side of negative events.
My Story Animated
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzEMRKqrh01-tauv7MYyVQ/
Entertainment
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
3M - 5M
500M - 600M
$3M
Jan 14th, 2019
United States
My Story Animated provides young adults with the most interesting and life-changing stories with the world through animated videos.
The idea of the channel is to tell outlandish stories that happen to teenage characters. It involves school, family secrets, relationships, and other real-life problems, that usually have an unexpected twist to them.
With super eye-catching 2D animation, each episode tells a different story. Since the videos are based on stories from the viewers, almost all of the voice-overs in their videos are done by the actual person that experienced the story itself.
Cartoon Hangover
https://www.youtube.com/user/CartoonHangover/
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
300M - 400M
$50K
Jun 23rd, 2011
United States
Cartoon Hangover is a part of the Frederator Studios online animation channel. It has spun off series, including The Fairly OddParents, Adventure Time, Bee and PuppyCat, Bravest Warriors, and more.
This channel is filled with unique, creative, fun, and sometimes quirky cartoon videos. With gorgeous animated characters and exciting storylines, it provides television-quality cartoons on the Internet.
Both SuperF*ckers and Too Cool! Mini-series are one of the main reasons for keeping the viewers tuned in and coming back for more.
CypherDen
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwxx9VnEnlFKt5EB70KTzQ/
Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
100M - 200M
$150K
Jun 7th, 2012
United States
CypherDen is known for its eponymous videos– mostly about the creator's life. The interesting story backed by cartoon-style animation makes this channel worth being on the radar.
This channel posts videos in several categories, including storytime videos, sketches, tutorials, and gaming animations.
With semi-autobiographical cartoons, the stories range from fun to serious, real, and relatable. In this channel, you'll find short and engaging animations about being an artist, an animator, and an adult in general.
Spill
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Vl1oLTGjWYJLmbTpaqorQ
Entertainment
Cartoon, Live Action
1M - 3M
100M - 200M
$750K
Sep 5th, 2018
Canada
Spill's videos are thorough, and most of them are nearly an hour-long. Their main features are thorough rundowns of the latest celebrity feuds with a commentary explaining the details. It has an animated 2D avatar that casually pops in the videos as the narrator.
Celebrities, commonly-asked questions, reactions to mean tweets, or any other tea spillage topics are wildly popular trends. Spill creates finely-tuned video content with a little use of animation as their main branding.
CGMeetup
https://www.youtube.com/user/CGMeetUp/
Film
3D
3M - 5M
1B - 2B
$1M
Jan 13th, 2011
United States
CGMeetup channel is primarily focused on CGI, VFX, and 3D animations in HD resolution. The videos are mostly about short animated films with a 3-minute to 10-minute duration. Their Pixar-like style of animation gives the viewers a mesmerizing entertainment in a short time.
As a third-party Youtube channel, CGMeetup showcases independent animated shorts and curates their channels to present a unified brand. It serves as a kind of a personal cinema to the general public and a distributor and publicist to creators.
The artists or studios that're being featured on the channel has get the advantage to reach out to more audiences and recognition.
It's Aumsum Time
https://www.youtube.com/user/Smartlearningforall
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
1M - 3M
100M - 200M
$600K
Nov 24th, 2014
India
If you're looking for a highly creative and refreshing educational channel that explains everything from science to philosophy, It's Aumsum Time is worth-considering one.
This channel deals with everyday phenomena that we often take for granted, but each can be explained scientifically.
Each video includes some questions that are going to be answered down with fun, interesting explanations. The simple 2D animation combined with clear narration makes the videos easy to digest, even for viewers of all ages.
Bright Side
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4rlAVgAK0SGk-yTfe48Qpw/
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
32M - 34M
6B - 7B
$9M
Mar 15th, 2017
United States
Bright Side provides its viewers with how-to trivia as well as history and general knowledge. The channel focuses on animated videos with general content about facts and riddles.
Using cartoon animation, Bright Side delivers the message with an easy-going script and voice over, so the viewers not only get the information but also a slice of entertainment as well.
What's interesting is that this channel uploads at least three new videos every single day, so their subscribers always have new content to enjoy.
Alex Meyers
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6Ij8zOds0WJEeqCLOnqOQ
Film
Cartoon, Live Action
1M - 3M
100M - 200M
$400K
Jul 9th, 2015
United States
Alex Meyers' channel is mostly about movies and TV shows. It reviews series and movies that might have had a little too much hype, mixed with dry humor. This channel also has an animated cartoon character that appears in every video to support the narrator.
Watching his videos will not only get to eponymous thoughts on popular shows, but you also get to learn more about Meyers himself from the animated anecdotes he added in his videos.
Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes
https://www.youtube.com/user/checkgate
Animation for Kids
3D
64M - 66M
30B - 31B
$110M
Sep 1st, 2006
United States
As you might already know, Cocomelon is the most subscribed nursery rhymes channel. It consists of traditional nursery rhymes, and their own original children's songs played over high-resolution 3D animations.
This channel uses the same character for each video, so it's like the songs are connected to each other. With friendly characters and colorful animated videos, it helps kids to learn all about letters, numbers, shapes, colors, animals, and more.
Egoraptor
https://www.youtube.com/user/egoraptor
Games
Cartoon
1M - 3M
500M - 600M
$100K
Mar 11th, 2006
United States
Arin Hanson, better known online as Egoraptor, creates an animated channel for music, parody, and comedy. This channel is well-known among animation lovers on YouTube because of its trademark sense of humor and animation style.
It also has a number of popular series he creates, which include Awesome Series, Lemon 'n Bill, Girlchan in Paradise!!, Sequilitis, among many others.
Besides the popular series, another reason his subscribers are sticking around is it’s interesting cartoon music video paired with hilarious lyrics.
MondoMedia
https://www.youtube.com/user/MondoMedia
Film
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
3M - 5M
2B - 3B
$700K
Jan 22nd, 2007
United States
MondoMedia targets teens and young adults for its animated videos. It delivers high-quality animation about the original comedy series. With the combination of cartoon style and motion graphic animation, the channel relies on deadpan and sometimes sight gag to its humor visually.
MondoMedia also has an ever-popular series that has been adapted to TV shows called Happy Tree Friends with lovely characters and almost no dialogue, with a very very dark twist of cruel humor including chopping down limbs and smashing heads with a sledgehammer just to pluck out a brain.
OneyNG
https://www.youtube.com/user/OneyNG/
Film
Cartoon
1M - 3M
300M - 400M
$80K
Oct 8th, 2008
Ireland
OneyNG shares short clips of animated cartoon parody. It parodies characters from popular TV shows or movies like Harry Potter, Scooby-Doo, Final Fantasy, etc. Other than that, the channel also animate its main character to represent himself.
On its channel, Oney also posts video tutorials creating animation. Sometimes, he shares a thorough behind the scene video on the production process.
TomSka
https://www.youtube.com/user/OneyNG/
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon, Live Action
1M - 3M
300M - 400M
$80K
Oct 8th, 2008
Ireland
TomSka is undeniably best known for his animated series asdfmovie. Each movie that he uploads on his channel is composed of various, uncolored, and straightforward 2-minute animations.
The animations are all in black and white (sometimes with a little bit color) with relatively simple movements. And there is just a plain white background. With the simple art, those animations almost entirely hinge on humor to deliver the story.
Kurzgesagt
https://www.youtube.com/user/Kurzgesagt/
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
10M - 12M
800M - 900M
$1M
Jul 9th, 2013
Germany
Kurzgesagt is one of the most popular animated educational channels on YouTube.
It’s known for its unique, distinctive style of vector-based animation that uses lots of gradients and attractive flat neon color illustrations.
One of the best captivating features is how it simplifies science and uncanny ability to take a look at modern pop culture from an unbiased perspective.
Life Noggin
https://www.youtube.com/user/lifenoggin/
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
3M - 5M
300M - 400M
$200K
Apr 1st, 2013
United States
Life Noggin educates its viewers with animated documentaries about a variety of topics such as medical science, astronomy, and even big questions. For the animation, it chooses an "8-bit"-style approach to make the videos easy to understand for viewers and make them keep wanting to go back.
Using the protagonist character called "Blocko," all the videos are straight to the point and often answering some side questions with a little bit of humor. Each episode is posted with a 3 to 5 minutes length and focuses on one educational topic.
Pinkfong! Kids' Songs & Stories
https://www.youtube.com/user/SmartBooksMedia
Animation for Kids
Cartoon, Live Action
26M - 28M
11B - 12B
$20M
Dec 14th, 2011
United States
Pinkfong channel has been rising into the clutter after its Baby Shark song became an internet phenomenon. This channel has its original characters, including Pinkfong itself (a pink fox with magenta eyes) that features on almost every song.
The color palette of the animation is bright and engaging that it is literally eye candy for children, and the secret sauce is their catchy songs.
In addition to animation, some videos include real-life kids actors that are dancing while singing the songs.
Super Simple Song
https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperSimpleSongs/
Animation for Kids
3D, Cartoon
18M - 20M
17B - 18B
$25M
Sep 8th, 2006
Canada
Super Simple Songs feature kids' songs and nursery rhymes made simple for young learners. They are mostly animated in the 2D cartoon, though some use puppetry and actors. You can find lots of classic kids' songs on this channel.
Combination of charming animation, catchy, easy to learn tunes, makes it easy for preschoolers to learn the alphabet, colors, animals names through songs.
FilmCow
https://www.youtube.com/user/SecretAgentBob
Film
Cartoon
1M - 3M
400M - 500M
$60K
Feb 23rd, 2006
United States
If you know Charlie the Unicorn or llamas with Hats series, then FilmCow, the creator, probably sounds familiar to you. This offhand-drawn cartoon with irreverence spurs and quirky senses of humor, this channel quickly becomes young adults' fair-haired channel.
It mostly does weekly shorts, both cartoon animated and infrequently live-action videos. For those of us who grew up watching saccharine cartoons on TV, the refreshingly dark and odd satire made this channel a huge favorite.
PolyMatter
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgNg3vwj3xt7QOrcIDaHdFg
Education
Motion Graphic, Live Action
1M - 3M
80M - 90M
$200K
Jun 21st, 2015
United States
PolyMatter is a well-known tech-based channel that puts together videos diving into a variety of thoughtful ideas and trends in the tech and financial world, from how cruise ship works to Apple's money problem.
This channel combines motion graphic animations, real-footage video clips, and pictures to give a comprehensive explanation about the topic that is being discussed.
Harry Partridge
https://www.youtube.com/user/HarryPartridge
Film
Cartoon
800K - 1M
100M - 200M
$45K
Jun 19th, 2006
United Kingdom
Harry Partridge creates animated videos that mainly focused on cartoon series, notably "Starbarians." Using '80s-cartoons-inspired style, Partridge creates the videos on Flash with its detailed smooth hand-drawn animation and a dark sense of humor.
The adventure's themes bubbling underneath candy-colored veneer makes the videos on this channel hits you with some childhood nostalgia.
KidsTV123
https://www.youtube.com/user/KidsTV123
Animation for Kids
Cartoon
3M - 5M
4B - 5B
$1M
Feb 28th, 2009
United Kingdom
KidsTV123 makes it easier for parents or teachers to give an educational yet entertaining video for children, toddlers, and babies. It creates its original songs, which mostly are about phonics songs, numbers, and shapes for the children to learn.
While most kids' channels offer the videos with 3D animation in the best resolution, this channel creates animation simple yet engaging with cartoon characters that kids would genuinely love.
TheCGBros
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCGBro/
Film
3D
3M - 5M
1B - 2B
$1M
Aug 20th, 2011
United States
While we talk about the CGI animation channel on Youtube, it's not complete without mentioning CGBros.
It features different types of CGI and VFX short animation films made mostly by students. This channel sometimes uploads the behind the scenes breakdowns, 3D software tutorials, and much more.
TheCGBros is always looking to showcase the best and latest in the exceptional student and independent animation, also films & reels in the field of visual effects areas and beyond.
The RSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdbbcO35arw&list=PL39BF9545D740ECFF
Education
Cartoon, Whiteboard
400K - 800K
100M - 200M
$30K
Aug 6th, 2009
United Kingdom
You might know The R.S.A. as a channel with lots of self-improvement, talks, debates, interviews content. But, it also has an animation series as an innovative, accessible, and unique way of illustrating and sharing world-changing ideas.
Most other animated channels seem like they heavily rely on basic 2D or cartoon animation to tell the story, but this channel chooses whiteboard animation instead.
The R.S.A. animation series cover topics from the economics, socials, even psychology field, and it’s whiteboard animation comes in handy to break down the full of thoughtful beats and complex information.
ESMA
https://www.youtube.com/user/Esmamovies
Film
3D
800K - 1M
200M - 300M
$250K
May 3rd, 2009
France
ESMA is a school of applied arts, focused on 3D, CGI, and visual effects training. It creates a channel to post the students' works, which are mostly short films in the C.G. animation and F.X. cycle.
In this channel, you can find a lot of 3D videos with motivational stories. Since most of them are created without voice-over, background music is being emphasized to create an atmosphere.
Sesame Street
https://www.youtube.com/user/SesameStreet/
Animation
Cartoon, Live Action
10M - 12M
9B - 10B
$25M
Jan 16th, 2006
United States
Who isn't familiar with Sesame Street? The Muppets are the longtime favorite of both children and childrens who’s now becoming adults. On its channel, Sesame Street has all kinds of fun educational videos, some of them starring your favorite actors and musicians.
The videos are mostly about the episodes of the show, and sometimes they also create animated videos with cartoon characters (instead of the ever-popular muppets) to deliver the educational message.
minutephysics
https://www.youtube.com/user/minutephysics/
Education
Whiteboard
3M - 5M
400M - 500M
$100K
Jun 20th, 2011
United States
As one of the best known D.I.Y. whiteboard-style physics video lectures, it provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics using only markers, papers, and stop motion animation.
This channel breaks down physics-related topics in approximately one to three minutes. The D.I.Y. whiteboard animation seems pretty useful to turn the complex physics-related topics into bit-sized, snackable information.
illymation
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsKVP_4zQ877TEiH_Ih5yDQ/
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
50M - 60M
$100K
Sep 1st, 2013
United States
Illymation focuses on relatable animated storytime videos. This channel features an animated character of the author to tell coming-of-age stories from her life, usually the uncomfortable topics such as puberty, abuse, mental illness, etc.
All the videos are created with cartoon animation and often come with dialogue. This channel uses easy-going, casual, and sometimes sarcastic scripts to turn an uncomfortable topic into an entertaining and worthy to share videos.
It's Okay To Be Smart
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH4BNI0-FOK2dMXoFtViWHw
Education
Cartoon, Live Action
3M - 5M
200M - 300M
$200K
Mar 17th, 2012
United States
This channel is a part from PBS Digital Studios, a YouTube channel and network that distributes original educational web video content. It's an educational channel that explores science, the universe, and the excitement of learning new things.
What makes it more interesting is that it often performs a real experiment before it comes up with a conclusion.
The host Joe Hanson uses graphic illustrations, props, and a lot of humor to bring you fresh and insightful science-based content in an easy to understand manner.
Gonzossm
https://www.youtube.com/user/Gonzossm/
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
200M - 300M
$75K
Sep 16th, 2010
United States
If you're a fan of “Super Toss The Turtle” web game, Gonzossm should be familiar to you. This YouTube channel uploads mostly parodying your fave games using bold color, vivid animation, and extremely dark sense of humor.
Gonzossm has an animation style that you don't see anywhere else. It relies on thick and round contours and bright highlights.
Despite its odd sense of humor, this channel is also well-known for its use of fairly graphic imagery. That's why most of their viewers are young adult gamers.
CircleToonsHD
https://www.youtube.com/user/CircleToonsHD/
Film
Cartoon, Live Action
1M - 3M
100M - 200M
$200K
Dec 15th, 2012
United States
A chubby, rounded, black and white outline is the theme of characters used for this channel.
With more than a million subscribers, this channel focused on animated sketches about video games, memes, and online pop culture.
Unlike other animation channels that use screen recorders to animate their artwork, CircleToonsHD points a camera at a tablet screen, most likely Wacom Cintiq, with a handheld camera.
The artist moves each drawings around by hand while providing an improvisational voice over, making the videos look so effortless and straightforward.
However, his artwork is inherently hilarious, despite its simplicity.
coilbook | Learning For Children
https://www.youtube.com/user/coilbook/
Animation for Kids
3D
1M - 3M
2B - 3B
$1M
Apr 15th, 2011
United States
This channel uses transportations as their characters to help children learn numbers, letters, colors, and even traffic signs. It also provides some 3D-animated series featuring bright colored vehicles, such as fire trucks, cars, airplanes, etc., for the older viewers.
The channel's cast of characters includes Max the Train, Bill the Monster Truck, Sergeant Cooper the Police Car, George the Garbage Truck, and many more.
Every episode has its own standalone storyline so you can jump in at any point. It's such an interesting channel as it allows the children to join the team on various adventures as they learn.
Teeter Taught Animation
https://www.youtube.com/user/shows4learning/
Animation for Kids
3D
400K - 800K
400M - 500M
$300K
Mar 5th, 2012
United States
Teeter Taught Animation is another excellent channel for preschoolers kids to learn in such a fun, exciting way.
For example, one video teaches counting down from 10 to 1 by showing a giant set of teeth crunching down on lollipops. It also uses items that preschool kids are familiar with, such as crayons, icecreams, candies, dolls, and more as characters.
That's such a smart way to grab kids' attention and hold it.
MinuteEarth
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeiYXex_fwgYDonaTcSIk6w
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
1M - 3M
200M - 300M
$100K
Oct 20th, 2011
United States
MinuteEarth is another animated educational channel that focuses on Earth. It teaches viewers about the educational functions of Earth in just a couple minutes using animated with stick figures and (mostly) animal characters.
Another interesting thing about this channel is that it has casual and straightforward titles that can spark audience curiosity effectively.
For example, a video titled "You are a fish" tells about evolutionary history and the strategy of cladistic naming. It might seem like an out-of-no-where title, but it is still pretty relevant to the topic.
Eddsworld
https://www.youtube.com/user/eddsworld
Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
300M - 400M
$100K
Mar 16th, 2006
United Kingdom
If you've been around YouTube for a long time or have such a strong interest in animation and comics, you'll know this channel is undoubtedly not a new kid on the block.
It's a comedic web cartoon series created by Edd Gould. This channel is all about various stories of a group of friends that consist of Edd, Tom, Matt as characters.
After Edd passed away because of leukemia, the channel now was left in the care of Gould's family and close friends. Although it's no longer posting new videos as often as before, Eddsworld is still one of the most popular animated YouTube channels.
SomeThingElseYT
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvUmwreRrbxeR1mbmojj8fg
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon
3M - 5M
200M - 300M
$700K
Jan 10th, 2014
United States
SomeThingElseYT is formerly known as trolldawgz. It posts storytime animation based on real-life personal stories with cartoon characters. The soft rounded style of the characters with cute horns and red hoodie is the main character representing the author.
This channel also uploads some music videos that also tells the audience about some uncomfortable experiences that the author has. Such as "I'm Something Else" that's all about overpowering the bullies he got.
Being an animated real-life stories channel, most of its subscribers can relate to it. So it comes as no surprise if this animation channel currently has more than 3 million subscribers.
It's Alex Clark
https://www.youtube.com/user/itsalexclark/
Film
Cartoon
3M - 5M
400M - 500M
$200K
Dec 2nd, 2009
United States
Among YouTube animation stars, Alex Clark is one of the elites. With simple yet colorful animation, he uses the channel as his "diary," depicting memorable moments from his life. His channel engages viewers by telling wacky or glorious stories, mostly from his childhood.
This channel uploads a new video weekly. Each episode tells a different story, so there's an obvious reason why his subscribers keep sticking around.
Relying on a fine-tuned script with a slice of dry humor makes his channel nominated for a Streamy Award for the best animated YouTube channel in 2017.
CGP Grey
https://www.youtube.com/user/CGPGrey/
Education
Cartoon, Live Action
3M - 5M
400M - 500M
$300K
Aug 12th, 2010
United Kingdom
The YouTube channel C.G.P. Grey features animated educational videos on quite a wide range of subjects, including history, geography, politics, economics, and British culture. Most of the videos use effortlessly-drawn stick figures narrated with sweet and dulcet tones of a mid-30's school teacher.
Through its videos, this channel offers you an answer to a question that you haven't thought about before. However, rather than being pointless and unhelpful, this channel has some of the most useful advice-for-daily-living and helps you to improve happiness in life.
Cool 3D World
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzNZlJzmjomyl00ewlxHqOA
Film
3D
400K - 800K
100M - 200M
$250K
Sep 6th, 2015
United States
This channel is popular because of its bizarre 3D style of animation. The nightmarish glitchy of characters makes some people even think that the videos are somewhat downright disturbing, scary, and confusing.
However, this channel offers a 3D style that you can't find anywhere else. Brian Tessler and Jon Baken (who owns the channel) rely heavily on intense distortions and grotesque imagery.
They were primarily active on Vine and have gone viral before the platform shut down-- since then they moved solely to YouTube.
hotdiggedydemon
https://www.youtube.com/user/hotdiggedydemon/
Film
3D
1M- 3M
200M - 300M
$100K
Mar 9th, 2007
United States
Max Gilardi, under the name hotdiggedydemon, created this animation channel to post-game parodies, movie parodies, and sometimes animations that were his own ideas. He uses simple 3D and sometimes cartoon style for his animation.
He drew an animated version of him as the main character who narrates the videos. The dramatic and exaggerated voice-over and funny scripts are probably some of the biggest reasons why its videos are entertaining.
In 2016, he launched a new series called "Brain Dump" in which he reviews movies, often satirically.
FootofaFerret
https://www.youtube.com/user/FootofaFerret/
Film
Cartoon
400K - 800K
60M - 70M
$60K
Jul 7th, 2010
United States
FootofaFerret a.k.a Ryder Burgin is best-known online for his YouTube series called "A Brief History!."
In this series, he talks about the history of YouTubers, movies, and celebrities he likes in a certain amount of minutes. Occasionally, this channel also uploads videos about cartoons or video games.
What makes this channel more interesting is that it often features another YouTuber like TheOdd1sOut, JaidenAnimations, Domics, and SomeThingElseYT in some episodes, including the animated reaction episodes to FootofaFerret's old YouTube videos.
AsapSCIENCE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC552Sd-3nyi_tk2BudLUzA
Education
Whiteboard, Live Action
8M - 10M
1B - 2B
$400K
May 28th, 2012
Canada
AsapSCIENCE is a wildly popular animated educational video that answers the world's unique questions, most persistent rumors, and unexplained phenomena – scientifically.
Most of its episodes consist of the topic you might deal with on a daily basis. Such as how to fall asleep in 2 minutes, how to cram for exams, reducing stress, etc.
Combining talking head styles with whiteboard animation on some of the videos. All of the videos include some easy science-themed jokes and puns to make it easier to understand for viewers of all ages.
LooLoo Kids
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4NALVCmcmL5ntpV0thoH6w
Animation for Kids
3D
22M - 24M
9B - 10B
$25M
Aug 5th, 2014
United States
Another kids channel parents should pay attention to is the LooLoo Kids. It uploads singing, dancing, and storytelling videos aimed at toddlers and preschoolers. The iconic Johny & Friends characters make this channel popular among children and also parents.
The fun, colorful, and lovely 3D characters are perfectly adapted for their development, making children enjoy learning about numbers, shapes, colors, animals, and the alphabet.
The channel mostly focused on children's songs and nursery rhymes, sometimes grouped into hour-long song collections, and short episodes of a show.
Frame Order
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1D26ByrbZVwuMgjVWmsOuw
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
300M - 400M
$1M
May 15th, 2013
Netherlands
Frame Order is an animation studio that produced a funny comedy cartoon show named Cartoon Box. Its YouTube channel consists of almost all the short episodes with a hilarious twist and a dark sense of cartoony humor.
Cartoon-Box is your weekly dose of funny, snappy, in-your-face animated comedy cartoons on the Internet. With no narrations, this channel relies on visual storytelling to deliver the message and jokes.
Vivziepop
https://www.youtube.com/user/SpindleHorse
Film
Cartoon
1M - 3M
200M - 300M
$900K
Sep 9th, 2012
United States
A bit different from other animated channels that mostly create comedy series, Vivianne (the creator) runs an adult animated musical series titled Hazbin Hotel. The videos she created are strongly influenced by musicals, villains, and animals.
On this channel, Vivianne also does live-streaming to demonstrate how a character of the Hazbin Hotel series is drawn. The characters have their own style of animation with a strong emphasis on expressions and over-exaggerated, cartoony movements.
This kind of animation style is complemented by the impressive sound design, which is filled with astounding sound effects that emphasize every character's movement.
PBS Eons
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzR-rom72PHN9Zg7RML9EbA
Education
Motion Graphic, Live Action
1M - 3M
100M - 200M
$300K
May 18th, 2017
United States
Eons is a YouTube series created by PBS Digital Studios and published on the PBS Eons YouTube channel.
The series takes you on a journey through the history of life on Earth. From the dawn of life in the Mesozoic Era right up to the end of the most recent Ice Age.
With exquisite 3D animation videos, this channel offers you some profoundly engaging and wildly entertaining tours of the Earth in the last four billion years, one fascinating vignette at a time. Sometimes, this channel also talks about changes in climates and habitats and ecosystems.
The Infographics Show
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfdNM3NAhaBOXCafH7krzrA
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
5M - 8M
1B - 2B
$4M
Feb 26th, 2011
United States
This channel focuses on making animated motion infographic videos, making the complex facts explained in such a fun, entertaining way.
It covers various intriguing topics, such as health facts, political facts, economic facts, historical facts, and even comparisons like military comparisons, celebrity comparison, video game comparisons.
The most popular video on this channel titled "What Happens When You Dead?" with more than 20 million views after it was uploaded in February 2018.
After Skool
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1KmNKYC1l0stjctkGswl6g/
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon, Whiteboard
800K - 1M
50M - 60M
$90K
Jul 24th, 2016
United States
With colorful whiteboard animation videos, After Skool gives you a weekly dose of fun and exciting science, ideas, stories, education, and more. Each video is hand-drawn only with white background papers and colorful markers.
The combination of compelling drawing and easy-to-listen voice-over enhances learning and picks up the pace in terms of earning valuable trust from the viewers.
What makes this channel uniquely entertaining is that it also features inspirational monologues from notable people, such as Alan Wilson Watts, Jim Carrey, John F. Kennedy, and more. And yes, all of it illustrates in whiteboard style with the real voice recording of the people featured.
Disney Junior
https://www.youtube.com/user/disneyjunior/
Animation for Kids
3D
5M - 8M
4B - 5B
$9M
Apr 22nd, 2008
United States
You can't create a list of animated video channels without including Disney Junior.
As a part of a media and entertainment giant company, this channel is one of the famous kids friendly channels on the platform.
To make it obvious, most of the videos are starring popular Disney characters, including Mickey & Minnie Mouse, T.O.T.S., Bluey, and more. Besides, there are still lots of characters you've never seen in any Disney animated movies before, like Fancy Nancy, Pet Rescue, Puppy Dog Pals, Vampirina, etc.
Ice Cream Sandwich
https://www.youtube.com/@IceCreamSandwich
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
100M - 200M
$250K
Feb 9th, 2016
United States
Andy is the storyteller and animator behind the channel Ice Cream Sandwich. The stick figure animation style might look childlike at first glance.
Still, the minimalistic drawing style has actually attracted an audience mostly composed of 18-to-24-year-olds, thanks to the intriguing storytelling and tone of delivery. The content of the videos often revolves around relatable adult situations.
Our Animated Box
https://www.youtube.com/@OurAnimatedBox/
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
800K - 1M
25M-50M
$30K
Sep 3rd, 2014
United States
Our Animated Box is an animation channel with short films. Their most popular video of them is “Who Are You?” with more than 15 million views. The video tells the journey of the writer who struggles with writer’s block to find inspiration again.
Besides animated stories that are drawn in a comic style, this channel also shares the behind the scene to time-lapse videos of how they make animated videos.
Sisyphus 55
https://www.youtube.com/@Sisyphus55/
Film, Education
Cartoon
800K - 1M
25M-50M
$170K
May 31st, 2015
United States
Sisyphus 55 YouTube channel talks about philosophy, psychology, or existential topics– anything that reflects human emotions in general. As the visual, the channel uses simple-ish but delightful stick figure animation.
The videos are usually bite-sized, ranging from five to 15 minutes. Very few of them are an hour long (usually a podcast-style with a featured guest).
The School of Life
https://www.youtube.com/@theschooloflifetv
Education
Cartoon
8M - 10M
800M - 900M
$300K
May 18th, 2010
United Kingdom
If you’re into content ​​related to existential dread, philosophy, and life, from a deeper perspective, then The School of Life is a must-subscribe YouTube channel. Not only the well-polished cartoon animation that captivates the audiences, but all the thought-provoking narratives make the channel quite popular.
Just like the channel stated, their videos are created to help viewers lead calmer lives, develop a better understanding of themselves and others, and increase their confidence in dealing with problems.
Puuung
https://www.youtube.com/@puuung1
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
60M - 70M
$80K
Nov 19th, 2014
South Korea
The channel features animated short films and videos with The content on the channel is focused on exploring the theme of love and relationships through heartwarming and touching stories.
The channel's most popular videos are animated short films, The Couple, which depict the everyday moments and gestures of love and affection that often go unnoticed.
These videos are typically short (under 1 minute) and set to soft, gentle jazzy music and use simple but expressive animation techniques to convey the emotions and feelings of the characters.
Wansee Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/@WanseeEntertainment/
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M - 3M
400M - 500M
$250K
May 18th, 2018
United States
Animation by Wansee Entertainment primarily focuses on producing under-ten-minute short horror films and web series. The content on the channel is known for its suspenseful, mysterious, and sometimes terrifying themes.
Many of these films feature simple but effective cartoon animation styles and production values. They also rely on suspenseful music and sound effects to create an eerie and unsettling atmosphere.
MJV Animations
https://www.youtube.com/@MJVAnimations
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
100K-400K
25M-50M
$40K
Jan 20th, 2019
Canada
MJV is where you can find real horror stories animated. The animation style is typically dark, atmospheric, and unsettling, and often features original sound design and voice acting.
The channel also has story compilations, where the viewers can watch several series in an hour-long video.
FASH
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
400K-800K
500M - 600M
$7M
Jun 8th, 2022
United States
FASH videos are anime-style animations that take inspiration from the popular game (mostly from Roblox) to create the content.
The short videos show some anime drawings, a little bit animated, and the story is shown in a more slide-show style. It uses an original soundtrack for the game that’s being animated.
Psych2Go
https://www.youtube.com/@Psych2go
Education
Cartoon, Live Action
10M - 12M
1B - 2B
$1M
Oct 5th, 2014
United States
Psych2Go is an animated, psychological-based channel that focuses on bringing attention to mental awareness and a healthy lifestyle. The popular “Ask an Expert” series feature professionals and clinical expertise in mental health and psychology.
They have a separate animation channel Sketch2Go that shares illustration and animation-related content, also behind the scene of video creation for the main channel.
Escaping Ordinary
https://www.youtube.com/@escaping.ordinary
Education
Cartoon, Motion Graphic
800K - 1M
25M-50M
$100K
Jan 12th, 2018
United States
Escaping Ordinary videos focus on book summaries. Well-polished flat-style cartoon animation combined with motion graphics make the story easy to follow for audiences of all ages.
Not only plain summaries, though, this channel also include insightful commentary and relevant example from any interesting points in the book it talks about.
Vooks
https://www.youtube.com/@VooksStorybooks
Animation for Kids
Cartoon
100K-300K
10M-30M
$100K
Jul 24th, 2018
United States
Vooks brings children’s storybooks to life through animation. The channel has a vast collection of classic and award-winning books that are cherished by both parents and educators.
The experience of reading these storybooks is enhanced by slight animation, sound, and narration. All videos blend the safety, trust, and affection associated with children's books with the convenience of viewing, offering a novel approach to experiencing stories.
Project Better Self
https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectBetterSelf/
Education
Cartoon
400K-800K
10M-30M
$20K
Aug 29th, 2016
North Macedonia
Project Better Self channel creates bite-sized animated videos about ideas for self-improvement and personal growth. It also features advice, insights, and strategies on various topics such as productivity, goal setting, motivation, habits, and mindset.
More than that, the channel provides animated short films about how your small everyday life choices can ultimately shape your life.
GameToons
https://www.youtube.com/@GameToonsOfficial/
Entertainment
Cartoon
5M - 8M
2B - 3B
$8M
Mar 18th, 2020
United States
GameToons YouTube channel creates animated cartoon parodies of popular games, from Rainbow Friends to Among Us to Choo-Choo Charles. Even though the animation is captivating, the content might not be appropriate for children as they contain violence and use strong language.
Filmbilder & Friends
https://www.youtube.com/@filmbilder
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon, Motion Graphics
1M - 3M
500M - 600M
$300K
Jun 11th, 2007
Germany
If you’re a fan of story-driven animation and looking for different styles of animation for inspiration, you will love this channel. The channel shares simple but still entertaining animation with bite-sized stories that are creative, emotional, intense, funny, sad, sweet, or even edgy.
Some videos are family-friendly, and some are made for mature audiences. They create playlists to help you find the right videos to watch.
Element Animation
https://www.youtube.com/@elementanimation
Entertainment
Cartoon
3M - 5M
1B - 2B
$200K
Oct 1st, 2010
United Kingdom
Element Animation YouTube channel uploads videos with Minecraft-centric content. You can enjoy Minecraft animated shorts as well as general 2-5 minute animation guides and how-tos. The most viral series they create include "Villager News" and "An Egg's Guide to Minecraft."
MeatCanyon
https://www.youtube.com/@MeatCanyon
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
5M - 8M
1B - 2B
$900K
Sep 6th, 2015
United States
MeatCanyon YouTube channel is full of morbid cartoons of parodies for different shows. The caricature-looking animations combined with surreal, horrific, and darkly humorous– twisting childhood icons into bizarrely compelling videos.
E.I.E Animations
https://www.youtube.com/@EIEANIMATIONS/
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
100K-300K
50M - 60M
$30K
May 17th, 2013
South Africa
E.I.E Animations provides their audiences with a 2D animated horror, comedy web series. You’ll see mostly Chucky and Pennywise in the series.
All animations are produced by E.I.E Productions, a multi-award-winning animation and production studio from Cape Town, South Africa.
Flashgitz
https://www.youtube.com/@Flashgitz
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon
3M - 5M
500K-600K
$300K
Mar 9th, 2011
United States
Tom Hinchcliffe and Don Grege are two animators behind the Flashgitz channel. The videos are usually about video games, and they’ve always crammed with the sort of child-like jokes that their audiences find entertaining.
Their most viral video is the 3-minute “Racist Mario,” which has been watched by at least 158 million people.
Carbot Animations
https://www.youtube.com/@CarbotAnimations
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M-3M
500K-600K
$500K
Aug 28th, 2012
Canada
Carbot Animations create parodies of some popular games. If you were to take a Blizzard game, give it a chibi makeover, modify the personalities of its different characters and units, envision them leading their own uncomplicated lives, and add a generous amount of comedy, you would have a rough understanding of the premise of all series they make.
TimTom
https://www.youtube.com/@TimTom
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M-3M
100M - 200M
$70K
Aug 24th, 2016
United States
TimTom makes animated videos about his life experiences, from having an embarrassing fashion choice to how he sucks at making friends. Most videos are created in under 10 minutes. The animation styles might remind you of TheOdd1sOut.
Daidus
https://www.youtube.com/@Daidus
Comedy, Entertainment
Cartoon
1M-3M
100M - 200M
$30K
Nov 1st, 2015
United States
Daidus animation has been largely inspired by Japanese anime. All stories are inspired by his real experiences. There are stories about other characters named Sen and the Fat Guy. If you like anime/manga, gaming, cartoons, animations, and relatable stories, you’ll enjoy the content.
SMG4
Film, Entertainment
Cartoon, 3D
5M - 8M
2B - 3B
$3M
Feb 14th, 2009
Australia
SuperMemeGuardian4, more commonly abbreviated as SMG4. is a parody of the Japanese video game franchise Super Mario. All the content includes a sure random comedy series featuring demented versions of the Super Mario cast going on strange misadventures.
Closing Thought
Since our early childhood, we watched a lot of animated videos in the form of cartoons that can be both educational and entertaining.
It makes a lot of sense now that an endearing animation will not leave anyone indifferent. It can make any video content much more interesting for the viewers.
Those animation channels above can broaden your horizons about the animation sphere on YouTube. And if you are an animator yourself, it can offer some inspiration on how to create engaging animated videos to reach out to more viewers.
If you have a strong interest in animation and have other epic animated YouTube channels that should be on the list, please let me know at [email protected]
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