These Animated Series Will Teach You Everything You Need To Know About Adulting
From SpongeBob's hilarious escapades to Korra's fantastical air bending, these animated shows have a slew of life lessons to dispense.
Posted on Oct 23, 2020 | 09:00am
There are about a zillion reasons to love animation, but if we had to name a few, we'd say we love the way our favorite shows are able to stimulate the imagination and lighten up the heavier parts of life.
Plus, in between the lines, there are also a ton of lessons to be gleaned, which go on to further prove the timeless nature of animation.
Why else do we return to our favorite animated series from childhood again and again? At times to be comforted, but also to be reminded of those pearls of wisdom found within each epically drawn episode.
And so, in case you didn't pick up on these during your first viewing, here are a few of the many valuable life lessons presented in your favorite animated shows.
STREAM: Star Trek: Lower Decks, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Legend Of Korra And More On CBS All Access
Life is better with friends as weird as you.
Making friends is hard, so when you find someone who loves all the same stuff you do, hold on to them tight—and never let them go!
For example, no one gets SpongeBob like his best friend Patrick Star, and their shared optimism makes their adventures all the more entertaining. SpongeBob's song "The F.U.N. Song" just proves the point, specifying that, ''F' is for 'Friends' who do stuff together."
Then, on Star Trek: Lower Decks, you have Ensigns Rutherford and Tendi, who discover they're kindred spirits while bonding over a shared enthusiasm for running Level 2 diagnostics, which happens to be a menial task to most Starfleet officers.
In other words, if you find someone who shares the same wavelength of weird, you know you've got a keeper.
Find your signature look and rock it.
When it comes to our favorite cartoon characters, "consistency" is the name of their style game.
Aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos, the Star Trek: Lower Decks characters don Starfleet uniforms, which signify a thirst for adventure, a hunger for exploration, a touch of decorum, and no guarantee of safety for anyone in red.
On Beavis and Butt-Head, not only do the guys keep things simple with their heavy-metal rock band T-shirts and shorts, but the duo would be nearly unrecognizable without their laid-back look. Then there's SpongeBob SquarePants, who's unique trouser identity is part of his surname.
Finally, a signature look is nothing without a particular coif, like Aeon Flux's pointed hairstyle, which never shifts a single hair, even when she's jumping off a building or fighting unrepentant villains.
Eat your heart out, fashion magazines, because these animated icons know how to set a trend.
Work hard-ish, play harder.
While there's plenty of epic action and drama that occurs in animated series, there's also plenty of hilarious moments that teach us there's always time for a little laughter.
Take Beavis and Butt-Head, who practically spend half their lives pointing, mocking, and uttering their signature chortles. But that doesn't mean they don't partake in other fun activities, like the Olympic sport of discus. Though, in their version, they use a kitchen plate and some trash can lids as frisbees... much to their neighbor's displeasure.
Similarly, once finished with ship maintenance and Second Contact duties, the U.S.S. Cerritos lower decks crewmembers are quick to fire up the replicator and order a round of "Margaritas. Frozen. Salt."
Life can't always be fun and games, but it's important to make time to let loose—and animated shows reinforce this wisdom again and again.
If you fail, try, try, try, and try again.
Successful adulting is all about accepting the idea that failure is part of the process. No one reaches any level of accomplishment without making mistakes, sometimes repeatedly, and animated series imbue this truth at almost every turn.
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang is on a journey to achieve the Avatar State, drawing on the skills and experiences of the former Avatars and their mastery of the four elements. He fails time and again—and, frankly, didn't want the responsibility to begin with—but pushes on with help from friends like Katara, Sokka, and Toph, making for an epic journey.
Even Aeon Flux, with her expert aim, martial arts mastery, and superhuman agility, experiences the ultimate trial: death itself. But she doesn't let it keep her down. Sure, the rules don't necessarily apply to Aeon, but she's an inspiration nonetheless to hammer home the point that, no matter how heavy the weight is on your shoulders, you can always get back up again.
Sometimes you have to embrace the illogical.
The magic of animation is its ability to defy what we know and understand of the natural world, and these lessons in mind-expansion easily transfer to everyday life.
In Rugrats, seemingly normal babies are able to talk, scheme, rationalize with each other, and do even more impossibly awesome things.
Then there's SpongeBob, who can start fires underwater. Or Ren and Stimpy's world, where a wood log is the favorite toy of children everywhere. Meanwhile, Aeon Flux's body moves in ways that defy science. And, of course, we easily accept that Aang and Korra belong to a universe where manipulating the elements by bending air, earth, water, and fire is just a part of life.
Knowing how to take in the inexplicable and face it calmly is the mark of a true cartoon fan—and a mature adult.
READ: How To Watch Shows From BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, And More On CBS All Access
Subscribe now to enjoy a variety of your favorite animated series on CBS All Access.
Plus, in between the lines, there are also a ton of lessons to be gleaned, which go on to further prove the timeless nature of animation.
Why else do we return to our favorite animated series from childhood again and again? At times to be comforted, but also to be reminded of those pearls of wisdom found within each epically drawn episode.
And so, in case you didn't pick up on these during your first viewing, here are a few of the many valuable life lessons presented in your favorite animated shows.
STREAM: Star Trek: Lower Decks, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Legend Of Korra And More On CBS All Access
Life is better with friends as weird as you.
Making friends is hard, so when you find someone who loves all the same stuff you do, hold on to them tight—and never let them go!
For example, no one gets SpongeBob like his best friend Patrick Star, and their shared optimism makes their adventures all the more entertaining. SpongeBob's song "The F.U.N. Song" just proves the point, specifying that, ''F' is for 'Friends' who do stuff together."
Then, on Star Trek: Lower Decks, you have Ensigns Rutherford and Tendi, who discover they're kindred spirits while bonding over a shared enthusiasm for running Level 2 diagnostics, which happens to be a menial task to most Starfleet officers.
In other words, if you find someone who shares the same wavelength of weird, you know you've got a keeper.
Find your signature look and rock it.
When it comes to our favorite cartoon characters, "consistency" is the name of their style game.
Aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos, the Star Trek: Lower Decks characters don Starfleet uniforms, which signify a thirst for adventure, a hunger for exploration, a touch of decorum, and no guarantee of safety for anyone in red.
On Beavis and Butt-Head, not only do the guys keep things simple with their heavy-metal rock band T-shirts and shorts, but the duo would be nearly unrecognizable without their laid-back look. Then there's SpongeBob SquarePants, who's unique trouser identity is part of his surname.
Finally, a signature look is nothing without a particular coif, like Aeon Flux's pointed hairstyle, which never shifts a single hair, even when she's jumping off a building or fighting unrepentant villains.
Eat your heart out, fashion magazines, because these animated icons know how to set a trend.
Work hard-ish, play harder.
While there's plenty of epic action and drama that occurs in animated series, there's also plenty of hilarious moments that teach us there's always time for a little laughter.
Take Beavis and Butt-Head, who practically spend half their lives pointing, mocking, and uttering their signature chortles. But that doesn't mean they don't partake in other fun activities, like the Olympic sport of discus. Though, in their version, they use a kitchen plate and some trash can lids as frisbees... much to their neighbor's displeasure.
Similarly, once finished with ship maintenance and Second Contact duties, the U.S.S. Cerritos lower decks crewmembers are quick to fire up the replicator and order a round of "Margaritas. Frozen. Salt."
Life can't always be fun and games, but it's important to make time to let loose—and animated shows reinforce this wisdom again and again.
If you fail, try, try, try, and try again.
Successful adulting is all about accepting the idea that failure is part of the process. No one reaches any level of accomplishment without making mistakes, sometimes repeatedly, and animated series imbue this truth at almost every turn.
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang is on a journey to achieve the Avatar State, drawing on the skills and experiences of the former Avatars and their mastery of the four elements. He fails time and again—and, frankly, didn't want the responsibility to begin with—but pushes on with help from friends like Katara, Sokka, and Toph, making for an epic journey.
Even Aeon Flux, with her expert aim, martial arts mastery, and superhuman agility, experiences the ultimate trial: death itself. But she doesn't let it keep her down. Sure, the rules don't necessarily apply to Aeon, but she's an inspiration nonetheless to hammer home the point that, no matter how heavy the weight is on your shoulders, you can always get back up again.
Sometimes you have to embrace the illogical.
The magic of animation is its ability to defy what we know and understand of the natural world, and these lessons in mind-expansion easily transfer to everyday life.
In Rugrats, seemingly normal babies are able to talk, scheme, rationalize with each other, and do even more impossibly awesome things.
Then there's SpongeBob, who can start fires underwater. Or Ren and Stimpy's world, where a wood log is the favorite toy of children everywhere. Meanwhile, Aeon Flux's body moves in ways that defy science. And, of course, we easily accept that Aang and Korra belong to a universe where manipulating the elements by bending air, earth, water, and fire is just a part of life.
Knowing how to take in the inexplicable and face it calmly is the mark of a true cartoon fan—and a mature adult.
READ: How To Watch Shows From BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, And More On CBS All Access
Subscribe now to enjoy a variety of your favorite animated series on CBS All Access.