“I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way”.

Counting down my Top 10 Girls of Animation – which was surprisingly challenging as the pool of choice is reduced by the number of potential entries that I feature in other top tens. As a rule of thumb, I’ve given priority to their medium of origin.

For example, female characters from comics adapted to animation were among the leading potential entries but I’ve given priority to their entries in my Girls of Comics. Although ironically Harley Quinn should feature in my Girls of Animation for my rule of thumb of medium of origin – as she originated in an animated adaptation of Batman but proved so popular, she was then introduced into the comics (and also she arguably has arisen to new prominence with her current animated series). But I make my own rules and break them anyway – and she just seemed misplaced anywhere else than in the Girls of Comics.

Similarly, the Disney princesses were also among the leading potential entries, but I’ve given priority to them as Girls of Fantasy & SF for their fairy tales of origin (with the occasional exception in special mention for those characters that are essentially new or substantially adapted from their fairy tale origins).

And finally, this is for Western animation, so does not include any entries for the girls of anime – which has its own Top 10.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

But first a note on the visual images used in this top ten. Given the copyright in such images, I only use a visual image as fair use for the purposes of comment and review in each entry – an iconic feature image to identify the character, either in general or in their most iconic version as I review it to be (or both), as excerpted from the animation itself.

Iconic perhaps, but not my favorite as I usually prefer the style of fan art or cosplay for the characters – although the girls of Western animation have nowhere near the prolific art or cosplay of the girls of anime, with the occasional exception. Hence as usual I also include a special section in each entry under the subtitle of art and cosplay – not for any actual art and cosplay as such but instead where I nominate my favorite artists and cosplay models depicting the character, which you can look up for yourself. For art, I award a special ranking for any art by my two favorite artists – the two freelance digital artists Sciamano and Dandonfuga. For cosplay, I award a special ranking for any cosplay by my holy trinity of models – my favorite model Yummychiyo with her insane figure in top spot, followed by Hane Ame and Helly Valentine.

As for the iconic feature image I’ve chosen for this page itself and girls of animation in general, I went with Erin Esurance, the spy girl animated mascot of American insurance company Esurance that featured in commercial shorts from 2005 to 2010. They ‘retired’ her in 2010, which some attributed to the zeal of fans making inappropriate art of her, and others to her not being a fit for the ‘brand’ of Allstate, the company that acquired Esurance.

 

 

 

 

 

(10) LIZA BARREL – CAPTAIN FALL (2023)

 

Like her predecessor wildcard entry – Martha Washington in America: The Motion Picture – sultry South African-accented Liza Barrell is the high point of this Netflix adult animated series.

While somewhat generic, this absurdist black comedy animated series doesn’t miss its mark as comedy as much as America: The Motion Picture did – at least to my sense of humor. Indeed, I enjoyed the style of humor in it – which as far as I can tell showcases much of the signature character and dialogue humor of its Norwegian creators as can be seen in their previous live-action series Norsemen, only better in the animated medium (from having seen both). In a way, just substitute the self-parodying banter of the higher-ups and goons of a criminal organization in the animated series for the self-parodying banter of the Vikings in the live-action series. Indeed, the antics of the criminal organization – from its leader, Mr Tyrant, voiced by the always funny Anthony Carrigan through his right hand woman Liza as well as her lieutenants Pedro and Nico – are consistently the highlight of the humor. If the series has a low point for humor, it’s the titular captain himself – the premise of the show is that the criminal organization masquerades behind a cruise ship and the hopelessly gullible captain they hand-picked as their fall guy (who is literally named Fall).

As I said, Liza is definitely the high point of the series, both for her character and sultriness – the sequence where she apologetically shoots her way through people in the recruitment agency (“Yeah, ah, so…sorry!”) to cover up the organization’s tracks is one of my favorites in the series. As for the sultriness, I had never associated the South African accent with sultry but I stand corrected – the accent is of course the native accent of her voice actor Lesley-Ann Brandt, whom her character also resembles in appearance, except a green-eyed version. Indeed, the character is somewhat similar to that of Brandt’s most well known character, Mazikeen in the Lucifer TV series. The character’s facial expressions – particularly the sidelong glares she gives when annoyed – are perfection.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Yeah, not really – not even a GIF. Not even a TV Tropes article. Not even that many clips of her from the cartoon itself out there. Not even a consistent spelling of her name.

Wow – this series dropped without making a sound, am I right? Hence its cancellation. So my iconic feature image is one of the few recurring clips of her from the cartoon out there, as well as the most commonly recurring one – from episode 2.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
X-TIER (WILD TIER)

 

 

(9) GWEN TENNYSON – BEN 10 (2005)

 

What can I say? It’s the red hair and those green eyes. (Beware! Beware! Those flashing eyes! That floating hair!)

There certainly is a high representation of redheads in animation and comics (albeit not so much in their adaptations) – there’s two other redheads in this top ten (indeed, in the top three) – For that matter, there’s a whole trope in TV Tropes named for red-haired green-eyed girls.

Admittedly, I am not overly familiar with the Ben 10 franchise, having seen the occasional episode here and there in passing, apparently in the later series. It has five different incarnations – Ben 10, Ben 10 Alien Force, Ben 10 Ultimate Alien, Ben 10 Omniverse, and Ben 10 again – which they missed the chance to call just that, in 2016. However, it is an intriguing concept. The series follows a boy named Ben Tennyson who, on a summer road trip with his grandfather Max and his cousin Gwen, stumbles across an alien device known as the Omnitrix which bonds itself to his wrist like a watch. Ben finds that the device has alien DNA encoded in it, which allows him to transform to a variety of alien species – which he uses to take on any threats that come his way – usually other aliens. As he grows as a hero, Ben learns that he didn’t gain the Omnitrix by coincidence and finds that his family has been involved with aliens long before he has.

Gwendolyne “Gwen” Tennyson – as the Tennyson family obviously likes to rhyme – is Ben’s aforementioned cousin. At the start of the series, she is the same age as Ben (ten years), albeit much more capable than he is – a child prodigy, who can instantly master anything, be it athletics (including martial arts) or academics (and even the Omnitrix itself in an alternate universe). However, the series sees both of them mature into young adulthood (and a less antagonistic familial relationship between them), with Gwen attending college. It also sees Gwen acquire superpowers of her own, through – uh – magic? She discovers her own magical aptitude, which allows her to manipulate energy and be as formidable a hero as Ben himself.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For her iconic feature image, I used a clip of her from the Ben 10 Ultimate Alien series used as a feature image in the Ben 10 Ultimate Alien fan wiki.

She has also caught the attention of one of my favorite artists – Neoartcore.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

(8) FOXXY LOVE – DRAWN TOGETHER (2004)

 

A sassy “1970s-style mystery-solving musician who parodies the Hanna-Barbera teen sleuth characters seen on Josie and the Pussycats and Scooby-Doo.”

Cult classic Drawn Together was a reality show parody (initially of The Real World), where eight cartoon characters from different animated genres – parodying both a specific style of animation or animated character and of the stock characters usually put together in reality shows – were forced to live under the one roof in the titular pun of being drawn together.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Yeah – there’s some but not too much art or cosplay out there, certainly none from my favorites. As usual for my girls of animation, my iconic feature image is a clip from the cartoon.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(7) STRIPPERELLA (2003)

 

Stripper by night. Superhero later at night”.

As its title might suggest, Stripperella was an “adult-oriented animated television series” created by none other than Marvel Comics doyen Stan Lee.

The title character was the superheroine or secret agent alter ego of stripper Erotica Jones, voiced by none other than Pamela Anderson – and essentially an animated version of her as well, down to the tattoos. (So much so that she also played herself in the series, visiting Stripperella’s club Tender Loins with Kid Rock. Needless to say, Stripperella is a big fan and gushes how people compare them in appearance).

Clearly, the series had its tongue firmly in its, or at least someone’s, cheek, as a parody of the superhero and spy fiction genres. I particularly liked the recurring villain, Cheapo – the world’s cheapest supervillain.

As for Stripperella herself, she not only relied on her spy gadgetry, but also a number of inexplicable superpowers (including her luxuriant hair, which also doubled as a parachute) – “she has strength and agility far beyond that of a normal human, she is impervious to all temperatures and weather conditions, and her breasts have the ability to detect when somebody is lying”.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Yeah, again – there’s some but not too much art or cosplay out there, certainly none from my favorites. Disappointingly, not even any cosplay from Pamela Anderson herself. As usual for my girls of animation, my feature image is a clip from the cartoon.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

(6) HOLLI WOULD – COOL WORLD (1992)

 

HOLLI WOULD IF SHE COULD
…AND SHE WILL!

I do like my bad girls and Holli Would is the bad girl at the center of Ralph Bakshi’s 1992 film Cool World – a fantasy film combining live action and animation.

Center? Let’s face it – the only thing anyone ever remembers (or is aware of) from this movie is Holli. To be honest, I’m only aware of the film through my interest in the animation of Ralph Bakshi.

As for the film itself, similar to another more famous film (that just might happen to feature in this top ten), it involves the intersection of our real world with the eponymous animated ‘toon’ world, with the inhabitants of the latter known as ‘doodles’ (while humans are ‘noids’). In a nutshell, a cartoonist finds himself in a cartoon world which he thinks he created from his dreams, where he is seduced by the comic strip vamp Holli – all part of her plot to become a real human (including the inception of the dreams in the cartoonist). Of course, being a bad girl, she doesn’t flinch at murder – or the potential destruction of both worlds – to realize her aim.

It’s even messier than it sounds and gets messier – the film was a commercial and critical failure, although it subsequently achieved something of a cult following.

But who cares? It’s all about Holli! Voiced by Kim Basinger, she was also drawn to resemble her voice actress (not surprisingly, given that Kim Basinger also played her in human form in the film). Her dancing scene was particularly notorious. Speaking of which…

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Yes – I used a clip from that notorious dancing scene in the film for my iconic feature image. Sadly, although there is art and cosplay of her, there’s none I could find from my favorite artists or models.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(5) CHEL –
THE ROAD TO EL DORADO (2000)

 

Perhaps the most preeminent pre-Columbian pinup girl of popular culture – with the possible exception of Pocahontas – who throws her lot in with the protagonist Spanish con artist duo in the 2000 Dreamworks film The Road to El Dorado. And yes I know neither is technically pre-Columbian as both are set during European conquest or colonisation but close enough. I’ve certainly had a soft spot for Meso-American girls since – as well as that meme depicting Spanish colonialism being particularly…horny.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, I’ve chosen one of her more expressive clips from the film (helping the protagonist duo cheat at the native American ball game).

 

ART – DANDONFUGA

 

And finally we get to a girl of animation represented among my favorite artists, not least Dandonfuga – hence she scores my Dandonfuga ranking. There’s also art by Logan Cure, Neoartcore and Elias Chatzoudis.

 

COSPLAY

 

Chel is also represented in cosplay – with cosplay by Nami, due to fan demand given her resemblance to Chel.

 

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(4) SHE-RA (1985)

 

She’s got the power!

“I am Adora, He-Man’s twin sister, and defender of the Crystal Castle. This is Spirit, my beloved steed. Fabulous secrets were revealed to me, the day I held aloft my sword and said, ‘For The Honor Of Grayskull! I AM SHE-RA!!!’

As TV Tropes notes, She-Ra Princess of Power is the sister series (literally) to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, presumably because She-Woman and the Mistresses of the Universe sounds a little silly (or kinky). As noted, it is literally the sister series as the titular character is Adora, the twin sister of He-Man or Prince Adam of Eternia. Adora was apparently kidnapped as an infant to the planet Etheria and is subsequently given the power to become the superheroine She-Ra in order to form the planetary resistance against Etheria’s tyrannical ruler Hordak (although by invoking the honor rather than power of Greyskull, which sounds a little off to me).

Yeah, I’m not really up with the backstory of this one – or He-Man for that matter. I mean, come on – they were basically toy commercials! Not to mention vaguely fascistic…

However, they certainly were iconic figures, not least because the animation was to market the toys or so-called action figures for the Masters of the Universe.

Of course, She-Ra was designed to extend the market to the female demographic. To quote TV Tropes – “She-Ra was made specifically to appeal to girls, which explains the large number of mentally and physically strong female characters, like Adora, Glimmer, and Madame Razz, not to mention the vivacious, Zsa Zsa Gabor-like nature of several of them, daaaaaarling — and quite a number of female villains like Shadow Weaver, Scorpia and Catra” (the latter essentially a dark action girl version of She-Ra herself).

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, I chose She Ra as she appeared in her original 1980s cartoon (from the feature image of the Grayskull fan wiki). There is a surprising amount of art and cosplay out there for her – including art from one of my favorites, Elias Chatzoudis, as well as cosplay from another of my favorites, Tabitha Lyons.

 

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

(3) LANA KANE – ARCHER (2009)

 

“LAAAAAANAAAA!” Well, it was either that or Sterling Archer’s other favorite quote to her – “Danger zone!”.

Lana Kane is the top female agent in the animated series Archer, second only to the titular spy himself (although a large part of that is due to his mother running the agency), with whom she has a complicated love-hate relationship. She is also the most competent agent, although Archer tends to excel at the stereotypically active role of an agent, killing people and so forth (although a large part of THAT is due to his reckless childlike joy and disregard for his own mortality). However, she is not too different from Archer in that her competence is undermined on occasion by her own emotional or psychological insecurities – she just has less of them than Archer (and a large part of THAT is his mother Mallory).

In appearance, she is statuesque, both in height (six foot or so) and figure, and she dresses to accentuate the latter – her signature style consists of short turtleneck sweater dresses (in various colors but typically white) and thigh-high stiletto boots. Indeed, she always seems to wear heels, even in space. For that matter, even when not wearing outfits tailor made to accentuate her figure, she’ll almost invariably end up in a situation where she’ll be stripped down to her underwear.

Archer even comments on her stripperiffic wardrobe, when he finds himself distracted by her impressive, ah, jiggle physics in the middle of a gunfight, in an example of their characteristic repartee:

Lana: Now?! Really?!
Archer: Oh, right! Because you walked into Strippers Discount Warehouse and said “Help me showcase my intellect!”
Lana: Discount?! This is Fiocchi.

In fairness, every major character in the series commonly ends up in situations where they’ll be stripped down to their underwear or naked. It’s that kind of agency.

Indeed, her memetic attractiveness in the series is such that even the girls want her (most notably her fellow female employees, although they are not the most emotionally balanced individuals). Even the gay guys want her, as when her gay colleague Ray Gillette literally takes a number with the rest of her male employees for the opportunity to bed her – “Girl, please. Nobody’s THAT gay”.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

I was tempted to use the promotional beach shoot art for her but I just had to go with her iconic mini-sweater dress appearance for my feature image – which I believe to be from her very first appearance in the first episode. There is Lana art and cosplay out there but none from my favorite artists or models.

 

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

(2) DAPHNE BLAKE – SCOOBY DOO (1969)

 

We all know Scooby Doo, that enduring animated franchise centered on four teenage hippies and the titular talking Great Dane driving around in their “Mystery Machine” van, getting high and hallucinating monsters (not to mention their dog’s speech). “And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!” (Not likely, since the villainous plans always involved impersonating a supernatural being with basic special effects). It’s a cultural icon, man! Even the infamous Scrappy Doo couldn’t kill it, although he came close and became the ultimate archetype of unlikable characters in the process.

And Daphne Blake has been an enduring childhood crush within that franchise. It’s not hard to see why – with her shoulder-length red hair (once again demonstrating the striking prevalence of redheads in animation or comics), blue or violet eyes, hourglass figure – not to mention her distinctive purple skirt and pink tights. On second thoughts, her fashion choice was questionable, but then, so was that of the rest of the cast. I mean – who wears ascots, Fred? Although maybe there’s something in wearing an ascot after all, as Fred always seemed to end up with the girls or at least Daphne herself whenever the group split up to investigate (while Shaggy would invariably end up with Scooby as comic relief, like the sad dog food-eating hippy he was).

Of course, Daphne’s role within the group originally tended to be more decorative than functional – most likely to end up as damsel in distress, often while bound and gagged to boot (because, well, who wouldn’t?), and even nicknamed danger prone Daphne as a result. Fortunately, her character has become somewhat more developed over time – becoming more competent and even badass in various incarnations (interestingly, often in direct contrast to a converse decline in Fred’s competence or badassery).

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

As usual for my iconic feature image, I chose a clip image of her appearance in the animation.

The standout Daphne art from my favorite artists would be by Nathan Szerdy, Elias Chatzoudis, and Neoartcore. As for the standout cosplay by my favorite models, I’ll award that to Tabitha Lyons.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

(1) JESSICA RABBIT – WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988)

 

“I’m not bad – I’m just drawn that way”

Like Wonder Woman for my Top 10 Girls of Comics, could there have been any doubt for the top spot? The top position has to go to THE animated sex symbol, even though her exposure is primarily limited to the animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (and a few other shorts – notably as nurse and park ranger). I only vaguely remember the plot and characters of this film (including Roger himself) – but everyone remembers Jessica.

That is because she is designed as the ultimate fantasy figure drawn as a pinup cartoon – green-eyed and red-haired in that irresistibly rare combination (even more so in her signature pose of hair worn over one eye) and an impossibly accentuated hourglass figure in a slinky red dress. Indeed, she was modelled on classic screen sirens Lauren Bacall, Veronica Lake and Rita Hayworth – apparently face and voice (voiced by Kathleen Turner) on Lauren Bacall, hair on Veronica Lake and dress on Rita Hayworth (in the film Gilda).

As her name indicates, she is the human ‘toon’ wife of the titular Rabbit. Although she is a sultry nightclub singer literally drawn as a femme fatale of noir, she actually plays against the type in film (as opposed to the original book) – she is indeed a good girl deeply in love with her ‘honey bunny’. Why? He makes her laugh. (She also proudly lets slip that he’s a much better lover than driver).

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Of course for my iconic feature image, I chose an image of her from her animation – in perhaps her most iconic appearance and pose (although I was tempted by her nurse or park ranger costumes).

 

ART – DANDONFUGA

 

And not surprisingly for my top spot we get to a girl of animation represented among my favorite artists, not least Dandonfuga – hence she scores my Dandonfuga ranking. There’s also art by Elias Chatzoudis, Sun Khamunaki, J. Scott Campbell, Logan Cure, and Neoartcore.

 

COSPLAY – HELLY

 

And also for my top spot we finally get to a girl of animation represented among my holy trinity of cosplay models, hence she scores my Helly ranking for cosplay by Helly Valentine.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****
S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

 

 

 

GIRLS OF ANIMATION: TOP 10 (TIER LIST)

 

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

(1) JESSICA RABBIT – WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

(2) DAPHNE BLAKE – SCOOBY DOO

(3) LANA KANE – ARCHER

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

(4) SHE-RA

(5) CHEL – THE ROAD TO EL DORADO

(6) HOLLI WOULD – COOL WORLD

(7) STRIPPERELLA

(8) FOXXY LOVE – DRAWN TOGETHER

(9) GWEN TENNYSON – BEN 10

 

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

(10) LIZA BARREL – CAPTAIN FALL