Some cartoons get canceled before they get to finish their stories, often because the showrunners were told the show was ending before they could give it a proper ending. But some lucky cartoons get a second chance and return with a proper conclusion. After all, for some cartoons, concluding the main conflict would have ended the show anyway.
For some animated shows, the production team is brought back, the show makes more episodes, and it's as if it was never canceled, to begin with. Other times, the series is revived through another format, like a comic book series or an audio drama.
10 Lady Lovely Locks: German Audio Tapes Resolved The Story
One of the main conflicts of the series was that Lady's dog was really an enchanted prince, Strongheart, who was in love with her. A few episodes of the series had him come close to revealing his secret, but the series ends with her none the wiser.
In Germany, a series of audio dramas were made that resolved the story: Strongheart regained his human form, married Lady, and they even had a daughter together, Leilani.
9 Code Lyoko: Aelita's Mother Didn't Return Until The Live-Action Series
This cartoon technically concluded its main story at the end of its fourth season, with the kids shutting down the Supercomputer. Regardless, one plot point that was never concluded was the fate of Aelita's mother, who was implied to have been kidnapped.
A few years later, a live-action series was produced where she was finally given a physical presence in the series, allowing her to reunite with Aelita. That said, the new series also ended before most of her background could be explained.
8 The Critic: It Came Back As A Web Show
This series survived cancelation more than once, airing on ABC and Fox, and even getting a syndicated run on Comedy Central. Its final version was an Internet Flash cartoon.
In this revival, most of the supporting cast was cut, with Jay's new love interest being a make-up girl named Jennifer. One short has him mention having two ex-wives. Some fans took this to mean that Jay eventually married his love interest Alice from the show, but others pointed out he technically had been married twice in the original show.
7 Gumby: He's Been Selling Pizza In College Towns Since The 1980s
Gumby is a stop-motion character who originated back in the 1950s who has been given multiple revivals over the years. Since then, he's often made his comeback through other mediums.
With the start of the 21st century, he started appearing in comic books, which also saw the return of his girlfriend, Tara. Outside of this, Gumby also became the mascot of a real-life pizza chain, usually catering to college towns.
6 Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Characters Finally Got A Happy Ending (& Jawbreakers) In The TV Movie
This Cartoon Network series proved popular enough to get a TV movie, Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show, that finally helped resolve various issues from the series. For starters, Eddy's brother, an often-mentioned but unseen character finally made an appearance, where he was actually revealed to have been a bully to his younger brother.
However, the movie did end the series on a silver lining: while each of the episodes of the original series ended with the Ed, Double D, and Eddy as rejects in the cul-de-sac, the movie finally ends with the other kids befriending them, complete with getting jawbreakers.
5 Max & Ruby: It Took Over A Decade For The Parents To Show Up
In this cartoon, which debuted in 2002, two rabbit siblings live with each other, with the older Ruby taking care of her younger brother Max. Although their grandmother often appeared in the original series, the only hint they ever had parents was a family portrait.
The series originally stopped production around 2007, only for it to return in 2016 with a few changes: the previously non-existent parents finally appeared as characters in the show. Likewise, the two eventually get a younger pair of siblings, Oliver and Grace, who probably could not have been born without the introduction of the parents.
4 Teen Titans: The Comics Explained Terra's Origin
After the end of the 2000's Teen Titans cartoon, this series would see a variety of revivals: the comic, Teen Titans Go!, a series of shorts for DC Nation, and another cartoon, also dubbed Teen Titans Go!, which took the series in a more comedic direction and also got a comic book spin-off. The first Go! comics, in particular, were able to introduce characters the cartoon wasn't able to, like Wonder Girl or Wildfire.
The comics also explained Terra's backstory in an issue that featured her brother, Geo-Force, explaining they were once a prince and princess. The story also hinted that the mysterious schoolgirl Beast Boy encountered at the end of the series was indeed Terra brought back to life, with her seeming to recognize her brother.
3 Over The Garden Wall: The Comics Confirmed The Woodsman's Daughter's Story
While likely intended as a mini-series from the start, this Cartoon Network series was meant to last a bit longer before being cut to 10 episodes. A comic book series explored more adventures Wirt and Greg had before returning home, as well as stories set after the original ending.
The comics also explained the fate of the Woodsman's daughter. While she appears restored at the end of the series, fans debated if she was freed from the Beast's spell or if she was fine all along, with her father being tricked into thinking she was captured by the Beast. The comics eventually confirmed the latter theory to be true and elaborated on her story.
2 Futurama: The Series Needed Spin-Off Movies & A Revival To Marry Off Fry & Leela
One of the series' longest-running questions was whether Fry and Leela would ever end up together. The final episode of the original run, "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings," ended with them on a happy note, but nothing conclusive. After this episode, however, the series came back in many forms, including a syndicated run on Adult Swim, a few spin-off movies, and a two-season revival on Comedy Central.
One proposed idea during the revival was to have an episode involving Fry and Leela's son from the future, which would have assured audiences the two would end up together. While this never happened, the series finale did something similar: Fry and Leela get stuck in a time warp and finally get married and even grow old together, although the story ends with the characters returning to their previous lives.
1 American Dad: Syndication Saved The Day
Originally airing on Fox, American Dad was canceled by the network towards its tenth season. The showrunners expected the cancelation to take place even sooner, with an earlier episode, where the cast is killed by a haunted hot tub, intended to be the series finale.
However, TBS, the network that picked up reruns of the series for syndication, announced that it would pick up the series, allowing for more episodes to be made. Taking advantage of social media, the first episode actually released on YouTube and Facebook before airing on the network.