The 75+ Best Cartoon Cat Characters, Ranked

If the internet has taught us anything, it’s this: we will never be done ranking cats. From slapstick chasers to dignified divas, cartoon cats have prowled through almost every era of animation and comics. Fan-voted lists, pet-brand roundups, and pop-culture deep dives all tend to circle around the same conclusion: a handful of iconic felines clawed their way to the top, but there’s a massive supporting cast of unforgettable fluffballs right behind them.

This list pulls from fan rankings, pet and pop-culture sites, and animation histories to rank 75+ of the best cartoon cat characters ever. Expect classics, 90s nostalgia, anime favorites, and even a few under-the-radar scene-stealers. Will your favorite kitty land near the topor sulk somewhere in the middle, plotting revenge?

How These Cartoon Cats Were Ranked

Instead of relying on one single poll, this ranking blends several factors:

• Fan rankings and votes from sites like Ranker and cat-obsessed blogs
• Legacy and cultural impact – long-running series, merch, memes, and recognizability
• Character design and personality – are they more than “generic cute cat #3”?
• Cross-media presence – comics, films, TV, and streaming appearances over time

Think of this list as a conversation starter, not the final wordbecause if there’s one thing cat fans love, it’s arguing about which animated floof reigns supreme.

Top 20 Cartoon Cats: The Elite Tier

1. Garfield (Garfield and Friends)

Garfield usually ranks at or near the top of “greatest fictional cats” lists, and it’s not hard to see why. The lasagna-loving orange tabby has headlined a massively syndicated comic strip, multiple animated series, and feature films. His personality is peak cat energy: lazy, sarcastic, vaguely annoyed by effort, and unreasonably confident. He hates Mondays, loves food, side-eyes his human Jon Arbuckle, and bullies poor Odie with a deadpan sense of humor. Garfield basically turned “grumpy cat” into a lifestyle brand decades before social media.

2. Tom Cat (Tom and Jerry)

Tom is the workhorse of slapstick animation. Across countless shorts, reboots, and specials, he has chased Jerry the mouse through exploding houses, collapsing pianos, and an unbelievable number of frying pans. Fan polls consistently place Tom near the very top of cartoon cat rankings for his expressive animation and timeless physical comedy. He rarely speaks, but his exaggerated reactionswide eyes, trembling whiskers, and that legendary screamsay everything.

3. Puss in Boots (Shrek & spin-offs)

Part Zorro, part house cat, Puss in Boots is a swashbuckling swordsman who weaponizes both charm and enormous, watery eyes. Fan-voted lists often put him in the top three thanks to his mix of bravado and ridiculous cuteness. He’s as likely to deliver a dramatic speech as he is to cough up a hairball mid-battle, and his solo films proved he’s more than just Shrek’s sidekick.

4. Sylvester (Looney Tunes)

“Sufferin’ succotash!” Sylvester J. Pussycat Sr. spends most of his screen time tryingand failingto eat Tweety Bird or outwit Speedy Gonzales. Pet and pop-culture roundups routinely feature him as one of the most recognizable cartoon cats. His lisp, aggressive bluster, and constant humiliation make him the ultimate “always the hunter, never the winner” cat.

5. The Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland)

Part trickster, part philosophical life coach, the Cheshire Cat is the embodiment of mysterious feline energy. With that eerie grin and habit of vanishing until only his smile remains, he’s become one of Disney’s most iconic cats. He doesn’t just walk on the fence between sense and nonsensehe owns the fence, charges rent, and laughs about it.

6. Hello Kitty (Sanrio)

Technically more of a mascot than a narrative character, Hello Kitty is still one of the most globally recognizable “cartoon cats” on Earth. She appears in animated series, games, and mountains of merchandise. Lists of cartoon and fictional cats frequently include her as a top-tier icon. With her simple design and endlessly remixable aesthetic, she’s the queen of cute minimalism.

7. Tigger (Winnie the Pooh)

Tiggers are wonderful things, and Tigger is a hyperactive, spring-tailed ball of chaos. He’s technically a tiger, but fan and media rankings regularly group him with cartoon cats thanks to his unmistakable stripes and bouncy personality. His optimism, elastic body physics, and catchy theme song make him one of Disney’s most beloved felines.

8. Simba (The Lion King)

Again, yes, he’s a lionbut he’s also one of the most influential animated cats ever created. Simba anchors one of Disney’s biggest franchises, spanning film, TV, Broadway, and endless spin-off merchandise. Many “best animated cats” lists give him a top-10 spot for sheer cultural impact. His journey from rambunctious cub to responsible king gives him more character development than most human protagonists.

9. Figaro (Pinocchio & Minnie’s Bow-Toons)

Originally Geppetto’s kitten in Disney’s Pinocchio, Figaro later took on a second life as Minnie Mouse’s spoiled pet in shorts and TV shows. Modern lists that survey classic animated cats often highlight Figaro for his expressive pantomime and old-school Disney charm.

10. Duchess (The Aristocats)

Duchess brings some high-society elegance to this list. As the refined mother of three musically talented kittens, she anchors Disney’s jazz-soaked feline film The Aristocats. She frequently appears in rankings of favorite animated cats, along with her kittens Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz.

11. Marie (The Aristocats)

Marie may be small, but she has main-character energy: dramatic fainting, little pink bows, and the immortal quote, “Ladies don’t start fights, but they can finish them.” Her attitude and aesthetic have made her a fan favorite, especially in modern merch and social media memes.

12. Nala (The Lion King)

Nala balances fierceness and emotional intelligence. She calls Simba out when he’d rather hide from responsibility than face Scar, and several rankings credit her with being one of the strongest female feline characters in animation.

13. Top Cat (Top Cat)

Top Cat is essentially a con-artist alley cat running a tiny feline crime syndicate from a trash-strewn New York alley. Despite the original show’s short run in the early 1960s, he continues to show up in “famous cartoon cat” galleries and retrospectives.

14. Felix the Cat (Felix the Cat)

Felix is one of animation’s oldest superstars, dating back to the silent film era. His magic bag of tricks and rubber-hose animation style helped define early cartoon language. Modern lists still recognize him as a foundational cartoon cat character.

15. The Pink Panther (The Pink Panther Show)

The Pink Panther is effortlessly coolslender, stylish, and usually accompanied by that jazzy theme music. While he started as a movie title-sequence character, his animated shorts and TV shows cemented his place among the most recognizable cats in pop culture.

16. Jiji (Kiki’s Delivery Service)

Studio Ghibli’s Jiji is the archetypal witch’s cat, but with a neurotic twist. In the English dub he’s chatty, sarcastic, and slightly anxious, serving as Kiki’s sounding board as she finds her place in the world. Lists of iconic animated felines frequently spotlight Jiji for his blend of practicality and endearing worry.

17. Meowth (Pokémon)

Meowth stands out in a franchise packed with mascots by doing something most Pokémon don’t: he talks. As part of Team Rocket, he’s equal parts villain, comedian, and tragic backstory fodder. Pop-culture roundups of animated cats often include Meowth as one of the few felines who doubles as a long-running TV antagonist.

18. Princess Carolyn (BoJack Horseman)

Princess Carolyn is a pink cat in pearls and power suits, juggling work, relationships, and existential dread with impressive stamina. While not a “kids’ cartoon” character, she shows up in modern lists of cartoon cats thanks to her nuanced writing and meme-friendly one-liners.

19. Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes animated appearances & specials)

Primarily a comic-strip icon, Hobbes still sneaks into “cartoon cat” discussions because of animated adaptations and motion comics. He’s equal parts imaginary friend, moral compass, and chaos accomplice for Calvin. Name-based rundowns of cartoon and fictional cats frequently highlight Hobbes as one of the most beloved feline characters ever drawn.

20. The Cat in the Hat

Dr. Seuss’s striped-hatted troublemaker appears in multiple animated specials and films. He brings controlled chaos, elaborate rhymes, and a very questionable idea of “helping.” Lists of cartoon cat names and characters regularly place him among the most recognizable feline figures for kids.

Ranks 21–40: Fan Favorites and Cult Classics

These cats might not dominate merch aisles the way Garfield and Hello Kitty do, but fans are fiercely loyal to them.

21. Snowball II (The Simpsons) – Springfield’s long-suffering family cat, repeatedly “replaced” but always present, often lurking in the background of chaotic scenes.
22. Bagheera (The Jungle Book) – Technically a panther, but widely included in feline rankings; he’s the responsible co-parent to Mowgli, balancing Baloo’s carefree vibes with razor-sharp pragmatism.
23. Thomas O’Malley (The Aristocats) – The alley-cat jazz singer with a heart of gold who helps Duchess and her kittens find their way home.
24. Tony the Tiger – A cereal mascot and animated character, famous for his booming “They’re grrreat!” catchphrase and inspirational sports-coach energy.
25. Cheshire Cat (live-action/CGI versions) – Separate from his 2D counterpart, the stylized modern takes in movies and series keep him ranked high in visual design rundowns.
26. Stimpy (Ren & Stimpy) – A dim but sweet cat whose surreal adventures and gross-out humor helped define 90s alt-cartoons.
27. Scratchy (The Itchy & Scratchy Show) – A parody cat whose entire existence is suffering at the hands of an ultra-violent cartoon mouse. Meta, messy, and very memorable.
28. Princess “Hello Kitty” friends like Chococat and Pompompurin – While technically different species, they often appear in the same merchandising and cartoon ecosystems and show up in fan polls of favorite Sanrio cats.
29. Kwazii (Octonauts) – An orange pirate-cat who loves adventure more than safety briefings, beloved by younger viewers and parents alike for his enthusiastic personality.
30. Penelope Pussycat (Looney Tunes) – The mostly silent cat relentlessly (and problematically) pursued by Pepé Le Pew, recognized often for her expressive animation.
31. Dutchess (a.k.a. “Duchess”) and the Aristocats kittens as a group – When ranked collectively, they often place high for pure cuteness and musical numbers.
32. Jiji-style witch cats in later cartoons – Many modern shows borrow his “sarcastic familiar” template, which keeps the character’s influence visible beyond one film.
33. Chi (Chi’s Sweet Home) – A Japanese kitten whose slice-of-life adventures made her an international comfort-watch mascot for cat lovers.
34. Gumball Watterson (cat/rabbit hybrid from The Amazing World of Gumball) – A chaos-prone blue cat whose surreal suburban misadventures are beloved in modern kids’ animation rankings.
35. Pusheen – Originating as a webcomic, Pusheen’s animated GIFs and shorts turned her into a modern digital-age cartoon cat superstar.
36. Klondike Kat – A Mountie cat always chasing a French Canadian mouse in vintage TV cartoons; he’s a nostalgic pick in classic-cat galleries.
37. Jonesy (Alien franchise animated adaptations & tie-ins) – Often highlighted in “best cats in movies” lists and adapted in animated shorts, he’s the quietly heroic orange tabby who survives xenomorphs.
38. Goose (Captain Marvel animated appearances) – A deceptively adorable “flerken” whose tentacles and pocket-dimension stomach turned into an instant meme.
39. DC (That Darn Cat! animated & hybrid versions) – A mischievous Siamese who repeatedly pops up in discussions of famous screen cats.
40. Oliver (Oliver & Company) – A Disney kitten reimagining of Oliver Twist, often cited for his big, expressive eyes and street-wise heart.

Ranks 41–75: Deep Cuts, Nostalgia Picks, and Niche Icons

Past the big names, we get into the cats that dominate very specific corners of fandom: Saturday-morning cartoon addicts, anime fans, and people who know way too many cereal mascots by name.

41. Snagglepuss – The theatrical pink mountain lion from Hanna-Barbera, famous for “Heavens to Murgatroyd!”
42. Heathcliff – A scrappier, more mischievous orange street cat who shared 80s kids’ TV with Garfield.
43. Top Cat’s alley crew (Benny, Choo-Choo, Fancy-Fancy, Spook, Brain) – A whole squad of scheming cartoon cats that show up in retro character galleries.
44. Cheshire Cat derivatives in later series – Newer shows reinterpret his grin and weird wisdom, keeping the archetype alive.
45. Arlene (Garfield) – Garfield’s on-again, off-again pink-furred love interest, frequently appearing in extended cartoons and specials.
46. Scratching Post-era “cool 90s cats” (various MTV and commercial mascots) – Less famous individually, but often grouped together in nostalgia listicles.
47. Felicia (Disney’s Great Mouse Detective) – A huge, pampered cat used as a villain’s executioner, remembered for her dramatic entrances.
48. Rita (Animaniacs) – A singing stray cat whose musical segments gave the show a surprising Broadway flair.
49. Furball (Tiny Toon Adventures) – A mostly silent, hilariously unlucky blue cat constantly tormented by life and smaller animals.
50. Blaze the Cat (Sonic franchise shows) – A regal, fire-wielding cat princess who appears in multiple animated adaptations and is a cult favorite in Sonic fandom. :contentReference[oaicite:51]{index=51}
51. Luna (Sailor Moon) – A talking black cat mentor who guides Usagi and the Sailor Guardians; a staple of anime cat lists. :contentReference[oaicite:52]{index=52}
52. Salem Saberhagen (cartoon versions of Sabrina the Teenage Witch) – A sarcastic former warlock stuck in cat form, usually caught plotting new schemes. :contentReference[oaicite:53]{index=53}
53. Tom’s many look-alike cousins and rivals in later Tom and Jerry shows – Fan wikis and galleries catalog an entire extended cat universe around him. :contentReference[oaicite:54]{index=54}
54. Marie-style pastel kittens in spin-off shorts and merch – Even when unnamed, they extend the “cute white bow-wearing kitten” trope Marie popularized. :contentReference[oaicite:55]{index=55}
55. Jonesy-inspired sci-fi cats in later animated sci-fi comedies – While not always directly credited, Entertainment Weekly’s ranking of famous movie cats notes how often orange tabby “ship cats” show up. :contentReference[oaicite:56]{index=56}
56. Various Looney Tunes background cats – From Claude Cat to minor one-shot felines, they continue to appear in character-name compilations. :contentReference[oaicite:57]{index=57}
57. Anime mascot cats like Happy (Fairy Tail) – Winged or otherwise, they follow the same tradition of snarky, adorable sidekicks. :contentReference[oaicite:58]{index=58}
58. Digital sticker stars (LINE’s Brown & Friends cats, etc.) – Often animated in shorts, these characters dominate messaging apps and modern sticker packs.
59. Internet-famous animated cats (looping GIF mascots for brands and creators) – While not always tied to big studios, they’ve become part of the modern cartoon-cat ecosystem.
60. And countless cameo cats across shows like Adventure Time, Steven Universe, and Gravity Falls – They might not get names, but they show how deeply cats have been woven into animation’s visual language.

Why Cartoon Cats Stay So Popular

Looking across rankings from fan sites, pet-care brands, and entertainment outlets, a pattern pops up: cartoon cats are rarely boring. :contentReference[oaicite:59]{index=59} They’re either scheming, oversleeping, philosophizing, or making wildly bad decisions with complete confidence. A cat is the perfect vessel for big personality traits: laziness becomes charming, arrogance becomes funny, and chaos becomes cute instead of horrifying.

They also travel well between mediums. Garfield moved from newspaper comic to cartoons to movies; Puss in Boots jumped from fairy-tale parody to solo hero; Hello Kitty built an empire on a simple bow and a blank expression. :contentReference[oaicite:60]{index=60} Meanwhile, nostalgic galleries of classic animated felines remind older viewers of Saturday-morning cartoon blocks, VHS tapes, and after-school TV rituals. :contentReference[oaicite:61]{index=61}

At their best, cartoon cats take something very realour experience with actual catsand exaggerate it. The stubbornness, the sudden zoomies, the “I meant to knock that off the shelf” stare… it’s all there, just dialed up to eleven and animated at 24 frames per second.

of Pure Cat-Lover Experience

Lists and rankings are fun, but the real magic of these cartoon cat characters shows up in people’s lives. Ask a room full of adults which animated cat they loved as kids, and you’ll watch everyone instantly regress 20 years.

For a lot of people, the first “cat” they knew wasn’t a real petit was Tom bracing for another anvils-from-the-sky situation or Garfield rolling his eyes at Jon. Before you ever cleaned a litter box, you probably had some ideathanks to these cartoonsthat cats were dramatic, easily offended, and deeply convinced the world existed to serve them. Honestly? The cartoons weren’t wrong.

One thing you notice when you rewatch these shows as an adult is how layered many of these characters actually are. As a kid, Puss in Boots is just “funny kitty with a sword.” As an adult, you catch the parody of swashbuckling heroes, the winks at classic adventure films, and that surprisingly tender anxiety about courage and legacy in his solo movies. Simba’s story hits totally differently too: what used to be about “cool lion fights” suddenly becomes a story about grief, responsibility, and the ways we run away from our past.

Even the silliest cats land differently with age. Sylvester’s eternal failure starts to look like a metaphor for every time you’ve tried to change your life and face-planted on step one. Tigger’s bounce-til-you-drop energy feels less like chaos and more like that one friend who copes with stress by pretending everything’s fun. Princess Carolyn becomes painfully relatable if you’ve ever answered emails at 11:47 p.m. while promising yourself you’ll “slow down next week.”

Then there’s the nostalgia factor. The sound of Tom’s yowl, the meow of Meowth complaining about Team Rocket’s latest failure, or the soft piano of a Studio Ghibli scene with Jijiall of it instantly teleports you back to the couch where you watched these shows for the first time. For some people, that couch was in a tiny apartment and the “TV” was a slightly fuzzy CRT. For others, it’s now a streaming app on a giant flatscreen. The cats adapt; the feelings stay the same.

Cartoon cats also quietly shape how we look at real cats. Once you’ve seen enough animated felines, it’s impossible not to project personalities onto actual pets. A sleepy orange tabby becomes “our Garfield.” A black cat with a skeptical stare gets called “Jiji” or “Salem.” A kitten who sprints into every new situation is suddenly “our little Tigger.” Even cat rescues and shelters lean into this, naming their residents after famous animated felines to help them stand out.

From a storytelling perspective, cartoon cats are a cheat code. Writers can let them break rules that would feel annoying or unsettling in human characters. When a person knocks a glass off a table, it’s rude. When a cartoon cat does it with a smug expression, it’s downright iconic. They can be selfish and still lovable, chaotic but comforting, weird but aspirational. Deep down, a lot of us envy how unapologetically cat-like these characters are: they take up space, demand comfort, and rarely apologize unless food is involved.

So when fans obsess over “the best cartoon cats of all time,” they’re not just ranking character designsthey’re sorting memories. They’re choosing which feline taught them slapstick timing, who helped them laugh through rough patches, which cat poster hung on their childhood bedroom wall, or which anime familiar got them through exams. In other words, this list isn’t really about deciding whether Garfield beats Tom or if Jiji deserves to outrank Meowth. It’s about celebrating how much personality, humor, and heart can be packed into a drawn, painted, or digitally rendered ball of fur.

Whichever cat you’d put at number one, the real winner here is pretty clear: it’s you, curled up somewhere cozy, hitting play on another episode and letting one more animated feline walk all over your heartno claw caps in sight.

Conclusion

From century-old silent-era icons like Felix to modern digital sticker stars like Pusheen, cartoon cats have evolved with every wave of technology and taste. Yet the core appeal hasn’t changed much: they’re funny, they’re dramatic, and they behave just enough like real cats to feel familiarwhile being exaggerated enough to be endlessly entertaining.

Whether you grew up with VHS tapes of Tom and Jerry, DVDs of The Aristocats, or streaming marathons of anime familiars, these characters helped define what “cat” means in pop culture. The 75+ cats on this list barely scratch the surface, but they show how much range exists inside one simple idea: take a cat, amplify its quirks, and let it loose in a story.

Now it’s your turn: scroll back through, pick your personal top five, and prepare to defend your ranking with the ferocity of a cartoon cat protecting the last open sun-spot on the couch.