Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism/Western Animation

"Zuko: "...maybe you could show [Fire Lord Ozai] his baby pictures and all those happy memories will make him good again.
 * Futurama tends to be down the middle. Several known species of animal are extinct, New York City has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, crack is readily available in vending machines, the universe is threatened on a regular basis, Richard Nixon is president again, the nation’s military is commanded by an incompetent, womanizing Adult Child who is more than willing to sacrifice his own men for unnecessary reasons and start a war with a race he hates, hell exists, and is in New Jersey; the world’s leading manufacturer in robots, starship fuel, and electronics is an evil, abusive, amoral person; it is legal to eat human meat, and racism still exists in one form or another. But there are episodes that show that some of the worst offenders (namely Bender) have a human side to them, that no love goes unrequited, that shows humanity can band together and make significant changes  , and come to a fair and equal consensus on controversial subjects like evolution.
 * Justice League Unlimited has some fun exploring this during the Cadmus arc - memorably, Superman turns out to be the Unwitting Pawn by taking the "realistic" option, but Batman manages to save everyone's bacon by doing same. In the end Superman can't bring himself to kill Luthor, but whether this is a triumph of Idealism or a failure of internal fortitude is left a touch ambiguous.
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender flip-flops on the scale madly...the mostly upbeat Season 1 gives way to the Darker and Edgier Season 2, with everything up in the air for the majority of Season 3 and the scale sliding like mad between idealism and cynicism. Finally, though it lands HARD on the Idealistic Side for the Grand Finale.
 * There's a line that parodies this flip-floping (and the idealistic side) in 'The Pheonix King'.

Aang: "Do you really think that would work?"

Zuko: "NO!""


 * In fact, a large aspect of the last four episodes centers around deciding whether to end in an idealistic or cynical way. All of Aang's allies tell him that he needs to kill Ozai (Cynical Ending), but he's convinced he can find another way to end the war without murder (Idealistic Ending).
 * Invader Zim falls far, far to the cynical side of the scale. Practically every single character, major, minor or otherwise, is a total and absolute moron with the self-preservation skills of a brick. Those that aren't are grossly Apathetic Citizens and consider the world's troubles to be Somebody Else's Problem. And the slim minority that aren't either? Are generally the universe's Chew Toy. It's a Crapsack World, indeed.
 * Re Boot. Bob was always the idealist, strongly against deletion, believing viruses could be turned. Enzo originally idolised him, but after being forced to grow up in the games, he became the cynic of the show. The contrast between them was most noticeable when brain washed guardians were attacking Mainframe. Bob wanted to contain them, Enzo wanted to kill them.
 * Two of Cartoon Network's shows from 2008 to 2010, Chowder and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, show an interesting contrast. They both have the same core idea: "Main character is a naive kid who drags the older main characters into situations based off his naïveté/stupidity." The contrast comes from the fact that the two shows are on the opposite sides of the scale.
 * Chowder is an idealistic series. A bright and colorful world where people generally get along happily and the biggest problem is the next food order.
 * Flapjack, on the other hand, is very cynical. It takes place in a Crapsack World where pretty much everyone is bitter, abusive, and ugly, with Nightmare Fuel abound.
 * Interestingly SpongeBob SquarePants is a similar concept that slowly drifted from one to the other. The show was originally cheerful and vaguely sentimental with SpongeBob being somewhat relatable and most of his bumbling being treated sympathetically or as Laser-Guided Karma to meaner spirited characters. As time passed however the humor became darker and SpongeBob also became more insane and the consequences of his constant stupidity often shown to be harrowing and life destroying for innocent people. Other characters like Mr Krabs also became far more malicious (and unlike before didn't always fall victim to karma).
 * Daria is very much on the cynical side but occasionally shows some optimism. The bulk of the cast are concerned wholly with their appearance and popularity. The Show Within a Show on Daria is called Sick Sad World.
 * Family Guy is like Seinfeld compared to The Simpsons being Married... with Children. Some of the characters only serve to be chew toys for the others and like Seinfeld, no learning or hugging allowed and there are barely any heartwarming moments, and Peter is outright abusive towards Meg and at times Chris. The Simpsons however is generally more idealistic as far as Satire goes since there are some meaningful episodes which shows the bonds of the dysfunctional family and how despite how bad Homer's life is, he will never truly betray Marge and their marriage.
 * To be fair Family Guy's cynical phase is largely a result of Flanderization. Prior to that, despite it's obvious dark shades there was a fair amount of whimsy and innocence with the characters at least having visible lovable and sympathetic aspects. Peter was more a brasher Kindhearted Simpleton who genuinely cared for his family and nearly always felt bad for his actions in the end of each episode. There were also some vaguely realistic spotlighting in the relations of the family eg. Lois confronting Peter about his lack of passion and appreciation, which he merely thought she already knew.
 * Total Drama Island started out as a fairly idealistic parody of reality shows in its first season, with a few cynical moments and individual Downer Endings. In its second season, though, things took a turn for the cynical end. Tropes like the Shallow Love Interest were Deconstructed brutally, and the cast turned into a pretty good example of Black and Gray Morality. Season 3 can be considered somewhat a Reconstruction, returning to the formula of the first season with some things from the second lurking in, and the series now lies at the center of the scale.
 * To describe My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic as idealistic does not exactly do it any justice, seeing how My Little Pony is idealistic by definition. While the entire franchise is known to be insanely sugar-bowl-like, FIM is quite cynical by comparison. This comes inevitably as the Mane Characters are portrayed as quite multi-coloured individuals, each bearing their own hidden, permanent, deeply rooted and borderline-psychotic flaws (which by the way are fully accepted in the show's continuity. May have something to do with the fact that it was co-directed by Lauren Faust). For instance, Rainbow Dash is an egocentric Lazy Bum, Applejack is a mildly bigoted workaholic with no sense of self-preservation, Twilight has a dangerous case of Super OCD, Pinkie Pie is a Man Child and a group motoric who can turn downright depressive or even irascible in the wink of an eye. Nevertheless, the show does have its fairly idealistic Morals and Aesops, and values the Power of Friendship über alles. Still, it does occasionally go out of its way to point out that many problems cannot be solved by smiles, sunshine an random songs (like others).
 * Phineas and Ferb is possibly the most idealistic cartoon of the century. The writers adhere to the rule of "no evil characters", meaning that the show's biggest recurring villain is The Woobie whose biggest wishes are to rule the tri-state area and be a good father, and the worst one, a Drill Sergeant Nasty who pretty much brainwashed the main characters was . However, this comes off as clear proof of Idealism is not Bland, because this is where it gets all its charm.
 * By contrast, South Park is quite far down on the cynical side of the scale, taking place in a small town hell where Nightmare Fuel abounds and has enough squick and offensive humor that no one is innocent or spared.
 * And it gets more cynical once social satire replaces the funny side of everyday life.