Many aspects of American society have changed over the last few years. From politics, to music, to media, nothing has been unaffected by shifting understanding our culture. It's no surprise that even childrens' cartoons have been affected by this rapid growth. Since 2010, kids shows have forced us to rapidly examine and change what the children's cartoon actually is. Rather have a the cartoon that is completely silly and targeted to one specific demographic, certain cartoons today, while still focusing on some demographics over others, appeal to a wider range of audiences and have had the added benefit of making huge waves in our society. In this list, I'll be mentioning five shows in particular that have had a strong impact into how we view animated shows in the states. I hope that at the end this list you will feel compelled to go check out the shows for yourselves. I know I always have a pretty good time when watching them.

1. "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"

I hope the first show hasn't come as too much of a surprise, as the show has been making waves since its conception in 2010. As the fourth-generation My Little Pony franchise in Hasbro studios history, the show was set up with a target demographic of young girls. The show's creator, Lauren Faust, had different ideas for the show. Faust herself has been quoted saying that she found girls shows based on toys to be “boring and unoriginal”. She took on the products of My Little Pony in order to prove the girl shoes didn't have to be sweet, fluffy and cutesy. She created a show about a unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle and her adventure with her friends, Apple Jack, Rarity, Flutter Shy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinky Pie, learning about friendship and the town of ponytail. Imagine the surprise of Hasbro studios and treaties of the show, when one of the biggest demographics watching the show was not just forward to 5-year-old little girls but teenage and young adult men. The Brony "bro-pony" phenomena swept across the country at an astounding rate. This led to fit them to create huge amount of artwork and fanfiction that flooded the Internet, baffling the country. While this lead to some discrimination for those who choose to take part in community, the fandom as a whole chooses to stand together behind the show. Even now five seasons and 104 episodes later, the Brony fandom continue to challenge conventional views regarding "girls shows."

2. "Adventure Time"

This cartoon network show created in April 2010, also became an immediate hit after the series short was released a month earlier online. The show has been one of the highest rated series for cartoon network with some episodes evening having as many as three million viewers. Its mythological setting makes it compelling. Taking place in the land of Ooo, the audience follows Finn, the human, and Jake, a shape-shifting dog, as they go around saving princesses and defeating the bad guys who kidnap them. While all the silliness goes on in the foreground of the series, there is also the more serious overarching plot, surrounding the great Mushroom War. This basically equates to the idea that a nuclear holocaust at some point in time destroy the world and mutations from the resulting radiation created the land of Ooo and its residents 1,000 years later. Not quite as lighthearted as it first may seem, despite the serious undertones, the show maintains its lightheartedness as we follow Finn and Jake.

3. "Legends of Korra"

The show revealed in 2012 was initially to be a 12-episode miniseries spinoff of the original Nickelodeon show "Avatar: The Last Airbender," which received critical acclaim all over the world. What it became was a 52-episode show was dubbed by Vanity Fair as "the most subversive television event of the year" in 2014. While viewers could spend the whole first season of the show comparing it to the original, by the end of that season, fans realized that legends of Korra grow to be a completely different show. We follow Korra as she tries to figure out who she is as the next avatar after Aang. We are shown strong female characters and are given a crash course in politics. The series, according to Vanity Fair, also breaks "racial and sexual and political ground." In fact, in TV.com readers’ poll for best-animated series of 2012 "Legends of Korra" took second place only behind "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." If you want to the changes in just about everything, I do recommend watching it especially for the final shot Korra at the end of the series. You won't want to miss it.

4. "Attack on Titan"

While the show is not an American cartoon, it's a Japanese anime, its effect on American culture cannot be ignored. "Attack on Titan," while not especially controversial in its subject matter, thrust anime into American mainstream society with a vengeance. Released in Japan in 2013, and then in America in 2014, the show's dark nature and post-apocalyptic subject matter seemed to be a most welcome relief from the typical happy-go-lucky shows on television. In the show, we follow the adventures of Eren Yeager, his foster sister, Mikasa Ackerman, and their childhood friend, Armin Arlert. The last of humanity exists behind three enormous walls after being nearly wiped out by creatures called titans nearly 100 years before. After the titans invade their hometown when the first wall is breached, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin join the military, as it becomes Eren's dream to destroy all titans. Past animes have been in the American mainstream before with things like "Sailor Moon," "Naruto," and "Pokémon." However, the themes presented by the show are decidedly different, as quoted by critics on Anime News Network. The show seems to be representing "the hopelessness felt by young people in today's society," as well as "coming-of-age story of boys and girls at its core."

5. "Steven Universe"

This is my personal favorite on this list and also the newest out of all the shows previously talked about. Released in November 2013, Stephen universe has received acclaim for its amazing music, voice acting, characters that reinforce positive stereotypes, and design. Created by Rebecca Sugar, a writer for the previously mentioned adventure time, the show, with its initial release on Cartoon Network, is currently one of the most talked about cartoons being aired on television. The show stars Steven, the young half-human, half-gem boy, living with his aunts/pseudo-mother figures, the crystal gems, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. The crystal gems are four warriors once a part of an alien race that invaded earth over 6000 years before the show. These gems took place in the rebellion against the home world gems in order to protect the earth and after winning choose to stay behind to protect it. Steven's mother Rose Quartz was the leader of the crystal gems before she gave up her life in order for Steven to be born. Now we follow Steven's wacky adventures in Beach city as he learns control over his powers and protects the world with the crystal gems. Despite some of it's heavy subject matter, the show is delightfully lighthearted and you just can't help falling in love with Steven. Numerous critics praise the show as being delightfully progressive and it's attitude towards families. An article for The Chronical calls the show “phenomenal in terms of her presentation and appealing to everyone. Stephen universe has multiple characters of different races, body types, and even family types. It stretches far and has reached a much larger audience as a result." This gives us a show with the complex storyline told completely from Steven’s point of view. If you get bored of the easy, slice-of-life feeling the leaves you feeling happy for Steven all his accomplishments, note that Steven doesn't always get things right on the first try but, as he says, "if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs."