One of the main differences is that cartoons are mainly episodic and anime usually have a serious continuous plot. However both have exceptions to them, examples would be Avatar and Cromartie, respectively.

Well, people have pointed this out but I still like to reiterate is that anime is not exactly all for kids. I wouldn't let my little cousins watch, say, Gantz. And also, in kids cartoons the characters tend to remain the same throughout, but in anime the characters tend to actually grow and develop over the series. I guess that's more because anime's more serialized and less episodic than cartoons, so it can go on for a few days talking about one thing, while kids cartoons tend to wrap everything up in the half hour span it airs.

Yeah, and Pokemon has an ultra interesting plot with depth. As much as Shin Chan and Golden Boy. Riight.
And of course you don't need to watch every episode of Spider Man because you understand everything, even if he's in a strange world and you don't know how he got there. And of course it's not serious and there's no love. No. Never. How could you expect that? [/irony]
The difference is that in Japan they almost always make Animes out of Mangas. In the USA they make MOVIES out of Comics. And the movies often have a really good plot, sometimes even better than most Animes.
What about V for Vendetta? An AWESOME movie. And what was the template? Right! A comic!
What about Sin City? Right again! It was a comic! >_> You have the same prejudices like all the people who think that Anime is just for children...

What about Blade, The Crow, Daredevil, Men in Black, X-men?
Yeah, X-men has a movie and a cartoon-show. But I doubt that X-men has no plot and no depth, even in the cartoon. The only difference is the quality and the style, really.

EDIT: I'm sorry if I sound a little offended... And please don't feel addressed if you didn't say anything what I stated above. It just pisses me off when people whine that their precious animes are called kids-stuff while they state in the same sentence that cartoons are kids-stuff as well. GAH.

Well anime and cartoons are noway in the way the same

i say anime is more like the tv shows that people in australia, america watch. such as numbers, law and order, those kinds of shows which are really long and have different stories. anime is really a good drama, action , and other themes which are able to be easily portrayed in anime rather than real life shows.

while cartoons are more of the american style where they have the childish shows, as mickey mouse. they dont have the different genre like anime where it is like just for children. thats why people think anime is just like cartoons in how they are for children. then what about hentai not that i watch it, it is not for children is it?

but anyway anime and cartoons arent similar as cartoons are based on childish themes of superheros, and cute and fluffy animals. rather than the anime where it is more older looking ones unless you have the ones which are for children such as poke mon and naruto.

Well I'd have to say more detail. Not that all anime has detail, or that there is not a western cartoon that doesn't have it, just that it seems most western cartoons tend to lack a plot or at least a lack of plot without anything to save it. While anime like Azumanga Daioh, Hidamari Sketch, and others don't have a plot, they still have character development to some point.

It feels like most western cartoons are very episodic and don't give you anything about its characters than what their central point is. If a character is to take over the world, that seems to be all they focus on, rather than the background as to why the character wants to take over the world. They don't give you much to look forward to.

Anime on the other hand tends to do that. It has detailed backgrounds to even less frequently shown characters so that you can understand the whole world behind the series, not just what the main characters do. It also can deal with things that most western cartoons don't deal with, such as emotion. Most western cartoons don't really focus on a full range of emotions; usually it's laughter, while anime can make you laugh, cry, or cringe in horror.

That and the art style is different. Like OrigamiDuck said, western cartoons tend to look simplistic while anime tends to put more detail into how the characters look.

I guess overall I would just say that you're more likely to find an anime with a serious plot than you are to see a western cartoon with such a plot. If they are afraid it will make them seem childish for watching, you could show them that there are anime out there that aren't sexual, while also having a more mature plot to it. Also the comedy in most anime tends to be more well thought out, rather than the popsicle stick comedy that a lot of western cartoons have.

Anime is specifically Japanese made. Cartoon is made from Americans and others. Quality really depends on the animation company. Japan has plenty of professional animation companies but America has some as well. Some cartoons these days have nice quality just like the ones in animes today. The main difference is that anime is Japanese while cartoons are American/other.

Ok... That topic seems really obvious. And major difference. But my mother didn't notice about between anime and cartoon. Anime drawing style looked neat and cool. Meanwhile cartoon drawing style can possibly funny though. Let say that anime have interesting ideas, unique plots, have intro of opening and ending theme, and special effects were truely awesome. While the cartoons, may have possibly lots of episodes, have some interesting humor and etc. Anime were based from Japan and cartoons were based from U.S. which is defined. Still really that makes me wonder of that question. However, there is nothing to compare between those two but I vouch for anime with amazing drawing. That is all for now.

Hmmm..
Well, both of them are surely different. Anime carrying a good storyline and sometimes, kid doesn't like to watch them. Well, some Anime have complicated story for kid to understand. Then, we could see it from the graphic. Anime are better than cartoon! Anime's Character Face are made to be alike the real one. But, in cartoon, they make it funny to make the watcher laughing!

And, anime also told us about Japanese culture. That's why I love to watch it! Then, Anime have main Storyline, but lot of cartoon don't have any of it. So, you don't need to watch all of it's episode. But, for anime, you need to watch it from the beginning, or you won't be able to understand the story.. Specialy for a complicated anime that have a lot of main episode to watch! Miss one of it and, we will hard to understand the storyline.

Then the main different is.. Some anime have ecchi or fanservice that made for Teenager and adult. If your parent don't believe it, show the anime that have ecchi and fanservice inside it. And then, ask them, "Are you sure, kid can watch this?" Or, maybe show them Hentai Anime?

Had anyone of you check out One Piece comparison between American's 4 kids version and the original Japanese version? Many of these comparison had been make by One Piece fans and they had put it up on You Tube. Edited had been done the both story lines and the animation. Most of the edited is done is to censors what's is inappropriate for American children. In 4 kid's case they ruined it for all One Piece fans. They took away guns, any forms of tobaccos, boobs, violences, blood, casino and the concept of death.

In Western society cartoons are meant to be for kids, because kids can identify themselves easily with the super hero and villain types that display an easily understandable storyline. Just as a reminder, Animation in Japan doesn't mean Kids stuff, but also a ganre for younger adults.

And since in Western culture animation in general has manifested itself as a Kids-genre, a lot of Anime as we real Anime fans know it today, is being edited for the younger audience on TV, whether we like it or not. Young kids do not want to think beyond the Character's Moral or the message of the story, they just wanna enjoy the action and don't think about it to much... Sad but true, but most young Western "Wannabe"-experts claim to know everything about Japanese Anime once they've seen these Pseudo-cut versions edited "for them" by those International licensers...

Okay first of all, Animation is animation. Each country has a different style and approach. America created animation as we know it today, and the Japanese do it in a slightly backward way in comparison. Theres nothing wrong with that, it's just how it is.

First of all, for all you who say that anime has a plot and a story...so does American animation. It is done in a different way though. While anime usually has an overarching plot that covers all the episodes, American cartoons are usually short plots that are 15 minutes to half an hour. There are shows that go outside this though, such as Avatar, and Teen Titans, as well as Ben 10. The plus is that you don't have to watch every episode to know whats going in. You can watch it whenever. The drawback is theres (usually) no attachment.

Second, those of you who say anime has better quality animation...I think you need to check your eyes. Now, we will talk purely TV show to TV show (no movies included). I'm an animator. I do it for a living, and I've studied it for years. Anime typically has a framerate of 6-15 frames per second. It's pretty clear. When you go below 12 frames per second, you can clearly begin to see each frame. Sometimes this is true for 12 fps as well. American Animation is run at 24 fps, but is usually put on twos (meaning every other frame). So now you're probably thinking..."so...every other frame which would mean 12 frames...so isn't that still 12 fps?" no, it's not. Because even though often enough, stuff is put on twos, you have the option of putting stuff on ones when you need the extra movement. Anime does not have this luxury.
Also, the actual movement and acting in American cartoons is much better. There are reasons for this. American cartoons usually do more simple characters because it means drawing less lines, which saves time and makes them faster and easier to animate. Anime characters are more detailed, so they are stiffer and not as easy to animate. American cartoons record the voices first, and then animate around them allowing the animators to give a more accurate expression based on pitch and tone, as well as the timing of when a word is said. Anime animates first, and the voice actors have to dub over and keep up. There is way less flexibility in animating this way, which is why Anime usually animates the mouth on a separate layer, and it has 3 positions: opened, half opened and closed. I have exposure sheets and under drawings from a few shows, as well as cels that prove this point.
Anime also has the horrible habit of animating all the clothing and the characters on the same layer. This means that there is less accurate movement in things like cloth. The proper way to do it is to have the main figure on one layer, the clothing on another layer, the hair on another layer and so on. This allows for proper secondary motion. Anime does it the other way because it is cheaper, and they do not have the time or the budget to spend on such things like America does.

Anyways, on technical ability alone, American Cartoons are better than Japanese. Yes, this does also include movies. I'm sorry, but you can't beat Disney when it comes to motion. They're the ones who have always set the bar, whether you actually like their stories or not. Even Miyazaki's films, which are easily favorites of mine, do not compare in terms of quality of animation. He gets away with scenes being on threes and even fours sometimes.

What makes one better than the other is you personal opinion. I personally like both, and sometimes I'm in the mood for say, Code Geass, and sometimes in the mood for the Flintstones, or Chowder. Neither is better than the other, it's just a matter of taste and personal opinion. Since I'm ana nimator, I will watch anything. I have a collection of Russian animations, as well as some Korean, and some Canadian.

I think it's silly to like one and hate the other. People that "hate anime" or "hate American cartoons" don't realize that ALL animation spans across all genres and that it's just a different style of story telling. There are sci-fi American cartoons just like there are anime, and there are adult, or older aged teens American cartoons like family guy, robot chicken, or the Simpson's just like there are anime.

I don' descrinimate between the two when I talk about them. When I say animation or caroon, I cover the world. There are differences in the way they are done, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a cartoon. I only separate 2-d animation from 3-d animation, sand animation, and stop motion.

I wonder if anyone will actually read this since it's so long...

Wow, for the first time somebody goes into that much details, such as talking about difference in frames per second, really technical stuff,... and makes us think about our judgement more carefully.

Well first of all I must say, I am not the one who belongs to the kind of Anime-fanatics that place Japanimation and Manga culture above everything else. I have always been fair andsquare regarding both topics.

And now to my 3 cents of contribution:

...well now that I think about it, ... I mean yes, Disney really has a very fluid animation style considering the movements of the characters or objects. Sometimes it looks exaggerated, but that's what Animation is all about. The more exaggerated the movements the more entertaining for the viewers.

About Anime: Now it is clear to me why I was so disappointed with some Action based Anime on which I bet hgh expactations in terms of Action choreography. Only a few Anime show fluid animation of the Character's movements and actions. In a lot of Anime we see the Characters talking a lot instead of doing Action,and typical Magical Girls and Action Genres show a lot of repetive Finishing moves which become so boring, but which saves a lot of materials and cost for the companies. I mentioned before that Animation material is obviously very expensive in Japan.

Talking about materials: Yes, not only in the Japanese Animation industry Animation materials are expensive, but also in the USA, but since companies like Disney has made a name for itself worldwide and has a longterm marketing advantage, they CAN afford to spend a lot and a lot of money to invest in animation matrials to take the movements precisely fluid. And Disney has never disappointed the world of Animation, not that I know of...

The difference lies in the mentality and maturity that the culture believes the viewers have. Many Japanese anime series have a more mature theme than regular cartoons for children because the Japanese believe that the children will accept the violence and topics in a better way than Westerners believe children will absorb the information. While cartoons for adults are very different compared to cartoons intended for children (i.e. Family Guy incorporates a lot of sexual and satirical themes), Japanese cartoons tend to be made for a wider age group and many of the "kid" anime series can be equally enjoyed by young adults or middle-aged parents.

The stories in Japanese animation tend to be more complex and more similar to that of literature. The characters are dynamic and not always tendered to fit cliche stereotypes (although I would beg to differ with many of the new series that are coming out). Furthermore, the artwork of Japanese animation is very different from regular cartoons although there are anime series that a "western" drawing style (i.e. Witch Hunter Robin), and there are cartoons that use anime-like drawing styles (i.e. Teen Titans). Naturally, there's also the main difference that one's Japanese, and the other is North American or European meaning different cultural values are used in the cartoon.

Of course, at the same time, there's a far cry between the original Superman cartoon and say Fairly Odd Parents.

Anime has a plot/storyline that it follows. It's got a lot more work put into it than a cartoon if you ask me.

I think most Anime that are shown in Japan is crap anyway. What I mean is that we do not even see 15% of the entire Anime that is released in Japan only. The ones that are released and licensed internationally are I guess barely 10% of Japan's entire Anime capacity. This is what I mean with most of the Anime shown in Japan are crap for us or not well known. In reality we know so little about Japanese Anime than we ever realize.

Disney is a hallmark for world wide Animation, we, as Anime fans, have to acknowledge that.