Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision. This could be anything from a flip book to a motion picture film.
Manga (literally translated, means "whimsical pictures") is the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons. Popular manga are often adapted into anime (Japanese for animation) once a market interest has been established. Manga is sometimes mistakenly called "anime" by those not familiar with the term.

Here is some list of remarkable long-forgotten animation characters:

Mickey Mouse + Donald Duck & Friends – Mickey is Walt Disney's most famous character, made his screen debut on 18 November 1928, as star of the first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie. He was a character who dreamed big, and his dreams were universal. Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt and cap — but no pants (except when he goes swimming, ironically). Donald's most famous trait is his short and often explosive temper.

Looney Tunes - is a Warner Brothers animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theatres from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series, and is both Warner Bros. Creations like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Wile E. Coyote, Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Yosemite Sam, and Sylvester JR. are only a few of the dozens of characters the studio created during their 30-+-year classic cartoon output from 1930-1969

Tom & Jerry - Tom and Jerry are an animated cat (Tom) and mouse (Jerry) team who formed the basis of a successful series of MGM theatrical short subjects created, written and directed by animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age Man's life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friend. The show is set in the town of Bedrock in the Stone Age era. The characters drive automobiles made out of stone or wood and animal skins and powered by foot.

Popeye the Sailor Man - is an independent sailor (or "sailor man," as he puts it) with a unique way of speaking, muscular forearms with two (sometimes one) anchors tattooed on them, and an ever-present corncob pipe (which he toots like a steamship's whistle at times). His strange, humorous, and often supernatural adventures take him all over the world, and place him in conflict with enemies such as the Sea Hag and Bluto. His hometown is a fictional town called Seawater. Popeye also seems to like singing a song called "Popeye the Sailor Man" [I'm Popeye the Sailor Man (2X) - I'm strong to the finich - Cause I eats me spinach - I'm Popeye the Sailor Man. I'm one tough gazookus - Which hates all palookas - Wot ain't on the up and square - I biffs 'em and buffs 'em - An' always outroughs 'em - An' none of 'em gets nowhere. If anyone dasses to risk me fisk - It's "boff" and its "wham", un'erstand -So, keep good behavior -That's your one life saver - With Popeye the Sailor Man]

Garfield - makes fun of pet owners and their relationship with their pets, often with the pet as the true master of the home. Garfield also struggles with human problems, such as diets, Mondays, apathy, boredom, and so on.

Scooby-Doo! - These five characters (Shaggy, Fred, Scooby Doo, Velma & Daphne) solve mysteries typically involving tales of ghosts and other supernatural forces. At the end of each episode, the supernatural forces turn out to have a rational explanation, typically criminal plots involving costumes and mechanical special effects intended to frighten or distract.

The Simpsons - is a satirical parody of the "Middle American" lifestyle epitomized by its title family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield, and lampoons many aspects of the human condition, as well as American culture, society as a whole, and television itself.

Richie Rich – is the only child of fantastically wealthy parents. He lives and works in an expensive mansion and owns at least two of everything money could buy. He appears to be around 7-10 years old, wears a waistcoat with a white shirt with an Eton collar, which is obscured by a giant red bow tie, and blue shorts. He occasionally attends school in his hometown of Richville. Richie is portrayed as a kind young boy, not conceited despite his incredible wealth. The most important things in Richie's life are his family and friends.

Casper the Friendly Ghost – is a cute, pudgy ghost-child, who prefers making friends with people instead of scaring them. He leaves his home at the local haunted house and goes out to make friends. However, every person or animal he meets takes one horrified look at him and runs off in the other direction. Distraught, Casper unsuccessfully attempts to commit suicide (apparently forgetting that he's already dead) before he meets two little children who become his friends. The children's mother at first rejects Casper, but later welcomes him into the family after he wards off a greedy landlord.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle - the Ninja Turtles are portrayed as four (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael) wise-cracking, pizza-obsessed superheroes who fight the forces of evil from their sewer hideout, and make their first appearance in masks color-coded to each turtle,

Superman - is born Kal-El on the alien planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father moments before the planet's destruction. Adopted and raised by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as Clark Kent, and imbued with a strong moral compass.

Batman - is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child leads him to train himself to the peak of physical and intellectual perfection, don a bat-themed costume, and fight crime. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess superhuman powers or abilities; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.

Crayon Shin-Chan - The series follows the antics of five-year-old Shinnosuke Nohara and his parents, neighbors, friends,dog and many others. The series is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

Doraemon - is a robotic cat who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a schoolboy, Nobita Nobi. Doraemon possesses a fourth-dimensional pocket from which he can produce all manner of futuristic tools, gadgets, and playthings from a future department store. In a typical chapter, Nobita comes home crying about a problem he faced in school or the local neighborhood. After Nobita's pleading or goading, Doraemon produces a device to help Nobita fix his problem, enact revenge, or flaunt to his friends. Nobita usually goes too far, despite Doraemon's best intentions, and gets into deeper trouble than before. Sometimes, Nobita's friends (usually Suneo or Jaian) steal the gadgets and end up misusing them.

Ikkyu-san, the Little Monk - is a little boy training to be a monk at Ankokuji Temple. Known for being mischievous and bit of a troublemaker, but also extremely smart, Ikkyu constantly thinks of new ways to outwit his frustrated teachers, helping others at the same time.

Detective Conan - is about a 17-year-old genius detective named Shinichi Kudou who gets poisoned by a mysterious underground crime organization and shrinks into his 7-year-old body. He's forced to hide his true identity, and fools his almost-girlfriend Ran into believing that he's just a 7-year-old boy named Conan Edogawa. He ends up living with Ran and her father in their home slash private detective agency. Although his body has been shrunk, he continues to solve many cases and is struggling to solve the mysteries of the criminal organization responsible in order to return to his normal body.

Voltes V - the heroic exploits of the young robot pilots known as The Voltes Team and their trials against alien invaders from planet Boazan. Armed with Super Electromagnetic Machine Voltes V, the five pilots drive back the invaders one Beast Fighter at a time.

Dragonball - a young martial artist named Son Goku as he searches for the Dragon Balls, and becomes stronger. The story of Dragon Ball follows the life of Son Goku, a monkey-tailed boy loosely inspired by the traditional Chinese novel Journey to the West.

Sailor Moon - is Usagi Tsukino, who lives as an ordinary schoolgirl until she is found by a talking cat named Luna. Through Luna, Usagi learns that the world is about to be attacked by a Dark Kingdom that had appeared once before, long ago, and destroyed the kingdom of the moon. Her dormant powers are then awakened to defend the Earth against the coming onslaught, and she is led to a number of friends who join her in the battle. Usagi fights using the identity of Sailor Moon, and as the story progresses she learns more and more about the enemies which face her and the evil force that is sending them. Gradually she discovers the truth about her own past life, her destined true love, and the possibilities for the future of the Solar System.

Kungfu Boy / Shin Tekken Chinmi – is a master of Kempo at Dairin temple. Word of his skill reaches the kung-fu masters at the famous Dailin temple who invite him to study with them. Through his own dedication and the guidance of his teachers, Chinmi becomes one of the top students at the temple. Eventually the time comes for him to leave Dailin and make a pilgrimage. On his journey he faces a number of dangers that test his skills, but he also meets many people who inspire him in different ways. A chastened but determined Chinmi returns to Dailin for advanced training. But soon his skills are needed again - the Mongol hordes are nearing the temple.

Asterix & friends - lives around 50 BC in a fictional Gaulish village in northwest Armorica. Together with his oversized, clumsy but good-hearted friend Obelix, he outwits Julius Caesar and his Roman Legions while preventing them from conquering their village. Typically, this resistance leads the main characters to travel to various European countries (but also Egypt, America, India and other non-European locations) in every other book, while the remaining are set in and around their village.

The Smurfs - are a fictional group of small sky blue creatures who live in houses made from mushrooms or houses that just look like mushrooms (often made of stone), somewhere in the middle of a deep forest. Almost all the characters look essentially alike — male, very short (just "three apples tall"), with blue skin, white trousers with a hole for their short tails, white hat in the style of a Phrygian cap, and some additional accessory that identifies each one's personality. (For instance, Handy Smurf wears overalls instead of the standard trousers, a brimmed hat, and a pencil above his ear). Smurfs can walk and run, but often move by skipping on both feet. They love to eat smilax leaves, whose berries the smurfs naturally call smurfberries. A characteristic of the smurf language is the frequent use of the word "smurf" and its derivatives in a variety of meanings. The smurfs replace enough nouns and verbs in everyday speech with smurf as to make their conversations barely understandable. Instead of saying, “I caught a cold in the nose”, they would say, “I smurfed a smurf in the nose“.

Tintin – is a young Belgian reporter who becomes involved in dangerous cases in which he takes heroic action to save the day. He is aided in his adventures from the beginning by his faithful dog Snowy. His friend, Captain Haddock, is a seafaring captain of disputed ancestry (he may be of English, French or Belgian origin). Haddock was initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character and lives in his luxurious mansion called Marlinspike Hall.

Lucky Luke – is a cowboy in the Wild West who travels around delivering justice wherever he goes, accompanied by his faithful companion, Jolly Jumper, the smartest horse (able to play Luke at chess, arm-wrestle him and run while asleep) in the world. He can outshoot faster than his shadow, he can lasso a whirlwind, and he can outride (he once raced the Mississippi and won), outdraw and outshoot anyone. His main recurring foes are the dense but persistent Dalton brothers: Joe, William, Jack and Averell (each one being taller and dumber than the previous one).

Further information: Wikipedia.org