Kim Possible is an interesting example - I haven’t watched the show regularly for a while, but back when I did, I was part of what appears to be have been a minority of folks who
didn’t support an eventual union between Kim and Ron. I felt this way partially because growing up several of my closest friends have been of the Y-Chromosome persuasion, and I continuously had to endure unwanted comments from kids and adults alike about the true nature of our relationship. To much of the world, it seems unacceptable that members of the opposite gender could be on friendly terms with each other without the slightest whisper of romantic inclination. In the early days, I liked how Kim Possible, through Kim and Ron’s friendship, appeared to endorse platonic relationships as a perfectly natural part of everyday life, and obviously inferring anything more than that would have totally destroyed that aspect of the show’s appeal for me.
I still feel that the pairing was unnecessary, but that said, I probably would have been a heck of a lot more relaxed about it if the Kim/Ron community hadn’t been so damned obnoxious on the matter. With apologies to all such shippers who may have gone about it peacefully, frankly, they didn’t deserve to be right. They were rude, dogmatic, good as screamed at anyone who suggested otherwise, found “ massive hints” in the most meaningless of occurrences, and overall seemed to have very little appreciation of Kim Possible for what it basically was - that is, a predominantly action-orientated comedy. What also ticked me off was their attitude toward Josh - he was originally the object of Kim’s affections instead of Ron, and the K/R shippers good as crucified him for it. For all the wild conspiracy theories circulating about Josh secretly being a demonic, blood-sucking baby killer, was he ever portrayed as anything other within the show itself than an amiable, easygoing guy? I seem to remember him being quite a gifted artist too.
Needless to say, I quickly gave up trying to discuss the show online, except with a small circle of friends who felt a similar way to me. We all had trepidations about Season 4, and I’ve largely missed out on it myself, but those friends who’ve been following it seem to be more-or-less pleased with how they’ve handled the new romantic element…we’d all sooner that it wasn’t there at all, but apparently it’s not as intrusive to the show’s essential tone as we’d feared, despite the screams of all those K/R shippers that KP become an all-out mushfest composed entirely of lovey-dovey moments between Kim and Ron. I suppose it’s the best that we could have hoped for.
As for romance in kids’ cartoons in general, while I don’t have a problem with characters having innocent little crushes upon one another, I’m certainly not fond of pairings between characters who are probably a little too young to be having a lasting relationship at that stage. I think it’s particularly unfair when cartoons aimed predominantly at girls try to implant the idea that romance and finding a partner should be the foremost thing upon their minds, and that a teenage girl is nothing if she doesn’t have a boyfriend - adolescence is usually hard enough without constantly trying to pursue a relationship, thank you very much.
That's just my $0.02.