Favorite Cartoon Theme Song?

C

Chahana

New member
These are my favorite cartoon theme songs and why I love them. What are yours?

THE FLINTSTONES: The song is so iconic and catchy, that you don't want it to get out of your head. This explains the premise well and is one of the all-time great TV themes.

MICKEY MOUSE CLUB: The animated opening is just beautifully animated and planned (with direction by Bill Justice). A great example of full-stylized 50s animation.

HUCKLEBERRY HOUND: This theme is so bouncy and catchy. It shows the effort given by Hanna-Barbera in its first years, when their work as super limited.

THE MAGILLA GORILLA SHOW: This is one of the all-time great H-B theme songs. It introduced the premiese of Magilla's cartoons and showed us his supporting players of Mushmouse, Punkinpuss, and Ricochet Rabbit.

THE BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER SHOW: The theme is just classic children's television. It shows us pretty much the entre Looney Tunes cast gives premise to the Road Runner/Coyote chase/

THE TOM & JERRY/GRAPE APE SHOW: This theme (also used for Mumbly), was just so bouncy and has the feel of 70s-era Hanna-Barbera music.
 
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (movie remix): I don't much care for rap, but I love the timing on the beats in this version.

Eek! The Cat/Eekstravaganza: Extreeeeme guitar riff for a show that while great, wasn't exactly the extreme type. But oh, how it rocks.

Batman Beyond: notice a trend yet? Heavy techno/punk beats that describe the setting well.

Darkwing Duck: utterly catchy urban hip-hop tune. Given my love for the show, it's pure nostalgia.

Invader ZIM: giving a clear sense of foreboding (you guessed it) DOOM.

Venture Bros.: retro nightclub tune.

Every single Spider-Man theme song. What's up with that?

Transformers (G1) Season 2: can't explain it. Just nostalgia.

Rocko's Modern Life (both versions): sums up the show's offbeat, quirky nature perfectly.

Others of honorable mention that I can't describe exactly but love nevertheless:
Futurama
TMNT 1987
Duckman
Ren & Stimpy
King Of The Hill
Tiny Toons Adventures
 
Duck Tales! Woo-ooh!

So insanely catchy. I know some people hate it because of it's addictiveness, but I embrace it :D

It just doesn't get old for me!
 
I really love the theme to Heathcliff. I don't remember anything about the show (heck, I don't even remember watching it) but I just love the theme. Same with Gummi Bears.
 
1. Scooby Doo Where Are You- A timeless classic as is the show itself. Probably my favorite theme song even when you include live action shows, the lyrics are great!

2. The Flintstones- For all the reasons CartoonFridays mentioned. Much like Scooby-Doo, this deserves to be mentioned among all time great themes even when you include live action shows.

3. Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show- Overture, Curtain, Lights!!! This song is phenomeonal, as is the tap dancing sequence with Bugs and Daffy.

4. Alvin & The Chipmunks- Just so fun and catchy, IMO the best cartoon theme song of the 80's. The lyrics are recognizable to this day because it's such a timeless classic.

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (80's)- So catchy and entertaining. It's energizing much like the show was itself.

6. The Boondocks- Asheru did a great job with this theme song, it fit the show perfectly and the lyrics are great.

7. Heathcliff & The Catillac Cats- Good call by Dr. Pepper, I love this theme song too, it was one of the first TV theme songs I put on my iPod, it's just that awesome. An underrated show as well, I loved Riff Raff!!

8. Duck Tales- Great lyrics, great theme song, great show. What more needs to be said about it.

9. Yogi Bear- Gotta love it, he's smarter than the average and the theme song summed it up perfectly.

10. Top Cat- He's the boss, he's the VIP, he's the championship!!! This theme song was great and pretty much gave birth to Garfield and Heathcliff as intelligent cats with lots of charm and swagger.


A Few Honorable Mentions.....
Muppet Babies
Inspector Gadget
Thundercats
Pink Panther
G.I. Joe
Transformers
Jem & The Holograms
 
The original TMNT theme song is probably the best TV theme song of all time, IMO. It's odd, the 80's had some of the worst cartoons ever but those same cartoons often had some of the best theme songs ever.
 
I agree with your opinion on the TMNT theme, but completely disagree on your opinion of 80's toons, I actually think they were some of the best ever, especially when you consider that many of them ran for quite some time.
 
One of my favorite theme songs is from DuckTales. The lyrics are really addictive; it will have you join in singing. Hearing the theme in my head definitely reminds me of the awesome times I used to have while watching the show in the old days.
 
The Spectacular Spider-Man comes to mind. It does a great job of capturing the show's overall attitude and the mindset of the teenage Peter Parker. The full-version is just plain excellent to listen to.

On that note, Spider-Man: The Animated Series also has an iconic theme, as well as its sister X-Men series. I believe both had their soundtracks produced by Saban Music, which explains why they're so good.
 
Some of my faves:

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers: a lesser known show from the 80's, but the theme music was awesome.

Ewoks (season 1 theme): I know the majority of the people who remember this show (all 6 of them) prefer the 2nd season All-New-Ewoks theme music and think the first theme was garbage, but in typical iconoclastic fashion, I feel just the opposite. I know it doesn't sound like authentic forest moon music, but it's still catchy, as far as techno-synth music goes.

Driods: the other show from The Ewoks/Droids Adventure Hour. As with Ewoks, the show wasn't all that memorable, but dang if that theme song wasn't catchy.

Chowder: Short, but bouncy, quirky and strangely satisfying.

Megas XLR: The lyrics would seem to suggest that the producers are making fun of shows whose themes basically explain the show's premise, but here they couldn't be more appropriate and to-the-point ("We dig giant robots"). Plus the metal guitar riffs here are great.

Dragon Ball Z's 'Rock the Dragon': Actually kind of cool, in a cheesy, campy way.

Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy: one of the rare instrumental cartoon show themes, and also one of the best.
 
Nickelodeon's Doug: I always love the show's "a capella" soundtrack this was among their best.

Hey Arnold!: The show's jazz music was always great to hear.

Tiny Toon Adventures: It's as energetic as what is happening during the theme song and it's simply a classic.

Spongebob Squarepants: Say what you will about the show today, it's theme is considered one of the best theme song s ever!

Dexter's Laboratory: It's so epic and it's just so brilliantly orchestrated.
 
Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM): Of the three American Sonic series, this one was definately the best and gave me a rush everytime I listened to it.

Beetlejuice: Who didn't shout 'It's Showtime!' whenever this theme started?

Hey, Vern, It's Ernest: The lyrics are a nightmare to memorize, but still a catchy theme.

The Smurfs: It's rare to hear the themes outside of the syndicated opening, but there were a lot of good ones. Even the theme to the horrible final season was pleasant to listen to.
 
The Cowboy Bebop opening is simply one of the greatest pieces of music ever.

I'm also fond of the theme songs to Teen Titans, MEGAS XLR, Spongebob, Neon Genesis Evangelion, BECK, Paranoia Agent (THE LAUGHING! THE LAUGHING!!!), most of the really old cheesy dub anime themes (few memories give me more pleasure than when I convinced my temple's cantor to sing the opening to Gigantor for my Bar Mitzvah), and anything written by Richard Stone.
 
Hmm...I like BTAS, Fullmetal Alchemist musical scores most of them, that is even though they were cut when shown on CN.
Flinstones is also good, so is Spider-Man's theme...and Static Shock's theme is also very catchy...So is Avatar's and Rugrats have a kiddie faire to their theme.
Eureka 7,
Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers....
Inuyasha
Looney Tunes the original version...
etc....for me it's hard to pick just one.
 
M.A.S.K., Pole Position, and Heathcliff were some great ones. DiC was on a roll in the 1980s when it came to theme songs. My favorite Disney ones were Gummi Bears and New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I often found myself humming those.
 
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