Original animation openings vs. montage openings

I actually sort of liked the montage openings back in the day. It was sort of a way to tell whether or not you've seen all of the episodes. Also, some of the clips that were cut in the actual episodes sort of exist as odd curiosities, like the toilet scene in the Ren & Stimpy opening or the Darkwing Duck's motorcycle landing on the pickup truck.

Montage openings seem to be a bit of a rarity these days. The only one that comes to mind is 6teen, even though it is a hybrid.
 
I prefer Montage end credits (gi joe, transformers, beavis and butthead, etc) for the same reason joe said, but for openings it should be original animation all the way.
 
Well, even before that became a standard practice, quite a few anime theme songs in Japan were basically based on more intangible things than "This is the show, these are the characters, this is the premise, Doh wah" . While Dragon Ball, Kinnikuman, and a few others that escape me at the moment basically follw a more western sense of theme songs, there were some others (I just can't think up now) that were basically about feelings and the like vaugely related to the show's premise. This is beneficial to both the show (for people who are fans of the band, who want to watch the opening/closing, and buy the soundtrack/single), and the band (for people who are fans of the show, finding out about these bands they normally wouldn't get exposure to).

So far, the only times a band performs the theme song, it's a show about the band- Puffy's show, Weird Al's show (granted, it was livce action, but still apt). But then again, Warners tried this as an experiment, getting 2 bands to perform cartoon theme songs. Chicos de Barrio- Mucha Lucha, and A Simple Plan- What's new Scooby Doo?

Sadly, there are big markets for animated theme song soundtracks outside the US. Japan for one, and France pretty much released lots of soundtracks of the French versions of theme songs, especially to American and Japanese cartoons. There's a site I know where you can listen to the French ones (but not download them), and I don't know if that's okay here, so if you're really curious, I'll tell you privately.
 
The 40's Woody Woodpecker opening animated by Emery Hawkins is my favorite animated opening,period.Thus,I prefer the former. However,it really seems to be used much more in sitcoms than animation,really.
 
Yes, a lot of older shows did it more than newer shows. I reckon it has to do with the decline of animation in Japan in the last few decades and them finding ways to make some quick cash/profit from the shows.

Interesting, but I wouldn't say it's the same; those songs are actually about the show and were made specifically for them and can't (to my knowledge) be found on their CDs. I can name a few other shows that fit that descriptions.
 
Anime theme songs are usually some variation of the following -

Flowing in the wind as my heart yearns for the sorrow

Fighting to keep love in my sights as the sunset yields

My eyes sense the beauty in the plum of my discontent

:p Or something like that.
 
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