Top 5 Favorite Cartoon Theme Songs
By Jeremy St. Martin
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| ©Warner Bros. |
It's 1988, 4th grade and the weekend ritual begins like this:
-Get home from school
-Get into fight with my brother
Folks: "How was School?/"Do you have any homework?"
Me: "Fine/No (Yes)" "Can I rent a game?"
Folks: "We'll see (No)"
-Flip on the tv...Super Mario Bros Cartoon. It's Friday, that means Zelda!
-Order pizza
-15 hours non stop Nintendo
And then Saturday came. Sugary cereal and the usual line-up of weekend suspects.
I've read somewhere, there are no more Saturday morning cartoons. Everything is live action, or something of that nature. Not that I pay attention; usually I'm waking up at musician time which means the Saturday morning line up is over. We now have at least three television networks that feature cartoons most any time of the day, but in my opinion, it's not quite the same. There was something almost sacred in that window of time from 7 am to noon, like it was that moment of time that was absolutely reserved for that once a week dose of American kid pop culture. Everyone had their own particular block, and everyone mapped out their favorites between the stations . My usual block was A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies (which later became Captain N; The Game master as it shared a time slot), Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Beetlejuce, and finished off with Bugs Bunny (later replaced by Saved By the Bell).
After school brought on its own block of beloved cartoons, and even into my teens, I was still a fan of 3 pm animation over studying for biology. Darkwing Duck, Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers and Eek the Cat were some of my afternoon staples (as well as the Mario bros. cartoon mentioned above. RIP Cpt. Lou Albano)
And those theme songs were so freakin' catchy. Even the more dufus tunes still had that pull that would keep you humming them. As with the music video top 5, it was very difficult to narrow down 5 favorite cartoon theme songs, but I've given it my best. Surprisingly, only one of the cartoons mentioned below were in the Saturday morning block, and one of them was a show I was introduced to in, I believe, High School. I've also listed 3 of the viewer mentioned below.
5. Tiny Toons
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| © Warner Bros. |
Whereas my folks grew up with the original Warner bros., I grew up with the offspring of the classic, and while nothing beats the original, and I adored bugs and daffy, Tiny Toons was more modern and thus it could be related to a little bit better for kids my age.
The theme song compares very close to the original in some elements. It's about the same tempo as the original Loony Tunes them, it has a large orchestral overture feel, and there is a prominent use of melody percussion (namely xylophone) to accentuate the goofy chromatic flares.
Like most themes in the modern era, the Tiny Toons opening featured a roll call of the characters as well as the universe in which the cartoon took place. It was fast paced fun and set the mood for the general lunacy of the show. Bruce Broughton, the composer of the theme, won a daytime Emmy for it.
Bonus video: This cartoon was also my first exposure to They Might Be Giants...
4. The Tick
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| © Sunbow |
I wasn't introduced to The Tick until High School. It was a completely different sort of inspired idiocy that I immediately fell in love with in episode one. At the time, I was in high school jazz band, and I was getting my bearings with a sound of which I was not familiar, and the theme song helped me to dig into big band swing.
There are no lyrics, but rather a series of goofy scat syllables that outline the melody and at certain points align with the animation (i.e. Mr. Mental screaming into The Tick's ear). If the scat soli was taken away, I firmly believe this theme could stand on its own as a hip big band arrangement.
3. Muppet Babies
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| © Jim Henson Productions |
I re-listened to this theme after not having heard it quite awhile, and I have to admit, it's pretty corny. But back when I was a kid, it was one of the happiest themes I remember. Like Bugs Bunny, there was no comparison to the original muppets, but I still had ball watching Muppet Babies. The tune is very reminiscent of Doo Wop 50's style and even has the characters doing four part harmony chords at the end.
2. Batman
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| © Warner Bros. |
Danny Elfman has a formula with most of his music. Make it uptempo, put in a tambourine, perhaps a tritone violin sound, and voilà. I exaggerate slightly. Regardless, his formula works and it works well.
Although this was initially a film theme, Danny Elfman was asked to compose for the cartoon. He turned the offer down, initially and the offer was then given to Shirley Walker. Danny later changed his mind and Shirley's theme would eventually be used for the later incarnation of the cartoon (The Adventures of Batman and Robin)
The orchestration in this theme is stunning. When it kicks into tempo and the bass note octaves begin in the piano I felt it in my chest.
1. Ducktales
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| © Disney |
Music inspires feeling. And for reasons that are hard to explain, this cartoon theme gets me in all the feels. I think it could be the technical stance: the theme uses one of my favorite chord progressions (flat 6, flat 7, 1). It could be the fact it brings me to a simpler time (I believe I was 9 or so when this cartoon premiered). Whatever it is, I love it. I sing along with this anytime I hear it. It's fun, it's inspirational, it's musical. I've read they are re-mastering the cartoon series in 2017, and I really hope they keep the theme.
Bonus video: Apparently, this is a thing
Those were my top 5. I'm glad to see I had so many suggestions of other theme songs. So here are 3 of the most popular viewer requested.
3. Bugs Bunny (Loony Tunes Theme)
I just researched this and I had no idea the Looney Tunes theme had an actual name: The Merry Go Round Broke Down. The Loony Tune themes are classics. When I was younger, I saw a concert featuring the DSO doing themes from the cartoons live with the actual cartoon showing on a big screen simultaneously. The theme of course is great:And then there's that ACME music (Powerhouse) that makes me anticipate what bonehead invention Wile. E. Coyote is going to use against the roadrunner
Furthermore, Bugs Bunny taught us classical music (and, hands down, he is the best drag queen ever):
Rossini:
And, of course...Wagner
2. Gummi Bears
I honestly don't have too much to say about the theme. .This is a show I never got into, and I'm not even sure where it fell in the lineup of cartoons. I will say, whoever sings the theme has that clear tenor voice of which I am extremely jealous. It's the non auto tuned type too and it's super impressive. The theme is a mixture of adventure and cute that works well.1. Animaniacs
Whereas Tiny Toons was a modern version of the original bugs bunny theme with roughly the same tempo, Animaniacs is a Warner Bros/ theme on caffeine. Which makes total sense considering the characters the show portrays. It has the same roll call style intro as Tiny Toons, and it also features a changing gag at the ending of the tune much like The Simpsons saxophone solo (as well as the animation of the blackboard and couch) The (mice?) Wakko, Yakko and Dot were the main subjects of the show, but one of the strongest features of the series was Pinky and the Brain which ended up moving from an Animaniacs short to a full fledged series in 1995.Brandon and I appreciate the support. Please send us comments below, and send us a suggestion of more musical top fives!
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