Compiling this list of the greatest kid’s cartoon theme tunes, you’re on to a loser from the off.
You’re bound to disgust those who feel their first choice was left out. You’ll bloody the noses of those who can’t believe you put their cherished memory so low in the rankings. And you’ll almost certainly suffer the slings and arrows of those who think you’re wallowing in pointless nostalgia.
Well, balls to them. There’s nothing like a trip down memory lane to get those endorphins pumping – so let’s wander idly along, humming the tunes that preceded our infant distractions, recalling with a grin that the opening titles were very often far more enjoyable than the tripe that followed.
Here goes.
30. Gummi Bears
I have no idea why I like this so much. But I do.
29. GI Joe
As American as apple pie and, er, New York.
28. Animaniacs
Annoying as hell, but undeniably catchy.
27. Muppet Babies
Sounds like something Kermit threw up, but is guaranteed to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
26. Henry’s Cat
Scrapes its way into the Top 26 by virtue of some synthesised miaows.
25. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Catchy tune and tells you all you need to know about He-Man, his stupid voice and his weird mates.
24. The Perishers
Is it just us or does it sound a bit like The Smiths’ song Sheila Take A Bow?
23. Dinosaucers
Ludicrous idea for a cartoon, but great song.
22. M.A.S.K
Is there a more Eighties theme tune?
21. Ducktales
It’s almost impossible to not say Ducktales without following it with ‘woo hoo’. An annoyingly catchy tune.
20. Raggy Dolls
Getting Neil Innes in to write and record your theme tune is pure class. But surely the rejected dolls would have been discarded in week one? Or ripped to shreds and recycled…
19. Thundercats
You are singing the tune right now, aren’t you?
18. Transformers
Turns from soft metal into a bizarre trumpet-led fanfare, all in the space of 30 seconds.
17. Astroboy
Astroboy is still curiously watchable, but the dubbing in the show is totally out of synch and the music here goes on for way too long. Timing must have been an issue at Astroboy HQ.
16. Ulysses 31
You have to wait a whopping 50 seconds for the proper song to begin, but when it does it’s a rock classic worthy of Whitesnake. Sung with passion, finished with love.
15. The Mysterious Cities of Gold
A genuinely well-written song heading up one of the most interminably dull cartoons of the period. Once the theme tune was over, the sound of TVs changing stations reverberated throughout the land.
14. Jem and the Holograms
Better than half the rubbish that was in the charts during the Eighties.
13. Top Cat (Boss Cat)
Clever words, a walloping trad jazz tune and a classy lead character. If you sided with Officer Dibble, you had no heart.
12. Battle of the Planets (G-Force)
No idea what was going on half the time, but who cares? Great theme tune.
11. Visionaries
Just magic.
10. Jamie & His Magic Torch
I’m sure I’m not alone in remembering the theme tune note for note, but having forgotten everything that happens in the actual programme? Which boy could resist not playing with his magic torch?
9. Pink Panther
Surely, one of the greatest theme tunes of all time.
8. Dogtanian & The Muskerhounds
When I asked Twitter what should go on this list, this was the overwhelming winner. I’ve no idea why – it’s dreadful.
7. The Smurfs
Anyone who doesn’t agree, can get the Smurf out of here!!
6. Hong Kong Phooey
He was better than a super-guy, and the theme song was better than most.
5. Inspector Gadget
Dum dad dum da dum… this was a singalong classic. Every time the Gadget graced our screens, you had to singalong, reaching a frenzy when it got to the ‘Go, Gadget, go!’ part.
4. Dangermouse
He’s the greatest! And the theme tune was pretty smart too, with that horn section urging the ‘Mouse along, dragging the snivelling Penfold along with him.
3. Scooby Doo
We’re talking Scooby Doo before Scrappy walked onto the scene. As we all know, Scrappy was Satan in the form of a large-headed cartoon pup.
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Still cannot believe Shredder was voiced by Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince.
1. Roobarb & Custard
The second it kicks in – instant anarchy. To an adult, it sounds like a keyboard that’s been distorted a little too much through some kind of wah wah synth. To a child, sounds like a call to arms and causes destruction of the living room. Influential, noisy and the best ever kids TV theme.
This was a guest blog by the mighty Swineshead from Watch With Mothers
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Thundercats at 19?!?! Are you kidding?!
Cities of gold should be higher. AND I never turned it over. It started a lifelong interest in archeology and cultural anthropology. I bet not many people were that inspired by a cartoon. It really was “dull”
sorry. that should read “wasnt dull”
agreed – mysterious cities of gold was epic not dull
Wow… M.A.S.K., The Mysterious Cities of Gold, and Battle of the Planets.
Great shows- or at least, that’s how I remember them. Not so interested in seeing if they actually were- pretty sure there’d be some shattered illusions there…
Where’s Captain Planet? The Raccoons? Sharky ‘N’ George? Samurai Pizza Cats? Count Duckula?
Listfail.
Commentfail – the Raccoons barely had an intro theme. It had an old man blabbering on.
I wasn’t talking about the intro theme
its about intro themes.
Another good theme was the Robotech one. All orchestral and everything. Lots on there that I don’t recognize, but they must be Brit cartoons.
Seriously:
Where’s Earthworm Jim, Pinky and the Brain, and especially, especially, Freakazoid!
Hey how about “STREET FROGS”. The 80′s break dancing rapping frogs cartoon.
gotta have x-men
Where in the hell is captian planet!!!
Taz, Count Dracula, Trap door, centurians, sharky and george, batman, new He Man wasn’t that bad…………..But still BRAVO, brought back some memories!
X-MEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No “Star Blazers” = FAIL
I will use all caps to emphasis how serious I am when I ask: WHERE THE HELL IS X-MEN???
Come on, where are “The Flintstones”? That theme was classic…
Yay! Gummi Bears! That was my favourite cartoon EVER. Still is. Although Thundercats was probably a much better cartoon all round, really. Even though the boys I knew secretly fancied the sexy girl cartoon tiger cat, which is a bit weird.
But the Captain Planet theme tune was awesome… I mean he was gonna take pollution down to ZERO.
Great list.
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers? Tailspin?
Wow, I’m sorry but this list is horrible. Where is Chip n Dales or X-men or Duck Tales? Not cool, not cool at all…
Great list but where is Fraggle Rock!!!!!!
Big omission! Jayce and the Wheel Warriors!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw8lgSkh0M8
Where the hell is Pokemon???
Ghostbusters anyone?
Ch-ch-ch-chip and dale.. rescue rangers!…
I can’t see how that song did not make the list… I expected to see it at number 1…
Disagree!!!!
The catchiest of them all:
Wow Wow Wubzy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J88Fx5SJ2l4
Ulysses 31 – There was killing and dying in it, which was odd for a kid’s cartoon. Not masked or shrouded, strangely faithful to the classics on which it was based. I always liked that about it. The incidental music throughout that series is nice and heavy, really crunchy and thrashy guitar\drum work. Hopefully it will come out on CD one day. The vinyl is worth its weight in gold..
Oh.. and I had a crush something awful on Circe the Enchantress, pure cartoon MILF. Queen Calypso was pretty hot too, as was Eurydice.. and..
Chip n’ Dale theme song seems to be missing.
DUGG big time For Jamie & The Magic Torch!!!!!!!!!!
i SOOOOO used to love that show !! thanks for the memory
Underdog!
You’re kidding, right? This list is dreadful. Another case of a writer including obscure choices to make themselves seem”Diverse” and “intelligent.”
Get real.
Glaring ommissions:
1) Duck Tales
2) Tiny Toons
3) Darkwing Duck
4) Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
5) Tale Spin
6) Pinky and the Brain
7) Ren & Stimpy
(in my biased opinion, that is)
I can’t believe they forgot C.O.P.S!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxQagE62_zI
Silverhawks FTW
Um, self-confessed fail for not noticing Ducktales, and misspelling it. Oops. Great song.
Where’s the X-men Theme?! One of the greatest guitar riffs Saturday morning ever saw
Ah, Mighty Mouse anyone?
Hey now. Come on. “Run With Us” from the Raccoons blows all others out of the water. I don’t care if it was played during the end credits.
Kudos for including Hong Kong Phooey, Scooby Doo, Danger Mouse, Muppet Babies, and He Man. But darn, I feel so darn old…most of these shows I never watched cause I was an adult at work by the time these shows were on Saturday mornings. I watched He Man cause it was syndicated and was on in the afternoons when I got home after work!!! LOL
I was hoping an old fart wrote this list, so I was expecting to see The Flintstones, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker… and especially UNDERDOG on here. The Underdog theme was the BEST!
Flintstones?
Stop the Pigeon? Super Friends?
Besides those omissions, great list!! Brings back some serious memories…
In my opinion, the following HAVE to be on this list-
Batman: the Animated Series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLTDN5xK4kU
Spiderman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irFSE8H7Vn4
X-Men
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxOQTaLTFrU
and of course, Aladdin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–z6ZvzhdFA
But especially the X-men theme…SO badass :p
If you aren’t listing the RoboTech theme song as number 1, then you really don’t have a list.
man that makes me feel old. not one mention of the theme to road runner? and as for astro boy thats not the original. i remember the original song went something like astro boy on your way , on your mission today, flying higher …..thats all i can remember. i’m talking about from the sixtees.
I’m surprised there wasn’t Speed Racer, or Saber Rider… although Saber Rider is probably less likely to make the list. But, come on… no Speed Racer?
great list!
ch-ch-ch-chip and dale, rescue rangers…
What!? No Ghostbusters ?
is “Mysterious Cities of Gold” same as US “Spartakus and the Cities of Gold”? I wondered for years WTF a “flashpig” was…
FUCK THIS LIST! anything that doesn’t have 90′s Xmen theme song is a shitty list.
sure it doesn’t have any lyrics… but you know what? it doesn’t need lyrics!
Kum Kum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdtKKvHM79A&feature=related
Count Duckula had a baddas intro theme, terrifyng and the end theme was even better, miss, and thundercats should be higher
Count Duckula had by far one of the greatest intros and endings of the 80′s. Not to mention it was a badass cartoon!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-qr5eDsYAY&feature=player_embedded
Wow, I can’t believe Talespin and Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers didn’t make the list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e5q6ubDlZE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWOqEkjRtWQ
Inspector Gadget WAS a sing-along with my family. My dad, sister and I would crowd around the TV every single time the show came on, but our favorite part was hollering the “Woohoo!” as in…
da da da da dum
Inspector Gadget
da da da da dum
dum dum WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Aw, now I’m all misty.
What the hell? Where is the Underdog theme? It’s far and away the best ever. (crosses arms and skulks away)
Sorry but you totally missed the best cartoon theme song ever.
Speed Racer.
Nah! The best cartoon theme song is definitely the one for the 1975 Tom & Jerry!
Great to see some old favorites – but you missed my #1 favorite: Underdog !!
Cool walking bassline, uptempo, 4-part vocal harmonies (catchy too!), loved it!
Speaking of old cartoons – I don’t remember their theme songs, but anyone else remember The Littles? … Shirt Tails?
No mention of Underdog. This list fails with no Underdog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XRil07h5uE
Fantastic list – even though a couple of these were lost on my with my Australian upbringing, fantastic nostalgia time had by me.
I was inspired to go look up Widget the World Watcher – gold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFwoG2P-s6U
What about “Mighty Mouse”? You have to be kidding me, how can you leave that off the list!
What, no “Johnny Quest” or “Jettsons”?????
I agree.
Without “Johnny Quest,” the terrorists win.
That’s what happens when young punks compile “best of” lists.
don’t forget duck tales & tailspin
What about Heman / Shera?!
Good heavens, you’re so wrong on a few of these…
Smurfs – really should have an even earlier opening that has the full length song
Pink Panther – what the heck – yes, it has famous music, but you didn’t pick the opening with it…
Scooby Doo – I think you need an earlier opening on this one too, didn’t sound right.
I’ll try to come back with links.
Love the list, but wanted to mention two others…”Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea” and “Spiral Zone” Classic ’80′s!
How could you possibly forget Capitan Future???!
Here is the Theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oSYqRRhTGE
Fat Albert ftw.
NA-NA-NA Gonna have a good time!!! HEY HEY HEY
here is the best theme ever >>>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntbWV_-unEk
ULYSSES 31 FTW!
Seriously, it’s better than Smells Like Teen Spirit, better than Hoedown Throwdown, it’s simply the best song ever.
KAPPA MIKEY
My favorite was always the X-men cartoon. That song rocked
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxOQTaLTFrU
I agree.
If you can’t find themes on YouTube, check out this site, it has them all – televisiontunes.com
What about these?
Gekko Kamen (OK it’s in Japanese but it is very catchy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnRv6V3G7dQ
Pinky and the Brain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJPFSNu_QNs
i think you made a list of shows that hit the nostalgia button for you, because while some were great shows, the themes were not good. the theme from your number one pick was not good, and the pink panther intro sucked even when i was a kid.
agree chip n dale and talespin should be on the list.
but judging on awesome THEME alone, Denver the Dinosaur is a MUST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1fUqSQFdAI
No Trap Door?!
Fail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agJbjwLWMDQ
Great list, but I cannot believe you did not include the Bionic Six intro!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbNHR1jM4Ac
You forgot Pokemon.
Who are the morons who came up with list? The people who put that stupid song at #1 should be dealt with severely. Idiots.
GHOSTBUSTERS
What about The Real Ghostbusters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8eLP4Bgsuo
Sorry if your favourite was too low or no included people, but I did say…
Compiling this list of the greatest kid’s cartoon theme tunes, you’re on to a loser from the off.
You’re bound to disgust those who feel their first choice was left out. You’ll bloody the noses of those who can’t believe you put their cherished memory so low in the rankings.
Consider that a disclaimer!
how could you leave off the x-men.
I was enjoying that list but imagine my surprise when the number 1 spot is a video taken from my very own youtube channel to boot!
Great choices and yes, Roobarb rules
I would like to point out though that only the later, modern (and terrible) series had the cats name in it.
BTW, Battle of the Planets!!! Never missed an episode when I was younger.
Pardon? No Flintstones??
Are these themes available by means of http://filesmixx.com/ ?
Goodness me I just loved that article-took me back I can tell you and no mistake. I love all that cheery music. Hey! The only thing is that you missed out Dangermouse. Come on big boy, get it right next time…
CY
I’m SOOO glad Danger Mouse made the top five. I was gonna be pissed if he didn’t
I really like the Gekko Kamen anime too
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/gekkou-kamen-moonlight-mask-the-first-japanese-tv-superhero-1958/
Totally missed Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors best theme ever
Hey you guys , can someone pleaaaaaaaaaaaase tell me what’s the show for this song because i’m totally freaking out and i can’t get it out of my head , bottom line here it is : tan tan ta ta ta ta tan tan ta ta ta ta tan tan ta ta ta ta . ta ta ata ata ata ata
Helllllllp
Speed of Lighting!
Roar of thunder!!!
Come on… No Underdog???? And Scooby Doo should be first, underdog following…
I was wondering what happened to the Voltron theme song?
I was just going through the list and found out that a lot of these have become unavail here is what is not available now on your list: (and yes I went through all of them, I was bored and some I have never heard of before some I vaguely remember)
#24 Perishers This video is no longer availabe because the account associated with the video has been terminated
#22 M.A.S.K. This video has been removed by the user
#20 Raggy Dolls This video has been removed by the user
#19 Thundercats Embedding disabled by request Watch on YouTube
#16 Ulysses 31 This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated
#10 Jamie & His Magic Torch This video has been removed by the user
#6 Hong Kong Phooey This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringment from claimants including: [Warner Bros. Entertainment]
#5 Inspector Gadget This video contains content from WMG, who has blocked it on copyright grounds
#2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles This video is no longer available because of the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement from claimants including: [Shogakukan Production Co. Ltd.]
#1 Roobard & Custard This video is no longer available due to copyright claim by A & B Btv Limited.
oh my god….why air these shows at all (except for scooby-doo) ? What were the writers thinking?
Why did you leave out the theme song for the 1975 version of Tom & Jerry? It’s the best cartoon theme song there is!
Where the fuck is pokemon on this list?
Hi there,
Does anybody know the title and/or performer of this cartoon tune?
http://www.mediafire.com/?i9aelj6bymba56h
Thanks in advance!