Top 50 Cartoon Theme Songs of All Time
June 7, 2009 by Tim & Lex
Filed under Best _____ Ever Lists, TV, TV Reviews
You will be a better person for watching these. (The only rule: currently active theme songs aren’t eligible.)
50. Spiral Zone
Bonus points for: Extreme wailing guitar.
49. Rainbow Brite
Short and sweet. Bonus points for: Slightly flat singing.
The highly regarded video game franchise with the lowly regarded cartoon adaptation.
Worst Catch Phrase Ever Bonus Video:
47. Street Sharks!
Bonus points for: Coining the term jawsome.
46. My Little Pony
Bonus points for: Excessive creepiness.
45. Transformers
This theme song? More than meets the ear.
44. Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers
Decent song. Plus it’s rad when Monterey Jack smells cheese and goes cuckoo.
43. G.I. Joe
A real American Hero… made in China.
42. Lady LovelyLocks and the Pixietails [VHS]
Slight deduction for: Song over end credits, talking over opening. Give us some music up front, Miss Lovelylocks!
41. Fat Albert
Hey hey hey!
40. The Smurfs
Pumpernickel pickle!
Bonus points for: Excessive exposition (2000 years pass during the opening explanation!) plus the rip-off factor. This manages to basically steal the name from Conan the Barbarian
38. Pokemon
Bonus points for: Sweet harmonies.
37. She-Ra
Bonus points for: Fabulous powers.
36. Pac-Man
Bonus points for: Being excessively faithful to the original game. Power pellets, dude.
35. Count Duckula
Bonus points for: Excellent use of Vincent Price copycat.
Bonus points for: Celebrities morphing into cartoons.
33. Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors
Bonus points for: Thundering across the stars to save the universe from the Monster Minds. Jayce searches for his father to unite the Magic Root and lead his Lightning League to victory over the changing form of Saw Boss. Wheeled Warriors explode into battle – Lightning Strikes!
32. Hong Kong Phooey
Sublime covered it.
31. Ren & Stimpy
Actually just an awesome song.
30. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Bonus points for: Real celebrity voices.
29. The Adventures of David the Gnome
Heartwarming.
28. James Bond, Jr.
Yes, that’s correct. He’s James Bond, Jr. but the original James Bond is referenced as his uncle. I believe it’s a George Foreman type situation.
27. The Jetsons
Weirdly similar to the Simpsons theme. Slight deduction for: Not originally airing on Saturday morning.
26. DuckTales
Bonus points for: Swimming in a pool of gold coins.
25. Spider-Man
The Ramones covered it.
24. Mister T
Bonus points for: Concise lyrics.
23. The Flintstones
Fred Flintstone – the Archie Bunker of the cartoon world. Slight deduction for: Not originally airing on Saturday Morning.
22. Rugrats
Mothersbaugh.
Bonus points for: Righteous drums.
20. Heathcliff
Danceable.
19. TaleSpin
Bonus points for: Recycling a popular character from a completely disconnected series.
Slight deduction for: False advertising. As a kid, I was pretty disappointed when spinach didn’t instantly give me huge muscles, and subsequently, the ability to maim the other kids of my choosing.
17. Captain Planet and the Planeteers
Slight deduction for: Song over end credits.
Crazy Kid Bonus Video:
16. Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos
Bonus explosion for: Excessive repetition of “Chuck Norris,” celebrity morphing into cartoon, and a real celebrity voice. (Plus Uncle Phil did some of the other voices.)
I can’t believe this is real Bonus Video:
These are not normal dinosaurs. They are 100% verified as extreme.
14. The Pink Panther
Sweet jazz.
13. Beetlejuice
Awesome Danny Elfman song.
12. Dangermouse
Short, sweet and fantastic.
11. Darkwing Duck
Let’s get dangerous.
10. Dinosaucers
Bonus points for: “From out of town” and “the secret scouts.”
This might be the hardest rocking one of them all. You will be singing it for the rest of the day.
These guys took tight harmonies to a whole new level.
Real Voices Bonus Video:
7. Underdog
This one builds to an epic peak. Plus Rza sampled it.
These little muppets rode a Beach Boys style melody to the top of the Saturday Morning charts.
5. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Mario and Luigi introduced hip-hop to the cartoon theme world.
Bonus points for: Concise lyrics.
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Catchy melody + engrossing origin story + a party dude = Cowabunga.
2. Jem
Truly truly truly outrageous.
Jem Girls Bonus Video:
Four decades of kids can’t be wrong.
al on Mon, 8th Jun 2009 12:25 am
it’s obvious that a girl had a hand in this list. there’s no cocksucking way jem has a better song than ninja turtles or inspector gadget.
Grumkin on Mon, 8th Jun 2009 2:22 pm
WTF! The bonus Zelda video had me in tears.
evanwolf on Tue, 16th Jun 2009 2:07 pm
blasphemy. zelda series is so emotional
evanwolf on Tue, 16th Jun 2009 2:09 pm
ugh, broken link on pokemon. and how is it only 38
Timothy Kozar & Vera Wolf on Tue, 16th Jun 2009 2:44 pm
Fixed Pokemon.
Brooke on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 11:20 pm
OK, guys. This list IS pretty comprehensive. Except. Did you not overlook THE SMURFS!?!?!? I mean COME ON! Gargamel was the OG goth! AND The Banana Splits?? And what about Speed Racer!?!!?!?!?!?
**runs to cry**
Brooke on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 11:22 pm
The Groovie Ghoulies? The Ghoulie Get-together????
I could go on and on……
I do however Love the NKOTB theme song. And Jem. Ah, Jem. She is TRUELY outrageous!
Hyou on Sun, 2nd May 2010 9:29 pm
I love the pacman cartoon so much.
but Mezmeron used to always give me nightmares…
Les on Thu, 17th Jun 2010 12:56 am
Where the hell was Tiny Toons, Freakazoid, Josie and the Pussycats, Animaniacs? I want a do over!!
Tim & Lex on Fri, 18th Jun 2010 3:13 pm
I’d give an honorable mention nod to Tiny Toons and Animaniacs.
Dad on Mon, 19th Jul 2010 4:57 pm
The original theme from Jonny Quest was by far the best ever!!!!!!!
Kelly on Thu, 30th Sep 2010 11:12 am
Bonkers and Powerpuffgirls. Oh, and Sailormoon and Cardcaptors. And Pinky and the Brain. And Gargoyles even though most of that wasn’t a song so much as … well, talking. And the Gummi bears! That was awesome. Digimon was catchy even though I never watched, and Dexter’s Lab is iconic. I was also addicted to the PB&J theme.
Some more modern ones would include tutenstein, Fairly Odd parents and Potatoes & Dragons.
Tony on Wed, 12th Jan 2011 10:45 am
How is Ducktales so far back? You do realize that it’s one of the most international disney cartoons in the world? This list is out of order BIG TIME lol Where’s Gummi Bears? Alf Cartoon? Bionic 6?????? I will Agree that Scooby do is top 3 but not number 1.
Anonymous on Fri, 29th Apr 2011 5:47 am
ya, duck tales should definitely be top 10
Stephen Rhodes Treadwell on Sat, 2nd Jul 2011 8:26 am
Why isn’t the 1975 version of Tom and Jerry listed? It should be at number 50!
AJ on Sun, 7th Aug 2011 6:55 am
PINK PANTHER SHOULD BE NUMBER 1!!!! THE ADAMS FAMILY THEME SONG IS ALSO SPECTACULAR!!!
THESE TWO ARE REAL CLASS!!! :O
Uncle on Mon, 12th Sep 2011 12:11 am
its really obvious that this list was put together with a preference towards the shows you grew up with. Any list that fails to put the flintstones and jetsons near the top is cracked. Listen to the massive orchestral and coral arrangements in those pieces. They’re indcredible.
Stephen Rhodes Treadwell on Tue, 17th Jan 2012 7:01 pm
When I said the 1975 version of T&J theme song should be at number 50, I believe I meant to say #1; whichever number means it’s the best.