Looking at the Best TV Cartoon Theme Songs

I know what you’re thinking, that you can’t look at a song unless you’ve got the sheet music or you’re on LSD, but I’m going to provide videos for you, so stop your whining. By a strange coincidence, all the best TV cartoon theme songs are from the 60s, when I was a kid.

10.Spider-Man
“Is he strong? Listen, bud, he’s got radioactive blood.” Yeah, but is he STRONG?



9.The Beagles
This is a show that I used to feel like nobody but me remembered, but I found a copy of the soundtrack LP in the 80s so I knew I hadn’t imagined it. It was one of my favorite shows while it lasted.



8.Super Chicken
This was always my favorite segment of the George of the Jungle show.



7.Beany & Cecil
One of my earliest TV memories. It was many years later that I learned it had originally been a puppet show. Egomaniacal Bob Clampett had himself written into the song and depicted in the animation. “Lovable, gullible, armless, harmless, ten foot tall and wet.”



6.Jonny Quest
The only instrumental in the countdown. Here are the opening and closing versions.





5.Linus the Lionhearted
This had separate opening and closing themes and they were both great. Linus appeared on boxes of Crispy Critters cereal, and the other cartoon segments on the show were also cereal tie-ins, most notably Sugar Bear. Linus is not to be confused with King Leonardo from “The King and Odie”—which was a better cartoon but didn’t have as cool a song. (The video here includes the opening and closing themes, but has some other segments in between.)



4.The New Casper Cartoon Show
I’ve discussed this here before, but this is not “Casper, the friendly ghost, the friendliest ghost you know” from the 1950s theatrical cartoons. This is a new song (actually two new songs, opening and closing, again both great) that was written for the television show.





3.The Mighty Hercules
“With the strength of ten ordinary men.” “Softness in his eyes, iron in his thighs.” Written and sung by Johnny Nash.



2.The Bugs Bunny Show
Also used for “The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour,” “The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show,” and possibly other combinations. What could be more rousing than “Overture, curtain, lights, this is it, our night of nights” and then the march of the cast across the stage? (For this one I had to go with a link rather than an imbedded video.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVseljx2UU

1.Underdog
“When criminals in this world appear and break the laws that they should fear and frighten all who see or hear the call goes out both far and near for Underdog!” “Speed of lightning, roar of thunder, fighting all who rob or plunder, Underdog!” Other than some well-used “oohs,” that’s all the words they needed. So concise it’s like haiku!