The theme song is a very specific art. To embody all aspects of a particular show while attempting to create something monumentally iconic and catchy all within a very small amount of time takes a very specific skill set. And for a cartoon, to marry a catchy melody with just the right kind of lyrics — they have to be catchy and easily singable, they have to be evocative and attention grabbing — takes an even greater amount of skill. A lot of cartoons can do a good instrumental theme, but it takes a very special cartoon to have a great instrumental with equally good lyrics.
So let’s do the impossible and go for a top seven cartoon themes!
Why seven? Why not five or ten? I have no idea.
These are in no order, but are the seven themes that excel at every criteria for a good theme song: catchy music, show-encapsulating lyrics, and that “it” factor.
Flintstones
Flintstone . . . meet the Flintsones . . . and so forth. There are people who may have never seen an episode of the Flintstones who can probably sing the entire Flintstones theme song, much like there are people who have never seen the Minnow know that the mighty ship was tossed. If you hear it once, you know it for the rest of your life, and you know the entire premise of the show, you know where it takes place (in the . . . town of Bedrock). The theme to the Jetsons is equally catchy, but the Flintstones did it first, and did it best. When a cartoon theme song can permeate pop culture as deeply as this one, you know you’ve made a winner.
Scooby Doo . . . Where are You?
This song oozes every ounce of its late-’60s early-’70s time period. If a song could wear bell-bottom pants, this one would. Haunted houses and bats and creepy creatures and zombies. You know we’ve got a mystery to solve so Scooby Doo be ready for your act.
If not for those meddlesome kids indeed.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe had one of the most hummable and sing-alongable cartoon theme songs of the ’80s. The catchy iconicness is tied only with Transformers. And like the Transformers, when the Joes got upgraded to a full-fledged movie, their theme song got a significant kick in the pants. But the GI Joe: the Movie theme song and all of it’s menacing awesomeness would never have been possible without the initial foundation to build from.
M.A.S.K.
M-M-M-MASK! While the theme song to the M.A.S.K. cartoon may not be as memorable or as inexorably tied to a property as the G.I. Joe or Transformers theme song, there’s no denying its driving, pulsing pull, as brash and cocky as can be. Somehow this theme manages to swagger and rock out like few themes did.
Transformers
That robotic sounding voice, that synthesizer, that sweet, sweet taste of memory. So good as a cartoon theme, even better run through a wall full of Marshall stacks. When the ordinary theme goes through the metal grinder it gets turned into a loud, mean, and wailing mass of awesome. Either way, this is a killer piece of music, and nothing fits the subject matter of transforming robots better.
Spider-Man (1967)
Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. It’s such a simple song, but there are probably pygmies living on a completely isolated island deep in the middle of the ocean whose nights are lit by firelight and have no idea such a thing as electricity exists that can sing along to this one. It has transcended time and space.
Ducktales
ooOOoo! Our top seven is rounded out by . . . snurfle . . . an odd duck. Hahahahahaharumph. Ducktales is admittedly an odd choice for this list. I considered something like the Pinky and the Brain theme or Animaniacs or maybe another classic one from the sixties . . . but I can’t deny the power of this theme song. It fits every criteria for a good theme and then adds that unforgettable “Ducktales . . . ooOOoo.” That is as catchy as it gets. Entertaining show plus perfectly matched theme song means it makes the list without question.
That’s my seven. Got any better choices? What’s your favorite cartoon theme song? Leave a comment and let us know your own choices.