7 Cartoon Theme Songs You May Have Forgotten
We grew up in a fantastic time. A wide variety of toys, cartoons, movies and music. I mean, that's the point of this site! To celebrate the great(or not so great) nostalgia. Sadly, as we get older, the memories start to fade and only our favorite memories stay with us. Everything else, just kinda falls behind. And that's just why I'm here today. To present to you some of the best cartoon theme songs you may have forgotten and left behind.
So, to start this article I present to you today, I had to really rack my head and do a lot of research. Like, the kind of research that should've made me get better grades in high school. I'm telling you the truth. Had I spent the same amount time working on my English projects as much as I did listening to the theme of Turbo Teen, I probably would've gotten to college and would be currently working for Warner Brothers writing the next installment of Lost Boys or something. But, I digress. The point of this article is to present to you the greatest theme songs you may have forgotten or just ignored. The point is NOT to highlight the cartoon itself, but to let the theme song get center stage. There's plenty of cartoons on this list that can't be considered watchable even out of irony or drunken curiosity, but the fact that the theme songs are catchy enough to end up on your iPod, is the point of my article today. And with that, we start the show!
Ewoks:
The spin-off that Star Wars fans never admit happened. While the show was garnered towards a much younger audience and had less than stellar reviews, the theme song made up for it. Sung by legendary blues artist Taj Mahal, the theme song is short, sweet and right to the point(just like the stars of the series themselves!). Have a listen to it and tell me it's not better than the series itself.
Bionic Six:
Bionic Six was essentially a family of robotic/mechanical crimefighters. The cartoon was somewhat popular enough to get a toy line by LJN with gimmcks similar to Silverhawks. If you don't remember the show don't worry. You weren't missing anything that you should lose sleep over. But the theme song really sticks in your head more than the actual show does.
Swamp Thing:
Yes, I know it's nothing more than a blatant...and I mean horribly blatant ripoff of the classic "Wild Thing", but for what it's worth, it's actually pretty catchy for a DiC series(which were notorious for their horrible theme songs). True story: my friend Ryan(who, to his credit, helped me with some of this article) and I once spent a good half an hour of a road trip playing this over and over laughing hysterically. But after that trip, the song stuck with me and I've been able to appreciate it on it's own despite it's general goofiness.
Heathcliff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFKrVTVercI
Heathcliff was given a bad hand. The cartoon was fairly popular for a while. In fact, I remember my friend in elementary school having a Heathcliff lunchbox. The problem wasn't with the cartoon itself, it just came at the wrong time. Shortly after Heathcliff's brush with greatness, Garfield and Friends came along. And everyone knows that competing with Garfield is not a wise move. After Garfield's popular show came around, Heathcliff was put in the back of everyone's mind and quickly forgotten. The theme song went with it, sadly. And it's a very catchy theme too. Kinda retro-ish and modern at the same time, it perfectly set up the adventures of everyone's (second) favorite mischievous cat! And for the record, I think it was better than the Garfield theme song.
Kidd Video:
Live action and cartoon, Kidd Video told the brave story of a bunch of young musicians living in a alternate world. I really don't know how to put it any other way. In some parts of the world, the cast actually did go on tour and preform concerts. While an actual soundtrack was released and many, many songs appeared in every episode, the theme to Kidd Video will stick to you like gum on your shoe. Specifically the keyboard that would bring even Jason Gross to tears.
C.O.W-boys of Moo Mesa
C.O.W-Boys of Moo Mesa came out at a time when every cartoon and toyline had to be in the same vein as Ninja Turtles. And it wasn't the worst attempt. In fact, the toys were pretty cool. The cartoon was not however. It just seemed rather slow and kinda dull at times. The theme song was pretty catchy, though. I've always liked country music and it has a country-rock like feel. And the opening animation wasn't bad either. I'd say out of this entire list, this one may be my personal favorite.
Police Academy The Series
The perfect ending to this article. This great site was built upon a solid foundation of retro movies, toys, music and cartoons. Well, roll all of that together and I give you this...the theme song to Police Academy: The Animated Series, as sung by THE FAT BOYS. I don't even need to continue with this entry. Anything I write beyond this will just detract from the awesome of this theme song.
Just remember that watching the Police Academy cartoon will result in a massive headache. Just stick to the opening theme and you'll be fine.
7 songs to cartoons you may have pushed out of your head that are not really all that bad. Can't judge a book by it's cover, and you definitely can't judge a cartoon solely on a theme song. And these songs are proof.
-Chad
