# Best '80s Cartoon Intro Themes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443 "2011-03-04T03:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/21 "2011-03-05T07:20:59Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Some the Yanks may not have seen > > [Ulysses 31](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ4c1X5ene8) > > [Danger Mouse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrM0E9pag8E) > > [Count Duckula](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-4Mt1bDXTg) > > [Jamie and the Magic Torch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMNG2LtF41o&feature=related) If we’re including those, then here’s [Bananaman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtMlOZe2GMM). What was the name of the 80s cartoon about underground mutants/monsters, and the humans that fought them had mech-like suits? I remember the toys of the monsters were humongous. ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/22 "2011-03-05T07:55:50Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > If we’re including those, then here’s [Bananaman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtMlOZe2GMM). > > What was the name of the 80s cartoon about underground mutants/monsters, and the humans that fought them had mech-like suits? I remember the toys of the monsters were humongous. I think it might be [Inhumanoids](http://www.retrojunk.com/tv/videos/379-inhumanoids/294/#intro). The site that clip is on, [Retro Junk](http://www.retrojunk.com/), has all kinds of themes from old cartoons and live action shows. It even has some commercials I thought I would never see again. It’s a lot of fun and kind of trippy at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/23 "2011-03-05T13:33:34Z")
[Bionic Six](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_RdPawsqgo), from all I’ve seen of it. Though I never caught it as a kid… [C.O.P.S.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxQagE62_zI), on the other hand, I _did_ watch back then. And loved. And I have to disagree with **Bosda** —in that the mere lyrics don’t really do the [intro in question justice](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok-DrfFJAgw). 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/24 "2011-03-05T18:34:26Z")
> [@Sodalite](#): > > I think it might be [Inhumanoids](http://www.retrojunk.com/tv/videos/379-inhumanoids/294/#intro). > > The site that clip is on, [Retro Junk](http://www.retrojunk.com/), has all kinds of themes from old cartoons and live action shows. It even has some commercials I thought I would never see again. It’s a lot of fun and kind of trippy at the same time. Awesome. That’s it. Those monster toys were huge. A kid in my kindergarten class had the green one with tendril arms that’s featured in the opening. It was bigger than the Star Wars rancor. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/25 "2011-03-05T19:22:36Z")
After some digging on YouTube, I found the freakiest clip. FF to the last minute: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ge-s4AnuLs&feature=youtube\_gdata\_player](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ge-s4AnuLs&feature=youtube_gdata_player) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/26 "2011-03-05T21:55:33Z")
There is only one cartoon theme song that should represent the 80’s-[_Beverly Hills Teens_.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6jPq4q6V0c) ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/27 "2011-03-05T22:19:13Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > How can you do a thread like this and not mention [Turtle Power](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paQ0wjTTrBE)? My favorite thing about the (old) TMNT theme song is that the University of Maryland band plays it during basketball games. The cheerleaders even hold up signs that say TURTLE POWER! ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/28 "2011-03-05T22:37:24Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > And I have to disagree with **Bosda** —in that the mere lyrics don’t really do the [intro in question justice](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok-DrfFJAgw). 🆒 The most awesome cartoon intro of all time. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/29 "2011-03-05T23:28:40Z")
There’s always the [Watchmen cartoon intro](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w). ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/30 "2011-03-05T23:44:21Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > The most awesome cartoon intro of all time. Seconded. The song also sounds good as an intrumental at the end of the movie. I don’t like the movie so much after the intro, but that’s another thread. I also wanted to mention Gargoyles, but a quick lookup tells me it aired in the 90s. Oh yeah… ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/31 "2011-03-06T06:28:22Z")
> [@Wolverine](#): > > The best original theme goes to [Silverhawks](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyukifAmPNo&feature=related). Love the guitar and bird screeches. HOW did I never see this as a kid? It’s like all my very favorite after school cartoon mashed up into one! > [@JThunder](#): > > The most awesome cartoon intro of all time. That actually makes me want to rent the movie. It looks way better than the one that came out a few years ago. Back in the day, I was way more into Transformers than GI Joe, and after the trauma of _that_ movie… ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/32 "2011-03-06T07:05:04Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > The long intro for [The Mysterious Cities of Gold](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbVNZ-cghz0). QFT. I still watch this one once in a while on youtube, just because it’s so ace. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/33 "2011-03-06T23:32:16Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > Does the opening to the G. I. Joe movie count? If so, that’s the clear winner. Considering it wound up being released as a miniseries instead of a movie as planned, I would say it should count. I wouldn’t pick it, but it should count. And I had no idea Ducktales was that old. I thought it was early 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/34 "2011-03-07T01:57:31Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > That actually makes me want to rent the movie. It looks way better than the one that came out a few years ago. Back in the day, I was way more into Transformers than GI Joe, and after the trauma of _that_ movie… The funny thing is, a lot of fans hate the animated movie—mostly because it takes a dive into sheer sci-fi/fantasy. Personally, though, I _always_ loved it, even as a kid. And I didn’t even get into Lovecraft until I was in my 20s. And speaking of the trauma of the Transformers movie…are we talking about the animated, or Bay version? If it’s the former, the GI Joe movie has it’s own version of that traumatic event—which was (pretty blatantly) changed in the final cut of the film, based on the bad reaction to the Transformers movie! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/35 "2011-03-07T03:00:52Z")
Yeah, I’ve read about that. Some line at the end about Duke recovering from his coma, after being pretty obviously killed earlier. The thing is, I don’t think that seeing Duke killed would have been nearly as traumatic for me. G.I. Joe had planes being shot down and buildings blowing up all the time. We never saw anyone killed (and usually saw people jump to safety before the explosion), but with all the faceless Cobra drones, it wasn’t clear that no one died off screen, and in fact, it was kind of assumed. That said, I did wonder if they were just shooting pretty lights at one another, and if so, what the point was. It was never clear to me if they were shooting bullets or laser beams, but if the latter, it seemed pretty obvious bullets would have been a better choice. I actually remember one episode where the medic character threw life preservers or something like that to the enemy soldiers ejecting from the planes that the other characters were shooting down. One of the other characters challenged him on it, and he responded that as a medic, his job was to save lives. Even as a kid, I was particularly impressed that they were implicitly acknowledging that without the help the enemy soldiers would have would have been killed, that one of the hero characters _wanted_ those people to die, and that another character on the same side had a difference of opinion about it. Pretty sophisticated for a kids’ cartoon! With Transformers, OTOH, they had supposedly been fighting the same war continuously for millions of years _with exactly the same cast of characters_. It was all but explicitly stated that the robotic characters were literally immortal. Seeing almost every single one of them get taken down in a hail of bullets was upsetting not only because of the deaths of beloved characters, but because it was so unexpected. With G.I. Joe, I might have figured it was a long time coming, but with the Transformers, it was like seeing one of Lex Luthor’s henchmen walk up to Clark Kent and kill him by shooting him in the head. _It’s not supposed to work that way!_ ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/36 "2011-03-07T06:24:54Z")
[Alvin and the Chipmunks](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c11SCz0pVtY) and this didn’t start til around 1992 but i recently rediscovered the [Disney afternoon opening.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ku7PQadlR8) a lot of the shows from the disney afternoon had great openings (ducktales counts, but darkwing duck and gargoyles didn’t air til the '90s). i didn’t think [Chip 'n Dale’s Rescue Rangers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e5q6ubDlZE) would qualify, but according to wiki it premiered in 1989. ah, memories. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/37 "2011-03-07T06:39:57Z")
also, there’s the [Smurfs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEwzYVbXfAk) and [He-Man and the Masters of the Universe](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiUrTHYVLP8&feature=related) and holy hell i’d all but forgotten about [David the Gnome](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJx8-DGgbiM) i’m going to close retrojunk out now… ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443/38 "2011-03-07T08:52:30Z")
[Battle of the Planets !!!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoO5H_UKCrw) The opening fanfare set to the rising sun still gives me a tingle up my spine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-cartoon-intro-themes/573443.md?page=1)