I’m expanding on this thread Favorite Anime Theme Song. How do I start the thread. I dunno. There doesn’t seem to be all that many good cartoons on air Saturday mornings anymore. I watch a few like “Batman Beyond” and “X-Men Evolution” but that’s it. Occasionally I catch “Men in Black” when I’m home, but the days seem to be innudated with the Pokemons and Digimons that must be wearing on the psyche of pop-culture. But none of those have any memorable music. Not during the opening theme, or in the show itself.
If you were to play the background music to many of these shows, it would be as evocative as the music you hear in elevators. Hell, even for all of their shortcomings, Hanna-Barbera has managed to have memoriable music in about 1/3 of their shows over this previous half-century.
Aside:
HB has produced about…what?..50 million cartoons over the years – many just ebing recyclings of past toons of theirs. Exactly what fundimental difference is there among “The Flintstones”, “The Jetsons”, “Roman Holidays”, and “Wait 'til Your Father Gets Home”? Actually sadly enough, I see a resemblance between “Father Gets Home” and “King of the Hill” Anyway…
Anyway I’m guessing the last good cartoon theme was the brooding theme to “Gargoyles.” If you were to just play the music, I could recognise that the show was in fact Gargoyles, and I could make a good guess as to what was happening and where.
Or also the Simpsons, since nomatter where the theme is played it will be recognized by anyone, even if they don’t own a TV or came in off of Mars, much like the Gilligan’s Island theme.
What about the Animaniacs theme? Or ANY of the 90’s WB theme songs (Tiny Toons, Pinky and the Brain) Easy to recognize, and sing along-able (OK, OK that’s probably not a real word) to boot!
What’s wrong with simply singable*? Why are we inventing words that don’t need to be invented.
I had thought about Animaniacs (A!), and the likes. I like the A! theme song better than the others, since it was more…frantic, I guess. The others I’m kind of tepid to. But had I went down that train of thought, I’d have to begin comparing the WB toons of the '90s to the Disney competition (Goof Troop, Darkwing Duck, etc.), and I didn’t want to get caught down that path of nostalgia.
I also like the opening theme music to Gunsmith Cats and the background music to Gundam Wing and Outlaw Star (it being Toonami that introduced me to each, I haven’t seen the openings. Anime purists…I know! Blasphamy. But I’m cheap.).
What’s wrong with simply singable? Why are we inventing words that don’t need to be invented.
I had thought about Animaniacs (A!), and the likes. I like the A! theme song better than the others, since it was more…frantic, I guess. The others I’m kind of tepid to. But had I went down that train of thought, I’d have to begin comparing the WB toons of the '90s to the Disney competition (Goof Troop, Darkwing Duck, etc.), and I didn’t want to get caught down that path of nostalgia.
I also like the opening theme music to Gunsmith Cats and the background music to Gundam Wing and Outlaw Star (it being Toonami that introduced me to each, I haven’t seen the openings. Anime purists…I know! Blasphamy. But I’m cheap.).
If you’re on a highway and Road Runner goes beep-beep!
Just step aside, or you might end up in heap!
Road Runner, Road Runner runs on the road all day.
Even the Coyote can’t make him change his ways.
Road Runner, that Coyote’s after you!
Road Runner, if he catches you, you’re through!
Road Runner, that Coyote’s after you!
Road Runner, if he catches you, you’re through!
That Coyote is really a crazy clown!
When will he learn that he never can slow him down?
Poor little Road Runner never bothers anyone.
Just running down the road is his idea of having fun!
It may not have any words, but Merry-Go-Round Broke Down* will probably get half the people at these boards running to a television set faster than just about anything else.
When you consider all of the call-backs and take offs, The Simpsons does a d@mn fine job.
Speed Racer was pretty forgettable, but one early Anime that had a solid (as in Gilligan’s Island solid) theme song was Kimba The White Lion, a Japanese import from the early seventies.
Although technically not animation, one show whose theme song made it into top radio airplay was Fireball XL-5:
“I wish I was a spaceman,
the fastest guy alive.
I’d zoom across the universe,
in Fireball XL-5…”
Anyone remember the singer? I think it may have been Johnny Rivers.
The Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies theme for the Warner Brothers cartoons.
Although it was over twenty years ago, I can still remember most of the lines to “Super Chicken”
from memory, so forgive any discrepancies from reality)
“When you find youself in danger,
When you’re threatened by a stranger,
When it looks like you will take alickin’
There is someone waiting
Who will hurry up and rescue you,
just call…for Super Chicken!
And if you’re afraid you’ll have to overlook it,
Because you knew the job was dangerous when you took it
He will drink his Super Sauce
And throw the bad guys for a loss
And he will bring them in alive and kickin’
There is one thing you should learn
When there is no one else to turn to
Call for Super Chicken!”
Apologies if I am posting copyrighted material, although I feel pretty confident that if there was a copyright, it has long since expired. Also, as it is from memory, I am sure I don’t have the exact wording correct.
Now if that is not memorable, I don’t know what is.
http://tsugumo.cjb.net/junk/Visionaries.wav
No one will probably remember the Visionaries (it was only like 13 episodes), but it was way ahead of it’s time…It had serious (as far as cartoons go) plots/characters, fighting, knights that could turn into animals, magical beasts and powers that could be summoned, and the voice of Cravex was the same guy that did Starscream (Chris Latta I think).
I don’t have a Transformers intro handy, but if I did I’d link that too, heh.
Gotta agree with the Freakazoid theme song… very singalongable. And Earthworm Jim too. And let’s not forget the golden oldies, like Hercules or Spider Man. All songs that could get trapped in my head for weeks at a time.
I love the instrumental music from Futurama. It’s so appropriate, somehow…
Not only the American theme of Speed Racer rocks, Speed Racer was the original Neo!! Notice the freeze-frame camera angle shift at the end of the opening credits, foreshadowing The Matrix.
I also liked Casper, Road Runner, and The Merry-Go-Round.
