The 10 Best 80s Cartoon Theme Songs

Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks1

As a child of the 80s, I grew up with slap bracelets, pogo balls, and of course, the Nintendo Entertainment System.  Still, nothing kept my little heart ticking like cartoons.  I’m not too familiar with what’s popular now as far as cartoons go (Dora the Explorer?), but watching 1980s cartoons was the closest my pre-pubescent self got to an orgasm.  Aside from the slick animation and great stories, it was the theme songs that made cartoons so enjoyable.  Here are, in my opinion, the 10 best cartoon theme songs from the 1980s.  These aren’t in any particular order, but I’m sure some moron will comment that [insert 80s cartoon here] should be #1.

1.  The Smurfs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqbpzEHuO2g

My girlfriend likes this song so much that she insists I play it whenever we smurf.

2. Inspector Gadget

Wowsers!  I can hardly type this sentence right now because I can’t sit still to this song.  If the DJ played this at a club, I’d dash over to the first girl I saw and ask her to dance, and with a little luck, inspect her gadget.  I’ve still never seen one in real life. *tear*

3. Ducktales

“Life is like a hurricane.”  This theme is one that everyone knows, and the tune is irresistibly catchy.  It’s the Herpes Simplex of cartoon theme songs.

4. Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers

It’s not nearly as catchy as the Ducktales theme, but the theme to Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers is pretty friggin good.  Plus Gadget is a total babe.

5. Alvin & The Chipmunks

From one set of chipmunks to another, this theme is terrific.  I love Alvin spelling out C-H-I-P-M-U-N-K in this song, blazing a trail for future emcees like Snoop D-O-double-G, U-S-H-E-R-R-A-Y-M-O-N-D, and countless others.

6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Kick. Ass. It’s impressive enough to create a jingle consisting of “teenage mutant ninja turtles” that doesn’t suck, but this theme song is actually really good.  I especially like the like the line, “Donatello does machines.”  Is that a reference to the Sybian?  Do you know what I’m talking about?  No?  Prude.

7. Muppet Babies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ju75XsCO4o

What’s long and green and smells like Miss Piggy?

Kermit’s finger.

8. Jem and the Holograms

If I could have sex with one song, it’d be the theme song to Jem, and the part where the Misfits sing is where I’d stick my penis.

9. Gummi Bears

Honestly, this may be the greatest cartoon theme song of all time.  If I knew this song would be played at my funeral, I’d die with a smile on my face.

10. M.A.S.K.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5C0G9Ol7_Q

No, not the movie with Cher and the deformed kid, silly.

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102 Comments

  1. What about The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers?

    No Guts, No Glory,
    No Pain, No Gain,
    All for one, One for All
    Riders on the range!

    All with a driving rock beat & guitar in stereo no less!

    I can still hear it today.

  2. @ Lauren

    Frustrated? At times. Please believe, I am a deviant.

    @ Don, ericdano

    Good call. Catchy tune, I’m just a bigger fan of the ten I listed. Totally just a matter of taste.

  3. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that got mixed up with M.A.S.K. I still remember my disappointment when my mom came home with a movie rental. I was so excited, as I didn’t know they made a MASK movie. I than was excited it was live action, until 20 minutes in I realized there was not going to be any flying cars…=(

    Btw thanks, totally forgot about muppet babies!

  4. @ Woj

    No, standard Internet porn works just fine for me. I prefer flesh to cartoons, thanks. Have fun with girls getting raped by tentacles or whatever the hell you’re into.

  5. Ditto with the Gummi Bears and Talespin, tracks on the MP3.

    Dont forget Ulysses 31 to go with Mysterious Cities of Gold.

    And, for those who want an entire Album of great animations tunes, look for Evergreen Nights, Lisa Lougheed.

    The Raccoons.

    Run with us, weve got everything you need,
    run with us, we are free.

    Yes Daisy, the full 4 minute version does exist.

  6. Great list!

    When I was a kid in the 80s, I absolutely had to make the beginning of a show/cartoon to hear the theme song.

    If i didnt catch the theme, i’d get pretty dissapointed LOL… catchy theme songs are a thing of the past now.

  7. “These aren’t in any particular order, but I’m sure some moron will comment that [insert 80s cartoon here] should be #1. ”

    I think there were quite a few morons from the comments!

  8. @ Tug

    Yeah, I dig Talespin, but it was a 90s show. Had to check on all of these; didn’t want to post something from outside the decade. We’re cool.

    @ Angelica

    Indeed. Happens every time, without fail.

    Thanks for reading!

  9. Great list. Were it mine, I would have to add Darkwing Duck! And the second Jem theme, too.

    Ah, but the Gummi Bears theme has me hunting for dvds. I loved that show. Playing that clip i realised that I still remembered every word of the song! It always put a smile on my face.

  10. Everyone reading this article must remember Trap Door as well!

    I was just about to say Bucky O Hare, but that was 1991. But still worth a mention to all of those who remember 🙂

  11. !!! Great List !!!

    I would have found a way to slide in “Darkwing Duck” but that may not have come out until the 90s!

    Gummi Bears is indeed the best!! I still remember all the words!

    I actually won a fridge magnet once for knowing the lyrics to that song! I guess useless knowledge isn’t always so useless! LOL!

  12. Thank GOD you put Jem on there! It was one of my favourite cartoons when I was growing up! Except no one agrees with me that it’s a good theme song.

    Gummi Bears was also one of my favourites. But listening to it now, the guy singing it sounds like Josh Groban.

    I’m surprised that Darkwing Duck and Talespin aren’t up there, though!

  13. DARKWING DUCK and TINY TOONS, BABY!

    though you nailed duck tales, teenage mutant ninja turtles, and chip ‘n’ dale.

    and has anybody heard recent cartoon theme songs? they suck nowadays! f*** you, spongebob!

  14. I know a lot of people are bashing you for not including this or that, but I just wanted to say thank you for taking me back to my childhood for a few sweet moments. The funny thing is that while I don’t remember watching a bunch of those shows, somehow I was able to sing along fairly accurately to all of their theme songs. Cool!

  15. Lone Star

    “In a distant time… and far away place, the planet New Texas floats deep in space.
    Sky of three suns, land of precious ore, the Carium Rush brought outlaws by the score!”

  16. “My girlfriend likes this song so much that she insists I play it whenever we smurf.”

    I think she is just traumatized that you are 30 years older then her.

  17. The 80’s was arguably the worst decade in TV cartoon history. Not one of these heaving piles of art has had any longevity. Why? Because it was all network homogenized crap. The growth of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network was fed by allowing animators do what they do best.The main title songs of 80’s cartoons are a perfect example of how bad it was. It is like making a list of the best 4 door american cars from the 70’s. To equate them with orgasms makes me feel sorry for anyone that has an intimate relation with you. Slick animation and great stories? Unbelievable.

  18. Second Rodney’s call of Ulyses 31:
    http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=fgJ4qYP44Rk
    listen to that synth! wait for the breakdown at 1:30.

    also, Battle of the Planets:
    http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=FoO5H_UKCrw
    still gives me goosebumps!

    and, of course, the most criminal oversight:
    http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=zspGKUk9mE0

    you cannot listen to that without having it stuck in your head for days. i lived in japan for 2 years teaching english and during one of the kids classes i took, while everyone was colouring one of the kids started humming the astro boy theme song (it’s the same tune in japanese). one of the other kids joined in with them, without even looking up or seemingly realising they were doing it, and then one after another other kids started joining in, heads still down and engrossed in their crayons. i just sat there watching them, goosebumps on my arms and a huge smile on my face. i couldn’t take it anymore and started singing along with them, and after a stunned second the entire class burst into song, finishing with a huge cheer and falling on the floor laughing. its one of my fondest memories of my stay there.

  19. I love all of those! Except I have no idea what M.A.S.K. is. And yes, commentors, Fraggle Rock’s theme song is totally awesome, but it’s not a cartoon. These are the best 80’s CARTOON theme songs.

  20. @ Oakenshield

    There’s no Voltron because the theme song sucked. The show was great, but there was nothing memorabe about the theme song.

    @ souljaboi

    I don’t really give a sht when commenters try to come after me, but at least be funny. Or make sense. My girlfriend is traumatized that I am 30 years older than her, so she insists I play the Smurfs theme when we bang? That’s your joke, dude. It’s not funny, it makes no sense whatsoever, but you took the time to post it and show everyone what a moron you are. There is no connection between my comment and your joke, so please, enlighten me.

    @ coffio

    Thanks for the history lesson. Unlike yourself, lots of us can enjoy catchy theme songs from the 80s instead of harboring bittnerness and resentment caked under layers of self-loathing. Get a grip.

    @ megan

    Glad you enjoyed the article. Thanks for reading!

  21. OMG!! I want the Gummi Bears song at my funeral to– suddenly dieing doesn’t seem so bad!

    Thanks for the lack of Voltron or Transformers- I LOVED both shows but their opening song doesn’t stick in my head.

    And as far as the 80’s cartoons being the best– coffio – they were. Sure Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network come up with some decent stuff..but its mostly all the same. Same formula, same art styles, same mission to sell products. And you really thinking they are really all that different from the ‘crap’ back then? There isn’t a damn item out there that you can’t buy with a spongebob on it. And everyone is so afraid of their cartoon offending someone or of being to violent..cartoons are NEUTERED compared to what they were. I mean you can’t even find a bugs bunny, GI joe, an old Transformers cartoon on tv anymore. The only place were animators can have the freedom of which you speak in on Adultswim.

  22. Epic List – You and I must be the same age cause this is the exact same list I would have created. Great work!

    Muppet babies with Starwars and Indy – I completely forgot about those cuts.

    And yes, Gadget was totally hot.

  23. One more thing…I’m going directly to Ebay to see if I can get my hands on some M.A.S.K toys… when I saw the red sports car’s gullwing doors and engines light up – I almost died.

    Does anyone remember the cartoon/toys that had little magnets on their feet – I know I can google it, but this damn post has me all nostalgic now.

  24. Great job going through all the theme songs and picking these out of the pile of junk that also was around at the time, (cough my little pony).

    on a side note:
    I do have to dissagree about Voltron there wasn’t a lot but just that quick 10 seconds of music was all it took to get me running in the direction of the TV.

    Thanks again, Now I am off to the web to find a source for some of the great memories and share them will my little one.

  25. makes me happy but at the same time it makes me want to cry too! i loved all these cartoons when i was a kid, and now that i have kids of my own, and i see the crap they watch… makes me want to call up the disney channel and demand they put retro cartoons on! way before political correctness, and ‘not trying to offend anyone’ back when cartoons were awesome to watch by everyone in the family! i wish these cartoons would come back.

  26. what the….. How did you arrive at this list of 10? Except for Gummi Bears (to a degree), I don’t agree with the rest. Japanese animated cartoons featured brilliant theme songs in English. For me, the top two 80s cartoon theme songs were the theme songs of The Mysterious Cities of Gold and Grimm Fairy Tales Classics. These songs are independently beautiful and though I’m near 30 now, I still love those tunes!

  27. this UK site has a rundown on a lot of the shows mentioned here plus a few that may not have been aired in the US. hope u like

    http://www.80scartoons.co.uk/

    also for the Fraggle Rock lovers, dl the theme tune here (right ckick on the mp3 link and click ‘save link as’). you’ll find a few more theme tunes here as well with a bit of searching (including the full version of Run With Us from The Racoons which is surprisingly rockin’)

    http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=4859915&song=Fraggle+Rock

    nice list Madison

  28. Yeah……………these bring back so many great memories. Nostalgia is kicking my ass right now cause I am really about to cry LOL 🙁 🙂 THE 80’S ROCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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