The Case of Our Top 5 Cartoon Network Theme Songs

You won’t believe this because of our youthful vigor and unabashed optimism, but we are now entering our 5th year of podcasting! So as we jump right into 2023, we decided to focus on a topic from our childhoods: cartoons! More specifically, Cartoon Network!

This week, we took a look at Cartoon Network’s animation over the last 30 years, and we decided that choosing our favorites would basically be impossible. So instead, we decided to rank our top 5 favorite theme songs from Cartoon Network shows.

First, we narrowed the field by excluding any shows that were produced for other networks before arriving on Cartoon Network. This means that you won’t hear us singing about any “Modern Stone-Age Families” today. We also decided against choosing shows from Cartoon Network’s adult programming, Adult Swim. Then, we listened to song after song and tried to keep our fondness for the shows themselves from clouding our musical judgment.

So let’s turn out the lights, grab our favorite blankets, and flip on the TV; it’s time for our top 5 favorite Cartoon Network theme songs!

A Brief History

Before we launch into our ranking, let’s talk about Cartoon Network and how it came to be. We won’t be doing a very deep dive into the history of the network, but if you’re hungry for more history, Youtuber Saberspark has an incredible video about this topic! Here’s the link to it, for your viewing pleasure!
In 1986, American businessman and media mogul Ted Turner purchased MGM/UA, the company that was home to many classic films of Hollywood’s golden age, as well as theatrical cartoons. Almost immediately after the purchase, he had to sell MGM/UA back to its former owners while keeping a significant piece of their library. (If this sounds familiar, it’s because we just mentioned it in our Christmas Story episode. This is how TBS has been able to play the film for 24 hours straight every Christmas.)

Turner now owned the rights to thousands of cartoons from Warner Brothers and MGM, including classic shorts featuring characters like Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry.

In 1991, Turner added to his massive library of animation when he purchased Hanna-Barbera, a well-known animation studio that created classic characters like The Flintstones and Scooby Doo. With thousands of hours of classic cartoons at his disposal, it only made sense to create a network where viewers could tune in any time of day and see their favorite animated shows.

Turner appointed Betty Cohen to be the founding president of the new network. Using her expertise in branding and previous experience in children’s entertainment, Cohen worked to make Cartoon Network the most creative animation brand in television.
On October 1st, 1992, The Cartoon Network was born (though it would eventually drop the “the.”) Initially, they relied on their huge catalog of cartoon favorites to bring in audiences. But, they didn’t just let their content speak for itself. Turner was able to advertise the channel on other networks that he owned. And Cohen, true to her mission, spearheaded wacky ad campaigns that featured silly bumpers and hilarious spins on already-existing content.

Their classic cartoon lineup was immensely popular. In the summer of 1993, Cartoon Network became the number-one watched channel during their inaugural “June Bugs” programming. This was a day-long marathon of Bugs Bunny cartoons.
It wasn’t long before Cartoon Network was producing its own content, showing viewers that they had more to offer than pre-existing cartoons. First, there were stand-alone series like The Moxy Show and Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
Cartoon Network decided to use its pre-existing audience as a testing ground for new content to see what shows would work on the Network. In January 1995, World-Premiere Cartoons (AKA What-A-Cartoon) premiered. This programming block allowed fresh artists the money and creative freedom to create high-quality shorts. Several of these experimental shorts went on to become some of the most beloved Cartoon Network shows of all time. Some of them will even be mentioned today!

Top 5

5. Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends

Starting off the list is a show that ran on Cartoon Network from 2004 to 2009. It takes place in a world where childhood imaginary friends are real and have a physical form. Once they are outgrown, they are relocated to the titular foster home, where they stay until they are adopted by a new child. The home is run by its founder, the elderly Madame Foster, along with her rabbit imaginary friend Mr. Herriman, and her granddaughter Frankie.
The main character is Mac, an eight-year-old boy who is told by his mother that he is too old to have an imaginary friend. Although he isn’t ready to say goodbye, Mac brings his friend Bloo to Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. However, if Bloo lives there, he could be adopted by someone else! Mac makes a deal with Frankie, Mr. Herriman, and Madame Foster, asking them to guard Bloo against adoption so long as he visits every day.
The series was created by animator Craig McCracken, who is also known for creating The Powerpuff Girls. He came up with the idea for the series after adopting two dogs from an animal shelter. He then adapted the concept of pet adoption to that of imaginary friends. When McCracken pitched the show to Cartoon Network, he said it was like Pokemon as if it took place in the real world. In an interview with Boston.com, McCracken said that he was inspired by The Muppet Show and that he was not surprised by Foster's adult fan base. When creating the series he thought of his own childhood, and how his family enjoyed watching "The Muppet Show" together. He wanted to make a show that was universal for all ages.
Who wrote the theme song?

The music for the intro was composed by James L. Venable, a prolific American composer known for creating Hybrid Orchestral music. He has scored other Cartoon Network shows as well as several movies like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The tune was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music in 2005, and the score won a 2005 Annie Award! This was Venable's third award for achievement in music for an animated series. Additional music was composed by Venable and Jennifer Kes Remington.

4. Dexter’s Lab!

Our number 4 choice was actually the first Cartoon born from the What-A-Cartoon line-up and was a favorite of CN president Betty Cohen.

Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, Dexter’s Lab aired in 1996 and ran until 2003 with 4 seasons. The show consisted of three short 7-minute segments or two 11-minute segments.

The show centers around two siblings, Dexter and his “annoying” sister Dee Dee. Dexter is an enthusiastic boy genius with a secret laboratory, and Dee Dee is his older sister and the only person in his family aware that the lab exists. The two have opposite personalities and character designs, Dexter being short and round, while Dee Dee is tall and thin. Dexter’s Lab chronicles the title character’s adventures, including his run-ins with his archnemesis, Mandark.

The inspiration for Dexter’s Lab came from a drawing that Genndy Tartakovsky sketched while studying at CalArts. The image featured a tall, thin ballerina next to a short, blocky boy. After many re-designs, the characters Dexter and his ballerina-shoe-wearing sister Dee Dee were born.
Tartakovsky and writer/director Craig McCraken understood how rare it was for them to have creative control over an animated show. They had both worked on previous productions and had a difficult time getting their own ideas to the screen. So, they seized the opportunity to pack as much visual storytelling and cartoon madness into each episode as if it were their last.
There was so much visual storytelling, that the storyboards served as scripts and the showrunners would do everything they could to avoid dialogue when they could show the audience the story instead. The writers and animators drew from filmmakers like Sam Raimi, The Coen Brothers, and Sergio Leone. The pace of animation and editing would change based on the emotional gravity of a scene and worked seamlessly with the show’s soundtrack to communicate what was happening on screen. The show also employed limited animation like classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Because of this, when something moved, the audience had an easier time paying attention.

Because of its unique style, Dexter’s Lab relied heavily on strong musical compositions.

The theme song was written and composed by Thomas Chase and Steve Rucker. The intro to the show does an incredible job of showing the audience what’s to come. There is no dialogue and the action is paired with a mischievous orchestral arrangement, complete with a choir and sound effects.
Chase and Rucker did such a great job scoring Dexter’s Lab that they were even nominated for an Annie award for Best Individual Achievement: Music in a TV Production in 1997!

3. Samurai Jack!

Just after wrapping up his successful series Dexter’s Lab, Genndy Tartakovsky developed a whole new show: a fantasy adventure that followed a Samarai that had been thrown through a wormhole into the future.

Samurai Jack Premiered in 2001 and ended in 2004. In 2017 it was brought on Adult Swim for a fifth and final season.
Samurai Jack tells the story of a young prince in feudal Japan. His father, the emperor, was gifted with a magical katana that allowed him to defeat an evil shapeshifting demon named Aku. The show begins with Aku’s escape, and the treacherous spirit takes the emperor and throws the kingdom into chaos. The young prince then travels the world, training for the day that he could take up the katana and defeat Aku. Once his training is complete, the prince-turned-samurai nearly destroys his enemy. But, Aku remains one step ahead and casts him into a wormhole. The samurai is now stuck in a post-apocalyptic future and must find a way back to the past so he can defeat Aku once and for all.

Tartakovsky built on his childhood fascination with samurai culture for the premise of Samurai Jack. The creator has also said that he drew inspiration from his own recurring dreams that took place on a post-apocalyptic Earth, and featured him fighting off mutants with a samurai sword.

One of Samurai Jack’s biggest influences is Frank Miller’s Ronin, a comic book limited series from the 1980s. It shares some of the story’s elements, though the Samurai Jack version is far more suitable for children.

Like Dexter’s Lab, Samurai Jack focused more on visual storytelling than on written dialogue. The first episode of the show famously featured 8 whole minutes of silence–something almost unheard-of in American TV. It was a critical and commercial success and is still considered to be one of the most poignant and creative cartoons in the network’s history.
The opening theme for Samurai Jack juxtaposes classic narration with an upbeat and modern song. It perfectly captures the disconnect between Jack’s own time and the one he must live in.

The theme was composed by Will.I.Am. and George Pajon, two artists from The Black Eyed Peas. James L Venable composed the score for the show.
The theme does not appear in the show until the second episode. This is mainly due to the fact that the first episode sets up the entire premise of the show and the intro for the episodes following is essentially a reminder of what happened in the pilot.
An intro sets the stage with the villain Aku narrating. After he is done narrating, it launches into the music. This is how they did it for the first four seasons but when it returned for the fifth and final season on Adult Swim, they switched to having Samurai Jack narrate the beginning before the music. When the fifth season came out, the gentleman who voiced Aku, Mako, had passed away.

2. The Powerpuff Girls!

Another graduate from the What-A-Cartoon programming, The Powerpuff Girls premiered on Cartoon Network in 1998 and ran for six seasons until 2004. The show chronicles the adventures of The Powerpuff Girls, three kindergarten-age superheroes that were created in a lab. According to the intro, they contain sugar, spice, everything nice, and an accidental dose of chemical X.
The Powerpuff Girls was created by Craig McCracken. The animator has loved superheroes since childhood, and two of his biggest influences for this show were the 1960s Batman TV series starring Adam West, and Underdog.
The show started its life as an animated short called The Whoopass Stew starring the Whoopass Girls. In this iteration, the girls were made with a can of Whoopass instead of Chemical X. Craig McCracken created it as a student project during his time at CalArts.

The assignment was to produce an animated short, and he knew that he wanted to make something superhero related. One day he was doodling in his notebook when he came up with Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, the titular Powerpuff Girls. Once he decided that they would be the heroes of his short, the world of The Powerpuff Girls was born.

McCracken was working at Hanna-Barbera when Cartoon Network bought the studio. CN executives told the animators that they were looking for new content, and McCracken pitched his short to the network. The name was changed (because you can’t say Whoopass on a children’s network) and soon Powerpuff Girls shorts began airing on World Premiere Cartoons (AKA What-A-Cartoon.)

McCracken’s second short didn't do well with a test audience composed of 11-year-old boys; and according to McCracken, they were saying, ''This is stupid, little girls can’t be heroes." However, Cartoon Network executive Mike Lazzo believed the show still had potential and allowed McCracken to produce one more Powerpuff Girls short titled "Crime 101", which aired on What a Cartoon! And was finally fully produced and aired on Cartoon Network primetime.
The shorts were a hit! After seeing them air on What a Cartoon, viewers would ask the Network when they would give The Powerpuff Girls their own show. The Network delivered, and McCracken got the news in 1997 that he would get to run his own cartoon.

Who wrote the theme song?

Like many of the songs on this list, The Powerpuff Girls' theme song doesn’t have any lyrics. The show opens with an epic 1960s-Esque narration by Tom Kenny, telling the origin story of the titular characters. This is followed by an upbeat and playful theme that combines elements that sound both childish and intense–like the Powerpuff Girls themselves.
Thomas Chase, Steve Rucker, and James L. Venable composed the theme music. We’ve already mentioned all three of these men earlier in the episode, which makes sense because they are no strangers to composing animation. You’ve heard their music in projects like Codename Kids Next Door, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, ChalkZone, and more.

1. Teen Titans!

Created by Glen Murakami, David Slack, and Sam Register, Teen Titans premiered in July 2003 and ended in 2006 with 5 seasons. It was a critical and commercial success and is still considered to be one of the best original cartoons to premiere on the network. The show inspired a movie and a less-acclaimed animated follow-up called Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans is based primarily on stories by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez from the 1980s. The original 1960s Teen Titans were more like a junior Justice League in that it featured all the teen characters and sidekicks of the main superheroes.

Wolfman and Perez took over Teen Titans in the 1980s when the future creators of the Teen Titans animated show were reading the comics. That’s why the show more closely resembles their run, which introduced characters like Raven and Cyborg. Wolfman and Perez updated the stories by eliminating any adult supervision and they made sure the stories were character-driven instead of conflict-driven. They explained this by saying “we were never drawing costumed characters, we were drawing characters in costumes.”

Marv Wolfman worked with the writers as they developed Teen Titans. The animated version of the stories focuses far more on the characters as friends that truly care about each other, while the comic book was more melodramatic.
The five main members of the team are Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. They live together in Titans Tower, a large T-shaped building just offshore from Jump City. These five teenagers team up and take down various threats to the city all while facing the struggles of adolescence.

Robin is the team leader and the only character that doesn’t have powers. He relies on his intelligence, leadership, martial arts training, and gadgets to fight. Starfire is a princess from another planet that fell to Earth and was rescued by the Titans. She is bursting with positive energy and is the polar opposite of Raven. Raven is a powerful empath in control of a soul self. She must reign in her emotions at all times to contain that soul and keep it from causing destruction. Cyborg was a talented athlete until an accident almost destroyed his body. Now he’s half man, half machine, and joined the Titans because they treat him like a person and not a freak. Beast Boy is the jokester of the group. He is the only member that loves his powers and thoroughly enjoys being a superhero.

Who wrote the theme song?

The Teen Titans theme song is one of the most iconic parts of the show. It’s a delightful spin on classic superhero themes and draws inspiration from the 1960s Batman theme song.
Sam Register discovered the Japanese pop band Puffy Ami Yumi while listening to the radio. After attending one of their live shows, Cartoon Network made an offer to the band, asking them to sing the theme song. Composer Andy Sturmer had already written the lyrics to the song, but Puffy Ami Yumi wrote a Japanese version of the song. According to the band, the theme song in Japanese was only meant for American audiences and was intended to spark interest in learning the Japanese language. Andy Sturmer composed theme music for cartoons like We Bare Bears and various versions of Scooby Doo.

When we set out to rank our favorite Cartoon Network theme songs, we didn’t realize what a daunting task that would be. We made a huge list of shows and watched all the theme songs, ranking them on a scale of 1 to 10.

It was pretty clear to us that Cartoon Network, especially in the late 90s and early to mid-2000s, was the perfect place for a wacky, interesting, and exciting theme song. During that time period, this network was letting its animators experiment and come up with strange and wonderful content. So, it only made sense that the theme songs matched that energy. We believe that’s why we will be singing their praises for years to come.

Honorable Mentions

Mucha Lucha
Adventure Time
Codename: Kids Next Door
We Bare Bears
Ed, Edd n Eddy
Chowder
Camp Lazlo
Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
Gumball
Johnny Bravo
Cow and Chicken
Courage the Cowardly Dog

Sources:

Film History, Podcast, Cartoon NetworkBlack C. DiariesJanuary 16, 2023Ted Turner, Cartoon Network, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Dexter's Lab, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, Teen Titans!