Car-tunes!

As a child, whenever we became hyped up on the latest sugar-coated cereal craze, most parents were relieved that our hopped-up selves were outside playing freeze tag. Whenever we became a housed menace though, they were mercifully spared as we were entranced by our precious cartoons.

Nowadays, you will seldom find any 20-something "adult" who will concede that today's cartoons are of the same quality as the ones we used to watch.

So, let's take a walk down Nostalgia Lane, shall we? Ever wondered what the contributors to Cerebral Pop's favorite old cartoon themes are? No, of course you haven't. But here they are. With the themes included. Enjoy!
Chris - Yasai.Taichou

"Growing up, I could never totally relate to Hey Arnold! Its characters are universal, sure; but many of its themes are distinct to inner-city life. Growing up in the suburbs, I never had to convert an abandoned lot between two apartment complexes into a baseball field just to have a place to play, or lead a massive mobilization to shut off all the city's lights just to be able to see Haley's comet soar overhead. It was cool, but not relevant to me until adulthood.

This theme song is exactly the same. As a kid, I wasn't drawn to the music because of its quality. But I am now. It's a piece grounded in real bebop with a hint of contemporary smooth jazz, and it sounds fantastic. Also, it fits the inner-city setting so well. It took me years to come back to this song after acquainting myself with jazz music, and I was shocked at its greatness when I did."



J. Cosmo Cohen

I was never the cool kid, which is why, I think, Doug was such a great show for me. Doug was an artist, writer, under-cover superhero (kinda), geek, nerd, had a dog, music devotee, and was always chasing a super-hot, tan blonde that was just out of reach. Yep, I loved Doug. And what makes a great show even better, of course, is a great intro. Luckily, Doug had that, too. He was his own creation, and was even able to erase his arch-nemesis! Behold, the meta intro that was Doug:



Kyle - Aliar

The soft melody of the Babar theme song marked every early morning of my childhood. I think it was on at 6 or 7am for an hour. Rather than watching a TV show I felt like I was personally being read a story. If I had a kid I would want to share this show with it. Strong, good morals always prevailed over the greedy Rataxus. It reminds me of being warm on my babysitters couch and waiting to be told I have to go to school. It was always followed by Inspector Gadget. Then Tin-Tin, but I never got to watch that one. School time.



Aside from Babar was always Rupert.

Another storybook-like cartoon, every episode was like an adventure to another world. Well, every episode WAS an adventure to another world, but an adventure I felt like I was on too. I remember dragons and magicians and inventors. This might be a huge piece of what has created the reality I grew up on. I still beleive that there is always one more hill to walk over, and over that hill is going to be one more thing I've never seen before.



Tom Heistuman

I don't know anybody who DIDN'T love the Batman Animated Series when they were younger. It was definitely a mainstay in my household and the theme song was one that my brother and I always let play when watching our taped episodes and the dvd collection later in life. Danny Elfman is known for his atmospheric scores and it shows in the 1 minute intro. It has excitement, wonder and mystery all tied together in 60 little seconds. A theme song is supposed to set the tone for the show you're about to watch and this is one of the best. OF ALL TIME.



Alex Cronk-Young

What's with all of you people choosing primarily instrumental theme songs? I don't know about you, but I used to jump around and sing along to my favorite cartoon show themes. So, in that mind, it was tough to choose between two shows that I still constantly sing out loud in my car when I'm bored; Darkwing Duck and Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers. Ultimately, I'm going with Rescue Rangers. Why? Because their NES game was better. Odd way to choose, but it made the decision easier.



Josh Lobster
The NES game for Rescue Rangers was superb. I still remember beating that fat bastard of cat at the end. Anywho, my choice for would be the theme song to "The Ren and Stimpy Show." Fans of these two cherish their crazy antics, such as being rubber nipple salesman or for conning their way as dalmations in order to work for their local fire station. Their detailed close-ups of people's faces were both gorgeous and disgusting. What better way to compliment all this mayhem than with and equally bombastic and fantastic jazzy theme song?