Cartoon Theme Songs Archives - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

Stop the Pigeon!

Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines was one of those cartoons built around one simple idea that somehow worked every time: stop the pigeon.

The show came from Hanna-Barbera in 1969 and brought back Dick Dastardly and Muttley from Wacky Races. This time, they were part of the Vulture Squadron, flying ridiculous contraptions and trying every week to catch Yankee Doodle Pigeon.

Of course, they never did.

The real star was Muttley. That wheezy little laugh was funnier than half the script, and his constant demand for medals made him even better. Dastardly would scheme, Muttley would snicker, the plane would fall apart, and the pigeon would fly away.

Looking back, most of us probably weren’t rooting for the pigeon. We were watching for Dastardly to lose his temper, Muttley to laugh, and that theme song to get stuck in our heads all over again.

Stop the pigeon, stop the pigeon!

Speed Racer: Our First Taste of Anime Before We Knew the Word

Speed Racer was one of those cartoons that felt different the second it came on. The theme song hit, the Mach 5 took off, and suddenly we were watching cliffs, crashes, secret buttons, masked racers, gangsters, and more danger than most Saturday morning cartoons dared to show.

The show began in Japan as Mach GoGoGo in 1967 before becoming Speed Racer for American audiences. Most of us didn’t know we were watching anime back then. We just knew it didn’t feel like Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, or the usual superhero cartoons.

Compared to American cartoons of the time, Speed Racer was faster, stranger, and more dramatic. There were revenge plots, family secrets, real danger, and Racer X lurking around like something out of a spy movie. The animation could be limited, but the style made up for it with speed lines, dramatic close-ups, wild crashes, and that nonstop rapid-fire dialogue.

And of course, there was the Mach 5. What kid didn’t want a car with buttons that could jump, saw through trees, go underwater, and somehow survive every impossible race?

Looking back, Speed Racer was a lot of kids’ first introduction to anime, even if we didn’t have that word yet. It was loud, weird, exciting, and unforgettable.

Go-Go-Gophers… Another Theme To Get Stuck In Your Head!

To this day, over 50 years later, most of us can still remember that chorus… “Go-Go Gophers!” You don’t even have to try. It just shows up. I’ll be rushing around doing something and boom… there it is playing in my head like it never left.

And listening to it now, with adult ears? I’ve gotta be honest… I’m kind of amazed this actually aired even back then. But that was the times. Different world, different standards. Still, no question about it… it sticks with you.

This was one of the most requested clips this week, so I figured I’d hold onto it for Saturday morning… feels like the right place for it.

“George, George, George…” — Why This Theme Still Lives in Our Heads….

How many of you can still sing “George, George, George of the Jungle… watch out for that tree!” without missing a beat? It’s funny how certain TV themes stay locked in our brains word for word, even decades later. There’s a reason for that. Songs like this were simple, repetitive, and told a story. They weren’t just background music, they explained the show, used humor, and stuck to a rhythm that was easy to remember. Once it got in your head, it never really left.

That’s exactly what made George of the Jungle so memorable. Produced by Jay Ward Productions, the cartoon was a playful parody of jungle adventure heroes, but it was the execution that made it timeless. The show leaned into slapstick comedy, with George swinging confidently through the jungle… usually straight into a tree.

The theme song, written and performed by Sheldon Allman, is a perfect example of why these tunes stick. It narrates the premise, delivers the punchlines, and sets the tone all in under a minute. You didn’t just hear it, you learned it.

And that was the magic of 60s television. Before binge-watching and skipping intros, the theme song was part of the experience. Shows like George of the Jungle made sure you knew exactly what you were about to watch, and made it catchy enough that you’d remember it for the rest of your life.