Top 10 TV cartoon theme songs

Updated on May 28, 2022

(An updated version of this post is available here.)

Yes, I suppose this was inevitable. After all those decade-by-decade posts, here’s one that names my choices for the top 10 TV cartoon theme songs of all time. The choices are drawn from each decade’s top 10 theme songs.

I limited my choices to Western animation, as I’m not as knowledgeable about anime.

For the top 10 theme songs by decade:

• 1960s
• 1970s
• 1980s
• 1990s
• 2000s
• 2010s

The top 10 TV cartoon theme songs

• Rocky and His Friends/The Bullwinkle Show
• The Flintstones
• Spider-Man (1960s series)
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
• The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show
• DuckTales
• The Simpsons
• Batman: The Animated Series
• Animaniacs
• SpongeBob SquarePants

I’ve included the above songs in a YouTube playlist below. Note I just included “The Bullwinkle Show”‘s theme for the sake of brevity, though I did like “Rocky””s as well.

Honorable mentions

• Jonny Quest
• Yogi Bear
• George of the Jungle
• The Jetsons
• Josie and the Pussycats
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Tiny Toon Adventures
• Pinky and the Brain
• The Powerpuff Girls
• Garfield and Friends

What are your all-time favorite cartoon theme songs?

Image from “The Simpsons.” (Fox)

(Updated 3/11/17)