4.15 /// Cartoon Themes of Our [my] Youth...

Do you ever find yourself humming a tune from a childhood show and suddenly you're transported back to the days of cereal and Saturday morning cartoons? That's the power of a great cartoon theme, and on today's episode of Infinite Prattle, I, Stephen, take you on a nostalgic journey through the soundscapes of our youth.

Remember the thrill of "The Raccoons" end titles tune? 

The electrifying "Thundercats" intro?

Well I explore how these themes forged an enduring connection to our past, imprinting on us in ways that still resonate. There's magic in those melodies, and we'll uncover just how they've woven themselves into the cultural fabric of an entire generation, potentially elevating the shows they introduced to legendary status.

Strap in for a trip down memory lane that goes beyond the tunes—it's about the heart. We'll chat about the good, the questionable, and the downright hilarious elements of our cherished shows from the '80s and '90s, like the environmental warriors of "Captain Planet" and their lopsided powers. Plus, I'll discuss the surprise revival of "Animaniacs" that I discovered (with the involvement of none other than Steven Spielberg! was this always the case?).

So, to all of you who've been part of this adventure, I extend a heartfelt thank you. Your engagement means the world to me, and as we look forward to more episodes, remember to keep the love for those childhood anthems alive—they're more than just songs; they're the echoes of our shared histories.

links to all songs used:

Run with us (end titles)-https://youtu.be/WY6MuvRY6g0?si=N61xtOdz4tyN_Rgy

Thundercats -https://youtu.be/HcGNqrAtsgg?si=UdjnELyth8PmG-bY

Jayce and the wheeled warriors-https://youtu.be/y9K0SzFIf4A?si=PyXY9HnO0FQwPLNt

Pole position -https://youtu.be/EQXqHNHPLHI?si=Z1Fx9IHDHVB_qOt2

Mask - https://youtu.be/o2Z1yLO9C-Q?feature=shared

Captain Plan

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Chapters

• 0:00 80s Kids TV Theme Nostalgia
• 11:29 Nostalgic Childhood Cartoons and Theme Songs
• 20:00 Infinite Prattle - Engage and Share

Transcript

Stephen: 0:00

Hello and welcome to Infinite Prattle. How are you? I hope you're very well. I'm very well, thank you. Just sat chilling recording some podcasts today, trying to be organised and trying to create some future ones. So yeah, today's episode is about things like this. So if you recognise this, you might want to stick around. You're listening to Infinite Prattle With your host, stephen. Thanks for joining me for unscripted, unedited everything. Thank you very much for joining me today.

Stephen: 0:48

That intro is probably a little bit misleading. The little piece of music that I played you was from a lady called Lisa Lockheed and that song is called Run With Us and it was actually used as the exit theme to a cartoon called the raccoons. Um, I've done a little bit of research. They were not a lot, so there'll be a lot of. There'll be quite a lot of um. I don't know what year that was or I'm not really sure, or I don't know. Probably should have researched this, but I've done a little bit. I've done a little bit, so you know, bear with me, but today's episode is about kids tv themes and how awesome that they used to be, because they did used to be, I think, better than recent times. There are a couple of um examples of things that were better, I would say, or not better, but on par let's say um. So yeah, that one I played you in the intro, uh, from a program called the Raccoons, and that was.

Stephen: 1:48

It was a strange show and the intro was just like a massive. It would happen on every single episode. It was like a massive exposition of setting the scene and it was basically about a group of raccoons and dogs as well, I think there was some dogs, dogs and potentially some other animals and they were kind of living in the forest and having their own little adventures. Then there was a guy in a big castle called cyril sneer and his son. He was like a weird pink, almost kind of like gonzo, but not um, like with a crooked nose and stuff, and he had son, but his son was kind of friends with the raccoons and there was like a bit of a tension there and Serial Snare, this weird creature thing, had these pigs as helpers. It was like the three little pigs. It was a bonkers set-up, like I remember like kind of what the If there was ever like they were just at war. I don't think they were. I think the raccoons were kind of like trying to live their best life and Serial Snare was just after money. Yeah, it was a bit of a weird one.

Stephen: 2:52

It was a little bit of a weird one, but I used to love it. I used to love it and the thing I used to love about it was, as with a lot of 80s and early 90s TV shows, they just had brilliant themes like. The themes were just immense and the end title, run With Us, was such a good song and Lisa Lockheed was apparently Canadian and that song, don't think, did that well for her. But it's a brilliant song. Go and listen to it. I've put the links in the description, mostly for YouTube, I think, because trying to find some of these things, trying to find the original versions on iTunes and Spotify and stuff, is difficult. So I think all the links are going to be for YouTube. So go and have a listen to them.

Stephen: 3:34

Do you remember them? I can't gain the demographic of my podcast on this. Yeah, but there was another song that used to be used in that show called Growing Up, and it was used in a lot of montage scenes. I remember it being used multiple times. It may have just been one episode that I saw multiple times, and even that that was under Lisa Lockheed's song and that was a really, really good song, but I think the end titles it wasn't her singing it. It sounded like a man to me in the end titles, or a different version of Lisa singing it. I'm pretty sure it's a guy singing it in this TV show, but that's where it came from. It came from Lisa Lockheed and another like one of my all time favourite, favourite, favourite, favourite.

Stephen: 4:21

I hope I don't get copyright struck for any of these. I'm always trying to play like short extracts of them, um, and I'm gonna link them all below. So hopefully, youtube and things will be kind to me. I don't own these. These are all copywriters of their respective owners and I'm just doing this as a review. Oh god, I need politics and bureaucracy nowadays. I, um, but I'm sure most of you will recognise this one. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. I want to play more of it, but I can't because copyright. Yeah, but Thundercats.

Stephen: 4:56

Thundercats was like an amazing TV show. I've watched it and I actually liked the reboot of it as well. I didn't mind that and it got kind of scra it and I actually like the reboot of it as well, like I didn't mind. Then he got kind of scrapped, like I actually liked the reboot, but the original was, yes, again a little bit weird and, uh, just a bit of a strange story. Um, but yeah, what a great show, what an absolutely great show. And this, this is something I actually want to be turned into a tv show or a film, like the technology they have now, you know, with face scanning. Let's not do it like cats, but like, but this could be the like, one of the most brilliant, freaking films, like with the technology they have now in computer graphics or you know, I don't even mind if it's animated, like make a Thundercats film, live or live action film, like ah, but they have to keep this song. This song is brilliant.

Stephen: 5:47

One of the main reasons kids, I think in the 80s, watched these shows because they were a bit weird was pretty much for the titles and the themes. And Thundercats is an absolute classic for me. Yeah, you can't say much more about that. I had some sets. And Thundercats is an absolute classic for me. Yeah, you can't say much more about that. I had some cassettes when I was a kid and, yeah, I just leaked a bit of the next one. Oh yeah, terrible, terrible queuing. My brother would be terribly disappointed in him being a DJ and all. But yeah, I had some of the cassettes for Thundercats and toys and I've actually got the the Lion-O sword on my wall. He put batteries in it and it'll extend and do the Thundercat call. I am five years old. Yes, I don't care Speaking of weird TV programs like weird cartoons that had you can hear my dog pattering in, I think.

Stephen: 6:47

Hello bird, are you okay? Yes, you might hear him start crying in a minute because he's in here and he can't get up on this chair that I'm sat on, so he cries at me. Bless him, his bed's on the floor, but he's enjoying the sunshine at the moment. My wife's in hospital. She's fine, don't worry. She's just had a little bit of treatment. She's feeling a bit under the weather. She's gone for a blast of IVs and she'll be out soon, but he's paddling the house looking for her. Bless his little cotton socks, as per usual.

Stephen: 7:22

But yeah, talking about like 80s children's TV cartoons that had some of the best music, but, but weird concept and I can't even remember like what this show was really about. I just remember watched it, thinking it was cool because it was like explosions and battles and stuff like that and the epic theme tune now this was program called Jason the world warriors, a little bit. To get to the actual the musical bit there's like they were like weird. Yeah, it is the main bit. I love the lyrics, but what a cracking song. They were just like. They were all like, as if you can imagine, like Rocky's montage. They were like such like motivational, kind of like ah, like tunage, like I could sit and listen to these on my. Well, I have done. I've got these on a playlist on my phone. Um, because they're just epic songs. They're just really really good. And um, yeah, and they're on tv shows.

Stephen: 8:33

And jason the wheeled warriors was a weird one because he was some sort of prince, I think, and he was a king or something. I don't know. There's some sort of royalty thing going on. I believe they were like space, like astronauts I'm really describing this terribly but they they had spaceships and shit like that. But then there was this alien race, um, I think it was like I think they're called the monster mines or the monster mines, I don't know and they were like biomechanical beings. They're called the monster mines or the monster mines, I don't know, and they were like biomechanical beings. They were like partly made of plants or something. I'll tell you what was weird, but they all fought each other in like their own machines, like cars, with weapons and stuff on, and it was just bonkers, but it was entertaining.

Stephen: 9:18

As a kid I used to be glued to it. I might actually have to watch, see if there's. I might see if there's like an episode, like on youtube or on some sort of streaming platforms, I can actually go and like listen, listen to the theme and like watch an episode to see what it actually was about. Because, like, I've not researched any of these, because I wanted to like tell you my actual impression of because if you go watch them, I and watch them, I almost don't want to watch it, just in case it's shit. That's the problem when you grow up, you go back and watch something. I did it with Mac and Me.

Stephen: 9:44

I think I've said this on a previous episode. Mac and Me was a great film when I was a kid and I thought, oh my god, that's a great film. It's like an ET film. It's an absolute, god awful movie. It's it's pants, absolute pants. It's garbage. Terrible, absolutely terrible, and I don't, I'm sorry, that was my phone ringing. It's on. Do not disturb. How the hell has my phone rang.

Stephen: 10:13

Anyway, this is going well, this episode invaded by dog dad phoning me and interrupting um, yeah, so, so, yeah, weird concept on that program, but I, I, I fear going back to watch it. It would like really ruin it for me, because would it be shit? Um, and again there's, there's another one. Uh, that again, and I used to listen to this a lot in the car when I first got my first car. But again, I can't really recall what the concept of the show was, but this one's called Pole Position and this is like so, so 80s, early 90s, they're moving real fast. They're the only ones who can get there on time. Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing. Again, I want to listen to the whole thing. It's such a good little tune and I'm hoping there's some sort of full version somewhere of that song because it ends so good. It ends so good. Let's see if I can get to the end. Oh, oh, hey-oh, so good here. Let's see if I can get to the end.

Stephen: 11:29

Um, you probably think I'm mental, but like I grew up on these shows and again it was about driving vehicles and battling vehicles and stuff, and it was like I can't even think about what it was about, really don't. A lot of them had very similar concepts where there was like some sort of family-based, like crime-fighting business, normally with a little robot helper, um, because I think jason willwaters had like a little robot helper pole position, I think had a little robot helper as well. And the next one is something I I kind of remember watching um. I'll just skip it a little bit. So this is Mask and again vehicle based, like good versus evil robot as well, turned into like a motorbike, weird Into like some sort of like what do they call them balance bike things. It turned into like one of them, really bizarre, but again, theme tune, brilliant, and mask was something it was more of something that my brother watched.

Stephen: 12:33

I was still quite young when that was on, when it first came out, at least, anyway. But I remember the theme tune and I remember the program, but I just don't remember the content again, don't remember the storylines. It was again something to do with a family of racists, I don't know, and turned crime fighters again. I have no idea. I just remember that it was a good program and it had a kick ass theme. Is there some correlation? Is there some correlation to a program like brainwashing a kid? Because it has a good theme, that is a good show because, again, I feel like if I went back and watched these shows they would not hold up.

Stephen: 13:11

I feel like, apart from thundercats I have watched thundercats as an adult and it's very, very good still, apart from from the insane laughing at the end of every episode, which I thought was weird. Anyway, they'd always tell a joke at the end of an episode of Thundercats. Generally, Normally Snarf would fuck up something or say something stupid and then they'd all go and that's how the episode would end Pretty much every time Bizarre. But yeah, like I don't know, we're going to move on to a 90s one which is Captain Planet, as you can tell. And again, even this is like funky, kind of Rocky, kind of Getting the message across, telling you what the episode's going to be about. Actually, this is probably better than some of the others, because some of the others don't really explain what's going on, like it's just a song. I think Jason Real Warriors probably does. Actually, jason Real Warriors, I think, goes through. What are the others? I'm trying to think, actually listening to the lyrics Pole Position kind of does, maybe, maybe thundercats kind of does, maybe they do. Oh see, didn't really think about this, didn't really think that.

Stephen: 14:25

Uh, question to myself through really captain planet, like great tv show actually I really enjoyed that, but again, I can't remember exactly who he fought and there was kind of some sort of evil like litter villain, I don't know, like guy that didn't care about eco-friendliness, basically um, and he was always fighting him, um, I just always thought it was a bit. I always thought, like probably like most people, that the person with heart was like the lame one. His ring power was rubbish, um, but he controlled people's minds, was it? I remember he make them love and then change the minds, or something like that. But I thought he was like the worst.

Stephen: 15:02

We used to play captain planet when I was at school and you, they all got a sign like a power. There was earth, wind, water, fire, art. No one wanted to be hard. Let's face it, like now, nowadays, in today's society, probably, with all the caring and be kind to everyone, I feel like that would be taken quite quickly. Oh, I want to be heart, let me be heart. No, I want to be fire, I want to be earth, I want to destroy stuff, but unfortunately Captain Planet has been slightly ruined for me, but not at the same time.

Stephen: 15:35

Funny or die did. You may have seen these. I've put a link again in the description. Funny or die did Captain Planet skits. Don Cheadle was playing Captain Planet and they are hilarious and they are for adults. They do have swearing and stuff in but it's absolutely hilarious. But you kind of I now can't actually see the original Captain Planet cartoon now without thinking of Don Cheadle saying I'm Captain Planet, motherfucker, hilarious, and turn everyone to trees, without thinking of Don Cheadle saying I'm Captain Planet, motherfucker because hilarious, and turn everyone to trees, tree tree. Watch it, it'll make sense.

Stephen: 16:14

But I noticed some of the day. Well, today, actually today, when I was trying to gather some of these videos together. Obviously, youtube and stuff gives you related videos and this is one of the related videos and this is something I used to watch back in the day, which I thought theme tune was was good maybe not on par with some of the ones I already spoke about, but a really good theme tune that you could sing along to and trying to get the lyrics right, and was just fun, and I noticed that it's been re rebooted. I didn't realize, but like a while ago, animaniacs and um, yeah, so that's been rebooted. Apparently, the video on on Warner Brothers Kids, which is which is what linked this video in it, was two years old, so this has been rebooted on Hulu apparently. Um, which is amazing. I didn't even know this um, but I didn't know notice in the beginning of it and I don't I haven't checked actually to see if it's on.

Stephen: 17:07

The original. Animaniacs stars in the warner brothers logo and it says animaniacs. It actually says uh, steven, presented by steven spielberg, or steven spielberg presents. Now, is that is that thing? Was that the original thing? Does he produce it like bonkers to? But I noticed they've updated the lyrics in the new Animaniacs 1. And this is the sing-along version, so go and listen to it because it's quite I like what they've done in part of it. They've kept most of the lyrics about them escaping and what they do and filling in on the backstory, but then they talk about. I'm not going to tell you. Go and listen to it. Actually, go and listen to it. I think you'll be surprised at what they thought they could get away with in an opening scene intro for a popular children's cartoon. So hats off to them, I think. Yeah, so, yeah. So that's that's.

Stephen: 18:05

That's my little rundown and you know that's not exhaustive. There's there's more and more like like cartoons out there, like there's, there's so many out there that I used to watch as a kid that had brilliant, brilliant titles. And there's also some that me and my brother used to watch when we were a bit older that we used to kind of like-take the mick out of on children's TV when we were adults, when we were 17, 18. He's a bit older than me, but we used to watch.

Stephen: 18:34

There was a program on BBC called I think it was BBC called Green Claws and it was about this ogre monster that used to like gardening and the theme tune was they used to sing songs in between it. But the theme tune for that was just so catchy and we used to sing that and just take the piss out of it. And then there was a song in that program called I think it was like I like pigs with curly tails and we used to like take the piss out of it very, very niche, like. You know what I mean, but google that green claws. I think it was called green clone. On itv there's one called wizard aura and we used to sing the title to that and it's terrible, it's absolutely terrible. It was just so catchy and, um yeah, bizarre, isn't it?

Stephen: 19:13

How, yeah, how, your childhood is brought to life by memory of, of music, and it's kind of it happens throughout life, though. I think like a song can trigger a memory from a very specific time and you can remember a year very vividly, like you can say what happened in the year 2007,. But then you go, I have no idea, but then you hear a song, go oh, that came out in the year 2007 because of xyz, and that's quite, quite interesting really, how that, how your brain links some things together. But I'm going to leave it there. So, what TV shows, what kids cartoons do you like when you were a kid and did they have an awesome 80s montage-esque kind of theme tune for them? Because I bet they did and I bet they were awesome and I bet you can't actually remember what the cartoon was about. I'm going to leave it there.

Stephen: 20:00

Thank you very much for listening. If you've got this far, please hit the like, comment, subscribe, let me know what you think and spread the word Like if you like this podcast, tell your friends. Until next time. My friends, I will speak to you soon. Thanks for listening to Infinite Brattle with your host steven. Follow me on social networks at infinite prattle and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks very much.