This is the 14th post in a series on Cartoon Theme Songs. On the occasional Thursday I examine a popular cartoon TV theme song and discuss what about it does and does not work.
The theme kind of sounds like it’s being played at a circus. Some of the instruments in the band that contribute to a circus sound are a small brass section, snare drum playing in a military pattern, glockenspiel, clarinet, and what sounds like a calliope. Group singers. Always a fan of this in a cartoon theme song. There’s a breakdown about 3/4 of the way through where the vocals stop and the calliope is still going. I’m sure it’s for an opportunity for Huck to say a catchphrase and makes sense in the context of the show, but just listening to it is kind of disorienting. The lyrics are pretty weak. On the plus side, they say the main character’s name 4 times so you can’t possibly miss it. But check out how vague this is: “It’s Huckleberry fun, it’s for everyone, You could pretty much substitute ANY cartoon character’s name for Huckleberry Hound and it would work. Some people consider Hanna-Barbera to be the downfall of animation because of the shortcuts they took to output content quickly and cheaply, known as the “limited animation” technique. Perhaps this “fill in your character’s name here” type of lyric fit well with their model, a “limited specific information” technique. Overall the theme from Huckleberry Hound gets a medium rating. Not bad, but not standout either. |
TV Theme Thursday: Huckleberry Hound18-02-2010 | 12:00:10 | No Comments
TV Theme Thursday: Josie & The Pussycats07-01-2010 | 12:00:51 | No Comments
This is the 13th post in a series on Cartoon Theme Songs. The second Thursday of each month I examine a popular cartoon TV theme song and discuss what about it does and does not work.
Although there are some elements right out of the 70s (space-age synths and the happy go lucky dream beat), overall the theme is not stuck in it’s era like some other themes have fallen victim to. As was proven in the 2001 movie, it can be pretty easily updated. |
TV Theme Thursday: Snagglepuss26-11-2009 | 12:00:52 | No Comments
This is the 12th post in a series on Cartoon Theme Songs. On the occasional Thursday I examine a popular cartoon TV theme song and discuss what about it does and does not work.
The theme has no lyrics, which I think is generally a big mistake. While it may not matter much in the moment the theme is written, once the show is off the air there’s little left of the theme to identify it with its show. To the theme’s credit, the bouncy melody is catchy. It’s also used over and over so there is no avoiding having it drilled into your head. In 25 seconds we hear the motif (which shares the same rhythm as Shave and a Haircut) 8 times. The orchestration still fits the usual Hanna-Barbera big band set up, using drum set percussion and glockenspiel to add some silly cartooniness to it. Having the melody on low brass also gives it a silly sluggish feel. I realize this post is a little shorter than most of the other theme articles, but there really isn’t much going on here. I’d rate this theme a medium minus. |
Weekly Links: 11-6-0906-11-2009 | 11:21:36 | No Comments
This is part of a regular series of “Weekly Links” postings. On most Fridays I post links to stories and articles that I find interesting. Though I try to keep them mostly animation, music, or entertainment industry related I will also share the occasional link that I find useful or helpful in other ways. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave a comment about any of the links you’ve checked out. A few new tutorials I wrote have been published at Audiotuts:
And a bunch of other fun stuff from the past few weeks:
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Weekly Links: 10-16-0916-10-2009 | 09:40:37 | No Comments
This is part of a regular series of “Weekly Links” postings. On most Fridays I post links to stories and articles that I find interesting. Though I try to keep them mostly animation, music, or entertainment industry related I will also share the occasional link that I find useful or helpful in other ways. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave a comment about any of the links you’ve checked out. Not a whole lot to report this week.
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Huckleberry Hound is yet another cartoon series from Hanna-Barbera. Not surprisingly, then, the theme is by Hoyt Curtin (who also had a hand in two themes we’ve looked at already,
The theme song from the 1970s cartoon series Josie & The Pussycats is actually not bad for an era specific theme. The theme, written by Denby Williams, Joseph Roland and Hoyt Curtin, is not good enough to be considered a classic but it does have some good things going for it.
The theme from 1959’s Snagglepuss is kind of surprising. The