Ryan Leach : Music for Animation

This is the 9th 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.

I’ll be the first to admit that, being that I was four years old when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first aired in 1987, I’m a but biased towards this theme. But nostalgia aside, it really does have a lot of great things going for it.

• There’s a catchy hook on the name of the show (which they say twelve times!)
• A simple but clear explanation of the basic story (“They’re the world’s most fearsome fighting team”) and who the main characters are (They completely define each turtle in only a few words. “Raphael is cool but rude, Michelangelo is a party dude”)
• They use multiple singers, which I think always helps. A different twist for the other themes we’ve looked at so far, there are sections of the song that are sung solo, with the backup singers only giving support. This is pretty typical of an 80s theme; Ducktales and Chip n Dale do the same thing.
• They begin and end with a catchphrase “Heroes in a half-shell, turtle power!”)

The only drawback is the style, which the elecronic drums, electric guitars, and synths all really scream 80s. Again, I might be biased, but I don’t think that hurts this theme as much as it could because the song is so functionally and catchy.