Which country has the best children’s theme tunes?

I am not sure why, but in the UK when I was a kid, some programs had amazing theme tunes which just isn’t the case any more.

The past 10-15 years have seen a marked lowering in kids tv quality however, so I’m not talking about a time period in particular but all programmes since the beginning of TV.

Yes this is pitting country against country but not to put down other countries but just find some hidden theme tune gems from other countries I might not have heard yet.

*You can skip the next two paragraphs - it’s just me ranting.*

Children’s programs in the past 15 years tanked in quality with crap like The Hurricanes and Captain Planet ushering in a new era of cod morality in the form of pretty and perfect do gooders, completely obscuring the reality and complexity of human existence and moral complexities into black and white moral choices. Worse still… 3d graphics *spit*.

Ironically, recent years has seen a sea change towards celebrating shitty behaviour like Horrid Henry who is a precocious little tw*t who f*cks everyone’s sh*t up for his own selfish and neurotic amusement because he can’t be bothered to try or feel empathy for his victims. OK I went off on one a bit. But I feel music themes and programing is far less adventurous and more commercial than the pre 2000's.

But here are my favourite kids UK tv themes. Sorry there are so many, I got a bit carried away.

Please enjoy and state you're country. :)

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Maid Marion | so uplifting

Poddington Peas | pure pop perfection

Dr Who | the legendary BBC stereophonic workshop - psychedelic!

Paddington Bear | smooth trad jazz

The Wombles | colliery band greatness

Grange Hill | 70’s rock!

Supergran | Billy Connelly!

Baker Grove | PJ, Duncan and 90’s cod hip-hop

Pigeon Street | nursery rhyme perfection

Rhubarb and Custard | more 70’s rock, oh yeah

Johnny Briggs | short but sweet

Count Duckula | gothic greatness

The Magic Roundabout | fairground simplicity

Danger Mouse | classic superhero theme

Bagpuss | haunting

Willo the Wisp | dainty and charming

Worzel Rummage | cheery and upbeat

Black Beauty | so majestic!

Blockbusters | triumphant!

The Adventures of Portland Bill | sea shanty perfection

Nightmare | synth action

The Trap Door | funky pop

None UK honourable mentions:

The Racoons

Inspector Gadget

Airwolf

Fragile Rock | funky goodness

Round the Twist | nice little pop song

There used to be fewer TV stations before, meaning limited space (air time) for children's programs, or any other programs, so naturally only the best quality got the chance to be on TV. And TV stations could afford top quality because their add space was much more expensive than it is today. Internet on the other has unlimited space, everyone can offer their work and practically everything is free. And free and quality usually don't go together.

@PfizersaurusRex: Yes, there were only 4 stations when I was young but programs started getting sh*tty in the late 90's so I don't think that's much of an excuse. Most of those programs were really quite cheap to produce.

Anyway, you need to post a theme tune if you want to comment on this thread. Those are the rules. :)

@jackamomo: Oh okay :)

I mean... most cartoons in my country were also in other countries so we kinda share the same theme songs but sometimes in our own languages. I don't remember many good ones XD We had the same songs you did for the Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers, Inspector Gadget and Darkwing Duck, Raccoons, the Batman cartoon and all the popular international ones.

And uhm, a fair warning: the ones that you may not have had access to are probably horrible to listen to for foreigners. And even as someone who speaks the language I think the UK ones are better. But see what you think.

I watched a lot of Sinbad de zeeman because it was a cartoon for kids that involved some darker elements like curses and people who betray the protagonist and such. It had hints of the fairytales of old. Did you guys read a lot of fairytales as a kid? Fairytales could get pretty nasty... The cartoon was a little more lighthearted, most of the time, and that was fine for me as a kid.

And Tita Tovenaar, about wizards. They taught me how to use magic. This was like almost Teletubbies level, for the very young wizards.

Hmm let me think... what else wouldn't be very well known in the rest of the world?

Maybe Pippi? I'm not going to do that to you. David de kabouter? They had trolls using opium in the first episode which cracked me up ^__^

This one was about a stupid dog but the song was always pretty fun as a kid. At some point the dog got on my nerves and I stopped watching it.

Hmm did you guys have a viking cartoon? As a little kid I loved Wickie. I loved the idea of going out pillaging villages and getting away on a ship. If you never had a viking cartoon as a kid then you kinda missed out imo.

This was a big deal back in the day. It was kind of like a music/dance competition with different elementary schools in each episode, and with live orchestra. My dad played the trumpet, but I can't recognize him on this video bcoz VHS.

Pokemon

@KungfuKitten: Wicki is awesome!

I just remembered Dogtanian (US)

...and Phileous Phogg (US)

USA, JAPAN and BRAZIL.