Top 10 Hanna-Barbera Theme Songs

Hello again my fellow cartoon lovers. I am sure many of you like me have a special fondness for the theme songs for Hanna-Barbera TV shows. These songs are really catchy and simply set you up to watch a fun cartoon. Often times even if you haven't watched these shows in a while you still know the theme songs off the top of your head. Because of this I will count down my top 10 favorite theme songs to come from this studio. These are just my personal picks and may not be what you would pick. Also this is my ranking of the theme songs and not of the TV shows themselves. So get yourself a bowl of Kellogg's cereal and enjoy.

10. Johnny Bravo This is the only show from after the 1970's on this list. However I can't help but include it. This uses 1950's and 60's style rock music which complements the show perfectly because of Johnny's Elvis Presley like persona. This fun music gets you completely pumped to watch the show and therefore works perfectly as a theme song.

  

9. Josie and the Pussycats As a show about a rock band it is natural that this should have a great theme song and boy does it. The song (written by the great Hoyt Curtain) is one of the more corny theme songs here, but it is more than fun enough to make up for it.

8. Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles This very underrated show expertly blending the action hero cartoon with the classic comedy cartoon. This creates a pure sense of complete fun. Ok maybe if we were to fully critical analyze this show it would not be one of the best Hanna-Barbera shows, but there is so much fun energy here that it is a must see for all Hanna-Barbera fans. To fit this the show needs a very fun theme song and as always Hoyt Curtain provided perfectly. This song is catchy and will stick in your head.

7. The Jetsons While this show could have so easily been just The Flintstones in space, it made itself a delightful show in its own right. Even if it wouldn't always have the same amount of laughs as the stone age classic, it more than make up for this with great characters and a engaging setting. The theme song is definitely a huge plus for this show. This is one of the few animated TV shows to have a trumpet solo in its theme song (provided by Pete Condoli).

6. Jonny Quest While Hoyt Curtain is mostly known for theme song that are fun to sing along with he was just as adapt at making a very catchy and fun instrumental theme song. This is an epic sounding theme and is a perfect introduction to Hanna-Barbera's first action adventure show.




 














5. The Huckleberry Hound Show With the second show out of the studio, one of there best theme songs out of the game. Huckleberry Hound was one of the studio's best and most fun shows introducing Yogi Bear, Pixie, Dixie, Mr. Jinx and of course the Hound himself. The theme song set up this fun perfectly and is extremely entertaining.

4. Top Cat Top Cat is one of my favorite TV shows, Hanna-Barbera or not. It is a very smart cartoon, with very well written characters and a great atmosphere. That atmosphere is very well set up by just the theme song, which is one of the very few Hoyt Curtain theme songs to use strings.

3.The Magilla Gorilla Show If you never got this song stuck in your head you never watched the show. This song is catchy, upbeat and all together fun. Simply Hoyt Curtain's work at his best. By the way the line "He's really ideal" was a reference to the show's sponsor Ideal Toys.
   

2. The Flintstones One of the studio's best and most groundbreaking shows also had one of its best theme songs. For the first two seasons a little instrumental tune called Rise and Shine was used as the show's theme. In the third season's third episode Barney the Invisible the theme we all know was first used. Written by Hoyt Curtain and preformed by a group known as the Skip Jacks, this is a fantastic song. Joseph Barbera liked to tell the story of how he paid a man to sing all the lyrics of the song in the elevator and the man got every word correct. He would describe this as the best money he ever spent.

  

1. The Quick Draw McGraw Show For pure laughs this is possible the studio's best show. This was mostly due to clever and laugh out loud funny scripts written by Looney Tunes writer Michael Maltase (who wrote every episode of this great show). As well as this though this show has my favorite Hanna-Barbera theme song. It is extremely catchy, upbeat and tons of fun. It fits the show it precedes perfectly. Just a pure delight.

If there are any you would have included that I left out don't be afraid to leave a comment, or make your own list. Thanks for reading and peace, love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland