Just to clarify how I ranked them, it was obviously all done by preference but I based it on the quality of the song as well of the visuals to go with it. So some here have mediocre songs with great video or vice versa. Also each show only got one intro so there's no Pokemon 10 times. Onto the list!
60. The Tick
This jazzy tune with action sound effects was pretty much the standard at the time however if you mix that with the hilarious visuals it does a good job of painting what the tick series is about.
59. Marvin The Tap Dancing Horse
This is mostly here for nostalgia. This was one of my go-to kids shows when I was home from school and I couldn't tell you why. The intro song is like an ear worm even if it's not good but I randomly get it stuck in my head so here we are.
58. Codename: Kids Next Door
Here's another that is a basic track however you know the show is spy based simply by the tune and the intro silently introduces our five kids and you get a bit of their personality which is essential in a good intro.
57. Digimon
Thank god for the impressive visuals displayed here as otherwise Digimon would not have made this list. The theme song is repetitive and really quite annoying at a time when anime adaptations were starting to write their own strong themes, Digimon missed the boat.
56. Ned's Newt
Another ear wormy song to a forgotten show (seriously did you remember this show existed?) Ned's Newt tells the story in it's theme which I like although I think it's mostly since they were still shopping the pilot since the only footage used is from the 1st episode but it's still solid.
55. Knights Of The Zodiac
Great song, pretty good visuals for the time. So why is it ranked so low? Well they simply licensed Bowling For Soup's I Ran to use as a theme. It has nothing to do with the visuals. Therefore it's poor intro storytelling. The 2 good pieces combined don't equal a good product.
54. Johnny Bravo
Anyone that has never seen Johnny Bravo needs only to watch the intro to know all you need to about his character. That being said this is kind of the opposite of the above where the sum tells us what we need to but the parts on their own aren't great. But you may still do the monkey with me.
53. Inspector Gadget
Alright I know I'm gonna catch a lot of flack for this one but it's just repetitive and the visuals don't give us much other than a display of his gadgets which does hook us on the premise but they show us Penny and Brain but we don't get the sense of how crucial they are to the operation.
52. What's With Andy?
I really don't have anything negative to say about this one. The song is good. The visuals are good. The storytelling is there I guess it's just that none of it is great?
51. Muppet Babies
I had a hard time deciding between this version and the newest incarnation but nostalgia won out. I love that the used real stock footage in the visuals with the cartoon Muppet babies since it's all about make believe and that's what you believe as a kid. The song could use some work though.
50. Sabrina: The Animated Series
This is a pop banger of a track and the visuals push along the magical element but they focused entirely on Sabrina. Not that I blame them since when this show was out Sabrina was a well known commodity but not anymore (at least in this iteration) so some other character focus would be nice.
49. My Gym Partner's A Monkey
Good storytelling, not bad visuals but the song is a little repetitive though I know why they did it since that's generally the part of the song I randomly belt out as once again, it's a freakin' earworm.
48. X-Men: The Animated Series
Another of our orchestral pieces comes in here. I'll be honest I'm not a big fan of the show or the music but for not having words it has quite a bit of storytelling introducing us to the characters and their personality.
47. The Smurfs
That La-La-La-La-La can not be escaped and the orchestral piece is nice but there's no real story telling here other than the smurfs are good guys and Gargamel is bad. Of course this show was stupidly popular so clearly it didn't need it but maybe now they'd welcome it for new viewers.
46. Rave Master
As you might have been able to tell I'm not a fan of narration in the intro but Rave Master gets a pass since it's short though since the rest of the song is singing the plot line I can't help but wonder what it would be if they just sung it all. This would probably be higher if they did.
45. Fantastic 4
This 90's iteration of Marvel's First Family has a very corny intro overall but you can't do much better storytelling than this and the visuals are solid given what was generally coming out at that time.
44. CatDog
I love this show so much it's a shame they couldn't do a better intro. The song and visuals are good but not great. The storytelling is there for Dog but Cat's personality doesn't shine through in the intro. If Nickelodeon ever decides to do a remake hopefully they do better.
43. Goof Troop
I actually had to scroll up, I'm shocked this is the first Disney show on our list. Disney was so good from the early 90's onwards I expected it to be sprinkled in throughout. Goof Troop was great storytelling but I wished they made material just for the theme instead of cuts from the show.
42. Stickin' Around
Talk about a deep dive. Obviously with this one we have to grade visuals on a curve since it's literally a show about stick figures but really they don't do anything wrong here it's just that the song could be better to push it into great territory.
41. Arthur
Yet another iconic opening I'm going to get flack for. But here's my issues: We get no personality of anyone but Arthur and DW. We see his friends and Francine does a pop-a-wheelie so that's something but we don't get that Brain is all intelligent, Buster is his best friend, etc.
40. Spider-Man
I'm going with the 60's version here. All the 90's kids are prepping their pitch forks but I have enough guitar driven music on this list and I wanted to go with the classic and the words that are permanently stuck in my head and has been referenced thousands of times over in popular culture.
39. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Alright I'm cheating a little bit since this show had live action sequences that were definitely more memorable than the cartoon ones but the intro and show is mostly cartoon. The song is great and the visuals are hilarious. Storytelling is lacking but Mario was so massive here there was no need.
38. Shaman King
The Shaman King intro gives us solid storytelling and the visuals are definitely top tier for the animes at the time. I don't love the song but it's solid enough. It was an interesting choice since at the time most animes were going with a pop punk leaning song (see higher on this list).
37. Transformers: Animated
I went with the 2007 Transformers cartoon. It updated the very 80's sounding song for a modern audience while adding sound effects that work. The song is legendary, the storytelling is there introducing us to all the robots in disguise but the visuals are pretty plain.
36. The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show
Yet another one with a popular song. The Looney Tunes went through a few different shows where they showed their old shorts and used the "This Is It" song but this is the one I grew up with. The visuals yet again hold this back as 40 seconds are of Bugs and Daffy dancing.
35. Medabots
The Medabots music is good though I do wish there was more lyrics though I'm thankful it doesn't just keep repeating the "It's time to battle" reprise. We get a great visual of a bunch of the robots used in the show and the battles and get a good look at most characters but not much storytelling.
34. Mummies Alive!
I had actually almost completely forgot about this show when doing research but thank god it popped up on Youtube recommendations. The visuals are great, the storytelling is done through the songs lyrics and the song itself isn't bad. I also loved the equptian vibe they gave it while keeping it rock.
33. Recess
This show actually broke my ranking system. The way I was doing it would've left this in the 50's because the song is really dumb (I get why they did it) but the visual storytelling was so strong I decided to give it it's own part in the system to rank where I saw fit and that's right here.
32. Kirby: Right Back At Ya!
I'll admit the lyrics are repetitive, but they work so well with the jazzy tune. The other part I love about the song is they have a spoken word bit they do in melody and rhyme and it's awesome. The visuals are strong as well as the storytelling but it could definitely be improved.
31. Earthworm Jim
This closes off the back half of our list. The tune is very basic but the lyrics and visuals combine to make for excellent storytelling. We also meet a good variety of Jim's friends and enemies and get an idea of their personality from the into as well.
30. Teen Titans
Rejoice people I used this version of Teen Titans and not the much better song from Teen Titans Go! Alright I lost everyone that was rejoicing. Anyways Teen Titans visuals are great, the noire/comic hybrid is excellent and we learn enough about the Titans even if the song could use some work.
29. Pinky And The Brain
The song is legendary and the visuals gets the story across with the help of the songs lyrics explaining how each episode goes. Also kudos to The X-Files parody title card. The only thing that could be improved is if they used new footage for the opening instead of a bunch of show cuts.
28. Sailor Moon
If I'm being honest, I expected this to be much lower but I could not ignore the strong original visuals along with the good storytelling even if the song could use a lot of work. Though I do understand it was simply a sign of the times.
27. The Mask
Chaos. This intro is pure chaos. The visuals (mostly cut from the show) and storytelling is all over the place. The song fires off quickly and doesn't slow up until the end title card sequence. So why is it so high? Well that intro perfectly captures the chaotic energy that The Mask brings with it.
26. Dragonball Z
Try to act surprised when I state this is the US "Rock The Dragon" version and not the Japanese or Canadian snoozefest version. The visuals remain the same as the Canadian version I grew up with but the heavy guitar in the US version positively embraces the shows tone.
25. The Simpsons
Long running comedy The Simpsons broke into the top 25 here and if we're being honest it could've been done simply on Elfman's score. Add in the couch gag and the chalkboard and we have all the elements of a classic. Extra points given to showing the whole family's personality (except Marge).
24. Monster Rancher
The lyrics tell the story in this intro but the visuals pair with it so wonderfully even if it's cuts from the show. The song is interesting as it's part techno, part rap, part pop with a little bit of rock melody for good measure. There's definitely something for everyone in this theme song.
23. Ozzy & Drix
Spun out of the feature film Osmosis Jones, the TV series was criminally underrated and got cancelled after only 2 half seasons. But if it was under appreciated it was not because of the extremely catchy theme with strong storytelling through the lyrics.
22. Flying Rhino Junior High
This song is very catchy. The lyrics once again tell the story and we get the visual representation of those lyrics. We get the personality of the secondary characters, but not of the lead kids. Near the end we start to see a few tidbits but not all.
21. Cardcaptors
Cardcaptors of the clow expect the unexpected now! The song is great and tells a story with the visuals aiding it nicely. That being said like Monster Rancher above it loses points for simply using cuts from the show with the exception of the card visuals.
20. All Grown Up!
Ah the pop-punk themes of the early to mid 00's the golden age for intro songs as far as I'm concerned. All Grown Up tells the story of the Rugrats babies, you guessed it, all grown up! The intro gives us the characters and their personality on the title card but not much else. But the song is A tier.
19. Tom & Jerry Kids
This title sequence is a little misleading as it is a play on the classic Tom & Jerry cartoon but in Kids the titular characters mostly get along. That being said the intro shows us literally every character used in the cartoon and has that bubblegum pop tune that we can't shake.
18. Beyblade
My #18 selection has arguably the best song of any anime, however like many of it's time it's simply cut over with snipets from the show. That being said Beyblade does convey it's premise of battling tops with beasts unleashing along with the colourful cast of characters comprised within.
17. The Adventures Of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius
Like most shows of well known properties it's hard to do a proper title sequence since you mostly assume the audience knows the property, and that's basically what happens here. However the song is great and drives the narrative while showing Jimmy and pals in action, adventure and comedy.
16. Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Just missing our top 25% is this anime with yet another pop-punk infused song. The original Yu-Gi-Oh has a memorable intro if not a little lame in the tune. GX also has the song tell us about the storyline while using a better intro video that shows us exactly who to root for and who to boo.
15. Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers
Realistically the fact that Chip 'N Dale looked like Indiana Jones and Magnum P.I. should've been all Disney needed to give us so that we know what the show is about however they gave us an adventure packed intro with an earworm of a song to boot.
14. Undergrads
Yes, the fact Good Charlotte wrote the theme song weighed heavily on the making of this list but because I'm doing it about intros the fact that outside of the use of pictures at the beginning everything else was clips but we get to know our characters and their personality.
13. Batman: The Animated Series
It'a dark, it's bruiting and it has a haunting score. Batman: TAS is the rare occasion where if any one of it's parts were used with a different counterpart it would be bad. Can you imagine this intro video with the 60's Batman tune or vice versa? Barf.
12. Kim Possible
Kim Possible has excellent story telling in it's theme. At this time Disney was mostly doing TV on their own properties so with Kim Possible they decided they needed a catchy pop banger of a tune to pair with action packed visuals that appealed to girls and boys equally that gives all the info needed.
11. What's New Scooby-Doo?
You expected the original intro? This iteration has an intro sung by Simple Plan. Meanwhile it keeps the spirit of the originals visuals while updating it for a modern audience and unlike other instances where intros rely on your known knowledge, this showcases Mystery Inc's personalities.
10. Phineas & Ferb
Bowling For Soup claims their second spot on this list with this theme song. Like Kim Possible above, Disney made sure the intro told us all we needed and as an added bonus it had a sequence not using cut scenes. Oh and the "Mom... They're making a title sequence" is just genius.
9. Being Ian
It's perfectly understandable if you don't remember this Canadian animated series about a teenaged wannabe filmaker however the intro has a pop punk banger of a tune (3rd in a row on this list) along with visuals that tell you all you need to know about our titular character.
8. Ducktales
You know whenever you hit Ducktales on a list like this you're basically at the point where all the intros are excellent and it's slight differences of opinions that determine the ranking. I went with the modern Ducktales opening as I like the upgrades they made to the art and the song.
7. Tiny Toon Adventures
Amblin TV were at the top of their game in the 90's but for whatever reason come 2000 they had nothing on the air until 2007 and never had anything of note to me. That being said they had a knack for amazing intros as they placed 2 shows in the top 7!
6. Fairly Odd Parents
All original video content in the video, a catchy song that you can sing for days it seems combined with fine storytelling intertwining the two to give you the plot to this Nick show all in the under 60 second intro.
5. Pokemon: The Johto Journeys
Bring on the hate! I know Indigo has that iconic theme everyone knows. But I will not apologize for Johto not only having the better song, but also the better visuals (including some original intro content) and introduces us to all the new Pokemon we'll find in the Johto area.
4. Darkwing Duck
I have it on good authority that while watching Darkwing Duck on Disney+ if you hit the skip intro button Biggie Smalls shows up and kicks you in the balls. The golden goose of Disney intros, Darkwing gives us excellent everything, and yet there are still 3 ranked higher than it.
3. Sonic X
Nothing captures the spirit of Sonic the Hedgehog better than the opening to this early 00's series. Not only does it have great visuals that give us the essence of Sonic but it also has a gem of a pop-punk tune as the intro song that coined his now catchphrase "Gotta Go Fast"
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Now this is iconic. TMNT have had many different series over the years but nothing quite compares to the original. At the time the comic was little known and written for teens so the TV show was the launchpad to sell toys so it conveyed everything you needed to know about our heroes through song.
1. Animaniacs
Only time will tell if we'll get a better intro than this Amblin classic and fingers crossed that the upcoming reboot uses the same idea but updates it for a modern audience (seriously who knows what pay for play contracts are anymore?). But this is a God tier opening nonetheless.
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