(Kid Rhino)
Fifty theme songs, spanning sixty years of animated fun, are the focus of this Toon Tunes, from Kid Rhino.
The definitive collection of cartoon classics, this collection sounds like a "Who's Who" of the the hall of fame of cartoons. There probably isn't a soul in the country who hasn't watched "Popeye", "Tom & Jerry", "Woody Woodpecker" (appearing in its full length form) and "Mighty Mouse". Continuing on through the late 50s and early 60s, four songs from the vastly popular "Rocky and Bullwinkle" show appear - the theme, "Dudley Do-Right", "Fractured Fairy Tales" and "Peabody's Improbable History" - highlight the third decade of cartoons.
Each theme also includes a little blurb besides its entry. For example, can you name the show which had only 24 episodes produced from 1962-1984, before another 51 episodes were produced for syndication? The answer appears later in this column.
For the people who have only seen Schoolhouse Rock (represented here with possibly its most famous song, "Conjunction Junction") in repeats, 90s themes such as "The Simpsons", "Animaniacs", and "Rugrats" may get multiple repeats on the disc player.
With so many themes across the ages - many of which are classics and familiar to everyone - there is slight room to quibble. "Wacky Races" fails to show up on here, but the spinoff from that series (Dick Dastardly & Muttley, "Stop That Pigeon"), does.
Oh, the answer to that trivia question is the Jetsons. Funny, as a youngster, I never realised there were so few episodes produced. And, although targeted for the youngsters on the Kid Rhino label, Toon Tunes is really for the child inside all of us.
