Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Alright, we’ve done the 60s, the 70s, and the 80s… But we’ve still got another decade to cover. On this latest episode of Professor of Rock, we’re counting down the most iconic cartoon theme songs from the 90s. And you’re not going to believe some of these stories. In the 90s, it seemed like the biggest rock stars were lining up to get in on the cartoon action… From Aerosmith to Devo to Michael Jackson to Danny Elfman, and maybe even Nirvana… so many of your favorite cartoon tracks featured top-of-the-chart hit-makers, and you may not even be aware of it! There’s the story of how Kurt Cobain pitched a demo for The Ren and Stimpy Show, one of the most unhinged cartoons of all time. But the show’s creator kicked him out and tossed it in the trash. Weeks later, he would regret it when the band became the biggest in the world. Also, another famous musician, Joe Perry, shredded a radioactive guitar track to replace one of the most iconic cartoon themes ever… And it may be even better than the original. And what about X-Men: The Animated Series, that ripped off Whitney Houston and a Hungarian kung-fu cop show? Or how Danny Elfman made tens of millions for singing three syllables on The Simpsons. Let’s do it.
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Executive Producer
Brandon Fugal
Honorary Producers
Kimberley Rumburg, Brent Gephart, Glenn Beardmore, Jennifer Selvidge, Carl Curcuruto, Thomas Williams
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Subscribe to the Professor of Rock Podcast
Apple: apple.co/445fVov
Spotify: spoti.fi/42JpfvU
Amazon: amzn.to/44b5D6m
iHeartRadio: bit.ly/444h8MO
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Patreon: bit.ly/ProfessorofRockVIPFan
Merch Store: professor-of-rock-lsn-shop.fourthwall.com
Instagram: bit.ly/Instagram_Professor_of_Rock
#classicrock #rock #vinylstory #rockmusic
Hey Music Junkies Professor of Rock always here to celebrate the Greatest artists and the greatest songs of all-time. If you ever had Spaghetti-os for dinner, you’ll dig this channel of deep musical nostalgia. Make sure you are subscribed, and make sure to like, comment, and share this so we can keep the channel going. Alright, we're gonna count down the greatest cartoon themes of the 90s and to start this thing off, I’ve got a couple of Nickelodeon classics. So their first three shows and their theme songs were all a part of a major Nickelodeon pivot in the early 90s. All three premiered back to back to back in a 90 minute block in August 1991, launching the network’s new “Nicktoons” brand. Before this, Nickelodeon was primarily focused on acquiring reruns of older cartoons or producing live-action series like Double Dare and You Can’t Do That on Television.
Nickelodeon president Geraldine Laybourne green-lit these three specific pilots in a massive gamble to see if the network could produce its own "creator-driven" animation. And the gamble paid off. Nicktoons was an overwhelming success, and throughout the 90s, a slew of other shows would follow, including Rocko’s Modern Life, Hey Arnold!, Angry Beavers, Wild Thorberrys, and of course by the end of the decade, SpongeBob Squarepants. Today, there are more than 60 Nicktoons in all. So which three shows kicked it all off? Well, one was Doug. Do you remember this theme song? Well, it comes in at our honorable mention… Relying on "mouth-made" organic sounds rather than orchestras or synthesizers, the Doug theme was meant to be a little weird and also just kind of fun. Songwriters Fred Newman and Dan Sawyer improvised the track in a small New York studio, using finger snaps and vocal pops.
So coming in at #7, it’s the theme song for the second original Nicktoon: Rugrats. So the idea for this cartoon was born from a single question. While developing the idea, co-creator Arlene Klasky asked herself: "If babies could talk, what would they say?” Honestly, she probably could have answered that question if she’d watched Look Who’s Talking a couple years earlier in 1989. Bruce Willis pretty much spelled it all out. But hey, I guess inner baby monologue was just a thing back then. Rugrats had its roots in Arlene and Gabor's work on the early seasons of The Simpsons. Fresh off that experience, Nickelodeon hit them up looking for a concept with a similar irreverent energy, except aimed at kids. Inspired by their own children, Klasky’s characters viewed the world through a low-angle, imaginative lens. The show followed Tommy, Chucky, Phil, Lil, and Tommy’s spoiled cousin Angelica through the adventurous world of toddler life. I don’t know that anyone could have predicted Rugrats success and appeal. The show ran for 9 seasons from 1991 to 2004, spawning
Alright, we’ve done the 60s, the 70s, and the 80s… But we’ve still got another decade to cover. On this latest episode of Professor of Rock, we’re counting down the most iconic cartoon theme songs from the 90s. And you’re not going to believe some of these stories. In the 90s, it seemed like the biggest rock stars were lining up to get in on the cartoon action… From Aerosmith to Devo to Michael Jackson to Danny Elfman, and maybe even Nirvana… so many of your favorite cartoon tracks featured top-of-the-chart hit-makers, and you may not even be aware of it! There’s the story of how Kurt Cobain pitched a demo for The Ren and Stimpy Show, one of the most unhinged cartoons of all time. But the show’s creator kicked him out and tossed it in the trash. Weeks later, he would regret it when the band became the biggest in the world. Also, another famous musician, Joe Perry, shredded a radioactive guitar track to replace one of the most iconic cartoon themes ever… And it may be even better than the original. And what about X-Men: The Animated Series, that ripped off Whitney Houston and a Hungarian kung-fu cop show? Or how Danny Elfman made tens of millions for singing three syllables on The Simpsons. Let’s do it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Producer
Brandon Fugal
Honorary Producers
Kimberley Rumburg, Brent Gephart, Glenn Beardmore, Jennifer Selvidge, Carl Curcuruto, Thomas Williams
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to the Professor of Rock Podcast
Apple: apple.co/445fVov
Spotify: spoti.fi/42JpfvU
Amazon: amzn.to/44b5D6m
iHeartRadio: bit.ly/444h8MO
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patreon: bit.ly/ProfessorofRockVIPFan
Merch Store: professor-of-rock-lsn-shop.fourthwall.com
Instagram: bit.ly/Instagram_Professor_of_Rock
#classicrock #rock #vinylstory #rockmusic
Hey Music Junkies Professor of Rock always here to celebrate the Greatest artists and the greatest songs of all-time. If you ever had Spaghetti-os for dinner, you’ll dig this channel of deep musical nostalgia. Make sure you are subscribed, and make sure to like, comment, and share this so we can keep the channel going. Alright, we're gonna count down the greatest cartoon themes of the 90s and to start this thing off, I’ve got a couple of Nickelodeon classics. So their first three shows and their theme songs were all a part of a major Nickelodeon pivot in the early 90s. All three premiered back to back to back in a 90 minute block in August 1991, launching the network’s new “Nicktoons” brand. Before this, Nickelodeon was primarily focused on acquiring reruns of older cartoons or producing live-action series like Double Dare and You Can’t Do That on Television.
Nickelodeon president Geraldine Laybourne green-lit these three specific pilots in a massive gamble to see if the network could produce its own "creator-driven" animation. And the gamble paid off. Nicktoons was an overwhelming success, and throughout the 90s, a slew of other shows would follow, including Rocko’s Modern Life, Hey Arnold!, Angry Beavers, Wild Thorberrys, and of course by the end of the decade, SpongeBob Squarepants. Today, there are more than 60 Nicktoons in all. So which three shows kicked it all off? Well, one was Doug. Do you remember this theme song? Well, it comes in at our honorable mention… Relying on "mouth-made" organic sounds rather than orchestras or synthesizers, the Doug theme was meant to be a little weird and also just kind of fun. Songwriters Fred Newman and Dan Sawyer improvised the track in a small New York studio, using finger snaps and vocal pops.
So coming in at #7, it’s the theme song for the second original Nicktoon: Rugrats. So the idea for this cartoon was born from a single question. While developing the idea, co-creator Arlene Klasky asked herself: "If babies could talk, what would they say?” Honestly, she probably could have answered that question if she’d watched Look Who’s Talking a couple years earlier in 1989. Bruce Willis pretty much spelled it all out. But hey, I guess inner baby monologue was just a thing back then. Rugrats had its roots in Arlene and Gabor's work on the early seasons of The Simpsons. Fresh off that experience, Nickelodeon hit them up looking for a concept with a similar irreverent energy, except aimed at kids. Inspired by their own children, Klasky’s characters viewed the world through a low-angle, imaginative lens. The show followed Tommy, Chucky, Phil, Lil, and Tommy’s spoiled cousin Angelica through the adventurous world of toddler life. I don’t know that anyone could have predicted Rugrats success and appeal. The show ran for 9 seasons from 1991 to 2004, spawning
