Board 8 > Jesse Ranks TV Show Intros - The Rankings

(+) Yeah! (+)

Oh yeah, and while on the subject of My Mother, the Car, I am obligated to post this:

https://youtu.be/gdDTJBZBa4k

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Forgot to comment on it but that One Piece opening was definitely one of the most popular ones among the others. It's probably my favorite as well since my favorite character's there. I agree that it's a bit too long though, it's nearly 2 minutes on its own.

Jesse_Custer posted...

My Mother, the Car

I didn't know this existed til now. Wow. I hope there'll be a Netflix remake someday.

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I forgot when I saw this but it was years ago and it stuck with me ever since. I'm glad to be able to share it's lunacy with others.

Seriously though why a car.

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84. Metalocalypse - Murphiroth
https://youtu.be/5IzEncyqfgw

Unique: 6.5
Story: 1
Music: 4
Animation: 4
Personal: 0.25
Average: 3.15

Suffice it to say, I am not a fan of metal. I like some bands that arguably border on the genre, but I absolutely could not stand this.

But despite how much the music made me think of a dentist drill, I am compelled to assign a respectable score for that factor because the song goes so well with the visuals and does a lot to set the tone. Since this is a TV show, they could have just gone with a safe and watered down metal-ish song, but instead went with something more authentic, and I can respect that.

The intro scores best in the Unique factor for obvious reasons. After all, how many intros look like this? Arguably, I could have scored it even higher in that factor. But the way I figured it this sequence takes its inspiration from imagery commonly associated with metal, without coming up with anything truly original or, for instance, blending metal with something else by taking the characters out of their element.

Animation earns a lower score due to the somewhat amateurish nature of the artwork, which is easy to overlook thanks to all the flashing lights (which should probably warrant an epilepsy warning). The visual effects also strike me as simplistic, aside from the sudden transition of that guys face into a skull near the end.

And as for Story, well, theres not much you can say about any of these characters. We see them one by one scowling at the camera, but theres nothing to distinguish the personality of one character from another. They all play metal and ride motorcycles, and thats about all that comes across. Aside from that, I suppose the story is they inhabit an environment that is the epitome of metal in every way. But theres no subtlety to it, the intro just hits you over the head with it. And I guess thats the point. This is metal and thats all there is to it.

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83. Top Gear - RyoCaliente
https://youtu.be/qAe0P6rhgtQ

Unique: 4.25
Story: 0.5
Music: 4.25
Animation: N/A
Personal: 3.75
Average: 3.1875

This intro is short and to the point, and Ill do the same with my write-up because theres not much to say about it. The only story I can take away from this is its meant to be fun watching cars do crazy stunts. The music gets the tone across that this isnt anything serious, even if you see a vehicle tipping over or on fire. And its a pleasant song, but nothing special.

The only other thing I can say about this one is the split-screen panels give the sequence a somewhat distinctive look. But it still comes across as a safe intro that doesnt take a lot of risk (despite being about taking risks with cars).

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Top Gear was just a show about reviewing cars originally. Then it turned into more of a comedy reality tv style show recently where the focus is more on the presenters doing challenges than it is about actually reviewing the cars.

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Some of those shots, especially with the panels, remind me of GTA.

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82. Overlord (OP 3) - ChaosTonyV4
https://youtu.be/S9yfM5OrpKU

Unique: 5.5
Story: 1
Music: 3.75
Animation: 5
Personal: 0.75
Average: 3.2

What an unusual theme song this intro has. Everything about it, the rhythmic structure and melody, it all sounds kind of discordant, which is obviously intended. I cant say I liked the song, but it certainly helps make the intro stand out.

Thats not to say the intro doesnt have its unique aspects aside from the song. Most notably, that unsettling scene with the close-up of all the mouths is pretty far out there. But many portions of the intro are still just a series of clips, which prevents the Unique score from going higher.

Also, I probably sound like a broken record saying this by now, but the fact that so much of this intro is clips of characters with no significance to those who havent seen the show really hurt the Story score. Normally, I would be tempted to score an intro higher in Story if its at least got some unique aspects that create a sense of atmosphere. But the tone in this intro is all over the place, without a cohesive vision that gives me a sense for what the show is about.

And as for my low personal score, the intro just left me with a bad taste in my mouth between the gross mouth scene, the theme song, and the WTF moment of those women fawning on the giant skeleton while giggling.

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Top Gear has some wild intros throughout its life. When it comes to pure whack, there's one in the 80s I wanna say that doesn't even have a single car in it, only bits and pieces of the tech of a car and watching it you just go "Who allowed this?"

I mostly nominated it because Jessica is maybe the best song for any title theme ever, and I picked that specific version because it probably shows best what the program is all about; a couple of dudes doing crazy stuff with cars.

Considering it has dropped out, I'm expecting Doctor Who to go any minute now.

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81. King of the Hill - Great_Paul
https://youtu.be/LUZIQufgukA

Unique: 5.5
Story: 1
Music: 4.75
Animation: 3.75
Personal: 1.25
Average: 3.25

I think I get what they were going for here, that these four guys just hang around wasting away their lives doing nothing while the world passes them by. But the intro seems to undermine its own message by having such boring things going on around them like the garbage truck coming and someone moving a couch. Doesnt that say the world around them is just as much of a waste of time? Whatever the intent, I dont see much in the way of a meaningful story here.

Im not a fan of the character designs for this show, and the animation has a lazy, unfinished appearance to me. Of course, thats the intended style, so I cant penalize the intro much for it. But that doesnt make it visually appealing either. Im also not a fan of the theme song, but its at least distinctive and suits the fast pace of the cuts.

I will say this for the intro though. Its got a unique presentation with the rapidly clipping frames that makes it stand out. But I cant say it works for me personally.

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80. Yu-Gi-Oh! - Johnbobb
https://youtu.be/Cb3ggoyqXmU

Unique: 1.75
Story: 2.5
Music: 5.25
Animation: 5
Personal: 1.75
Average: 3.25

I dont think any other intro had a moment that made me roll my eyes more than its time to d-d-d-d-duel! Not sure I used enough ds in there, but you get the point. And while on the subject, why does a little kid have such a deep voice?

Anyway, the story comes mostly from the narration at the start, which is rarely a good way to convey a story. The narrated sequence is too long and kind of boring, without anything happening on screen. But it does provide some backstory nonetheless. Otherwise, the only aspect that contributed to boost the story was the split shadows and faces of the character, giving the impression of some kind of dual identity (not sure if thats accurate because I havent watched the show, but it was my take away).

The animation was thoroughly average, nothing terrible, nothing great either. And the intro wasnt that unique, consisting mostly of generic clips. A couple things that helped prevent the Unique score from coming in even lower were the visual effects playing around with two versions of the main character, and the unusual Middle Eastern influence for the music when it first comes in.

Speaking of the theme song, I thought it at times worked really well to make the intro seem more exciting, most notably the instrumental part starting at around 0:59 (and again at around 1:25). My only gripe with the song was the annoying vocals going yo that come in periodically, and I probably could have scored this a bit higher on Music without them.

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Jesse_Custer posted...

And while on the subject, why does a little kid have such a deep voice?

An ancient pharaoh possesses him and does all of his duels for him. Thats the pharaoh voice.

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Great_Paul posted...

An ancient pharaoh possesses him and does all of his duels for him. Thats the pharaoh voice.

Ah, makes sense. I guess that explains why they show him as having a second shadow.

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your move
your move
your move
your move
your move
your move

YOUR MOVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpLEpkF4hY

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Johnbobb posted...

your move
your move
your move
your move
your move
your move

YOUR MOVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpLEpkF4hY

This is great, I wonder if anyone has attempted to dub it over the intro with the visuals before.

Also, I was not correctly hearing them saying your move in the actual intro until listening to this.

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Jesse_Custer posted...

84. Metalocalypse - Murphiroth
https://youtu.be/5IzEncyqfgw

Unique: 6.5
Story: 1
Music: 4
Animation: 4
Personal: 0.25
Average: 3.15

Suffice it to say, I am not a fan of metal. I like some bands that arguably border on the genre, but I absolutely could not stand this.

But despite how much the music made me think of a dentist drill, I am compelled to assign a respectable score for that factor because the song goes so well with the visuals and does a lot to set the tone. Since this is a TV show, they could have just gone with a safe and watered down metal-ish song, but instead went with something more authentic, and I can respect that.

The intro scores best in the Unique factor for obvious reasons. After all, how many intros look like this? Arguably, I could have scored it even higher in that factor. But the way I figured it this sequence takes its inspiration from imagery commonly associated with metal, without coming up with anything truly original or, for instance, blending metal with something else by taking the characters out of their element.

Animation earns a lower score due to the somewhat amateurish nature of the artwork, which is easy to overlook thanks to all the flashing lights (which should probably warrant an epilepsy warning). The visual effects also strike me as simplistic, aside from the sudden transition of that guys face into a skull near the end.

And as for Story, well, theres not much you can say about any of these characters. We see them one by one scowling at the camera, but theres nothing to distinguish the personality of one character from another. They all play metal and ride motorcycles, and thats about all that comes across. Aside from that, I suppose the story is they inhabit an environment that is the epitome of metal in every way. But theres no subtlety to it, the intro just hits you over the head with it. And I guess thats the point. This is metal and thats all there is to it.

Definitely not the intro or show for you if you don't like metal!

It's an Adult Swim show with 15 minute episodes (except for one season with 30) about a fictional metal band that's so rich they're the 13th largest economy in the world. It's essentially a giant loving parody to metal stereotypes made by the same guy that made Home Movies on AS. Everything from the appearances of the band members (based on real metal band members) to background details are jokes about the industry and stereotypes in the metal scene.

Worth noting that despite being a fake metal band from an animated comedy, Dethklok's three albums have landed quite high on various Billboard charts.

Also I love the motorcycle with 2 sidecars on each side. It's so excessive, dangerous, and stupid and sums up the band quite well.

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79. Survivor (season 1) - Xeybozn
https://youtu.be/BAOzVGV-SBM

Unique: 5
Story: 1.5
Music: 6.25
Animation: N/A
Personal: 0.5
Average: 3.3125

While I actually liked this less than the intro for the only other reality show on the list, The Amazing Race, it ranks higher for a few reasons. Most notably, the theme song is quite good, with tribal drums and chanting that create a strong sense of atmosphere and prevent this from feeling like the intro for any reality show.

As with so many other reality show intros, we see each of the contestants one by one, but we at least see them immersed in the environment of the show. And this intro got a bit more unusual than I was expecting near the end with that weird sequence including the close up of the guys eye. I wouldnt go so far as to call this an intro that breaks the reality TV mold, but some of the imagery and the theme song really helped set it apart.

However, I dont see much of a story beyond a bunch of contestants struggling to survive in the wild. Some of the imagery helps to set the tone and create a sense of authenticity to the ordeal, but its mostly window dressing.

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78. Chiller Theater - Snake5555555555
https://youtu.be/2bozNbBD5V8

Unique: 3.5
Story: 0.75
Music: 3.75
Animation: N/A
Personal: 5.25
Average: 3.3125

Im always amused when I see the kind of stuff that passed for horror in the old days like filming a lizard or insect in a way intended to make it seem enormous. And this intro was filled with hilariously dated attempts at frightening visual effects, so I enjoyed it for the most part. My personal favorite had to be the hand picking up the car (at around 0:34).

But in a more objective sense, theres not a lot I can award points for here. The discordant music did the best it could to create a sense of unyielding terror, but didnt make for much of a song. And theres basically no story here aside from a bunch of unrelated monsters. What little I could award this intro for Story came from the way the intro clearly shows you what the show is about (lots and lots of giant creatures).

I can only wonder if this is how people will see modern horror movies many decades from now.

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Oh yeah the tribal elements in Survivor's theme slap.

This is actually the first time I see the opening for season 1 of Survivor and man it's much more interesting.

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It lasted longer than I expected! I mean I love those old-school horror/sci-fi vibes so much, but when your intro opens up with a clip from Plan 9 from Outer Space it definitely clues you into the type of quality you can expect to follow on the program! Boy would've I have loved to experience this back in the day though! It definitely had an influential role as one of the first horror/sci-fi movie features introducing these films to a new younger generation.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

It lasted longer than I expected! I mean I love those old-school horror/sci-fi vibes so much, but when your intro opens up with a clip from Plan 9 from Outer Space it definitely clues you into the type of quality you can expect to follow on the program! Boy would've I have loved to experience this back in the day though! It definitely had an influential role as one of the first horror/sci-fi movie features introducing these films to a new younger generation.

Was that the part with the woman approaching the camera? I think Ive seen Plan 9 or at least portions of it awhile back, but I cant remember much besides characters accidentally knocking over prop tombstones and stuff like that.

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Yup that's it! The woman is Maila Nurmi, better known as Vampira, and she had actually hosted her own horror film showcase series in the mid-50s.

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77. Ed, Edd N Eddy - Underleveled
https://youtu.be/Yr60SJOjrAs

Unique: 5.5
Story: 3.25
Music: 4.75
Animation: 2
Personal: 1.25
Average: 3.35

Despite my distaste for the obnoxious tone of this intro and its crude animation, it is undeniably more unique than the average intro. The sequence comes across as a video camera filming the three characters, with a nondescript background to avoid taking the focus off them. And the characters are able to shift the perspective of the camera to adjust what the viewer sees, which is used in a somewhat clever manner.

Although theres no hint of the premise of the show, we get a decent sense of the characters personalities from their antics. Clearly the character with the inexplicably green tongue (dont ask me to identify if he is Ed, Edd, or Eddy, I dont know and I dont care) loves attention, while the one in the red shirt feels less than comfortable being on camera (and I cant quite figure the third one out). Its not a lot of story, but its something.

Finally, the music. I feel like the carefree jazzy vibe does a decent job of setting the tone. On the other hand, that whistling gets really grating really fast. Id say its at least an interesting and memorable song. And its a nice touch the way the green-tongued characters shocked reaction coincides with the trumpet blast. So I gave it a near average score for Music, which could have been higher if that whistling wasnt so annoying.

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Sorry to take out another of yours so soon, Snake.

76. Hammer House of Horror - Snake5555555555
https://youtu.be/ADcy0mUr3bU

Unique: 3.5
Story: 1
Music: 5.5
Animation: N/A
Personal: 4
Average: 3.5

This intro actually stood out as somewhat unique simply for how exceptionally uneventful it is. After some extremely prolonged shots of the exterior of a building, the only thing that actually happens during the entire intro is a guy can be seen looking out his window and then blowing out some candles. And thats it. Not many intros do so little, especially for a horror show.

Of course, Im not being entirely fair. The intro does give you some sense for the tone of the show, which is almost entirely thanks to the atmospheric music. The trouble is the music is doing all the heavy lifting. If you, hypothetically, replaced it with the theme song to The West Wing, this intro would have an entirely different tone with the exact same visuals. In fact, youd have no hint its a horror show aside from the title of the show and the dramatic episode title, The House that Bled to Death. Thats not to say the intro needed to have had a vampire pop out and scare the viewer. Oftentimes subtlety is for the best. But its entirely up to the ominous music to create a sense of tension here.

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Ah no biggie. I love how minimal & ambient it is. Very Gothic and deliberately paced.

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75. Gurren Lagann OP Ver. 3 - Hbthebattle
https://youtu.be/b5hZiuOUdXw

Unique: 1.5
Story: 2
Music: 4.75
Animation: 5.5
Personal: 4.25
Average: 3.6

This is one of the most anime-ish anime intros Ive ever seen. This intro has it all, characters staring off introspectively into the distance, a character whose top is barely able to contain her enormous breasts, and of course, giant mechanized suits. Throw in the generic song you could swap with the themes for dozens of other intros, and I cant shake the sense of deja vu, although Im fairly certain I hadnt seen this before.

That being said, the intro doesnt really do anything wrong. In fact, the animation looks quite good (when not resorting to still pictures). The main problem with this intro is it seems designed to appeal to those who have already seen the show, but has little to offer those who havent watched and have no idea who all of these characters are (of which there are an almost overwhelming number). And its tough to take away much of a sense of story from the seemingly unconnected images, such as a bunch of people admiring a baby intermixed with some kind of space battle. It seems like the intro would have benefited from emphasizing just a few key characters and moments instead of trying to cram so much into the brief sequence.

One portion of the intro I found interesting and suggestive of a meaningful story comes near the end. I liked the way the character appears to undergo a transformation, and then various images appear to coalesce to form a path for him to walk. Without having seen the show, I cant claim to understand precisely whats going on, but that segment at least gave me a sense of meaning. And it would have been nice if more of the intro was like that.

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oh hey this started

74. Thunderbirds - paulg235
https://youtu.be/a2n0widQ4nA

Unique: 5.5
Story: 0.5
Music: 5.75
Animation: N/A
Personal: 3
Average: 3.6875

I struggled a bit with the Unique score for this one. On the one hand, you dont see a lot of shows filmed with animatronic puppets or whatever these are. On the other hand, much of the intro is just random action clips and a conventional introduction to each of the characters. In the end, I decided this was above average on novelty, not simply because of the puppetry, but also the striking countdown at the start, and since the overall presentation stands out from so many other intros on the list (even if that is partly because its from the 60s).

The music starting at around 0:36 is pretty good. To me, it sounds like the score for the intro to some classic Western, but it still works for this very non-Western sequence.

Theres virtually no sense of story though. To be fair, Im sure its not easy to get much personality out of these kind of figures, but just showing stills of each of the characters certainly wasnt the best way to do it. And I dont have much of a sense of what this show is about other than puppets flying around in rockets.

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73. Freakazoid - Xeybozn
https://youtu.be/sUURjSpQt7s

Unique: 3.5
Story: 1.75
Music: 4.75
Animation: 4.75
Personal: 3.75
Average: 3.7

Watching this intro about a superhero thats going for a weird and funny vibe, I cant help but think I would have preferred to see a nomination for The Tick. While theres probably even less story in the intro to The Tick, it doesnt even pretend to care if you get it and goes all in on being odd, whereas the intro to Freakazoid feels like its trying too hard to sell you on the hero being weird, while actually being very safe.

Thats not to say this is a bad intro. But its nowhere near as unique as its trying to be. Despite showing random things like a shot of a chimpanzee or having Freakazoid talking to Sigmund Freud, its a mostly conventional sequence composed of silly clips and a shallow backstory thrown in the middle.

The theme song and animation are okay, nothing special. And I dont really have more to add about this one, its just kind of there.

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Damn I loved Freakazoid. It always felt like some weird secret show that no one else knew about.

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72. Home Improvement (season 1) - paulg235
https://youtu.be/vHIOzsU0fbM

Unique: 6
Story: 2
Music: 4
Animation: 5
Personal: 1.75
Average: 3.75

I never much cared for this show. How many times can you watch Tim say needs more power and grunt before something inevitably goes wrong? But this isnt a ranking of TV shows, so Ill get to the intro.

This intro certainly has a novel visual presentation, especially for a sitcom. Even aside from the part with the house that keeps shifting, the intro blurs the line between live action and animation. Thats why this is one of those rare intros with live actors that I decided to assign an Animation score. But I couldnt go too high with that score, since when you stop and take a look at any of the animated portions, they look a bit sloppy (most notably the lazily drawn clouds, sky, and grass in the changing home segment). If anything, Im possibly being generous on the Animation score due to the novelty of it.

The theme song has a unique quality, with percussion that could pass for the sounds of tools in use. But its not my thing, and I really dislike the bizarre vocalizations that sound like a bad imitation of Bobby McFerrin. I guess theyre some variation of Tim Allen grunts, but they serve no apparent purpose in this sequence.

Finally, theres not much of a story here. We get that the main character is kind of a moron who puts holes in the walls of his own home, while his wife smiles on with good natured humor. And we get that the family has three generic children with no unique personality to distinguish any of them.

While I dont think this is the greatest intro, it at least takes some chances and tries to do something novel.

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One more for tonight.

71. Scrubs - Eddv
https://youtu.be/kBz1vvlkzSw

Unique: 5.5
Story: 1.25
Music: 4.25
Animation: N/A
Personal: 4
Average: 3.75

This is the shortest intro on the list at only 12 seconds, and really it feels too short to leave me with a meaningful impression.

The only takeaway I got in terms of story is that all these characters work together as a team to treat patients. And thats a fine message, but it prevents any of the individual characters from getting a chance to stand out. But its at least presented in a fairly novel way, with the characters constantly shifting to take each others place.

Its easy to see why the theme song was chosen for the lyric I cant do this all on my own. But musically, Im not sure this song suits this scene better than plenty of other songs could.

And I realize that was a short write-up, but it was a 12 second intro.

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In season 2 they tried a longer intro and I think fans didnt like it or something so they went back to having it short.

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Great_Paul posted...

In season 2 they tried a longer intro and I think fans didnt like it or something so they went back to having it short.

Yeah exactly right.

Plus they wanted to include the Janitor

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Aww man I actually like the scrubs intro though I think it works better for the more somber episodes

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I nominated Scrubs as sort of a counterexample to all the 90 second+ intros you were getting as an example of an iconic and effective introduction that was also very short.

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Eddv posted...

I nominated Scrubs as sort of a counterexample to all the 90 second+ intros you were getting as an example of an iconic and effective introduction that was also very short.

Thats a good point. This intro didnt convey any less information than several much longer intros on the list. And I agree that sometimes less can be more. In fact, there are plenty of shows where I wind up just skipping over the intro because I dont care to see the same 60 to 90 second segment every episode, unless its a really good intro.

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70. Amigos X Siempre - Raka_Putra
https://youtu.be/ZvXLSQpQRyk

Unique: 5.5
Story: 5.25
Music: 2.75
Animation: N/A
Personal: 1.75
Average: 3.8125

Perhaps its due to cultural differences, but Im finding it difficult to understand whats going on in this intro or even what genre its intended to be. At times it looks like a Disney Channel show with kids singing, other times it looks like a serious drama, and other times maybe even something supernatural? Its all over the place, but that only wound up helping the Unique score.

Although the premise of the show is confusing to me, I do feel theres a definite story here. The opening sequence in particular is kind of heavy as a tearful child plays piano while some douchebag yells at her, and then the girl stands before someones grave (possibly her mother?). Then the tone changes dramatically by the arrival of a boy with a smiley face balloon, who apparently makes her happy enough that she symbolically (or perhaps literally) causes objects around her to fly around the room. Then just when its starting to seem like lighthearted comedy, some kid trips and in a moment I found genuinely surprising, this crazy guy is about to beat him. That is, until some random dude stares him down. And it just goes on like that, with the girl eventually flying through the air, and by the end, I cant put it all together. But yeah, theres a story here, Im sure of that.

One reason I didnt personally care for it, and I know its not the fairest reason, is the really subpar production values of the visual effects. That coupled with the kids rocking out on stage just made it hard for me to take it too seriously, despite the more interesting dramatic portions. Im also not fond of the repetitive theme song (which reminded me of Hansons MMMBob), although the music did effectively highlight the transition near the start of the intro from sad to cheerful.

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Yeah, it's kind of all over the place, but it's got certain charm to it. :p

It was one of the Latin American telenovelas that got dubbed into Indonesian in the early 2000s and a big part of many Millennials' childhood, including mine. Though nowadays I can't really remember what it was about except that it's about kids roughly my age then instead of adult women having affairs and what-not.

And yeah the opening song was also pretty iconic. For music class we had to perform a song in groups and my group wanted to do this. Obviously none of us speak Spanish and the Internet wasn't as robust as it is (and neither was my Googling skills) so I just...phonetically transcribed the lyrics as best as I could lol. It was gibberish.

Also, from Wikipedia, apparently the girl could really move things with her mind! Huh...I didn't remember that part.

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69. Friday Night Lights - Mega Mana

Note: This link is not to the version of the intro which was actually nominated. I just discovered the nominated link no longer works and couldnt find a substitute anywhere. But the intro scored and discussed is still the one nominated.

https://youtu.be/6ZGMayua0x0

Unique: 3.25
Story: 2.75
Music: 6.5
Animation: N/A
Personal: 3
Average: 3.875

This one felt to me like watching someones random personal videos recorded on a phone. In theory, that could be a good thing if it makes the viewer feel like a part of the characters world. But without having seen the show, I found myself not caring about any of these characters going about their everyday lives.

The music was the best thing about the intro. Its a dreamy song thats easy to get swept up in, and it does a lot to set the tone and make the mundane imagery feel kind of special. I also liked the introspective vibe of the music, particularly when paired with the motion shot of the sunset at the start of the intro (which you can no longer see in the version posted above, so youll just have to take my word for it). It gives you the feel of sitting in the passenger seat of a car looking out on a peaceful day, without a care in the world. But the rest of the intro failed to connect with me in a meaningful way.

As for the story, well, I guess its about kids who play football. Theres not a lot to go on from this sequence, but thanks to the music, it at least sets the atmosphere enough to award some points for Story. And theres a sense that for these kids, these are special days to be remembered. Something like that anyway.

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68. Static Shock - Johnbobb
https://youtu.be/eylzazKebD8

Unique: 2.5
Story: 3.5
Music: 4.25
Animation: 4.75
Personal: 4.5
Average: 3.9

I actually really liked the way this intro started for about the first 16 seconds with a look at how a superhero starts his day as a normal kid. And the moment where he accidentally bumps into his Dad, who initially gives him a stern look, followed by a loving smile, was charming. Its rare that a TV show about a teenager makes you like and care about the parents, especially in the limited span of an intro.

But I did not like the generic action scenes that followed, which told me little about the character or his world. At most, we see one of Statics friends is a fellow superhero, but the friend seems devoid of personality from this sequence. Therefore, most of the score for the Story and Unique factors came from that early part with Static at home, which is something you dont tend to see in the genre of superhero cartoons. Of course, you cant have a superhero intro without showing the superhero in action, but that part could have been a lot more interesting.

The animation was okay, albeit a bit below average for a cartoon that aired in 2000. Given how often Statics electrical powers must get used on the show, youd think they would look better than just some white beam with a white outline around a character struck by the blast.

Finally, Im not a fan of this theme song. The vocalist is all right in the rap parts, but did not sound good singing the melody, which is repeated far too often. Also, the music doesnt do much to compliment the visuals, its just there in the background.

To sum up, I think theres a decent intro hiding in this one, despite a lot of filler that weighs it down.

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67. Bokurano - Raka_Putra
https://youtu.be/05p646nlYS0

Unique: 1.75
Story: 2
Music: 5.5
Animation: 5
Personal: 5.25
Average: 3.9

The visuals at the start were fairly novel, but after that the intro was mainly a generic series of clips that are difficult to piece together into a meaningful story. The most interesting part to me was the character with a miniature Earth floating within his grasp, although I have no idea how that ties in with the soccer ball, the kid with the gun, the crying girl, or anything else here.

The theme song had a nice melody and vocals, and I found it very pleasant to listen to. It also helped set the mood in an otherwise ambiguous intro, thereby boosting the Story score a bit.

The animation is mostly average quality. The pan around that giant mecha near the start looked really good, but a lot of the intro was just simplistic character designs (I feel like they certainly could have done without the emotionless character at 0:44).

And I liked this intro for the most part, although its a bit forgettable.

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Yeah, I really really wish they could've shown the kids in a more meaningful way. The song though is one of my favorite anime OPs ever, both melody and lyric.

And here's the premise about the series (mild spoilers)
It's about a group of kids finding that mecha. They have to pilot it one by one to defeat giant aliens that appear one by one as well. However, the robot takes the pilot's life after they operated it.

It gives a new meaning to the lyrics and random kids.

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66. Sons of Anarchy (season 1) - Cavedweller2000
https://youtu.be/E0-abCtiArA

Unique: 5.5
Story: 3.5
Music: 5.25
Animation: N/A
Personal: 1.5
Average: 3.9375

Im not sure exactly what they were going for with this intro. Seeing the flag with washed out colors waving in the wind, along with all the imagery of weapons, suggests this is about the darker side of America. At other times, the intro feels to me like its simply about biker culture in general. Regardless of the intent, theres enough imagery here to convey at least a sense of story, especially when paired with the theme song. Even aside from the lyrics, the song sets a tone of loneliness, that this is a show in which every character has to look out for themselves. And theres an edge to the music that further sets the mood.

The gimmick with the tattoos shifting is fairly novel, enough to warrant an above average score in the Unique factor. Im not too impressed with the effect, which probably looked better at the time the show premiered, but its an interesting way to do the credits, which could otherwise have been dull.

Its a decent intro overall, even if it wasnt something I liked on a personal level.

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65. Arthur - WhiteLens
https://youtu.be/j40YC5d6RzA

Unique: 5.25
Story: 4.75
Music: 4
Animation: 4.75
Personal: 1
Average: 3.95

Heres an intro that really benefited from my scoring system. As a parent, Ive watched many many kids shows and I dont mind plenty of them. But it didnt take long for me to get annoyed by the message they keep trying to force in this intro about the value of community. I feel like even if I was a kid, I would find this intro patronizing.

But objectively, this isnt too bad an intro. The animation is all right, especially by the standards of a cartoon for young kids in the 1990s. Theres some actual novelty to the sequence, most notably the way Arthur leaps through the pages of a storybook, and the ending where Arthurs sister is watching Arthur on television. And theres a significant focus on story, with plenty of world building for Arthurs friends and family, along with some insight into Arthurs personality (such as the way he gets annoyed when everyone pulls out the cameras while hes taking forever to take a picture). Its not profound storytelling, but its not intended to be.

As for the reggae inspired theme song, it has a fairly catchy melody and isnt terrible. But aside from the trite lyrics about learning from each other, Im not sure how well its really setting the tone. I feel like you could easily swap out any number of better theme songs for kids shows and have it work at least as well here.

And thats all I care to say about Arthur.

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Here comes a big one.

64. Pokemon (season 1) - Anagram
https://youtu.be/6xKWiCMKKJg

Unique: 1.25
Story: 2.25
Music: 6.5
Animation: 5
Personal: 5
Average: 4

I think this is one of those intros where how much you like it depends in large part on whether you grew up watching the show. As someone with no nostalgic attachment to it, I think its a fine intro, but nothing special.

My biggest gripe with this intro is how similar it is in style to so many other cartoon intros. In fact, if you didnt know when it was released, it could easily be confused for an 80s cartoon. Theres some minimal novelty to the intro thanks to the premise of the show, as you dont typically see so many non-human characters displayed during an intro that arent evil monsters. But mostly this is just a series of clips, and as a result, theres not much in the way of story either. Theres a boy who wants to be the very best and who lives for collecting Pokmon. The reason the Story score isnt even lower is the clear displays of affection Ash has for his Pokemon, which reveal something meaningful about his character. But aside from that, theres not much personality to any of the Pokemon or characters in this sequence.

The theme song is the best aspect of this intro. Its not just iconic because of the popularity of this franchise. Its also a ridiculously catchy song with a great melody, as if someone put all the best 80s cartoon theme songs in a blender and mixed them together to make this. And its a nice touch the way the beat sometimes goes with the appearance of Pokemon on screen.

The animation is average overall. At times it looks really nice like the outer space segment near the start. But most often, its a generic anime style without much in the way of detail.

All in all, its a decent sequence, but I doubt it would be so loved if not for being the intro to this particular show.

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This topic has seemed kind of slow the last couple days. Not sure if its just that people have less to say about the intros in this part of the list? I could try to pick up the pace over the weekend to get to the top 50 sooner if people want.

63. Danny Phantom - Johnbobb
https://youtu.be/2djx83-4XNQ

Unique: 3.5
Story: 4.75
Music: 3.75
Animation: 4.75
Personal: 3.5
Average: 4.05

The presentation and animation style for this one arent inherently novel, but I found it more distinctive and memorable than the intro for similar shows like Kim Possible. Also, the brief segment where the main characters DNA gets changed by a ghost is kind of unique, with a change in animation style.

Im not much of a fan of the theme song, and I dont see how rapping suits the tone of the show. My guess is they just went with it as a means of exposition to avoid boring narration. But its got an energetic pace that goes well with the visuals. And while on the subject of the theme song, how did they not get sued for hes gonna catch em all?

As for Story, the intro gives you Dannys backstory, abilities, and goals, which is a decent amount of information. But its light on giving us Dannys personality. We at least get some sense of how the character initially reacted with shock, followed by excitement, over his new abilities. But the intro doesnt do as much as it should to show what makes this character interesting beyond being a kid with powers.

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Its very interesting to me how many of these cartoon themes got nominated that are all basically the same huh.

Like I even basically agree that Danny Phantom is a better one than most but geeze after a while its like "this is just the same exact genre of opening as the last one"

I might have actually put Arthur a bit higher than you just for breaking the mold

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I haven't had as much to say about some of the intros lately. I've been unfamiliar with a good amount of them.

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Nooooo

oh well.

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