Toon Tunes: Action-Packed Anthems

Toon Tunes: Action-Packed Anthems

Scaredy-cats, collectors of kitsch, and closeted cape-wearing crusaders gather 'round: Kid Rhino's nifty <I>Toon Tunes: Action-Packed Anthems</I>, the companion CD to <I>Funny-Bone Favorites</I>, collects 36 jingles from the Saturday morning shows that split the world into neat piles of good and evil, letting us all breathe a little easier when the half-hour jig was up. Not every tune nor, for that matter, every show represented is recognizable (anybody remember "Gigantor" or "Crusader Rabbit"?) but the classics, "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You," "Mighty Mouse," and "Spiderman" among them, weave a tight web around newer, less likable anthems like "Sailor Moon" and "Tale Spin." What's best about <I>Action-Packed Anthems</I>, though, is that even with all the sleuths and superheroes knocking around, it manages to sneak up on us. "Hong Kong Phooey" and "Super Chicken" qualify as genuine relics, forgotten favorites in an age when we're constantly broadsided by recycled bits of childhood--which is not to say that couch-bound junior crime fighters won't get a bang out of spinning this disc, as these are themes, after all, written for kids. Only grumps and villains are likely to shrink from these songs, and theirs will be a plea--"Save me!"--not unfamiliar to the host of kooky or lovably over-earnest characters this album celebrates. <I>--Tammy La Gorce</I>