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Alternative Foreign Theme Song / Western Animation

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Specific examples:

  • Lucky Luke got new theme and end credits songs in Germany, sung by Freddy Quinn.
  • The Japanese version of The Magic School Bus has two ending themes. One of the ending themes is called "Dream On" by Junko Iwao. The other is called "Gohan ni Shiyou" by Dreaming.
  • The Mask has an Arabic theme.
    • Unlike the original, slapstick-like opening, the Italian one could easily pass off as a pop song.
  • The animated series of Mega Man (Ruby-Spears) has this German opening.
  • My Little Pony segment of My Little Pony 'n Friends from the 1980s had at least two cases:
  • Like its predecessor, the Italian version of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, broadcast on Italia 1, has a different opening song, this time not sung by Cristina D'Avena. Compared to the very happy and upbeat English theme song, this one is slower and actually a bit melancholy. The short version can be found here and the full version here. It was used only for Season 1, and later seasons (and DVD releases of Season 1) replaced it with a translation of the English one.
  • The Japanese version of The New Adventures of Batman has a different opening and ending. The opening is "Crescent Night Story" and the ending is "I Love Batman", both by SUE CREAM SUE.
  • Oggy and the Cockroaches uses one for the Basma channel. Watch the theme and the first 20 episodes here.
  • Oscar's Orchestra has two: One in Italian by Cristina D'Avena, and one in Sinhala.
  • Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures uses "PAC THIS WORLD" by Hyadain for the opening theme of the Japanese dub.
  • While the ending theme of the original PAW Patrol was instrumental, the Japanese dub uses the opening theme with vocals, accompanied by a live action person dancing to it.
  • The Powerpuff Girls (1998) has two opening themes and ending themes. Most of them were written by Power Puff Soul, a band of singers who joined together for this series, and one of the members is Megumi Hayashibara!
  • The ending theme for the Japanese version of The Powerpuff Girls (2016) is "Pawawawawan! Powerpuff Girls" by The World Standard.
  • Peppa Pig had two of these in Japan. The first, "Colorful Fanfare", was used for the Cartoon Network dub, while the second, "Miracle Everyday", was the theme song to the show that its' second dub aired on, Kinder TV, and in this case served as an Additional Foreign Opening since the original intro was used during the Peppa Pig segments.
  • The Japanese version of the 1993 version of The Pink Panther has a different ending theme.
  • The Japanese version of Pingu has "Pingu Rap" for the opening theme and "Seeds of Happiness" as the ending theme.
  • The Greek dub of Princess Sissi rearranged the opening song, the Greek title of which was "Ποτέ καμιά" ("Nobodynote  ever"). The song, as well as the Greek version of the closing song and other songs made for the series, were later released in a CD.
  • The ending theme song for Ruby Gloom in the Japanese version is called "Siren" by Nana Kitade, who used the alias "Ruby Gloom" for this single.
  • The Japanese dub of Lego Ninjago uses a song by Scorpio named "Mr. Buddy!" as the ending theme.
  • The Japanese dub of Sabrina and The Groovie Goolies has this as its theme song.
  • Shelldon has an odd example. The show is a U.S.-Thailand co-production. In the U.S., it uses its own Title Theme Tune by an unknown vocalist, but still credits Lea Salonga for the song "Brand New Day" ("It's a Brand New Day") in the credits. This was used as the theme song in most other international markets and also released as a music video, yet in Thailand, a version other than the one by Salonga was used.
  • The Smurfs (1981) cartoon show uses two different theme songs for foreign markets, instead of the basic "La-la song" used for the American version, one of them was called "The Smurfy Way", and can he herd here. These two theme songs are always accompanied with the Season 1 intro sequence, which was also used throughout most of the show (except for season 9), instead of being replaced with the subsequent intro sequences (usually seasons 2-8, though some countries retain the intros for seasons 7 and 8). Another theme called "Smurfingland" was made around the late 90s and is currently used for subsequent airings and DVD releases of the Dutch, Spanish, and French dubs.
    • For the Italian dub, several different theme songs performed by Cristina D'Avena were used for each season.
    • For international markets, the episodes featuring Johan and Peewit from the second and third seasons were aired separately from The Smurfs cartoon show. The episodes use the Season 2 intro sequence accompanied with usually one of two different theme songs (and a modified title at the end).
    • An extended version of the "La-la song" was recorded in French, Italian, and Hebrew.
    • In China, it's also a very much beloved show, which subsequently introduced many people to Belgian comics. There's also an original Chinese Mandarin theme song, which was used for the 1980s Chinese Mandarin dub of the series alongside the Chinese Mandarin dub of the season 1 intro. It's a completely original (though still very brilliant) piece of music, lyrics and all. It was very beloved by many Chinese people and still holds the place of being one of the most famous Chinese nursery rhymes to this day.
    • Sri Lanka also has a completely different song for the show too!
  • Different theme music is used for the intro sequence of The Snorks, compared to the American version.
    • An extended version of the specific theme song above was recorded in French and Dutch.
    • For the Italian dub, Cristina D'Avena translated the extended theme above for the first intro and then performed another theme, which can be seen here.
    • The European Spanish dub uses this theme song, known as "Un Mundo Submarino".
  • The Latin American Spanish dub of Spider-Man (1967) uses this opening performed by the Chilean singer Capitan Memo.
  • Spiff & Hercules has this theme song for its Arabic dub.
    • The one produced for Basma Channel has a theme that suspiciously sounds similar to Caramelldansen of all things!
    • The English, Brazilian Portuguese, and Mandarin dubs all use this theme song.
  • Ditto with the OP theme of Sport Billy.
  • Rip Slyme wrote a new ending theme song for the Japanese version of SpongeBob SquarePants. You can find it here.
    • Starting with season 10, the Japanese version uses a new ending theme, titled "ONE WAY” by the band BOYS AND MEN.
    • The Persian dub also used a new opening theme song.
    • The Italian dub uses an instrumental-only version of the theme, making it a Real Song Theme Tune as it's the tune of "Blow The Man Down". It also uses different visuals, replacing all lettering. Instead of hopping on the letters of his name, SpongeBob hops on pieces of coral.
  • North American releases of Spot the Dog use this theme song.
  • When the British cartoon Stressed Eric was imported to America, its theme music was thrown out and replaced with a new one (albeit one which sounded similar to the British theme), as well as a different title sequence.
  • The Korean versions of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and Super Mario World use these two opening themes. (trivia: The second theme uses the melody from the "My Frog Suit" from Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3)
  • Superman: The Animated Series has a different opening in Italy.
  • Taz-Mania uses this theme song for its Korean dub.
  • The Japanese version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) had two endings.
  • There are several opening and ending themes for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003). All of them can be found here.
  • The Japanese dub of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) uses GReeeeN's "Shinobi" as the opening theme and Ulful's "Booyakasha! as the ending theme.
  • The Greek version of Thomas & Friends gave the iconic theme lyrics. In addition, the theme was in a lower key and the theme survived after HIT Entertainment took over.
  • The Korean dub of Tiny Toon Adventures have its own foreign theme song with extra clips used from the episode "Inside Plucky Duck".
  • Czech Tom and Jerry has a different opening theme, performed by a female singer.
    • The German dub uses the chorus from "Vielen Dank für die Blumen" by Udo Jürgens, which contains the line "Manchmal spielt das Leben mit dir gern Katz und Maus / Immer wird's das geben, einer der trickst dich aus".note 

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