YouTube channel Vinheteiro is a delight. Its videos consist of a Brazilian guy who refers to himself as “Lord Vinheteiro” playing music—mainly piano—while wearing a tuxedo and staring silently into the camera. He doesn’t normally speak at all, apparently because he considers his (normal-sounding) voice “very ugly,” preferring instead to look out at the viewer with unblinking eyes and a stoic expression.
Nowhere is this effect put to better use than when Vinheteiro decides to play a medley of cartoon theme songs from the past century, tracing the “evolution” of the loose musical genre by playing a lot of whimsical songs while maintaining the stern attitude of a teacher about to send a kid to detention.
He starts with the Mickey Mouse theme from 1928 then continues on through a bunch of other classic melodies from the era, like those composed for Popeye (1933), Bugs Bunny (1940), and Mighty Mouse (1942) cartoons. As the video goes on, Vinheteiro hits on lots of other classics. He plays the Inspector Gadget intro debuted in 1983, performs 1984's Muppet Babies and Dragon Ball themes, and runs through The Simpsons’ opening song, written in 1987. Before heading into more recent music from shows like SpongeBob Squarepants and a bunch of anime series including One Piece and Naruto, he, of course, pays homage to the majestic DuckTales theme.
While guiding us through this magical, nostalgic journey, Vinheteiro’s face remains unreadable—not quite mad, but not happy either. It seems to say that, yes, he will play cartoon theme songs for the people of the internet, but he isn’t particularly thrilled about it.
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