Genndy Tartakovsky's excellent Samurai Jack cartoon plays off the juxtaposition of our hero, who hails from ancient feudal Japan, with the show's setting, some time in the far distant future.
Interestingly, this contrast is strongly reflected in the show's title sequence. It begins with a synopsis of Jack's predicament, which is rather unusually narrated by the show's main villain, the shape-shifting master of darkness Aku. This part has a very mythic quality to it, and the accompanying visuals are a series of still paintings. These depict the rise of Aku, Jack's village's futile attempts to destroy him, and Jack's fateful personal encounter with the demon.
Then when Aku has finished telling how Jack came to be in the future, there follows the musical part, which sounds a bit like some kind of futuristic rap, and is accompanied by lots of action clips, like the introduction to an eighties action show. See Jack leap from tree to tree! Share Jack's bafflement at the futuristic world he now inhabits! Thrill as Jack demonstrates his preternatural skill at all imaginable forms of combat! Marvel as Jack destroys fearsome attack robots with a single swing of his magic sword! And so forth.
In full, the opening sequence goes like this:
Aku's narration:
Long ago, in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil.
But a foolish samurai warrior, wielding a magic sword, stepped forth to oppose me.
Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time, and flung him into the future, where my evil is law.*
Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is Aku.
Rap:
Gotta get back
Back to the past
Samurai Jack
Watch out
Gotta get back
Back to the past
Samurai Jack
Jack Jack Jack Jack Jack
Gotta get back
Back to the past
Samurai Jack
Watch out
Gotta get back
Back to the past
Samurai Jack
Jack Jack Jack Jack
Gotta get back
Jack Jack Jack Jack
Watch out
Gotta get back
Jack Jack Jack
Samurai Jack
Jack Jack Jack Jack
The music is by Will Adams (probably not the same Will Adams that was the first western Samurai, though it's an odd coincidence) and George Pajon, Jr.
Source - my ears, and considerable time fast-forwarding and rewinding a taped episode of the show.
*I must admit, I'm not totally sure that Aku says "...where my evil is law." He might say "...where my evil lives long." Or something else. It's hard to make out through the over-the-top 'ancient Japan' accent.
Also, unless you're listening very closely, the rap lyrics sound much more like "mumble mumble back, mumble mumble jack, jack jack jack, mumble mumble jack..."
CST Approved