Dragon Ball: New “Rock the Dragon” Tribute Revives the Show’s Best Theme Song

Dragon Ball Z has become one of the most popular anime franchises for North American anime fans. While many viewers were introduced to Goku and the Z-Fighters thanks to Toonami, the Cartoon Network programming block wasn’t the first time the anime hit the small screen in the West. First sporting the now legendary theme song, “Rock The Dragon”, Dragon Ball fan animators have celebrated Goku Day by releasing a new collaboration that recreates the tune that helped introduce countless fans to Akira Toriyama’s masterpiece.

For those who want some background on “Rock The Dragon”, it was created by musicians Shuki Levy, Haim Saban, and Jeremy Sweet. Rather than simply taking footage from arcs like the Saiyan and Frieza Sagas, the theme song also took footage from the first trilogy of films that populated the Dragon Ball Z franchise. Dead Zone, The World’s Strongest, and Tree Of Might saw Goku and company taking on villains that appeared outside of the main continuity, including Garlic Jr., Dr. Wheelo, and Turles. When Dragon Ball Z came to Toonami, the programming block mostly replaced “Rock The Dragon” with unique introductions that would splice together footage and original music, but the first DBZ theme song remains a classic.

Rock The Dragon Redux

The new take on the classic Dragon Ball Z theme includes the following animators: Brianne Drouhard, Worthikids, Aaron Long, RubberRoss w/Giwi Quinn, Taketa, Charlie Bryant, David Liu, Nas Pasha, SmallBu, Tom Barkel w/Sarah Harper, Ashley Nichols, Louie Zong, Paul Robertson, Arin Hanson, KC Green, Parker Simmons, and Abby memedokies. Every year, May 9th is Goku Day, meaning it is the perfect time to celebrate the franchise that remains the pinnacle for many shonen fans.

This year’s Goku Day is a bittersweet one as it is the first one without Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. Passing away earlier this year, the world mourned the loss of the legendary mangaka as countless artists, fans, and even world leaders paid tribute to Toriyama. Following Toriyama’s passing, the Dragon Ball Super manga has been placed on indefinite hiatus, leaving many manga readers to wonder if the series will continue with only artist Toyotaro at the helm.

Want to see more tributes to the Dragon Ball franchise in the future? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest on the Z-Fighters and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the shonen universe.