Theme
The Adventures in Odyssey musical theme has had several variants. It was originally, and is still, composed by John Campbell. The 88th edition of the official podcast, released in early 2010, contained an interview with John Campbell about the theme. This podcast can be heard below, or here.
Radio series themes
Typical episode "intros" contain the following themes.
| No. | Years Active | Audio | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1987 - 1988 | This is theme for Odyssey USA, the original title of the series. It features Whit tinkering with a new invention that does not work. | |
| 1988 | An instrumental of the theme, lacking Whit's monologue, was used in just a few episodes before the series was renamed to Adventures in Odyssey. | ||
| 1988 - 1990 |
|
Adapted from the original Odyssey USA theme, this is the first Adventures in Odyssey theme. The second clip is a much shortened version of the theme. It was often used on albums in place of (or in addition to) Chris's opening-wrap. | |
| 1990 - 1991 |
|
A slight remix of the original Adventures in Odyssey theme, lengthened and with added instruments. This theme features Whit tinkering with a new invention, but this time the invention works. There are several shortened versions of this theme, the second clip being one of them. | |
| 2 | 1992 - 1998 | Based on the video series theme, but edited for the introduction by Whit (and later other characters) and some clips of the episode. It was first used in #179: “You Gotta Be Wise”. | |
| 3 | 1998 - 2003 | This theme was first used in #406: “Malachi's Message, Part 1”. | |
| 4 | 2003 - 2008 |
|
A "draft" mix of this theme was introduced in #501: “Inside the Studio”, with the finalized mix first used in #503: “Between You and Me”, coinciding with the start of the 2003 Season. There is also a 30-second theme first heard in #510: “For the Fun of It”, often, but not always, used after a opening scene. |
| 5 | 2010 - Present | The current theme made its debut in the album version of #655: “The Inspiration Station, Part 1”, the first episode of Album #51: Take It from the Top. |
Video series themes
Original video series (1991-1998)
This is the theme used in the opening sequences of the original Odyssey video series. It is also used in the Hindi language video adaptations of the audio series.
New video series (2000-2003)
This theme was used in the opening sequences of the new video series, starting with The Last Days of Eugene Meltsner in 2000.
Other themes
Family Portraits
Each episode in Family Portraits, the 1987 pilot series to Adventures in Odyssey, featured this theme along with an introduction by Mike Trout.
Summer theme
This theme was used in summer re-airs. In 2009, it was used during the Washington family secret word contest. It was also used at the end of four episodes during Chris' wrap-ups (#499: “Exit”, #595: “A Time for Action, Part 2”, #613: “The Top Floor, Part 3” and #701: “Unbecoming Jay”).
Christmas theme
This theme was first heard in the 1994 video Electric Christmas, and was later used at the opening of #557: “A Lamb's Tale” with a short monologue by Whit. Shortened versions were also used during the wrap-ups of several Christmas episodes (#294: “Unto Us a Child Is Born”, #386: “It's a Pokenberry Christmas, Part 2”, #557: “A Lamb's Tale”, #581: “A Christmas Conundrum”, #582: “Silent Night”, and Club episodes #748: “The Perfect Gift” and #750: “All By Myself”).
Aventuras en Odisea
The theme for Aventuras en Odisea, the Spanish language adaption of Odyssey, is patterned after the original Odyssey theme.