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Title Theme Tune: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"[[
[[
[[
[[Department of Redundancy Department|Power Rangers RPM]], [[Punctuated for Emphasis|Get! In! Gear!]]"''|Take a wild guess...}}
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Allow me to reiterate,<br />
The title of this movie<br />
Is ''[[Spy Hard]]''!"''|[["Weird Al" Yankovic
For some reason, the folks who make children's shows think that their audiences will forget what show they're watching ''[[Viewers Are Goldfish|during the]] [[Title Sequence]]''. As a result, many children's shows feel the need to repeat the title of the show in the [[Theme Tune]] as many times as possible.
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== Anime ==
* While not as common in anime these days (a few still do it), it was more or less a regular thing during the 1960's and 70s', just like it is in America now. In the 70s, some subversions, and even aversions started coming up. That is, while the song may be named after the show, it may not necessarily contain the entire title, or it may omit the title. For example, the song is called "[[
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmAaz3irJVQ As you go-go-GO, Astro Boooooy!]/[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LuEfv-K6rs Testuwa-n Aaaatomu!] The [[Trope Maker]], at least for anime.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (
** [[Averted Trope]] with ''5D'''s, but we had to fight for that one.
** The Italian version of the ''5D'''s theme has YU-GI-OH! in pretty much every line of the chorus, and at the beginning: "Yu-Gi-Ohhhh! Your still fighting for... Yu-Gi-Ohhhh! ... Fighting for your life! Yu-Gi-Ohhhh!" and so on.
* ''[[
* Same goes for every opening of ''[[Pokémon (
** The themes for ''Battle Dimension'', ''Galactic Battles'', and ''Sinnoh League Victors'' are less like this, though they still have to [[Title Drop]] at the very end to remind us that we're watching ''Pokémon''.
** The openings for ''Master Quest'', ''Advanced Challenge'', and ''Battle Frontier'' also, said phrases only mentioned once throughout the song.
** Same goes to the Japanese opening too. Some of the opening are a few exceptions such as Best Wishes and Spurt.
* The dub for ''[[
** And the least said of the French theme tune (itself also eventually replaced), the better.
** But lots can be said about the extremely catchy Italian theme tune ("What's My Destiny Dragon Ball").
* The original [[Anime Theme Song]] of ''[[
** The second tune had less repeating of the name of the show, but was an auditory [[Homage]] to ''UFO''
* The first three seasons of the ''[[
** While seasons four and five eased up on this trope quite a bit, season five still references the whole title ("[[Digimon Savers
*** While not entirely a Title Theme Tune, the "Digirap" that opens the first dub movie [[Department of Redundancy Department|repeatedly repeats]] the title, most especially the "digi" in the title, making it something of a [[Hurricane of Puns]] using the show's title.
* Every single season of the ''[[
* [[Lupin III
* [[Super Dimension Fortress Macross
* Almost every show licensed or created by [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids]], one exception is the ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew
** ''[[Chaotic]]'' has [[Instrumental Theme Tune|the instrumental]]. Now why can't you do that for your dubs!?
* "She is the one named [[
* The dub of ''[[Dinosaur King]]'': ''Dinosaur King is what you want to be, yeah''. Ironic in that being the "dinosaur king" is actually what the villain wants to be -- the protagonists just want to prevent him from obtaining (and abusing) the dinosaurs.
* ''[[Samurai Pizza Cats]]''
* ''[[
* [[GaoGaiGar
** Actually, recall ''ANY'' 70s or 80s-era giant robot series! Yep. Name's there, too!
* "Itooshi Hito No Tame Ni" ends with "... mugen heto, hirake ''[[
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjuN5Bn-RCo ...whoaaaa], [[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
* A few psuedo-[[Ominous Latin Chanting]] tracks on the ''[[The Vision of Escaflowne
* "So-nic's on the run! So-nic's number one! So-nic's coming next, so watch out for [[
** Another version of the theme tune takes this trope [[Up to Eleven]], whereupon ''the entire song solely consists of only the title''.
* "Maya, [[
** The Japanese version also sort of did this with its theme song.
* [[
** "BYUN! to tondeku Tetsujin... NIJUU-HA-CHI GO (28-go)!"
* And of course we CAN'T forget: "Go [[
** "Mahha (Mach) go go, mahha go go, Mahha go go GO!"
* "We're off to outer space! We're leaving Mother Earth! To Save the human race! Our...[[Uchuu Senkan Yamato
** "Saraba Chikyuu yo! Tabidatsu fune wa... Uchuu Senkan... YA-MA-TO!"
* "Ken! (Ken!) Survivant de l'enfer! Ken! (Ken!) Souvent croise le fer! Ken! (Ken!) Dans la chaos d'espirit! Ken! (Ken!) Contre les fous les bandits" (from the [[Gag Dub|infamous French dub]] of ''[[
* ''[[
* One cannot ''possibly'' forget [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn27jQAuoWw "Fly! Gundam"] from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. It even includes such lines as ''"Tobeyo GANDAMU / Kido senshi GANDAMU! GANDAMU!" ("Fly Gundam! / Mobile Suit Gundam! Gundam!")''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSsvYWa9S30&feature=related This English version] (effectively a professional fandub) is quite badass, considering the 70's [[Camp|campiness]] of the original.
* Another [[Western Animation]] trope present in ''[[Panty
* The famous theme song for ''[[Uchuu Senkan Yamato
* The opening of ''Cardcaptors'', the Nelvana dub of ''[[
== Films -- Animation ==
* "[[My Neighbor Totoro
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* ''Night Train to Mundo Fine''. Ironically, the original title of the film is almost forgotten -- instead, the film is almost always called by the title used on ''[[
* "[[Who You Gonna Call?]]" "[[
* ''[[Men in Black (
* Frequent within the ''[[James Bond (
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[Live and Let Die (
** ''[[The Man
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
** Indeed, the only exceptions are ''[[
** Joined by ''[[
* Tends to go along with [[The Beatles (
** ''[[A Hard
** ''[[
** ''[[
*** Note that ''[[
* "[[Shaft]]! Can you dig it?"
** ''Damn right!''
* "Remember my name! (''[[Fame]]'')"
* ''[[Koyaanisqatsi]]'', where the theme consists of the movie's title, ominously chanted. It works well in ''[[Scrubs]]'', where it plays whenever the Janitor gives anyone the [[Evil Eye]].
* Satirized by way of [[Lampshade Hanging]] in the theme to ''[[Spy Hard]]'', by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]:
{{quote| ''By the way, if you walked in late, allow me to reiterate:<br />
The name of this movie is ''Spy Hard''!<br />
You're watching ''Spy Hard''! It's the theme from ''Spy Hard''!'' }}
* ''[[George of the Jungle (
* ''[[Bless the Beasts And Children]]'': A hit for the Carpenters, a theme for a mediocre movie.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* As with anime, it was most common in tokusatsu shows, at least up until the 1980s or 90s:
** ''[[Power Rangers]]'' in every incarnation. Quite possibly the worst offender. The original theme song consisted entirely of the lines "Go go Power Rangers / [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]." The first season version had two lines of exposition in the beginning to explain the plot of the show, one of them was the [[Trope Namer]] for [[Recruit Teenagers
*** ''[[Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue]]'' had two lines, followed by endless repetition of the title, made worse by the fact that the music repeated as well.
** "''[[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight]]'', together we can fight the fight!" Ironically, its original Japanese analogue ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'' (like almost all Heisei era [[Kamen Rider]] shows) averts this trope, giving each series a potential top-40 single as its theme song (''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'' had a theme song by popular J-rock artist Gackt).
*** "Chou-henshin! [[Kamen Rider Kuuga]]!" (with extra doses of just "Kuuga" preceding that) and "Ready to go, Count ZERO, [[Kamen Rider Agito]]" count. They are the only Heisei shows that follow the trope because they were produced before the record company switch.
*** That being said, the themes of ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'', ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'' and ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'', the first theme for ''[[Kamen Rider Blade]]'' and the ending theme of ''[[Kamen Rider Hibiki]]'' still drop (respectively) the words "Faiz" (in the form of the punny "Justifaiz"), "decade", "double" (sorta), "blade" and "hibiki", but ''not'' "Kamen Rider".
*** Going further back, the theme song of [[Kamen Rider (TV series)|the very first series]] finished with "Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider, Rider, Rider!"
** [[Masked Rider|Saban's Masked Rider]] falls under this pretty well (literally, the only lyrics are "Masked Rider" repeated over and over), [[Fanon Discontinuity|but we don't really like to talk too much about it...]]
** Going with the US Tokusatsu themes, there was also: [[Ultra Series|ULTRAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!]] ([[Ultraman Tiga|TIGA!]]) ULTRAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! (Laaaaarger than) Larger than Life, ULTRAMAN!
* ''[[
* ''[[American Bandstand]]''
* Say hello to your friends, (''[[The Baby Sitters Club
* The most classical example: "[[Batman (TV series)|Batman! Nanananana Batman! Nananana Batman! Nananana Batman!]]"
** Notably, it managed to get an ''instrumental'' award; that's right: its vocals were deemed ''instruments''.
* ''[[Bill Nye the Science Guy]]''. Mention it to any [[Geek]] or [[Nerd]] who was between 5 and 15 in the 90s, and rather than mention a specific episode or parody song, they start singing the Theme Song.
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** Likewise, my only opinion about Science is that it rules.
* A pure example is the old gameshow ''[[Match Game|Blankety Blank]]'': "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWgR-4dcbc4 Blankety Blank Blankety Blank *Dum*Dum* Blankety Blank Blankety Blank *Dum*Dum*...]" (you would never guess what lyrics are used to introduce the Supermatch Game round).
* The ''[[
* "That's the way we all became ''[[The Brady Bunch]]''!"
* ''[[wikipedia:Daktari|Daktari]]''.
* ''[[
* In France, Soap Opera viewers are [[Viewers are Morons|probably considered morons]], since most soap dubs get a [[Title Theme Tune]] (most notably ''[[Dallas]]'' and ''Santa Barbara'').
* ''Evening Magazine''... ♫
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* "HEEEEEEEEEE HAWWWWWWWWW! Hee hee hee haw haw haw! [[Hee Haw]]!"
* Older viewers might remember: "It's [[Howdy Doody]] time!" They might easily have forgotten the song's other lines.
* Parodied by the theme to ''[[
* "Living in the ''[[Land of the Lost (TV series)|Land of the Lost]]!''"
* ''[[Love, American Style]]''
* ''[[The Love Boat]]''
* ''[[Martin|Martin, Martin, Martin]]''
* "And then there's ''[[Maude]]''"
* "Hey, hey, we're [[The Monkees (TV series)|The Monkees]]!"
* "We'll muddle through ''[[One Day At a Time]] (One Day at a Time!)''"
* The last line sung in the opening and closing credits of ''[[One Foot in
* [[PJ
* "Keep them doggies movin', ''[[Rawhide]]''"
* "Kenny wasn't like the other kids... ''[[Remote Control]]!''"
* Any sort of [[Disney Channel]] show -- ''[[The Replacements (
* The International dubs of ''[[The Saint|Return of the Saint]]'' has a bilingual vocal theme in French and English: "Here comes The Saint now, Watchin' The Saint now..."
* ''[[Silver Spoons]]''
* An unusual example is the instrumental theme tune to ''[[Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em]]'', which spells out the title in ''Morse code''.
* ''[[Soul Train
* ''[[Stingray|Stingraaaay, Stingray!]] Dananana nana!''
* "''Hang about — Look out! For [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtymNiYlSD4 Super Gran].''" (Song by Billy Connolly.)
* ''[[Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills]]''. Since it was a [[Follow the Leader/Live Action TV|Power Rangers knock-off]], it repeated the words over and over after explaining the premise.
* Diamonds, daisies, snowflakes, ''[[
* "Down at our rendezvous, ''[[Three's Company
* Also parodied by ''[[The Tom Green Show]]'': "This is the Tom Green Show/It's not the Green Tom Show/This is my favorite show/Because it is my show!"
* A French exemple for a Japanese series: ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M61KVtVZwfw San Ku Kaï]'' (a.k.a. ''Uchu kara no messeji: Ginga taisen'').
** Also true for the Spanish version: ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr8dGMcUKzQ Sankuokai]''.
* ''[[The Weird Al Show]]'' theme tune also appeared on his ''Running With Scissors'' CD (unfortunately, long after [[CBS]] canned it).
* ''[[Where in
* "Get us out from under, ''[[Wonder Woman (TV series)|Wonder Woman]]!''"
* Two game show themes with lyrics: ''The Wizard Of Odds'' (NBC, 1973) and ''Monopoly'' (ABC, 1990).
== Music ==
* The [[
* Parodied in [[Tom Lehrer]]'s "Oedipus Rex" (from ''An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer''). In his spoken-word introduction, he explains that he feels the 1957 film version of [[Sophocles]]' ''[[Oedipus the King
* ''Hey Hey, we're [[The Monkees]]...and people say we monkey around..." (already mentioned under Live Action TV Shows, but the band made a full-length cut on an album of the theme.)
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* "It's time to play the music / It's time to light the lights / It's time to meet the Muppets / On ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' tonight."
* "Here come the Muppets! Here come the Muppets! Here come the [[Muppets Tonight]]!"
* "Dance your cares away / Worries for another day / Let the music play / Down in [[
* ''[[Fireball
* ''[[Stingray (TV series)|Stingray]]''
* ''[[Captain Scarlet]]'': There were two versions, one with a full set of lyrics and another whose only lyric was "Captain Scarlet" endlessly repeated.
* Another French example for another Japanese series: ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiScuDJPR2g Bomber X]'' (a.k.a. ''[[Star Fleet]]'' by [[Go Nagai]]).
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* Oddly enough, there's a video game example: The only legible words in the opening theme for ''[[Katamari Damacy]]'' are the game's title. Other versions of the theme within the game have actual lyrics.
** Including the one that plays when you start a new game: [[Gratuitous English|DON'T WORRY DO YOUR BEST!]]
* ''[[
* ''[[
** To be fair the ''exact'' title appears nowhere in that song. It's more about the character(s) and less about the game.
* ''Petville'' (YEAH!) Doodle-dee-doo doo-doo ''Petville'' (WHEE!)
* As a pastiche of ''[[James Bond]]'' movies' tendencies to have title theme tunes, as noted above, ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater]]'' has a subtitle theme tune "Snake Eater".
* Almost every theme song of ''[[
* ''[[Sega Saturn|Segata Sanshiro! Segata Sanshiro! Sega Saturn... shiro!!]]''
* ''([[Burning Rangers]]!) To the brand new sky we dive. (Burning Rangers!) Dreams we have are shining bright!(Burning Rangers!) Aquamarine colored skies. Fly high with grace and pride...''
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== Web Original ==
* In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omW1E7rv7IM&t=9m9s this] episode of ''[[
== Western Animation ==
Note that almost every western animated series does this. However, if you are looking for specific examples, read on...
* ''[[
* "[[Saturday Night Live
* ''[[
** As segments of the [[Animated Anthology]], Pinky and the Brain got their own title theme, as did Chicken Boo. The ''[[
* "Everything's ''[[Archie Comics]]''!"
* "Your backyard friends, ''[[
* The ''[[Battletoads (
* The same can surprisingly be said for ''[[
* The theme song for ''[[
* The theme song to the ''[[Bubsy]]'' animated pilot episode featured the title character's name sung throughout it. However, it's not as repetitive as some of the other examples given. Also, the character's catchphrase "What could possibly go wrong?" is spoken toward the beginning of the theme.
* "BUCKY! Captain [[Bucky O'Hare and
* ''[[Caillou]]'' -- which is sung by the character too. "Growing up is not so tough, 'cept when I've had enough -- I'm Caillou. Caillou! Caillou! I'm Caillou! That's me!"
* "[[Chalk Zone|CHALK! CHALK! CHALK! CHALK! CHALK! CHALK! CHALKZONE!]]"
* ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* "And so I found a place, where everyone will know, my happy mustached face, this is ''[[
* "''[[
* "[[Combo
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw2TDna9NYg He's the greatest, he's fantastic, where ever there is danger he'll be there] ''[[
** See also: Any original [[Cosgrove Hall]] cartoon.
* "[[Danny Phantom
* [[Denver, the Last Dinosaur|"Denver, the Last Dinosaur! He's my friend and a whole lot more!"]]
* "[[Dinosaucers
* ''[[
* "''[[
** Also, ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
** ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' was also an exception, using the opening song "Arabian Nights" from the movie.
* "[[Earthworm Jim (
* “Lucky, there’s a ''[[
* ''[[The Flintstones]]'': Flintstones, three times. Yabba dabba doo, one-and-a-half. Plus an [[Have a Gay Old Time|infamous phrase]] and another one that [[Mondegreen|everyone has trouble remembering]].
* "Hey, it's Franklin, coming to your house. Hey, it's Franklin, coming to my house. Hey, it's [[Franklin]]!"
* "[[Freakazoid
* "George, George, [[George of the Jungle]]! / Friend to you and me! (AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!) / Watch out for that tree!"
** This is true for the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fB0tv31-ys original cartoon], both movies (see above), and the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqnfF9x7mAk 2008 revival]'s [[Theme Tune Rap]].
* “''[[G.I. Joe]]'' (A real American hero!)”
* ''[[He
* ''Hurray for Huckle'', a mystery-solving series featuring [[Richard Scarry]]'s BusyTown characters features the series names a couple of times in the theme tune. For the U.S. broadcasts, the series was retitled as ''BusyTown Mysteries'' -- it still sort of works, as the lyrics include "We're gonna solve a BusyTown mystery," but not quite.
* The ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' theme song clearly belongs here.
* "[[Jem|Jem, Truly Outrageous]]."
** Actually, every Sunbow/Marvel series based on a Hasbro toyline used the same theme song heard in the toy commercials. In the case of Jem though, that was just for the first two seasons (i.e., the "Super Sunday" episodes, plus the first season of the regular series). Afterwords, a different theme song was used ("Me and my friends are Jem girls...").
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ♫ "[[Krypto the Superdog (
* ''"We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship, zoomin' through the sky, [[Little Einsteins]]! Climb aboard, get ready to explore, there's so much to find, [[Little Einsteins]]!"''
* "Ride on ''[[The Magic School Bus]]!''"
* ''[[MASK]]'', of course.
* The Ruby-Spears ''[[Mega Man (
** Anime example: the English themes for ''[[
** ... as does the English theme for ''[[
* [[Mighty Orbots|"GO! Mighty Orbots!"]]
* "''[[Winnie the Pooh|My Friends Tigger & Pooh]], we're always there for each other!''"
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** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPn0Sll3I7k It's in every series.]
* ''[[Postman Pat]]'' (and his black-and-white cat)
* ''[[
* ''[[RoboCop
* Scooby, [[Scooby
* "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ''[[Seven Little Monsters]]'' (Hey!)"
* ''[[She
* ''[[Sherlock Holmes in The Twenty Second Century]]'', whose [[Theme Tune]] consisted of no lyrics ''other'' than the title of the show.
* ♫[[The Simpsons (
* "Fastest Thing Alive", the theme song of [[ABC]]'s ''[[
** Some versions of ''[[
*** And even that had the words "Sonic X" repeated.
* "Come on down to ''[[
* "[[Western Animation/The Spectacular Spider-Man|Spec! Tac! Ular! Spectacular Spider-Man!]]" It even goes so far as to spell out ''SPECTACULAR'' in the animated opening credits in time with the singer singing that lyric.
** To be accurate, [[Stan Lee]] does this in basically every show that uses his characters -- and certainly every ''Spider-Man'' show -- with the exception of the '90s ''[[X-Men (
*** And don't forget the '60s version with "Look out! Here comes the Spider-Man!"
* "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? [[
* ''[[
* Averted in the [[DCAU]], except for ''[[Static Shock]]''.
* Both the 2003 and 2009 ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]'' series make liberal use of the main character's name.
** Actually, the first of the 1980s TV specials also did this, although the actual special was called "The World of Strawberry Shortcake", so it's not a straight example.
* "We are the [[
* ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]!''
* "[[Sushi Pack|Sushi, sushi, sushi, sushi, Sushi Pack!]]"
* "When there's trouble, you know who to call--''[[Teen Titans (
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', in all of its incarnations.
** [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987
* Then of course, there's ''[[
* "It's the ''[[
* "[[Transformers Generation 1|Transformers! More than meets the eye! Transformers! Robots in disguise! Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of... The Decepticons!]]" ''[[
** [[Hulk Speak|Me Grimlock]] say Beast-Dino words good.
** For the record, in America all ''Transformers'' series have a variation of the original theme. But hey, it's catchy and we love it. It's a good way to get non-fans to leave the room so you can watch in peace.
* [[Underdog (
* ''[[Will and Dewitt]]'''s title theme tune is loaded down with [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Incredibly Lame Puns]] based on the title characters' names. "You've got the skill, just find the Will & Dewitt!"
* "[[WITCH (
* In the same fashion as ''W.I.T.C.H.'', ''[[
* The Aborted Pilot "Pryde of the [[X-Men (
* ''[[
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