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20th Feb '13 9:17:54 PM JIKTV

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''Also Sprach Zarathustra'' (''Thus Spake Zarathustra'') is a tone poem composed by Richard Strauss in 1896 (named after the book by Creator/FriedrichNietzsche). The melody of the "Sunrise" movement is undeniably ''[[CrowningMusicOfAwesome epic]]'', so it's a perfect way to tell the audience, "This is where you're supposed to be impressed."

Stanley Kubrick certainly thought so, and used "Also Sprach Zarathustra" as a {{leitmotif}} for several key scenes in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. It worked. In fact, it worked so well that these days the composition is [[OlderThanTheyThink better known]] as "that song from ''2001''" than by its own name.[[note]]Specifically, it was meant to symbolize the moment where mankind (or its proto-ape equivalent) achieved enlightenment -- first when apes figured out how to use tools, then when Bowman becomes the Starchild.[[/note]] Likewise, most people will probably only recognize the first minute and a half; the entire piece is about half an hour.

Consequently, usage of the composition as a StandardSnippet seem to have been eclipsed by its usage as an {{Homage}} or AffectionateParody of ''2001''. It's also far more likely to [[MundaneMadeAwesome emphasize something painfully mundane]] than to be used straight. (Arguably, the ''only'' place it's been used straight since ''2001'' was in ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact.'')

Also see TheMonolith. Compare "Music/RideOfTheValkyries".

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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
* The opening to the ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' anime uses a similar motif in its opening sequence.
* In a ClipShow episode of ''SamuraiChamploo'', one original scene has Mugen arguing with an old samurai master, with his spiked hair rising sun-like over the latter's bald head to the theme from ''2001''.
* In ''Manga/SkipBeat'', episode 24, the music is played when Bo ([[TheHero Kyoko]] in disguise) and [[LoveInterest Ren]] stares angrily at each other.
* Used in ''SoraNoManimani'' for a MundaneMadeAwesome moment.
* Plays in episode 11 of ''SoraNoOtoshimono'' when Tomoko is about to sneak into the girl's locker room.
* Overlays Juvia's FreakOut in ''Manga/FairyTail'' when she thinks Gray is in love with Lucy.

[[AC:{{Commercials}}]]
* "In the beginning, there was one. Now there's two -- Barqtoos II!" They had to up the tempo a bit in accordance with the short attention span expected of ad viewers.
* Used in a radio ad for a hardware store in Montreal.
* Rogers commercials tend to use this as well.
* A pizza commercial (if he recalls) had the surrounding family playing this while opening the pizza box. TheStinger had this {{pun}}:
-->'''Mother''': No oboes on the table.
-->*twin daughters lower oboes to the floor*
* Used for Master Builders Australia radio advertisements.

[[AC:FanWork]]
* ''WebVideo/PoniesTheAnthology II'' has, as its last sequence, ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fFOoIo-kMk 2012: A Pony Odyssey]].'' It uses ''Also Sprach Arathustra'' in pony-version recreations of scenes from the movie.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* As mentioned above, ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' is the TropeCodifier. It's particularly amusing to note that the most dramatic part of the score is not for the title or the on-screen vista, but for the appearance of Kubrick's name.
** Its use in ''2001'' is rather apropos. The main theme of Nietzsche's book was the [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence "Übermensch"]], which was what [[spoiler:Dave Bowman becomes]] when this music plays at the end of the film.
** It appears again in ''TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact.''
* In ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'', it is used to properly introduce a hot Italian chick.
* Used in ''WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}}'', when the Captain becomes the first human in centuries to [[spoiler:[[Awesome/{{Pixar}} stand up]]]].
* ''CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', complete with a giant bar of chocolate of similar dimensions taking the place of TheMonolith.
* DannyElfman's score for TimBurton's ''{{Batman}}'' has some musical [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] here and there, perhaps most obviously at the very end of the film, just before everything fades to black. Those three notes that play as Batman is standing on the cathedral roof looking out at the Bat-Signal may not have been ''intended'' to evoke ''Also Sprach Zarathrustra'', but it sure sounded like Elfman was trying.
* In the Buzz Lightyear videogame at the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', the hover-platforms over the bottomless chasm play this melody as Buzz leaps across them.
** Which fall immediately after the melody is finished.
* Disney's ''My Favorite Martian''.
* Used in ''{{Magnolia}}'' to introduce TomCruise's character. In this case, it is diegetic sound, chosen by his pompous character.
* ''{{Zoolander}}'' used it in comedy homage to 2001 when Derek and Hansel were trying to figure out how to turn on Mugatu's computer. As the computer's workings confound them, their behavior grows increasingly ape-like, culminating in Hansel grabbing an appropriately-shaped bone that just happened to be nearby to smash the machine.
* ''BeingThere'': Slight variation, with Deodato's funk-jazz version of ''AlsoSprachZarathustra'' playing on the soundtrack as Chance makes his first journey into the city.
** May possibly double as a subtle ActorAllusion hearkening back to Sellers' arguably most famous role(s) in ''DrStrangelove'', directed by Mr. Stanley '2001' Kubrick himself.
* Parodied in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' (of course): "''Spaceball One has become...'' [cut to kettle-drum player, who plays the obligatory measures] ''Mega Maid''"
* Parodied in ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079308/ Hot Stuff]]''. Briefly, the movie is about a police sting operation, focusing on capturing thieves. The police involved in the actual sting set up a pawnshop, and due to a distinct lack of support from their department supervisors, have to bankroll the operation by actually selling some of the items people have sold them. The theme comes about halfway through, when the police captain demands to see what they've actually accomplished with their 'little scheme', and they take him into the rear warehouse... which is stacked ten feet high with stolen goods and a crowing rooster, for some reason.
* In ''ManOnTheMoon'', AndyKaufman's on-stage transformation from "Foreign Man" into a seriously good ElvisPresley impersonation was accompanied by this music.
* Used in ''GhostbustersII'', when they turn on the proton packs for the first time in years. Lampshaded by having the characters sing it themselves.
* Used in ''Film/{{Clueless}}'', with a phone standing in for the monolith, when Cher is waiting for Christian to call her.
* Used, possibly as a parody, in ''Film/TurnerAndHooch'' to introduce the titular dog. Suitably [[CrowningMomentOfFunny hilarious]]
* Parodied near the beginning of ''HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'' (1981).
* Used early on in ''WesternAnimation/{{Planet 51}}'' when Charles Baker touches down from his spacecraft. He even ''[[MediumAwareness hums]]'' it. And then [[RecordNeedleScratch he steps on a rubber ducky...]]
* Used in {{Casino}} as the the theme of a flamboyant ShowWithinAShow and as an element of a GilliganCut made after the protagonist is asked for discretion.
* In the film ''Film/TheBigBus'', when the nuclear powered bus is first rolled out of the garage onto the parking lot for the press to see, the beginning of this composition is played.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Richard Dawkins once put together the Blind Watchmaker program as a sort of Cliff Notes evolution synthesizer. According to the book ''The Blind Watchmaker'', when he began producing little monochrome 2D insects instead of the trees that were all he'd been expecting, he immediately thought of this music.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* Done in ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' as a animation by Creator/TerryGilliam in which Earth arises from behind the moon in a parody of a similar scene of ''2001''. The Earth is then kicked away like a soccer ball.
* AlsoSprachZarathustra plays in the stereo in ''TheBigBangTheory'' when the nerds hook up their home electronics online. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny They proceed to Rock Out to it]].
* ''{{Doctors}}'' used it when Karen, who had been making efforts to eat healthily, finally snapped and tucked into a burger at a GreasySpoon cafe.
* In ''{{Frasier}}'' Roz suggests using it in her space documentary, Frasier suggests a different tune saying Also Sprach Zarathustra is too commonplace or ''a bit on the nose'' as Frasier puts it.
* In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', a jazzy version by Deodato plays when Nathan tries to swing himself off the meat hook. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]
* This piece was used in a montage of clips on ''AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'' of babies and toddlers being spoonfed.
* Appears in ''Series/StargateUniverse''. Volker tells Brody that it's his favorite piece of music. It is later played as Volker prepares to undergo a kidney transplant - [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn Brody played it to comfort him]]. May be the first case of this music being used for a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Crowning Moment Of]] ''[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Heartwarming]]''.
* The jingle accompanying Viacom's "V of Doom" VanityPlate somewhat resembles it, and the logo itself echoes TheMonolith.
* A number of the musical themes in ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' borrow from ''Also Sprach Zarathustra''. Notably, it's the only ''PowerRangers'' series to have been nominated for an Emmy... for sound editing.
* In TheBigBangTheory, when the characters [[MundaneMadeAwesome send a signal around the world to turn on their stereo]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqp8_ROAIJY this is the music that plays]].

[[AC:{{Music}}]]
* RayStevens' "Thus Cacked Henrietta" is this song done entirely in [[EverythingsBetterWithChickens chicken clucks]].
* There is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpJ6anurfuw a version]] by the [[DreadfulMusician Portsmouth Sinfonia]].
* Rush used it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayrCSagPXkw as their intro tape]] during their tours for Counterparts and Test For Echo.
* On at least one of her tours, Jann Arden would be backed by musicians from the orchestra of the city she was currently playing in. When she'd introduce them with her trademark humourous banter, she'd always ask the timpani player "can you play the '2001' theme on those things? Well of course you can, what else are they good for?"
* Music/DreamTheater used it for intro music in at least one of their live shows, such as several gigs of the "Chaos In Motion" (the promotional tour for ''Systematic Chaos'') tour.
* Similarly, GreenDay used this as intro music during their 2005 American Idiot tour.
* And let's not forget about the man who predated them all: ElvisPresley, who used it as his entrance music starting around 1972.
* The motif is inserted into DoctorSteel's song "Spaceboy."
* 70s artist Deodato made a [[http://www.lastfm.de/music/Deodato/_/Also+Sprach+Zarathustra funked up and jazzed up version]] of this using the classical recording.
* In 1998, Blackout did a dance remix titled "Gotta Have Hope"
* In [[DontExplainTheJoke 2001]] Weirdo and Captain Tinrib made a [[SpeedyTechnoRemake hard trance remix]]

[[AC:Other]]
* The old [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifespring Lifespring]] Basic Training Program, back when they still gave it, used this music to convene every session.
* This was played for the unavailing of the [[CoolPlane B-2]]. It was a sunny day and because of that nobody could see into the shadowed hanger that the plane was in, and as the song started the B-2 slowly rolled out into the light.
* Russians will mainly know it from the trivia show ''What? Where? When?''.

[[AC:ProfessionalWrestling]]
* Wrestling/RicFlair has been using this as his entrance music since the late 1970s.
** Causing wrestling fans to have an urge to [[MemeticMutation WOOOOOOOOOOO]] every time they hear this song in any medium.

[[AC:{{Radio}}]]
* Used on HowardStern's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tx4MnMaSmY show]] to announce the entrance of a 600-pound woman.
* TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy had a scene with Zaphod dramatically speaking while AlsoSprachZarathustra grew in volume under him, until Zaphod tells Marvin to cut it out, whereupon the final two notes barely make it out.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Used as the entrance music for the University of South Carolina football team.
* Likewise used when the teams take the field at Portsmouth Football Club's ground.
* Was intended to be the background music of Apollo 13's television broadcast before Fred Haise secretly switched songs on them. And then the broadcast didn't air anyway. (though there is still a snippet of mission video where the song can be heard playing).

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* The [[http://www.dukenostalgia.com/mnd/VSimages/sandstonehyren_kc_vs.jpg Sandstone Hyren]] in ''MagiNation'' uses what is unmistakably an onomotopoeic version of the song as flavor text. Also, the card itself does have an ability called "Monolith..."

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
* A modernized production of ''Theatre/{{Tartuffe}}'' began with the music playing [[MundaneMadeAwesome as a character entered with his new magazine issue]].

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''{{Spore}}:'' At the end of the Creature stage, your creature gains sentience, and a general parody of the entire scene from 2001 occurs (although the stick falls back down and hits your creature on the head)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI:'' A similar theme accompanies the final boss as he descends from the heavens.
* The opening cutscene in ''VideoGame/{{Startopia}}'', being a parody of the first minutes of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' (for example, there's a donut in the monolith), has a SuspiciouslySimilarSong version of AlsoSprachZarathustra.
* It is also the subtitle of the third ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' game. Ironically, the Song itself doesn't appear in the game.
* Reese Worthington hums the tune in ''[[BackyardSports Backyard Skateboarding]]''.
* Used in the eighth mission of ''VideoGame/ArmyMen {{RTS}}'', substituting a standing [[MundaneMadeAwesome PS2]] for TheMonolith. To the Army Men, it's the equivalent of an infinite power source.
* It plays in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} II'', when the player gets the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y47nxo_uvA space ending]].
* ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' has a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkn6mzeW480 funk remix]] of ''ASZ'' done by the Daniel Pemberton TV Orchestra.
* The source mod ''ShotgunSunrise'' uses this when lowering a keg of booze you need to retrieve.
* In VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople's WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad minigame in the second episode, the unlockable "alien" card will result in this exchange if executed at the right time:
-->'''Alien:''' GREE-TINGS, HU-MANS. WE COME FROM SPACE-SPACE TO TEACH YOU HOW TO BUILD PYRAMIDS.
-->'''Narrator Strong Bad''': (to the tune of Also Sprach Zarathustra) Deeeead, deeeead, deeead, DEAD-DEEEAD! Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead...
-->(A monolith falls on the girl you chose)
-->'''Teen Girl''': So artistic and boring!
* Parodied at the beginning of SaintsRowTheThird along with StarWars.

[[AC:WebComics]]
* Parodied in ''QuestionableContent'': Hannelore [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=707 mentions]] one of the big drawbacks of living in a space station is having to listen to AlsoSprachZarathustra every time the sun rises.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* {{Phelous}} uses this to introduce the BigOMG in his ''Film/{{Troll 2}}'' review.
-->"And now, here it comes, the line you've all been waiting for..."
* Performed at the end of the WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic review of ''TheGarbagePailKidsMovie''. [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome By Doug himself.]]
** He also used it when he [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/sketches/64-how-i-quit-my-job quit his job.]]
* Parodied by LittleKuriboh [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpRHhIgnups here]].
* Done entirely vocally by Oxhorn for the opening of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99ok93s0Mto Orcs in Space]], growing progressively wilder and off-key (and thus, hilarious) towards the end.
* God [[FacePalm facepalms]] to "Also Sprach Zarathustra" in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqghvckkERs this flash video.]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}''
* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Godfellas", when Bender floats into view, with a colony of Shrimpkins (and their brewery) living on him. This is a parody of the floating monolith scene in "2001".
* Used in a couch gag in ''TheSimpsons'' where the camera zooms out from the house into space and into Homer's head, ending where it started.
** Also parodied in ''Little Girl in the Big Ten''. Long story short, it plays when Lisa is thrown off the roof of Springfield Elementary in a plastic bubble, landing in a massive cake and splattering Skinner with it.
** Again, also parodied in ''Deep Space Homer'' at the end when Bart throws the marker pen in the air, like the ape throwing the bone in the air scene in "2001".
* Used in the episode "Illegal Booze" from a Finnish animated series {{Pasila}} in the scene the rioters suddenly [[spoiler: get drunk despite not having had any alcohol]].
* Used to hilarious effect in the ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode "Inventors".
* Used in ''{{Daria}}'' as the soundtrack to Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimer III's bizarre multimedia project.
* Used in the "Monolith" segements of ''TheElectricCompany'' revealing a letter dipthong or small word, subsequently pronounced by a deistic voice, directly referencing ''2001''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "Suited For Success", the opening of the song is used in Twilight Sparkle's introduction in the fashion show, complementing her starry-night dress.
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->Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum...
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20th Feb '13 8:58:36 PM moderator FastEddie

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20th Feb '13 8:47:23 PM JIKTV