History Main / MisterSandmanSequence

* ''Film/{{Air|2023}}'', set in 1984, begins with a montage of clips of news and pop culture from that year set to "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits (which is a bit anachronistic as the song was released in 1985, but the filmmakers thought it worked too well not to use).

* ''Film/{{Air|2023}}'', set in 1984, begins with a montage of clips of news and pop culture from that year set to "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.

* The `60s flashback in ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut''.

* The ''Series/BlackMirror'' episode [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BlackMirrorSanJunipero San Junipero]] opens with Yorkie down a street lousy with [[TheEighties Eighties]] signifiers: TotallyRadical fashions and hairdos, Series/MaxHeadroom playing on CRT televisions, the radio explicitly announcing "the biggest hits of 1987". [[spoiler: This appears to be deliberate, because it's designed as a nostalgic reconstruction, and all the other eras she 'visits' have similarly exaggerated environments.]]

* The WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}} ''The Nifty Nineties'' (set in TheGayNineties, so no "Smells Like Teen Spirit") is a protracted Mister Sandman Sequence. Mickey and Minnie have a MeetCute in the park in period clothing, go on a date to a vaudeville show, then go for a ride in an old-fashioned runabout.

A scene in a PeriodPiece that hits the viewer with as many period signifiers as possible. The scene exists to quickly establish the "feel" of the time period and will almost always feature a period song (typically [[NothingButHits one that is still popular in the present]]) playing on the film's soundtrack. More-or-less it's PopularHistory condensed into a sequence usually less than two minutes long.

Compare SpinningPaper and EiffelTowerEffect. When a scene in a work set in the present day becomes this in hindsight, then you've got an UnintentionalPeriodPiece. See also ProgressiveEraMontage. Has nothing to do with the Music/{{Metallica}} song.

* Used frequently in ''Series/QuantumLeap'' and its [[Series/QuantumLeap sequel series]], which usually features the leaper leaping in and experiencing a cavalcade of fashions and music from whenever they end up.

* The very first sequence in ''LightNovel/TaishoBaseballGirls'' establishes the atmosphere of 1920s Japan. It's all in Koume's head, though.

* Used frequently in ''Series/QuantumLeap''.

* ''Film/LesVisiteurs'' has one when the two medieval protagonists, Godefroy and Jacquouille, flee in separate directions following an incident they caused at a highway restaurant after arriving to the 20th century by mistake. Godefroy rides on horseback on a road and a truck almost runs over him. He then passes by a train and a jet airliner flies over him. He then shouts "MONTJOIE!", realizing he is lost in a future century. The sequence starts with a guitar riff before switching to Music/{{Era}}'s "Enae Volare".

* ''Young Manga/{{Blackjack}}'' starts with a sequence mentioning the political issues Japan was having in the 1960s.

* In ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'', after the team ends up in 1982 to stop the younger Ash from ever getting his hands on the Necronomicon, the older Ash first decides to cruise around his hometown of Elk Grove, set to the tone of Music/{{Journey}}'s "Don't Stop Believing".

** Similar sequences appear for 2015 Hill Valley, alternate 1985 Hill Valley and 1885 Hill Valley, in movies [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII two, two]], and [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII three]] respectively. Alternate 1985 is set to "I Can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar, but the other two don't get songs. The 1885 sequence includes a small harmonica bit of the BTTF theme tune, when Marty is looking at the courthouse in construction.

* OlderThanTelevision: Creator/MaeWest's 1933 film ''Film/SheDoneHimWrong'' opens with one of these.
* ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' starts with scenes from the Old South, or leastways Hollywood's [[HollywoodAtlas interpretation]] of it.

* ''Every'' scene in ''Film/TheWeddingSinger'' has enough '80s signifiers to be one of these, but only the opening scene fulfills the purpose of the trope.
* The scene in ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' in which the ''Enterprise'' crew crosses a street in 1986 San Francisco and Kirk is called a "dumbass" by an angry taxi driver. The background music seems to be a standard '80s rock tune. It was a jazz/fusion tune that was created for the movie by the group Yellowjackets which was accurate of music adults listened to in the '80's. Also, an unlucky hoodlum is shown jamming on a boombox with music that fit the style of 80's era punk. The song was written specifically for that scene, and performed by the actor that played the punk. The film's take on this trope is an interesting version, seeing as it was applied to what was then the real-life present day.
* ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' starts with a montage of superhero history, to the sound of "The Times They Are a-Changin'" by Music/BobDylan.
* A few of these can be found in the ''Film/AustinPowers'' movies. Very much in the AffectionateParody vein.
* Inverted in ''[[Film/TheBradyBunch The Brady Bunch Movie]]'': the film opens with a series of snapshots of mid-'90s L.A. (grunge music, cell phones, burnt-out panhandlers, etc.), the better to establish how out of place the [[DiscoDan stuck-in-the-'70s]] Brady clan is. As the years pass, this montage is becoming more and more an inadvertently straight example of the trope (and the film as a whole as much of an UnintentionalPeriodPiece as the show it's mocking).

* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' is set in 1957. To firmly establish it, the opening scene is set to Music/ElvisPresley's "Hound Dog." In addition, there are teenagers, both a SweaterGirl, and a guy in a letter jacket with a buzzcut, racing in a hot rod. All possibly in {{Homage}} to ''Film/AmericanGraffiti''.
* The mall montage in ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh'', set to "We Got The Beat" by The Go-Gos is another presumably unintentional, then-present-day example.

* The film version of ''Same Time, Next Year'' accompanies each scene transition with a montage of black-and-white still photos of famous people and events from each decade, to depict the passage of time and subsequent changes in the characters' lives and in the postwar society they inhabit.
* ''Film/AngelsWithDirtyFaces'' (1938) features the camera [[SpinningPaper lingering on a newspaper]] with a period-distinguishing headline, before panning out at the beginning of a scene. They do this not once but ''twice'', although it's probably less to establish the period itself and more to show how much time James Cagney's character spends in prison.
* An odd example comes in the Film/HammerHorror film ''Film/DraculaAD1972.'' The film opens with a prologue set in 1872 and then jumps into an opening title montage of scenery from 1972 London to demonstrate that [[PresentDay this is indeed 1972 now]]. What's weird about it is that the movie was released in 1972, the audience should really know what it looks like.

* ''Film/TheTimeMachine2002'' had a scene playing with this motif as a kind of TimeCompressionMontage to show how time passes outside the titular machine, in which dresses on a shop's exhibition get shorter and shorter. This is copied from [[Film/TheTimeMachine1960 the 1960 version]]. It wasn't in the novel, since Creator/HGWells obviously didn't know how the world would change after his time.

* The [[http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2003082265/ trailer]] for ''Film/TheArtist (2011)'' establishes the period with a peppy dance number.
* The `60s flashback in ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut''.

* ''Film/KingKong2005'' uses this sort of montage to establish it's Depression-era New York.
* ''Film/LesVisiteurs'' has one when the two medieval protagonists, Godefroy and Jacquouille, flee in separate directions following an incident they caused at a highway restaurant after arriving to the 20th century by mistake. Godefroy rides on horseback on a road and a truck almost runs over him. He then passes by a train and a jet airliner flies over him. He then shouts "MONTJOIE!", realizing he is lost in a future century. The sequence starts with a guitar riff before switching to Music/{{Era}}'s "Enae Volare".

* ''Film/MadeOfHonor'' has this in the opening {{flashback}} to a Halloween party in 1998, with the male lead dressed up in a UsefulNotes/BillClinton mask and bumping into people dressed as Monica Lewinsky and UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton.
* ''Film/TheColorOfFriendship'' makes it known that it's set in the 1977 from the get-go by having L.TD.'s "Back In Love" as the intro song.
* ''Film/ADogsPurpose'' uses this. For example, you can tell Maya's portion takes place in TheEighties by "Take on Me" being used.
* ''Invincible'', the 2006 Vince Papale biopic starring Creator/MarkWahlberg, starts out with a tone-setting credits sequence montage of how economically wrecked 1975 Philadelphia was (abandoned factories, people lining up for unemployment, kids playing in abandoned lots, angry workers protesting lockouts, etc.), accompanied very evocatively by Music/JimCroce's contemporary ballad "I Got a Name".
* In the film adaptation of ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne'' (see below under Literature), the Gunters' interest in '80s culture is established by Music/VanHalen's "Jump" playing at the beginning of the racing scene.

* ''Film/BlueVelvet'' is not set in the '50s, but its opening montage of white picket fences, rose gardens, and people watering their lawns - all set to Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet, [[TitledAfterTheSong naturally]] - establishes a very retro-'50s tone and SuburbanGothic setting.
* Once ''Film/IronMan3'' cuts to a flashback, "Blue (Ba Da Bee)" starts playing to set up that the year is 1999.

* Used too many times to list in ''Series/DoctorWho'' -- often with the added twist that the Doctor and his companion have judged the time period of his destination incorrectly, and disembark the TARDIS dressed inappropriately (disco attire in 1870s Scotland, or leather jackets and jeans at QEII's coronation.)
* The entire hook of ''Series/ColdCase'', combined with the LyricalDissonance musical outros.

* Seen in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' when the sisters travel through time (although it's arguably justified that they should end up around a bunch of hippies when going back to the 1960s, the setting being San Francisco) and when, in another episode, flashbacks display scenes from TheRoaringTwenties.
* ''Series/{{New Girl}}'' features this trope whenever there's a "Fat Schmidt" flashback to their late 90's/early 2000's college years. A bulbous iMac monitor and a Napster poster are in nearly every shot.
* Way overdone on ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': a flashback to the 1980's shows the parents decked out in big hair and bright clothes in a room covered in checkerboard patterns while Tears for Fears plays in the background and Hal mentions "the Us Festival."

* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', a flashback to the Cousins' childhood features an early closeup of an '80s "brick" portable phone.
* Parodied on ''Series/GetALife'' in an episode where Chris time-travels to the 1970s to right some wrong - you can tell it's the '70s because his old dad and all his codger friends are boogieing down to disco music.
* Subverted by ''Series/BetterOffTed''. Phil and Lem reminisce about Phil's first day on the job, and a flashback shows Phil wearing tie-dye and Lem with an afro. Then Lem says, "It's a shame your first day had to be during Sixties Week."
* When Creator/ConanOBrien hosted ''Series/LateNight'' Brian Stack had a recurring character who was a traveling salesman straight out of TheFifties. He'd usually make some sort of period reference soon after he arrived.
* In another rare present-day case, in ''Series/GoodnightSweetheart'', when [[spoiler:Gary arrives in 2016 (having last been in his 'present' in 1999, his last seventeen years being 1945-1962). He's pretty much sprayed with pure undiluted 2010s as soon as he arrives, running into hipster cafes, man-buns, openly gay couples in public and smartphones]].

* Subverted on an episode of ''Series/FamilyTies''. Could be a coincidence, could be an ActorAllusion. Alex takes over as manager of Jennifer's GirlGroup band, the Permanent Waves. He makes them wear 50s-style hairdos and dresses, and they sing "Mister Sandman." The montage, in black and white, shows them singing, as Jennifer gets more and more disgruntled, because she wants to wear fashionable clothes and play contemporary TheEighties songs.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Happens in reverse in "As Time Goes By". A time traveler arrives in the present day from 1958, runs out into a hotel parking lot and is confronted by people talking on mobile phones, a man pushing a baby stroller, and modern cars with 2013 registration. [[MayanDoomsday "I guess the Mayans were wrong."]]
* Used subtly in ''Series/BlackMirror'' episode San Junipero to show passage of time.
* ''Series/TheNanny'': In "Fran's Roots", a flashback to Fran Fine's childhood in the early 1970s starts with Fran's mother Sylvia ([[TimeShiftedActor played by Fran Drescher]]) singing the theme to ''Series/{{Maude}}''.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. In "Little Green Men", Quark and his family crashland during a trip to Earth and somehow end up in [[RoswellThatEndsWell Rowell]] in July 1947. After Quark revives after the crash, we get a panning shot showing a twentieth century hospital room that includes an oscillating fan. A US Army soldier then [[EverybodySmokes lights up a cigarette]], picks up a rotary dial phone and informs his superiors that one of the "Martians" has just woken up.

* Subverted in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' games. The games always start with music and imagery of 1950s Americana, before panning out to show that the games actually occur in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic future]]. In comparison, it's played straight with Vault 112's [[StepfordSuburbia Tranquility Lane]] [[LotusEaterMachine simulation]] in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', and with the opening of ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' taking place in the suburb of Sanctuary Hills JustBeforeTheEnd.

* Used too many times to list in ''Series/DoctorWho'' -- often with the added twist that the Doctor and his companion have judged the time period of his destination incorrectly, and disembark the TARDIS dressed inappropriately (disco attire in 1870s Scotland, or leather jackets and jeans at QEII's coronation.) On the other hand, such a {{long runner|s}} has artifacts of its various production time periods that sometimes seem to have walked straight out of this trope. Watch the 6th and 7th Doctor episodes, cringe at the overabuse of EightiesHair and dreadful paleosynth music. Part of it can be blamed on a TotallyRadical attempt to make the show "hip" and appeal to the youth of various periods.

* ''Series/{{New Girl}}'' features this trope whenever there's a "Fat Schmidt" flashback to their late 90's/early 2000's college years. A bulbous iMac monitor and a Napster poster are in nearly every shot. (Do you remember any Napster ''posters?'')

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E11That90sShow That 90's Show]]" contains references to Grunge rock, Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog, Toys/BeanieBabies, and a scene where Comic Book Guy finishes explaining why ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' can never be made into a movie [[HilariousInHindsight (which was a REAL discussion at the time.)]]

** In "Tankin' It To The Streets", when Bill recounts how his enlistment, Music/TheWho's "Baba O'Riley" accompanies the scene, as he says "[[IWasQuiteALooker When I first enlisted, I had the body of an offensive lineman]], [[HairTodayGoneTomorrow and hair like Roger Daltrey]]..."

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': The flashbacks to the 1970s are typically scored with 70s classic rock, e.g. in "Bills Were Meant To Be Broken", the flashback to Bill's high school football days is accompanied by Music/BlackSabbath's "Iron Man".

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/ClerksTheAnimatedSeries''. When Randall has a flashback back to when they met in the eighties, not only is everyone in the store they work at (except, notably, Randall and Dante themselves) decked out in eighties fashions, but almost everyone is a notable person from that decade -- including Ronald Reagan. Then, when Dante remembers that they actually met in the ''seventies'', the flashback includes a whole load of seventies icons, including Jimmy Carter and John Travolta ''a la'' ''Saturday Night Fever''.

* Music/DonMcLean's "Music/AmericanPie".

** The show's [[WholeEpisodeFlashback flashback episodes]] tend to employ these. In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E10LisasFirstWord Lisa's First Word]]", for instance, the flashback to 1983 begins with Marge and a neighbor woman discussing the last episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', followed immediately by Homer walking down the street singing "[[Music/CyndiLauper Girls Just Want to Have Fun]]". (Though the effect is somewhat subverted when Homer, narrating, sets the scene with "a young Creator/JoePiscopo was teaching us how to laugh."

** The show's [[WholeEpisodeFlashback flashback episodes]] tend to employ these. In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E10LisasFirstWord Lisa's First Word]]", for instance, the flashback to 1983 begins with Marge and a neighbor woman discussing the last episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', followed immediately by Homer walking down the street singing "[[Music/CyndiLauper Girls Just Want to Have Fun]]". (Although the effect is somewhat subverted when Homer, narrating, sets the scene with "a young Creator/JoePiscopo was teaching us how to laugh."

** The show's [[WholeEpisodeFlashback flashback episodes]] tend to employ these. In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E10LisasFirstWord Lisa's First Word]]", for instance, the flashback to 1983 begins with Marge and a neighbor woman discussing the last episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', followed immediately by Homer walking down the street singing "[[Music/CyndiLauper Girls Just Want to Have Fun]]". It's then subverted, however, when Homer sets the scene with "a young Creator/JoePiscopo was teaching us how to laugh."