History Main / NostalgicMusicBox

* In ''Anime/FullMoonOSagashite'', Mitsuki learns of a song her father's band once performed called "Eternal Snow"[[note]] the show's 3rd ending theme[[/note]]. When she learns more about her mom and dad, among other things she finds a music box that plays the song's melody. From this point, the music box is played in almost every episode.

* The animated short film "[[https://youtu.be/eR0VE2KBPzA Regifted]]" by Eaza Shukla is about a sentient Fabergé egg (although the humans presumably don't realize it's sentient) who keeps getting regifted to other people because they all consider it useless and tacky. Finally, the egg is left at a thrift shop with other sad-looking toys and knick knacks. Hopelessly depressed, [[spoiler:the egg [[DrivenToSuicide jumps off the shelf, smashing its face against the floor]]. And only then does the egg automatically open up, revealing a tiny carousel playing a sad music box tune, which continues to play over the credits.]]

* ''Disney/TheLittleMermaidIII'': King Triton gives his wife a music box as a gift. She is then killed while trying to save it from being crushed. Later, Ariel finds the music box, and its haunting melody helps persuade her father to lift the ban on music by reminding him of his late queen.

* One or two of the minigames present outside the main adventure of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64 DS'' (such as the LovesMeNot game) have a music box arrangment of the water level theme from [[SuperMarioBros the original game]] play in the background.

* The ''Franchise/MuvLuv'' series of visual novels has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnfMvYIHJt8 A World To Protect]]'', a rearrangement of the main theme. It first plays in ''Unlimited'' when [[spoiler:Takeru realizes that his memories of his home world and Sumika are fading due to him "going native"]], it then plays in ''Alternative'' when [[spoiler:Takeru, suffering from PTSD, breaks down and cries in Marimo's lap while the latter comforts him.]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

->''The music box is broken, or is it? It starts to play, and a haunting tune fills the air...''
-->--'''Spike Spiegel''', ''Anime/CowboyBebop''

** ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''
*** Bonus points for actually [[SourceMusic appearing in the game]].

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' has Davy Jones and Tia Dalma's music box lockets, which is the only thing shown to be able to drive the [[LoveMakesYouEvil love-hardened]] [[PsychoForHire vindictive sadist]] to [[TearJerker tears]].

* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' features this in both ''The Thousand-Year Door'' and ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' with specifically designated "Memory" themes that used a music-box-like effect when a particularly [[TearJerker Tear-Jerking]] moment was happening.

* In ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox'', one of these plays during TheReveal. In this case, the music isn't the symbolic part, it's [[spoiler:the Elysian Box itself, which finally fulfills its original purpose of carrying a message from Anton to Sophia and back. Of course, it's less on the nostalgia and more on the what could've been.]] The music box track, Iris, is used a few minutes later in orchestrated form for the end credits. And it's one hell of a TearJerker.
** In ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheMiracleMask'', another music box tune plays when [[spoiler: Henry remembers the time when he and Randall first became friends]]. [[HeartwarmingMoments It's adorable as hell]].

* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' has the melancholy ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N62StawMcC8 Worldend]]'' for the inevitable TearJerker deaths. ''Franchise/WhenTheyCry'', indeed.

* {{Theatre/Anastasia}}, like the movie it's adapted from, features the OrphansPlotTrinket music box given to the title character as a child; [[AdaptationExpansion the entire score was expanded or re-written to make the score more fitting for a fully fledged stage musical]] but not only did the music box's theme stay the same, it became a Leitmotif that reoccurred several times and in several songs throughout the show.

* The monkey music box in ''Theater/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''. It comes up in the prologue as the first item associated with Christine and what happened in the bowls of the opera. The tune it plays is "Masquerade", the opening number for the second act. (In that big dance with [[CostumePorn massive decorated costumes]], some dancers wear monkey costumes in reference to it.) It is used as a nostalgic music box during the finale, when it begins to play down in the Phantom's lair and he, despairing, remembers the words of the song: "Hide your face so the world will never find you."
* ''Theatre/Anastasia'', like the movie it's adapted from, features the OrphansPlotTrinket music box given to the title character as a child; [[AdaptationExpansion the entire score was expanded or re-written to make the score more fitting for a fully fledged stage musical]] but not only did the music box's theme stay the same, it became a Leitmotif that reoccurred several times and in several songs throughout the show.

* ''Theater/Anastasia'', like the movie it's adapted from, features the OrphansPlotTrinket music box given to the title character as a child; [[AdaptationExpansion the entire score was expanded or re-written to make the score more fitting for a fully fledged stage musical]] but not only did the music box's theme stay the same, it became a Leitmotif that reoccurred several times and in several songs throughout the show.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/LostUniverse'' tends to feature a musicbox whenever the main character talks or thinks about his past.

* In ''Anime/LadyJewelpet'', Lillian finds a musicbox and its music makes her feel sad, but she doesn't understand why. It turns out to be because [[spoiler:Lillian was a doll, and both her and the musicbox belonged to Diana, who cherished them both.]]

* When alone, Suitengu of ''Anime/SpeedGrapher'' obsessively plays a music box with a melancholic tune and thinks about his past. This ultimately leads to a flashback indicating this is the only possession left from his happy childhood, which was destroyed by [[LoanShark loan sharks]]. Making things interesting, Saiga, the hero, independently whistles the same tune, foreshadowing the fact there's a connection between himself and Suitengu.

** Another such motif, "Memory," can be heard coming from a certain statue in Waterfall. You have to play the tune on a piano in order to access a secret item. What's more, the {{leitmotif}} it plays, which receives a more upbeat remix in the final area as "His Theme," which belongs to [[spoiler: Asriel Dreemur, Toriel and Asgore's son, the former identity of Flowey, and the TrueFinalBoss of the Pacifist route.]]

* You find a statue that plays one of these melodies in Waterfall in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''. You have to play the tune on a piano in order to access [[spoiler:the legendary artifact that the Annoying Dog steals]]. What's more, the {{leitmotif}} it plays belongs to [[spoiler: Asriel Dreemur, Toriel and Asgore's son, the former identity of Flowey, and the TrueFinalBoss of the Pacifist route.]]

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

[[AC:Films -- Animation]]

[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:{{Music}}]]

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:VisualNovels]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* Candy White Andree from ''Manga/CandyCandy'' gets one from her friend Alistair, nicknamed "the Box of Happiness". [[spoiler:It becomes a TragicKeepsake when Alistair dies in WorldWarOne.]]

* In ''Manga/MidoriNoHibi'', Midori has a music box on her bedside table where her real body is laying. Its melody is heard once or twice coming from the box itself when her mother opens it, but the rest of the time the melody is used in Midori's flashbacks.

-->''The music box is broken, or is it? It starts to play, and a haunting tune fills the air...''

* The ''VisualNovel/MuvLuv'' series of visual novels has ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnfMvYIHJt8 A World To Protect]]'', a rearrangement of the main theme. It first plays in ''Unlimited'' when [[spoiler:Takeru realizes that his memories of his home world and Sumika are fading due to him "going native"]], it then plays in ''Alternative'' when [[spoiler:Takeru, suffering from PTSD, breaks down and cries in Marimo's lap while the latter comforts him.]]

* The song "The Music Box Blues" by Tran-Siberian Orchestra.

* Abney Park's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQd_LMTn2cs The Secret Life of Dr. Calgori]]" starts off this way, shortly to be joined by steam valves and clockwork-like rhythmic percussion. Appropriate for the story of a [[SteamPunk 1800's era]] MadScientist slowly losing his memory.

* The monkey music box in ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera''. It comes up in the prologue as the first item associated with Christine and what happened in the bowls of the opera. The tune it plays is "Masquerade", the opening number for the second act. (In that big dance with [[CostumePorn massive decorated costumes]], some dancers wear monkey costumes in reference to it.) It is used as a nostalgic music box during the finale, when it begins to play down in the Phantom's lair and he, despairing, remembers the words of the song: "Hide your face so the world will never find you."

** In ''Miracle Mask'', another music box tune plays when [[spoiler: Henry remembers the time when he and Randall first became friends]]. [[HeartwarmingMoments It's adorable as hell]].

* The ''VisualNovel/MuvLuv'' series of visual novels has ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnfMvYIHJt8 A World To Protect]]'', a rearrangement of the main theme. It first plays in ''Unlimited'' when [[spoiler:Takeru realizes that his memories of his home world and Sumika are fading due to him "going native"]], it then plays in ''Alternative'' when [[spoiler:Takeru, suffering from PTSD, breaks down and cries in Marimo's lap while the latter comforts him.]]
* ''VisualNovel/SymphonicRain'' has several music box versions of the opening and ending theme playing during especially poignant moments.

* You find a statue that plays one of these melodies in Waterfall in ''{{Undertale}}''. You have to play the tune on a piano in order to access [[spoiler:the legendary artifact that the Annoying Dog steals]]. What's more, the {{leitmotif}} it plays belongs to [[spoiler: Asriel Dreemur, Toriel and Asgore's son, the former identity of Flowey, and the TrueFinalBoss of the Pacifist route.]]
* Used frequently in the ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'' series, which is fitting, considering that the games focus on dreams:

* ''[[YoshisIsland Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]'' has an opening theme that sounds as though it is being played on a music box (it even slows down at one point, and has to be rewound). This theme reappears in ''Yoshi's Island DS,'' and is the best song on the soundtrack, despite being played in a different key.

* Speaking of Mario, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGyZwr8pIas Lumas' theme]] from ''Galaxy''. Bonus points for being played ''[[spoiler:[[SoundtrackDissonance as the universe is crushed into a supermassive black hole.]]]]''
* On the "The End" screen of ''BatenKaitos'', a music box rendition of the game's main theme plays.

* In ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox'', one of these plays during TheReveal. In this case, the music isn't the symbolic part, it's [[spoiler:the Elysian Box itself, which finally fulfills its original purpose of carrying a message from Anton to Sophia and back. Of course, it's less on the nostalgia and more on the what could've been.]] The music box track, Iris, is used a few minutes later in orchestrated form for the end credits. And it's one hell of a TearJerker.

* The ''MuvLuv'' series of visual novels has ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnfMvYIHJt8 A World To Protect]]'', a rearrangement of the main theme. It first plays in ''Unlimited'' when [[spoiler:Takeru realizes that his memories of his home world and Sumika are fading due to him "going native"]], it then plays in ''Alternative'' when [[spoiler:Takeru, suffering from PTSD, breaks down and cries in Marimo's lap while the latter comforts him.]]

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlk_ACj0ihk All is Shut Down #1]](bad ending) from ''RayCrisis''.
* One or two of the minigames present outside the main adventure of ''{{Super Mario 64}} DS'' (such as the LovesMeNot game) have a music box arrangment of the water level theme from [[SuperMarioBros the original game]] play in the background.

* In ''TacticsOgre: Let Us Cling Together'', Lars carries his late wife's music box as a memento. The track played is titled ''Box of Sentiment''. The melody is later orchestrated in ''Emotion and Absence of Mind''.