History Music / AlsoSprachZarathustra

->'' Dun... dun... '''dun'''... '''DUH-DUN'''!''

''Also sprach Zarathustra'' (''Thus Spoke 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 ''epic'', complete with a spectacular use of DramaticTimpani, so it's a perfect way to tell the audience, "This is where you're supposed to be impressed."

Creator/StanleyKubrick 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. Interestingly enough, "The Blue Danube" (composed by that ''other'' famous Strauss) has been strongly associated with ''2001'' for different, more comedic reasons.

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 its sequel, ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'' -- and arguably the British Airways television advert. Also see TheMonolith.)

Compare "Music/RideOfTheValkyries".

Any resemblance to Film/TheThreeStooges' "Hello... hello... hello! Hello," is probably coincidental.

----
!!This music has appeared in:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime]]
* The opening to the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' anime uses a similar motif in its opening sequence.
* In a ClipShow episode of ''Anime/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 ''Manga/SoraNoManimani'' for a MundaneMadeAwesome moment.
* Plays in episode 11 of ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty'' when Tomoko is about to sneak into the girls' locker room.
* Overlays Juvia's FreakOut in ''Manga/FairyTail'' when she thinks Gray is in love with Lucy.
* Used in ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' during a direct parody of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.
* Plays in ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' when Panty and Stocking are thrown into KangarooCourt.
* Used during Hajime's internal monologue in Episode 14[[note]] Season 2 Episode 11[[/note]] of ''Manga/ICantUnderstandWhatMyHusbandIsSaying''
[[/folder]]

[[folder: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.
* Verizon and 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.
* An iconic version of the song by Deodato was used in an ad for the Hummer H3 SUV. The fanfare comes [[MundaneMadeAwesome when the vehicle executes a successful parallel-parking maneuver.]]
%% * A Canadian chocolate bar commercial used this theme to introduce the bar in the form of a monument ("monolithick").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''WebVideo/PoniesTheAnthology II'' has, as its last sequence, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fFOoIo-kMk 2012: A Pony Odyssey]].'' It uses ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' in pony-version recreations of scenes from the movie.
** The piece also syncs surprisingly well with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBnoZwL_cIA a segment]] of the episode ''Cutie Mark Chronicles''.
* Parodied in ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. B'Elanna Torres is going over a playlist of space-themed music and wonders what UsefulNotes/FriedrichNietzsche's ramblings have to do with Outer Space (the story is ostensibly a sci-fi pulp written in 1954, well before ''[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]]'' was made).
[[/folder]]

[[folder: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 ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact.''
* In ''Film/ForAllMankind'', a documentary about the Apollo moon missions, an astronaut plays ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' on a cassette player, and he gives a ShoutOut to ''2001''.
* In ''Film/CatchTwentyTwo'', it is used to properly introduce a hot Italian chick.
* Used in ''WesternAnimation/WallE'', when the Captain becomes the first human in centuries to [[spoiler: stand up]]. They originally put the score in as a joke, but test audiences cheered, so they [[ThrowItIn left it in]]. Fitting seeing as AUTO was based off of HAL, right down to the red light eye.
* ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', complete with a giant bar of chocolate of similar dimensions taking the place of TheMonolith.
* Creator/DannyElfman's score for Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/Batman1989'' 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 ''Film/MyFavoriteMartian''.
* Used in ''Film/{{Magnolia}}'' to introduce Creator/TomCruise's character. In this case, it is diegetic sound, chosen by his pompous character.
* ''Film/{{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.
* ''Film/BeingThere'': Slight variation, with Deodato's funk-jazz version of ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' 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 ''Film/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 [[DramaticTimpani 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 ''Film/ManOnTheMoon'', Creator/AndyKaufman's on-stage transformation from "Foreign Man" into a seriously good Music/ElvisPresley impersonation was accompanied by this music.
* Used in ''Film/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 hilarious.
* Parodied near the beginning of ''Film/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 ''Film/{{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.
* Film/{{Interstellar}}: Certain parts of the main theme have strings of the climax of the sunrise portion of the song.
* ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'': The ending of the Krypton theme ends similar to this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* UsefulNotes/RichardDawkins 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.
* Lampshaded in ''A Quantum Murder'' by Creator/PeterFHamilton. [[MegaCorp Event Horizon]] is rolling out Britain's first SpacePlane in front of the assembled press, whereupon ''...somewhat predictably, a band struck up the Zarathustra theme''.
* In [[Literature/RoTeO Resurrected Angels: Rebirth]] the first three notes become the key to summoning a FlamingSword or RoyalRapier depending on the scenario. Since this is ArchangelGabriel who's summoning the sword, this is the musical equivalent to a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* 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.
* ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' plays in the stereo in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' when the nerds hook up their home electronics online. They proceed to Rock Out to it.
** When the characters [[MundaneMadeAwesome send a signal around the world to turn on their stereo]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqp8_ROAIJY this is the music that plays]].
* ''Series/{{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 ''Series/{{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 ''Series/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]]. He turns it off when he realizes it ''really'' isn't comforting.
* The jingle accompanying Creator/{{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 ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' series to have been nominated for an Emmy... for sound editing.
* ''Series/OneFootInTheGrave''. Victor is unpacking a new fridge, which is presented in HitlerCam as the Monolith, surrounded by the styrofoam formers looking like bones. Cue ASZ playing as a SlowMotion Victor smashes up the formers with a distinctly ape-like demeanor.
* This is one of the pieces [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]] put the [[MemeticMutation memetic]] campaign ad for Mitch [=McConnell=] [[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-13-2014/-mcconnelling to]]0000000000000000000.
* Used in the first episode of ''Series/FaerieTaleTheatre''.
* The Art Fleming edition of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' used ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' at the conclusion of their 2000th NBC show as their next show would of course be no. 2001.
* Joel recommends playing this song for your unborn child using his invention the Womb-Mate in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', although he butchered the title into "Thus Spoke Zatharatu".
* Russians will know it from the trivia show ''What? Where? When?''
* Parodied in the first two series of ''Series/RedDwarf'': The opening theme is a bombastic orchestral piece that the subtitles even compare to ''2001'', but it's actually a slowed-down version of the show's closing credits theme.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/RayStevens' "Thus Cacked Henrietta" is this song done entirely in [[CluckingFunny chicken clucks]].
* There is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpJ6anurfuw a version]] by the [[DreadfulMusician Portsmouth Sinfonia]].
* Music/{{Rush}} used it [[https://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, Music/GreenDay used this as intro music during their 2005 American Idiot tour.
* And let's not forget about the man who predated them all: Music/ElvisPresley, who used it as his entrance music starting around 1972.
* The motif is inserted into Music/DoctorSteel's song "Spaceboy."
* Brazilian keyboardist Eumir Deodato (who just credited himself as [[LastNameBasis "Deodato"]]) had a huge hit in 1973 with with a [[http://www.lastfm.de/music/Deodato/_/Also+Sprach+Zarathustra funked up and jazzed up version]] of this, essentially sampling the orchestral parts of the original piece over a rhythmic bed provided by his electric piano and rhythm section. It's been used for the some of the examples on this page.
* In 1998, Blackout did a dance remix titled "Gotta Have Hope"
* In [[DontExplainTheJoke 2001]] Weirdo and Captain Tinrib made a [[SpeedyTechnoRemake hard trance remix]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/RicFlair has been using this as his entrance music since the late 1970s.
** Causing wrestling fans to have the urge to shout [[MemeticMutation "WOOOOOOOOOOO!"]] every time they hear this song in any medium.
** During Flair's 1991-1993 run in [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} the WWF]], some DVD releases of shows from the mid-2000s, and some video games a SuspiciouslySimilarSong was used.
** Ric Flair's daughter Ashley (better known in WWE as Wrestling/CharlotteFlair) uses a techno style remix that incorporates the most famous measures of the piece.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* Used on Creator/HowardStern's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tx4MnMaSmY show]] to announce the entrance of a 600-pound woman.
* ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' had a scene with Zaphod dramatically speaking while ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' grew in volume under him, until [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn Zaphod tells Marvin to cut it out]], whereupon the final two notes barely make it out.
* Bay Area radio station 102.5 KSFM used to have this play every Friday morning to announce to the listener that [[IncomingHam iiiiiiiiiiIIIIIT'S FRIIIIDAAAAAAAAAAAY!]]
* In the game of "Swanee-Kazoo" on ''Radio/ImSorryIHaventAClue'' -- where two performers play a song, one using a kazoo and the other a swanee-whistle -- ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' was once used as one of the songs. The result was a truly memorable example of LyricalDissonance.
[[/folder]]

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

[[folder:Theatre]]
* A modernized production of ''Theatre/{{Tartuffe}}'' began with the music playing [[MundaneMadeAwesome as a character entered with his new magazine issue]].
* In the stage production of ''[[Literature/JunieBJones Junie B. First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, P.S.: So Does May]]'', it plays as Junie B. has a FantasySequence of squeezing a giant Squeez-a-Burp as she's cheered on by her class and teacher.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The Commodore 64 game Sentinel from Synapse Software has it as the title music. The game itself is set in space, being a Star Raiders clone.
* ''VideoGame/{{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 [[FailedAttemptAtDrama 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 same music also plays at the title screen.
* 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 ''Also sprach Zarathustra''.
* 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 ''[[VideoGame/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 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y47nxo_uvA space ending]].
* ''[[VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet Little Big Planet 2]]'' as a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkn6mzeW480 funk remix]] of ''ASZ'' done by the Daniel Pemberton TV Orchestra.
* The source mod ''Shotgun Sunrise'' 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 ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', where it plays alongside a ''Franchise/StarWars''-esque OpeningScroll.
* The cutscene that plays after using the Fan Thing Sticker in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' has music almost identical to ''Also sprach Zarathustra''.
* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest (VGA)'' uses this when Roger meet the alien hologram, and again in [[VideoGame/SpaceQuestVTheNextMutation Space Quest V]] when the ''SCS Eureka'' picks up trash from various planets.
* ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQRgnTCu2DM a similar-sounding piece]] when {{the monolith}}-like Ark rises from the ocean.
* When you view the credits in ''EA Sports''' ''VideoGame/{{NHL|Hockey}} 2001'', a remixed version of the song is played in the background- perhaps in reference to the year in the game's title.
* ''VideoGame/{{Forza}} Horizon 3'' has ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' in its soundtrack as part of its classical music station Timeless FM. It also plays during a Bucket List challenge where players drive a [[CoolCar Koenigsegg One:1]] down an airport runway at sunrise to hit a top speed past a speed trap.
* ''VideoGame/GranTurismo 4'' plays the "Sunrise" fanfare when you win a Gold prize in a License Test.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Parodied in ''Webcomic/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 ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' every time the sun rises.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* WebVideo/{{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 ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie''. By Doug himself.
** He also used it when he [[https://youtu.be/pZ-Sy11mvZU quit his job.]]
* Utilized by WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd in part two of his Double-Vision episode, to poke fun at the ridiculous size of the AC adapter for the colecovision game console.
* Parodied by Creator/LittleKuriboh [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpRHhIgnups here]].
* Done entirely vocally by Oxhorn for the opening of [[https://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 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqghvckkERs this flash video.]]
* Naughty America seems to have adopted the music as an intro to their [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution 4k]] [[TheRuleOfFirstAdopters porn]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The World". The first skit is a recreation of the space opening of ''Film/2001ASpaceOdyssey''. With the Moon and Earth singing the song. They apparently do this every morning to the Sun's annoyance.
-->'''The Sun:''' Do we have to do this every morning?\\
'''The Moon:''' ''[singing]'' Yes I dooooo! Cuz I Caaaaaaan! ''(Earth: Bum bum bum bum!)''
* ''WesternAnimation/BlazeAndTheMonsterMachines'':
** Used in "Darington to the Moon!" when Darington's rocket is being revealed.
** In "Meatball Mayhem", an opera-singing truck can be heard singing this just before the giant meatball scoops her up.
%%* ''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".
** And in "Near-Death Wish", when the crew enters the room with the retirement boxes. ("Duh-Dun" is replaced with "Ding-Dong", though.)
-->'''Bender:''' My god, it's full of geezers!
* Used in a couch gag in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where the camera [[AstronomicZoom 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 ''WesternAnimation/{{Pasila}}'' in the scene the rioters suddenly [[spoiler: get drunk despite not having had any alcohol]].
* Used to hilarious effect in the ''[[WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butt-Head]]'' episode "Inventors".
* Used in ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' as the soundtrack to Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimer III's bizarre multimedia project.
* Used in the "Monolith" segements of ''Series/TheElectricCompany1971'' 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. A variation is also used in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" when Rarity finds the [[TheMonolith gem-filled rock]] during her filly flashback.
* Used in ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "The Scotsman in Space" when Commander Hoek and Cadet Stimpy see Haggis [=MacHaggis=] out the window and he lifts up his kilt to moon them.
* Used in ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' episode "Irwin Gets a Clue" during a flashback to how Hoss Delgado became a strong badass. Hoss's buttcheeks bounce in time to the timpani beats.
* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' episode "Close Encounters Of The Absurd Kind," when Dr. Zok's spacecraft villain-naps Baron Greenback and his Frog's Head Flyer.
* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': In "[[Recap/ReadyJetGoOneSmallStep One Small Step]]", when Jet 2 arises from the hatch, the snippet is heard.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug: After the climax of ''Recap/MiraculousLadybugS04E22Ephemeral'', Cat Noir “meows” this song, then calls it “Thus Said [[{{Pun}} Cat]]athrusta”.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* This was intended to be the background music of Apollo 13's television broadcast, though it ultimately didn't air.
* This was played for the unveiling 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.
* 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.
* 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.
[[/folder]]

----
->[[DramaticTimpani Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum...]]
----

Creator/StanleyKubrick 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. Interestingly enough, "The Blue Danube" has been strongly associated with ''2001'' for different, more comedic reasons.

Any resemblance to Film/TheThreeStooges' "Hello... hello... hello! Hello," is probably coincidental. Not to be confused with the third game in the ''Videogame/{{Xenosaga}}'' trilogy, also titled ''Also sprach Zarathustra.'' (All 3 games are titled after Nietzsche's works.)

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug: After the climax of ''Recap/MiraculousLadybugS4E22Ephemeral'', Cat Noir “meows” this song, then calls it “Thus Said [[{{Pun}} Cat]]athrusta”.

** '''The Sun:''' Do we have to do this every morning?
'''The Moon:''' ''[singing]'' Yes I dooooo! Cuz I Caaaaaaan! (Earth: Bum bum bum bum!)

* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}: The Ark of Napishtim'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQRgnTCu2DM a similar-sounding piece]] when {{the monolith}}-like Ark rises from the ocean.

* 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.

->''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9iCHKhBU5s Dun...]] dun... '''dun'''... '''[[https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=also+sprach+zarathustra DUH-DUN]]'''!'' [[note]]'''[[Wrestling/RicFlair WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]'''[[/note]]

* The opening to the ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' anime uses a similar motif in its opening sequence.

* 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]].

Creator/StanleyKubrick 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 its sequel, ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'' -- and arguably the British Airways television advert. Also see TheMonolith.)

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 its sequel, ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact.'' Also see TheMonolith.)

* Used in a couch gag in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where the camera zooms out from the house into space and into Homer's head, ending where it started.

** ->'''The Sun:''' Do you guys really have to do this every morning?
'''The Moon:''' ''[singing to the tune of the last few notes of the song]'' Yes I dooooo! Cuz I Caaaaaaan! (Earth: Bum bum bum bum!)

* Parodied in ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. B'Elanna Torres is going over a playlist of space-themed music and wonders what UsefulNotes/FriedrichNietzsche's ramblings have to do with Outer Space.