History SoundtrackDissonance / WhatAWonderfulWorld

Music/LouisArmstrong's version of "What a Wonderful World" is musical choice most often used to prove a cruel, mocking, and bitterly ironic counterpoint to the CrapsackWorld setting and the horrific action on screen. An effect helped by the fact that the song itself is haunting enough to be a TearJerker despite [[LyricalDissonance its upbeat lyrics]], allowing its optimism to be contrasted with [[DespairEventHorizon moments of utter despair]]. Furthermore, as a song from UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression, it was written to try to distract people from what a crappy world was portrayed on the news at the time. That it's been used in the purpose of this trope is significant {{Irony}}.

Music/LouisArmstrong's version of "What a Wonderful World" is musical choice most often used to prove a cruel, mocking, and bitterly ironic counterpoint to the CrapsackWorld setting and the horrific action on screen. An effect helped by the fact that the song itself is haunting enough to be a TearJerker despite [[LyricalDissonance its upbeat lyrics]]. Furthermore, the song itself was written to try to distract people from what a crappy world was portrayed on the news at the time. That it's been used in the purpose of this trope is significant {{Irony}}.

!Film

!Western Animation
* Subverted in the climax of ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' where, while the initial situation it appears in ([[spoiler:a truck flying off of a freeway and landing into the ocean]]) is certainly calamitous, the progression of events ([[spoiler:all the Cleveland-bound marine life being freed and Dory reuniting with her family]]) complement the meaning of the song.
* Not even animated family films are immune. ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' uses it when Alex runs away after realizing that he might eat his friends. To hammer the point home, the others see a progression of cute little animals get eaten while the song plays. It seems that it is a wonderful world...just for the predators.

* A ReferenceOverdosed story-driven WebAnimation/YouTubePoop by user 64marj064 entitled ''[[https://youtu.be/zu3htN7DQUM Final Hours]]'' [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzags]] this. When [[MayanDoomsday the end of the world]] ends up not happening, [[AntiClimax everybody heads home disappointedly]], and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames King Harkinian]] debates what to do in the very moment, before deciding to also head back home. As he walks back, [[ClosingCredits the credits roll]] with this song in the background and the sun rising. It's a touching way to end off the video and show that the world is still a place to be loved and cherished... until one realizes that [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 Scout]] is still [[MoodDissonance laying on the ground]] after he was [[ItMakesSenseInContext kicked by]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rainbow Dash]], only to wake up declaring, "What the hell was ''that'' crap?!"

-->''For a wonderful world.''

* Even when the song isn't directly used, it can still be used to highlight what a CrapsackWorld we're living in. The final chapter of ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean [=JoJo's=] Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean]]'' is called "What a Wonderful World", one of the select few instances where the many, ''many'' [[ReferenceOverdosed music references]] is used exclusively as a chapter title, and features [[spoiler:the main antagonist, Enrico Pucci, using his fully-evolved Stand of Made in Heaven to [[ApocalypseHow speed up time until the universe collapses and resets]], until he ends up getting killed and having the universe stabilize into a new reality. The caveat is that he [[TotalPartyKill killed all of the main protagonists]] (with the exception of Emporio), resulting in either them being [[CosmicRetcon reincarnated into new people without their former memories]], or because Pucci created them, [[RetGone they straight-up no longer exist]]. Because Emporio is the only one who lived and still has memories of the old universe, he's absolutely '''''[[BreakTheCutie heartbroken]]''''' when nobody remembers him anymore.]] What a Wonderful World, indeed, but at what cost? Of course, [[ScrewedByTheLawyers with copyright being a major issue]] , it was slightly changed to [[BarelyChangedDubName Its a Wonderful World ]].

* Even when the song isn't directly used, it can still be used to highlight what a CrapsackWorld we're living in. The final chapter of ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean [=JoJo's=] Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean]]'' is called "What a Wonderful World", one of the select few instances where the many, ''many'' [[ReferenceOverdosed music references]] is used exclusively as a chapter title, and features [[spoiler:the main antagonist, Enrico Pucci, using his fully-evolved Stand of Made in Heaven to [[ApocalypseHow speed up time until the universe collapses and resets]], until he ends up getting killed and having the universe stabilize into a new reality. The caveat is that he [[TotalPartyKill killed all of the main protagonists]] (with the exception of Emporio), resulting in either them being [[CosmicRetcon reincarnated into new people without their former memories]], or because Pucci created them, [[RetGone they straight-up no longer exist]]. Because Emporio is the only one who lived and still has memories of the old universe, he's absolutely '''''[[BreakTheCutie heartbroken]]''''' when nobody remembers him anymore.]] What a Wonderful World, indeed, but at what cost?

** Subverted on the very end of said manhwa [[BittersweetEnding when machines who were made by humans came from the space and despite the loss of the DNA from them, they saw that the A.I. saved all the DNA of all the species of the world, including the mankind, sadly, the A.I. didn't managed to see the revival of the life since he died on that moment]]. The world also revived after all those millions of years later.

* The trailer for the film version of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. "What a wonderful..." '''''[[EarthShatteringKaboom Kablam!!!]]'''''
** ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' has a long history of abusing "What a Wonderful World." It replaced "[[Music/{{Eagles}} Journey of the Sorcerer]]" as the music over the credits at the end of [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the first radio series]], where Ford and Arthur, displaced in time, wonder at how beautiful the prehistoric Earth is, conscious that it'll be gone in two million years. The same scene appears in [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the TV adaptation]], shifting into a readout on the Guide, floating through space, to explicitly remind us that in the show's "present", the Earth is destroyed.

* Seems to [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzag]] in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qSmKKUnlT4 old commercial for]] ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction''. On one hand, we've got "What a Wonderful World" playing to mass destruction. On the other hand, that destruction is [[RuleOfCool awesome]]. Then you start thinking that this ''is'' a commercial with a RepurposedPopSong, so maybe the new version keeps it from qualifying for this trope... and ''then'' the commercial ends with the promise of even ''worse'' damage, conflicting with this upbeat version of [=WaWW=]. This is when you realize that [[{{RecurringLocation}} Kerwan]] [[OhCrap is pretty screwed]], so it probably doesn't qualify as a "wonderful world" at all, anymore.

!Web-Animation

* The TropeCodifier (though not the first use of the song in this context) is played by Adrian Cronauer, as portrayed by Creator/RobinWilliams, on his radio show in ''Film/GoodMorningVietnam''; the song runs over a montage of troops fighting in the field, officers at base looking reflective (and for once content with his music choice), a village being carpet bombed, a group of suspected Viet Cong arrested and summarily executed in an alley, and antiwar protesters clashing with police forces in the streets of Saigon.
* Parodied in the Creator/ReducedShakespeareCompany's play, ''Completely Hollywood'', where they end their major mash up of all movies with the BigBad and hero confronting each other in slow motion. This very song is played as the hero dodges all of the villain's shots before killing him with one lucky one (as per cliched Hollywood action movie ending).
* Creator/MichaelMoore's ''Film/BowlingForColumbine'' plays the original recording in a sequence that portrays the dictatorships the US government installed or backed during the Cold War and ends with perfectly synchronized ''video of the attacks on the World Trade Center''. In addition, the film also uses [[Music/TheRamones Joey Ramone]]'s version, from his solo album ''Music/DontWorryAboutMe'', over the credits.
* A cover version plays during the climax of the final episode of ''Series/Dark2017'' as [[spoiler:a montage shows everyone in the fractured timelines disintegrating into specks of light after the cycle is broken]].
* The trailer for the film version of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. "What a wonderful..." '''''[[EarthShatteringKaboom Kablam!!!]]'''''
** ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' has a long history of abusing "What a Wonderful World." It replaced "[[Music/{{Eagles}} Journey of the Sorcerer]]" as the music over the credits at the end of [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the first radio series]], where Ford and Arthur, displaced in time, wonder at how beautiful the prehistoric Earth is, conscious that it'll be gone in two million years. The same scene appears in [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the TV adaptation]], shifting into a readout on the Guide, floating through space, to explicitly remind us that in the show's "present", the Earth is destroyed.

* Not even animated family films are immune. ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' uses it when Alex runs away after realizing that he might eat his friends. To hammer the point home, the others see a progression of cute little animals get eaten while the song plays. It seems that it is a wonderful world...just for the predators.
* ''Series/SpittingImage'' used a parody version called "We've Ruined the World", sung by a weeping puppet caricature of Armstrong. The lyrics would fit the original tune, but for [[ScrewedByTheLawyers legal reasons]] [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong the show was forced to use a different one]].

* The manhwa ''Hotel: Since 2079'' and its one-shot manga spinoff used this song multiple times. While the world ended. [[TearJerker And an A.I sat around for millions of years, trying to preserve against nigh-impossible odds the stores of non-human DNA that it was tasked with protecting, as it waited for the humans to come back]].
** Subverted on the very end of said manhwa [[BittersweetEnding when machines who were made by humans came from the space and despite the loss of the DNA from them, they saw that the A.I. saved all the DNA of all the species of the world, including the mankind, sadly, the A.I. didn't managed to see the revival of the life since he died on that moment]]. The world also revived after all those millions of years later.
* The final episode of ''Series/TheJob'' used the Ramones version, over the discovery of a murdered old woman's body, among other things.
* The jazz-themed Japanese film ''Film/SwingGirls'' uses the song over a montage of the girls being [[BearsAreBadNews chased by bears]] in the forest.

* Similarly, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World", likely the second most popular recording of either, is almost exclusively used for a TearJerker. To be fair, the song itself is one for many people since the musician's early death.
* Seems to [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzag]] in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qSmKKUnlT4 old commercial for]] ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction''. On one hand, we've got "What a Wonderful World" playing to mass destruction. On the other hand, that destruction is [[RuleOfCool awesome]]. Then you start thinking that this ''is'' a commercial with a RepurposedPopSong, so maybe the new version keeps it from qualifying for this trope... and ''then'' the commercial ends with the promise of even ''worse'' damage, conflicting with this upbeat version of [=WaWW=]. This is when you realize that [[{{RecurringLocation}} Kerwan]] [[OhCrap is pretty screwed]], so it probably doesn't qualify as a "wonderful world" at all, anymore.
-->''For a wonderful world.''
-->''Save it.''

* The trailer for the Russian movie ''Film/{{Stalingrad 2013}}'' utilizes an altered and grim version of this song. Dark irony as it is.
* Mild example in the WebVideo/JonTron episode "Film/HomeAlone Games", where Jon loudly sings part of it while cooking nuts so badly they explode. The explosions cut him off both times.
* An [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q43scioRNiU Ad Council PSA]] uses Willie Nelson's version of this song to promote recycling.
* Parodied in Creator/TeamFourStar's [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged abridged version of Lord Slug]], wherein the titular villain, upon regaining his youth, strength and "impeccable singing voice", proceeds to sing his own dark parody of the song as he has a dark cloud engulfing the earth.
-->''I see trees of brown, and skies of black, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world...''
* Played during the introduction of ''The Burning Grail'', which slowly pans across a post-apocalyptic wasteland containing wrecked cars, vicious beasts and mutants being killed by humans in several different ways, among other things.

* Subverted in the climax of ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' where, while the initial situation it appears in ([[spoiler:a truck flying off of a freeway and landing into the ocean]]) is certainly calamitous, the progression of events ([[spoiler:all the Cleveland-bound marine life being freed and Dory reuniting with her family]]) complement the meaning of the song.
* This is played at the end of the ''Series/HawaiiFive0'' episode "Ka Pa'ani Nui" as the Five-0 task force raid the apartment and arrest the villains.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ELQ6u_5YYM The Season 4 trailer]] for ''Series/BlackMirror'' uses the song in its last two-thirds, but the trope is more [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzagged]] as it plays over as much scary or ominous moments [[CrapsackWorld the series is infamous for]] as it does funny, heartwarming, and emotional moments.
--> ''"At least we'll be entertained while the world's going to hell." - Adam Chitwood : Collider''
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'' features the song as a man is influenced by negative news to the point his paranoia leads him to shoot the local store clerk, fearing he is a Super-Terrorist.

Music/LouisArmstrong's version of "What a Wonderful World" is musical choice most often used to prove a cruel, mocking, and bitterly ironic counterpoint to the CrapsackWorld setting and the horrific action on screen. An effect helped by the fact that the song itself is haunting enough to be a TearJerker [[LyricalDissonance despite its upbeat lyrics]]. Furthermore, the song itself was written to try to distract people from what a crappy world was portrayed on the news at the time. That it's been used in the purpose of this trope is significant {{Irony}}.

* Seems to [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zag]] in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qSmKKUnlT4 old commercial for]] ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction''. On one hand, we've got "What a Wonderful World" playing to mass destruction. On the other hand, that destruction is [[RuleOfCool awesome]]. Then you start thinking that this ''is'' a commercial with a RepurposedPopSong, so maybe the new version keeps it from qualifying for this trope... and ''then'' the commercial ends with the promise of even ''worse'' damage, conflicting with this upbeat version of [=WaWW=]. This is when you realize that [[{{RecurringLocation}} Kerwan]] [[OhCrap is pretty screwed]], so it probably doesn't qualify as a "wonderful world" at all, anymore.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ELQ6u_5YYM The Season 4 trailer]] for ''Series/BlackMirror'' uses the song in its last two-thirds, but the trope is more [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagged]] as it plays over as much scary or ominous moments [[CrapsackWorld the series is infamous for]] as it does funny, heartwarming, and emotional moments.

* Even when the song isn't directly used, it can still be used to highlight what a CrapsackWorld we're living in. The final chapter of ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean [=JoJo's=] Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean]]'' is called "What a Wonderful World", one of the select few instances where the many, ''many'' [[ReferenceOverdosed music references]] is used as a chapter title, and features [[spoiler:the main antagonist, Enrico Pucci, using his fully-evolved Stand of Made in Heaven to [[ApocalypseHow speed up time until the universe collapses and resets]], until he ends up getting killed and having the universe stabilize into a new reality. The caveat is that he [[TotalPartyKill killed all of the main protagonists]] (with the exception of Emporio), resulting in either them being [[CosmicRetcon reincarnated into new people without their former memories]], or because Pucci created them, [[RetGone they straight-up no longer exist]]. Because Emporio is the only one who lived and still has memories of the old universe, he's absolutely '''''[[BreakTheCutie heartbroken]]''''' when nobody remembers him anymore.]] What a Wonderful World, indeed, but at what cost?