Line #33 Main/BorrowingTheBeatles


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bf0fdf6b_83f5_4efa_a869_0634772572fc.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:Rock Music and Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}} would have been [[FlintstoneTheming too obvious]].]]
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11	-> ''"Yes, screaming girls everywhere ran screaming whenever the Beat Alls made the scene. Individually, it had been a long and winding road. But together, the Beat Alls, or the 'Bad Four,' as they were also known, had finally conquered Townsville. Their rise to fame can be attributed to their ability to deliver hit after hit after hit... to the Powerpuff Girls. With Mojo Jojo on blaster rays, the acidic spit stylings of HIM, Princess accompanying Mojo on blasters, And Fuzzy, the shy one, provides the rock. Thus the Brutish Invasion had begun."''
12	-->-- '''Reporter''', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsS3E12MoralDecayMeetTheBeatAlls Meet the Beat Alls]]"
13
14	Music/TheBeatles are said by many to be the single most influential music group of all time. They led UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion, legitimized RockAndRoll as an {{art}}-form, led the counter-cultural march of TheSixties into the revolutionary renaissance of TheSeventies and are the most successful example of a band to ever name themselves after a noun preceded by the word "The". While The Beatles spawned too many copycats and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribute_act tribute bands]] to mention in {{real life}}, the world of {{fiction}} has its own Beatles {{Expies}}.
15
16	The band would comprise CaptainErsatz caricatures of the original band's line-up -- Music/JohnLennon, Music/PaulMcCartney, Music/GeorgeHarrison, and Music/RingoStarr -- and are often accompanied by people bearing a striking resemblance to other figures in the band's history, like Music/YokoOno, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, or [[ThePeteBest Pete Best]]. Their music is portrayed in the same upbeat [[TheSixties 1960s]] rock-style, their fashion either mod or hippie, their fans in the millions and their most iconic moments themselves being spoofs of the Beatles' high points, like their 1969 rooftop concert on the Apple Corps building.
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18	By virtue of this trope, examples of AbbeyRoadCrossing, BiggerThanJesus, SgtPeppersShoutOut, and RooftopConcert abound.
19
20	----
21	!!Goo goo g'joob:
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Advertising]]
25	* One TV/video advertisement of the Spanish insurance company Occident, which aired between September and October of 2023, is about a little girl starting a band with three friends. Said band appears to be a tribute to the Beatles, given the subsequent shots of the four children doing an AbbeyRoadCrossing and wearing SgtPeppersShoutOut costumes.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Audio Drama]]
29	* The Common Men in the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audio drama ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho1781963FanfareForTheCommonMen 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men]]''. Mark Carville is John, James O'Meara is Paul, Corky Goldsmith is Ringo, and they don't have a George. The twist is that the Doctor is familiar with the actual Beatles, and realizes someone has altered history to put a different group in their place.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* ''Recap/AsterixInBritain'', dating from TheSixties, finds Asterix and Obelix crossing the English Channel and casting a French eye over the peculiarities of those crazy people to the North of Gaul. Among all the warm beer and bad cooking, they encounter a group of bards who are being [[GroupieBrigade mobbed by hysterical screaming girls.]] The four mop-topped bardic singers have a suspicious resemblance to...
34	* The Oliver Twists in the Bronze Age ''Comicbook/{{Batman}}'' story "Dead Until Proven Alive!" They have an album of the same name as the story, with a cover based on the ''back'' of ''Sergeant Pepper''. The whole thing is a pastiche of the "Paul is dead" conspiracy theory, with Batman and Robin investigating whether "Saul Cartwright" died and was replaced by a lookalike. [[spoiler: It turns out the whole band ''except'' him were killed in a plane crash]].
35	* In ''ComicBook/SupermanTrueBrit'', the Rutles serve as the local stand-in for the Beatles; the comic was co-written by Creator/JohnCleese, a fellow Creator/MontyPython member and friend of Rutles' co-founder Creator/EricIdle.
36	* In ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', Superman's League features the Pepperguard: four [[HumongousMecha giant mechas]] modeled after the Beatles in the colored suits they wear on the cover of the album ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''.
37	* ''Greatest Hits'', a 2008 mini-series published by Creator/VertigoComics, features a SuperTeam called The Mates that are basically the Beatles reimagined as superheroes.
38	* One story in ''ComicBook/BartSimpson'' saw Groundskeeper Willie tell the kids about his time as a member of the Weasels, essentially a Scottish version of the Beatles. Willie himself was ThePeteBest of the group, ditched during their first American tour and replaced by "Blingo".
39	* The Oliver Twists from "Dead Until Proven Alive!" return (sort of) in an ''All-New [[Comicbook/TheAtom Atom]]'' story in which Xotar the Time Commander sends Ivytown back to the sixties. In the "real" timeline the Twists' poster is instead advertising a Saul Cartwright solo tour (with an image based on the poster for Music/PaulMcCartney's 2002 US tour).
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Eastern European Animation]]
43	* Episode 9 of ''Animation/NuPogodi'' features a band of three dogs with mop tops (whose name appears to be "Dvornjagi", or The Mutts) rehearsing a rock-and-roll song (performed by one of the earliest Soviet rock groups, Olovyannye Soldatiki). The Hare joins them on drums, and the Wolf attempts to join in too, with disastrous (and hilarious) results.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
47	* The vultures in ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' are based on the Beatles. From [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle_Book_(1967_film)#Casting the other wiki]]:
48	--> Creator/{{Disney}} lightened it up by having the vultures bearing a physical and vocal resemblance to The Beatles, including the signature mop-top haircut.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Internet]]
52	* ''Website/{{Studyladder}}'' has a quiz where winning results in a band called "The Beetles", consisting of actual beetles, playing.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
56	* On the game show ''Series/PressYourLuck'', a quartet of Whammys in Beatle attire appear and sing "I wanna take it back from you!"
57	* ''Series/MrShow'' has a sketch parodying the Beatles in which three mop-topped young men resembling the Beatles become a media sensation simply by having their picture taken. "The Fad Three" make public appearances by awkwardly posing on stage in front of rapturous crowds of school girls. Follow-up photos get released, including ''Overexposed,'' also called the "White Picture." One of the members asserts that the group has been "photographed more times than Jesus Christ," which everyone agrees is a true and uncontroversial statement.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Music]]
61	* Music/TheMonkees were conceived as a television version of the Beatles, a fact not unnoticed by observers at the time given that the group gained the disparaging nickname "The Pre-Fab Four."
62	** Both groups are named after living creatures in MyspeldRokband fashion.[[note]] Although the name Beatles also exists as a pun.[[/note]]
63	** The group members correlated to Beatles counterparts. Davy Jones was "the cute one" analogue to Paul [=McCartney=]. Peter Tork was "the goofy one" parallel to Ringo Starr, as well as fitting George Harrison's "quiet one" role. John Lennon was subject to DecompositeCharacter treatment, with Music/MichaelNesmith taking on his "smart one"[=/=]"leader" part, while Micky Dolenz picked up on John's other side as "the joker".
64	** The show has several Beatles shout-outs. In "Mijacogeo," the foursome wakes up to an alarm clock/radio blaring the song "Good Morning, Good Morning." In "Success Story," Davy's British grandfather pays a visit, echoing a major plot point in ''Film/AHardDaysNight''. Many of the song interludes in the show feature the foursome jumping and running around in [[FastForwardGag sped-up fashion]], also mirroring the "Can't Buy Me Love" sequences in ''A Hard Day's Night''. In their movie ''Film/{{Head}}'', Peter briefly whistles "Strawberry Fields Forever", a character asks Micky "Are you still paying tribute to Ringo Starr?", and Peter listens to a lecture from a swami who's a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
65	** The Monkees song "Randy Scouse Git" is a ShoutOut to the Beatles. The word "Scouse" is a slang term for Liverpudlians. It also has the line "The four kings of Creator/{{EMI}} are sitting stately on the floor," a reference to the group.
66	* Music/TheRutles are an almost exact pastiche of the Beatles in both their music and their history.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
70	* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'': the episode with Dudley Moore has "The Bug Band", which is a quartet of beetle-like bugs who sing "She Loves You." Afterwards backstage, they try deciding on a better name: a couple of options are Music/TheWho and Music/TheGratefulDead.
71	* ''Series/SesameStreet'' has The Beetles, a band of insectoid Anything {{Muppet}}s whose songs spoof actual Beatles songs, but are mostly about letters of the alphabet.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Video Games]]
75	* ''[[VideoGame/NipponSafesInc The Big Red Adventure]]'' has as a random gag the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n TV show the "{{Teenage Mutant\|SamuraiWombats}} {{Ninja}} Beetles": four cockroaches with the heads of the Fab Four.
76	* The Oscars in ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' are a rock band that features as background characters, first appearing to be playing in the Italian Opera House that once housed Octavio, and later acting as the Guru's disciples in the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Western Animation]]
80	* ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'' has the episode "A Barn Day's Night" where Otis, Abby, Freddy, Peck, and Pig form a band called "The Weevils".
81	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': The episode "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes" has a cameo by a band called the Four Insects, whose "bug music" is the only thing that annoys Fred's {{hillbilly}} cousins. Since the Flintstones want to get rid of the Hatrocks, they put on moptop wigs and play bug music themselves, joined by the Rubbles and the Gruesomes.
82	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic:'' In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E11PartyPooped "Party Pooped"]], Pinkie Pie joins a rock band. It's only shown after the fact via a photo montage, but the band is clearly a ponified version of The Beatles, complete with references to their appearances at the Cavern Club, the Royal Command Performance of 1963, a SgtPeppersShoutOut, an AbbeyRoadCrossing, and ending with their break-up due to CreativeDifferences. Within the band, [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Pinkie is the drummer]] in place of Music/RingoStarr.[[note]]The band members part ways in the Crystal Empire with Pinkie standing where the Crystal Heart usually floats; this could be seen as a nod to fans who believe Ringo was TheHeart of the Beatles.[[/note]] In terms of the ponifications of the others, Music/JohnLennon's cutie mark is the peace sign, Music/GeorgeHarrison's is three [[http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/11/when-the-beatles-got-pelted-with-jelly-beans/ jelly babies]], and Music/PaulMcCartney's is a take on the [[Music/YellowSubmarine Yellow Submarine]]. Pony Paul is even a lefty.
83	* In the ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' episode "All You Need is Narf", Pinky's SimpleMindedWisdom has him confused for a guru when he and Brain are in UsefulNotes/{{India}} to collect sandalwood. They become especially popular with The Feebles, a Beatles {{Expy}} that Pinky happens to be a fan of. When they begin to get in the way of the plan by booking a 6-month sit-in, Brain meets the tone-deaf singer Yoyo Nono and pairs her with the John Lennon stand-in Jim Lemon, leading to the band's break-up.
84	* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsS3E12MoralDecayMeetTheBeatAlls Meet the Beat Alls]]", Townsville's top four super villains -- Mojo Jojo, HIM, Princess Morbucks, and Fuzzy Lumpkins -- all meet at the Powerpuff Girls' house by coincidence, each of them sick of losing to the girls and wanting to fight them. When they all manage to win when they work together, they team up and call themselves The Beat Alls. It works out perfectly for them, repeatedly trouncing the Powerpuff Girls... right until the Yoko analogue, Moko Jono, shows up, and Mojo Jojo starts eagerly going with her increasingly bizarre "evil" plans until the group falls apart from the strain. The episode is notable for cramming as many Beatles references as the creators could think of into the dialogue and visuals.
85	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E1HomersBarbershopQuartet Homer's Barbershop Quartet]]", the titular band Homer joins has a history that very much resembles that of Music/TheBeatles and frequently [[BlasphemousBoast boasted]] to be "BiggerThanJesus", having titled their sophomore album as such with a cover that shows the band [[WalkOnWater Walking On Water]] in the AbbeyRoadCrossing pose.
86	* The Beatles in cartoon form, while never identified as the Beatles, appear in the ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' episode "Octopussy Cat." In a nod to the train sequence of ''Film/AHardDaysNight'', Eek--with a squid on his head--crashes into the train berth in which the band is traveling.
87	* A 1965 commercial for Kellogg's Raisin Bran has WesternAnimation/PixieDixieAndMrJinks don Beatle wigs and perform an impromptu concert touting the cereal.
88	* Not surprisingly the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "Beaglemania" with the Beagle Boys as the Beatles. They became so famous that make millions to Scrooge who is the owner of the record company. But between firing Ma Beagle as manager and also shame her among the other criminal mothers for them earning money legally and causing Scrooge to pay for their extreme luxuries Scrooge and Ma enter an EnemyMine situation to ruin their careers.
89	* Referenced: in ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'' episode "The Phantom of the Country Music Hall," the gang is at a hotel where they're supposed to meet up with singer Jerry Reed.
90	-->'''Clerk:''' Are you Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby?\
91	'''Shaggy:''' Like, we're sure not the Beatles!
92	* On ''WesternAnimation/TheShnookumsAndMeatFunnyCartoonShow'', the Polite Coyotes in the ''Tex Tinstar'' segment were a pastiche of the Beatles.
93	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BorrowingTheBeatles