| 1 | ->''"Oh, brother, I hated the ''real'' version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_0-FwA1f60 this song.]]"'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''Nat Peterson''', ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' |
| 3 | ---- |
| 4 | !!The following have been moved to a subpage due to length: |
| 5 | [[index]] |
| 6 | * ''[[SuspiciouslySimilarSong.MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]'' |
| 7 | * ''SuspiciouslySimilarSong/WeBareBears'' |
| 8 | [[/index]] |
| 9 | ---- |
| 10 | * The ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' theme song bears a strong resemblance to Theatre/{{Grease}}'s "We Go Together". |
| 11 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': |
| 12 | ** The main theme and Brad Breeck's ''Made Me Realize'', to such an extent people often [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK2XHepSadI stick them together]]. However, Brad Breeck made ''Made Me Realize'' for MTV, and says they have nothing to do with each other. |
| 13 | ** The song "Taking Over Midnight" from "Scary-Oke!" has a structure that resembles Music/BonJovi’s "Livin' On a Prayer". Although the lyrics and melody are pure bubblegum pop. |
| 14 | ** The show gets a lot of mileage out of using intentionally obvious sound-alikes for jokes, including "Disco Girl" (for Music/{{ABBA}}'s "Dancing Queen") and "Don't Start Unbelieving" (for Music/{{Journey|Band}}'s "Don't Stop Believing". |
| 15 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 16 | ** The main theme played during the openings resembles John Barry's "007 Theme" used in early ''Film/JamesBond'' films. |
| 17 | ** ''The Simpsons'' [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on the trope when, at the opening ceremonies of a nationwide SpellingBee, celebrity moderator George Plimpton announces, "And now, our unlicensed knockoff of the Olympic Games anthem." |
| 18 | ** It also played this one straight, in quite a lot of episodes. Who can forget "Springfield, Springfield," or the whole of the episode "Simpsoncalifragalisticexpiali(annoyed grunt)tious"? The latter was a parody of ''Film/MaryPoppins'', and had some of the best of these you're likely to see anywhere - particularly Barney's version of "Feed the Birds" ("Buy Me a Beer") and the family's version of "Spoonful of Sugar' ('Cut Every Corner"). |
| 19 | *** And "The President Wore Pearls," a WholePlotReference of ''Music/{{Evita}}''. Also {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the closing subtitles, which insist the producers (as advised by their lawyers) "have never heard of a musical based on the life of Eva Peron." |
| 20 | ** The end of "Life on the Fast Lane" parodies the end of ''Film/AnOfficerAndAGentleman''; you have to listen ''very'' carefully to the BGM to notice it isn't really "Up Where We Belong". |
| 21 | ** The rambling song Homer sang in hopes of becoming a food critic was based around ''Theatre/WestSideStory'''s "I Feel Pretty". |
| 22 | ** Then there's "See My Vest", Mr. Burns' PETA-unfriendly ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'''s "Be Our Guest". |
| 23 | *** In turn, "Be Our Guest" resembles the titular song from ''Me and My Girl'', and the ScreenToStageAdaptation version has an interlude similar to Jacques Offenbach's "Can Can". |
| 24 | ** Lampshaded again during a ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' parody with a song called "Ho Hi" ([[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial "this song's not like any song you know]]...if Disney sues we'll claim fair use"). |
| 25 | ** Some earlier episodes repeatedly underscored action sequences with a pastiche of the "Axel F" theme from ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop''. In fact, they had at least two distinct versions of it. |
| 26 | ** Sideshow Bob's [[{{Leitmotif}} personal theme music]] is a reworked version of Music/BernardHerrmann's ''Film/CapeFear'' theme. |
| 27 | ** "Lady Bouvier's Lover" closes with "The Sound of Grandpa", a knockoff of Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence." |
| 28 | ** "Flaming Moe's" has a very funny parody of the ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' theme. |
| 29 | ** The ''Film/JamesBond'' parody couch gag uses an obvious knock-off of its famous opening theme. |
| 30 | ** The episode where Homer becomes a hippy replaces the end theme with the bass and drums from [[Music/TheBeatles Tomorrow Never Knows]], with a sitar playing the Simpsons theme on top - [[HilariousInHindsight several years before]] Giles Martin played the vocals and sitar of Within You Without You over the same, causing the Simpsons version to sound like a SuspiciouslySimilarSong version of that. |
| 31 | ** Several early episodes had a bit of incidental music that was a tweaked version of Edvard Grieg's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Mood "Morning Mood"]] from ''Peer Gynt''; it was used to in the same manner as Grieg's original, to denote the dawning of a new day. Since the composition was in the public domain when those episodes were produced, it remains unclear why they didn't use the Grieg original. Even more confusingly, the 9th season episode "Bart Carny" ''does'' actually use the original, untweaked "Morning Mood". |
| 32 | ** "They'll Never Stop The Simpsons", the closing song from the ClipShow "Gump Roast", lyrically [[WeDidntStartTheBillyJoelParodies parodies]] Music/BillyJoel's "We Didn't Start The Fire" but uses a different melody. |
| 33 | ** "Thank God, It's Doomsday" has "Who Got Their Haircut?", a parody of the BahaMen's "Who Let the Dogs Out". |
| 34 | ** Dark Stanley's theme from "Yokel Chords" is based off of Ástor Piazzolla's Suite Punta del Este I. Introduccion: Allegro pesante and his music in general (due to the song's heavy use of a bandoneon and strings), to the point that many people will incorrectly state that it is the same song (much like the theme to ''Film/TwelveMonkeys''). |
| 35 | ** In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E11That90sShow "That 90's Show"]], "Shave Me" is obviously based on the Music/{{Nirvana}} song "Rape Me," while "Margerine" is based on "Glycerine" by Music/{{Bush}}. |
| 36 | ** "Lisa's Pony" has a dream sequence where Homer dozes off while driving - as originally aired, and on the DVD, the score is basically an instrumental cover of Music/TheBeatles' "Golden Slumbers" with the vocal melody played on acoustic guitar. When the clip reappeared in "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show", the action was re-scored to an entirely different composition. Televised reruns of the episode use the same piece as the original airing, but remove the recognizable guitar melody. |
| 37 | ** An in-universe version in the show itself: the Itchy and Scratchy ending theme (as heard in "The Front") sounds similar to the theme to the Main/LighterAndSofter version of the show in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge". |
| 38 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZB5cM_6Ru8&feature=related Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers theme song]] was probably intended as a spoof of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaQvBbzslJE MacGyver vignette]]. |
| 39 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' used to do this in its early seasons -- ''e.g.'' "Give it Up" from the toad-licking one, which was a pastiche of "You're the One That I Want" from ''Grease''. In later seasons, however, they use straight lyrical parodies. |
| 40 | ** The apotheosis: Peter singing about his diplomatic immunity with "Can't Touch Me!", an intentionally obvious soundalike of "Can't Touch This", which includes the line "so Hammer you can't sue!" while talking to an animated Music/MCHammer. |
| 41 | ** One aversion occurred when they couldn't get the rights to the 1967 ''Spider-Man'' cartoon theme, so they had Peter sing the ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' TV show theme (owned by Fox), replacing "Batman" with "Spider-Man". It's actually much funnier that way. |
| 42 | ** The Season 3 episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" has Peter crooning a song called "I Need a Jew", which sounds suspiciously like "When You Wish Upon a Star", from Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}''. The publishers of the Disney song apparently thought so, too, as they unsuccessfully sued ''Family Guy'' producer Seth [=MacFarlane=] and composer Walter Murphy for copyright infringement. |
| 43 | ** In the episode "Love Blactually", Brian dresses up as Snoopy for a costume party. When Peter demands that he "do the dance", Brian complies, accompanied by a suspiciously similar version of Music/VinceGuaraldi's "Linus and Lucy", the famous ''Peanuts'' BootstrappedTheme. |
| 44 | ** In "Saving Private Brian", the music in the US Army commercial is The suspiciously similar version of the intro to Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me". |
| 45 | ** The "I'm A Tumor" song in "Petarded" is a suspiciously similar version of Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus". Of course, WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons did it first, using the same tune as the basis for "Dr. Zaius" in "A Fish Called Selma". |
| 46 | ** Meg's song in "Adult Education" is a suspiciously similar version of "Belle" from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''. |
| 47 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'', an educational cartoon about history, parodied a lot of songs with similar, but original, melodies. In the episode on Teddy Roosevelt, adapted versions of "Wooly Bully" (as "Bully Bully") and "Ghostbusters" (as "Trustbuster") were both used, altered enough to be free of royalties. |
| 48 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'''s theme song sounds a lot like 'Little Bitty Pretty One' by Thurston Harris. |
| 49 | ** ''Doug'' also used suspiciously similar versions of the Raiders March from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', for Race Canyon, ''Film/{{Superman|TheMovie}}'''s ThemeTune for Quailman, the ''Film/JamesBond'' theme for Smash Adams, the Mission Impossible theme (in ''Doug's Secret Song'' when Porkchop is sneaking into Bebe's house) and a knockoff of "[[Music/MCHammer U Can't Touch This]]" in "Doug Can't Dance" (starts after Mr. Dink stubs his toe), among others. |
| 50 | * ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'''s theme was based on the theme to the Film/HammerHorror ''Film/TwinsOfEvil''. That film's theme even served as temp track. |
| 51 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Jimmy Neutron]]'' does this all the time with their montage sequences. One notable one is a couple notes off from "Hey Ya" by Music/{{Outkast}}. |
| 52 | ** Another notable, and rather obscure, one is a knock-off of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" (heard in a number of classic ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoons) in the episode "Return of the Nanobots," during a montage where the Nanobots delete everyone in Retroville (and we even briefly cut away a couple of times to the robots ''dancing'' to the music!) |
| 53 | ** In another episode, the "Donut Boy" theme song sounds very similar to (and is likely a reference to) the theme from ''Film/{{Shaft}}''. |
| 54 | ** In the episode, "Send in the Clones", the song during Cool Jimmy's [[WalkingInRhythm strut]] sounds very similar to "Stayin' Alive". The scene itself is likely a homage to ''Film/{{Saturday Night Fever}}''. |
| 55 | ** In an episode where Jimmy and his friends are chugging soda like a bunch of frat boys, a song greatly resembling "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen plays - an obvious reference to ''[[Film/AnimalHouse Animal House]]''. |
| 56 | ** The title theme music in the episode "Vanishing Act", which is also used at the beginning of Jimmy's magic show, is essentially "Sirius" by Music/TheAlanParsonsProject with a few notes changed. |
| 57 | ** The music that plays during Jimmy’s repeating birthday parties is based on "Birthday" by Music/TheBeatles. |
| 58 | * ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' |
| 59 | ** The episode "Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet Max Modem!" has Mr. Fletcher, practicing as Max Modem, plays a riff on a synthesizer that sounds a lot like the intro to "Bloody Tears" from the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series. |
| 60 | ** The Perry the Platypus theme sounds an awful lot like the song "Secret Agent Man." |
| 61 | ** "Meatloaf Surprise" features a song that starts off sounding a lot like "Wonderwall" by Oasis, except it's about the singer's love of meatloaf. |
| 62 | ** In "Meapless in Seattle", the brothers and friends go to Seattle, where they're greeted by a guitar riff that's suspiciously similar to {{Music/Nirvana}}'s [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Smells Like Teen Spirit]]. |
| 63 | *** The 2012 syndicated version of this show uses a theme sounding suspiciously similar to the Disney Channel version but instrumental. |
| 64 | ** "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbBackyardAquarium Backyard Aquarium]]": The music at the beginning, as Phineas peers into Goldie's fishbowl, sounds very close to the track "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2GTn5e3JE8 Field Trip]]" from Thomas Newman's score for ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. |
| 65 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'': |
| 66 | ** In the episode "Grubble Gum", where Chowder's gigantic, all-consuming wad of gum starts picking up everything in its path: the BackgroundMusic, appropriately enough, is a lawyer-friendly version of the ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'' theme. |
| 67 | ** The episode "Sniffle Ball" has one scene blatantly parodying the classic ''VideoGame/{{Super Mario Bros|1}}'' fight with Bowser, to the tune of a variant on the classic underground theme. |
| 68 | ** The sleepeating episode uses the first few notes of "Thriller". |
| 69 | ** Another episode involving Schnitzel's obvious Bruce Lee parody used an equally-obvious and suspiciously similar version of the song "Eye of the Tiger". |
| 70 | ** And in "Sing Beans", when Schnitzel is playing the steel drum, it sounds EXACTLY like Target's (Australia) "Make Me Happy" aka 100% Happy ad campaign jingle. |
| 71 | ** There is a recurring theme that often plays when a character is sneaking around, that sounds like ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'' theme. It reuses the first same ten notes. |
| 72 | ** During the live-action sequence in "Spending Spree", the disco music that accompanies the car wash sequence sounds like the theme to ''Film/CarWash''. |
| 73 | * An early sketch in ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' features Anime/{{Voltron}} in a dance-off against a Robeast to "Work It Out On the Floor", an obvious parody of DMX's "Get It On the Floor". On the DVD version and all future airing, the song is replaced with a horribly generic, lawyer-friendly take on the song. |
| 74 | ** During their ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' parody, the theme song is "Believe It or Don't, I'm Flying Around", a parody of "Theme from ''The Greatest American Hero'' (Believe It or Not)". |
| 75 | ** Used ''in-series'' when a sketch about the Libertarian Party have them needing to use the suspiciously similar version of various songs because they can't afford the real ones. Such as "Airborne Mini-dirt" (Dust in the Wind) and "We Are the Victors" (We Are the Champions). They ''still'' got sued for "Friend Choo-choo" (Love Train). |
| 76 | ** A sketch about the Kraken from ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'' featured a suspiciously similar version of "[[{{Theatre/Cats}} Memory]]". |
| 77 | *** A large amount of the music used for ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' are suspiciously similar versions of many popular tunes from movies, television shows, and even video games. This makes sense as parodies are a big part of ''Robot Chicken''. |
| 78 | * The Teletoon-animated seasons of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' use their own theme song, which is a Suspiciously Similar Song version of... ''the original Johnny Test theme song'' (from when the series was animated by Warner Bros.). The "same franchise as the original music" deal strikes again! |
| 79 | ** Also occurs on the Cartoon Network broadcast version and on the Netflix Watch Instantly releases. |
| 80 | ** Incidentally, while the original Johnny Test theme sounds highly styled after your average top 40 rock band, the second series theme song is actually a suspiciously similar Version of "[[Music/GreenDay American Idiot]]". |
| 81 | * The eighth episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' opens with a jukebox playing the suspiciously similar Version of Quincy Jones's "Soul Bossa Nova" (which you may recognize from ''Film/AustinPowers''). |
| 82 | ** Or, for those Canadians playing at home, ''Series/{{Definition}}''. |
| 83 | * The ''[[WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack Flapjack]]'' ChristmasEpisode begins with "It's the Most Marvelous Time of the Year", which is a several notes-off version of (of course) "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". |
| 84 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'', "You Promised", Norbert and Daggett race around their dam on bikes to the suspiciously similar, yet instrumental, version of "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees. |
| 85 | ** "In Search of Big Byoo-tox" featured Dag trying to avoid being seen by Norb to The Suspiciously Similar Version of "Hush" by Deep Purple. |
| 86 | ** Also, one of the instrumentals used frequently in episodes of ''The Angry Beavers'' sounds a lot like the beginning of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E9XUkoJH5I Andy Williams' song, "Can't Get Used to Losing You"]]. In fact, the show's soundtrack is practically a "Best of". |
| 87 | ** One episode of the Angry Beavers featured a suspiciously similar version of "Say You'll Be There" by the Spice Girls. |
| 88 | * The original version of the ''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0EoqLkE_rQ theme]] definitely sounds like Billy Ocean's [[https://youtu.be/m1DxjjUrZhw "When The Going Gets Tough"]]. |
| 89 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' does some almost indistinguishable please-don't-sue-us versions of songs like "Happy Birthday To You"[[note]]Which was later litigated into the public domain[[/note]] and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" - the latter has to be listened to very, very closely. The excuse in the director's commentary was 'we thought it'd be alright because the songs would have changed over the years'. Fry lampshades this during the former by singing "And you smell like one, too!", out of context from the CaptainErsatz version, but in the style of the real song. Of course, that line is not an official part of the song, so there's no copyright violation. |
| 90 | ** Also a near-copy of the MASH theme in "War is the H-Word" |
| 91 | ** The theme song itself sounds like a mash-up of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tZsxRPRzqg Pierre Henry's "Psyche Rock"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvQd62CkgT0 Unlimited's "Get Ready for This"]]. |
| 92 | * ''The Adventures of WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' loved throwing in suspiciously similar versions of appropriate BackgroundMusic. |
| 93 | * Listen to the theme song of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', then compare it to Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man". |
| 94 | ** Now listen to the theme song of ''WesternAnimation/TuffPuppy''... |
| 95 | * In ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' the [[{{Leitmotif}} ukulele riff]] that sometimes accompanies Wooldoor is an obvious pastiche of a similar one from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. |
| 96 | ** ''Drawn Together'' had some songs like this, both on the show, and some on the DVD releases to clear royalties. One DVD example was in the episode "Dirty Pranking Number 2", with the song "This Is Our Version", a song that sounds like "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", the original song that was on the TV broadcast. Another example that occurred on the show was in the episode, "Foxy vs. The Board of Education" with the song "Board of Education", a song that sounds like "I'm Just a Bill" from ''WesternAnimation/SchoolHouseRock''. |
| 97 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}''--as explicitly pointed out by the bumps on Creator/AdultSwim--could not get the rights to "Love Shack", so the Warden sings the royalty-free, lawyer-friendly, not-gonna-get-sued-for-it "Party Bar" during the episode where they build a bar in the jail. |
| 98 | ** The episode "Combaticus" features parodies of both "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's theme, as well as the song "Shenhua" from the video game Shenmue. |
| 99 | * For ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleRascals' Christmas Special'', a 1979 animated holiday special featuring Our Gang, the producers didn't get the rights to use Leroy Shields' classic theme music, so the special's music composer wrote a suspiciously similar Version of it. |
| 100 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=almvgKVN0NE Main Theme]] to ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' sounds a suspicious lot like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liyiT_DGREA "December, 1963"]] by ''Music/FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons''. |
| 101 | ** In "The Job", we several times hear BackgroundMusic that sounds like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ave_Satani the theme]] from ''Film/TheOmen1976'', except with the lyrics replaced with pizza toppings in {{dog Latin}}. |
| 102 | ** Gumball's song from "The Refund" is one to "We Are The World". |
| 103 | ** "The Tag" features an off-key sound alike of "Baby" by Music/JustinBieber played for all of one second by Gumball and Darwin to threaten Mr. Robinson, who had engaged an EscalatingWar with Richard. |
| 104 | ** Mrs. Robinson's song from "The Wicked" is clearly based on "My Favourite Things" from ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic''. |
| 105 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' has quite a number of songs that sound like others. |
| 106 | ** The theme song is based on the melody of the sea shanty, "Blow the Man Down". |
| 107 | ** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtSOLU8-9s4 Astronaut's March]] is obviously a pale imitation of Music/ElmerBernstein's theme for ''Film/TheGreatEscape''. |
| 108 | ** A dance scene in the episode "Jellyfish Jam" uses a techno song called "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5glkFSCuMI Stadium Rave A]]" that sounded a ''lot'' like "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KUmAphvThQ Get Ready For This]]" ([[ParodyDisplacement A.K.A. "NBA Jam"]]) by 2 Unlimited. |
| 109 | ** The Krusty Krab Training Video uses a soundalike for Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" called "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XovtJrxPjNw Quest for the Best]]". |
| 110 | *** Also a piece of music that imitates the ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' theme on "Bubble Buddy." |
| 111 | ** Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's official {{Leitmotif}} is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQDTKPbwxUw The Lineman]], an all-too-obvious (and very fitting) similar song to the Creator/AdamWest ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' theme. |
| 112 | ** Joked about it once: A Krusty Krab customer listened to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_0-FwA1f60 a song]] and said (perhaps not exact quote) "I hated the REAL version of this song." |
| 113 | ** Best Day Ever takes a cue from Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". |
| 114 | ** The episode "Ugh", during a parody of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'''s uplifting sequence uses music that sounds frustratingly similar to, but ''just'' different enough from, "Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra". The episode also makes use of a soundtrack similar to György Ligeti's "Requiem", the composition used with the Monolith scenes from that film, when [=SpongeGar=] discovers that fire can be used to cook food. |
| 115 | ** The title card song for the episode "[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS1E6MermaidManandBarnacleBoyPickles Pickles]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmmpi3m4elI The Gunfighter]]" is a near-complete copy of the suite to the 1969 SpaghettiWestern "The Forgotten Pistolero"/"IL Pistolero dell'Ave Maria'". "Pistolero" is Spanish for "Gunman" hence the song's title. |
| 116 | ** In "Little Yellow Book", the Bikini Bottom Municipal Anthem in which [=SpongeBob=] dances in his underwear sounds like Music/EdwardElgar's "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1". |
| 117 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaRhExrd4kA "Sounds of Science 1"]], heard in "SB-129", sounds like the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k18eKo7d0nA&list=PLD9C5C306C576CC72&index=6 Stage 3 music]] from ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Junior]]''. |
| 118 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}}'', the two computer-generated delivery men from Music/DireStraits' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2RUD_cL0 Money for Nothing]]" music video make a cameo appearance. Cue [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEycLWrxsnw a guitar riff that sounds suspiciously like "Money for Nothing"]]. |
| 119 | * Done frequently on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. |
| 120 | ** For instance, there's one episode where the adults put on some Cher. The song on the stereo sounds a lot like Music/{{Cher}}'s "Believe." |
| 121 | ** When Stan's grandfather wanted Stan to understand how awful it is being old, his grandfather puts on a song that sounds a lot like Music/{{Enya}}'s "Orinoco Flow". |
| 122 | ** In "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut", a soundalike of "My Heart Will Go On" played during Liane's flashbacks whenever someone caught her eye. |
| 123 | ** When Randy is incapacitated from being "served" and Stan visits him in the hospital, a tune almost identical to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" starts playing. |
| 124 | ** Subverted in the episode "Canada on Strike." The Star Wars Kid is shown, but instead of John Williams' Star Wars theme, it seems to be a knockoff. It's actually John Williams' Superman theme. |
| 125 | ** In "Christian Rock Hard", Cartman plays one song that is kinda similar to the Delfonics' "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time). |
| 126 | ** DVDA's "Now You're a Man" is basically "You Give Love a Bad Name" with different lyrics and a different meter (the chorus is in 7/4 instead of 4/4). |
| 127 | ** In "Timmy 2000", the Lords of the Underworld song uses a riff very similar to that of Music/{{Rush|Band}}'s "The Spirit of Radio". |
| 128 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ7-Gg6cmew The Princess Kenny song]] from the Black Friday Trilogy sounds like a Japanese version of the Nelly and Kelly Rowland song "Dilemma". Also, the Princess Kenny Song also sounds similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkf6bwudKG8 the opening theme song]] from the anime VisualNovel/PrincessLover. |
| 129 | * Pretty much the entire soundtrack to the ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode "Meet the Beat-Alls" is suspiciously similar versions of (you guessed it) songs by Music/TheBeatles, including "A Hard Day's Night", "Eleanor Rigby", "Across the Universe", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "The Ballad of John and Yoko". |
| 130 | ** Also, the [[SpearCounterpart Rowdyruff Boys]]' {{Leitmotif}} is copied from the PPG's theme song. |
| 131 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJqQhqb_VKU theme song]] sounds a lot like [[https://youtu.be/o9mJ82x_l-E?t=80 "Hey Man Nice Shot"]] by Filter. |
| 132 | ** The episode "Sentries of the Lost Cosmos" is full of simulated Star Wars music. |
| 133 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rio_sLMhRk end theme]] for ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' is a suspiciously similar version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSsPEgZZi5Y "Step By Step"]] by Music/NewKidsOnTheBlock. |
| 134 | * The long-awaited ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' DVD set occasionally opts for suspiciously similar versions in place of the more generic cues that comprise the majority of the music. Technically averted with Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" - MTV had apparently tried to license the original recording due to how important it was to the episode it appeared in, but Lauper no longer allows the song to be licensed and they were forced record a cover version (since Mr. [=DeMartino=] actually sings the official lyrics). |
| 135 | * ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' has an interesting version of this trope in the episode "Roar of the White Dragon". When Mike Chan/White Dragon shows up at the school, we hear some music that sounds suspiciously like the song by the Teriyaki Boyz called "Tokyo Drift (Fast and the Furious)". Compare the two [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITLd2dtGTzY here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBS7m-a8Myw here]]. Fitting, but still weird. |
| 136 | * In ''[[WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy Billy And Mandy's]] Big Boogie Adventure'', music that sounds ''almost'' like the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' theme can be heard playing during the race. |
| 137 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' did this frequently with their numerous song parodies. For example, "Yakko's Universe" is a similar song to [[Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife "The Galaxy Song"]]. |
| 138 | ** A ''Pinky and the Brain'' segment in the 2020 revival series includes a song called "Lakes Are Fun", heavily based on "Kites Are Fun" by Music/TheFreeDesign. |
| 139 | * The song "If You Can Dream" by the Franchise/{{Disney Princess}}es is actually a suspiciously similar version of Mya's "Where the Dream Takes You." Guess [[WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire which animated Disney movie]] that song is from! |
| 140 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'': |
| 141 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrRBvUM39A0 The Fat Controller's theme]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paRq2i5ZYX4 Toby's theme]] both share elements of Gounod's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eIk5DWUx_E "Funeral March of a Marionette"]]. |
| 142 | ** The opening of "Percy Takes the Plunge" and Elmer Bernstein's theme to ''Film/{{The Magnificent Seven|1960}}''. |
| 143 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buO5N6zxVts Gordon's Theme]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_zK0CZ__XQ On the Quarter Deck]]. |
| 144 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk4d4XiIxcI James' Theme]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfCFU3Mqww Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy]] |
| 145 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UittIM3SxzI Diesel's Theme]] sounds a bit like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hYV-JSjpyU The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly]], while its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mQQ98U8fY0 2002 upgrade]] becomes more like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whFUUFo1eXQ Habanera]]. |
| 146 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9GRaAUpcHA Oliver's Theme]] and Elmer Bernstein's theme to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbsuAbTTsV8 ''The Great Escape'']] |
| 147 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVfhKJLtKqw Stepney's Theme]] and Scott Joplin's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDGibUnfGK8 The Entertainer]]. |
| 148 | ** The recurring [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCzkSEH_Rls "Spooky" theme]] from Series 5 has elements of "Night on Bald Mountain". |
| 149 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPWTmJWeU48 Hank's theme]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRPtsJ1487w "Hail to the Chief"]] |
| 150 | ** The opening of ''Misty Island Rescue'' and the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' theme. |
| 151 | ** There was once a recurring ocarina riff during confrontation scenes, modeled closely on ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''. And in "One Good Turn", the sting when Bill and Ben meet face to face is basically the ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' theme. |
| 152 | ** While on the subject of trains, the theme from {{WesternAnimation/Chuggington}} shares some similarities with "I Want Candy" by The Strangleloves. |
| 153 | * In Creator/TheBBC's ''"Woodland Animations"'' show {{WesternAnimation/Bertha}}, The main theme, -especially the first three lyrics- sounds like a direct homage to ''"Heartaches"'' by Al Bowlly. This doubles as HilariousInHindsight in the wake of the ColbertBump "Heartaches" experienced upon being used as a leitmotif for ''"It's Just a Burning Memory"'' that plays at the beginning of the Album ''"Everywhere at the End of Time (Stage 1)"'' By Music/TheCaretaker. |
| 154 | * The title theme to ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' is basically Royal Crown Revue's "Hey Pachuco" as a BraggingThemeTune. |
| 155 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'', there's a recurring tuba motif for [[BoomerangBigot Uncle Ruckus]] that sounds a lot like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl4SoeEYHrk Jabba the Hutt's theme]]. |
| 156 | * A weird sort of cross-media-type example with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBXvVaU7sfo opening to the German dub]] of the [[WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon,]] which bears some similarities to, of all things, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZlYGN5W2Yg the Cheetahmen theme]] from the deplorable ''VideoGame/Action52'' collection. |
| 157 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' featured a parody of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' called ''Super Pluckio Bros.'' which played over a suspiciously similar version of the overworld theme of the original ''VideoGame/{{Super Mario Bros|1}}'' game. Adding to this was the fact that sound effects from the actual game were actually used in the episode. |
| 158 | * The music that plays during the credits for ''WesternAnimation/ActionLeagueNOW'' is a pretty obvious take on the ''Film/JamesBond'' theme. |
| 159 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' |
| 160 | ** In "To Bowl or Not to Bowl", the song "Let's Bowl" is a parody of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAv500Q6bfA Far From Over]]" by Frank Stallone. |
| 161 | ** The Merrie Melody "Daffy the Wizard" has a near-identical melody to "Children of the Grave" by Music/BlackSabbath. |
| 162 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Catscratch}}'', there's a point in the show where a song very similar to "[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda's Lullaby]]" plays...[[http://www.myspace.com/video/ricky-the-dark-underlord/zelda-39-s-lullaby-in-catscratch/106119107 No, really.]] |
| 163 | * The main theme of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLp_Hh6DKWc&ab_channel=DarwinsLilGirl The Hall of the Mountain King]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYAJopwEYv8 Flight of the Bumblebee]] mixed with the original Sonic game's title song. |
| 164 | * '''Just Missed''': ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' ''almost'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P10oIBNPH70 this theme]], which sounds a lot like INXS's "The One Thing." The actual show's intro theme has a recurring riff that sounds like a rock version of the "Colonel Bogey March." |
| 165 | * The theme to ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' was done in the style of [[Music/GeorgeGershwin Rhapsody in Blue]]. |
| 166 | * The theme song of ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' is based on Grieg's ''In the Hall of the Mountain King''. |
| 167 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' featured a lot of pieces and cues that are suspiciously similar to ones from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' (most noticeable in the theme tune: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhQFGH527PE TAS]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdjL8WXjlGI TOS]]). |
| 168 | * ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' - its SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic theme bears a striking resemblance to a sped-up version the Music/AaronCopland masterpiece "Fanfare for the Common Man" melded with bits the Music/JohnWilliams theme from ''Film/SupermanTheMovie''. Given that the series was heavily influenced by the Creator/JohnByrne era Superman (Clark is the real person, Superman is his disguise, and Clark sees himself as a perfectly normal person who happens to have extraordinary powers), this probably wasn't unintentional. |
| 169 | * The opening theme for ''[[WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries Sabrina's Secret Life]]'' sounds a lot like the Music/{{Pink}} song "Get the Party Started". |
| 170 | * The main theme of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' sounds a lot like the theme of another [[Film/StarTrek2009 sci-fi epic]]. |
| 171 | ** One episode had a scene with Agent Fowler listening to a song similar to [[https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+touch&docid=608044318095836879&mid=53B47B5D39F86629FC6653B47B5D39F86629FC66&view=detail&FORM=VIRE Stan Bush's "The Touch"]], originally used in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''. |
| 172 | * From the 1939 animated film of ''WesternAnimation/GulliversTravels''; the song "It's A Hap-Hap-Happy Day" is ''extremely'' similar in melody to the Snow White song "Whistle While You Work." Compare them both; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOVQd9mXm6s Hap Hap Happy Day]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GbXpSi3cV8 Whistle While You Work.]] |
| 173 | * In the ''{{WesternAnimation/Motorcity}}'' episode "Off the Rack" when Julie is sneaking around [=KaneCo=], the music playing in the background is similar to the theme from ''Film/MissionImpossible''. Notably Julie [[MissionImpossibleCableDrop dives and hangs from the ceiling in a similar fassion.]] |
| 174 | * Some folks on Website/YouTube noticed the similarity between ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' theme song and the scatting melody of the J. Geils Band's "Centerfold", both of which came out in 1981. |
| 175 | ** The episode "Smurfing For Ghosts" uses a tune that sounds very similar to Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters", while the cartoon special "The Smurfic Games" uses one that's similar to Vangelis' ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' theme tune. |
| 176 | * The theme song to the 2012 ''[[WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012 Littlest Pet Shop]]'' sounds similar to Katy Perry's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)]]" or the Jesse Fredrick song "Everywhere You Look". |
| 177 | * A tune that played during action scenes in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power'' contains a 7-note segment that sounds like the theme to Popeye. |
| 178 | * ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' |
| 179 | ** The theme to ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMysteries'' sounds very suspiciously similar to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". |
| 180 | ** The theme song of ''WesternAnimation/ShaggyAndScoobyDooGetAClue'' sounds very similar to "One Fine Day" by Music/TheOffspring. |
| 181 | * The "This is It!" theme from ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' and other television broadcasts of the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' shorts sounds similar to the first theme tune from ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones''. |
| 182 | * There's a background song on ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' that sounds a lot like Colonel Bogey March. |
| 183 | * The theme to ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse: The New Adventures'' is performed a cappella in a manner silimar to the original ''Mighty Mouse Playhouse'' theme, only duplicating the note structure of the line "Here I come to save the day." |
| 184 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' episode "Jolt from the Past", when Ben challenges Rook to find him some opportunities for heroics, the resulting OnPatrolMontage is to a tune that sounds a lot like the intro to "Holding Out For A Hero" by Bonnie Tyler. |
| 185 | * Largely averted by ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', where the creators typically manage to secure song clearances. In one such notable exception, a soundalike of "Subdivisions" by Music/{{Rush|Band}} plays while Mordecai, Rigby and Skips are on a car trip; additionally the guitar riff that plays when Mordecai & Rigby are heading into the karaoke place is very close to "Working Man". |
| 186 | * The chorus of the theme song to ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'', "Aloha E Komo Mai", sounds similar to the one of the Mardi Gras song "Iko Iko", except it is a bit sped up and is at a higher pitch. |
| 187 | * A rare example of this used with a song in a show itself-the beginning of the song "I'm Skating" from ''WesternAnimation/MagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' sounds like a slowed and pitched down version of "The Beginning of Things"! |
| 188 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Silverwing}}'' theme song sounds similar to "Frantic" by Music/{{Metallica}}, except it's a bit slowed down. |
| 189 | * The theme to ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' sounds like Music/WhitneyHouston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight". |
| 190 | ** Then, a decade later, string quartet Bond's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiaOFOMPOBc "Explosive"]] sounds like the theme song as well. |
| 191 | ** It also resembles the theme song for a popular Hungarian TV series, ''Linda the Policewoman'', which first aired around a decade before the animated series. [[https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/marvel-x-men-the-animated-series-theme-song-lawsuit/ The resemblance is allegedly uncanny]], enough for a Hungarian representative of the estate of the now-deceased TV series theme's composer to sue Marvel and associated companies for that rip-off. |
| 192 | * The theme to ''WesternAnimation/{{Silverhawks}}'' sounds like "The Edge of a Dream" by Steven [=McClintock=]. Both even have an awesome-sounding guitar solo. |
| 193 | * The Creator/CBeebies cartoon ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDSaGo9_eFE Boj]]'' has its theme based on, of all things, C.W. [=McCall's=] ''Convoy''. |
| 194 | * The ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' episode "Lost in Chalk" has a sound-alike of "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited playing during the fair...which was recycled from an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', "Totally Spaced Out" (Guy Moon, the composer for ''[=OddParents=]'' also composed the first two seasons and the first half of season three of ''[=ChalkZone=]'', and often re-used BackgroundMusic from the former show for the latter) |
| 195 | ** "The Label Police" includes a sound-alike of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse". |
| 196 | * "Rise and Shine" from ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' sounds similar to "When Will My Life Begin?" from Tangled. |
| 197 | ** Two years after the former came out, "Work With Me" from ''WesternAnimation/LegendsOfOzDorothysReturn'' also took a cue from the latter song. |
| 198 | * The composition of the opening theme to ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' sounds strikingly similar to that of "Invisible Man" by Queen. Right down to the bassline used in both songs. |
| 199 | ** The comparison becomes even more evident when you listen to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-vXRSS370o first, unused theme]] for the show. |
| 200 | * ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' episode 9 has a couple of obvious riffs, one to ''Series/TheATeam'' theme and another to ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''. |
| 201 | ** The song Sonic, Tails & Knuckles perform in "Battle of the Boy Bands" sounds a bit like "Can't Stop" by The Music/RedHotChiliPeppers. |
| 202 | ** "Late Night Wars" has a piece that is most definitely not Stayin' Alive by Music/TheBeeGees. |
| 203 | ** A number of scenes throughout the series, such as the pillow fight in "Cabin Fever", are scored with a jumpy saxophone solo that sounds very much like "Yakety Sax" by Boots Randolph. |
| 204 | ** The scene following Eggman assembling his team in "Victory" sounds a ''lot'' like Creator/EddieMurphy's "Party All The Time", including the clapping. |
| 205 | * ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents'': |
| 206 | ** The theme song sounds very similar to "Friend Like Me" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', especially the first few bars. |
| 207 | ** Then of course, "Fairy Idol" featured a song by Norm the Genie, also sounds similar, right down to the motif and jazzy style. |
| 208 | ** A few episodes ("Nectar of the Odds", "Baby Face", "Wishy Washy", and "Force of Nature") play a soundalike of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" during montages where characters are working or building something. |
| 209 | ** "Anchors Away" has a soundalike of Music/KennyLoggins' "Highway to the Danger Zone". |
| 210 | ** The TrainingMontage in "Old Man and the C-" plays a soundalike of the ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' training music. |
| 211 | * The ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode "The Catastrophe" has Wonder being addicted to cute cat videos. One of them is a clear reference to the "Keyboard Cat" meme playing a song that sounds almost exactly like it. |
| 212 | * The ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' Season 7 song "Love is All Around" uses the same melody as Music/KatyPerry's "Roar". |
| 213 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AKindOfMagic'', Tommy accidentally summons a superhero out of a comic book. The hero's leitmotiv is an obvious pastiche of the ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' main theme. |
| 214 | * An offbeat version of the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' theme appears in ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' episode "Ten Chairs" when Lois is woken up at night by spooky sounds. |
| 215 | * ''WesternAnimation/JuliusJr'' has done this a couple of times, notably with a riff resembling ''Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'' in one episode and ''Take me out to the ball game'' in another. |
| 216 | * The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' song "We're Vikings!" sounds very similar to "A Pirate's Life For Me'' from Pirates of the Caribbean. It even contains the line "A viking's life for me!" at the end of each verse. |
| 217 | * During the flashback of the lead-up to Harleen Quinzel becoming Harley Quinn in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE21MadLove Mad Love]]", the BGM sounds a ''lot'' like Making Christmas from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''. |
| 218 | * The ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' episode "Hunt for Ziro" features the Hutt clans celebrating with a musical performance... a showgirls number in homage to ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'', complete with a lawyer friendly Huttese sound alike to Anything Goes. |
| 219 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Sadie and the Cool Kids' song "Working Dead"'s baseline is suspiciously similar to Music/{{Ludo}}'s "Safe in the Dark". The melody of the show's theme song is also noticeably similar to Music/DavidBowie's "Space Oddity". |
| 220 | ** Steven and Connie's "Jam Buddies" song in "Sworn To The Sword" sounds incredibly similar to the Christmas song "Jingle Bell Rock." |
| 221 | * The ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' episode "One False Movie", in which Mac's (the main character) imaginary friend Bloo directs a movie, the movie contains a song which is an obvious pastiche of "All-Star" by Music/SmashMouth. (It does makes sense in context; the song also mentions ogres, making it partially a reference to ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1''.) |
| 222 | * ''World Tour'', the third season of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'', had about half of its songs sound like obvious imitations of already existing ones. These include: |
| 223 | ** The first few lines of "Paris in the Springtime" from "Can't Help Falling in Louvre" are similar to that of "I Love Paris" from the musical ''Kiss Me, Kate''. |
| 224 | ** "Changing Guard Mix" from "I See London..." is one for The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever". |
| 225 | ** "We Built Gwen's Face" from "Sweden Sour" sounds like "Dancing Queen" by ABBA. |
| 226 | ** "I'm Gonna Make It" is a simulated version of Tom Cochrane's "Life is a Highway". |
| 227 | * The theme music from ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'' was inspired by ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''. |
| 228 | * The ''WesternAnimation/KingArthurAndTheKnightsOfJustice'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjbWDjzTM0A theme tune]] sounds like a faster version of the verse of Music/{{Bananarama}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ePIZugahFc "Cruel Summer"]]. |
| 229 | * The theme song of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' is very similar to "Uncontrollable Urge" by Music/{{Devo}}. |
| 230 | ** In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS2E8NoSuchLuckFrogWild No Such Luck]]", the music that plays during the baseball game takes cues of “Now That We’re Men” from ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie''. |
| 231 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' sounds very similar to Parry Grip's theme song for ''WesternAnimation/The7D''. |
| 232 | * ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'''s theme song sounds a lot like a slower version of Music/MichaelJackson's "Smooth Criminal", especially the bridges. |
| 233 | * The AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/SoulMusic'' did this a lot. "Pathway to Paradise", for example, is basically all Music/JimiHendrix songs played at once. |
| 234 | * A sixth-season episode of ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' called "Nine Lives" featured one of the girls turning into a catgirl (AGAIN), and [[https://youtu.be/wR6YVbCS0yA?t=716 when it starts]], the soundtrack plays a tune that is not quite [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bfVQ1S5Vx0 "Cat Blues"]] from ''Anime/CowboyBebop''. |
| 235 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': The song "Burgs' and Fries" is clearly a parody of "Be Our Guest" from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''. |
| 236 | * The ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' episode "Haunted Moon" has a scene where Buzz and [[spoiler: "Wild Bill" Cooley]] finally retrieve the Comet Duster from the wrecked ship and use it to deflect the comet. The music that plays during that scene bears a more than passing resemblance to "Duel of the Fates" from ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' |
| 237 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yeA7a0uS3A main theme]] of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' is very similar to the refrain of Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5_QV97eYqM "Cecilia"]], just faster. |
| 238 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameGoldenFilms'', The song at the beginning is trying to be [[Music/TheCancanSong "The Infernal Galop"]], but not actually using the real song, despite it being public domain. |
| 239 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'', one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luyn-lsCfl8&t=548s recurring music piece]] sounds a lot like "Eye of the Tiger". |
| 240 | * The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' song "The Pee Pee Dance" sounds like "Boogie Shoes" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band. |
| 241 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Pelswick}}'' theme song bears a resemblance to "A Flowery Song" by Music/FiveIronFrenzy. |
| 242 | * The ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' theme bears a slight resemblance to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSdzpObYVeo the Season 1 ending theme]] of ''WesternAnimation/ToadPatrol''. |
| 243 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'': The original theme, "Truly Outrageous", sounds like a mash-up of Creator/EddieMurphy's "Party All The Time" and Music/VanHalen's "Panama". |
| 244 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/TimothyGoesToSchool'' sounds similar to "The Touch" by Stan Bush. |
| 245 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'': |
| 246 | ** The rap "Princess B Tough" is very similar to Music/MissyElliott's "Work It", especially at the start. |
| 247 | ** "Home, Sweet Homesick" features a song based on Music/DavidBowie's "Space Oddity". |
| 248 | ** "Monkey Love" contains songs referencing The Manhattans' "Shining Star" and Music/TheBeachBoys "Wouldn't It Be Nice?". |
| 249 | * The BraggingThemeTune for ''[[WesternAnimation/AngelinaBallerina Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps]]'' sounds similar to "Roam" by Music/TheB52s. |
| 250 | * The famous ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=p1I2HqXIMRo theme song]] sounds a lot like Music/HallAndOates' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EErSKhC0CZs You Make My Dreams]]". Here's a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G384R1CJryQ mashup]]. |
| 251 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glV_ni7xOcA "One Together is Two"]], the theme music for Creator/HannaBarbera's ''Creator/LaurelAndHardy'' cartoon, is a suspiciously similar version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n60PuUlEcJo "Dance of the Cuckoos"]], the theme for Laurel & Hardy's movies. |
| 252 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'' |
| 253 | ** The guitar intro to the song that Dareth dances to in "Spy for a Spy" is almost identical to the Chuck Berry song "Johnny B. Goode". |
| 254 | ** The song that Ghoultar dancers to in "Kingdom Come" and that multiple ghosts are seen dancing to in "Curseworld, Part 1" bears a striking resemblance to the theme song from the movie "Ghostbusters". |
| 255 | * ''WesternAnimation/JorelsBrother'': |
| 256 | ** In "Gangorras da Revolução", after the kids take over the school and begin doing whatever they want to, they chant a song that resembles the chorus for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4QSYx4wVQg Rock Lobster]]. |
| 257 | ** Season 3 had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI1H-ilGHVk a song]] that was basically Music/{{Nirvana}}'s "Sliver" with lyrics regarding the episode ("Grandma take me home" became "Grandma take me to school"). |
| 258 | * ''WesternAnimation/SchoolHouseRock'' has two notable examples. |
| 259 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0m89e9oZko "A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing"]] from ''Grammar Rock'' is basically a slightly faster version of Music/JohnnyCash's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQFicmUfKi4 "I Walk the Line"]]. |
| 260 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLuPNThw0RE "Electricity, Electricity"]] from ''Science Rock'' is a pretty obvious attempt to recreate the show's own [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPoBE-E8VOc "Conjunction Junction"]] from ''Grammar Rock''. |
| 261 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}}'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa1fH0SvGPg theme]] sounds like Stan Jones' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LinTHp5wpHg Ghost Riders in the Sky]]" mixed with "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKxgfnoz2pk They Call The Wind Maria]]" from ''Theatre/PaintYourWagon''. The "Riffraffville" episode even has a SpaghettiWestern arrangement of the theme. |
| 262 | * The ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'' theme song bears a resemblance to Music/MichaelBuble's "Haven't Met You Yet". |
| 263 | * The song "Shame" from ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' bears a resemblance to both "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' and “Shiny” from ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}''. |
| 264 | * The theme song for ''WesternAnimation/PawPatrol'' bears a resemblance to Music/SimplePlan's "Can't Keep My Hands Off You" |
| 265 | * The theme to ''WesternAnimation/PuppyDogPals'' sounds similar to the theme song to another dog-themed cartoon: ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol''. |
| 266 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Vampirina}}'': Mostly due to both songs being made with the same Garage Band samples, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1wsEUAJaCY "The Spooky Shuffle"]] sounds virtually identical to, of all things, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjOXoJwtudA "Your Turn to Go"]] from ''VisualNovel/YourTurnToDie''. |
| 267 | * ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': |
| 268 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI2qrnwjqas Potatoes on Mars]]" from the episode of the same name sounds very similar to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKcl4-tcuo Life on Mars?]]" by Music/DavidBowie, but at a higher pitch. WordOfGod confirms [[https://www.facebook.com/OfficialReadyJetGo/posts/2792896540934898 that this was the intent]]. |
| 269 | ** "Space Racin'" bears a resemblance to "Hey Little Cobra" by The Rip Chords. |
| 270 | ** It might be a stretch, but "The Spirit of Christmas" sounds similar to "Part of Your World" from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' at some points, especially towards the end. It makes sense - the song stems from Mitchell's inner desire to be friends with Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Mindy -- to be ''part of their world''. In real-time, Mitchell gets invited in, which the gang learns is the Spirit of Christmas - friendship and kindness. |
| 271 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EB0gowrNfY "The Wizard"]] from ''The Looney Tunes Show'' borrows heavily from Black Sabbath... however rather than [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8fxrX-YidM "The Wizard"]] as one might expect from the title, it sounds similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr3HsS-DzTU "Children of the Grave"]] |
| 272 | * The theme song for ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy'' sounds similar to "Hey Ya!" by Music/{{OutKast}}. |
| 273 | * The theme to ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' sounds very similar to "Word Up" by Cameo. |
| 274 | * In the animated adaptation of ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Boogie}} Boogie, el aceitoso]]'', there are two songs very similar to these: |
| 275 | ** [[https://youtu.be/NTPztEaIVJY?t=1774 This scene about Boogie's Vietnam War flashbacks has a song]] very similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXqPNlng6uI The End]] by Music/TheDoors; |
| 276 | ** [[https://youtu.be/NTPztEaIVJY?t=4268 The background song during the car chase between the police and Boogie]] has an uncanny resemblance with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYU-8IFcDPw&list=OLAK5uy_nAZAs495Fuv7ij62C3N50Ga7TAp60sq0w&index=7 Faint]] by Music/LinkinPark. |
| 277 | * ''WesternAnimation/YoYogi'': The theme song is very similar to "Unskinny Bop" by Music/{{Poison}}. |
| 278 | * The theme tune to ''WesternAnimation/{{Mysticons}}'' sounds very similar to "Naturally" by Selena Gomez. |
| 279 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/BluesCluesAndYou'' sounds similar to the second theme song from [[WesternAnimation/BluesClues the original series]], "Another Blue's Clues Day". |
| 280 | * The theme song to the 2000 version of ''WesternAnimation/CliffordTheBigRedDog'' sounds like the ''WesternAnimation/SchoolhouseRock'' song "My Hero Zero". |
| 281 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}}'' examples: |
| 282 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInRockNRoyals'': "Find Yourself In a Song" sounds very similar to "Girl Next Door" by Saving Jane, while "Brand New Sound" bears an uncanny resemblance to "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. |
| 283 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieSpySquad'': The end credits song, "Strength In Numbers", sounds very similar to "Bang Bang" by Music/JessieJ, Music/ArianaGrande, and Music/NickiMinaj. |
| 284 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieStarLightAdventure'': "Firefly" sounds very similar to "When Can I See You Again" by Music/OwlCity. |
| 285 | * ''WesternAnimation/FudencioESeusAmigos'' usually averted this trope in the early seasons, using licensed songs occasionally. When the DVD for Season 1 was made, all those songs were replaced; the third episode featured a TrainingMontage set to "She's a Maniac", which, in the DVD, was changed to a soundalike with Portuguese lyrics. The episode "Tutti-Fruta" was just [[MissingEpisode excluded from the DVD altogether]], because it prominently featured two real-life songs which were impossible to replace. |
| 286 | * The ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' theme song sounds like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWHFa2848uM "Soul Limbo"]] by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. |
| 287 | * The opening theme to ''WesternAnimation/TeamUmizoomi'' bears a slight resemblance to Music/GoodCharlotte's "The Anthem". |
| 288 | * The opening theme for ''[[Literature/{{Eloise}} Eloise: The Animated Series]]'' bears a strong resemblance to "Hit the Road Jack" by Music/RayCharles. |
| 289 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/HouseBroken'' is similar to the theme song for ''WesternAnimation/OggyAndTheCockroaches''. |
| 290 | * "Good Mood", Adam Levine's song from the end credits of ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrolTheMovie" sounds similar to "Best Day Of My Life" by American Authors. The "woo-hoo" refrain also sounds similar to "Let's Get It Started" by Black Eyed Peas. |
| 291 | * ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'': The music that plays when the RV arrives in the episode "Charlie Burgers" sounds a lot like the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwk9mrE-cFA&list=PL001A1024CB49F661&index=21 king theme]] from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''. |
| 292 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/WhatAboutMimi'' (especially the first few bars of it) sounds similar to "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees. |
| 293 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheRockStar'' sounds similar to the theme song of ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot''. Concidentally, both shows premiered within a month of each other and both aired on Nickelodeon (although the former show was a 3rd party acquistion from Teletoon, not an official Nicktoon) |
| 294 | * The theme songs to ''WesternAnimation/NedsNewt'' and ''WesternAnimation/SevenLittleMonsters'' share similarities with each other. Both shows were produced by Nelvana. |
| 295 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' sounds similar to "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks. |
| 296 | * ''WesternAnimation/PraisePetey'' has a rendering of Beauty and the Beast's number Belle with a much bluer theme. Instead of singing about the innocent and curious village beauty, they sing about how Petey has a UTI. |
| 297 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010'' is incredibly similar to the theme song for ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}''. An interesting case where both shows have the same creators! |
| 298 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'' sounds similar to the theme for the English dub of ''Franchise/Beyblade''. Like the Seven Little Monsters/Ned's Newt example, both of these were produced by Nelvana. |
| 299 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/{{Detention}}'' sounds incredibly similar to "Trouble" by Shampoo. |
| 300 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'' sounds like a slowed down version of "Hotel Room Service" by Pitbull. |
| 301 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/MyGoldfishIsEvil'' sounds similar to "Peaceful Valley" from ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeIITheGreatValleyAdventure'', except sped up. |
| 302 | * The theme song to ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeShrinks'' shares similarities with "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard. Considering the 50s vibe the show is going for, this might have been intentional. |
| 303 | * The song "Go Back To City Hall" from ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee'' episode "Citizen [=McGee=]" sounds similar to "Family" from ''Literature/JamesAndTheGiantPeach''. |
| 304 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': The opening theme sounds similar to the weapons select screen music from ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce''. |
| 305 | * "When You're Coming Down That Slide" from ''WesternAnimation/DangerRangers'' sounds similar to "Variety Speak" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''. Randy Rogel was a songwriter on both shows. |
| 306 | * "The Amazin' River" from ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' shares similarities with "Barbecue" from ''Literature/EmmetOttersJugBandChristmas''. |
| 307 | * In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/HaileysOnIt'', when Hailey and Scott are in the tunnel of love, a suspiciously similar version of "I Swear" by John Michael Montgomery plays. |
| 308 | ** In "Beta'd and Hooked", when Hailey's dad is telling the story of how he caught One-Eyed Jack, he plays a tune on his ukulele that sounds like an instrumental version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. |
| 309 | ** In "The Wild, Wild, Mess", during the flashback that shows why Bitter Bertha became so mean because her previous owner abandoned her for a motorbike, a song that sounds similar to an instrumental version of "When She Loved Me" from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' plays. |
| 310 | ** In "Cubix Dudes", the song that plays during the Cubix Dudes show sounds similar to "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. |
| 311 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Chuckie's Complaint" when Chuckie gives the guy in the Reptar costume flowers, the background music sounds incredibly similar to "Won't You Be My Neighbor" from ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood''. |
| 312 | * The theme song to the third season of ''WesternAnimation/AtomicBetty'', Atomic Betty: Mission Earth, sounds incredibly similar to the theme song for ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', which is, coincidentally, another Teletoon show about {{Action Girl}}s. |
| 313 | ** The original theme song used for the first 2 seasons shares similarities with "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. |
| 314 | ** Occasionally, a piece of background music (usually used when Betty is about to do something heroic) is used that sounds similar to John Wiliams' Superman theme. |
| 315 | ** In "Lulu On The Loose" when Sparky gets choked up after hearing Beatrixo's backstory, the background music sounds incredibly similar to the first few notes of "Good Day" by Paul Westerberg from ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason''. |
| 316 | * The first few notes of the theme song to ''WesternAnimation/ProducingParker'' sound similar to "The Office" from ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' Especially noticable when the instrumental version of the song plays over the show's end credits. |
| 317 | * ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': "Hell’s Greatest Dad" bears a strong resemblance to "Other Friends" from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie''. Considering the song ends with the grand entrance of Mimzy (voiced by [[Creator/SarahStiles the same person]] who sang "Other Friends" in the first place), the similarity may be intentional. |
| 318 | * The opening notes of the theme song to ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'' sound similar to the opening notes of "Just a Girl" by No Doubt. |
| 319 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'': |
| 320 | ** Some folks on Website/YouTube noticed the similarity between ''The Smurfs'' theme song and the scatting melody of the J. Geils Band's "Centerfold", both of which came out in 1981. |
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