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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gooddinosaurworking.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Coming after ''[[WesternAnimation/InsideOut The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind]]''.]]

->''"Confusing term for story titles that don't really work at all, and thus are changed."''
-->-- ''Franchise/DoctorWho: The Completely Useless Encyclopedia''

The first step in the creative process is an idea. That part is obvious. Coming up with what to ''call'' that idea can be troublesome. And if you don't have a name for it, then talking about it is a chore. This is why a lot of works go through a number of names between production and release. The end result may be that you hear actors talk in an interview about a movie they're doing, and then find it came out under a different name altogether.

Working titles can also be used defensively, allowing the creators to refer to their project without giving much away. It can help camouflage a ground-breaking project against someone else copying the idea, or sneak an anticipated sequel under the media radar until it is ready for the world to hear about it. Also can be used to get lower production costs for big sequels as locations or prop companies overcharge on big name features.

In many other cases, the working title is the originally intended title that was changed because of last-minute ExecutiveMeddling.

Not to be confused with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Title_Films British production company]] affiliated with Creator/{{Universal}}.

See also MarketBasedTitle (which is what some of the Working Titles are if they contain curse words or are otherwise considered obscene innuendo), CensoredTitle (same) and PermanentPlaceholder (when the Working Title sticks).

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Animation]]
* The ''Animation/BabySharksBigShow'' episode "All I Want For Fishmas" had its' title given in early listings as "We Wish You A Merry Fishmas", the name of a song sung in the episode.
* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'', early in its development, was titled ''Lazy Goat and Big Big Wolf''. This is connected to an example of WhatCouldHaveBeen - when the show went by this prototype title, Paddi ([[DubNameChange known in the original Chinese version as Lazy Goat]]) was the main character instead of Weslie.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Several parts have had initial titles that were later replaced. For instance, ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'' was first advertised as ''Heritage for the Future'' (hence the name of the [[VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture fighting game]]), or ''Manga/GoldenWind'' was known as Golden Heritage, while ''Manga/StoneOcean'' was at first known as ''Jolyne Cujoh'' as a ProtagonistTitle.
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' was originally going to be called "IQ" in Japan (Aikyuu lit. Love Seeking / Love Longing), before the editor had them change it to the less vague "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen" (Kaguya Wants to be Confessed To: The Geniuses' War of Love and Brains).
* ''[[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross Macross]]'' was originally pitched by Creator/StudioNue as "Megaroad", but advertising agency Big West wanted to change the title to "Macbeth", as one of Big West's executives was a Shakespeare fan. As a compromise, they changed the title to "Macross". The "Megaroad" name was eventually used for the SDF-2 Megaroad-01, which appeared in the 1987 OVA, ''Macross: Flashback 2012''.
* The first draft volume of ''Manga/OnePiece'' was released under the title ''Romance Dawn'', and did not feature the titular treasure. The name ''Romance Dawn'' has since been used a few times in the manga and anime as a MythologyGag.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' had the temporary title of "Mahou Shoujo [[DisguisedHorrorStory Apocalypse]] Madoka Magica" before they finally decided to get rid of the "Apocalypse" part. ("Puella Magi" and "Mahou Shoujo" are just "MagicalGirl" in Latin and Japanese, respectively.)
* ''Manga/StardustTelepath'' had a host of various working titles when it first started development in the fall of 2018 at Magazine/MangaTimeKirara, including ''Hello Blue'' and ''Nice to Meet You, Alien'' as possibilities. ''Stardust Rocket'' eventually became the chosen name, before the head of Kirara editor suggested combining stardust and telepath together, thus forming the series' finalized title.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* One of the working titles for ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' was "History of the DC Universe", which would eventually become a two-issue limited series that tells the ComicBook/PostCrisis history of Franchise/TheDCU. Another working title that was shown in ads was "DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths".
* ''ComicBook/FishPolice'' was originally called ''Inspector Gill of the Fish Police''. The original title can be seen in the Issue 0, and in some concept art in the final issue.
* ''ComicBook/Gen13'' was going to be ''Gen X'', but was changed when Marvel was coming out with ''ComicBook/GenerationX''.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' adventure ''King Ottokar's Sceptre'' began its original serialization under the title ''Tintin in Syldavia''.
* ''Warriors of Plasm'' was going to be ''Plasm'', but was changed when Marvel claimed the title was similar to the Marvel UK comic ''Plasmer''.
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was originally called ''Who Killed the ComicBook/{{Peacemaker}},'' as it was written to star characters from Creator/CharltonComics that Creator/DCComics had recently acquired the rights to.
* Before settling for the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel name, the name "Ground Zero" was also considered.
* While Creator/KieronGillen was working on ''ComicBook/{{DIE}}'', but before it was officially announced, he referred to it exclusively as "Spangly New Thing".
* InUniverse in ''ComicStrip/{{Foxtrot}}'': Jason's been working on a new OS for a while, and explains that he did so under a codename, as Microsoft did with Windows 95 ("Memphis").
-->'''Peter:''' You mean every time you had Mom pull me away from the computer so you could do your-\\
'''Jason:''' "Homework". That's right.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Documentaries]]
* ''Series/ClashOfTheDinosaurs'' was going to be called ''Dino Body.''
* ''Series/DinosaurRevolution'' was called ''Reign of the Dinosaurs'' for most of its production, and would have received a companion show titled ''Science of Reign of the Dinosaurs.'' These got merged to form the show that ended up on screen. The European version re-installed ''Reign of the Dinosaurs'' as the title.
* ''Film/BroniesTheExtremelyUnexpectedAdultFansOfMyLittlePony'' was just known as "The Brony Doc" until late in production.
* ''1991: The Year Punk Broke,'' a {{rockumentary}} / concert film following Music/SonicYouth and Music/{{Nirvana}} on a European tour together, had the working title of ''Tooth or Hair.'' This was meant as a pun on Music/{{Madonna}}'s 1991 tour documentary ''Truth or Dare,'' which was referenced several times in the film.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': The author originally considered calling the story ''In Your Bones, In Your Soul'' before choosing the title ''Abraxas''.
* Anyone around at the beginning of ''FanFic/TheLionKingAdventures'' would know that the original title for the series was ''The Lion King: Friends to the End''.
* When ''FanFic/KiraIsJustice'' was first published, it was known as ''C0's Death Note.''
* According to the author, the ''Star Trek: Voyager'' fic ''FanFic/AFireOfDevotion'' was originally going to be titled ''Sam & Annie''.
* ''FanFic/TheBlackHearts'' was originally titled ''Mercury's Pain'' to keep up with the [[ThemeNaming naming convention]] of [[Fanfic/TheMakingsOfTeamCRME the series that included the story]].[[note]]The solo origin stories had the POV character's first name in the title.[[/note]] However, the writer wasn't too fond of it, so they settled on this story being the OddNameOut.
* WordOfGod ([[Tropers/MidnightMan who conveniently happens to be a Troper]]) has it that some stories in ''Fanfic/TheMidnightverse'' had their titles changed during development.
** ''First Date'' and ''Last Date'' were originally planned to be named ''First Rendez-vous'' and ''Last Rendez-vous'' after two Music/JeanMichelJarre tracks.
** ''Lost And Found'' was first named ''Hackwrench Family Reunion'' in order to have a name. It was never intended to be published under this name.
** ''Diamonds In The Desert'' had more than two names. It was originally planned as a slapstick heist fic in the tradition of the ''Film/AcesGoPlaces'' series and thus named ''Mouse Mission''. After watching ''Film/MissionImpossible'' which was still before writing a single word, the author reconsidered, [[MidDevelopmentGenreShift changed the genre]] and started writing it under the working title ''All The Glitter''. Since this title still wasn't fitting enough, the story was eventually renamed again to ''Diamonds In The Desert''.
* It's mentioned in the author's notes on ''Fanfic/BeyondHeroes: Of Sunshine and Red Lyrium'' that the story's title, until shortly before it started appearing on [=AO3=], was ''[[Franchise/DragonAge Varric Tethras]] and the Continual Nervous Breakdown.''
* The ''Fanfic/UniverseFalls'' version of "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E10NorthwestMansionMystery Northwest Mansion Mystery]]" was going to keep its original title, as shown by the list of episode titles the author posted. Come release, however, it is titled Northwest Mansion Nightmare, as it also adapts "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E19NightmareHospital Nightmare Hospital]]".
* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'' was an example that became a PermanentPlaceholder.
* In-universe in ''[[Fanfic/TantabusMarkII How the Tantabus Parses Sleep]]''; one chapter has Daring Do working on a book called ''Daring Do and the Working Titles of Fate''.
* The loose collection of ideas that eventually became ''Fanfic/{{Enlightenments}}'' had the working title ''That Sad Team ICO Fic'' until the [=PS4=] remaster of ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' came out and introduced the Enlightenments collectables that gave the fic its name.
* When production first began, ''Fanfic/MaFille'' was known as ''Little Katrina''. The name ''Mr. and Little Miss Beaufort'' was also used before being published as ''Ma Fille''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForceColonMovieFilmForTheaters'' was first teased in the [[WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce home series]] episode "Deleted Scenes" under the title of ''Untitled Master Shake Project''.
* ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'':
** Earlier titles for the film ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'' included ''The Vegeburglars'' and ''The Great Vegetable Plot''.
** ''WesternAnimation/AMatterOfLoafAndDeath'' was originally to be named ''Trouble at T'Mill''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'' had such titles as ''The Thief Who Never Gave Up'', ''Once...'', simply ''The Thief'', or ''The Cobbler and the Thief''. The film was released after ExecutiveMeddling under two names: ''The Princess and the Cobbler'' and the punny ''Arabian Knight'', before being released on VHS as ''The Thief and the Cobbler''. This doesn't even mention the early period when it was about Mulla Nasruddin, and has names such as ''Nasruddin!'', ''The Majestic Fool'' or ''The Amazing Nasruddin''.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie'' originally had the working titles ''The Powerpuff Girls: Maiden Voyage'' and ''The Powerpuff Girls: First Flight''.
* ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013'' was originally called ''Leafmen'', which is closer to the book the film is based on.
* The movie ''WesternAnimation/OnceUponAForest'' was originally going to be called ''The Endangered'', but was changed because of ExecutiveMeddling into something LighterAndSofter.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' had the rather plain title ''The Concert Feature'' while in production. A contest was held to find a better title and the musical term ''fantasia'' (meaning a free-form composition using familiar themes) seemed the most appropriate. Its sequel, ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000,'' was originally going to be called ''Fantasia Continued''.
* From Creator/{{Pixar}}:
** When it was first pitched in 1992-1994, Andrew Stanton's film ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' was known as ''Trash Planet''.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' was originally titled ''The Bear and the Bow''.
** Humorously, the working titles for both ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur'' were ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, and were even announced as such: ''The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside Your Mind/About Dinosaurs.'' (seen above)
** ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': According to the "Making Of" video, the film had various [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNnjyqmUYAEm4R7?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 developmental names]], some of the PunBasedTitle variety.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' had the working title of ''Equestria Girls 2''. This title was still used for advertisements in some countries.
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieThePearlPrincess'' was originally called "Franchise/{{Barbie}} ''in'' The Pearl Princess" and "Barbie: Pearl of The Sea".
* ''Happy Smekday!'' for ''WesternAnimation/Home2015'', probably changed because it wouldn't mean much to those who hadn't read ''Literature/TheTrueMeaningOfSmekday'', the film's source material.
* ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'' began production under the title ''Sweatin' Bullets''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTiggerMovie'' was originally titled ''Winnie the Pooh and the Family Tree''.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'', according to Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone, was originally titled "''South Park: All Hell Breaks Loose''" but the MPAA wouldn't allow it (despite there being plenty of films with "Hell" in the title). Hence the final title, which is arguably even worse. The MPAA does deny this story, however.
* ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' had the working title ''All You Need Is Love''. Ringo suggested the name ''Yellow Submarine'' (the song which he, of course, sang) because "you can put anything in a submarine."
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was ''The Frog Princess'', after [[Literature/TalesOfTheFrogPrincess the specific version of ''The Frog Prince'' that inspired it.]]
** After that movie didn't do as well as Disney hoped, the studio retitled the next two fairy tale-inspired films on their docket in turn to avoid the GirlShowGhetto: ''Rapunzel'' became ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' (though ''Rapunzel'' remained the MarketBasedTitle in some countries), and ''The Snow Queen'' became ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' (again, some countries got the original title in some way).
* ''WesternAnimation/DownAndDirtyDuck'' was originally made under the title ''Cheap!'', to the point where there actually are quite a few {{Title Drop}}s of the old name in the finished product. It can even be quite jarring to viewers not familiar with this fact. According to Mick Garris at Trailers from Hell, producer Creator/RogerCorman realized the movie would be promoted as ''[[InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt Roger Corman's]] Cheap!''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' was titled ''Basil of Baker Street'', after the novel it adapted, before the name was changed late in production. Much of the crew was unhappy with the change, leading to a WriterRevolt in which they published a fake memo saying that all of Disney's animated features would be retitled. The rumored reason for the change? Paramount's ''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'' hadn't been a big hit the previous Christmas, and thus Disney wanted to play down their film being a FunnyAnimal / MouseWorld version of a Holmes adventure.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' was titled ''King of the Jungle'' before the crew realized that lions don't actually live in the jungle.
* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' was originally called ''High Score'', ''Reboot Ralph'', and ''Joe Jump''. (Though it should be noted that those versions of the film, other than involving video game characters, had somewhat different premises).
* ''[[WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2]]'', before Disney shortened it to ''Ralph Breaks the Internet''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' began as a serious musical drama entitled ''Kingdom of[=/=]in the Sun'' (sources disagree about the title).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' was ''China Doll'' and ''Legend of Mulan''.
* An interesting case with ''WesternAnimation/TheMitchellsVsTheMachines'': it was retitled to ''Connected'' in February 2020, but then the change was reverted in January 2021, and the working title became its final title.
* ''The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie'' was originally titled ''The Great American Chase''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
!!! Creators:
* Music/TheBeatles:
** ''Film/{{Help}}'': The name "Help" was taken by something else so the name ''Eight Arms to Hold You'' was considered. [[WritingAroundTrademarks However, they were able to use the name "Help" anyway by adding an exclamation mark.]]
** ''Film/AHardDaysNight'' was originally called ''The Beatles'', then ''Beatlemania''. The final title came from Music/RingoStarr coining a phrase after a hard day.
* Creator/ChristopherNolan's films have names of his children in working titles, except ''Film/BatmanBegins'', which was titled as ''The Intimidation Game'' and ''Film/{{Tenet}}'', which was titled as ''Merry Go Round''. Mostly, these are just titles used to disguise production.
** ''Film/{{Inception}}'' was titled ''Oliver's Arrows''.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' was ''Rory's First Kiss''. A track of the same name is on the score's bonus disc.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' was ''Magnus Rex''.
** ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' was ''Flora's Letter''.
** ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' was ''Bodega Bay''.
* The working titles for Creator/StevenSpielberg's movies ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'' and ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' were "Watch the Skies" and "A Boy's Life" respectively. Both were referenced as a CreatorInJoke in ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' (which Spielberg produced), as two movies reportedly showing in the town theater when Billy walks past it.
* Creator/WoodyAllen's films usually have generic working titles during production, such as "Woody Allen Fall Project" or "Woody Allen London Project". In one case, the working title simply remained and became the film's actual title: ''Film/ManhattanMurderMystery''.
** ''Film/AnnieHall'' was originally called ''Anhedonia'', which is a medical term for the inability to feel pleasure.
!!! Films:
* The first ''Film/{{Alien}}'' film was known as ''Star Beast'' in its earliest stages. When the writer went through the script he saw characters constantly referring to the Alien, and then the title came out at him, noting that is both a noun and an adjective.
* In an interesting example, the original title for the sixth alien film was ''Romulus'', but due to this becoming so intertwined with production that people started calling the film ''Film/AlienRomulus'', [[AscendedFanon this ended up being what the full film was called]].
* ''Film/AllAboutEve'' was originally called ''Best Actress''.
* ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' almost had its title changed. The studio didn't like the name, so they went through a ''lot'' of alternatives - ''Another Slow Night in Modesto'', ''The Hot Time'', ''The Wild Summer'', ''Color Them Wild'', ''The Young Crowd'', ''Summer Blood'', ''Wild Is the Blood'', ''The Young and the Doomed'', ''The Last Free Summer'', ''The Summer Before'', ''The Savage Heart'', ''The Cherry Coke Summer'', ''Look Back Once'', ''The Fast and the Deadly'', ''The Fires of Summer'', ''The Violent Four'', ''Before We Grow Up'', ''No More Rock'', ''The Frantic Heart'', ''The Games of Summer'', ''The Toy Dreams Gone'', ''The Yesterday People'', ''The Boys and Their Girls'', ''Last Knight to Make Out'', ''Burger City Blues'', ''A Night to Get Ready'', ''Make Out at Burger City'', ''A Night in '62'', ''Rock Around the Clock'', ''Last Night Together'', ''Remember '62'', ''Goodbye Burger City'', ''High School's Over'', ''Kids'', ''Buddies No More'', ''Ask Wolfman Jack'', ''Pals 'n Gals'', ''Make-Out'', ''Buddies'', ''Supercola'', ''The Race'', ''Growing Up'', ''Burger City'', ''The Drag Years'', ''Those Were the Days'', ''The Good Times'', ''The Sock Hop'', ''Wine'', ''Women & Song'', ''1962 Was Some Year'', ''Collage'', ''Class of '62'', ''The Rock Set'', ''Rock Generation'', ''To Learn About the World'', ''A New World Tomorrow'', ''Misadventure'' and ''Rebus''.
* ''Film/AmericanJustice'' was going to be called ''Get Justice''.
* The ''Film/{{Arthur 1981}}'' remake was shipped to theaters as ''On the Rocks'' -- the subtitle of the original film's sequel.
* ''Film/AttackOfTheGiantLeeches'' was ''Attack of the Blood Leeches''.
* ''Ava'' was originally going to be called ''Eve''.
* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' and ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'' were shot back-to-back as ''Paradox'' and ''Three'', respectively.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' film series:
** ''Film/BatmanReturns'' were known as ''Dictel'' and ''Batman II''.
** ''Film/BatmanForever'' was originally known as ''Blinko''.
** ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' was originally known as ''Batman [=4=]Ever''.
* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' was going to be ''Man of Steel 2'', and then was going to be ''Batman v. Superman''.
* Creator/PeterCook and Creator/DudleyMoore's original title for their film ''Film/{{Bedazzled|1967}}'' was ''Creator/RaquelWelch'' (who had a small role in the film) -- so they could have a poster saying "Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in Raquel Welch".
* ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'' was originally going to be called ''House Ghosts''. As a joke, Creator/TimBurton also suggested the name ''Scared Sheetless'', and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it.
* ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'' was originally called ''Bill and Ted Go to Hell''. This was changed due to censorship reasons. {{Music/Megadeth}} recorded a song called "Go To Hell" for the soundtrack because the movie was still going to be called that when they were asked to contribute.
* ''Film/BlackChristmas1974'' was ''Stop Me''.
* The original script title for ''Film/BladeRunner'' was ''Dangerous Days''. Creator/RidleyScott optioned a short story named 'Blade Runner' specifically so he could use the title (the story itself having nothing to do with the movie), basically because it [[RuleOfCool just sounded cool]].
* ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' was called ''Tex X'', ''Black Bart'' and ''The Purple Sage'' at various points.
* ''Film/BloodCult'' was ''The Sorority House Murders''.
* Creator/TerryGilliam originally wanted to call ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' ''1984 1/2'' as an homage to Creator/GeorgeOrwell and Creator/FedericoFellini.
* ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' went through some alternate titles - ''Detention'', ''The Lunch Bunch'' and ''Library Revolution''.
* ''Film/BrideOfTheMonster'' was ''The Atomic Monster'' and ''Monster of the Marshes''.
* ''Film/ABucketOfBlood'' was ''The Living Dead''.
* ''Film/TheBurning'' was ''The Cropsy Maniac''.
* ''Film/TheCall'' was shot under the title ''The Hive'', which is the nickname for the building where Creator/HalleBerry's character works (managing to even get a TitleDrop). The renaming occurred as soon as the film got a release date, as the film's premise is focused around a phone call that links the two leads.
* ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' was ''Everybody Comes to Rick's''.
* ''Film/ChaosOnTheBridge'' was originally going to be called ''Wacky Doodle''. Inspired by a statement by Maurice Hurley, one of the interview subjects: “''Franchise/StarTrek'' is not like any other show because it is one unique vision, and if you agree with Creator/GeneRoddenberry's vision for the future, you should be locked up somewhere. It's wacky doodle, but it's his wacky doodle.”
* ''Film/ChildrenShouldntPlayWithDeadThings'' was ''Zreaks''.
* ''Film/CitizenKane'' was ''The American'', then ''John Citizen'', then ''U.S.A.''
* Everyone ''thought'' that ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' was just a working title. Then the movie came out under that name.
** Played straight with the rest of the franchise. ''Film/TenCloverfieldLane'' was ''Valencia'', while ''Film/TheCloverfieldParadox'' was ''God Particle'' (and possibly ''Cloverfield Station''). This is partially because the films were [[DolledUpInstallment not originally intended to be part of the franchise]].
* ''Film/CorvetteSummer'' had ''Dantley & Vanessa: A Fiberglass Romance'', ''Stingray'', and ''The Hot One''.
* ''[[{{Film/Creep2014}} Creep]]'' was originally going to be ''Peachfuzz''. The "Peachfuzz" wolf mask doesn't become a plot point until halfway through the film, so the creators decided that viewers would be too distracted by what the significance of the odd title was until TheNamesake was dropped.
* ''Film/TheCreepingTerror'' was ''The Crawling Monster''.
* ''Film/Deadpool2016'''s working title was ''Wham!'', as a shout-out to Music/GeorgeMichael's former group. Their album, ''Make It Big'', and their song, "Careless Whisper", appeared in the movie.
* Lampshaded with a 1960s comedy starring cast members from ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' titled "Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title" (probably the one clever part of the movie).
* [[Film/TheDisasterArtist The film adaptation]] of Greg Sestero's book ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'' about the production of ''Film/TheRoom2003'' was originally announced as under the same title as the book, but it was later renamed ''The Masterpiece''. It was ultimately released under the original title.
* ''Film/DontTellMomTheBabysittersDead'' was shot as ''The Real World'', but the title was changed to avoid confusion with Creator/{{MTV}}'s [[Series/TheRealWorld then-upcoming reality show of the same name]].
** The same thing happened with ''Film/RealityBites''.
* ''Film/ElfieHopkinsCannibalHunter'' was originally called ''Elfie Hopkins and the Gammons''.
* Creator/WarnerBros wanted to call ''Film/EnterTheDragon'' ''Han's Island'' because they thought international audiences would be confused by an action movie titled ''Enter the Dragon''. Other alternate titles were ''Blood and Steel'', this was a first draft script title, and ''The Deadly Three''.
* ''Film/{{Eurotrip}}'' was originally called ''The Ugly Americans'', but was changed by Creator/DreamWorksSKG, likely to cash in on the success of ''Film/RoadTrip''.
* ''Film/TheEvilDead1981'' was ''Book of the Dead''.
* ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious2001'': ''Racer X'', ''Redline'' and ''Race Wars''.
* ''Film/FiftyFirstDates'' was ''50 First Kisses''. It's possible the casting of Creator/DrewBarrymore had something to do with the change: She starred in ''Film/NeverBeenKissed'' five years earlier and maybe it was thought that viewers would have confused it for a sequel.
* ''Film/FiveNightsAtFreddys2023'' was filmed under the title ''Bad Cupcake''.
* ''Film/{{Freaky}}'' was filmed under a title that made the Justforfun/XMeetsY clear, ''Literature/FreakyFriday [[Franchise/FridayThe13th the 13th]]''.
* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 2016}}'' had the code name ''Flapjack'', probably derived from the last lines: as the Ghostbusters lost the hearse Patty's uncle borrowed, Patty says he has to make do with one hearse and double up on the bodies. He replies “What? I’m not stacking them like flapjacks!”. (given "Flapjack" is an {{Inherently Funny Word|s}}, the blooper reel has a montage of the cast shoehorning it into dialogue)
* Creator/EdWood's first major movie, ''Film/GlenOrGlenda'', was slated to be called ''I Changed My Sex'', as it was designed to cash in on a sex change operation that had just made the news.
* The original script for ''Fear'' (1996) was developed under the title ''No Fear'': It's possible the word "no" was dropped to avoid confusion with athletic apparel company No Fear.
* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'':
** ''Film/Godzilla1954'''s working title was ''The Giant Monster From 20,000 Miles Under the Sea''... as if the film being heavily influenced by ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'' wasn't obvious enough.
** In the Film/{{Monsterverse}}, ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' had the working title of ''Fathom'', while fifth entry, ''Film/GodzillaXKongTheNewEmpire'' had the working name of ''Origins''.
** ''Film/GodzillaMinusOne'' had the working title of ''Blockbuster {{Kaiju}} Movie''.
* ''Film/Halloween1978'' was called ''The Babysitter Murders''.
* ''Film/TheHappening'' was originally titled ''The Green Effect'', which arguably better fits [[GaiasVengeance its theme]].
* ''Film/HeavensGate'' was originally called ''The Johnson County War''.
* ''Film/HeKnowsYoureAlone'' was ''Shriek'' and ''The Uninvited''.
* ''Film/Hellboy2019'''s title was ''Hellboy: The Blood Queen'' initially, before reverting to simply ''Hellboy''.
* ''Film/HenryAndVerlin'' was originally called ''Eyes That Went Away''.
* ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' was meant to be a working title, but the title was still being used in post-production and it stuck.
* ''Film/IComeInPeace'' was ''Lethal Contact''.
* ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}'' used both ''3001'' and ''The United States of Uhh-merica''.
* ''Film/ImagineMeAndYou'' was originally going to be called ''Click'', after the French term for LoveAtFirstSight. However, they had to change it to avoid confusion with the other movie called ''Film/{{Click}}''.
* ''Film/TheIdesOfMarch'' was originally called ''Farragut North'', after the play it's based on. The original title still gets a TitleDrop a few times.
* ''Film/TheInventionOfLying'' was originally going to be called ''This Side of the Truth''. Creator/RickyGervais' blog would indicate that changing it was a voluntary attempt to get the point across better, but that hasn't stopped people from [[MisBlamed complaining]] about ExecutiveMeddling and "dumbing down" and [[{{Eagleland}} stupid American audiences that need everything spelled out for them]].
* ''Film/ItCouldHappenToYou'' was originally called ''Cop Gives Waitress 2 Million Dollar Tip'', an attempt to emulate a sensationalist tabloid headline.
* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** The sixteenth official ''Film/JamesBond'' movie ''Film/LicenceToKill'' was originally titled ''Licence Revoked'' (with plenty of printed material using the name) before it was changed - presumably because too many people were associating it with driver's licences, or simply didn't know what 'revoked' meant.
** The eighteenth film ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' was originally called ''Tomorrow Never Lies'', which ties into the plot about a newspaper that makes the news. But there was a typo and the name stuck.
** Modern Bond movies tend to start off just going by their official numbering before they end up getting official titles. ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' was originally referred to as ''Bond 20'', ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' as ''Bond 23'', and ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' as ''Bond 25''.
* ''Film/JurassicWorld'' was filmed under the title ''Ebb Tide'', while ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'' used ''Arcadia''.
* ''Film/KingKong1933'''s original draft title was ''The Beast'', but the film executives disliked such a generic, bland-sounding title, and after a number of suggestions, it was eventually named after the ape-monster himself, ''Kong'', before being changed late in production to ''King Kong'' (he's never actually referred to as "King" Kong in the film itself) so that audiences wouldn't confuse it for one of the director's one-word titled documentaries (like ''Chang'' and ''Grass''). One of the scrapped title suggestions, ''The Eighth Wonder'', would become Kong's most famous nickname as "[[RedBaron The Eighth Wonder of the World]]".
* ''Film/TheKingOfMarvinGardens'' was ''The Philosopher King''.
* ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'':
** ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' was ''Kingsman and Sons'' and ''The Secret Service''.
** The working title for ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'' was ''Kingsman: The Golden Triangle'', but it was changed because test audiences didn't understand what it meant (it's a reference to the real-life area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet).
* ''Film/TheLastHouseOnTheLeft'' was ''Krug & Company'' and ''Sex Crime of the Century''.
* ''Film/LastTrainToChristmas'' was originally ''The Age of Tony''.
* ''Film/TheLegendOfFrenchieKing'': According to an article published in the [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Evening Standard]] while the movie was in production, its initial English title was ''Love on Horseback''.
* ''Film/TheLesson'' was initially titled ''The Tutor''.
* ''Film/LifeOfBrian'' started out as a joke made by Creator/EricIdle when asked what Creator/MontyPython's next film would be - ''Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory''.
* [[Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes Disney's live-action remake]] of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' was given the working title ''Bad Dog'', referencing the titular mischievous alien who gets adopted as a dog. More amusingly, the ''production company'' established just for this film was named "Blue Koala Pictures, Inc.", so named after the blue Stitch's resemblance to the marsupial.
* ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' was first announced as ''Die Hard 4.0'', tying into the films cyber-terrorism plot. When shooting actually began, Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox announced the title would be ''Live Free or Die Hard'', although the film was [[MarketBasedTitle released everywhere but America]] as ''4.0.'' Director Len Wiseman and star Creator/BruceWillis can be heard on the DVD commentary mocking the change.
* ''Film/LollyMadonnaXXX'' is referred to in 1972 magazines as ''The Lolly-Madonna War'', which is the title of the original novel.
* ''Film/TheLongGoodFriday'' was originally called ''The Paddy Factor''. This was changed to avoid spoiling the plot. After suggesting ''Harold's Kingdom'', ''Havoc'' and ''Citadel Of Blood'', ''The Long Good Friday'' was chosen, due to its similarities to Creator/RaymondChandler's ''Literature/TheLongGoodbye'' and the Easter setting.
* ''Film/LoveAgain'', the [[ForeignRemake American remake]] of ''[[Film/SmsFurDich SMS für Dich]]'', was originally titled ''Text for You'' (a rough translation of the original title) then changed to ''It's All Coming Back to Me'' after the Music/CelineDion[[note]]who plays herself in the film[[/note]]song "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", before settling on it's final title.
* ''Film/TheMadMonster'' was ''The Mad Monsters''.
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse hides [[https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Maximoffromanoff/Working_Titles every production since 2010]] under a fake working title such as "Freezer Burn" (''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'') and "After Party" (''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'').
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' were originally titled ''Avengers: Infinity War Part 1'' and ''Avengers: Infinity War Part 2'', respectively. The MovieMultipack aspect was later dropped.
* The two ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' sequels were shot back to back under the code name ''The Burly Man''. Possibly in reference, the two major Neo vs. Smith fights in the two sequels are referred to as the "Burly Brawl" and the "Super Burly Brawl".
* The Creator/JackieChan movie ''Film/TheMedallion'' was originally titled ''Highbinders'' during filming. It's easy to tell by looking at the outtakes during the closing credits, since the working title is written on the clapperboard.
* ''Film/MonsieurVerdoux'' was ''The Ladykiller'' and ''A Comedy of Murders''.
* ''Film/MonsterAGoGo'' began production under the title ''Terror at Half Day''.
* ''Film/MonsterInTheCloset'' was ''The Incredible Closet Monster''.
* ''Film/MortalEngines'' was shipped to cinemas under the name ''Squeaky Wheels''.
* When Paul Bogart signed to direct ''Film/MrRicco'', it was just called ''Ricco''.
* ''Franchise/TheMuppets'':
** ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'' was originally called simply ''The Muppet Movie 2''.
** The initial script for ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan'' by Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses was called ''The Muppets: The Legend Continues''. Another title was ''Muppet Movie III''.
** ''Film/MuppetsMostWanted'' was originally announced as ''The Muppets ... Again!'' The opening number ends with a repeated TitleDrop of the original title.
* ''Film/MyBloodyValentine'' was ''The Secret''.
* ''Film/NothingButTrouble'' was originally called ''Git'', then ''Road to Ruin'', then ''Valkenvania''.
* ''Film/OLuckyMan'' was originally titled ''The Coffee Man''. Nobody liked that title, so Lindsay Anderson changed it to ''Lucky Man''.
* ''Film/OctoberSky'' is an interesting case. The working title, "Rocket Boys" -- also the name of [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory the memoir which]] [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie is based on]] -- is an anagram of ''October Sky''.
* ''Film/PacificRimUprising'' was initially called ''Maelstrom''.
* Creator/IngmarBergman's ''Film/{{Persona 1966}}'' had the working title of ''Cinematography''.
* ''Film/PleaseTurnOver'' was originally ''Book of the Month''.
* ''Film/{{Predator}}'' was ''Alien Hunter'', ''Hunter'' and ''Primevil''.
* Creator/MelBrooks originally wanted to call ''Film/TheProducers'' ''Springtime for Hitler'', but he wasn't allowed to have Hitler in the title (though some overseas markets ended up using that title). Someone even suggested calling it ''Springtime for Mussolini''.
* ''Film/TheProwler'' was ''Most Likely to Die''.
* While directing ''Film/{{Psycho}}'', Creator/AlfredHitchcock, likely to keep the nature of the film a secret, used the working title "Wimpy" (the nickname of a crew member).
* ''Film/PsychOut'' was originally called ''The Love Children''. It was changed so audiences wouldn't think it was a film about bastards.
* ''Film/PulpFiction'' was ''Black Mask''.
* ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' was ''The Adventures of Indiana Smith'' and ''Indiana Jones''.
* ''Film/RaisingTheWind'' was originally ''The Happy Band''.
* ''Film/RioBravo'' was originally called ''A Bull by the Tail''.
* ''Film/RocketshipXM'' was originally ''None Came Back''.
* ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' was originally going to be called ''Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life'', the title of the first volume of the comic. It was changed to ''Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'' (the title of the second volume) because that was thought to be a more exciting title.
* ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'' had the working title of ''Scary Movie''. ''Film/ScaryMovie'', made later to parody it, was put together from scripts titled ''Scream If [[Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer You Know What I Did Last]] Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' and ''Last Summer I Screamed Because Franchise/FridayThe13th Fell on Halloween''.
* ''Film/SicarioDayOfTheSoldado'' went though multiple titles. Originally, it was going to just be ''Soldado''. But then it was changed to ''Sicario:Soldado'', presumably to make it clearer that it was a sequel to ''Film/{{Sicario}}''. But then for whatever reason, the title was changed again to it's final title.
* ''Film/SilentFall'' had ''Indian Summer''.
* ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNight'' was ''Slayride''.
* The original title for ''Film/Smile2022'' was ''There's Something Wrong with Rose''.
* Subverted with ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'', which was only an ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin working title. Creator/SamuelLJackson liked the name so much that it he threatened to quit if they changed it (the proposed final title was the horribly generic ''Pacific Air Flight 121''), while the public reaction to it created so much viral interest that they'd have been stupid to do so anyway.
* ''Film/SomeLikeItHot'' was ''Not Tonight, Josephine''.
* ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'' went into production under the title ''Uncle Remus''.
* ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' (the film) was originally known as ''Bug Hunt'', an unrelated script that was later changed into an adaptation of [[Literature/StarshipTroopers the novel]].
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' went through a lot of working titles as the story took shape. The earliest draft was titled ''Star Trek II: War of the Generations'', as it involved Khan backing a youth revolt against the Federation led by Kirk's son. Next it became ''Star Trek II: The Omega System'' as the story had Khan get hold of a doomsday weapon; when art director Mike Minor suggested making the movie revolve around something more positive, it became ''Star Trek II: The Genesis Project''. When director Nicholas Meyer did his (uncredited) rewrite of the script, the title became ''Star Trek II: The Undiscovered Country'' (a reference to ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'') –- an ExecutiveVeto changed this to ''Star Trek II: The Vengeance of Khan''.[[note]]Meyer later got to recycle this title for ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''.[[/note]] Then finally the word "Vengeance" was changed to "Wrath" as it clashed with the then-upcoming ''Star Wars Episode VI: Revenge of the Jedi'' (which itself was later changed to ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' anyway).
** ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'' started development as ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration: TheMovie''. It was probably changed because that is [[ColonCancer a very awkward name for a movie]].
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** ''Film/ANewHope'' had the working title ''The Star Wars'' for the first drafts, including the May, 1973 story synopsis, May, 1974 Rough Draft, and July 1974 Revised First Draft. The January 28, 1975 second draft was titled ''The Adventures of the Starkiller (episode one) "The Star Wars"'', or, ''Adventures of the Starkiller (episode one) "The Star Wars"'', or, ''The Star Wars - Episode One - "The Star Wars"''. The August 1, 1975 Third Draft is ''The Star Wars – From the Adventures of Luke Starkiller''. The January 1, 1976 Fourth Draft, titled ''Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the “Journal of the Whills” (Saga I) Star Wars'', is no longer called ''The Star Wars'', as well as the January 15, 1976 Revised Fourth Draft, titled ''Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, from the Journal of the Whills''.
** ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' had ''Blue Harvest'' as a working title to keep the production hidden -- besides from overeager fans, they really didn't want to repeat the experience of being overcharged by location managers for ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. When ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' made their first ''Star Wars'' [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuyPresentsLaughItUpFuzzball special]], they called it ''Blue Harvest''. The film was later going to be named ''Revenge of the Jedi'', which was changed due to revenge not being what a Jedi usually does. ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' gave this a CallBack.
** ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' had the working title ''Jar Jar's Great Adventure'', even though he isn't there nearly as much as [[Film/StarWarsThePhantomMenace last time]].
** The sequel trilogy (VII-IX) has "[[Film/TheForceAwakens Foodles]]", "[[Film/TheLastJedi Space Bear]]", and "[[Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker Black Diamond]]" as the three films' working titles.
* ''Film/StoneCold'' was ''The Brotherhood''.
* ''Film/SupermanReturns'' was planned to have a sequel, titled ''Superman: The Man of Steel''. [[Film/ManOfSteel The next movie]] still used part of the title.
* ''Film/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' was, at various points, ''Ray-Gun Terror'', ''Killers from Outer Space'', ''The Boy from Out of This World'' and ''Invasion of the Gargon''.
* ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'' was originally called ''Head Cheese'', then ''Leatherface''.
* Creator/BradBird's ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}'' was originally known as ''1952''.
* ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' was filmed under the working title ''The Monster Hero'' -- which gets a number of TitleDrop moments, as it was changed at the last minute.
* ''Film/TradingPlaces'' was originally called ''Black and White''.
* ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' was ''Land Sharks'', ''Beneath Perfection'' and ''Dead Silence''.
* ''Film/TRONLegacy'' was going to be called ''[[Letters2Numbers TR2N]]'' (or possibly ''[=T2.0N=]''). The stylized 2 can still be seen, notably when [[TheDragon Rinzler]] is looking for clues by the End of Line club.
* ''Film/TwiceRoundTheDaffodils'' was ''Ring for Nurse''.
* ''Film/TheVampire'' was ''It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn''.
* ''Film/VoyageOfTheRockAliens'': ''Attack of the Aliens'', and later ''Attack of the Rock 'n' Roll Aliens''.
* ''Film/WalkingOnSunshine'' was originally going to be called ''Holiday''.
* ''Film/WhatAGirlWants'' went through two other song titles in its development: ''American Girl'' and ''London Calling''. The latter namesake song remained on the film's soundtrack, while the former song and "What A Girl Wants" weren't used at all.
* ''Film/WhenHarryMetSally'' was originally called ''"Harry, This is Sally..."''.
* ''Film/WickedLittleThings'' had two: ''The Children'' and ''Zombies''.
* ''Film/WildThings'' was ''Sex Crimes'', which was its actual title in multiple countries. This makes the intro of the movie also a TitleDrop when Sam gives a lecture on the topic.
* ''Film/{{Wrestlemaniac}}'' was ''The Mexican Porn Massacre''.
* ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': ''"Project 166"'' was used to refer to the movie by its crew when it was being worked on for the 2021 release.
* ''Film/AboutScout'' was originally called ''[[ProtagonistTitle Scout]]''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/AlexRider'':
** ''Eagle Strike'' was variously known in its early stages as ''Eagle Eye'', ''Gameslayer'' and ''Never Play Dead'' (the last of which appears to be an OrphanedReference).
** The original title for ''Crocodile Tears'' was ''Endurance Point'', which received a negative response when Horowitz mentioned it to schoolchildren.
* PlayedForLaughs when ''Allegiant'', the third ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' book, received the working title ''Detergent''.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** ''Unclear Physics'' for ''Literature/InterestingTimes''
** ''Words in the Head'' for ''Literature/FeetOfClay''
** ''Uberwald Nights'' for ''Literature/TheFifthElephant''
** ''For Fear of Little Men'' (as in "[[http://karenspoetryspot.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/fairies-by-william-allingham.html We dare not go a-hunting...]]) for ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen''
** ''Literature/TheScienceOfDiscworld IV'' was actually available for pre-order on Amazon with the subtitle ''The Magic of Roundworld'', before a fan at a convention suggested ''Judgement Day''.
* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' had a few working titles: ''Trimalchio'' (after a character who throws an elaborate party in Petronius's ''Satyricon''), ''Trimalchio in West Egg'', ''Gold-Hatted Gatsby'' (after the dedication quote) and ''Under the Red White and Blue''.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' is a rather interesting case. The working title was ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', which, as you may recognize, is now the title of [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince the sixth book]]. Originally, the second book would have contained the Chamber of Secrets plotline ''and'' the Half-Blood Prince plotline side-by-side. Ultimately, Creator/JKRowling decided to keep the Chamber of Secrets plotline and [[RefittedForSequel move the Half-Blood Prince plotline to a later book]], hence the sixth's re-use of various plot points from the second, such as a mysterious old schoolbook.
** After the fourth book's working title, ''Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament'', was leaked, Rowling changed it to ''Harry Potter and the Triwizard Tournament''. Finally she settled on ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire''.
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' had two other possible titles, switching "Deathly Hallows" out with ''the Elder Wand'' or ''the Peverell Quest.'' Rowling admits that she rejected the latter pretty quickly, though, since "Quest" sounded corny.
* The first book in ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' trilogy had the working title ''The Tribute of District Twelve''.
* Non-''Discworld'' Creator/TerryPratchett: ''Literature/{{Dodger}}'' had the working title of ''Happy Families''.
* ''Literature/JamesBond'':
** ''The Undertaker's Wind'' for ''Literature/LiveAndLetDie''.
** ''Meltdown'' for ''Literature/LicenceRenewed''.
** ''Tomorrow Always Comes'' for ''Literature/NoDealsMrBond''. Much like the previous example, the change was forced by the publisher.
** ''No Tears for Hong Kong'' for ''Literature/ZeroMinusTen''. The original name ended up being used as a MarketBasedTitle in some countries.
** ''The World Is Not Enough'' for ''Literature/TheFactsOfDeath''.
** ''A Better Way to Die'' for ''Literature/HighTimeToKill''.
** ''Doppelganger'' for ''Literature/DoubleShot''. The title comes from the old legends about seeing one's double, which was seen as a bad omen.
** ''Red Widow Dawn'' for ''Literature/TheManWithTheRedTattoo'', which is [[OperationBlank the name]] of the bad guys' EvilPlan.
* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' was going to be six books. The first book was going to be ''The First Journey'', ''The Ring Sets Out'', or ''The Return of the Shadow''. Book two was going to be ''The Journey of the Nine Companions'', or ''The Ring Goes South''. Book three was going to be ''The Treason of Isengard''. Book four was going to be ''The Journey of the Ring-bearers'', or ''The Ring Goes East''. Book five was going to be ''The War of the Ring''. Book six was going to be ''The End of the Third Age''.
* ''Literature/YoungBond''
** ''Out of Breath'' for ''Literature/SilverFin''. Before settling with the current one, there were also other [=Silver[Something]=] titles for the book; ''[=SilverBack=], [=SilverSkin=], [=SilverHead=]'' and ''[=SilverFist=]''.
** ''Shoot the Moon, The Big Smoke'', and ''Six Days in December'' for ''Literature/DoubleOrDie''.
* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' was at one point intended to be titled ''The Last Man in Europe''.
* In an example that now proves quite HilariousInHindsight, Creator/WilliamFaulkner's working title for ''Literature/TheSoundAndTheFury'' was ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' itself had the working title ''Forks,'' the name of the town that it's set in. WordOfGod admits that it wouldn't be a very good title, but she didn't know what else to call it. They came up with "Twilight" while listing words with a nice, mysterious feel; originally they tried coming up with another word to pair with it, but eventually decided ''Twilight'' was good on its own.
** The final book of the series, ''Breaking Dawn'', was originally going to be titled ''Forever Dawn''.
* ''[=Rogue Leaders: The Story Of LucasArts=]'' reveals the working titles of several cancelled projects, including ''Star Wars: Dark Jedi'', ''Star Wars: Darth Maul'', ''Star Wars: Episode VII: Shadows of the Sith'', ''Star Wars: Han Solo'', ''Star Wars: Jedi Knight III: Brink of Darkness'', ''Star Wars: Jedi Hunter'', ''Star Wars: Jedi Master'', ''Star Wars: Jedi Outlaw'', ''Star Wars: Jedi Rebel'', ''Star Wars: Rebel Agent'', ''Star Wars: Rebel Fury'', ''Star Wars: Rebel Jedi'', ''Star Wars: Rebel Scum'', ''Star Wars: Rebel Warrior'', ''Star Wars: Rise of the Rebellion'', ''Star Wars: Rogue Jedi'', ''Star Wars: Scum and Villainy'', ''Star Wars: Smuggler'', ''Star Wars: Underworld'', and ''Star Wars: Vader''.
* ''Literature/WagonsWest'': Most of the novels would announce the title of the next book in the series on the next page after the end. Three of those got changed from what was announced to what they were published by.
** ''Oklahoma Sooners'' became ''Literature/OklahomaPride''.
** ''Taos Homecoming'' became ''Literature/{{Homecoming}}''.
** ''The Awakening of India Blackstone'' became simply ''Literature/{{Awakening}}''.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' has several.
** When the second series was set to be just a trilogy, the working title for the trilogy was "Warriors: The Next Generation". Vicky said she had files on her computer with "TNG" in the name for years after they were out.
** ''The Curse'' for ''Dark River'', as seen in advanced-release copies of ''The Sight''.
** ''Cruel Season'' for ''[[PublisherChosenTitle Sunrise]]''.
** ''The Fourth Apprentice'' for the ''Omen Of The Stars'' series; the first book (which ended up getting the name ''The Fourth Apprentice'') would have been ''Ambush''.
** ''Betrayal'' or ''Dark Betrayal'' for ''Night Whispers''. (Vicky and the US editor Erica were "fighting most sweetly" about it, according to Kate.)
** ''Crookedstar's Secret'' for ''Crookedstar's Promise'', as [=HarperCollins=]' catalog originally listed it as such.
** ''Strangers in the Snow'' for ''Shattered Peace'', according to illustrator James Barry
** ''Goosefeather's Curse'' had the working titles ''Goosefeather's Past'' (per a listing on a [=HarperCollins=] website) and ''Goosefeather's Madness'' (according to Vicky before its release).
** ''Squirrelflight's Kin'' for ''Squirrelflight's Hope'', according to a comment from Kate on her blog
** ''Leopardstar's Salvation'' for ''Leopardstar's Honor'', based on one of Kate's social media posts.
* ''Literature/WhiteNoise'' had the working title ''Panasonic''.
* The ''Literature/WickedLovely'' series had a few:
** ''"Shiver"'' for Fragile Eternity
** ''"Skin Starved"'' for Radiant Shadows
* ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsIBlewUpTheMoon'' was going to be called ''At Least I Didn't Blow Up OUR Moon,'' but the publishers wanted something that matched the title of [[Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain the previous book]] to make it clear that they were connected. The author considers the working title to be the "real" title.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** "{{Literature/Robbie}}": "Robbie" was the title Dr Asimov used to submit the story to ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' (rejected by Creator/JohnWCampbell) and several other magazines. The story wasn't published until Dr Asimov's friend, Creator/FrederikPohl, became the head editor of two new magazines. [[PublisherChosenTitle He changed the title]] to "Strange Playfellow". Dr Asimov [[OrwellianRetcon changed it back]] when publishing ''Literature/IRobot''.
** "Literature/TheCallistanMenace": Dr. Asimov used "Stowaway" as the title when he was submitting it to various ScienceFiction PulpMagazines. Editor Creator/FrederikPohl, who accepted it, [[PublisherChosenTitle changed the name for publication]].
** ''Literature/PebbleInTheSky'': The original draft was written as ''Grow Old with Me'' (alternatively, ''Grow Old Along with Me''), a LiteraryAllusionTitle to the first lines of "Literature/RabbiBenEzra", by Creator/RobertBrowning. Joseph Schwartz is quoting the poem to himself in the opening ([[BookEnds and closing]]) chapters.
** "Literature/TheUglyLittleBoy": Dr. Asimov used "The Ugly Little Boy" as the title when he was submitting it to ''Magazine/GalaxyScienceFiction''. It was [[PublisherChosenTitle published under the name "Lastborn"]], but Dr. Asimov changed it back when given the opportunity.
* ''Literature/ThisIsNotAWerewolfStory'' originally had a different title, though the author hasn't revealed what it was. Apparently she changed it out of frustration that, despite the protagonist insisting that he's TotallyNotAWerewolf, one would-be agent rejected it with the message "I'm not taking any werewolf stories.”
* Literature/WordsOfRadiance, the second book of Literature/TheStormlightArchive had the working title "Book of Endless Pages" for a while. It was changed because the publisher thought [[{{Doorstopper}} the title was just a bit too on the nose given its length.]]
* ''Literature/MiracleCreek'': Angie Kim and her editor wanted to call the book ''Miracle Submarine'', but changed it because some booksellers thought it was too weird.
* ''Literature/TheSomedayBirds'' was originally called ''Chicken Nuggets Across America''.
* Creator/RachelHawkins:
** ''Literature/HexHall'' series: The original title of the first book, ''Hex Hall'', was "Too Near the Glass". It went on submission as "Demonglass", which ended up being the title of book 2 instead.
** ''Prince Charming'', the first book in the ''Royals'' series, was first published as ''Royals''. Before that, it had a working title of "We'll Never Be Royals''.
** ''The Wife Upstairs'' was originally "Mrs. Rochester".
** Before the title was announced for ''The Ex Hex'', the author often referred to it on Twitter as "Film/HocusPocus (But They F***)".
** ''Reckless Girls'' was originally referred to as "Boat Murder".
* ''Literature/KeeperOfTheLostCities'': Book one (''Keeper of the Lost Cities'') was originally named "Chasing Everblaze", and then briefly "Everblaze", which would become the title of book three instead.
* ''Literature/WhereAreTheChildren'': The original title Creator/MaryHigginsClark came up with was ''Die a Little Death'', taken from a memoir of one of King Louis XIV's mistresses, specifically the part where she describes her grief over the death of her baby ("And I with my baby died a little death"). Higgins Clark later changed it to ''Where Are the Children?'' at the request of her editor, as she felt ''Die a Little Death'' was too suggestive of a "hard-edged crime story", whereas ''Where are the Children?'' was agreed to be more compelling and tonally-fitting.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/AndyRichterControlsTheUniverse'' was originally titled ''Anything Can Happen''.
* ''Series/Babylon5'' was originally pitched with the title ''The Babylon Project''.
* ''Series/BetterWithYou'' went through the titles ''Better Together'', ''Couples'', and ''Leapfrog''.
* Creator/RikMayall and Creator/AdrianEdmondson originally wanted to call ''Series/{{Bottom}}'' ''Your Bottom'', purely to have people say, "I saw ''Your Bottom'' on TV last night". They also considered ''My Bottom'', purely to annoy the {{continuity announce|ment}}r ("Coming up next, ''My Bottom''").
* ''Series/BreakingIn'' went through the working titles ''Security'' and ''Titan Team''.
* ''Series/DangerMan'' was originally called ''Lone Wolf''.
* The short-lived CBS series ''Series/{{Danny}}'' was originally tiled ''American Wreck'', before it was decided that the name would paint a negative picture of the mild show.
* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' was originally conceived as ''Ready, Willing and Wired''. When Stephen Stohn suggested the eventual title, apparently Linda Schuyler disliked the sense of rehashing past successes and felt the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek]]'' reference sounded forced at first. But, since name recognition both in the U.S. and abroad is always an uphill battle for a CanadianSeries, tying it in with the [[Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh still-popular]] [[Series/DegrassiHigh previous efforts]] made good business sense.
* Many episodes of ''Series/DoctorWho'' were filmed under a different name to the one they were broadcast under.
** Due in part to the tendency to use working titles and the fact that each individual episode had titles at first, there is some debate as to what some early Hartnell stories should be called. For instance, the second serial had seven episodes, titled "The Dead Planet", "The Survivors", "The Escape", "The Ambush", "The Expedition", "The Ordeal", and "The Rescue", and the story as a whole used the titles "The Mutants" and "The Dead Planet" during production. Despite all this, the title most commonly used for marketing is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks "The Daleks"]].
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E6TheMoonbase Three]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion separate]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen stories]] were originally known as "Return of the Cybermen", with at least one being changed so the Cybermen would be a surprise.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E3TheClawsOfAxos "The Claws of Axos"]] was known as "The Vampire from Space" right up until transmission, with the first episode being listed in the ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' under that title.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin "The Deadly Assassin"]] was originally "The Dangerous Assassin", until Creator/RobertHolmes decided it didn't "sound right".
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E4TheFaceOfEvil "The Face of Evil"]] was originally "The Day God Went Mad", apparently just to wind up the MoralGuardians.
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]" was originally called "Chain Reaction".
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E7TheLongGame "The Long Game"]] was "The Companion Who Couldn't", giving away how short Adam's story arc was going to be.
** When the first series of New-Era Who was in production, all the production materials gave the series name as "Torchwood" - an anagram of Doctor Who - in an effort to keep it secret. The title eventually acquired [[{{Series/Torchwood}} its own series]] because Creator/RussellTDavies liked the way it sounded.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence in the Library"]] was originally known as [[FunWithAcronyms "A River Song Ending"]] because Creator/StevenMoffat and Creator/RussellTDavies were having a game of coming up with titles with rude acronyms. And yes, this is how River Song got her name to begin with.
** In his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' column for March 2011, Creator/StevenMoffat announced what some of the upcoming episodes ''wouldn't'' be called: The first episode of the new season ''wouldn't'' be [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut "Year of the Moon"]] ("I really like that title, but absolutely nobody else does in the whole wide world"), the second ''wouldn't'' be [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon "Look Behind You!"]], and the mid-season finale either wouldn't be "His Darkest Hour" or it wouldn't be [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]]. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife Neil Gaiman's episode]], meanwhile, had a story so secret Moffat couldn't even tell us what it wasn't called. ([[spoiler:"Bigger on the Inside"]], and before that "The House of Nothing").
** In a later column, Moffat mentions that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]] was originally "The Doctor Returns" before "some smartarse" pointed out he hadn't gone anywhere.
** One two-parter of Series 9 was first announced as "Invasion of the Zygons"/"Inversion of the Zygons", but subsequently changed to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E7TheZygonInvasion "The Zygon Invasion"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E8TheZygonInversion "The Zygon Inversion"]], probably because it was catchier.
** Sarah Dollard's "Trap Street" was a standalone script subsequently revised into a StoryArc-critical WhamEpisode and retitled [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E10FaceTheRaven "Face the Raven"]].
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E1ThePilot "The Pilot"]] was originally announced as "A Star in Her Eye", but subsequently given a DoubleMeaningTitle referencing both the antagonist and the episode being written to serve as a jumping-on point for new or lapsed viewers since it introduced a new companion.
* ''For Your Love'', a sitcom that started on NBC and was continued on The WB, had the working title ''You Send Me''. It would have been TitledAfterTheSong either way.
* ''Series/FrankieBoylesTramadolNights'' was originally called ''Deal With This, Retards''. This was changed by Creator/Channel4 to avoid offending people.
* ''Series/GettingTogether'' is referred to in some early articles as ''The Creator/BobbySherman Show''.
* ''Series/TheGoldbergs'''s working title was "How the Hell am I Normal?"
* ''Series/GrangeHill'' was originally called ''Grange Park'', which would go on to be used as the name of the school in Phil Redmond's other series ''Series/{{Brookside}}''.
* Quiz show ''Have a Go'' was originally called ''Quiz-Bang''.
* The Australian drama series ''[=headLand=]'' had the working titles of ''Away From Home'', ''Campus'' and ''Ten Degrees South''. The first title is explained by the fact it was originally intended as a SpinOff from ''Series/HomeAndAway'', but with UK broadcaster Channel Five having no interest in the spin off, Channel 7 decided to make it a separate series altogether.
* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': ''"Red Gun: Fire Unit"'' was used to refer to the series on the set.
* The short-lived NBC series ''Series/ImagineThat'' was originally titled ''What Are You Thinking?'' and later ''The Creator/HankAzaria Show'', before getting the final title.
* The pilot for ''Series/TheInbetweeners'' was titled ''Baggy Trousers''. In a radio interview, Joe Thomas (who plays Simon) revealed a working title of ''1, 2, 3, 4''. This is presumably a reference to the song of the same name by Feist, which appears predominantly in the soundtrack of the first and second series.
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' was originally slated to be ''It's Always Sunny on Television'' when initially developed. The final title was developed as another working title, but they couldn't think of a better one so they just left it.
* Creator/MervGriffin pitched ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' as ''What's the Question?'' in 1964 and ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' as ''Shopper's Bazaar'' in 1973. Both shows were pitched to NBC.
* ''Series/KickinIt'' had the working title ''Wasabi Warriors''; perhaps it was changed to clarify that it's a martial-arts rather than CookingDuel show.
* The short-lived Fox series ''Series/LifeOnAStick'' was originally titled ''Related by Family''.
* Each of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse shows on Creator/{{Netflix}} shows used a different working title for shooting, with the title being in some way related to something in the actual show. This practice continues with the MCU shows on Creator/DisneyPlus:
** ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Season 1 filmed under the working title "Bluff". Seasons 2 and 3 used the working title "Ringside", alluding to Matt being the son of a boxer.
** ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' used the working title "Violet", reflecting Jessica's main theme color.
** ''Series/LukeCage2016'' filmed under the working title "Tiara", a reference to [[MythologyGag Luke's comics outfit]].
** ''Series/IronFist2017'' filmed under the working title "Kick", since Danny is a martial artist.
** ''Series/TheDefenders2017'' filmed under the working title of "Group Therapy", a {{lampshade}} on how dysfunctional the four main heroes are.
** ''Series/ThePunisher2017'' filmed under the working title of "Crime".
** The first season of ''Series/Loki2021'' was codenamed "River Cruise". The yet-to-be-released second season has the codename "Architect".
* ''Series/MonarchLegacyOfMonsters'' filmed under the title ''Hourglass'' (referencing the titular organization's logo), and working titles included ''Godzilla and the Titans'' and just ''Monarch''.
* Various proposed titles for ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' included ''Whither Canada?'', ''The Nose Show'', ''Ow! It's Colin Plint!'', ''A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin'', ''The Toad Elevating Moment'', ''Owl Stretching Time'' and even ''Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus''. Several of these titles were later used for individual episodes.
* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' was called ''NCIS: Legend'' when being developed.
* ''Series/OnePiece2023'' used the working titles "Project Roger" for the first season and "Project Renaissance" for the second season.
* The short-lived NBC series ''Series/ThePaulReiserShow'' was originally titled ''Next''.
* ''Series/PeepShow'' was originally titled ''POV''.
* ''Series/PerfectStrangers'' was originally called "The Greenhorn", likely in reference to how new and exciting was for [[FunnyForeigner Balki]].
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' was originally pitched as ''Galaxy Rangers'', which is also the international title used for its ''[[Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger source series]]''.
** During development, ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'' was originally titled ''Drive Force'' and later ''Relic Hunters''.
** ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' was titled ''Beast Fist'' early on in its development (a translation of the term "Juken", used in its parent show ''[[Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger Gekiranger]]'').
** ''Series/PowerRangersDinoFury'', as revealed by [[Main/WordOfGod director Simon Bennett]], was originally titled ''Dino Knights'', fitting with the heroes of '''''[[Series/KishiryuSentaiRyusoulger Kishi]]'''''''[[Series/KishiryuSentaiRyusoulger ryu Sentai Ryusoulger]]''. By this point, Hasbro have final approval of all names, and it was ultimately changed.
** ''Series/HikariSentaiMaskman'' was titled ''Fiveman'', which explains why their team symbol is the number 5. It was changed during post-production of the first episode, and the Fiveman name was used [[Series/ChikyuuSentaiFiveman three years later]].
** ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman, evidently, had at least a couple; director Keita Amemiya gave the tentative title of "Jumpman" in a magazine before the premiere, while [[WordOfSaintPaul Toshihide Wakamatsu (Gai Yuki)]] would recall that it was originally "Birdman".
** As revealed by Tom Constantine, a proposed title for ''Series/KikaiSentaiZenkaiger'' was ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Sentai Sentai Sentaiger]]''. The name "Sentaiger" ended up being used by the Geardalinger as the generic sound used when activating Sentai Gears for previous teams.
* ''Series/{{Pointless}}'' was originally pitched under the title ''Obviously''.
* ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' was given the working name ''Auction-Aire'' when NBC optioned and piloted it in 1956.
* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' was going to be ''Life and Stuff''. The title was used for the pilot episode.
* The Nickelodeon TV movie ''Rufus'' was originally titled ''Manny's Best Friend''.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' was going to be ''Stand Up'', ''The Creator/JerrySeinfeld Show'', or ''The Seinfeld Chronicles'', which was used for the pilot episode.
* ''Series/ShineALight'' was originally ''The Lighthouse Keepers''.
* ''Series/{{Soap}}'' was only supposed to be the working title but after getting the show done they couldn't think of a better title so left it.
* ''Series/SquidGame'' was first announced as ''Round 6''. (Brazil still used it as the eventual title)
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had a number of these including ''Star Trek A New Beginning'', ''Star Trek A New Generation'', ''Star Trek The New Generation'' and ''Star Trek Enterprise 7'' (the latter title is explained by the fact the ship was to be known as the Enterprise 7 rather than the Enterprise D).
* ''Series/StrangerThings'' was originally going to be called ''Montauk'', and be based on the experiments that supposedly happened in the real-life New York town. Later the Duffer Brothers went through a list of other possible titles, settling on ''Stranger Things'' due to its similarity to ''Literature/NeedfulThings'' by Creator/StephenKing. They continued to have "a lot of heated arguments" about this afterwards, though.
* Both ''Series/{{Tattletales}}'' and its beta edition ''Series/HeSaidSheSaid'' had developmental titles. ''He Said, She Said'' was first planned in 1966 for NBC as ''It Had to Be You'', but was shelved for three years and was eventually syndicated. It was redeveloped for CBS under the name ''Celebrity Match Mates'' in 1973 and had Gene Rayburn as the host. Rayburn landed the ''Series/MatchGame'' reboot, so as the show made it to the air in February 1974 as ''Tattletales'', Bert Convy was tapped as host.
* ''Series/That70sShow'' had the working titles ''The Kids Are Alright'' and ''Teenage Wasteland'', but everyone just kept referring to it as "that '70s show" and the title stuck.
* ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'' had come about when Monty Hall brokered a meeting for producer Bob Stewart with Goodson-Todman in 1956 with a concept he called ''Three of a Kind.'' It went to pilot as ''Nothing But the Truth'' and was eventually renamed ''To Tell the Truth'' upon debuting on CBS.
* ''Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay'' was originally going to be named ''The New World'', as evidenced by early promotional materials before changing to ''Miracle Day''. However, the first episode keeps the original name and one character name-drops it in the season finale.
** ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' itself takes its title from what was the anagram code name for the first season of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' revival.
** The episode Recap/TorchwoodS1E9RandomShoes was originally called ''Invisible Eugene'', and the working title was used in some promotional material.
* ''Series/TheTrainNowStanding'' was originally ''Whistle Stop''.
* ''Franchise/UltraSeries'':
** ''Series/UltraQ'' was going to be called ''Unbalance''. But with the popularity of the word "Ultra" in Japan at the time, it was changed, with the "Q" added to stand for "Question" or "Quest" to fit the mystery themes of the show. The title of ''Unbalance'' was later recycled by [=TsuPro=] for a horror series.
** ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' had several as it went through multiple drafts. Among the more notable of these are ''Bemlar: Scientific Investigation Agency'' and ''Redman'' (the latter of which was later recycled for [[Series/{{Redman}} a different show]]).
** ''Series/UltraSeven'' was produced under the name ''Ultra Eye'', which later became the name of Dan's TransformationTrinket.
** ''Series/UltramanAce'' was originally to be named ''Ultra A''. This was changed because it turned out the name was already copyrighted. Incidentally, this is also when the franchise began using {{Character Title}}s as the franchise naming convention, as all the previous series were just called ''Ultra ___''.
* The short-lived Fox series ''Series/{{Unhitched}}'' was originally titled ''The Rules for Starting Over''.
* When ''Series/VRTroopers'' was still in development as a one-hero show, it was going to be titled ''Psycon''. Later it was renamed ''Cybertron''. It was probably changed after that to [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} avoid stepping on Hasbro's toes]].
* ''[[Series/TheWorstWitch Weirdsister College]]'' had a working title of ''The Worst Witch: The College Years'' (and ended up being used in an autumn CITV promo).
* The short-lived CBS series ''Series/WelcomeToTheCaptain'' was originally titled ''The Captain''.
* ''Series/WhatsMyLine'' had the working title ''Occupation Unknown''.
* ''{{Series/Without a Trace}}'' was originally called ''Vanished'', but the name was then changed when Creator/{{CBS}} picked up the series.
* ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' had the working title ''The Cash Mountain''.
* The UK version of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'' had the working title of ''The Ultimate Superhero'' at one point. This is evidenced in the episode where the superheroes visit BBC Television Centre and their guest passes read "The Ultimate Superhero".
* The short-lived Fox series ''Series/TheWinner'' was originally titled ''Becoming Glen''.
* ''Series/YouMeAndTheApocalypse'' was originally known as ''Apocalypse: Slough'', but was changed as it was feared the Americans would not get the joke ("Slough" rhymes with "now", as in ''Apocalypse Now''). It was changed to ''You, Me and the End of the World" before gaining its final title.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magazines]]
* ''{{Magazine/Analog}}'': [Invoked] {{In|Universe}} the April 1941 issue's "In Times To Come" column, the Chief Editor explains [[PublisherChosenTitle renaming]] one of the next month's stories, originally submitted as "Foriegn Policy", would be named "Literature/SolutionUnsatisfactory".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/{{Aerosmith}}: The song "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" was originally being written under the title "Cruisin' for a Lady", with different lyrics. However, someone misheard the line "Do the lucky lady" as "Dude looks like a lady", and when Steven Tyler found out, he decided to change the song's title and lyrics to match the mishearing.
* Music/TheBeatles:
** The working title of "Yesterday", when Music/PaulMcCartney first came up with the music, was "Scrambled Eggs", because it fit the rhythm. According to [=McCartney=], the tune came to him in a dream, and for weeks he thought it must be an old song that he had heard somewhere, so he sang it to everyone he knew to see if it was familiar, using the lyrics "Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs." Obviously those were never intended to be the song's final lyrics. [=McCartney=], as a joke, applied full lyrics to "Scrambled Eggs" and performed it with Creator/JimmyFallon on Fallon's NBC late night show.
** "With a Little Help from My Friends" had the working title of "Bad Finger Boogie", because while it was being recorded Music/JohnLennon had injured one of his fingers. Music/{{Badfinger}}, who were the first non-Beatles project signed to Apple Records, ended up taking their name from this.
** Music/GeorgeHarrison apparently had trouble coming up with song titles, at least during the ''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' sessions. "Love You To" had the working title of "Granny Smith." When asked what he was going to call another song, George replied "I don't know," so John exasperatedly suggested "Granny Smith Part Friggin' Two!" An engineer went with "Laxton's Superb," after another apple cultivar, before it was humorously decided to just call it "I Don't Know," and finally, "I Want to Tell You."
** "Mark I" (also referred to as "The Void") became "Tomorrow Never Knows" after Ringo casually came up with the phrase as a malapropism.
** ''Revolver'' was originally called ''Abracadabra''.
** ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'' was originally called ''A Doll's House'', after [[Theatre/ADollsHouse the Henrik Ibsen play of the same name]]. The release of ''Music in a Doll's House'' by the British band Family in the middle of the recording sessions forced a title change. It was Richard Hamilton, who designed the album art, who suggested a Self-Titled Album.
** "Rocky Raccoon" was originally written as "Rocky Sassoon". Paul changed the name to make it more Western-sounding.
** The album ''Music/LetItBe'' was originally called ''Get Back''.
** The band themselves also had this. They originally formed as a skiffle group called The Blackjacks, before quickly changing their name to The Quarrymen after they discovered another group was already using that name. Later they changed their name to Johnny and the Moondogs. When Stuart Sutcliffe joined, he suggested changing the name to Beatals, as a tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets. They then went through a few variations on this name, first changing it to The Silver Beetles, then The Silver Beatles, and finally shortening it to just The Beatles.
* According to one of many stories, the band Music/DerekAndTheDominos were supposed to be called Eric and the Dynamos, but someone misheard their name and the new name stuck.
* Music/DreamTheater formed under the name Majesty, but had to change their name because another band were already using that name. A track on their debut album ''When Dream and Day Unite'' was titled "The [[SdrawkcabName Ytse Jam]]" in reference to this. They went through several other names, including Magus and M1, and even spent a week under the name Glasser, before finally settling on the name Dream Theater.
* Music/KingsOfLeon originally wanted to title their hit song "Set Us on Fire", but someone misheard the title, so it became "Sex on Fire".
* Music/Starflyer59: Jason Martin was initially going to call the band Starflyer 2000; his brother Ronnie even gave a shout out to "Jason Martin and Andrew Larsen and their brilliant new group, Star Flyer 2000!" in the liner notes of his ''Rainbow Rider'' album. Jason mentioned in some interviews that he was working on a new album called ''The Sad Lives of the Hollywood Lovers''; it ended up getting released as ''The Fashion Focus''. "Major Awards" from the album ''Old'' was initially called "The Sheriff". "The Brightest of the Head" from the album ''Dial M'' was originally a demo titled "God Forbid" on the ''Ghosts of the Future'' vinyl series; Jason says he changed it because he feared it might be sacrilegious.
* Music/Blink182's "What's My Age Again?" was originally titled "Peter Pan Complex", but was eventually changed at the label's request.
* Music/{{Spoon}}'s "The Ghost of You Lingers" had the working title of "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga", a title that was supposed to sound like its staccato piano part. ''Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga'' ended up becoming the name of the album it was on instead.
* Music/FaithNoMore's "Ricochet" had the working title of "Nirvana", and sometimes appeared on their setlists under that name even after it was released under another title. This inspired its share of WildMassGuessing among fans at the time -- it doesn't help that the song includes the lines "And I'd rather be shot in my face/than hear what you're going to say". However the band maintain that the working title was chosen because it happened to be written on the day of [[{{Music/Nirvana}} Kurt Cobain's]] death (and thus slightly before he was actually ''reported'' dead), not because the lyrics actually had anything to do with him.
** An instrumental jam that eventually became the verse section of "Zombie Eaters" was informally known to the band as "Surprise! You're Dead". While the finished song ended up being called something else, Music/MikePatton liked the title "Surprise! You're Dead" enough that he used it for a totally different song on the same album.
* Both fans of Music/TheKillers and the band itself have taken to referring to unannounced future albums as "''TK#''", with "#" being the album number. For example, ''Pressure Machine'' was known as ''[=TK7=]''.
* The Music/{{Megadeth}} song "Set the World Afire" was originally called "Megadeath," and was written by Dave Mustaine shortly after he left Music/{{Metallica}}. Mustaine took this word and [[MyspeldRokBand removed the A to name his band "Megadeth"]], and changed the song's title to "Burnt Offerings" for the shows it was played at in 1984 and 1985. It was later renamed to "Set the World Afire" when he rediscovered it for ''Music/SoFarSoGoodSoWhat''.
** The working title of "Into the Lungs of Hell" was "Quicksand", and it too appeared in 1984 and 1985, though he did announce it under the former title at least once. Bootlegs often list them as different songs because "Quicksand" is not as musically developed.
*** Other working titles (sometimes with different lyrics): "Blood and Honor" became "Wake Up Dead", "Conjure Me" became "The Conjuring", "Black Friday" became "Good Mourning...Black Friday", "Next Victim" became "My Last Words", "Evil That's Within" became "Sin" and "Bullprick" became "FFF".
* Music/{{Metallica}}'s ''Demo Magnetic'' shows the ''Death Magnetic'' songs, aside from "The Unforgiven III" ("[=UN3=]") and "My Apocalypse" ("Ten", because it is the tenth song), had amusing ones: "Hi Guy" ("That Was Just Your Life"), "Neinteen" ("The End of the Line"), "Black Squirrel" ("Broken, Beat & Scarred"), "Casper" ("The Day That Never Comes"), "Flamingo" ("All Nightmare Long"), "German Soup" ("Cyanide"), "Gymbag" ("The Judas Kiss"), and "[=K2LU=]" ("Suicide & Redemption" - like "The Call of Ktulu", an instrumental).
** "Until It Sleeps" from ''Load'' had the working title of "Fobd", because the song reminded the band of {{Music/Soundgarden}}'s "Fell On Black Days" - an early demo, recorded before the band had worked out real lyrics, was released as a BSide under that title.
** ''Music/KillEmAll'' was originally called ''Metal Up Your Ass''. It was changed as the label thought it would impede the band's commercial success, though the original artwork was later re-used for a T-shirt.
* Music/RichardStrauss originally intended to title his Alpine Symphony after Nietzsche's ''Der Antichrist''.
* {{Music/Beck|Musician}}'s "Broken Train" was originally going to be called "Out of Kontrol" before a last-minute title change -- basically shifting the TitleDrop from the pre-chorus to the chorus itself. The reason for this was to avoid having SimilarlyNamedWorks -- Music/TheChemicalBrothers' "Out of Control" was released as a single a month earlier. Some promo copies of ''Midnite Vultures'' still had the song listed as "Out of Kontrol".
* [[{{Music/Pavement}} Stephen Malkmus]] intended to call his solo debut ''Swedish Reggae'', as a humorous NonIndicativeTitle (since it's a rock album by an American performer) -- it came out as a SelfTitledAlbum instead, supposedly out of concern that the title would be taken at face value and it would be filed under the reggae section at record stores.
** The working title of {{Music/Pavement}}'s ''Terror Twilight'' was ''Farewell Horizontal''. Bob Nastanovich hated the working title and came up with ''Terror Twilight'' as an alternative, later saying "there was no way I was going to be on the ''Farewell Horizontal'' tour for the next year."
* The Music/PinkFloyd song "Echoes" started life as a set of experimental pieces, collectively known as "Nothing, Parts 1-24", worked on separately by the band members. The pieces were assembled into "The Son of Nothing" which was developed further by the band as a whole. It was taken on stage as "The Return of the Son of Nothing" before being released on the album ''Meddle'' under its final name.[[note]]Roger Waters, being far more humourous than events a decade later made him seem to be, wanted to name the song "We Won the Double" in celebration of Arsenal's 1971 victory.[[/note]]
** Proposed titles for ''Music/AMomentaryLapseOfReason'' included ''Signs of Life'', ''Of Promises Broken'', and ''Delusions of Maturity''. ''Signs of Life'' was supposedly rejected as a title because it would be too easy for {{Caustic Critic}}s to [[ReviewIronicEcho make quips about the band showing "no signs of life"]].
** The ''{{Music/Animals|1977}}'' songs "Dogs" and "Sheep" begun being called by their opening lines, "You Gotta Be Crazy" and "Raving and Drooling" (in the latter's case, the opening of what became the post-breakdown verse - and even then, changed to "Bleating and babbling").
** ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'' was originally called ''Eclipse''. This was actually something of a back and forth - ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was their first choice, but when they learned a group called Medicine Head released an album with a nearly identical title while they were still working on theirs, they settled on ''Eclipse''. However, Medicine Head's ''Dark Side of the Moon'' proved to be a commercial flop, so it was decided they could use the name again.
* Music/ThePolice's debut album was at one point going to be called ''Police Brutality'' - Their manager, Miles Copeland III, proposed the title, presumably thinking it would emphasize the band's early PunkRock image. ''Music/OutlandosDAmour'' came about when Copeland heard "Roxanne" and decided the band should have a more "romantic" image instead.
* Music/PhilCollins' hit song "Sussudio" came from a nonsense word he invented as a lyric for a drum track he was working on. All attempts to find a better word with the right rhythm failed, so "Sussudio" stayed.
* Music/FifthHarmony's "Work from Home" was initially going to be called "Work", but then {{Music/Rihanna}}'s "Work" was released a month earlier. Tellingly, the word "work" is repeated much more often in the refrain than the full phrase "work from home".
* Music/ChrisCornell's solo debut ''Euphoria Morning'' was originally going to be titled ''Euphoria Mourning'', but he decided that the fact that "mourning" and "morning" are homonyms would cause confusion about the title when it was said aloud on the radio. He later regretted this decision (citing friends telling him the album title sounded like an air freshener scent) and went back to the working title 16 years after the fact: A 2015 reissue restored the original intended spelling to the artwork.
* Music/PearlJam's '' Vs'' was very nearly ''Five Against One'' ([[AlbumTitleDrop after a lyric from "Animal"]]). The change in title came so late that some promo cassettes still bore the original title, while the very first pressing didn't have an album title anywhere on the packaging, making it a de facto SelfTitledAlbum. Follow-up ''Vitalogy'' was also known as ''Life'' by the time lead single "Spin the Black Circle" was released.
* Music/GreenDay originally wanted to title their album ''[[Music/{{Insomniac}} Insomniac]]'' ''Jesus Christ Supermarket''.
** The album ''Dookie'' was originally going to be called ''Liquid Dookie'', inspired by a time when the band all had diarrhoea while on tour. However, the label wouldn't let them use the name, thinking it would put people off, so they shortened it to just ''Dookie''.
** ''Father of All Motherfuckers'' was originally going to be titled ''American Idiot Part 2: Father of All Motherfuckers'' as a joke. This is why the cover art is reminiscent of the cover art for ''American Idiot''.
** The band themselves were originally called Sweet Children when they formed. They changed their name after recording their debut EP to avoid conflict with another band named Sweet Baby, settling on the name Green Day due to their fondness for cannabis (the phrase "green day" being Bay Area slang for spending a day doing nothing but smoking marijuana).
* ''Armed Forces'' by Music/ElvisCostello was originally called ''Emotional Facism''.
* ''Music/ExileOnMainSt'' by Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} was originally called ''Tropical Disease''.
* ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' by Music/TheWho was originally called ''Deaf, Dumb and Blind''.
* Music/TheBeachBoys:
** ''Music/PetSounds'' was originally called ''Remember the Zoo''.
** ''Music/{{Smile|TheBeachBoys}}'' was originally called ''Teen Angel''.
* ''Music/TheQueenIsDead'' by Music/TheSmiths was originally called ''Margaret on the Guillotine''. Music/{{Morrissey}} did use the title for a track on his first solo album ''Viva Hate''.
* ''Music/YoungAmericans'' by Music/DavidBowie was originally called ''Shilling the Rube''.
* Music/LedZeppelin did use the working title of the song, even if it had nothing to do with the lyrics:
** "Black Dog" was named for a dog hanging around while writing the song.
** "Four Sticks" was named as John Bonham played the song using four sticks at the same time.
** ''Presence'' was originally titled ''Obelisk''.
* ''Nigga Please'' by [[Music/WuTangClan Ol’ Dirty Bastard]] was originally called ''Black Man Is God, the White Man Is the Devil''.
* ''Kilimanjaro'' by The Teardrop Explodes was originally called ''Everybody Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes''.
* ''Hysteria'' by Music/DefLeppard was originally called ''Animal''.
* ''Music/PlanetWaves'' by Music/BobDylan was originally called ''Ceremonies of the Horsemen''.
** ''Music/BlondeOnBlonde'' was originally called ''I Want You''.
* ''Music/LicensedToIll'' by Music/BeastieBoys was originally called ''Don't Be a Faggot'', wisely changed at Columbia's behest.
** "Sabotage" evolved out of an instrumental jam the band started referring to as "Chris Rock". ''That'' Creator/ChrisRock was well-known at the time, but it was a CreatorInJoke rather than a direct ShoutOut - there was a studio engineer named Chris who never had anything to say about the music they were recording until he heard them play "Sabotage", which he was enthusiastic about, seemingly because it was more of a rock song... So it was "Chris Rock" because it was the "rock" song that Chris liked.
* ''Music/{{The River|1980}}'' by Music/BruceSpringsteen was originally called ''Ties That Bind''.
* ''Hotter Than Hell'' by Music/{{KISS}} was originally called ''Harder They Come''.
* ''Permission To Land'' by Music/TheDarkness was originally called ''Thank You, This Will Suffice for Me. Now If You Please, Have Sex with My Friend''.
* {{Music/Weezer}}'s ''Make Believe'' could have been ''One Thousand Soviet Children Marching Towards the Sun'', as per drummer Patrick Wilson's suggestion, or ''Either Way I'm Fine'', after a comment lead singer Rivers Cuomo would frequently make when asked his opinion about arrangement or production choices.
** ''Pacific Daydream'' could have been ''Somebody's Daydream'' - Rivers initially came up with the latter, but Patrick suggested the former.
* {{Music/Slayer}}'s ''God Hates Us All'' was originally going to be ''Soundtrack to the Apocalypse''. Tom Araya decided the latter sounded more like a title for a retrospective box set than an album, so they named it after a lyric from the song "Disciple" instead... At the same time, they decided a box set was actually a good idea, so two years later they put one together and did in fact call it ''Soundtrack to the Apocalypse''.
* Both ''{{Music/Nevermind|Album}}'' and ''Music/InUtero'' from {{Music/Nirvana}} had working titles. The former was ''Sheep'', so named because Cobain thought [[TakeThatAudience sheep would be the only people who bought it.]] The latter was ''I Hate Myself and Want to Die'', which was dropped because Cobain thought people would take the title seriously instead of the intended joke.
* Music/TheBreeders' "Cannonball" was initially referred to by the band as "Grunggae" (a WordPureeTitle combining "grunge" and "reggae") - a demo of the song was released under that title as a BSide, wherein Kim Deal shouts "grunggae!" as StudioChatter.
* ''Music/{{Parklife}}'' by Music/{{Blur}} was originally called ''London''.
* Music/NineInchNails's album ''With Teeth'' had the working title of ''Bleedthrough'', referencing the album's early stages as a straight up concept album about different layers of reality blending together, but changed to its final title as Trent Reznor thought that the title made people think of a 'tampon commercial'.
* Music/{{Stratovarius}} originally formed under the name Black Water. When Timo Tolkki joined, they changed their name to Stratovarius, a portmanteau of the Fender Stratocaster model of electric guitar and a Stradivarius violin, intended to represent the fusion of classical and power metal elements in the band's style.
** Their second album had the working title ''Stratovarius II'', before it was released as ''Twilight Time''.
** A crossover with WhatCouldHaveBeen -- The album ''Polaris'' was being developed under the codename ''R...R...'', with Timo Tolkki as the main songwriter. However, after a long period of high tension between Tolkki and the other band members, he eventually left the group, forming a new band named Revolution Renaissance, which would have been the name of the album. The remaining band members decided to rework the album entirely, releasing it as ''Polaris''.
* Music/SonataArctica formed as a hard rock band under the name Tricky Beans, before changing their name slightly to Tricky Means. Later, they changed their style to power metal (emulating fellow Finnish symphonic power metal band Stratovarius, who were already quite popular at the time) and renamed themselves Sonata Arctica.
* One of the more famous examples is "Chop Suey!" by Music/SystemOfADown, which was originally called "Suicide". At the beginning of the song, you can hear Serj Tankian announce, "We're rolling 'Suicide'."
* Music/{{Eminem}}'s 2002 album was originally planned to be called ''The Eminem LP'' to close off the trilogy with ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP'' and ''Music/TheMarshallMathersLP'', but Em felt that the theme had gotten old, so the album was renamed ''Music/TheEminemShow''.
* Music/WoodyGuthrie's song "This Land Is Your Land" was originally "God Blessed America for Me."
* Music/{{Noah|Indonesia}}'s song "Kupeluk Hatimu" was called "David Slow" at first, referring to its slow tempo and the fact that it's one of two songs that David wrote for ''Keterkaitan Keterikatan''.
* Music/{{Jhariah}} said on [[https://twitter.com/JhariahClare/status/1500552981682524171 Twitter]] in 2022 that "DEBT COLLECTOR" was originally called "LIE! LIE! LIE!"
* Music/StaticX initially formed as Drill, then became Static - the "X" was added once they realized there were already multiple other bands calling themselves Static. At one point they had also wanted to call themselves Wisconsin Death Trip, after a historical non-fiction book the band had become fascinated with - when their label told them the name was too long, ''Wisconsin Death Trip'' became the title of their first album instead.
* [[Music/UnderworldBand Underworld]]'s ''Beaucoup Fish'' could have been titled ''Tonight Matthew I'm Going To Be Underworld'' - the group ultimately decided that the title, referencing a catchphrase from British talent competition tv show ''Stars In Their Eyes'', would be incomprehensible to international audiences. Instead they titled the album after a SpokenWordInMusic sample from the song "Jumbo".
* {{Music/Silverchair}} wrote three uptempo, somewhat PunkRock influenced songs during the sessions for their album ''Freak Show'' and gave them the placeholder titles "Punk Song #1", "Punk Song #2", and "Punk Song #3" - "Punk Song #1" appeared on ''Freak Show'' itself as "Lie to Me", "Punk Song #3" became "Satin Sheets" on the followup album ''Neon Ballroom'', and "Punk Song #2" [[PermanentPlaceholder kept its working title]] and appeared as a BSide to "Freak", as well as on the soundtrack to ''Film/ScaryMovie''.
* Music/AaronCopland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" had three alternate UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-influenced titles that the composer considered but rejected: "Fanfare for the Spirit of Democracy," "Fanfare for the Rebirth of Lidice" and "Fanfare for Paratroops."
* Pop rock / AlternativeRock group Deep Blue Something started out calling themselves Leper Messiah as a ShoutOut to "Ziggy Stardust" by Music/DavidBowie. A possibly apocryphal story has them changing their name after some of the audience at their first headlining show expected them to play HeavyMetal - "Leper Messiah" ''also'' happens to be a {{Music/Metallica}} song title.
* Music/{{Grimes}}'s album ''Halfaxa'' was originally titled ''Glossolalia.''
* Music/CharliXCX's ''CRASH'' was originally titled ''Sorry If I Hurt You'' and had a corresponding TitleTrack, but she changed it to ''CRASH'' as an homage to the film by Creator/DavidCronenberg. The song was released on the deluxe edition.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* ''Podcast/EightiesAllOver'' had the working title ''[[Film/FlashGordon1980 Klytus, I'm Bored]]'', which the producer judged a bit too obscure, as discussed in the December 1980 episode.
* ''Podcast/EscapeFromVaultDisney'' had two potential titles before the show launched with its current name, that being ''Disney Minus'', which was rejected for being too negative, and ''Once Upon a Stream'', which was already taken by a Creator/DisneyPlus podcast starting at around the same time.
* ''Podcast/FaceJam'' went by ''The Michael, Jordan Podcast'' in its test and pilot episodes, after the hosts Michael Jones and Jordan Cwierz. They fought the producers all the way to keep that name, although they eventually settled for a ''Film/SpaceJam'' shoutout and keeping a basketball-esque theme for the show. It's a food review podcast, by the way.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Project 161 was the working title for The Age Of The Fall.
* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon originally wanted to call Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s flagship event "The Colossal Tussle". Yes, really. Thankfully, Wrestling/HowardFinkel blurted out "Wrestling/WrestleMania" in a company meeting and the rest was history.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/FraggleRock'': Creator/JimHenson first conceived of the series with the temporary title of ''The Woozle World''. It was also called ''Fraggle Hill'' for a while.
* ''Series/SesameStreet'' went through various working titles, including ''123 Avenue B'', which was rejected for being too New York specific. This was even parodied in the show's 1969 pitch reel, where Muppets suggest various bad titles. The creative team ultimately settled on ''Sesame Street'' because it was "the least bad title" they could think of.
* ''Series/ThePuzzlePlace'' was known as ''The Puzzleworks'' in its pilot episodes, and before that, it was announced as ''The Puzzle Factory''.
* ''Series/DonkeyHodie'': The Creator/PBSKids app and the schedule of one PBS affiliate listed "Duck Duck's Great Adventure" under the title "Duck Duck Can't Choose".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Averted in the case of Steve Jackson's ''Generic Universal [=RolePlaying=] System'', which was never intended to be released under that name, and was always supposed to get an evocative, marketable title at some point... but it never happened. The working title was its joke name at the company: ''Great Unnamed [=RolePlaying=] System'' = ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' for short - was used as a placeholder while waiting for someone to think of a better name. But no one did, and ''GURPS'', [[PermanentPlaceholder became the title it was released as]].
* Every set of cards for ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' gets a code name. When sets were grouped in blocks, this was something that made sense in threes (since blocks usually have three sets) such as Friends, Romans, Countrymen, with the actual names turning up once flavour has been fully assembled. Occasionally they came up with clever things to do with this; Lorwyn was announced with the code names Peanut, Butter, Jelly, but Lorwyn's unique schtick was that every fifty years it would flip between "sunlight happyland" and "Deep One merfolk freakyland", with a large and small set for each version - so the block wasn't "Peanut, Butter, Jelly" but "Peanut, Butter" and "Jelly, Doughnut". When blocks were abandoned, the "premium" sets went to sports-themed code names in alphabetical order, since the code names need to be assigned well before the set gets any design work. (Strixhaven, the sixth set under the new naming scheme, was "Fencing".) "Supplemental" sets, since they're typically given code names after some work has been done on them, may have code names that are more specific to what the set is based on.
* The board game ''TabletopGame/TrivialPursuit'' was originally going to be called ''Six Thousand Questions''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:ThemeParks]]
* ''Ride/DisneyThemeParks'':
** The concept for what would evolve into Disneyland started out as a 16-acre amusement zone referred to as "Mickey Mouse Park" or "Mickey Mouse Village".
** Walt Disney World was originally given codenames "Project X", "The Florida Project" and "Disney World", the latter being updated to honor Creator/WaltDisney following his death in 1966. Other proposed names for the resort include "Walt Disney's Vacationland", "Disneyrama", "Walt Disney's Wonderworlds", "Disneyworlds" and [[SpellMyNameWithAThe "The Walt Disney World"]].
** Before EPCOT Center came to be, what would become the Future World and World Showcase areas were originally going to be separate entities called the "Future World Theme Center" and the "Walt Disney World Showcase", respectively.
* [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's Epic Universe]] was initially known as "Universal's Fantastic Worlds"; this name change reportedly happened because Warner Bros. objected to the name's similarity to ''Film/FantasticBeasts'', which was originally planned to be an area in the park but did not make up the entirety of it. Individual parts of Epic Universe were known by innocuous project codes during development and construction:
** P900 are the rides in Celestial Park.
** P901 is the rest of Celestial Park.
** P902 is a ''[[Franchise/UniversalHorror Dark Universe]]''
** P903 is ''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon: Isle of Berk''.
** P904 is ''Ride/SuperNintendoWorld''.
** P905 is ''Ride/TheWizardingWorldOfHarryPotter: Ministry of Magic''.
** P910 is the Helios Grand Hotel.
** P912 and P913 are two additional hotels, the Stella Nova and Terra Luna.
** P920 is the entrance, security and ticketing zone.
** P931 are the behind-the-scenes warehouse and staff areas.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:TV Networks]]
* Creator/{{NBC}}: In a 1922 letter to RCA, David Sarnoff pitched his idea for a national radio "network" that he called the National Radio Broadcasting Company. The "Radio" part would be dropped when it finally launched in 1926.
* Creator/TurnerClassicMovies: Among the possible names tossed around in the planning stages were [[Creator/{{TNT}} TNT 2]] and TNT Classic. It was Ted Turner himself who came up with the final name.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Tell Me More!'', a largely forgettable Gershwin musical of 1925, was originally titled ''My Fair Lady''. Apparently the producer didn't think it was commercial enough.
* Speaking of ''Theatre/MyFairLady'', its working title was ''Lady Liza'', but the song of that name was cut. ''My Fair Liza'' was allegedly considered too.
* The musical ''Something for the Boys'' began production as ''Jenny Get Your Gun''. It's no coincidence that the same star and same writers next joined forces on ''Theatre/AnnieGetYourGun''.
* ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}'' began production under the title of its source play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs'', but started its out-of-town tryouts as ''Away We Go''.
* Creator/AynRand originally titled her first play ''Penthouse Story'', but producers changed it first to ''Woman on Trial'' and then finally to ''Night of January 16th''.
* When Music/AaronCopland received a commission to compose music for a Martha Graham ballet, his composition bore the heading ''Ballet for Martha''. The LiteraryAllusionTitle ''Appalachian Spring'' was apparently decided on by her shortly before the premiere.
* Music/StephenSondheim's ''Road Show'' went through three of these during the long time it spent in DevelopmentHell: ''Wise Guys'' (which had unintended [[TheMafia Mafia]] associations), ''Gold!'' (after a song that was already in the show; Sondheim had wanted the show to be retitled ''Get Rich Quick!'') and ''Bounce'' (with a new title song, which became "What A Waste" in the show's final revision).
* ''Annie Warbucks'', the sequel to ''Theatre/{{Annie}}'', was originally ''Annie 2: [[RevengeOfTheSequel Miss Hannigan's Revenge]]''. The title change was partly because Miss Hannigan was written out of the show, but also necessitating changing the lyrics to one of the songs: "Above the Law" originally had the punny refrain "You can be Annie, too!"
* ''Theatre/{{Follies}}'' was originally to have been titled ''The Girls Upstairs''.
* ''Theatre/OnAClearDayYouCanSeeForever'' began production under the EpunymousTitle ''I Picked a Daisy''.
* Musicals produced in the 1920s and 1930s by Alex A. Aarons and/or Vinton Freedley very often changed titles during production:
** ''Lady, Be Good!'' was originally ''Black-Eyed Susan''.
** ''Oh, Kay!'' was ''Mayfair'', then ''Miss Mayfair'', then ''Cheerio!''.
** ''Funny Face'' was ''Smarty''.
** ''Heads Up!'' was originally ''Me for You''. The title changed when the book was completely replaced, though the former title song was retained.
** ''Theatre/AnythingGoes'' was ''Hard to Get'', then ''Bon Voyage''.
** ''Red, Hot and Blue!'' was ''But Millions!'' and ''Wait for Baby'' at various stages.
** ''Leave It to Me!'' had the earlier titles ''I Am an American'' and ''First in the Hearts''.
* ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'' was originally conceived as ''The Inside of His Head''.
* ''Theatre/CityOfAngels'' was originally ''Death is for Suckers'', a phrase that occurs near the start of the PrivateEyeMonologue; ''Double Exposure'' was an intermediate title.
* ''Theatre/StrangeInterlude'' was originally titled ''Godfather''.
* ''Theatre/OneTouchOfVenus'' was originally titled ''One Man's Venus''.
* ''Love Life'' originally bore the unlikely title ''A Dish for the Gods''.
* ''Milk and Honey'' was originally titled ''Shalom''.
* ''Theatre/CloserThanEver'' began as a one-act nightclub revue titled ''Next Time Now!''. When the show grew to two acts, the authors realized that it needed a proper finale as well as a better title, and thus wrote "Closer Than Ever" to fulfill both requirements.
* ''Theatre/TheRockyHorrorShow'' was originally going to be called ''They Came From Denton High'' and then ''The Rock Hor-Roar Show''.
* ''Theatre/AwakeAndSing'' was originally titled ''I've Got the Blues''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' was ''Boneheads of Voodoo Island''. This was the "defensive" variant, as LEGO is very protective of its intellectual property. While the franchise did have heavy Polynesian themes at first, the ''BIONICLE'' canon does not contain a setting called Voodoo Island, (or voodoo of any description) and none of the characters have ever been referred to as "Boneheads". The title was, for a short period of time, shortened to just "''Doo Heads''".
** Another, but earlier, working name that crossed the minds of the creators was "''[[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yHykmrIHjJE/T34fqPamWYI/AAAAAAAAABc/rDp6xm5kHAM/s1600/B4+logo+fv.jpg B4]]''", as in "before". The "B" part was carried over into the finalized ''BIONICLE'' logo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/AdventureCShipOfDoom'' had the planned title of ''Alien Space Ship Adventure'', as stated in the ending of ''VideoGame/AdventureBIncaCurse''.
* Creator/{{Atari}}'s UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Akka Arrh'' was canceled after two other titles had been rejected: ''Target Outpost'' and ''The Sentinel''.
* The first ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark1992'' game went through many working titles, such as "Nightmare in Derceto" (from the name of the mansion), "[[DoomyDoomsOfDoom Doom]] in Derceto" and simply "In the Dark".
* ''VideoGame/AngryBirds2'' was soft-launched in Canada under the name, "[[http://www.rovio.com/en/news/blog/625/new-angry-birds-game-soft-launches-in-canada/2015 Angry Birds: Under Pigstruction]]".
* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'''s early title when it was in development was called ''[=ThirtySeven=] - 37''.
* ''{{VideoGame/Audiosurf}} 2'' had the working title of ''Audiosurf Air'' (most likely emphasizing its Wakeboard mode). This title is still used in a few places (Platform/{{Steam}}'s music library being one of them).
* ''VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy'' was intended to be the ''Tales of the Unknown'' series with three parts: ''The Bard's Tale'', ''The Archmage's Tale'' and ''The Thieves' Tale''.
* ''VideoGame/BattalionWars'', a Platform/NintendoGameCube installment of Nintendo's ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' series, was initially titled ''Advance Wars: Under Fire'', keeping the ''Advance Wars'' moniker the series was introduced to internationally. Amusingly, the Japanese version was titled ''Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars'', which used the original ''Famicom Wars'' moniker.
* ''VideoGame/BattleRacingStars'' was known as ''Booster Raiders'' for the entirety of its soft-launch. The name was changed less than a month before its global release [[NeverTrustATitle due to not being very indicative of what the game is about]].
* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' went by ''Love Sick'' then later ''Mom'' in early development. The current title was chosen as a reference to the Biblical story of the same name, as well as a play on ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', which the gameplay is inspired by.
* ''VideoGame/BloodBros'' [[http://blog.system11.org/?p=1732 seems to have had]] the working title ''VideoGame/{{Cabal}} II [[RecycledInSpace in West]]''. This was confirmed by DummiedOut text not present in ''Blood Bros.'' but in a different UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame running on the same hardware, ''Sky Smasher''.
* Around 2005, Creator/StevenSpielberg began collaborating with Electronic Arts to develop three gaming projects. One had the working title PQRS and eventually became ''VideoGame/BoomBlox''. The other was a 3D action adventure code named LMNO, tentatively referred to as "Eve" (as in the name of the alien-looking female sidekick), but then cancelled in 2010. Nothing is known about the third project, whose working title was presumably "HIJK".
* The first few demo versions of ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'' were titled ''[=BoxxyQuest=] 2: Storm Gathering.'' When it was decided to release the game publicly (it was originally intended for a small private forum, like the original), it was renamed to avoid putting off new players.
* ''VideoGame/BugFables'' was initially titled ''Paper Bugs'' (what with it being an {{homage}} to the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series set in a world of civilized bugs) before the finalized title was revealed in January 2018, alongside the [=IndieGoGo=] campaign.
* ''VideoGame/CannonDancer'' was first going to be called "Killing" while in development. There's still a crash error screen in the game that, when activated, prints the otherwise nonsensical phrase "This PCB is not Killing".
* ''VideoGame/CelDamage'' began development under the title of ''Cartoon Mayhem''.
* ''VideoGame/ChicoryAColorfulTale'' was called ''Drawdog'' prior to it being promoted on Kickstarter.
* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' was called "Project Kid" at one point while in development. Like ''Xenogears'', this was actually a thing in the game.
* ''VideoGame/CityOfTitans'' was originally announced under the working title ''Plan Z: The Phoenix Project''. This didn't prevent at least two other projects on Kickstarter from using very similar names, so the final title was apparently decided on earlier than planned.
* ''VideoGame/CodeVein'' is referred inside the game's files as [[spoiler:VideoGame/GodEater Zero]], but it changed to avoid spoiling a major plot twist that happens late in the game's story.
* {{Creator/Konami}} initially planned to release ''[[VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars Contra Spirits]]'' in America as ''Contra IV'', since they originally intended to market ''VideoGame/ContraForce'' (a [[DolledUpInstallment localization of an unrelated game]] titled ''Arc Hound'') as the third game in the ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' series. However, ''Contra Force'' got delayed and Konami decided to bump down the title of ''Contra IV'' to ''Contra III''.
* Before an official title was decided on, ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' was jokingly referred to as ''The [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic's]] Ass Game'' in development, as it was a mascot platformer where the character moved away from the screen, making their backside visible. The "serious" title was "Willie the Wombat" -- though they had never planned on using that for the final game, the player character model is still internally labeled "willie". The final name came from the way that the eponymous character would "crash" his way through the crates and other objects found in the levels.
** ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant'' was going to be called ''Crash: Invasion of the Bandicoot Snatchers'', but it changed due to problems translating while keeping the joke.
* ''VideoGame/CrueBall'' was known as ''Twisted Flipper'' before acquiring the Music/MotleyCrue endorsement.
* The third game of the ''VideoGame/DarkParables'' series, ''Rise of the Snow Queen,'' was originally teased as being titled ''Snowfall Kingdom''.
* ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' was first announced in 2007 under the title ''Rainy Woods''.
* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' was originally given the working title ''Torson & [=McLaine=]'' at the project's beginning. For a while, the game was going to be released under the title ''No Truce with the Furies'', but it was changed into its final title in early 2018.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' was codenamed "The Country Project" due to {{Creator/Rare}}'s headquarters being in the countryside.
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'': An early name for ''Doom'' was "Attack Of The Attackers". There were planned to be six episodes instead of three. The first episode would be called Evil: Unleashed, later used for the name of the [[Platform/AtariJaguar Jaguar]] port. Knee-Deep in the Dead was supposed to be the title of the third episode.
** ''VideoGame/Doom64'' originally went by "''The Absolution''" but was changed to "''Doom 64''" to stay on-brand (although this caused confusion as it implied it was [[SuperTitle64Advance a conversion]] of a ''Doom'' game for the Nintendo 64 instead of a completely original ''Doom'' installment). The name was used as a map name in the game itself instead.
* Creator/DoubleFine names the codenames of their games after bars in San Francisco's Chinatown. This includes "Li-Po" for ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', "Reds" for ''VideoGame/BrokenAge'', and "Grasslands" for ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Downland}}'' for the Platform/ColorComputer was developed under the title ''Cavern Climber''. It was changed to avoid confusion with the already-released game ''Canyon Climber''.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' was originally just known as ''Dragon Age III,'' and then as ''Dragon Age III: Inquisition.'' The developers quickly realized that DAIII:I was a rather clumsy abbreviation, and dropped the number.
* ''VideoGame/DragonRage'' was originally going to be called ''Dragon Wars of VideoGame/MightAndMagic''.
* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemI'' was going to be ''Metal Force''.
* ''VideoGame/FallGuysUltimateKnockout'':
** The original one-page pitch for the game has the title "Fool's Gauntlet". "Stumble Chums" was also considered as a title at one point.
** Some rounds have different working names than their final release: Hoopsie Legends was "Hoops Blockade", Pegwin Pursuit was "Chicken Chase", The Slimescraper was "Slime Climb 2", Power Trip was "Territory Control", and [[https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oADPNz concept art for Season 5]] reveals that Bubble Trouble was called "Bubble Poppers" at one point.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' had a [[ZigZaggingTrope weird situation]]. After ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', the team created a project for a prequel and code named it "Van Buren." Then Black Isle went bust and Van Buren never saw the light of day. After Bethesda bought it up, they made ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', which reused nothing from the Van Buren project... and then Bethesda farmed out their ''next'' project, ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', to Obsidian, the successor studio to Black Isle, who reused a lot of elements from the discarded Van Buren project for ''New Vegas'' and elevated Van Buren to BroadStrokes canon. However, all the remaining old material is still called Van Buren.
** The first ''Fallout'' game had the working title of ''Vault 13'', the underground bunker the game starts in. According to the creator Tim Cain, the title was changed specifically because it wouldn't work for the title of the sequel. Subsequent brainstormings with the developers gave several alternate names, including The Vault, Ground-Zero, Survivors, Warriors of the Apocalypse, Radstorm, Nuclear Winter, Doomsday Winter, After the Bomb, and many more. It was the founder of Interplay, Brian Fargo, who suggested the name ''Fallout'', and while Cain wasn't fond of it at first, he found that it perfectly described the post-apocalyptic setting of the game.
* The first ''{{VideoGame/Fatal Fury|KingOfFighters}}'' game had the working title of ''Real Bout'', which had several {{title drop}}s thorough the backgrounds of the game's stages. It was eventually used as the actual title for a later sub-series of ''Fatal Fury'' games.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' had the working title ''Fighting Fantasy'', but the name was already being used for a tabletop game. Even before that, the game's original project name was simply "FF", with the full name being decided later in development--while "Fantasy" was always part of the title, any word could have been used instead of Final as long as it kept an AlliterativeTitle.
** The ''VideoGame/MobiusFinalFantasy'' working title was ''Mevius Final Fantasy''.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' ("The Sword of Seal"), the first Platform/GameBoyAdvance game in the ''Fire Emblem'' series, was originally titled ''Fire Emblem: Ankoku no Miko'' ("The Maiden of Darkness").
** Both ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' are internally known as ''Fire Emblem 8''. ''Path of Radiance'' began development first, but ''Sacred Stones'' was scheduled to release first.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' was original titled ''[[Franchise/StreetFighter Street Fighter '89]]'', but was changed after play testers criticized the game of being a DolledUpInstallment. Ironically enough, members of the ''Final Fight'' cast would later migrate into the ''Street Fighter'' series.
* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' was originally called ''Geist'', named after the original name for the Locust. It was close to becoming a PermanentPlaceholder too, until Nintendo released an unrelated game also named ''VideoGame/{{Geist}}'', causing ''Gears of War'' to be adopted instead.
* The first ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' game was named ''Scramble 2'' during development, as it was originally meant to be a direct sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Scramble}}''. According to [[https://shmuplations.com/gpg-gradius this interview]], it was only changed to ''Gradius'' after the core gameplay was nearly finalized, motivated by the need to make the game's instruction sheet.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Gojirakun}} Gojira-kun]]'' for the Platform/{{MSX}} was originally titled ''Godzilland''.
* Planning documents for ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'' use the titles ''Blade Gunner'' and ''Lunatic Gunstar''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' was originally known as ''Minos'', back when the main character was Theseus and he was venturing through the Cretan labyrinth to hunt down the Minotaur. The concept changed due to the developers struggling to come up with enough story to stretch out the idea into a full-length game.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' was developed under the code name ''Quiver''.
* ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' had many proposed names, including stuff like ''Covenant'' and even ''Red Shift''. Two titles it went under before being named were ''Monkey Nuts'' and, when Creator/{{Bungie}} co-founder Jason Jones wanted to tell his mother about the new game they were working on, they changed it to ''Blam!''. In the end, an anonymous Bungie employee (nobody knows who did it, even today) wrote on the whiteboard for names "Halo". It worked, and the rest is history.
* ''VideoGame/HeadOverHeels'' was titled ''Foot and Mouth'' for most of the time it was in development.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'' was known in development as ''Project [[VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun RS]]2''.
* ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'', the localization of ''Gaia Gensōki'' (''The Gaia Fantasy Chronicles''), was going to be released as ''Soul Blazer: Illusion of Gaia'', due to being developed by Quintet, developer of ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer''.
* According to the [[https://northwaygames.com/exocolonist-original-design-docs/ early design docs]], one of ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'''s many prototype names was ''Princess of Mars''.
* ''VideoGame/JamesPond: Underwater Agent'' had the working title ''Guppy''.
* ''VideoGame/JetpackJoyride'' was originally known as ''Machine Gun Jetpack'', named so after the default jetpack. Lead designer Luke Muscat claims that the name change was the very last tweak they did before the release and the reason for that was the game presenting itself on the app list as "Machine Gun...", which made it more ominous than intended and not very indicative as to what the game is about. ''Machine Fun Jetpack'' was a known alternate Creator/HalfbrickStudios almost went with, but was quickly rejected in favor of the current name.
* ''VideoGame/JustDance 2014'' was originally called ''Just Dance 5''.
* ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road]]'' was announced on Platform/TwitterX under the working title of ''Project Xehanort'', along with a contest to guess the name of the game.
* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' was originally proposed as ''Popopo of the Spring Breeze'', and then renamed ''Twinkle Popo''. The latter name is a somewhat famous trivia point, as it was used late enough in development that box art and advertising material was produced using that name. They eventually delayed the release to decide on a more internationally-appealing name, and landed on ''Kirby of the Stars'' in Japan and ''Kirby's Dream Land'' internationally.
** ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' was originally announced in Nintendo Power as ''Kirby's Adventure: Nightmare in Dreamland''. The subtitle would be reworked for the game's remake, ''Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land''.
** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' was known as ''Kirby: Active'' during development. Creator/ShigesatoItoi came up with the final Japanese name, ''Kirby Super Deluxe''. The working title for ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' was ''Kirby Super Deluxe Plus'', which was tweaked to ''Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe''. The filenames are still labeled "sdx_plus".
** ''VideoGame/KirbyAirRide'' started out as a Nintendo 64 game called ''Kirby Ball 64'' -- indicating it as a sequel to ''Kirby's Dream Course'', which is ''Kirby Ball'' in Japan -- and later ''Kirby's Air Ride'' before ending on the final name. The Japanese name is ''Kirby's Airride'', which is pretty close.
** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' was announced as ''Kirby Wii'', which is a more literal translation of the Japanese name. An earlier considered name was ''Kirby: Super Friends''.
** The working titles for ''VideoGame/KirbyFightersDeluxe'' and ''Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe'' were respectively "Royal Rampage! Pink Fighting Championship" and "Sorry, No Kirby! Dedede's Drum Dash".
** The original working title for ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' was "Kirby: HAGANE" (''hagane'' means "steel" in Japanese). That was felt to be too edgy, so it was changed to "Robot Planet," which seemed too simplistic. It was tweaked to "Roborobo Planet", and then "Robobo Planet", the final Japanese name. The English version then tweaked that further to "Planet Robobot".
** ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' was announced as ''Kirby for Nintendo Switch''.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastGuardian'' went by the working title "''Project Trico''", the name of the griffon-like creature that accompanies the playable character, before getting its official name at E3 2009.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'' was initially announced to have the subtitle of ''The Last Saga'' during the ending of ''Cold Steel III'', but the subtitle had morphed into ''The End Of Saga'' by the time ''Cold Steel IV'' was finalized and officially announced to the public. The reason of the change is as of yet unknown, but is nonetheless perplexing as the former was actually grammatically correct, while the latter is not.
* ''The Story of Thor'' was going to be published in North America as ''Legend of Thor'' instead of ''[[VideoGame/BeyondOasis The Legend of Oasis]]''.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI The first game]] began development with the working title ''Adventure'' or ''Adventure Title''.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' began development under the title ''Zelda Gaiden''.
** The original trailer for ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' listed the title (in an plain font on a white background) as this. The name stuck.
* ''VideoGame/LegendsOfAria'' was in development as ''Shards Online''.
* ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry7LoveForSail'': On Al Lowe's site, the page "Larry 7 Rejected Titles" lists thirty seven alternate titles.
* ''VideoGame/LittleTailBronx'':
** ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' went by the name ''Little Tail'' during the prototype stages. It can be presumed that this is where the franchise name came from.
** ''VideoGame/SolatoroboRedTheHunter'' was originally announced as ''Solarobo'' (note the lack of the "to") and was presented at France's Japan Expo as ''Project Coda''. The latter title ended up a plot point in the game.
** Its prequel, ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'', went under a very generic codename of ''Tank'', judging from the PC executable.
* The American release of ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie'' was to have been titled ''Francesca's Wand''; it became ''The Krion Conquest'' instead.
* ''VideoGame/MajorHavoc'' went by two working titles, ''Tollian's Web'' and ''Alpha One''.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' was called ''Rockman 8.5'', and a reference to this title still exists in the final game's coding.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear:''
** The original title for ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'' was titled "Intruder". In the [=MSX2=] version, pausing the game and typing "intruder" and then resuming play will increase the ammo capacity of every weapon to 999, providing something of a TitleDrop.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' was originally titled ''Metal Gear 3'' (back when the game was being made for the Platform/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer) until Kojima figured that not many people played the original [=MSX2=] games.
** During the early development of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', the game was actually titled ''MGS III'' (skipping a number).
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' was originally known as "Metal Gear Solid 5". Unlike the previous PSP game in the series, ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps Portable Ops]]'', ''Peace Walker'' was directed by Creator/HideoKojima, who considers ''PW'' to be just as important as the numbered console entries.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' was first announced at E3 2009 under the title ''Metal Gear Solid: Rising''.
** ''Videogame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' was being developed under the code name of Project Ogre, a reference to the shrapnel impale on Big Boss' forehead (which makes it look like an oni's horn).
* Subverted with ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter''. The story goes that "Monster Hunter" was the working title and was intended to be changed later in development, but the developers liked the sheer simplicity of it so much that the name stuck.
* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'' was originally ''Dragon Attack'', after the {{Music/Queen}} song of the same name, which co-creator Ed Boon had a fondness of. It is from this title that the franchise's iconic dragon logo comes from, and the colours mentioned in the song served as the base for the colours used in the game's arcade cabinet.
** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'' would have been called ''Mortal Kombat: Vengeance'', according to its ConceptArtGallery.
** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' was originally called ''Mortal Kombat 2'', keeping in line with [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 the previous installment]], one part ContinuityReboot and one part AlternateContinuity, simply being titled ''[[RecycledTitle Mortal Kombat]]''.
* The Platform/ZXSpectrum budget game ''Mutant Fortress'' was originally titled ''The Muties Stole My Truck''. ''Sinclair User'' wasn't informed of the title change before publishing their review of it.
* ''VideoGame/MutantMudds'' was originally planned as a ThirdPersonShooter called ''Maximillian and the Rise of the Mutant Mudds''.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Darwinia}} Multiwinia]]'' was originally meant to be a working title with users suggesting the title of this game. However, the original stuck.
* The 18th ''VideoGame/MysteryTrackers'' installment, ''Fatal Lesson,'' was originally going to be called ''Tragedy in the Training Camp.''
* The codename for the PC Port of ''VideoGame/NiNoKuniCrossWorlds'' is ''Project N'', according to the game's assets folder.
* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' may have been the tentative title of ''Ninja Ryūkenden'' (''Ninja Dragon Sword Legend'') in Japanese, and in English, was tentatively titled ''Dragon Ninja''.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' was originally to be called ''Heroes'' (no relation to [[Series/{{Heroes}} the TV show]], though that might be why it changed).
* Subverted with ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'', which was originally announced as "Project Octopath Traveler". By the time the demo came out, Creator/SquareEnix had just lopped off the word "Project", and that ended up becoming the final title. The follow-up game, ''VideoGame/TriangleStrategy'', followed the same pattern (started life as "Project TRIANGLE STRATEGY" and then finalized by dropping "Project").
* ''VideoGame/PaydayTheHeist'' was initially called ''Stonecold'', and later, ''PAYDAY: Crime Wave''. Both titles were reused as names of songs in the soundtrack, and the "Crimewave" subtitle was also used for [[VideoGame/Payday2 the sequel's]] release on the Platform/XboxOne and Platform/PlayStation4.
* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' was announced on Website/{{Kickstarter}} as ''Project Eternity''.
* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' had almost one hundred alternate titles during development before the final title was selected, almost all of them either [[PunBasedTitle Pun-Based Titles]] or [[PopCulturePunEpisodeTitle referencing other zombie media]]. These alternate titles include ''Bloom & Doom'', ''Zom-Bottany'' and ''[[Film/DawnOfTheDead1978 Lawn of the Dead]]'' (this last one being a personal favourite of one of the developers). Some of these alternate titles would be reused in-game; for example, Bloom & Doom became the name of the company producing the seed packets for your plants.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' were originally known as ''[[NumberedSequel Pocket Monsters 2]]: Gold and Silver''. ''Pokémon Crystal'', their UpdatedRerelease, was once known as ''Pokémon X''. The working title was later repurposed for ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY''.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'''s code name was ''Pokémon Niji'' (Japanese for ''rainbow'')
* ''VideoGame/PowerBomberman'' was originally released as ''Rho Bomberman'', but it was changed to its current title a few months later, with the release of version 0.3.1.
* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008'' was originally going to carry the subtitle ''Prodigy''.
* ''VideoGame/ProjectGothamRacing'''s codename was... ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Project Gotham Racing]]''. The predecessor was ''Metropolis Street Racing'', and ''[=PGR=]'' was chosen as their codename, but a wrong billboard commission (where it was supposed to be announced with a proper name instead of the codename) prior to its reveal forced Microsoft and Creator/BizarreCreations to move forward with this name. The developers revealed that due to this, their next projects had profane codenames, just to avoid ''this'' mistake.
* ''VideoGame/{{Putty}}'' was still known as ''Silly Putty'' when demos were released on magazine coverdisks. WritingAroundTrademarks is the obvious reason why the title was reduced.
* The original title for ''[[VideoGame/BubbleBobble Puzzle Bobble]]'' may have been intended to be ''Bubble Buster'', which is at least what appears on a DummiedOut title screen.
* In the lead up teaser animations for ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo7'', Sega referred to the game as ''Project Ringo'', named after the then new protagonist to be introduced to the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' series, Ringo Ando.
* ''VideoGame/QBert'' was originally called ''Snots and Boogers'' by its character designer. Gottlieb threw out a lot of ideas for a better title, and one executive nearly succeeded in changing it to ''[[SymbolSwearing @!#?@!]]''.
* In-Universe Example in ''VideoGame/QuantumBreak''; you can find the outline of a book Will is writing called ''A Civilian's Guide to Time Travel (Cliché Working Title)''.
* ''VideoGame/RaidenFighters'' was originally titled ''Gun Dogs'', a name still stamped on some of the arcade cartridge [=ROMs=]. This would normally be evidence that it was a DolledUpInstallment, but an [[http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=2134 early Japanese flyer]] for ''Gun Dogs'' already associated the game with the ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}}'' series.
* ''VideoGame/RescueOnFractalus'' was developed and almost released as ''Behind Jaggi Lines''.
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' was originally intended as a side-story to the series and was known under a variety of working titles such as "Biohazard Gaiden" (not to be confused with the later Game Boy Color game of the same name), "Biohazard 1.9/2.1" and "Biohazard: Last Escape". The "3" was added to the last title, as Capcom wanted to release a final numbered Resident Evil game before moving on to the next-generation platforms.
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' was originally titled "Biohazard 3" during its early drafts, until Capcom decided to keep the numbered installments on the Platform/PlayStation. Ironically enough, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' ended up being made for the [=GameCube=].
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor 2'' had the working title ''Biohazard: Fire Zone''.
* ''VideoGame/RoadBlaster'' had the prototype title ''Turbo Blaster''.
* ''VideoGame/RoadBlasters'' was titled ''Future Vette'' during development.
* The Platform/SegaGenesis game ''VideoGame/SaintSword'' was originally developed under the title ''Macress''.
* Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s NES Power Pad game ''VideoGame/ShortOrder'' was originally titled ''Jump Burger''.
* ''VideoGame/SignsOfTheSojourner'' was called [[https://www.echodoggames.com/blog/2019/02/15/announcing-signs-of-the-sojourner "Project Thunder"]] during production.
* ''VideoGame/TheSims'':
** The [[VideoGame/TheSims1 original game]] went through several working titles when it started development in 1995, including ''Project X'' and ''Dollhouse Simulator''. Creator/ElectronicArts decided against the latter name because they didn't want to [[GirlShowGhetto potentially alienate a male audience]].
** ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' was originally developed as a multiplayer game with the codename ''Project Olympus''.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 The first game]] was originally called "Mr. ハリネズミ" ("Mr. Hedgehog"), which is often translated as "Mr. Needlemouse" (a literal translation of the Japanese word for "hedgehog"). Sega has acknowledged the Needlemouse name many times; as a DevelopmentGag, ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4''[='=]s Working Title was "Project Needlemouse". Humorously, an official Japanese quiz even gave "Mr. Needlemouse" a Japanese RecursiveTranslation (ミスター・ニードルマウス) [[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/mr-needlemouse-makes-an-appearance.39938/ to the disbelief of Yuji Naka,]] one of Sonic's ''creators''.
** ''VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix'' began development as a Platform/SegaGenesis game titled ''Sonic Crackers'', with the ROM header referring to it as ''Sonic Studium''. Note that the title was likely meant to be ''Sonic C'''l'''ackers'', since the game's main gimmick works exactly like the toy of the same name. As ''Sonic Crackers'' was built in [[AprilFoolsDay April 1st]] it led many to believe to be a hoax when it was first discovered, but the text "[=SonicCrackersS32X=]" can be found in one early prototype of ''Chaotix'', proving its legitimacy.
** According to the main programmer Jon Burton, ''VideoGame/Sonic3DBlast'' was titled ''Sonic Spindrift'' in development. He says he does not know why the title was changed, though we can assume that after the cancellation of ''Sonic X-Treme'' Sega wanted to release a Sonic game that would emphasize the "3D" aspect of the gameplay.
** ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' was originally going to be the third installment in the [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Adventure]] [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 series]], but got renamed to ''Sonic World Adventure'', before reaching its final name. The Japanese version kept the original title though.
** The name ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' was originally thought to be the Working Title for a new Sonic game, but this was {{averted|Trope}} and confirmed as the game's official title. Oddly enough, the game did have a working title, being marginally leaked as ''Sonic Anniversary''.
** ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' had the working title of ''Sonic Discovery''. Iizuka Takashi, head of Sonic Team, suggested the new name, as he felt it was a game made "for the mania, by the mania".
** ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' was titled ''Sonic Resistance'' in development.
** ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'' was originally ''Sonic Rangers'' according to press release and metadata of the initial unnamed teaser.
** ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars'' was named "''Sonic Orion''" internally prior to its full reveal. The save game on Switch still references this name and some screenshots with the ''Orion'' name had appeared on the official site before being eventually removed.
** The working title of ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'' was "''Sonic Wildfire''".
* ''[[VideoGame/SpiderManPS4 Spider-Man]]'' on the Platform/PlayStation4 had the working title ''[=Spider-Man PS4=]''.
* The PuzzleGame ''Split Personalities'' was originally developed as ''Splitting Images'', but was retitled shortly after its initial Platform/ZXSpectrum release to avoid infringing on the trademark for ''Series/SpittingImage''.
* For a brief time before release, the English version of ''VideoGame/{{Strider|Arcade}}'' was known as "The Falcon" due to Capcom's marketing dept. not being sold on the word "Strider" at first, but later conceded it was fine and reverted the decision. "Ninja Dynamics" was another English name considered.
* ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'' had the working title of ''Descend''.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' was very briefly considered to be renamed ''Mario's Adventure'' for the US market. The arcade port, ''Vs. Super Mario Bros.'', was going to be called ''Vs. Mario's Adventure.''
** ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' was announced as ''Super Mario''.
** ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'' was announced as ''Mario Kart''.
** ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'' was going to be known as ''Super Mario RPG 2''. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' was originally known as ​''Paper Mario 2'', and ''Mario Story 2'' in Japan. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' was announced as ''Paper Mario''.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' had the working title of ''Mario Maker''.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' was known in development as ''Super Mario Bros. 4''; though the name was changed, it nonetheless stuck as a subtitle for the Japanese release.
** Similarly, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'' was originally titled ''Super Mario Bros. 5: Yoshi's Island'' in a prototype build. Both titles are still sequels to ''Super Mario World''. Subverted in Japan, where it was changed to ''Super Mario: Yoshi's Island''.
** Subverted with ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1'', where the working title was kept.
** ''VideoGame/DrMario'' had the simple Working Title of ''Virus'' and originally didn't feature Mario at all.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'': The "Steam Gardens" area was originally known as Kogwald. The rename was likely made to better match the locale, since cogs are mostly absent from its steam-based machinery.
* Subverted with ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU''. When the game was announced at E3 2013, everyone assumed that the name was a working title, but once the game was released, it still carried the name of ''Super Smash Bros. [[StealthPun for]] Nintendo 3DS and Wii U'' (the latter half is obviously split across the game's two versions).
* The open source piano game ''Synthesia'' was going to be called ''Piano Hero'' until receiving a cease and desist from Creator/{{Activision}}, publishers of ''VideoGame/GuitarHero''.
* ''VideoGame/TabulaRasa'', early in development, was referred to as ''Ultima X''.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' was originally intended to have the less English-sounding title ''Tale Phantasia''.
* As ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' had been in development in some way since before the release of ''VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic'', the game has had many working titles. These include ''VideoGame/HalfLife Team Fortress'', ''{{Creator/Valve|Software}}'s Team Fortress'', ''Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms'' and ''Team Fortress 2: Invasion''. The last title was later reused for an alien themed update in the final [=TF2=].
* ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' was originally titled ''Rave War''. Law's "Rave War Combo" move may be an [[DevelopmentGag homage]] to that.
* ''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'': Formerly known as ''Franchise/FireEmblem X Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', due to being a crossover between those two franchises. It was also known as ''Stainless'', perhaps as a reference to the preferred reputation of an IdolSinger (the game being all about the idol business).
* ''VideoGame/TomatoAdventure'' went by the title of ''Gimmick Land'' when it was originally in development.
* ''Touch Dictionary'', a South Korean virtual dictionary for the Platform/NintendoDS, was originally announced under the name ''Touch Dic''. The rename happened after the proposed title generated widespread ridicule in the Anglosphere for its unintentionally sexual-sounding name.
* ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'' was originally ''High Octane'', as seen in the original FMV endings.
* According to a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk4b4L8Da10 Rare Revealed]] video, ''VideoGame/VivaPinata'' was originally just called ''Piñata'' until they realised it was too generic to trademark. Other title ideas included ''Piñata Paradise'', ''Loco Piñata'', ''Lots o' Piñata'', and ''Whole Lotta Piñata''.
* The proposal for what eventually became ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' was named ''Squadron''[[note]]A nod to this is featured in the single player portion of ''VideoGame/StarCitizen'', titled ''Squadron [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy 42]]''.[[/note]] and ''Wingleader''.
* ''VideoGame/AVeryLongRopeToTheTopOfTheSky'': As revealed in the Developer's Note for Time's Shadow:
--> This was the working title of the game for a long time.\\
I ended up changing it because I hated saying it out loud.
* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' was named "Project P-100" during its early stages.
* The Wii U ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' game, called ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'', initially had the project name of X.
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' was originally to be called -Project Noah- [[spoiler:after Krelian's plan to restore Merkava, walk with god and revive Deus]], but it was changed for unknown reasons mid-development to [[spoiler:the name of Weltall's ultimate form]]. Presumably, Creator/{{Square|Enix}} didn't want the already stretched controversial religious theming to extend to the title.
* In late 2010 [[VideoGame/{{X}} Egosoft]] announced they were working on a project which they called ''TNBT'', short for ''The Next Big Thing''. In 2011, it was announced as ''VideoGame/XRebirth''.
* ''VideoGame/ZombiesAteMyNeighbors'' reached the beta stage with the title ''Monsters'', but Creator/LucasArts demanded a more trademarkable title. The manual includes a long list of rejected alternate titles for the game.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Video Game Consoles ]]

* The Aladdin Deck Enhancer was initially The Aladdin System.
* The cancelled M2 console was going to be called the [[Platform/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3DO II]], code named Bulldog, and was going to be released as the 3DO M2 before being sold to Panasonic.
* Most of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s gaming platforms had code names during development that were different from the names Nintendo actually used on the market. The model numbers of most of the hardware that Nintendo has released more often than not reflect the original code name of the platform (e.g. every Platform/GameBoy-related hardware has a model number that begins with the letters "DMG").
** The Famicom (Japanese version of the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem was originally going to be called the "Home Video Computer", which is reflected by the hardware code used by Nintendo (HVC). Likewise, the [[Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]] uses "SHVC."
*** In the Western Hemisphere, the Nintendo Entertainment System was originally going to be called the Nintendo Advanced Video System. Unlike the other examples here though, the hardware code for the NES used the acronym for the final name (NES) and not the working title (AVS), and this was repeated for the SNES (shortened to SNS, "Super Nintendo System").
** The "DMG" in the Platform/GameBoy's model number stands for "Dot Matrix Game".
** The Platform/VirtualBoy was originally called the "Virtual Utopia Experience" (VUE), and [=VR32=].
** The Platform/{{Nintendo 64}} was originally called "Project Reality" and then changed to the "Nintendo Ultra 64" (NUS) for a while before it got its final name.
** Most of the Game Boy's revisions follow a similar naming scheme. The Game Boy Pocket was "Mini Game Boy" (MGB); the Platform/GameBoyColor was "Color Game Boy" (CGB); the Platform/GameBoyAdvance was "Advanced Game Boy" (AGB).
** The code name for the Platform/NintendoGameCube was "Dolphin" (DOL).
** The code name for the Platform/GameBoyMicro was "Oxygen" (OXY).
** The code name for the Platform/NintendoDS was "Nitro" (NTR). "Nintendo DS" itself was a working title, short for "Developers' System". When initially revealed, journalists reported that it was short for "Dual Screen", and Nintendo--realizing the system was marketing itself--opted to [[PermanentPlaceholder stick with it]].
** The code name for the Platform/{{Wii}} was the "Revolution" (RVL).
** The code name for the Platform/Nintendo3DS was "Centair" (CTR).
** The code name for the Platform/WiiU was "Zii" (Zii also being the name used on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' as a BlandNameProduct), then later "Project Café". Oddly enough, the console's product codes use "WUP" (Wii U Project).
** The code name for the Platform/NintendoSwitch was the "NX" (short for "next", but can also be "[[LetXBeTheUnknown Nintendo X]]"). Its hardware code is "HAC" (short for "handheld and console").
* Most of Creator/{{Sega}}'s consoles developed during the 1990s had planet-based code names:
** Mercury: Platform/GameGear
** Venus: [[Platform/OtherSegaSystems Sega Nomad]]
** Earth: [[UnInstallment Was never used]], but commonly thought to be the Platform/SegaGenesis (which was codenamed "Mark V")
** Moon: [[Platform/SegaGenesis Mega Drive Mini]], referencing the above
** Mars: [[Platform/Sega32X 32X]]
** Jupiter: A Saturn-like system with games on cartridges instead of [=CDs=] (development abandoned)
** [[Platform/SegaSaturn Saturn]]: Originally announced as a code name, but this one stuck.
** Uranus: [[UnInstallment Was never used]], because it sounds like "uranu" ("will not sell") in Japanese.[[note]]Additionally, Sega, being a company with American roots, were likely well aware of the [[UranusIsShowing childish puns]] that may ensue.[[/note]]
** Neptune: Genesis/32X integrated hybrid (unreleased, though memorialized in ''Franchise/{{Neptunia}}'')
** Pluto: Platform/SegaSaturn with integrated modem (only a few prototypes produced)
* Two competing architectures were developed by Sega to become the basis of the [[Platform/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]]. One was called {{Katana|sAreJustBetter}} and the other was called [[VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Dural]]. Sega decided to use the Dural design, but [=3Dfx=], the company that made that design's GPU, leaked its specs so they chose the Katana to be the Dreamcast instead.
* The Platform/{{Xbox}} hardware:
** The original Xbox was originally named Project Midway, named after the decisive battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, since Microsoft aimed to surpass Sony as the leading console gaming company. It later had another working title, the [=DirectX=] Box.
** The Platform/Xbox360 was Xenon (Website/TheOtherWiki also includes the title Xbox 2) while the Kinect was code named Project Natal.
** Platform/XboxOne was codenamed Durango, and the Xbox One Kinect was Petra.
** The Xbox One X was codenamed Project Scorpio. This lives on as a special edition version of the console with the Project Scorpio branding on the face and a gradient gray color scheme.
** The Platform/{{Xbox Series|XAndS}} family was originally collectively codenamed "Project Scarlett" before the two tiers were differentiated as "Lockhart" (S) and "Anaconda" (X).
* The original name for the Platform/PlaystationVita was the "NGP", or "Next Generation Portable".
* The [=PlayStation=] VR for the Platform/PlayStation4 was codenamed “Project Morpheus”.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* "Summer School" for ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/InanimateInsanityInvitational'' had the working title of ''Inanimate Insanity: Fans vs. Favorites'', as shown by Adam during the storyboard phase of the opening.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TheMonsterAndTheGirl'' was originally named this as a working title; the author considered other names, but decided in the end to use the working title.
* ''Webcomic/BicycleBoy'' was intended to be the working title, for obvious reasons. But the author could not think of anything better.
* ''Webcomic/ReBootCodeOfHonor'' was originally pitched as "''[=ReBoot=]: Arrival''".
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': On multiple occasions, Dan has named storylines provisionally as "Title pending" before replacing them with appropriate titles partway through. This was turned into an in-joke during the storyline with "party" in its URL, which never got a proper name and eventually was divided into the chapters "Title Pending 2 - Even More Pending", "Title Pending 3 - Untitled Party", and "Title Pending 5 or 6". The final strip of the arc retroactively named it "Reflections", but it's still listed as "Title Pending" in the archive.
* The ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' storyline "Yes, Virginia" was intially "Playing Pilgrims", before Shaenon and Jeff realised there was a ''much better'' title for a story about Virginia Lee on a Secret Santa. The OfficialFanSubmittedContent storyline "Ghosts I Have Been" was intially "Be the Jeff 2017".
* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': As seen in early promotional materials, the comic was originally going to be named [[https://sleepless-domain.tumblr.com/post/93255882016/we-at-hiveworks-are-proud-to-announce-our-latest Umbra Rising]]. This was changed to the comic's current name several months before it began publication, as ''Sleepless Domain'' was determined to better suit the concept.
* ''Webcomic/PoisonIvyGulch'' revealed [[https://www.poisonivygulch.com/the-writers-shack-june-2021/ here]] that early titles included "Pig Iron Peak", "Pasta Western", "Lasagna Western" and "Tortellini Western", the last three being a play on the term SpaghettiWestern.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* ''Creator/{{Funhaus}}'' was originally considered being named Dude Soup. This was instead reused for their news podcast. This was a RunningGag early on their Q&A show, which was given a new increasingly NonSequitur working title in each episode, before ''Open Haus'' was settled on.
* ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' originally had the working title ''Star Space: The Search for Plot''. Many Website/ChannelAwesome producers have said in various commentaries that most of them had no idea the film's title had been changed until the trailers started coming out. According to said commentaries, Linkara seems to be the only producer who liked the working title better.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeDistantLands'' had the working title of ''Rumble Jaw'' to hide its existence from not only fans, but also anyone at the studio who wasn't a member of the production team. The producer even had artwork commissioned to hang on the studio walls in place of new ''Adventure Time'' artwork to help sell the deception until the miniseries was officially announced.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': The show was originally going to be called ''Gumball'' and was not a reference to the main character's name, as the name came from Ben Bocquelet thinking of random things a boy would have in his pocket. Meanwhile, some of the episodes in his series underwent changes in title:
** "The World" [[note]](the season two episode where the objects of Elmore come to life and the show is temporarily called ''The Amazing World of Elmore'')[[/note]] was originally called "The Objects"
** "The Extras" [[note]](the season three episode where the background characters, minor characters, and {{living prop}} characters scare off Gumball and Darwin and [[LowerDeckEpisode have their own episode]])[[/note]] was originally called "The People"
** "The Fraud"[[note]]the season three episode where Principal Brown thinks Gumball and Darwin are going to expose him for having a fake diploma and not being qualified to be a principal[[/note]] was originally called "The Phoney"
** "The Boss"[[note]]the season three episode where Rocky the janitor takes an office job to pay for his father's operation[[/note]] was originally called "The Heart"[[note]]possibly because the episode was originally written with Mr. Robinson having a heart attack instead of suffering from a stuffing deficiency[[/note]]
** "The Void"[[note]]the season three episode where Gumball, Darwin, and Mr. Small venture into Elmore's dimension of mistakes to save a character who [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappeared after season one]][[/note]] was originally called "The Hole"
** "The Question"[[note]]season three episode where Gumball and Darwin find the meaning of life[[/note]] was originally called "The Answer"
** "The Origins"[[note]]season four episode -- and the first two-parter episode -- showing how Gumball and Darwin became brothers[[/note]] was originally called "The Roots".
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' was originally called "Amphibiland", but the name was changed because it was already being used in ''Kulipari'', another show set in a world of amphibians. This title was still used in some dubs of the show, however.
* The final season of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' was initially to be known as ''Aqua [=TiVo=] Avoidance Plan'', but was later given a MeaningfulRename into ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Forever''.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' was originally called ''Duchess'', after Sterling Archer's code name, but was changed just a few days before the opening sequence was finished.
* The sequel series to ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was originally going to be ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'', taking the basis of the British name for the original series. However, legal issues about the term 'Avatar' meant that it was changed to ''The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra''. After fan complaints about its bulk and lack of in-universe sense (she is no longer "the last airbender"), it became simply ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', maintaining the "Avatar" prefix overseas.
** From the original series, two episodes went through this: "The Blue Spirit" was originally called "The Red Spirit" and "The Blind Bandit" was originally called "The Earthbending Tournament".
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'':
** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' was originally called ''Ben 10: Hero Generation'', though this was due to that version having an entirely [[WhatCouldHaveBeen different concept]].
** ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'' was originally called ''Evolutions'' before shortened to ''Evolution'' until finally became ''Ultimate Alien''.
** The ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' episode "Rook Tales" was originally titled "Separation Anxiety".
* In-universe example in ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': ''Mr. Peanutbutter's House'' was initially simply "[[UntitledTitle Unnamed ''Horsin' Around'' Knockoff]]".
* WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts:
** The [[WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies Silly Symphony]] short "Bugs in Love" had the working title "Bug Symphony".
** "WesternAnimation/PlutosJudgementDay" was originally titled "Pluto's Nightmare".
** "Polar Trappers" was originally titled "Arctic Trappers" and "Antarctic Trappers".
** "The Fox Hunt" was originally titled "Master of the 'Ounds".
** "WesternAnimation/MrDuckStepsOut" was originally titled "Donald's Date" and "Donald in the Groove".
** "Pluto's Playmate" was originally titled "Big-Hearted Pluto".
** "The Art of Skiing" was originally titled "How to Ski".
** The WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon "WesternAnimation/DerFuehrersFace" was originally titled "Donald Duck in Nutzi Land", but was changed when the song became a runaway hit (though some people call it "Donald Duck in Nutzi Land" regardless).
** "The Flying Jalopy" was originally titled "Mr. Duck Gets His Wings".
** "The Simple Things" was originally titled "Boy Meets Gull" and "Gull Crazy".
** "Canvas Back Duck" was originally titled "Forgot to Duck".
* Early development artwork for ''WesternAnimation/CloseEnough'' featured the titles ''Splitting Rent'' and ''Almost Family''.
** During [[RefugeeFromTVLand Candice's nightmare]] in "Halloween Enough", in which she wanders through the show's production offices, a piece of paper can be seen listing "potential series titles", including ''20's and 30's'', ''Half Past 30'', ''Apartmental'', ''Joint Tenants'', ''Experirenting'' and ''Rentaled''.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' was originally ''Garage Kids'', with a darker theme and lacking Aelita. The digital world was called "Xanadu" instead of "Lyoko". Also, Yumi could use telekinesis in the real world. It was later revamped, with a clearer boundary between the digital world and the real world.
* ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'':
** "Someone Else's Feelings" was originally called "Daniel Learns About Empathy". This title is retained on several TV listings.
** Early television listings for "Daniel Sits On The Potty" called it "Daniel Takes His Time On The Potty", with the current name being chosen to avoid confusion with "Daniel Takes His Time".
** "Daniel Stops Himself From Hurting Someone" was the original name of "Circle Time Squabble".
* Several ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episodes have had working titles:
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E10FOXyLady FOX-y Lady]]" was originally titled "Anchorwoman: The Legend of Lois Griffin".
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E14WeLoveYouConrad We Love You, Conrad]]" was originally titled "An American Dog in Paris".[[note]]The change is due to the fact that Brian was originally going to date Creator/ParisHilton in the episode, but she turned down the offer to voice herself, leading to the show being rewritten so that Lauren Conrad is Brian's date.[[/note]]
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E3SpiesReminiscentOfUs Spies Reminiscent of Us]]" was originally titled "Road to '85".[[note]]This was because the episode was originally in development as a "Road to..." episode before "Road to the Multiverse" became the one for that season.[[/note]]
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E2ExcellenceInBroadcasting Excellence in Broadcasting]]" was originally titled "Peter Griffin is a Big Fat Idiot".[[note]]This was probably because the episode was about Peter becoming friends with Rush Limbaugh rather than Brian.[[/note]]
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E14TiegsForTwo Tiegs for Two]]" was originally titled "Famiry Guy".[[note]]The change was actually a good thing, because the story of Peter antagonizing a Chinese launderer is actually the B-plot.[[/note]]
** The third ''Franchise/StarWars'' parody, "[[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuyPresentsLaughItUpFuzzball It's a Trap!]]", was originally titled "Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper".
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E1LotteryFever Lottery Fever]]" was originally titled "Powerball Fever".
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS11E2RatingsGuy Ratings Guy]]" was originally titled "All in the Nielsen Family"
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS11E8JesusMaryAndJoseph Jesus, Mary & Joseph!]]" was originally titled "Jesus Christ!"
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS13E3BakingBad Baking Bad]]" was originally titled "Peter and Lois Open a Store" (the episode is still called that on the DVD set and on Netflix).
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS14E2PapaHasARollinSon Papa Has a Rollin' Son]]" was originally titled "Crip Off the Old Block".
** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS14E9AShotInTheDark A Shot in the Dark]]" was originally titled "Stand Your Brown".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' was originally going to be called ''The Flagstones'' and had a brief working title of ''The Gladstones'' ([=GLadstone=] being a Los Angeles telephone exchange at the time).
* [[WordOfGod According to]] Creator/MattGroening, initial titles chosen for ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' included ''Doomsville'' and ''Aloha, Mars!''.
** "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E11WhereNoFanHasGoneBefore Where No Fan Has Gone Before]]" was originally titled "We Got Everybody But Scotty".
** "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E5TheBirdBotOfIceCatraz The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz]]" was originally titled "Emperor Benguin".
** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E13TheFuturamaHolidaySpectacular The Futurama Holiday Spectacular]]" was originally titled "Holiday Val-U-Pack".
** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E5ZappDingbat Zapp Dingbat]]" was originally titled "Blue Munda".
** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E23GameOfTones Game of Tones]]" was originally titled "Breaking Through to the Mother Side".
* ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries'' was referred to as ''Heat Seekers'' to hide the fact it was a tie-in with ''Film/Godzilla1998''. Early concept art and storyboards of Godzilla for the cartoon were referred to as "Gorgon" or "Thingy"/"Thingie", and drawn as a vaguely ''Spinosaurus''-like creature to further disguise the true premise (and the fact even many of the show's producers were not allowed to see Godzilla's redesign until the movie came out in theatres).
* ''WesternAnimation/GoJetters'' was initially pitched under the name ''Titch Hikers''.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch Help! It's The Hair Bear Bunch!]]'' (1971) had the working name "The Yo-Yo Bears".
* ''WesternAnimation/HongKongPhooey'' was originally penciled on ABC's Saturday morning schedule as ''Kung Phooey''. A Charlton comic story actually called him that.
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'''s original show titles included: ''Hank Hill and His Clan'', ''The Hank Hill Comedy Hour'', ''Dale Gribble and The Other Guy'', ''I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass!'', ''Citizen Hank'', and ''Propane Man''.
* ''WesternAnimation/LetsGoLuna'' went by the name ''Luna Around the World'' when it was originally announced.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** "WesternAnimation/PorkysBadtimeStory" was originally titled "It Happened All Night", but was changed because it was considered too suggestive (when really it was a reference to the screwball comedy ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight'').
** "Get Rich Quick Porky" was originally titled "The Oily Bird Gets Porky".
** "Jungle Jitters" was originally titled "The Fulla Bluff Salesman".
** "WesternAnimation/FallingHare" was originally titled "Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin".
*** The reason for the above change was that Creator/WaltDisney was planning a movie about gremlins and asked other studios to hold off any gremlin related projects. Warner Bros. already had two gremlin cartoons well into production, so they simply changed the titles. The second short, "WesternAnimation/RussianRhapsody", was originally "Gremlins from the Kremlin".
** "Scent-imental Over You" was originally titled "Forever Ambushed".
** "Daffy Duck Slept Here" was originally titled "Room and Bored".
** "Homeless Hare" was originally titled "Blueprint Bunny".
** "WesternAnimation/WhatsUpDoc" was originally titled "Hare's My Story".
** "WesternAnimation/RabbitFire" was originally titled "What's Up, Duck?".
** "Punch Trunk" was originally titled "Little Doubt".
** "Design For Leaving" was originally titled "Future Antics".
** "Gone Batty" was originally titled "Trunkful of Curves".
** "Goo Goo Goliath" was originally titled "Stork Clubbed".
** "WesternAnimation/LighthouseMouse" was originally titled "Light Mouse Keeping".
** "WesternAnimation/OneFroggyEvening" was originally titled "It Hopped One Night".
** "The Slap-Hoppy Mouse" was originally titled "Of Mice and Menace".
** "Wideo Wabbit" was originally titled "Omni-Bunny".
** "WesternAnimation/HareWayToTheStars" was originally titled "Up in the Hare".
** "Mice Follies" was originally titled "Mouse-Trapped".
** "The Dixie Fryer" was originally tiled "Southern Flied Chicken".
** "Dog Gone People" was originally titled "Canine Mutiny".
** "Road to Andalay" was originally titled "Tequila Mockingbird".
** "WesternAnimation/WellWornDaffy" was originally titled "Gunga Daffy".
** "Quacker Tracker" was originally titled "A Hunting We Will Go-Go".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'':
** "White Hare" was originally titled "Hide Nor Hare".
** "Insta-Gran" was originally titled "Geri-Antics", this title would later be used for a season four episode.
** "Middle Men" was originally titled "Lesson Plan".
* ''WesternAnimation/MagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' was originally called "Here Comes Mumfie", which was changed because there was already a puppet show with the same name.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'' was originally called "Monsters" before Creator/CartoonNetwork came into the deal.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'' was called ''Superman: Up and Away'' during production.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'':
** "Gridiron Glory" was originally titled "Teen Spirit".
** "I Was a Preschool Dropout" was originally titled "Back to Preschool".
** "Hostile Makeover" was originally titled "When It's Time to Change".
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** "Suited for Success" was originally "Dressed for Failure". (Changed for sounding too negative)
** "Stare Master" was originally titled "Fluster-shy".
** "Owls Well that Ends Well" was originally "Hoo Goes There".
** "Sisterhooves Social" was originally titled "Sissy Fit".
** "May the Best Pet Win!" was originally titled "The Tortoise and the Mare".
** "Read It and Weep" was originally titled "Series/ReadingRainbow".
** "Secret of My Excess" was originally "Giving Dangerously" and then "Attack of the 50 Foot Dragon".
** "One Bad Apple" was originally titled "Bully for You".
** "Keep Calm and Flutter On" was originally titled "Fluttershy's Home for Reformed Draconequii".
** "The Cutie Map" was originally titled "Cutie Markless".
** In universe example: Trixie's magic show in "No Second Prances" goes through several different titles. Each title receives a lukewarm response from whoever she's talking to, after which she backpedals with "It's a working title!"
* ''WesternAnimation/NakedMoleRatGetsDressedTheRockSpecial'' originally went by the title ''Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience'' prior to the special's release.
* ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers'' originally had the title of ''Molly: Star Racer''. Production fluxed back and forth between the two titles.
* The original pitch of ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' was titled "Super Lakewood Plaza Turbo" before being shortened to "Lakewood Plaza Turbo" for the pilot.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'':
** An [[WhatCouldHaveBeen earlier idea]] for the show was for it to stick with [[OneWordTitle one-word titles]]. In this case, "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS1E1LateForBreakfastBummerJobs Late for Breakfast]]" would have been called "HUNGRY!". It wasn't, and the outline changed it to "Patrick's Late for Dinner" before it was later finalized.
** "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS1E16BackpayPaybackHouseHunting Backpay Payback]]" was originally titled "Payback's a Squid", likely changed due to being a {{pun}} on the phrase "payback's a bitch".
** "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS1E17TheDroolingFoolPatricksGotAZooLoose Patrick's Got a Zoo Loose]]" was originally "Patrick's Got an ''Alien'' Zoo Loose", likely shortened to make it less of a WordSaladTitle.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhantomInvestigators'' was originally called ''Daemona Prune''. The executives at Creator/KidsWB suggested the change early in production.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' was originally proposed as ''Whoopass Stew'' featuring the Whoopass Girls. And instead of the Professor accidentally spilling "Chemical X" into the formula, he accidentally opens "a can of whoopass".
* ''WesternAnimation/RosiesRules'': The pitch pilot was called ''Alexa Land.''
* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' (1969) originally had the working titles ''Who's Scared?'' and ''Mysteries Five.'' After CBS rejected the original presentation art as too scary, the network's head of daytime and children's programming, Fred Silverman, heard Frank Sinatra's "Strangers In The Night" while flying back to New York and the "scooby dooby doo" tag at the end of the song caught his attention. He called Joe Barbera and told him to give the show a comedy slant, make the dog the star and call him Scooby-Doo. He was originally a sheepdog called Too Much, but was changed to a Great Dane as one of the artists at Hanna-Barbera raised Great Danes as a hobby and the ComicBook/{{Archie}} show (which followed Scooby on CBS) already had a sheepdog, Jughead's pet Hot Dog.
** In that same season, Hanna-Barbera was developing a show with the title "Stop That Pigeon," which featured a jelly-bellied Red Baronesque figure and a dachshund with pilot's goggles. It evolved into ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines,'' recruiting the villains from ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces.''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS18E22YouKentAlwaysSayWhatYouWant You Kent Always Say What You Want]]" was originally titled "The Kent State Massacre", but was changed after the Virginia Tech shootings.
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E15HomersPhobia Homer's Phobia]]" was originally titled "Lisa Goes to Camp", but was changed because the pun was thought to be too oblique and the story (which would have been about Lisa getting into collecting kitsch items and Bart doing the same, only for Homer to worry about Bart's sexuality) was rewritten to include the kitschy antique store owner played by Creator/JohnWaters and having him be the one who allegedly influences Bart.
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E23ThirtyMinutesOverTokyo Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo]]" was originally titled "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E5FatManAndLittleBoy Fat Man and Little Boy]]", which was later used for an unrelated episode in Season 16.
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E23MuchApuAboutNothing Much Apu About Nothing]]" was originally titled "Anti-Immigration Song".
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS25E11SpecsInTheCity Specs in the City]]" was originally titled "I Only Have My Eyes for You".[[note]]This is due to the product featured in the episode, the Oogle Goggles, originally being called [=MyEyes=].[[/note]]
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS30E9DaddicusFinch Daddicus Finch]]" was originally titled "Lisa Has a Crush on Homer".
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS34E3LisaTheBoyScout Lisa the Boy Scout]]" was originally titled "Love Hacktually".
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' was originally known as ''[=SpongeBoy=] Ahoy!'', with the initial storyboards for the pilot carrying this title. For years it has been accepted as fact that the reason the title was changed because [=SpongeBoy=] was already being used as a mop brand, however the [=SpongeBoy=] mop doesn't exist (it's actually a pencil).
** "F.U.N." was originally titled "My Fair Plankton".
** "Can You Spare a Dime?" was originally titled "Down and Out in Bikini Bottom".
** "The Camping Episode" was originally titled "Squid Gets Mauled".
** "Shell of a Man" was originally titled "Molting" and "Shell Game".
** "The Clash of Triton" was originally titled "Neptune's Party".
** "One Coarse Meal" was originally titled "Plankton Got Served".
** "Welcome to the Bikini Bottom Triangle" was originally titled "Welcome to the Bermuda Triangle".
** "Sanctuary!" was originally titled "One Snail Sponge".
** "Mermaid Pants" was originally titled "Mermaid Pants and Barnacle Star".
** "Moving Bubble Bass" was originally titled "Move Your Bubble Bass", which was changed for obvious reasons.
** "Krusty Kleaners" was originally titled "Clean Livin'".
* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': The crossover special with ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'' was originally titled, "Sofia the First: Journey to Avalor". When the spinoff ended up airing early, it was retitled "Elena and the Secret of Avalor" and added in a FramingDevice where Elena recounts the events to Naomi as a flashback.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** "[[Recap/SouthParkS16E9RaisingTheBar Raising the Bar]]" was titled "Rascal Tipping" during production.
** "[[Recap/SouthParkS20E7OhJeez Oh, Jeez]]" was originally titled "The Very First Gentlemen". This was changed to coincide with a last minute change in content since the episode dealt with the 2016 US election and they hadn't expected Trump to win ("Oh Jeez" being the catchphrase of Mr. Garrison, the Trump stand-in on the show).
** "[[Recap/SouthParkS10E10MissTeacherBangsABoy Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy]]" was going to be called "Nice" after a recurring expression in the episode.
* WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons:
** ''One Ham's Family'' was originally titled ''The Smart Little Pig''.
** ''What's Buzzin' Buzzard?'' was originally titled ''Vulture a la King''.
** ''Henpecked Hoboes'' was originally titled ''Bums Away''.
** ''Little 'Tinker'' was originally titled ''Smellbound''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'':
** ''World Tour'' was originally announced as ''Total Drama: The Musical''.
** ''Revenge of the Island'' started out as ''Total Drama Comedy'', then ''Total Drama - Return to Wawanakwa'' and lastly ''Total Drama Reloaded''.
** ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaRama'' was announced as ''Total Drama Daycare''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'':
** ''Switchin' Kitten'', the first of Creator/GeneDeitch's shorts, was originally titled ''Dog My Cats''. The suits at MGM came up with the final title, which Deitch detested because he felt it wasn't relevant to the FreakyFridayFlip plot.
** ''Tall in the Trap'' was originally titled ''Top Trap''.
** ''Puss 'n' Boats'' had several working titles, including ''Down to the Cheese in Ships'', ''Blow the Cat Down'', ''Salt Water Tabby'' and ''Bell Bottom Mouser''.
* ''WesternAnimation/WorkItOutWombats'' was originally titled just ''Wombats!''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* Platform/MicrosoftWindows code names and working titles (full list [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Microsoft_codenames here]] on Website/TheOtherWiki):
** Chicago, Windows 4.0 (Windows 95)
** Memphis, Windows 97, Windows 4.1 (Windows 98)
** Millennium, Windows 4.9 (Windows ME)[[note]]The working title was (kinda) kept in the final product because, despite what people may tell you, the M in ME stands for Millennium.[[/note]]
** Daytona (Windows NT 3.5)
** Cairo (Windows NT 4.0)
** Janus (Windows 2000 x64)[[note]]Windows 2000 itself did not have a code name because, according to Dave Thompson of Windows NT team, "Jim Allchin didn't like code names".[[/note]]
** Whistler (Windows XP)
*** Mantis (Windows XP Embedded)
*** Freestyle (Windows XP Media Center Edition)
*** Lonestar (Windows XP Tablet PC Edition)
** Diamond (Windows Media Center)[[note]]the one in Vista[[/note]]
** Longhorn (Windows Vista)
** Blackcomb, Vienna (Windows 7)
** Blue (Windows 8.1)
** Threshold (Windows 10)[[note]]Named after a location seen in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', which Installation O4 orbits near.[[/note]]
*** Project Spartan (Microsoft Edge)[[note]]also named after ''Halo''[[/note]]
** Sun Valley (Windows 11)
* Many companies have gone through this in a way, changing their original name to a more memorable brand after a few years of existence, usually after learning that another company had the same name:
** The original Creator/{{Atari}} began doing business as Syzygy Co. in 1971. A year and a half later, it incorporated as Atari, Inc.
** Raytheon was founded in 1922 as the American Appliance Company. It became the Raytheon Manufacturing Company in 1925, adopting the name of its first commercially successful product (a rectifier tube) because there was already a company in Indiana using the original name.
* During company acquisitions, the "reverse triangular merger" method involves the parent company creating a shell company that takes on the legal responsibilities that the subsumed company would usually have during a merger. Once complete, the subsumed company is merged with the shell to continue on as a technically new entity. It is very common during this process for the shell company to possess a temporary name while things are moved over. This has two main benefits: It allows the subsumed company to continue working as normal during the merger and ensures that the final transition is as smooth as possible, and it also helps to keep the identity of the subsumed company a secret before the public announcement.
** When Microsoft acquired [[Creator/{{Bethesda}} ZeniMax Media]], the shell was given the name "Vault", a nod to the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series. When they did the same to Creator/ActivisionBlizzard, "Anchorage" was the name they went with, likely for the alliteration.
* Brightline, the American private passenger railroad company, was known as "All-Aboard Florida" during its startup phase.
[[/folder]]