History Main / ParodiesOfFire

* The opening ceremony of the 2012 London UsefulNotes/OlympicGames included the theme being played by the London Symphony Orchestra, with Series/MrBean (Creator/RowanAtkinson) on synthesizer. As Bean gets bored of having to play the same note for the main beat, he has a fantasy of the scene, with himself in Eric Liddell's place and wins the race by taking a ride in a car[[note]]Something that notoriously ''did'' happen in the marathon at the 1904 St Louis Olympics[[/note]]. He then wakes up in confusion as the whole orchestra has stopped playing except himself as he was falling asleep.

* Near the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', we see Simba running across the desert on the way back to Pride Rock so he can challenge his EvilUncle Scar for the throne, with a faded closeup of his paws running in slow motion as he does so. And in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneandaHalf'', we see ''Pumbaa'' do the same thing,,, ...except that he is running in slow motion ''on purpose'' so that Timon would catch up with him and help Simba defeat Scar and reclaim his title as the rightful king.

Not surprisingly, ''Chariots of Fire'' is the name of this piece of music. The original was composed and performed by Music/{{Vangelis}}, who also did a lot of the music for ''Film/BladeRunner''. The use of their tune as a parody or as generic running music has become well known even among those who have never seen ''Chariots of Fire'' or even who couldn't identify it by name - see also ParodyDisplacement.

* ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' used a sound-alike version in "The Breakfast Bowl", during a scene in which Donkey and Panda race each other with cereal boxes.

* The opening ceremony of the 2012 London UsefulNotes/OlympicGames included the theme being played by the London Symphony Orchestra, with Series/MrBean (Creator/RowanAtkinson) on synthesizer. As Bean gets bored of having to play the same note for the main beat, he has a fantasy of the scene, with himself in Eric Liddell's place and wins the race by taking a ride in a car. He then wakes up in confusion as the whole orchestra has stopped playing except himself as he was falling asleep.

* Used in a trailer for ''Film/{{Marley&Me}}''.

* Used in a trailer for ''Film/Marley&Me''.

[[folder:Real Life]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' cartoon special "The Smurfic Games", Clumsy strains to reach the finish line at the end of the Smurfathlon while a slight rearrangement of the ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' theme tune plays.

* In the film ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', the theme plays when Alex and Marty find each other after getting shipwrecked in Madagascar, and run towards each other in slow motion. Then Alex gets angry and starts chasing Marty... still in slow motion.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', this theme music is played when Alex and Marty find each other after getting shipwrecked in Madagascar, and run towards each other in slow motion. Then Alex gets angry and starts chasing Marty... still in slow motion.

[[folder:Film]]

Not surprisingly, ''Chariots of Fire'' is the name of this piece of music. The original was written and performed by Vangelis, who also did a lot of the music for ''Film/BladeRunner''. The use of their tune as a parody or as generic running music has become well known even among those who have never seen ''Chariots of Fire'' or even who couldn't identify it by name - see also ParodyDisplacement.

* The London 2012 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames opening ceremony included the theme being played by the London Symphony Orchestra, with Series/MrBean on synthesizer. The skit then shifted to Mr Bean's fantasy of the scene, with himself in Eric Liddell's place. He wins the race by taking a ride in a car.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the ''[[WesternAnimation/TheItchyAndScratchyShow Itchy and Scratchy]]'' cartoon shown in "Lisa's First Word" the theme can be heard while Scratchy is running during an Olympic game.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'' had a parody named ''Chariots of Fur'', with Grover running to the theme until he dropped from exhaustion.

* In the film ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar'', the theme plays when Alex and Marty find each other after getting shipwrecked in Madagascar, and run towards each other in slow motion. Then Alex gets angry and starts chasing Marty... still in slow motion.

Not surprisingly, ''Chariots of Fire'' is the name of this piece of music. The original was written and performed by Vangelis, who also did a lot of the music for ''Film/BladeRunner''. The use of their tune as a parody or as generic running music has become well known even among those who have never seen ''Chariots of Fire'' or even who couldn't identify it by name - see also WeirdAlEffect.

* During his playthrough of ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', WebVideo/JesseCox encountered [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by0vOunj5Lc&t=11m20s a trio of glitched Necromorphs running in place]]. It immediately reminded him of ''Chariots of Fire'', prompting him to sing the song as as he fires at them.

* WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons: In the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon shown in "Lisa's First Word" the theme can be heard while Scratchy is running during an Olympic game.