| 1 | [[quoteright:350:[[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rockstar_1.png]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV Violent street crime]], [[VideoGame/{{Manhunt}} twisted murders]], [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption ruthless outlaws]]... [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And a nice, friendly game of ping pong]].]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->'''Music/KurtCobain:''' It's not going to be about food, is it?\ |
| 5 | '''Al:''' No, it's going to be about how no one understands your lyrics. |
| 6 | -->-- '''Music/WeirdAlYankovic''' asking for permission to parody Music/{{Nirvana}}'s "Smells Like Teen Spirit" |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Creator's Oddball is a work that clashes with the rest of a creator's output. It can be much LighterAndSofter or DarkerAndEdgier, or even a different genre. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | This might be related to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, where the writer has just started their career and hasn't settled on a genre yet. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | If this occurs in an actor's filmography, that actor is PlayingAgainstType. If this occurs in an actor's filmography when it really shouldn't have, this is QuestionableCasting. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | In music, this might become a NewSoundAlbum if the change in direction doesn't take and the artist goes back to their signature style. If it's a specific song, and it becomes successful, it's a BlackSheepHit. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | For Franchises instead of writers, this is OddballInTheSeries. When it's a show on a TV network, this is NetworkRedHeadedStepchild. Sometimes results in MagnumOpusDissonance in either direction. |
| 17 | ---- |
| 18 | !!Examples: |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 21 | |
| 22 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 23 | * Creator/WesAnderson has such a unique and famous SignatureStyle that even his advertising and short film work features it, with one exception: [[https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/27199/kitchen/ikea a]] [[https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/27200/living-room/ikea series]] of IKEA commercials from 2002 that is the only one of his works not to feature any of his visual trademarks whatsoever. It does, however, contain narrative themes that Anderson likes to explore, mainly that of dysfunctional families. |
| 24 | [[/folder]] |
| 25 | |
| 26 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 27 | * Creator/JunjiIto is famous for his horror manga such as ''Manga/TheEnigmaOfAmigaraFault'', ''Manga/{{Gyo}}'' and ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}'', though a few of his series stand out from his usual horror fare: |
| 28 | ** His most notable oddball is ''Manga/JunjiItosCatDiaryYonAndMu'', a comedy about his daily life with his fiancee's cats. It still has his signature disturbing art style that makes use of ''all'' of his horrific trademarks, but here it's PlayedForLaughs since they're [[ArtStyleDissonance applied to completely innocent and funny moments]]. |
| 29 | ** ''Manga/DissolvingClassroom'' has also several elements that are at odds with his usual output. While it's bleak and has an implied DownerEnding, the bad guys are punished in the end. Also, the main characters' powers are clearly depicted as coming from Satan/the devil instead of the usual unexplained supernatural evil force (not to mention that Christianity is largely irrelevant in Japan). And the fourth-wall-breaking ending that shows the evil siblings as AnimatedActors is uncommon for Ito as well. |
| 30 | ** The Souichi stories in ''Manga/JunjiItoKyoufuMangaCollection'' are also rather unusual, since while it uses Junji Ito's trademark horrifying art style and definitely deals with the supernatural, it's primarily a horror-themed comedy about a boy causing mischief where for the most part, no one suffers any lasting harm. One story in ''Museum of Terror'' is genuinely horrific and seems to imply that Souichi will grow up to be a genuine threat, but a later Souichi story has it be AllJustADream. |
| 31 | * Creator/YoshiyukiTomino is an odd case. Fans who love his darker and more serious works like ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' and ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'' (which earned him the nickname "Kill 'Em All Tomino") are often shocked or put off by his lighter fare like ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'' and ''Anime/{{Xabungle}}''. In this case, Tomino tends to let his current mood affect his writing, and his darker works were done during periods of CreatorBreakdown while his lighter shows come during periods where he's doing better. Ever since 1999's ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' he seems to have gotten completely over his darker side and acknowledges his flaws, culminating in an AlternateContinuity movie version of ''Zeta'' with a happier ending. |
| 32 | * Creator/MiyabiFujieda is best known for his YuriGenre mangas, but his ''Manga/TwinkleSaberNova'' is a {{Shounen}} FightingSeries with a mainly female cast but no romantic subplots. |
| 33 | * Eiki Eiki and Zaou Taishi are very prolific YaoiGenre authors but they've also written the hallmark yuri mangas ''Manga/HaruNatsuAkiFuyu'' and ''Manga/LoveGeneXX''. |
| 34 | * Similarly, ''Manga/SwapSwap'' is the only yuri manga by Tomekichi, who mainly writes in the yaoi genre. |
| 35 | * Creator/FujioAkatsuka is known for pioneering in surreal gag manga such as ''Manga/TensaiBakabon'' and ''Manga/OsomatsuKun''. He also created ''Manga/HimitsuNoAkkoChan'', a semi-serious MagicalGirl series considered to be the first of its kind. Most of his early work may very well qualify as this, as he used to be an author of [[ShoujoDemographic shoujo manga]] before he branched out to shonen and general audiences. |
| 36 | * Starting around TheNewTens, Creator/KyotoAnimation became famous for their adaptations of in-house LightNovels, SliceOfLife works, or stories starring high school students. ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'', while in the SliceOfLife genre, has absolutely nothing to do with high school and was adapted from a third-party manga. Their other oddballs, the {{otaku}}-centric ''Manga/LuckyStar'' and screwball GagSeries ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'', still has high school students as the leads. |
| 37 | * Creator/MakotoShinkai is best known for serious, melancholy realistic, or MundaneFantastic dramas, perhaps with sci-fi elements, about the distance - spatial, social, or otherwise - between the youthful romantic leads. Then you have ''Anime/ChildrenWhoChaseLostVoices'', which is much more overtly fantastic, and ''Anime/YourName'', which has a lot more comedic elements and a more upbeat narrative and musical pace. ''Anime/WeatheringWithYou'' breaks new ground for him once more with an extended subplot focused on a middle-aged character. |
| 38 | * Out of the ''Magazine/MangaTimeKirara'' pantheon, Izumo Ito's ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'' is notable for being a more serialized story (albeit one that still has many of Kirara's trademark tropes all over it) and rather dark, which is shocking given the traditionally laid-back, adorable SliceOfLife manga ''Kirara'' is best known for. |
| 39 | * Creator/AkiraToriyama: |
| 40 | ** He made a one-shot story in 1987 named ''Manga/LadyRed'' whose humour is much more cynical and mean-spirited than his usual brand of silliness. It features a clueless wannabe heroine who [[spoiler:gets raped twice and decides to become a prostitute in the end.]] Also [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking it mimics Western comics]], being written from left to right and featuring typical comic book sound effects. |
| 41 | ** ''Franchise/DragonBall'' is very much the outlier among Toriyama's large body of manga work. Toriyama's first big break was ''Manga/DrSlump'', a zany gag manga series which was seen as his magnum opus until ''Dragon Ball'' came along and usurped it. ''Dragon Ball'' initially started in much the same vein as ''Dr. Slump'' with its silly and raucous humour, but it steadily evolved into the violent, high-stakes, hyper-masculine action-adventure series it's more popularly known as; [[CreatorBacklash a direction that Toriyama himself came to regret]] and attempted to rectify in the final arc. Since ''Dragon Ball'' concluded, Toriyama has primarily dabbled in limited manga series and one-shots like ''Manga/SandLand'' and ''Manga/{{Kintoki}}'' that instead emphasise comedy and adventure, effectively RevisitingTheRoots. His return to the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise in 2013 saw him apply more of his gag manga affections to the series, which is reflected in the character design sheets and the overall writing. |
| 42 | * Creator/StudioGhibli has a few: |
| 43 | ** ''Anime/OceanWaves'' is the first made-for-TV movie they've done, also it wasn't directed by either Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata, but rather by a younger staff member. It was considered unsuccessful. |
| 44 | ** ''Anime/OnlyYesterday'' had the animators draw the cheek muscles and laugh lines way more realistically than usual, with the result that most adult characters look bizarrely old and wrinkled when they smile. Unsurprisingly they didn't attempt to do this again. |
| 45 | ** ''Anime/MyNeighborsTheYamadas'' is a comedic and episodic slice of life movie with it notably ditching Ghibli's traditional aesthetics in favor of a much more simpler and comedic aesthetic that is very faithful to the 4koma manga strips the film was based on. It's also the only Ghibli film not released in Japan by Creator/{{Toho}} (their usual partner) or Creator/ToeiCompany (which distributed some of their early output), instead being released by Creator/{{Shochiku}}. |
| 46 | ** For Creator/HayaoMiyazaki, ''Anime/TheWindRises'' is noticeably very different from his usual work. While the film isn't without its fantastical elements, the film is much more grounded and realistic than his usual input, which while grounded, are usually very fantastical in nature and unlike previous films, which usually center around entirely fictional characters, the film is instead a fictional biography film about the real-life airplane designer Jiro Horikoshi. |
| 47 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheRedTurtle'' is a co-production between them and the European studio (and Ghibli's worldwide distributor) Wild Bunch and it's extremely different from pretty much every film they've made. Not only [[SilenceIsGolden is there no Dialogue at all]] and has a drastically different art style than their usual fare, but it's also the only feature film of theirs to not be directed by the studio's employees, but rather by Dutch-British animator, Michaël Dudok de Wit. |
| 48 | ** ''Anime/EarwigAndTheWitch'' is the studio's first CGI movie (directed by Miyazaki's son Goro) and also their second made-for-TV movie. It was not well received, both for the graphics' quality and a story considered flat and unengaging. |
| 49 | ** The prequel short film to ''Anime/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', ''[[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzc0u2 Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo]]'' is the studio’s first (and so far, only) live-action production. It’s also undeniably [[DarkerAndEdgier the bleakest]] out of the studio’s output and in contrast to the rest of their works, ends on an outright DownerEnding with [[ForegoneConclusion the events]] that would set the stage for ''Nausicaä''. |
| 50 | * Bkub, known for his offbeat gag comics and wonky art style, looked to going here with ''Manga/HoshiiroGirlDrop'', an idol-themed romantic comedy with a cutesy orthodox style. [[spoiler: Then it was revealed to be an interlude for ''Manga/PopTeamEpic'''s second season of strips.]] |
| 51 | * ''Manga/CrimsonSpell'' is the result of prominent [[BoysLove BL]] manga artist Creator/AyanoYamane dabbling in the HeroicFantasy genre. It's still a yaoi, but her other works (such as the ''Manga/FinderSeries'' and ''Manga/AForeignLoveAffair'') and most of her one-shots take place in a relatively "realistic" setting and are more action/crime based. |
| 52 | * Creator/StudioTrigger: |
| 53 | ** The studio is well known for working on series that are heavy in comedy and action. Their second TV anime, ''Anime/{{Kiznaiver}}'', is a sci-fi story about seven students forced into an experiment where the pain one feels is shared between them, and while there are still some comedic moments, but it is an intensely dramatic and romantic series, with a lot more focus on character rather than an overarching plotline. |
| 54 | ** Their adaptation of ''Literature/WhenSupernaturalBattlesBecameCommonplace'' is an oddball for multiple reasons: it was the studio's first light novel adaptation, is adapted wholesale from its source material rather than having an original plot, has an animation and art style that differs greatly from TRIGGER's usual quirks, and is mainly a SliceOfLife comedy. The studio wouldn't do another wholesale adaptation until ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' in 2024. |
| 55 | ** TRIGGER's second web animation was ''Turning Girls'', a SliceOfLife sitcom featuring no supernatural elements at all. It's also the first and only series to both have an all-female team and be created by the non-animator side of the studio. |
| 56 | ** ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' is far [[DarkerAndEdgier darker, bleaker and serious]] compared to everything else the studio or director Creator/HiroyukiImaishi has ever put out, with what little humor and absurdity that is present being more subdued than any work they've created previously. This is especially made clear by the ending, as while Imaishi and TRIGGER's past works usually end on a happy and optimistic notes, ''Edgerunners'' ends on a particular dour one, as [[spoiler:[[EveryoneDiesEnding everyone but Lucy and Falco dies]]]]. TRIGGER acknowledged this during their panel at Anime Expo 2022, stating that the anime is a "fresh new style" from them. |
| 57 | * Creator/StudioGainax is well known for their thought-provoking, [[AnAesop Aesop]]-filled stories mixed in with over-the-top action and some {{Fanservice}} for good measure. ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' throws away any semblance of lesson-telling and is a full-on AnimatedShockComedy. |
| 58 | * Creator/NipponAnimation is known for their ''Anime/WorldMasterpieceTheater'' franchise, as well as for other adaptations of Japanese and Western literature and their CashCowFranchise ''Manga/ChibiMarukoChan''. ''Manga/HunterXHunter (1999)'', however, is a ''Magazine/ShonenJump'' adaptation that's slightly DarkerAndEdgier than their usual fare, and uses MangaEffects uncommon in most other Nippon works. |
| 59 | * Japanese merchandise company Creator/{{Sanrio}} (of ''Franchise/HelloKitty'' fame) is well-known for creating {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s and [[SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel always focusing on the positive sides of life]]. During the company's infancy in the 70s, they briefly entered the animation industry by forming their own animation studio called ''Sanrio Animation''/''Sanrio Film'' which lasted from 1977 all the way to 1985. Sanrio Animation was known for focusing on [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism much darker]] and [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids cynical subject matter]], with a dose of [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence frightening imagery]] and [[DownerEnding heartbreaking resolutions]]. Their film adaptation of Creator/TakashiYanase's children's book ''Anime/RingingBell'' (''Chirin no Suzu'') is considered the studio's darkest work next to their film adaptations of Creator/OsamuTezuka's [[Manga/{{Unico}} Unico series]] (''[[Anime/UnicoBlackCloudAndWhiteFeather Unico: Black Cloud and White Feather]]'', ''Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico'', and ''Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic''). The 1977 animated shorts ''Anime/TheRoseFlowerAndJoe'' and ''Little Jumbo'' (both based on Takashi Yanase's works) is considered to be the closest to Sanrio's well-known image as cute and upbeat. While ''The Rose Flower And Joe'' isn't as cynical and dark as ''Ringing Bell'', [[SoulfulPlantStory it suddenly becomes very melancholy]] but manages to have a much happier (and [[BitterSweetEnding bittersweet]]) ending with the short's main characters. |
| 60 | ** Sanrio's only non-animated work was co-producing the 1982 American live-action film ''Film/DontCryItsOnlyThunder''. To date, this is the furthest the company has gotten from their signature cute and wholesome fare since it's set during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. |
| 61 | * Creator/HiromuArakawa's works are usually fantasy series with high stakes involved (like ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' and her manga adaptation of ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan''), but ''Manga/SilverSpoon'' is a SliceOfLife series that takes place in contemporary Hokkaido and has no fantastic elements at all. According to Arakawa, this was intentional since she wanted to challenge herself by making a more realistic series. |
| 62 | * Ryou Minemani usually has an output of dramatic manga, as seen through her works ''Manga/HimegotoJuukyuusaiNoSeifuku'' and ''Manga/BoysAbyss''. However, the manga in between them, ''Manga/HatsukoiZombie'', is the awkward stand-out since it's a played straight romantic comedy. |
| 63 | * Syundei is a BoysLove mangaka who usually approaches darker or gorier topics with their works. ''Manga/GoForItNakamura'' is very much none of those things, as a gag-based SliceOfLife story. |
| 64 | * Almost all of Ashika Sakura's works are of the BoysLoveGenre, or at least [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys heavy on the bishounen]]. That is, except ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'', a fanservicey {{Seinen}} harem series. |
| 65 | * Creator/YuuWatase is largely known for works aimed at a female audience, with most of her works being [[ShoujoDemographic shoujo]] (though ''Manga/SakuraGari'' is a {{josei}} [[YaoiGenre Boy's Love]] series, it's still aimed at a female audience), but ''Manga/ArataTheLegend'' is her first foray into [[ShonenDemographic shonen]]. |
| 66 | * Norihiro Yagi, whose manga debut was the GenreSavvy and humorous story ''Manga/AngelDensetsu'', subsequently wrote the bleak and gory fantasy series ''Manga/{{Claymore}}''. Oddly, the two do have a bit of a connection, as some characters are visual expies of each other. |
| 67 | * Junko, who is known for her YaoiGenre {{doujinshi}}, is also the creator of ''Manga/KissHimNotMe'', a {{shoujo}} ReverseHarem manga somewhat similar to ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub''. However, the main character is a YaoiFangirl and there are a lot of references to BL and {{Otaku}} culture, so it isn't as much of a departure as one would think. |
| 68 | * Akitaro Daichi, who is famous for lighthearted adventures and wacky comedies, saw some news reports about the genocide in Rwanda and created the bleak dystopian anime ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere''. |
| 69 | * Creator/ArinaTanemura usually writes stories with strong MagicalGirl elements. ''Manga/TheGentlemensAlliance'' is a drama about a former delinquent going to a school for the elite, and it has no fantasy elements at all. |
| 70 | * Creator/MohiroKitoh is well-known for his cynical and dark manga, most famously ''Manga/ShadowStar'' and ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}''. ''Noririn'' is a tame, fluffy manga about biking.' |
| 71 | * ''Manga/MermaidSaga'' is a dark and serious work about an [[WhoWantsToLiveForever immortal]] DeathSeeker... by Creator/RumikoTakahashi, the legendary master of romantic comedy. ''The Diet Goddess'' is also her only manga to be published in a {{shoujo|Demographic}} anthology, while most of her other works are either {{shonen|Demographic}} or {{seinen}}. |
| 72 | * Creator/HiroyaOku is a seinen manga artist best known for his sci-fi horror works such as ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'' and ''Manga/{{Inuyashiki}}'', but he started his career with ''Manga/{{Hen}}'', a romantic comedy manga. There's also a manga he created while working on ''Gantz'', ''Me-teru no Kimochi'', which tells the story of a {{Hikikomori}} that, after the death of his father, falls in love with his step-mother. |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Arts]] |
| 76 | * During his formative years, Creator/AlexandreCabanel won two important art awards of the time that were indicative of his preference for BiblicalMotifs. The Prix of Rome with his "Jesus in the Pretorium" and getting his "Christ in the Garden of Olives" admitted to the Salon of Paris. Some art historians speculate that he was playing it safe, what with making his characters' expressions as neutral as possible. However, a young Cabanel yearned to suffuse more emotion into his artworks, so he switched gears to MythicalMotifs and produced his "Orestes", a nude painting of the son of Agamemnon reaching his hand out. He soon returned to Christian themes with his (still very expressive) "Art/TheFallenAngel" and, after a while, to apathetic, idealized paintings. It wasn't until some years later that he returned to Greek mythology and charmed the aristocrats with his Art Pompier frescos. |
| 77 | [[/folder]] |
| 78 | |
| 79 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 80 | * Creator/MarkMillar is well known for his DarkerAndEdgier or [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructive]] versions of superheroes, whether they're alternate versions of existing characters (''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon, ComicBook/TheUltimates'') or his own graphic novels (''ComicBook/KickAss'', ''Comicbook/NemesisMarkMillar''). However, he also wrote ''ComicBook/{{Superior}}'', which is a {{Reconstruction}} of the superhero genre, starring a [[DelicateAndSickly sickly]] boy who comes to term with his illness. He also wrote ''ComicBook/TroubleMarvelComics'', a {{Fanservice}}y romantic drama [[spoiler:meant as a prequel to ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'']] and ''ComicBook/{{Reborn}}'' serves as his first foray into the [[FantasyComicBooks fantasy genre]]. |
| 81 | ** There's also his run on ''Superman Adventures'', an all-ages tie-in to ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''. |
| 82 | * Creator/JackKirby and Joe Simon are most well-known for co-creating ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. Kirby went on to become one of the greatest superhero comic artists, creating and co-creating many popular superheroes. Simon is also mostly known for his work on superhero comics. But in TheForties Kirby and Simon also co-created... the romance comics genre. |
| 83 | * Creator/FrankMiller is known for his grim and gritty comics. He also created a more lighthearted comic called ''ComicBook/TheBigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot'', which was later adapted into a cartoon on Fox Kids. |
| 84 | * Trina Robbins is mostly known for her feminist underground comix and activism supporting women in comics. She also designed ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'''s iconic costume. |
| 85 | * Stjepan Sejic is most well-known for working as an artist on ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'' and also his erotic BDSM webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Sunstone}}''. He's now working on a LighterAndSofter all-ages Witchblade spin-off called ''ComicBook/Switch2015''. |
| 86 | * Artist Christian Zanier's main output is highly erotic adult works and ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comics. He also illustrated a couple of Franchise/{{LEGO}} ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' graphic novel stories, featuring bio-mechanical warriors based on children's toys and no women. |
| 87 | * In Emily Carroll's collection of stories in ''ComicBook/ThroughTheWoods'', almost all of the stories share certain tropes and themes; they're set in a vaguely defined past (generally somewhere in the 1700s-1800s judging by the clothes), most of the stories are {{Nameless Narrative}}s or have the absolute minimum number of named characters, there are supernatural elements present but often the greatest threats are [[{{Mundanger}} more mundane issues]], etc. One story, "The Nesting Place" seems to intentionally go for the opposite on all these points. Judging by the fashions, the story could only be set in the 1920s (''possibly'' the 1930s), every character who appears on screen gets a name and lines to speak, and the only danger to the main character is a fantastical creature... although she uses the threat of mundane dangers that people would pose to the creature, along with a dose of TheyWouldCutYouUp, to [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath get it to back down]]. |
| 88 | [[/folder]] |
| 89 | |
| 90 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 91 | * Creator/EliezerYudkowsky is most well-known for the blog Blog/LessWrong, as well as having written ''Literature/ThreeWorldsCollide'' and the fanfic ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', which are more or less {{Author Tract}}s about his view of rationality. He also wrote ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5731071/1/Peggy_Susie Peggy Susie]]'', which is a parody of ''Film/TheTerminator'' [[FusionFic using Calvin and Hobbes characters]], which contains very little philosophical speculation. |
| 92 | * [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1747252/superstarultra superstarultra]] is an author well-known in the ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' fandom for his {{Crack Fic}}s. He is also in the process of writing a horror-story collection. |
| 93 | * Two of the official ''[[Fanfic/SilentPonyvilleChronicles Silent Ponyville]]'' stories are pure romance, and a third one is straight-up SliceOfLife using the mind-delve spell to show cute scenes from Twilight's childhood. |
| 94 | * ''Fanfic/MissingLinc'' has an InUniverse example. Dirk O'Donnell, a director known for directing mature films, is directing the family-friendly Full House Gang movie. [[spoiler:He turns out to be trying to make the film more like his typical genre, to the displeasure of Bill Buck.]] |
| 95 | [[/folder]] |
| 96 | |
| 97 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 98 | * Creator/{{Disney}}: |
| 99 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' feels more like a hybrid between a Creator/WarnerBros cartoon and a [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] production than anything you'd expect to see out of Disney's theatrical animation department. It's a {{slapstick}} comedy with copious BreakingTheFourthWall gags from beginning to end, with even the few somber moments being played for laughs. In a rare move for a Disney movie at the time, there was no LoveInterest or romance for the protagonist. The villains are also [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain lovable nutjobs]] who ''don't'' die in the end, and the standard cute animal sidekick is rejected by almost everyone and becomes a jerk as a result. They even subverted the then-typical Disney "[[OneWingedAngel bad guy turns into a giant mindless monstrosity]]" climax by having main antagonist Yzma turn into a [[spoiler:cute little kitten]] that [[spoiler:keeps her intelligence, attitude, and ability to speak]]. |
| 100 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' is remarkably different from the rest of Disney's filmography: no musical numbers, no princesses, no funny animal sidekicks (unless a robot and a mute blob of goo count), no romance outside of some paired supporting characters, an EmoTeen delinquent protagonist, a genuinely sympathetic villain as the BigBad, and a generally epic tone and sprawling SciFi-based universe not unlike ''Franchise/StarWars''. If an unassuming viewer didn't know better, it'd be easy to mistake for a movie from the traditonal animation days of Creator/DreamworksAnimation instead. |
| 101 | ** ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'' can be considered another example of Disney imitating the output of a competitor, specifically the Creator/DreamWorksAnimation films of the early 2000s. A CG cartoon with funny animals, a contemporary setting, snarky and sarcastic humor, lots of movie and pop culture references (including a clip of an ''Indiana Jones'' movie for no real reason) does sound like something that Dreamworks would've made at the time. Even the promotional materials were a rare example of Disney spoofing other properties, with parodies of their own ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', ''Film/MenInBlack'' and even ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'' that came out at around the same time. |
| 102 | ** ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' came out the same year and they felt like Disney and Pixar swapped places for once. "Ralph" is a film about the secret life of non-sentient things like Pixar often did (as exemplified by the famous meme "What if toys/cars/robots/emotions had feelings?") with lots of jokes linked to a specific demographic (gamers in the 1980s and 90s) that goes over the head of the younger audiences. Whereas "Brave" feels to many like a clichéd Disney character-driven fairy tale featuring a rebellious princess forced in an arranged marriage and having to deal with an overbearing mother. |
| 103 | * Creator/RalphBakshi is known for street-based dramas and comedies with over the top violence, sex, and nudity (''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat'', ''WesternAnimation/HeavyTraffic'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Coonskin}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/HeyGoodLookin'') and fantasy films (''WesternAnimation/{{Wizards}}'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', and ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce1983''). But he also directed the realistically grounded drama ''WesternAnimation/AmericanPop'', which is more down to earth than his street films and fairly realistic in its portrayal of violence and mild in its sexuality. |
| 104 | ** There's also his kid-friendly works in the 1980s, like ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'' and the adaptation of ''Literature/TheButterBattleBook'', which have a subversive edge to them but are nevertheless apt for family viewing. |
| 105 | ** Then there's ''Film/CoolWorld'' which had a rather bizarre plot (pretty much an older version of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''), was made on a big-budget in contrast to Bakshi's previous low-budget films, and was ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids more or less]]) aimed towards a younger demographic. However, Bakshi actually has an excuse with ''Cool World'', as the original idea for it (an erotic horror movie) was scrapped due to massive amounts of ExecutiveMeddling from producer Frank Mancuso Jr. and actress Creator/KimBasinger. |
| 106 | * ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' is a sci-fi film with violence and a soundtrack that contrasts Creator/DonBluth's previous works, all of which swayed more into {{Disneyesque}} fantasy (although on the other hand, the film's dark tone isn't completely out of place if you're aware of some of Bluth's [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH earlier]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}} movies]]). |
| 107 | * Creator/NoahBaumbach, the director-writer of quirky indie dramas like ''Film/TheSquidAndTheWhale'', ''Film/FrancesHa'', and ''Film/MarriageStory'', also co-wrote ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar3EuropesMostWanted''. However, he has implied that he took the job [[MoneyDearBoy to pay off his divorce lawyer's fees]]. |
| 108 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMutantMayhem'' is this for Creator/SethRogen and Evan Goldberg’s Point Grey Picutres. While Rogen has acted in family friendly films before, the works he produces almost all tend to be raunchy and hard R, including the production company’s last animated film, ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty''. This will be the first project by Rogen and Goldberg geared towards family audiences. |
| 109 | * UsefulNotes/{{Argentin|a}}ian animation pioneer Quirino Cristiani was known mainly for {{satir|e}}ical films such as ''El Apóstol'', ''Sin dejar rastros'', and ''Peludópolis'', all of which utilized cutout animation and, in the case of the former, occasional live action miniatures. ''El Mono relojero'', on the other hand, is an adaptation of the children's book of the same name by Contancio C. Vigil, created using traditional cel animation with an art style based the source material's illustrations. Sadly, the latter is also Cristiani's only surviving film, as the remainder of his filmography [[MissingEpisode was lost in a series of studio fires]] between 1926 and 1961. |
| 110 | * Creator/{{Nelvana}} is best known for children's franchises such as ''Franchise/CareBears'', ''WesternAnimation/LittleBear'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Franklin}}''. So it's quite surprising to find out that their early work includes ''WesternAnimation/RockAndRule'', an ''adult'' animated film. |
| 111 | * ''WesternAnimation/WakingLife'' is a drastic departure from the rest of [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox 20th Century Fox's]] adult animated productions, as the film completely lacks the lowbrow humor and DysfunctionalFamily writing found in their other works, instead being a philosophical LeFilmArtistique drama centering on the themes of [[AudienceAlienatingPremise freewill, the nature of reality, and the meaning of life]]. It's likely because of these reasons that Fox decided not to credit their 20th Century Animation branch in the film's production. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 115 | * Creator/{{A24}} is best known for producing [[Film/TheFloridaProject dramas]] and [[Film/{{Hereditary}} horrors]] for mature audiences, but there are a couple of examples that provide evidence to the contrary: |
| 116 | ** ''Film/MarcelTheShellWithShoesOn2021'' is their one family-friendly film thus fur. |
| 117 | ** ''Film/CivilWar2024'' is arguably a better example. In a sharp contrast to the artsy, mid-budget independent films that run the gamut of genres and styles which A24 is best known for, ''Civil War'' marks their first outright action movie and their first foray into blockbuster filmmaking[[note]]though its $50 million budget and decidedly hot-button subject matter do differentiate it from a normal action blockbuster[[/note]]. |
| 118 | * Creator/{{Disney}} produced ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022'', which is superficially similar to ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', in that is set in a world where [[AnimatedActors toons]] and humans coexist and there's an underlying criminal plot. But, for a Disney movie, it is remarkably meta, self-mocking (for one, the BigBad is [[spoiler:an aged and embittered Peter Pan]]) and almost sarcastic about the nature of fandoms, movie making and animation production. Not to mention full of DemographicallyInappropriateHumour and of [[UnexpectedCharacter cameos]] from animated shows that are decidedly ''not'' for kids, such as Randy Marsh or Butt-Head. |
| 119 | * WebVideo/RedLetterMedia made schlock comedy and horror/comedy films such as ''Film/GorillaInterrupted'', ''Oranges: Revenge of the Eggplant'', and ''Film/FeedingFrenzy'' before finding success as a comedic online review show. However, in 2008 they also made ''Film/TheRecovered'', an entirely serious PsychologicalHorror film without a single joke. |
| 120 | * ''Film/TheMightyPekingMan'' (also known as ''Goliathon'') was a [[{{Kaiju}} giant monster movie]] made by the Creator/ShawBrothers, who were known almost entirely for their {{martial arts movie}}s. |
| 121 | * Hideaki Anno, the creator of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', a dark mecha series with heavy amounts of symbolism and Mindscrew, directed a LiveActionAdaptation of the anime ''Anime/CuteyHoney'', a lighthearted magical girl series with plenty of FanService. |
| 122 | * Creator/MichaelBay is best known for his over-the-top, effects-heavy blockbusters like the Film/TransformersFilmSeries (the first five released between 2007 and 2017) and ''Film/Armageddon1998''. Because it was [[DoingItForTheArt a passion project of his]], he deliberately went against type with the small-scale, darkly comedic, true-crime thriller ''Film/PainAndGain''. |
| 123 | * Creator/PeterBerg, an actor turned director best known for action films such as ''Film/TheRundown'', ''Film/TheKingdom'', ''Film/{{Hancock}}'', ''Film/{{Battleship}}'', ''Film/LoneSurvivor'', ''Film/Mile22'', and ''Film/SpenserConfidential'' as well as drama films such as ''[[Series/FridayNightLights Friday Night Lights (2004)]]'', ''Film/DeepwaterHorizon'', and ''Film/PatriotsDay'' made his directorial debut with the BlackComedy ''Film/VeryBadThings''. |
| 124 | ** He's also gone against type as a producer, being one of the producers of the romantic comedy ''Film/LarsAndTheRealGirl''. |
| 125 | * Creator/BusbyBerkeley, best known for his [[BusbyBerkeleyNumber lavish musical numbers]], directed a crime drama remake called ''Film/TheyMadeMeACriminal'' in 1939. Warner Brothers gave him the oddball project in an attempt to keep him occupied so he wouldn't leave the studio; it didn't work. |
| 126 | * Following bad reviews for ''Film/TheLongKissGoodnight'', Creator/ShaneBlack attempted this doing a RomanticComedy imitating his idol and mentor at the time, Creator/JamesLBrooks. Then when he hit a creative wall, he just returned to his SignatureStyle and the result was ''Film/KissKissBangBang''. |
| 127 | * Creator/NeillBlomkamp is known for his VFX-heavy, thematic science fiction films often deal with themes of xenophobia and social segregation. Meanwhile, the upcoming ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' is a biopic/coming of age film focusing on a player of the titular game series and personal racer. |
| 128 | * Creator/KennethBranagh is far better known for directing Creator/WilliamShakespeare adaptations, so it may come off as a surprise that he also directed ''Film/{{Thor}}'', a big-budget special effects-laden movie based on [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor a comic book character]]. Just four years later, he also directed ''Film/Cinderella2015'', another big-budget special effects-laden movie, this time based on [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} a classic Disney animated film]]. |
| 129 | The Film/{{Hercule Poirot|Kenneth Branagh}} of Creator/KennethBranagh are noteworthy for being the first time he's directed sequels (''Film/{{Death on the Nile|2022}}'') of any kind. |
| 130 | * Not directing, but rather ''producing'': Creator/MelBrooks was a primary producer for both Creator/DavidLynch's ''Film/TheElephantMan'' and Creator/DavidCronenberg's ''Film/TheFly1986''. In order to keep anyone from thinking that either of these movies was a comedy, he insisted that he be completely uncredited. |
| 131 | * Creator/TimBurton is well-known as a director of movies which cross the horror genre over with another, such as the macabre musicals ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' and ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' (and also [[DirectorDisplacement one he didn't direct]], ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'') or the comedy ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''. So when compared to his usual body of work, these four films ''really'' stand out. |
| 132 | ** His first feature film, ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'', has many of his stylistic touches, but is much lighter in tone, with a bright color palette and very little of the macabre humor he's better known for. Other than a NightmareSequence and [[DeadAllAlong Large Marge]], there are no horror elements at all. |
| 133 | ** ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' is a conventional science fiction action film, a remake no less, with almost none of his SignatureStyle. |
| 134 | ** ''Film/BigFish'', which avoids Creator/JohnnyDepp, takes a MaybeMagicMaybeMundane approach to the supernatural and is otherwise a generally bright and cheery film. |
| 135 | ** ''Film/BigEyes'' uses uncharacteristically bright colors and does not feature any of Burton's usual actors. Aside from a handful of fantasy scenes, it's a relatively straightforward biographical film. |
| 136 | * ''Film/Titanic1997'': Because of its enormous success and long-lasting cultural impact, it's easy to forget that the film was a huge departure from Creator/JamesCameron's usual style of films, being a romantic period piece after having directed gritty sci-fi films like ''Film/TheTerminator'' and ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' during most of his career. |
| 137 | * Creator/JohnCarpenter is best known for horror and action films, but he had a number of movies that are far from his usual fare. |
| 138 | ** In 1979, right after his BreakthroughHit ''Film/{{Halloween|1978}}'', he directed a straightforward [[MadeForTVMovie made-for-TV]] {{biopic}} of Music/ElvisPresley that's mainly notable nowadays for being [[ProductionPosse his first of many collaborations]] with Creator/KurtRussell, who played the King of Rock & Roll. |
| 139 | ** ''Film/{{Starman}}'' is a science fiction film like much of his work, but it's also a pensive and romantic drama that's been described as "''[[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]]'' for adults". Carpenter made it specifically to break out of his horror typecasting after ''Film/TheThing1982'' flopped at the box office. |
| 140 | ** He intended for ''Film/MemoirsOfAnInvisibleMan'' to be this, a sci-fi comedy far removed from his usually serious work. However, its star Creator/ChevyChase, for whom this was a VanityProject, saw the film as his own attempt to [[TomHanksSyndrome break out of his comedic persona]], and the [[HostilityOnTheSet clashes between their visions]] played a big role in the film's TroubledProduction. |
| 141 | * Creator/CharlieChaplin always directed comedies, starring himself, except for ''Film/AWomanOfParis'', a dramatic film about a tragic romance in which he appears only in a brief CreatorCameo. |
| 142 | * Creator/JonMChu had only done [[Film/StepUp music films]] before getting [[Film/GIJoeRetaliation an action film]]. Even compared to [[Film/NowYouSeeMe2 his]] [[Film/CrazyRichAsians later work]], it's still pretty weird. |
| 143 | * Creator/BobClark directed several notable horror films in the early '70s, including ''Film/ChildrenShouldntPlayWithDeadThings'', ''Film/{{Deathdream}}'', and the groundbreaking ''Film/BlackChristmas1974''. Then he abandoned horror, directed the teen sex comedy ''Film/{{Porkys}}'', and spent the last twenty years of his career making more family-friendly films such as ''Film/AChristmasStory'' and ''Film/BabyGeniuses''. |
| 144 | * Creator/TheCoenBrothers did a rewrite of the screenplay for ''Film/IntolerableCruelty'', and it was originally set to be directed by Creator/RonHoward and Creator/JonathanDemme before the studio offered the Coens the option to direct it. They were initially reluctant because they didn't think it fit their sensibilities, which confused the studio since ''they wrote it.'' |
| 145 | * Creator/FrancisFordCoppola is known for directing drama films like ''Film/TheGodfather'' series, ''Film/ApocalypseNow'', and ''Film/BramStokersDracula'', he also directed the family comedy-drama ''Film/Jack1996'', about a young boy played by Creator/RobinWilliams who psychically ages several decades at an accelerated rate. |
| 146 | * Creator/WesCraven joked that he went from "violence" to "violins" when he directed Creator/MerylStreep to an Oscar nomination in ''Film/MusicOfTheHeart''. |
| 147 | * Zach Cregger, best known for [[Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow a sketch comedy troupe]], made his directorial debut (co-directed with his late friend and fellow member Trevor Moore with ''Film/MissMarch'', a raunchy sex comedy at a time where films of the same genre were going out of style. When that film proved to be a CreatorKiller, Cregger would switch genres 13 years later, this time alone, helming [[Film/{{Barbarian}} a horror thriller film]] with plenty of PsychologicalHorror, FanDisservice, NauseaFuel, and only tangential hints of comedy. That film, ''Barbarian'', would become a critical and commerical success. |
| 148 | * Creator/DavidCronenberg is best known for dark and disturbing horror and thriller films. But one of his early {{B Movie}}s is 1979's ''Fast Company'', an upbeat melodrama about stock car racers (Cronenberg ''is'' a huge racing buff). Ironically, art director Carol Spier, cinematographer Mark Irwin, and editor Ronald Sanders all became part of his behind-the-camera ProductionPosse with that film. After he became a big name, he helmed the film adaptation of ''Theatre/MButterfly'' and the historical drama ''Film/ADangerousMethod'', which are akin to artsy OscarBait. After the latter came ''Film/{{Cosmopolis}}'' and ''Film/MapsToTheStars'': satirical dramas about the not-so-beautiful people. However, with the exception of ''Fast Company'', they all fall on the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism like his better-known works -- the ugliness of human nature just isn't so visceral. |
| 149 | * Creator/AndrewDavis, known for his action films such as ''Film/UnderSiege'', ''Film/TheFugitive'', and ''Film/CollateralDamage'', directed the family film ''Film/{{Holes}}'' that was based on a children's book in addition to being the feature film debut of Creator/ShiaLaBeouf. |
| 150 | * Creator/BlakeEdwards was legendary for directing comedies or light-hearted films like ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys'', ''Film/Ten1979'', ''Film/{{SOB}}'', ''Film/VictorVictoria'' and of course ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' series. He had two notable departures. First was ''Film/DaysOfWineAndRoses'' - a drama about an alcoholic trying to get his crush addicted to booze. The second was ''Film/DarlingLili'' - a sexy spy musical set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. The latter was notably a victim of ExecutiveMeddling that resulted in a lot of the slapstick he was known for - thus creating jarring tonal shifts. He recut the film in the 90s to make it more serious. |
| 151 | * David R. Ellis the man behind such thrillers as ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'', ''Film/FinalDestination2'', ''Film/TheFinalDestination'', and ''Film/{{Cellular}}'' began his career directing the family film ''Film/HomewardBoundIILostInSanFrancisco.'' |
| 152 | * Creator/RolandEmmerich, best known for large-scale disaster movies such as ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'', ''Film/IndependenceDay'', and ''Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow'', tackled ''Film/Anonymous2011'', a historical mystery-thriller that supports the conspiracy theory of the Oxfordian Theory (i.e., that a member of British aristocracy wrote plays and had Shakespeare presented as an illiterate stooge). After a return to destruction fests in ''Film/WhiteHouseDown'', his next film, ''Film/Stonewall2015'', was a historical drama focused on [[UsefulNotes/PrideParade the eponymous riots for gay rights]]. |
| 153 | * Creator/PaulFeig is mainly known for his work directing female-led comedy films. However, two notable exceptions exist: |
| 154 | ** ''Film/UnaccompaniedMinors'' is a holiday comedy focusing on a mix of young boys and girls stuck at an airport together. |
| 155 | ** ''Film/TheSchoolForGoodAndEvil2022'' is a more dramatic fantasy story. |
| 156 | * Creator/DavidFincher, best known for gritty, edgy, and R-rated thrillers, directed ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'', a whimsical MagicalRealism fantasy romance with a PG-13 rating, easily the lightest film he's ever done. He also directed ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', a biopic about the founding of Facebook, which still contains his trademark cynicism despite not being a gritty thriller. |
| 157 | * Creator/GretaGerwig, director of auteurist drama films like ''Film/LadyBird'' and ''Film/LittleWomen2019'' is also directing ''Film/Barbie2023'', a tongue-in-cheek and irreverent comedy reminiscent of product placement films like ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie''. |
| 158 | * David Gordon Green was well known for making critically acclaimed dramatic independent films like ''George Washington'', ''All the Real Girls'', ''Undertow'', and ''Snow Angels''. Then, as his father put it, he went "from the Arthouse to the Outhouse" by making raunchy comedies like ''Film/PineappleExpress'', ''Film/YourHighness'', and ''Film/TheSitter''. Then he did it ''again'', pivoting to a genre horror movie with ''Film/Halloween2018''. |
| 159 | * Creator/StuartGordon and Creator/BrianYuzna, best known for graphic horror movies like ''Film/ReAnimator'', ''Film/FromBeyond'', and ''Film/{{Society}}'', also wrote the Creator/{{Disney}} family comedy ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids''. Gordon was originally slated to direct as well, but had to drop out due to illness. |
| 160 | * Creator/ChristopherGuest's ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'' is an InUniverse example, when the eponymous HardRock band suddenly changes over to acoustic jazz for the sake of experiment for all of one concert. |
| 161 | * Film/HammerHorror produced many memorable horror films such as ''Film/TheCurseOfFrankenstein'' and ''Film/HorrorOfDracula''. Yet they also produced the campy 1969 science fiction film and self-proclaimed SpaceWestern ''Film/MoonZeroTwo'', which was as far from Gothic horror as one could get. |
| 162 | * Creator/JimHenson, creator of the colorful, cheerful [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppets]], also directed ''Film/TheDarkCrystal''. ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' could also count as well. |
| 163 | * Creator/AlfredHitchcock, known to film history for directing suspense thrillers and crime dramas, often with explicit violence, took some time in 1941 to direct a ScrewballComedy called ''Film/MrAndMrsSmith1941'' starring Creator/CaroleLombard. |
| 164 | * Creator/JohnHuston, well known for FilmNoir classics such as ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}'', ''Film/KeyLargo'' and ''Film/TheAsphaltJungle'', also did the family musical ''Film/{{Annie|1982}}''. |
| 165 | * Creator/ArmandoIannucci is best known for his cynical, scathing political satire work on both the big and small screen, but he also directed a [[LighterAndSofter whimsical, optimistic, and progressive]] [[Creator/CharlesDickens Dickens]] [[Literature/DavidCopperfield adaptation]], ''Film/ThePersonalHistoryOfDavidCopperfield''. |
| 166 | * Creator/JeanPierreJeunet did this with ''Film/{{Amelie}}'', a lighthearted romantic comedy completely in contrast to his [[Film/{{Delicatessen}} darker]] and [[Film/TheCityOfLostChildren more]] [[Film/AlienResurrection violent]] films. He also went against custom by casting a traditionally attractive actor in the lead role. |
| 167 | * Creator/AlejandroJodorowsky, the director responsible for MindScrew films such as ''Film/ElTopo'' and ''Film/TheHolyMountain'' made a kids' movie called ''Tusk'', which didn't have any of the strange symbolism and violence of his other movies. [[CreatorBacklash He disowned the film]]. |
| 168 | * David Kirschner is well known in Hollywood for his writing and producing credits for family movies like ''Film/HocusPocus'' and ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail''; along with his time as president for Creator/HannaBarbera during the '80s. Yet between these projects he also produced the popular horror franchise ''Film/ChildsPlay'' and later the psychological thriller ''Film/{{Frailty}}''; both of which really stand out in a filmography made up of kids material. |
| 169 | * Creator/StanleyKramer was a director best known for dramas tackling social issues (''Theatre/InheritTheWind'', ''Film/JudgmentAtNuremberg'', ''Literature/OnTheBeach'', etc.). ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld''? It's a screwball comedy. |
| 170 | * Creator/StanleyKubrick was known for making dark, controversial, and artsy films in his lifetime, but while [[DiedDuringProduction he didn't live to see its completion]], ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'' was intended to be this, envisioning it as [[LighterAndSofter a bittersweet, but whimsical and futuristic]] Pinocchio-esque story. Kubrick originally wanted to pass on the project to its eventual director Creator/StevenSpielberg as it was more like [[SignatureStyle his usual style]], but while Spielberg initially convinced Kubrick to hold onto it himself, Kubrick's early death motivated Spielberg to take on the mantle. Because of this rather unique mid-development passing of hands, a lot of people thought that the lighter aspects of the final film were Spielberg defiling a dark Kubrick fable with his signature flim-flam, [[{{Misblamed}} when in reality they were all Kubrick's ideas to begin with]], and made as a conscious ''tribute'' to that sentimentality. |
| 171 | * Creator/JohnLandis mainly directed comedies like ''Film/AnimalHouse'', ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'', and ''Film/ThreeAmigos'' but he has also directed the critically acclaimed horror films ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'' and a segment of ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie''. |
| 172 | * Creator/FrancisLawrence, the director of dark action films such as ''Film/Constantine2005'', ''Film/IAmLegend'', ''Film/TheHungerGamesCatchingFire'', ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjay'', and ''Film/RedSparrow'' also directed ''Film/WaterForElephants'', a romantic drama based on the [[Literature/WaterForElephants book of the same name]]. |
| 173 | * Creator/AngLee, a director best known for dramas and period pieces such as ''Film/EatDrinkManWoman'', directed the first ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' film. Unfortunately, his style did not lend itself well to the unfamiliar genre, and ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'' "rebooted" the character for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Even as Lee made a few more movies heavy on {{Spectacle}} in ''Film/LifeOfPi'' and ''Film/GeminiMan'', ''Hulk'' still remains quite the weird spot of his filmography. |
| 174 | * Most of Creator/SpikeLee's films have had race, social commentary, or real-world events in American society as a central theme. ''Film/InsideMan'' is a departure from this, being mostly a crime thriller that touched only occasionally on race and social issues. However, his biggest oddball to date is ''[[Film/OldBoy2013 Oldboy]]'', a remake of a fantastical South Korean story purely about revenge. Many people were surprised by the choice of Lee to direct it. |
| 175 | ** A common belief about Lee's films is that they are usually centered on Black America, with messages related to the Black struggle, Black social issues, Black history or Black activism, with mostly black casts and white characters generally shown as villains, or at least in need of correction to some degree. Films like ''Film/SummerOfSam'' and ''Film/TwentyFifthHour'' have casts that are largely white, or at least non-black, as ''Summer of Sam'' had a cast of mostly Italian characters, though the actors ranged from Italian, Jewish, Latin, or even just Caucasian. ''Film/InsideMan'' had Creator/DenzelWashington headlining...along with Creator/JodieFoster and Creator/CliveOwen. |
| 176 | * Creator/SergioLeone is probably best known for his spaghetti Westerns, several of which involved actors being cast against type. His last film was ''Film/OnceUponATimeInAmerica'', a story about gangsters. |
| 177 | ** When Creator/SergioLeone finished ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', he originally wanted to direct against type by making ''Once Upon a Time in America'', but gave in to popular demand and made ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'', which was the start of a new trilogy that would end with ''Once Upon a Time in America''. |
| 178 | ** Apparently, known for having something of a hard-on for America, or at least American history, Leone had also planned to make a film about the siege of Leningrad during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Sadly, he died before it got very far. |
| 179 | * Creator/ShawnLevy, best known for sci-fi/fantasy movies such as the ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'' franchise, ''Film/RealSteel'', ''Film/FreeGuy'', and ''Film/TheAdamProject'', also directed ''Film/DateNight'', a romantic comedy, and ''Film/ThisIsWhereILeaveYou'', a comedy-drama about a family reunion that both lack any sort of fantastical elements. |
| 180 | * Creator/GeorgeLucas is famous for sci-fi and fantasy adventure films; ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'' are the most famous examples, while ''Film/THX1138'' is a classic to sci-fi buffs. He also produced the film ''Film/HowardTheDuck'', which is a comedy film based on a comic book. It's ''technically'' a sci-fi film, but barely, and it's not fondly remembered. He considers it his OldShame. |
| 181 | ** His earlier film, ''Film/AmericanGraffiti,'' fits even better, being a realistic film inspired by his own teenage years. In fact, he created it because Creator/FrancisFordCoppola (who produced it) bet him that he couldn't make a mainstream, realistic movie. It's also considered a classic and basically invented the NostalgiaFilter ComingOfAgeStory. |
| 182 | ** ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'' is an animated kid's movie loosely based on ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream.'' In this case it was deemed too strange, relegated by Disney to the Creator/TouchstonePictures label and mostly forgotten about. It's become something of a CultClassic, however. |
| 183 | * Creator/SidneyLumet, known for crime dramas such as ''Film/TwelveAngryMen'', ''Film/{{Serpico}}'', ''Film/DogDayAfternoon'', as well as ''Film/{{Network}}'', also did the family musical ''Film/TheWiz''. |
| 184 | * Creator/DavidLynch is known for surreal and disturbing dramas, often featuring bizarre imagery, weird sex, human deformities, and violence. That is, except for ''Film/TheStraightStory'', a G-rated, heartwarming family film distributed by ''Creator/{{Disney}}'', about an old man who drives a riding lawnmower hundreds of miles to see his dying brother one last time. |
| 185 | * Creator/JamesMangold has made a career out of playing against type - character study (''Heavy''), crime drama (''Film/CopLand''), institutionalised young women (''Film/GirlInterrupted''), time-travelling romcom (''Film/KateAndLeopold''), serial killer thriller (''Film/{{Identity}}''), biopic (''Film/WalkTheLine''), Western (''Film/ThreeTenToYuma2007''), action (''Film/KnightAndDay''), comics (''Film/TheWolverine'', ''Film/{{Logan}}''), racing (''Film/FordVFerrari''), co-writing an animated Creator/{{Disney}} feature (''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany''), the list goes on. |
| 186 | * Creator/RobMarshall is known for his musical films (''Film/{{Chicago}}'', ''Theatre/NineMusical'', ''Film/IntoTheWoods''), but also directed ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides''. |
| 187 | * Creator/MarvelStudios has been noted for bringing in some indie or unusual choices for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: |
| 188 | ** Creator/TheRussoBrothers were known for directing television comedy episodes for shows like ''Series/{{Community}}'' and ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', when they got the job to direct the big-budget {{Superhero}} ConspiracyThriller blockbuster, ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', which is now regarded as a contender for the best movie entry of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. The result was so positive they would direct [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar the next Captain America]] ''and'' [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar two]] [[Film/AvengersEndgame Avengers films]]. |
| 189 | ** Creator/JamesGunn was known for [[Film/{{Slither}} horror]] or [[Film/{{Super}} downright]] [[Film/Movie43 weird]] [[Series/JamesGunnsPGPorn work]] before he was hired for ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014''... Although the most unexplainable entries of his career might be writing the [[Film/ScoobyDoo2002 first]] [[Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed two]] ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' films... |
| 190 | ** Creator/ScottDerrickson, who already had an oddball compared to [[Film/TheExorcismOfEmilyRose his]] [[Film/{{Sinister}} horror]] [[Film/DeliverUsFromEvil films]] in ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill2008'', was brought in for the trippy ''Film/DoctorStrange2016''. And amusingly, the sequel that would be horror-oriented had Derrickson eventually drop out due to CreativeDifferences. |
| 191 | ** Creator/PeytonReed, who had only done [[Film/BringItOn primarily]] [[Film/DownWithLove comedy]] [[Film/YesMan films]], as well as [[Film/TheBreakUp one romantic dramedy]], did ''Film/AntMan1'' (replacing another director who had only delved in that genre, but with a more action-packed approach, Creator/EdgarWright). |
| 192 | ** Jon Watts had only done [[Film/{{Clown}} a horror movie]] and [[Film/CopCar a thriller]], yet Marvel trusted him with [[ComicBook/SpiderMan their most popular character]], and a known jokester in that, with ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming''. |
| 193 | ** Creator/TaikaWaititi, responsible for [[Film/Boy1969 two acclaimed]] [[Film/HuntForTheWilderpeople comedy dramas]] and [[Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows a comedy horror flick]], made ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', which had a more comedic approach as a result. And then there's the matter of him potentially helming a LiveActionAdaptation of ''Manga/{{AKIRA}}''... |
| 194 | ** Creator/RyanCoogler had [[Film/FruitvaleStation a biographical drama]] and [[Film/Creed2015 a sports drama]] before receiving ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}''. (And him co-writing a sports ''comedy'' in the ''Film/SpaceJam'' [[Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy sequel]] is even weirder...) |
| 195 | ** Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck made [[Series/TheAffair many dramas]] [[Series/{{Looking}} on TV]] [[Film/ItsKindOfAFunnyStory and film]] before being given ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019''. |
| 196 | ** While Cate Shortland had made a thriller in ''Film/BerlinSyndrome'', it's certainly far from the espionage action of ''Film/BlackWidow2021''. |
| 197 | ** Creator/DestinDanielCretton made quiet low budget dramas. Marvel gave him a martial arts epic in ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings''. |
| 198 | ** Creator/ChloeZhao, responsible for [[Film/TheRider two small]] [[Film/{{Nomadland}} dramas]], was hired to do [[TheEpic an epic]] in ''Film/{{Eternals}}''. |
| 199 | ** Creator/NiaDaCosta, responsible for the thriller ''Film/LittleWoods'' and the horror ''Film/Candyman2021'', ended up with Captain Marvel's sequel ''The Marvels''. |
| 200 | ** Creator/MichaelGiacchino is well known for being a composer for many films, particularly superhero ones. He also directed the retraux Halloween special, ''Film/WerewolfByNight2022'' (although he did compose the score for that one too). |
| 201 | * Sexploitation meister Creator/RussMeyer directed a serious courtroom drama called ''Film/TheSevenMinutes''. He does manage to squeeze in some instances of his brand of {{Fanservice}}, but not nearly to the extent of his other films. The film failed at the box-office and Meyer would later comment that "attaching my name to that film was a bummer. It does a great disservice to everyone concerned." |
| 202 | * Creator/GeorgeMiller, director of ''Film/MadMax,'' later directed the somber medical drama ''Lorenzo’s Oil'' and family movies about [[Film/{{Babe}} cute pigs]] and [[WesternAnimation/HappyFeet penguins]]. And then, after thirty years in the making, [[Film/MadMaxFuryRoad he returned to the franchise in spectacularly, explosive fashion]]. |
| 203 | * Creator/JohnCameronMitchell is known for directing quirky, offbeat films with unconventional themes and stylings, usually with prominent focus on LGBT characters. His sole exception is ''Theatre/RabbitHole'', a somber, down-to-earth drama about a married couple struggling to process their grief in the wake of their four-year-old son's death. |
| 204 | * Creator/MichaelMoore is famed for political documentaries like ''Film/RogerAndMe'', ''Film/Fahrenheit911'', and ''Film/CapitalismALoveStory''. He has directed a single narrative film, ''Film/CanadianBacon'', which is a satirical comedy about geopolitics. |
| 205 | * Adult film director Paul Norman directed the horror film ''Film/IceCreamMan''. |
| 206 | * Creator/SamPeckinpah's reputation for making hyperviolent films was established with such movies as ''Film/TheWildBunch'' and ''Film/StrawDogs1971''. However, he also made ''Film/TheBalladOfCableHogue'' and ''Film/JuniorBonner'', two non-violent character studies about people trying to adjust to life in the changing world of the NewOldWest. |
| 207 | * Creator/JordanPeele, best known for being a ''Series/MadTV'' alum and one-half of ''Series/KeyAndPeele'', both sketch comedy shows, made his directorial debut with ''Film/GetOut2017'', a horror movie that deals with racism. Granted, it still has a great deal of black comedy and social satire carried over from ''Key and Peele''. ''Film/{{Us}}'', which was downright horror with little comedy, was even more clashing to his earlier work. |
| 208 | * Kimberly Pierce was fond of the gritty indie dramas with a strong social message - ''Film/BoysDontCry'' and ''Film/StopLoss''. Then she goes and directs the 2013 remake of Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{Carrie}}''. |
| 209 | * Think Creator/SamRaimi and you think fantasy/horror/adventure movies -- ''Film/TheEvilDead1981'', ''Film/{{Darkman}}'', ''Film/SpiderMan1'' and so on. You probably don't think Westerns (''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead''), dramas about found money (''Film/ASimplePlan'') or romantic dramas (''For Love of the Game''). |
| 210 | ** ''A Simple Plan'' and ''For Love of the Game'' in particular stand out for eschewing Raimi’s usual dynamic camerawork and campy tones, favoring a far more serious and grounded directorial approach. |
| 211 | * Creator/CarolReed was known for his gritty dramatic works (the most famous being ''Film/TheThirdMan''), but he won his lone Oscar for 1968's ''Film/{{Oliver}}''―a musical. His next film, 1970's ''Flap'', also falls under this since it's a comedy. |
| 212 | * Jay Roach, director of the Film/AustinPowers movies and ''Film/MeetTheParents'', also directed the TV movie ''Recount'', a political drama about the events of the United States presidential election in 2000, and ''Film/Bombshell2019'', another political drama about the Fox News sexual harassment cases revealed during the 2016 election. |
| 213 | * Creator/RobertRodriguez made his name with violent, sleazy action and horror films like the "Mexico Trilogy" (''Film/ElMariachi'', ''Film/{{Desperado}}'', and ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'') and ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn''. |
| 214 | ** So it came as a shock to just about everybody when he made the lighthearted family comedy ''Film/SpyKids1'' in 2001... and then made [[Film/SpyKids two back-to-back sequels]] to it over the next two years. He's since mostly gone back to his more R-rated roots with ''Film/SinCity'', ''Film/PlanetTerror'', and ''Film/{{Machete}}'', though he does this side-by-side with family films like ''Film/{{Shorts}}'' and ''Film/TheAdventuresOfSharkboyAndLavagirl'' that he [[SoMyKidsCanWatch makes for his kids]]. |
| 215 | ** ''Film/TheFaculty'' is something in between. On one hand, it's an R-rated sci-fi horror movie inspired by ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'', but on the other, it's also a ''teen'' horror film with satirical undertones inspired by ''Film/Scream1996'' and ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''. On a creative level, it was also the first film he directed that he didn't also write. |
| 216 | ** Likewise, ''Film/AlitaBattleAngel'' and the TV series ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'' (which he is the ShowRunner for) have him going into pure sci-fi action with a PG-13 rating. |
| 217 | * Creator/GeorgeARomero, best known for his ''Film/LivingDeadSeries'' zombie movies, has among his directorial credits the 1971 romantic comedy ''[[Film/TheresAlwaysVanilla There's Always Vanilla]]''. |
| 218 | * Creator/EliRoth, a director of {{Gorn}}-filled TorturePorn and SplatterHorror films such as ''Film/CabinFever'' and ''Film/{{Hostel}}'' also directed ''Film/TheHouseWithAClockInItsWalls'', a PG-rated GothicHorror {{Fantasy}} film based on a children's book. He also directed the action film ''Film/DeathWish2018'', a remake of [[Film/DeathWish the 1974 film of the same name]], and is set to direct a sci-fi action comedy based on [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} a popular video game series]]. |
| 219 | * Creator/AdamSandler is best known for appearing in rather lowbrow comedies such as ''Film/BillyMadison'' and ''Film/HappyGilmore''. However, some of his films (including ''Film/PunchDrunkLove'', ''Film/ReignOverMe'' and ''Film/UncutGems'') are dramas which [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct show that Sandler is capable of more than just screwball shtick]]. |
| 220 | * Creator/MartinScorsese is famous for directing often violent crime films, including ''Film/TaxiDriver'' and ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}''. He would eventually end up directing ''Film/{{Hugo}}'', a family-friendly fantasy about a young British orphan trying to repair an old automaton brought to him by his father. ''Film/TheAviator'' could also count. |
| 221 | * Creator/RidleyScott usually does grim action films. Twice in the 2000s he made comedies, ''Film/MatchstickMen'' (which still had some adventure content as it deals with con men) and ''Film/AGoodYear'' (a straight-up romantic comedy, mostly to [[SceneryPorn shoot near his French home]]). He was also one of the executive producers of ''Film/TheATeam''. |
| 222 | * Ridley's brother, Creator/TonyScott, carved out a career directing action films like ''Film/TopGun'', ''Film/ManOnFire'', ''Film/TrueRomance'', etc. His first feature film? A gloomy vampire story called ''Film/TheHunger'' - which he made as a consolation prize for not getting to direct ''Film/InterviewWithTheVampire'' (he was a huge Creator/AnneRice fan). In this case, after ''The Hunger'' flopped, he transitioned into directing car commercials - and this lead to his success as an action director. |
| 223 | * Creator/MNightShyamalan started off famous for his original drama films with a supernatural atmosphere and TwistEnding. In 2010, he directed an [[Film/TheLastAirbender adaptation]] of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', an action-adventure fantasy epic [[Platform/ThreeDMovie shot in 3D]], no less. Unfortunately, this departure from his standard formula was not well received and considered by many to be his weakest effort. |
| 224 | ** He also did ''Film/AfterEarth'', which, despite receiving ''slightly'' better reviews, still received negative reception; many critics felt the film was fairly standard sci-fi yarn that could've been directed by anybody[[note]]which actually rings true, as that film was the brainchild of [[Creator/WillSmith its star]][[/note]]. |
| 225 | * Creator/KevinSmith went against type in 2004 with the dramedy ''Film/JerseyGirl'', his first non-Askewneverse film, then in 2010 he directed the action-comedy ''Film/CopOut'' and the horror/action/thriller movie ''Film/RedState''. This movie was also atypical for him as a writer. |
| 226 | * Creator/ZackSnyder, director of stylish and violent action/thriller movies such as ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', ''Film/ThreeHundred'', and ''Film/SuckerPunch'' directed the family animated film ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole''. |
| 227 | ** There is noticeably no [[{{Overcrank}} slow-motion]] to be found in ''Film/ManOfSteel'', unlike with the aforementioned thrillers, which are heavy on it in their action scenes. |
| 228 | ** ''Film/ArmyOfTheDead'' is the first feature film that Snyder has ever shot entirely digitally (the only things he shot digitally before this movie was his short ''Film/SnowSteamIron'', and parts of the epilogue for ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' after ''Army of the Dead'' completed principal photography). It is also perhaps the one in his filmography with the least amount of ColorWash outside of ''Film/DawnOfTheDead2004''. It's also one for Creator/{{Netflix}}: the streamer had long been barred from screening any of its films in mainstream cinema chains in the United States and many other countries, notably attempting and failing to work out arrangements for ''Film/{{Roma}}'', ''Film/TheIrishman'' and ''Film/MarriageStory''. In the wake of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, however, the #3 U.S. chain Cinemark warmed relations with Netflix, allowing for titles like ''Film/{{Mank}}'', ''Film/TheTrialOfTheChicago7'', ''Film/TheMidnightSky'' and ''Film/MaRaineysBlackBottom'' to play on their screens. ''Army of the Dead'', however, marks the first time a Netflix film has received a full-on nationwide release in a major cinema chain, despite premiering on the streaming service just one week later. While it only earned about an estimated $1 million, the release was apparently considered enough of a success that Netflix would launch another 14 movies in theaters between September and December 2021. |
| 229 | * Creator/StevenSpielberg has a really varied career, on which [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk action]], [[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial adventure]], [[Film/JurassicPark science-fiction]], and [[Film/SchindlersList compelling]] [[Film/SavingPrivateRyan dramas]] (usually of the [[HistoricalFiction historical variety]]) stand out. The true oddballs are the comedies ''Film/NineteenFortyOne1979'' and ''Film/TheTerminal'', plus the musical ''Film/WestSideStory2021''. |
| 230 | * Creator/QuentinTarantino: Tarantino's style is very well established across his oeuvre, whether he's doing [[Film/ReservoirDogs crime]] [[Film/PulpFiction thrillers]], [[Film/IngloriousBasterds war movies]], [[Film/DjangoUnchained westerns]], [[Film/KillBill kung fu revenge flicks]], [[Film/{{Grindhouse}} grindhouse]] [[Film/DeathProof pastiches]], [[Film/TheHatefulEight and much]] [[Film/OnceUponATimeInHollywood more]]. His biggest oddball is ''Film/JackieBrown'', not just simply by the fact that it's his only adaptation, but it's also mostly driven by [[SpeechCentricWork dialogue and witty banter]] with sporadic bursts of violence in-between. Therefore, it shares its artistic DNA with Creator/ElmoreLeonard, the author of ''Rum Punch'', the original novel. |
| 231 | * Creator/GuillermoDelToro is known for fantasy and science-fiction films that, while scary at times, usually feature sympathetic monsters and heroic outcasts fighting back against an oppressive society, and often have a BittersweetEnding. By contrast, his film ''Film/NightmareAlley2021'' (adapted from [[Literature/NightmareAlley the novel of the same name]]) is a straightforward crime thriller with no fantastical elements whatsoever, featuring a con man VillainProtagonist who lies, cheats and manipulates his way into high society without any regard for others. [[spoiler:In addition, the film ends [[DownerEnding on a crushingly bleak note]].]] |
| 232 | * Creator/GoreVerbinski: He is the director of action/adventure flicks like the first three ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' films, ''Film/TheLoneRanger2013'', and ''Film/TheMexican'', as well as horror films like ''Literature/TheRing'' and ''Film/ACureForWellness''. He also directed the slapstick comedy ''Film/MouseHunt'', the {{Dramedy}} ''Film/TheWeatherMan'', and the animated SpaghettiWestern ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}''. |
| 233 | * Creator/JamesWan is one of the biggest names in modern {{horror}}, having gotten his start as the creator of the torture porn movie franchise ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''. He also directed ''Film/DeadSilence'', ''Film/{{Insidious}}'', and ''Film/TheConjuring'', which all fit his typical line of work. But his most successful movie by far? ''Film/Furious7'', a high-octane blockbuster action film with an [[CarFu emphasis on vehicles]], and RuleOfCool is valued above all else. If one was introduced to Wan through this movie, they'd have a hard time believing he's one of the biggest names in the horror genre. He would later go on to helm ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'', which is yet another action-packed romp different from his usual output, this time in the superhero genre. |
| 234 | * Ti West, best known for horror films like ''Film/TheHouseOfTheDevil'', ''Film/TheInnkeepers'', ''Film/TheSacrament'', and ''Film/{{X 2022}}'' also wrote and directed the Western ''Film/InAValleyOfViolence''. |
| 235 | * Creator/EdgarWright is best known for directing stylish, GenreBusting films that also serve as an AffectionateParody and GenreDeconstruction with [[ChekhovsArmoury clever foreshadowing]] and [[MickeyMousing careful craftsmanship]]; his more well-known examples include the ''Film/ThreeFlavoursCornettoTrilogy'' (which consists of ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', ''Film/HotFuzz'', and ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'') and ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld''. [[Film/LastNightInSoho His recent directorial effort]], however, is a straightfoward PsychologicalHorror thriller with none of his trademark humor, but plenty of [[Main/{{Anvilicious}} blunt social commentary]] on the [[DeliberateValuesDissonance rampant misogyny]] of TheSixties. Because of this, ''Last Night In Soho'' is considered to be his most serious and darkest film to date, especially considering ''Shaun Of The Dead'', despite having some horror elements, was a comedy at its core. |
| 236 | * Creator/JoeWright got famous for directing British period dramas like ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice2005'', ''Literature/{{Atonement}}'' and ''Literature/AnnaKarenina'' (usually starring Creator/KeiraKnightley). Then he went and made ''Film/{{Hanna}}'' - an action thriller. And then ''Film/{{Pan}}'' - a PG-fantasy film. His next two films were a [[Film/DarkestHour2017 a biopic about Winston Churchill]] and [[Film/{{Cyrano}} a musical adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac]]. |
| 237 | * Music/RobZombie is best known as both a HeavyMetal musician and the maker of extremely violent, gritty, [[ClusterFBomb profane]], and [[BlackComedy darkly comedic]] horror movies, particularly the "Firefly Trilogy" of ''Film/HouseOf1000Corpses'', ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'', and ''Film/ThreeFromHell'' along with [[Film/Halloween2007 his remake]] of ''Film/{{Halloween|1978}}''. |
| 238 | ** ''Film/TheLordsOfSalem'', while still an R-rated horror film, strays far from his usual grindhouse-inspired style, instead being a grim ReligiousHorror film about evil witches that emphasizes mood and SurrealHorror instead of graphic violence and whose villains are ''not'' AffablyEvil. |
| 239 | ** He also directed a [[Film/TheMunsters film adaptation]] of ''Series/TheMunsters''. While his involvement is understandable given [[PromotedFanboy his lifelong fandom of the show]] (his SignatureSong "Dragula" is named after Grandpa Munster's coffin dragster), what ''was'' a surprise was the fact that it was rated PG and specifically recreated the show's sense of humor, without trying to play it DarkerAndEdgier or as a {{deconstruction}}. The trailer even lampshaded this, opening by listing off some of the violent horror movies Rob had made in the past before jumping right into straightforward comedy. |
| 240 | * Creator/ZuckerAbrahamsAndZucker Jerry Zucker]] is most well known for doing {{Parodies}} with an emphasis on RapidFireComedy and NoFourthWall such as ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' and ''Film/TopSecret'', but he also directed the critically acclaimed supernatural romantic thriller ''Film/Ghost1990'' and the Camelot drama ''Film/FirstKnight''. |
| 241 | * Creator/EdwardZwick, best known for historical war epics and the like (including ''Film/{{Glory}}'', ''Film/TheLastSamurai'', and ''Film/BloodDiamond'') made his directorial debut with the romantic comedy ''Film/AboutLastNight'', and took a break from the OscarBait with his latest film ''Film/LoveAndOtherDrugs'', a sex comedy about a Viagra salesman. |
| 242 | ** And prior to his epic film work, he was well known for producing television dramedies, most notably ''Series/{{thirtysomething}}'' and ''Series/MySoCalledLife''. |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
| 244 | |
| 245 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 246 | %%ZCE. What crime novel specifically?* [[Creator/EricFrankRussell Eric Frank Russell]] is practically only known for his humoristic SF, but if you look closely into his oeuvre, you find the one or other crime novel. |
| 247 | * ''Literature/LastOfTheBreed'' is a techno-thriller written by Creator/LouisLAmour, who is generally better known for Westerns and other historical fiction. |
| 248 | * Science fiction writer Creator/ArthurCClarke wrote one non-science-fiction novel, ''Glide Path'', a World War II novel giving a fictionalized account of the development of a radar-based ground-controlled landing system to allow aircraft to land at night or in bad weather. (Clarke had in fact worked on the real-life project his fictional system is closely based on.) |
| 249 | * Creator/KenFollett made his name as a writer of thrillers, but is best known (especially outside his native Britain) as the author of the historical epic ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth''. |
| 250 | * Ian Rankin is known for his PoliceProcedural novels, in particular the Literature/{{Rebus}} series. Early in his career he also wrote the techno-thriller ''Westwind'', which for many years he considered an old shame though he eventually came around to it. ''The Flood'' is another, being a coming-of-age novel with Gothic overtones. While ''The Flood'' is just about on the periphery of [[TheVerse the same 'Verse]] as his later novels, ''Westwind'' is definitely not. |
| 251 | * The exceptionally British Creator/AlistairMaclean is famous for his hard-bitten World War II and Spy Thrillers. He's also written ''Breakheart Pass'', a SpaghettiWestern. Amusingly, as the story progresses, you can watch him struggling to keep the narrative from metamorphosing into one of his more typical works... and largely failing, to the point that the abrupt return of Western elements in the ending almost feels like a AssPull. |
| 252 | * The first novel Creator/VCAndrews ever wrote was a sci-fi/fantasy book called ''Gods of Green Mountain''. It being so different from other works her fans are used to seeing is probably the reason why it took almost twenty years after her death to get published, and only in ebook format. |
| 253 | * Mikhail Bulgakov is mostly famous for ''Literature/TheMasterAndMargarita'', a largely lighthearted and satiric novel with religious overtones, yet the majority of his works are dark and realistic stories on par with works of Creator/KurtVonnegut and Creator/CharlesBukowski in terms of cynicism and desperation. |
| 254 | * Creator/AgathaChristie, famed for her detective stories, wrote (well, assembled) a Hercule Poirot novel named ''Literature/TheBigFour'' that featured Hercule Poirot take on a conspiracy to take over the world by a Chinese YellowPeril villain, a French MadScientist, an American CorruptCorporateExecutive, and a British MasterOfDisguise. Poirot does such unlikely things as throw gas-bombs and have poison darts hidden in his cigarette case. The finale takes place in a SupervillainLair in the Italian Alps - which blows up at the end of the novel! It can be most succintly described as Hercule Poirot as James Bond (see Ian Fleming below!) |
| 255 | * Creator/StevenErikson is known for his gritty, serious work, most prominently the sprawling, complex fantasy epic ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen''. He also wrote ''Willful Child'', an affectionate, over-the-top [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]] parody. |
| 256 | * Creator/HPLovecraft, famous for his {{Cosmic Horror Stor|y}}ies about alien beings whose very existence threatens humanity and our fragile minds, also wrote ''Literature/SweetErmengarde'', a comedic parody of romantic melodramas featuring zero {{Eldritch Abomination}}s of any sort. |
| 257 | * Creator/IanFleming, writer of ''Literature/JamesBond'', also wrote ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'', a children's novel about a magical car. |
| 258 | ** His tenth Bond novel, ''Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', is told from the FirstPerson perspective of the woman in the story, rather than his usual third-person perspective focusing on Bond. (He didn't like the result, though fans of the books generally find it an interesting experiment.) |
| 259 | * Creator/ErinHunter is actually a PenName for a series of writers. ''Literature/{{Warrior|Cats}}s'' and ''Literature/{{Seeker|Bears}}s'' share writers, however ''Literature/{{Survivor|Dogs}}s'' and ''Literature/{{Bravelands}}'' do not. As a result, the various series can differ in style: |
| 260 | ** ''Survivors'' is noticeably different from the other Erin Hunter titles. For starters, the protagonists are not {{Kid Hero}}es. Pups do appear but Lucky and the others are mainly adults. The series is also much heavier on CallARabbitASmeerp than the others and their AnimalReligion is different (instead of just an afterlife, they also [[NatureSpirit anthropomorphise the sun, moon, rivers, and other natural phenomenon]]). |
| 261 | ** ''Literature/{{Seeker|Bears}}s'' has a heavier GreenAesop than other Erin series. It also features different AnimalNamingConventions: the animals have names from human languages (such as Tobi and Kallik) and characters keep the same name their entire life. |
| 262 | * Creator/DianaWynneJones primarily wrote lighthearted fantasy works, that were often at least slightly parodic and usually didn't play everything straight. And then there's ''Literature/TheDalemarkQuartet'', which, while being most definitely fantasy and young adult literature, is much more serious in tone, and a straight fantasy work without a hint of parody. It has a noticeably different feel than anything else she wrote. |
| 263 | * Creator/RobertMunsch often makes kids' books with hilarious, over-the-top situations and cartoony characters and colours. But then along came ''Literature/LoveYouForever'', the biggest tearjerker of all kid's books... |
| 264 | * Dav Pilkey is best known for his humor books, especially ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'', or otherwise for his books for little kids like ''Dragon'' and ''Literature/TheDumbBunnies''. In 1996, he wrote and illustrated ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20050305013912/http://www.pilkey.com/bookview.php?id=12 God Bless The Gargoyles]]''. |
| 265 | * David Ritz spends a lot of time writing (and ghostwriting) biographies about musicians, comedians, and athletes. He writes the occasional romance novel, but his one true oddball is the 1981 SpeculativeFiction [[GenreBusting sports/fantasy/romance]] novel ''Literature/TheManWhoBroughtTheDodgersBackToBrooklyn''. |
| 266 | * A.N. Wilson is known for his non-fiction works, including books about religion and biographies. He's also released two {{xenofiction}} books about cats called ''Literature/{{Stray}}'' and its LighterAndSofter SpinOffspring sequel ''Tabitha''. |
| 267 | * Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin is best known for her adult-geared speculative fiction and science fiction. However, one of her best-known series ''Literature/{{Catwings}}'' is a children's series about cats with wings. |
| 268 | * ''Literature/TheBadGuys'' series by Aaron Blabey is a graphic novel chapter book series. While still meant for a younger audience, they are very different than his standard rhyming children's picture books. |
| 269 | * Mikhail Lermontov’s main male characters are not the best guys to have a romance with. They are selfish, or {{Yandere}}, or at best LovedINotHonorMore, or some combination thereof (and if they are actually nice, they generally get killed off). However, he also wrote ''A Wanderer’s Prayer'', a beautifully touching short poem where the narrator is of IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy mindset, praying to the Blessed Virgin to help and protect an unnamed “innocent maiden”, including giving her "companions full of care”. |
| 270 | * Creator/NanakoTsujimura actually mostly writes science fiction and fantasy. The major outlier is the one series of hers that got turned into an anime and translated into English: the contemporary mystery series ''Literature/TheCaseFilesOfJewelerRichard''. |
| 271 | * Harry Martinson was primarily an author of leftist social critiques and travelogues inspired by his years as a merchant seaman. However, the work that catapulted him to international fame and eventually led to his winning the 1974 Nobel Prize for Literature was ''Literature/{{Aniara}}'', an extremely dark and depressing piece of dystopian science fiction that, for added weirdness, was also a collection of poetry. |
| 272 | * Creator/BruceCoville is well known for his stories about magic and science fiction, making a handful of stories ''without'' those elements into his oddballs. |
| 273 | ** ''Literature/OddlyEnough'': ''Oddest of All'' contains "What's the Worst That Could Happen?", which is one of Coville's very few stories to not have anything fantastic happening. There's no magical or supernatural elements, no aliens or fantastic technology, just a normal kid trying to confess to a girl that he likes her and get over his stage fright in time to perform in the skit they're supposed to do. Even when said skit goes horribly wrong, it's all due to natural causes. |
| 274 | ** ''Fortune's Journey'', likewise, has no fantastic elements -- it's a historical fiction story set in the 1850s about a teenager who's inherited an acting company from her father and is just trying to keep them afloat on their journey to California. |
| 275 | * Creator/ElmoreLeonard's short novel ''Touch'' seems glaringly out of place as a supernatural thriller compared with the rest of his collection of crime novels. |
| 276 | * ''Literature/TheBigU'', a college campus satire novel by none other than Creator/NealStephenson, science-fiction writer and author of ''Literature/SnowCrash''. He does not like the book and discontinued publishing for a while. Then people started paying hundreds of dollars for old copies of it, and he had it republished, saying that "the only thing worse than people reading the book was paying that much to read it." To be fair, it was his first novel. |
| 277 | * Creator/JohnGrisham usually writes legal fiction. Only five aren't of this genre, and one of them is ''Skipping Christmas'' (which was later adapted as ''Film/ChristmasWithTheKranks''). A ChristmasSpecial, of all things. ''A Painted House'', a coming-of-age story in Depression-era Arkansas, is another. He also wrote ''An Innocent Man'' which is legal ''non''fiction and the only nonfiction book he has written so far. |
| 278 | * While it's in the sci-fi genre like most of his stories, ''Good Night, Mr. James'' by Clifford D. Simak has been described by the author himself as unique; it's much darker in tone than most of his work, and has a ShootTheShaggyDog ending. |
| 279 | * Comic novelist Kingsley Amis (using the pseudonym "Robert Markham") wrote ''Literature/ColonelSun'', the first Literature/JamesBond novel published after Creator/IanFleming's death. |
| 280 | * Creator/RoaldDahl, world famous for his children's novels, also wrote ''Literature/MyUncleOswald'', an erotic softcore satire. Exactly why becomes more clear when one learns that he was [[TheCasanova an inveterate womanizer.]] One of his jobs in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII actually required him to seduce well-connected American women into political compliance. |
| 281 | * Creator/JackLondon is famous for his adventure stories set in the 19th century American West. |
| 282 | ** He also wrote ''Literature/TheIronHeel'', which is about the rise of an oligarchic regime in the United States and is often called the earliest of modern {{dystopia}}s. |
| 283 | ** He also wrote "The Star Rover", about a man who astral travels into several previous lives. |
| 284 | ** ''Might is Right'' is a [[TheSocialDarwinist social Darwinist]] and egoist anarchist tract first published in 1896 that is credited to one "Ragnar Redbeard", a pseudonym for an unknown writer. Most scholars believe that either London or Arthur Desmond wrote it, even though both of them were staunch socialists; if so, it would diverge sharply from both authors' body of work. (London also would've had to be a teenager at the time if he wrote it, though to be fair, large chunks of it do read like the ramblings of an edgy teenage {{Ubermensch}} wannabe.) |
| 285 | * Creator/RogerZelazny is primarily known for writing science fiction and fantasy, but he also co-wrote (with Gerald Hausman) the novel ''Wilderness'', a straightforward story of frontier survival. |
| 286 | * Creator/JamesPatterson is so well known for writing thrillers that when he wrote ''Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas'', a romance novel, the television commercial even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] the trope by saying "By James Patterson. Yes, James Patterson." |
| 287 | * Robert W. Chambers, the author of the supremely creepy [[Literature/TheKingInYellow ''The Repairer of Reputations'' and ''The Yellow Sign,'']] mostly wrote light, fluffy romantic comedy stories. A reader looking for more weirdness is likely to be very disappointed. |
| 288 | * Creator/OrsonScottCard, writer of ''Literature/EndersGame'' and other science fiction and fantasy stories, also wrote a series of soap-opera-ish books about women in the Bible. This makes more sense when you remember how much his religion impacts even his better-known stories. |
| 289 | * Stephen Donaldson is famous for writing speculative fiction: ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'', ''Mordant's Need'', ''Literature/TheGapCycle''. He is not at all famous for his series of detective novels entitled ''The Man Who [did something].'' (Interestingly, he's in the habit of writing a new detective story after completing a series of fantasy novels: it seems to be how he winds down.) |
| 290 | * Suspense novelist Dean R. Koontz surprised his fan base with an uplifting but dark illustrated children's book called "Oddkins" in 1989. He then followed it with the illustrated kids' Christmas books "Santa's Twin," and its sequel "Robot Santa," though those were much more comedic in tone. |
| 291 | * Po Bronson wrote the novels ''Bombardiers'', about Wall Street greed, and then ''The First 20 Million Is Always the Hardest'' and ''The Nudist on the Late Shift'', a novel and non-fiction books, respectively, about Silicon Valley. Then he wrote ''What Should I Do With My Life?'' and had this to say: |
| 292 | -->My last three books were set in the world of ''business'', and suddenly I'm writing about bodyworkers and high lamas? What's my dad going to think? Will the ''Wall Street Journal'' ever talk to me again? |
| 293 | * Creator/RobinMcKinley, who usually writes YA fairy tale retellings, also wrote ''Literature/{{Sunshine}}'', an urban fantasy book for adults. |
| 294 | * Creator/RobertEHoward is mostly known for HeroicFantasy tales. But also wrote several [[TheWestern Westerns]], "spicy tales" (adventures with implied sexual content), and a few comedies. |
| 295 | * ''Literature/NorwegianWood'', a gentle, tragic coming of age tale, is this for Japanese surrealist author Creator/HarukiMurakami. His work is usually compared to [[MindScrew Philip K. Dick]]. |
| 296 | * P.D. James, a famous British crime writer, also wrote ''The Children of Men'', a dystopian novel. |
| 297 | * Creator/DavidGemmell, one of the premier writers of HeroicFantasy, wrote a {{Thriller}} named ''White Knight, Black Swan'' under the pseudonym Ross Harding, to avoid leading readers to expect another HeroicFantasy. |
| 298 | * Creator/ChinaMieville is well-known for his SteamPunk, sci-fi, and UrbanFantasy which is why ''Literature/TheCityAndTheCity'' leaves such a strong impression on the reader. [[spoiler: The Reveal, which does in the wizard, is that the whole plot has nothing do to with magic, but was driven by a Mega Corp that used citizens' Selective Obliviousness for their own ends]]. |
| 299 | * Val [=McDermid=], well-known for her crime novels in which violence, torture, and murder in often described in disturbing detail, has also written a cutesy children's picture book called ''My Granny is a Pirate''. |
| 300 | * After becoming famous for ''Literature/HarryPotter'', [[Creator/JKRowling J. K. Rowling]] hasn't returned to fantasy since, writing first [[Literature/TheCasualVacancy general fiction]] and then [[Literature/TheCuckoosCalling mystery thrillers]]. So her most iconic work is something of a BlackSheepHit. |
| 301 | * Creator/JaneAusten was known for her "light and bright and sparkling" romantic comedies about wealthy girls marrying wealthier men while dealing with pompous, annoying relatives and rivals during their courtship. ''Literature/MansfieldPark'' is basically a case study in child abuse, depicting how the psychological trauma the heroine has endured courtesy of her [[WickedStepmother wicked aunt]] for eight years has made her grow up into an ExtremeDoormat and ShrinkingViolet who believes she has no right to be happy. Unsurprisingly, whether justly or not, it's her least popular novel. |
| 302 | * ScienceFiction author Creator/StanislawLem also wrote ''Hospital of the Transfiguration'', a semi-autobiographical novel about a Polish doctor trying to survive the Nazi occupation of his (and Lem's) homeland. (This will frequently be found in the "Science Fiction" sections of libraries and bookstores, despite containing no sci-fi elements whatsoever.) |
| 303 | * Creator/JimButcher was quite successful with ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' when all of sudden, he released ''[[Literature/CodexAlera Furies of Calderon]]'', a huge departure from his typical hard-boiled, first-person magic detective stories. The idea came from a bet where he would take two bad ideas and write a successful story about them and was given The Lost Roman Legion and Pokemon. With the series ''Literature/TheCinderSpires'' he has also begun writing SteamPunk. |
| 304 | * ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' by Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/StephenBaxter is reasonably hard SciFi, and while it has humorous moments, it's not a comedy. It might be based on an idea Sir Terry had before he became synonymous with funny fantasy, but it's very different from his usual works. And while his love of Victoriana is visible in later Literature/{{Discworld}} novels, ''Literature/{{Dodger}}'' is unique in that it contains ''no fantastic elements at all''. |
| 305 | * Martin Amis is mostly known for the flippant social and political criticism in his novels, short stories, and essays. He also wrote ''Invasion of the Space Invaders: An Addict's Guide to Battle Tactics, Big Scores and the Best Machines'', in which he interspersed commentary on the phenomenon of video games with reviews and tips on the latest arcade games from the perspective of a fan. The book is so dissimilar to the rest of his oeuvre that it is often assumed that he later disowned it, though he never did. |
| 306 | * Nearly all of the books Creator/CormacMcCarthy wrote were period pieces taking place anywhere between a few decades prior to over a hundred years prior to the when they were written, but ''Literature/TheRoad'' is different in that it's a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] story taking place at some point after an unspecified event has seemingly wiped out most life on Earth. |
| 307 | [[/folder]] |
| 308 | |
| 309 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 310 | * Creator/QuinnMartin, the mastermind behind such {{Crime Drama}}s as ''Series/TheUntouchables'' and ''Series/TheFugitive'', also served as executive producer for the sci-fi series ''Series/TheInvaders1967''. |
| 311 | * Creator/MarkGoodson Productions was known as one of the biggest GameShow producers, but the company also made a dramatic anthology called ''The Web'', along with the westerns ''Jefferson Drum'' and ''Series/{{Branded|1965}}'', and another anthology called ''The Richard Boone Show''. |
| 312 | * ''Series/TheOrville'' is a relatively serious science fiction drama series done in the style of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. Critics wondered if the dick and fart jokes were added at the insistence of executives so people wouldn't be caught off guard that it was a Creator/SethMacFarlane creation, as he is known for creating raunchy comedies. |
| 313 | * Rick Siggelkow mostly produces shows aimed at preschoolers, mainly based on pre-existing British properties. However, two works of his are aimed at older children: ''Series/AceLightning'' and ''Series/{{Dinosapien}}''. |
| 314 | * When you think of true crime documentaries, do you think ''Film/NapoleonDynamite''? Because ''Murder Among the Mormons'' is definitely a departure for comedy director Jared Hess as it focuses on the case surrounding psychopathic fraudster Mark Hofmann. |
| 315 | * Once Creator/KevinFeige and Creator/MarvelStudios branched the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse onto Creator/DisneyPlus, it was right away a departure from the usual action-oriented approach of the preceding superhero movies, with ''Series/WandaVision'' being half sitcom homage, half mystery with psychological and supernatural horror elements. |
| 316 | * The 1980 television play ''Blade on the Feather'' is an ironic pastiche of Creator/JohnLeCarre, lacking the musical breaks and weirdly fantastic elements associated with writer Creator/DennisPotter. |
| 317 | * Before 2019, Craig Mazin was primarily known for writing comedy films such as ''Film/ScaryMovie3'', ''Film/SuperheroMovie'' and the sequels to ''Film/TheHangover''. Then he helmed the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'', an utterly haunting depiction of arguably the worst man-made disaster in history, that often feels less like a historical drama and more like a CosmicHorrorStory come to life. |
| 318 | * Vin Di Bona is known for light-hearted, family-friendly {{reality show}}s such as ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'' and its many spinoffs. He also co-produced the MadeForTVMovie ''For the Love of Nancy'', a drama about an anorexic young woman. Then there's ''Sherman Oaks'', a short-lived Creator/{{Showtime}} [[{{Mockumentary}} mockumentary]] sitcom that contained [[CrossesTheLineTwice offensive humor]] and [[{{Fanservice}} gratuitous nudity]], a far cry from Di Bona's usual fare. |
| 319 | * Creator/ChuckLorre is known for his multi-camera sitcoms shot before a live studio audience, and for being one of the last holdouts in both of these traditions. ''Series/YoungSheldon'' is a single-camera series without a laugh track. |
| 320 | * Although they've dipped their hands into live-action content prior to their 2013 reboot, Creator/PBSKids is very well-known for its roster of animated cartoons. However, there is one show post-reboot that is a complete 180 from their previous works: ''Series/OddSquad'', which is primarily live-action but has some CGI elements. In spite of the 2-8 age demographic, the show is much darker than other PBS Kids shows, showing near-death experiences, trauma and magical violence (among other things) while still maintaining a TV-Y rating. It's also worth noting that it was once mistakenly listed as TV-Y7 on PBS Kids's video app. |
| 321 | * ''Series/{{Letterkenny}}'' is this for Creator/{{WildBrain}}, who almost exclusively produce content for pre-school and child audiences. ''Letterkenny'' is a live-action series that sounds innocent enough on paper, that is until you realise the show is filled to the brim with tobacco and drug usage which is a major focus of the show, and non-stop excessive swearing that is said every few seconds. The same applies to its spin-off ''Series/{{Shoresy}}'', which has as much swearing as the show it spun-off from. |
| 322 | * ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'': An InUniverse example in "[[Recap/CastleS7E6TheTimeOfOurLives The Time of Our Lives]]", which ({{maybe|MagicMaybeMundane}}) visits an AlternateTimeline where pulp crime novelist Castle never met Beckett and made her his new literary muse, and instead wrote a SliceOfLife novel that completely flopped and basically ended his career. |
| 323 | * Creator/TakashiMiike, a famously transgressive, countercultural Japanese filmmaker known for his love of [[{{Gorn}} ultraviolence]] and [[ExploitationFilm shocking imagery]], also created ''Series/IdolXWarriorMiracleTunes'', a MagicIdolSinger series aimed at young girls. |
| 324 | [[/folder]] |
| 325 | |
| 326 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 327 | * [[Music/{{Carpenters}} Richard and Karen Carpenter]] were best known for soft rock ballads, but took the occasional unexpected left turn, like putting a furious fuzztone guitar solo in the otherwise sedate "Goodbye to Love", doing a cover of Music/{{Klaatu}}'s ProgressiveRock hit "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft", and releasing the bouncy, slightly-bluegrass-flavored "Sweet, Sweet Smile" ... which became a top 10 hit on the CountryMusic chart in 1978. |
| 328 | * Music/BuckOwens: |
| 329 | ** By 1969, Owens had already displayed a lot of non-{{country|Music}} influences in his music, but that year he released two singles that were much more rock than country: "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass", which featured fuzztone guitar and harpsichord (!) as lead instruments, and a live cover of [[Music/ChuckBerry "Johnny B. Goode"]] that would've put most garage bands to shame. He was a big enough star that they still managed to become #1 country hits, but he received some backlash from longtime fans for those two records, plus a bluegrass/gospel cover of Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," due to a pledge he signed several years earlier stating he would never record a song he didn't consider a country song. Owens defended his choice of music, noting that [[ExactWords he said]] he would not record in a pop-country vein, not record {{rockabilly}} or {{bluegrass}}, which he considered forms of country music. |
| 330 | ** That stated, from about the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, in part due to massive grief over the death of his best friend Don Rich in a tragic accident in 1974, an [[CreatorsApathy apathetic]] Owens began recording pop-country. While the music itself isn't bad, it also did not represent Owens at his best, something he later admitted. It wasn't until the late 1980s, when he had a brief comeback with Music/DwightYoakam on "Streets of Bakersfield", that he began to record in his classic styles and made vintage Buck Owens music. |
| 331 | * Composer Kikuo is most known for his dark and often disturbing Music/{{Vocaloid}} music, but he's also done some happy and cute {{moe}} [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denpa_song Denpa songs]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToqeQuZHa3s Would you believe this is the same guy that did "I'm Sorry I'm Sorry"]]? Even within his Vocaloid works there's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2P76nOpeDs Curry of Pure Water Song]]", a happy and upbeat song meant to advertise curry. There's also Infinite Dreamer, which sounds like a very mainstream pop song with none of Kikuo's signature surreal sounds, although the lyrics do have some dark implications. |
| 332 | * Music/{{WASP|Band}} had ''Kill, Fuck, Die'', their industrial metal album. The song-writing itself wasn't actually that far removed from the band's previous few albums, just a bit angrier, but the production turned it into something totally unlike anything else the band has recorded before or since. |
| 333 | * [[Music/DiaryOfDreams Diary of Dreams]] is normally DarkWave, but ''The Anatomy of Silence'' is entirely acoustic neoclassical songs. |
| 334 | * An unusual case: country star Charley Pride recording the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLobiH-ENiE disco-flavored]] [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Dallas Cowboys]] theme song in 1979. |
| 335 | * Happy hardcore act Music/{{Dune|Band}} released two albums of orchestral ballads; ''Forever'' and ''Forever and Ever''. |
| 336 | * Alt-rockers Music/{{Eels}} with ''[[http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0433b30576/cold-dead-hand-with-jim-carrey Cold Dead Hand]]''. In this instance, they teamed up (as the Clutterbusters) with Creator/JimCarrey (Lonesome Earl) to record a CountryMusic-style satirical piece on gun politics. For good measure, the band members dressed up as UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, Music/JohnLennon, and UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi -- peace advocates who were all shot dead. |
| 337 | * ''In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy'' an album of metal and hard rock covers by family-friendly Music/PatBoone. This one's more of an oddball in lyrical content than actual sound. |
| 338 | * Music/JoyElectric is SynthPop, as the name implies. He dropped the "synth" half on the album ''Unelectric'' and recorded [[UnpluggedVersion acoustic arrangements]] of prior songs. And he dropped the "pop" half for ''The Tick Tock Companion'', which featured completely improvised, ambient synth jamming. |
| 339 | * "Anniversary" by DarkCabaret artist Music/{{Voltaire}} is a straight love song, with no references to death, goths, evil, or SciFi shows. His later country album may also count. The musical style is different, but the subjects of the songs are his usual fare. There's also his NewWave album, "What are the Oddz?". |
| 340 | * Although it was recorded as a joke, Music/AnalCunt's ''Picnic Of Love'' is a complete inversion of their trademark style: instead of short grindcore songs with BlackComedy lyrics and song titles, it consists of 2-3 minute acoustic ballads sung in falsetto, with titles like "I'd Love To Have Your Daughter's Hand In Marriage". |
| 341 | * Music/{{Ween}}'s ''12 Golden Country Greats'' was a country album, which used veteran country session musicians as a backing band. Though they'd had the odd country-influenced song before and since, it was still a pretty unexpected turn from their GenreRoulette-influenced sound, especially because the album generally plays it straight (well, aside from "Piss Up A Rope" and "Mr. Richard Smoker" anyway). |
| 342 | * Most Music/PatBenatar albums are album-oriented rock and roll... except ''True Love'', which is jump blues. |
| 343 | * Music/AliceInChains' ''Sap'' and ''Jar Of Flies'' [=EPs=]. The albums surrounding them can best be described as grunge metal, but these eps are acoustic alternative rock. |
| 344 | * CountryMusic singer Music/AlanJackson did a very blues-pop oriented album, ''Like Red on a Rose'', in 2006. It was also the only album on which he did not work with producer Keith Stegall, instead choosing bluegrass pioneer Alison Krauss. Also, despite having written maybe 75% of his own songs, his only contribution as a writer on ''Like Red on a Rose'' was "A Woman's Love", a re-recording of a track from his 1999 album ''High Mileage''. |
| 345 | * ''Attention Please'' by Music/{{Boris}} is a dance-rock album that sounds nothing like their usual metal/hardcore/noise oriented albums. |
| 346 | * Music/{{Metallica}}: The ''Load'' records, which completely abandoned their classic thrash style for a bluesy hard rock style. Then, they experimented with Alternative/Nu Metal with St. Anger. They have, since, returned to said thrash style. |
| 347 | * Ronan Harris of the [[{{Industrial}} Futurepop]] group Music/VNVNation collaborated with the GothRock band Mono Inc. for the single "Boatman". |
| 348 | * 99% of Music/{{Santana}}'s songs are Latin-infused rock of some kind with some glimpses of other popular genres... except the song "America" off of ''Music/{{Shaman}}'', which is, of all things, NuMetal, thanks to being performed with and written by P.O.D. |
| 349 | * Music/FrankZappa's album ''Music/CruisinWithRubenAndTheJets'' was considered an unusual departure in his oeuvre. The album contains no pointed political {{Satire}}, no BawdySong material, no sudden musical experimentations, no clashing of different musical genres, but is just an honest, straight-faced {{Homage}}/{{Pastiche}} to the {{Doowop}} bands he adored. For his fans, this was a huge AudienceAlienatingPremise. |
| 350 | * Rocker Music/LouReed's ''Music/MetalMachineMusic'', a double-album of proto-noise music consisting entirely of guitar feedback, a ''very'' huge departure from his experimental but usually still accessible glam rock and art pop output. It was a long-standing assumption that the album was a TakeThat at his record label to get out of his contract. However, Reed later admitted that he'd been completely serious about the album and also on a lot of drugs. |
| 351 | * The Music/{{Melvins}} have had several album-length left turns, but possibly the most surprising is ''The Bootlicker'': while their sound usually involves sludgy walls of feedback, this album features absolutely no guitar distortion. The actual content doesn't get any lighter and softer, but the arrangements bring to mind Music/TomWaits and {{Krautrock}} more than they do grunge or stoner metal. ''Freak Puke'' by Melvins Lite is probably the closest they've come to returning to this sound - that album did prominently distorted guitars; However, with [[Music/MrBungle Trevor Dunn]] sitting in on standup bass and Dale Crover restricted to playing his drums with brushes, it also emphasized the more jazzy and experimental elements of their sound. |
| 352 | * The Music/ButtholeSurfers' ''Weird Revolution'', which is much more electronica-influenced than anything they'd previously done. It may have been an attempt to roll with their popular BlackSheepHit "Pepper", although it was actually preceded by a couple of electronic-based soundtrack contributions, along with the similar but much more experimental ''After The Astronaut'', which got shelved after promo copies got scathing reviews. |
| 353 | * Music/{{REM}}'s 1994 album ''[[Music/MonsterREMAlbum Monster]]'' was this on purpose, featuring distorted, tremolo-heavy sex-rock songs compared to their usual folky alt-rock (with the exception of "Strange Currencies" and "Tongue"). Though it sold well at the time, many did not like the album [[VindicatedByHistory (at least not at first)]], the band's mainstream presence would rapidly drop off with their next album (which actually was well-received upon release and is still well-regarded today), and to this day it can't be mentioned online without it being brought up how common it is in used CD stores. The unreleased demos included on its 25th Anniversary reissue are far more in the traditional R.E.M. mode, and them being finished might have led to it being better received. At the time though, the group was so against being typecast as a band that played ballads such as "Losing My Religion" and "Everybody Hurts" that they deliberately did an about-face. |
| 354 | * Music/KanyeWest is normally known for rap music, but ''808s & Heartbreak'' is an electropop album. |
| 355 | * Almost every opera by Music/GiuseppeVerdi is a tragedy or a strong drama. However, he also wrote two comedies, ''Un giorno di regno'' and ''Falstaff''. |
| 356 | * Music/GeorgeGershwin co-composed ''Song of the Flame'', a 1925 operetta set in GloriousMotherRussia, writing tunes far removed from his usual jazzy style. This also represents his sole collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II. (Three years later, George Gershwin was hired to compose another exotic operetta, ''East is West'', this time to Ira's lyrics; this show was canceled in the early stages of production.) |
| 357 | * Teen star Lesley Gore performed catchy pop songs in the GirlGroup vein in TheSixties, such as her SignatureSong "It's My Party", balanced with more sophisticated ballads like "You Don't Own Me". Her sporadic adult recording career, in which she emerged in full as a singer-songwriter, largely consisted of downtempo or mid-tempo, stripped-down, jazzy ballads in the vein of [[Music/CaroleKing Carole King's]] ''Music/{{Tapestry}}''. In 1975, however, she reunited with her Sixties-era producer Music/QuincyJones to produce...a very [[https://www.discogs.com/Lesley-Gore-Love-Me-By-Name/release/5668246 disco/funk/soul-styled album]] called ''Love Me By Name''. |
| 358 | ** Lesley ''herself'' would appear to be one in Quincy Jones' pop production career; even the Allmusic website's biography of Lesley would mention that "retrospectives of Jones' career usually downplay or omit his work with Gore, although it was among his most commercially successful; he's known now for recordings that are, well, funkier. But his success with Gore did a lot to build his already impressive résumé within the industry." |
| 359 | * Filipino comedian, rapper, and singer Michael V is best known for his novelty songs and literal English-to-Tagalog or Tagalog-to-English translations of popular songs. But in 2016, he went completely serious in the upbeat, yet relevant song "Dapat Tama", his parent TV network GMA's official song for the 2016 Philippine presidential elections. |
| 360 | * Music/NeilYoung was best known for guitar-heavy folk rock until he released his 1982 album ''Trans'', featuring extensive use of synthesisers, vocoder-distorted vocals, and ScienceFiction influenced lyrics and artwork, quite unlike anything he released before or since. It was followed in the same year by ''Everybody's Rockin''' (a rockabilly album). He was ready to release ''Old Ways'' (a country album) before Geffen actually ''filed a lawsuit against him'' for making music "unrepresentative" of his previous work. |
| 361 | * Music/{{Nickelback}} has always been associated with, depending on [[BrokenBase who you ask]], the hard rock community since their debut in 1995. So it was a serious shock for many when their eighth studio album, ''No Fixed Address'', was discovered to heavily feature, of ''all genres'', Disco and Electronica. Their signature sound is not entirely absent from the album, however. On their debut album ''Curb'' on the other hand [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness they are virtually unrecognizable]], as the music has a much heavier and less commercial {{Grunge}}/AlternativeRock sound and Chad's vocal style is quite different. |
| 362 | * Singer and illustrator Toromi is mostly known for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denpa_song Denpa songs]], but she also wrote the lyrics to the [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Gensou]] [[BoyBand Airly]] song "Welcome to Club Airly!" |
| 363 | * Music/GarthBrooks was ''the'' face of CountryMusic in TheNineties. So how did he finish the decade? With an album, ''Music/InTheLifeOfChrisGaines'', which featured him singing under the guise of a fictitious alternative-rock singer named Chris Gaines. [[ChartDisplacement Bizarrely]], it also produced his only Top 40 hit on the Hot 100. |
| 364 | * Music/AlanJackson did this twice in 2006 when, in the span of a few months, he departed from his twangy fiddle-and-steel brand of country to release ''Precious Memories'', an album of gospel standards and hymns with minimalist production. It was followed by ''Like Red on a Rose'', a smooth, slick, adult contemporary-leaning album full of mellow, lush romantic songs. The latter also featured only one song written by him (a redo of his 1998 song "A Woman's Love"), ''and'' was his only album to date not produced by Keith Stegall (Music/{{Alison Krauss|And Union Station}} produced it instead). He did it again in 2013 when he released a follow-up to ''Precious Memories'' composed of similar material to the first, followed months later by his first bluegrass album. |
| 365 | * For most of her career, Music/KathyMattea had a very sparse, folksy style of country with hints of bluegrass and Celtic music. But her 1994 album ''Walking Away a Winner'' had a heavier country-pop and country-rock influence, with many critics comparing the album to Music/BonnieRaitt or Music/MaryChapinCarpenter. |
| 366 | * Music/AvrilLavigne's "Hello Kitty", an electro-dance song with dubstep elements and GratuitousJapanese quite unlike her usual PopPunk or rock output. To say nothing of the JPop-inspired video. |
| 367 | * Music/LilWayne, one of the most popular rappers of the 2000s released ''Rebirth'', a rock album, in the 2010s. |
| 368 | * ThrashMetal group Music/CelticFrost released the HairMetal album ''Cold Lake'' in 1988 much to the shock of fans. |
| 369 | * Music/HoneyWorks has a lot of songs talking about heterosexual romance, and even their LoveTriangle songs are based on this. "Nonfantasy", "Gimme Gimme Call", and "Minikui Ikimono", however, deal with decidedly non-heterosexual romance; the former ends in a MMF threesome marriage while the grooms kiss each other; the second ends with the two boys in the LoveTriangle dating each other instead while the girl ends the PV dejected but comforted by her friends; and the last is the only one taken semi-seriously, as it deals with the {{Gayngst}} of a girl in love with [[IncompatibleOrientation her straight best friend]]. |
| 370 | * Music/BloodhoundGang are generally known for their comedic rap-rock-punk songs full of samples, clever puns, and ToiletHumour. Their 2005 album ''Hefty Fine'' includes the slow-paced, serious "Something Diabolical", which features Music/{{HIM}}'s singer Ville Valo and sounds like HIM's usual goth rock output. |
| 371 | * Another CountryMusic example: Singer-songwriter Paul Overstreet is a devout Christian, but his faith didn't show up explicitly in his work outside of his generally avoiding singing or writing songs glamorizing alcohol or adultery. However, in 1995 he co-wrote a single praise and worship song titled "God is Good All the Time" alongside veteran worship leader Don Moen, even providing guest vocals on a recording of that song for an album recorded by Moen. |
| 372 | * Music/ChrisCornell's solo career either rocked hard like his band Music/{{Soundgarden}} or went for a pared-down, mostly acoustic sound. Aside from the Timbaland-produced ''Scream'', which is reviled exactly for how dance-pop beats and Cornell's rock crooning don't gel at all. |
| 373 | * All of Music/{{Eminem}}'s albums are {{Angst}}-ridden, [[PissTakeRap borderline parodic]] HardcoreHipHop with [[HorrorComedy silly horror elements]], at least traces of a SubvertedKidsShow tone, and [[MuseAbuse confessional, imflammatory lyrics about his personal life]] -- except ''Infinite'', an optimistic, lyrical [[AlternativeHipHop boom-bap]] album he made [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early in his career]]. In addition to having a totally different production style and flow to his later work, with a level of technical lyricism that he wouldn't approach again until ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'' nearly two decades later, it contains plenty of HilariousInHindsight elements. These include an unironic love song to his wife Kim in which he promises to be a good husband to her (he [[AntiLoveSong murders her on one song each of his next three albums]]), and a song which opens with him doing the signature nose-pinch vocal he later uses on "The Real Slim Shady" as he warns about a crazy SerialKiller escaping a mental hospital... who does ''not'' turn out to be Eminem's AxCrazy Slim Shady alter-ego, but a rival rapper who Eminem heroically fights. The negative reaction to ''Infinite'' led to Eminem creating his Slim Shady character and drastically altering his style into the offensive shock-comedy that has remained his SignatureStyle for the rest of his career. |
| 374 | * Music/IggyPop typically specializes in art punk, with his work with Music/TheStooges being ProtoPunk. ''Music/TheIdiot'' and ''Blah-Blah-Blah'' meanwhile diverge from this, respectively being a doomy {{industrial}} album and an effect-heavy dance-pop album. Both albums share a common thread in that they were co-produced and co-written by Music/DavidBowie, who used the records to explore styles that he would further dive into on ''Music/{{Low|DavidBowieAlbum}}'' and ''Music/NeverLetMeDown'', respectively; Pop even dismissed ''Blah-Blah-Blah'' as a Bowie album that he just happened to sing on. Meanwhile, the other Pop/Bowie collaboration, ''Music/LustForLife'', would be more in-line with Pop's typical output. |
| 375 | * Music/MikePatton is an insanely prolific singer whose lyrics for about half of his discography are [[CarefulWithThatAxe screaming]] and he can adapt to any genre, but his most accessible work is, of all things, a ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' theme song remix for ''[[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesShreddersRevenge Shredder's Revenge]]''. |
| 376 | * Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Music/NineInchNails became {{Pop Star Composer}}s with ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', Creator/DavidFincher brought them back in ''Film/TheGirlWithTheDragon Tattoo2011'' and ''Film/GoneGirl'', and another mature work followed with ''Series/Watchmen2019''. Then they did a Creator/{{Pixar}} movie, of all things, in ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}''. |
| 377 | * ''Music/{{Hourglass}}'', a SoloSideProject by Dave Gahan, frontman of Music/DepecheMode, while still following the band's traditional AlternativeDance[=/=]NewWaveMusic approach as per the usual Depeche Mode style, takes what the band is typically known for and takes it to great extremes, making it stand out with its smoother tones, stronger emotions, and the general industrial atmosphere that isn't applied elsewhere on Depeche Mode's discography. |
| 378 | * Music/ElP is an alternative rapper/producer known for bombastic, dystopian records with complex lyrics strongly inspired by Creator/PhilipKDick. Despite this, in 2004, he released an instrumental jazz album. |
| 379 | * The Music/{{Queen}} album ''Music/HotSpace'' is full of disco songs, a departure from their usual rock music. After ''Hot Space'' they went back to rock, albeit updating it for the TheEighties, and never touched disco again. Although Freddie Mercury continued to explore the genre in his solo music. |
| 380 | * Fabio Lione is primarily known for singing PowerMetal, most notably being the lead singer of Music/RhapsodyOfFire for 21 years. But he's also dabbled in {{Eurobeat}}, with one song even being featured in ''Manga/InitialD''! He also did a Eurobeat cover of "Ave Maria" for Creator/{{Disney}} of all things. |
| 381 | * Music/WillieNelson's roots lie in country music but broke into jazz with his 1978 album ''Stardust'', which consisted entirely of jazz standards. |
| 382 | * {{Dubstep}} producer Boregore took an abrupt turn to jazz in his 2018 EP ''Adventures in Time''. |
| 383 | * Blue Amazon's remix of Music/{{Placebo}}'s "Nancy Boy" is {{drum n bass}} rather than the former's usual progressive {{trance}}. |
| 384 | * The Osmond Brothers, eager to shake up their white bread/bubblegum image, tried their hand at HardRock, of all things. "Crazy Horses" was a top 20 hit in America in 1972 and was their BreakthroughHit in the UK, where it went all the way to #2. It has also attracted a number of semi-tongue-in-cheek/semi-serious [[CoverVersion Cover Versions]] from bands like Music/{{KMFDM}} and Music/ElectricSix. |
| 385 | * {{Music/Disturbed}} is most well known for two things; their long and continuous career in metal, and their one-shot orchestral soft rock cover of [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel The Sound of Silence]]. |
| 386 | * Music/PaulMcCartney is best known for his pop-rock music (exemplified, of course, by Music/TheBeatles but also in the 1970s with Music/{{Wings}}). However, he's also dabbled in classical music, film scores, and experimental ambient electronica, the last of which is usually credited to "Music/TheFireman". |
| 387 | * Music/SnoopDogg, famous of course for his GangstaRap, raised some eyebrows with 2018's "Bible of Love," a double album of GospelMusic played perfectly straight. Snoop argued that RealMenLoveJesus and audiences seemed to agree, sending it to #1 on the Gospel charts. |
| 388 | * Music/TechN9ne is known for his [[MotorMouth incredibly fast]], infinitely creative brand of HipHop and all of his output reflects that except one: The ''Therapy EP'', which changes his style to loud and abrasive NuMetal. This is due to it being produced by [[Music/{{KoRn}} Ross Robinson]]. |
| 389 | * Music/BillieEilish is mainly known for her somber, moody songs, which might make it jarring to some to hear her contributions to the movie ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' are for an in-universe early [=2000s=] pop boy band and have a more upbeat tone. |
| 390 | * [=GemBoy=] are a novelty/parody rock Italian band specialized in covers of every kinds of songs full of VulgarHumour, innuendos and the like, plus a sizable production of original songs still full of the same kind of content (sex, cuckoldry, feces, cum, you get the point). Two songs stand out from the rest of their production: "Drin drin", a completely serious song about a guy trying and failing to call his love on the phone, and "Giambel V", an AffectionateParody of Super Robot anime which is not a direct cover, rather a pastiche of various Italian anime theme songs, and contains no profanity or vulgarity of any kind, being instead a satire that shows what would happen if the Italians instead of the Japanese made a giant robot (spoiler: it does not end well). |
| 391 | [[/folder]] |
| 392 | |
| 393 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 394 | * Alexander Ostrovsky's bread and butter was gritty, realistic social satire, his plots usually taking place in PresentDay Russia (meaning the 19th century) and only occasionally in historical settings. Then suddenly he wrote ''Theatre/TheSnowMaiden'', which is MagicalRealism laden with symbolism and philosophy and set in (vaguely) pre-Christian Rus (basically, an UnbuiltTrope for the Slavic fantasy subgenre which has flourished in Russia since the ''1990s'', more than a century after Ostrovsky's time). The audience was more confused than impressed, and it took Rimsky-Korsakov turning the play into an opera to boost its popularity. |
| 395 | * Creator/JeanRacine was primarily known as a tragedian. However, he wrote ''Les Plaideurs'', his only comedy. |
| 396 | [[/folder]] |
| 397 | |
| 398 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 399 | * Berzerk Studios is primarily known for their violent and {{Gorn}}-filled games such as ''Trap Master'', ''VideoGame/TheBreach'', and ''VideoGame/{{Infernax}}''. They also developed ''VideoGame/FranticFrigates'', a ShootEmUp that lacks any blood and gore, and ''VideoGame/JustShapesAndBeats'', a RhythmGame / BulletHell in which blood and death is [[BloodlessCarnage little to non-existent]]. |
| 400 | * Creator/{{Bioware}} is well known for its {{Western RPG}}s. However, three of the works it made are much different: their [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness debut project]], ''VideoGame/ShatteredSteel'', was a GiantRobot Simulation, ''VideoGame/MDK2'' is a ThirdPersonShooter, ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles'' is an EasternRPG, and VideoGame/{{Anthem}} is an online-only loot shooter filled with microtransactions (and was completely their own idea, not EA's as is commonly thought). |
| 401 | * Creator/{{CAVE}} is well-known for its line of colorful arcade BulletHell shooters. Then they made ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIMAGINE'' in a role-reversal with Creator/{{Atlus}}, who published the first two ''VideoGame/DonPachi'' games. |
| 402 | * British developer The Creative Assembly is primarily known for the ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' RealTimeStrategy games. Naturally, their most successful game was ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation'', a licensed, FirstPersonShooter SurvivalHorror based on the [[Franchise/{{Alien}} franchise of the same name]]. |
| 403 | * Creator/CriterionGames is known almost exclusively for their racing games, particularly the ''VideoGame/{{Burnout}}'' series and the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' games from 2010 to 2013. ''VideoGame/{{Black}}'' was a bit of an anomaly for the Guildford-based studio, as it was a boots-on-the-ground first-person shooter with no vehicles the player can pilot. While they have since provided assistance with ''VideoGame/BattlefieldHardline'', ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2015'' and ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'', ''Black'' continues to be the only shooter developed by Criterion. |
| 404 | * Croteam is mainly known for their ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' franchise, shooters featuring a sarcastic OneManArmy anti-hero (or parody thereof) mowing down endless waves of mooks and giant monsters. They also made ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'', a first-person puzzle game with no violence, a philosophical bent about the nature of self and a plot that gets unfurled by reading logs scattered around and talking with an artificial intelligence. It received a great amount of critical acclaim. |
| 405 | * Eden Games are mainly known for their {{Racing Game}}s, such as ''V-Rally'', ''VideoGame/TestDriveUnlimited'' and ''Gear.Club''. However, much like Creator/BioWare, three of the games it made are much different: ''VideoGame/KyaDarkLineage'' was a 3D PlatformGame, ''Titeuf: Méga compet' '' was a [[LicensedGame licensed]] PartyGame [[NoExportForYou released only in their native France]], and their 2008 game ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'' was an InNameOnly [[ActionizedSequel Actionized Reboot]] of a SurvivalHorror game. |
| 406 | * The Farm 51 is best known for ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}''-inspired shooter games, namely ''VideoGame/NecroVision'' and ''Painkiller: Hell and Damnation'', the [=HD=] VideoGameRemake of ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}''. Their previous game, ''VideoGame/DeadfallAdventures'', was somewhat more puzzle and story driven than their previous games but was still very much a first-person shooter. However, their 2017 game ''VideoGame/GetEven2017'', despite being advertised as an FPS, was really more of an EnvironmentalNarrativeGame with stealth elements, and while it is possible to play it as a shooter, the gunplay is deliberately poor and the story heavily penalizes you for playing it as an FPS. The Farm 51 have acknowledged this approach was poorly received, and their next game, ''VideoGame/{{Chernobylite}}'', while still story-driven, has much more of an emphasis on gameplay and doesn't heavily punish playing it as an FPS. |
| 407 | * Creator/FromSoftware are known for making gritty, violent, NintendoHard action games such as the ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' series, the ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}}'' series, and the ThematicSeries of ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' trilogy, and ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''. However, they also released ''VideoGame/{{Deracine}}'', a VR adventure game about fairies with no violence at all, and also the light-hearted, cartoony ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfCookieAndCream''. |
| 408 | * Ganbarion's gaming catalogue consists primarily of licensed action games based on ''Manga/OnePiece'' (such the ''Unlimited'' trilogy and ''VideoGame/OnePieceWorldSeeker''). However, among all those ''One Piece'' games are two projects they worked on with Nintendo: the dark fantasy ActionRPG ''VideoGame/PandorasTower'' and fitness game ''[[VideoGame/WiiFit Wii Fit U]]''. |
| 409 | * Insomniac Games is renowned for their light-hearted, colorful, and cartoony platformer franchises, (''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' and ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'') so when the studio's gritty, darker, more realistic first-person shooter series ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}'' is juxtaposed against their previous work, it can be pretty jarring at first. |
| 410 | * Creator/IOInteractive is known for their ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' series of stealth action games as well as ''VideoGame/KaneAndLynch'' and ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters2003'', which made the LighterAndSofter HackAndSlash platformer ''VideoGame/MiniNinjas'' an outlier for them; they stated in interviews that they developed ''Mini Ninjas'' out of their desire to come up with a game they could "play with their kids". This reached a logical conclusion with the somewhat obscure [[WesternAnimation/MiniNinjas animated series spinoff]] of the same name. |
| 411 | * David Jaffe is mostly known for his brutal and violent games like ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'' and ''VideoGame/GodOfWar''. He was also [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness one of the designers]] for ''VideoGame/MickeyMania'' for the Platform/SegaGenesis. |
| 412 | * KO_OP is an indie studio better known for making small, short puzzle games with simple narratives, along with mobile games. By contrast, ''VideoGame/GoodbyeVolcanoHigh'' is much larger in scope than previous projects, is a console game, and has multiple, heavier narratives. |
| 413 | * ''Kitten Kaboodle'', a hyper-colorful ''VideoGame/{{Pengo}}''-like 1988 UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame by Creator/{{Konami}} starring a CuteKitten, looks and plays nothing like the {{Shoot Em Up}}s and adventure-oriented games the company was well known for at the time. |
| 414 | * Creator/Level5 is known for games with colorful, heavily stylized graphics, but ''VideoGame/WhiteKnightChronicles'' features a more realistic art style. |
| 415 | * Creator/MidwayGames was well known for arcade-style games, or titles otherwise predicated on intense action. They also published the first two ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' [=RPGs=]. |
| 416 | * Creator/MiHoYo's works tend to be mobile action games with an ImprobablyFemaleCast. ''VisualNovel/TearsOfThemis'', meanwhile, goes in the opposite direction, being an OtomeGame visual novel with ''Franchise/AceAttorney''-style investigation. |
| 417 | * Creator/NDCube is synonymous with the PartyGame genre and [[DigitalTabletopGameAdaptation board games]] thanks to their work on the ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series and ''Clubhouse Games'', which can make it a shock to learn that the studio's very first game was ''VideoGame/FZeroMaximumVelocity'', a high-speed futuristic racing title (as was ''Tube Slider'', the last game they made before going dormant for seven years). |
| 418 | * Yasuhiro Nightow is primarily known for science fiction works with a futuristic or contemporary setting like ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'' and ''Manga/BloodBlockadeBattlefront'', but he also did the art for ''VideoGame/EnergyBreaker'', a fantasy JRPG. |
| 419 | * Creator/{{Nintendo}}: |
| 420 | ** ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' serves as this among the company's catalogue of franchises, with the original NES game even being created as the "anti-[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]". The grim and dark nature of the sci-fi franchise contrasts even greater when placed alongside most of the other series that co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto oversees, which are all lighthearted and cartoony series (''VideoGame/WarioWare'', ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'', and ''VideoGame/TomodachiLife''). |
| 421 | ** While Nintendo publishing a third-party title internationally isn't at all strange, a peculiar instance of this is them distributing ''VideoGame/RType'' -- as in the original 1987 game -- for North American arcades, with it even being the last arcade title Nintendo would ever release. Unlike other arcade games published by Nintendo, ''R-Type'' does not use Nintendo-developed hardware at all. |
| 422 | * Creator/ObsidianEntertainment is synonymous with open-ended Western [=RPGs=]. Assembled from the remnants of Black Isle (and Troika, itself a Black Isle successor studio), Obsidian has created several acclaimed games in the genre (and the occasional AcclaimedFlop). These include ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'', ''VideoGame/TheOuterWorlds'', and their best known title, ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas.'' Which is why it was so surprising when they released ''VideoGame/{{Pentiment}}'', a HistoricalFiction AdventureGame. |
| 423 | * On, the creator of the ''VideoGame/{{Grow}}'' games and other web games, is mostly known for making games with cute and colorful graphics in SugarBowl worlds that are meant to be played by everyone, including and notably children. In 2020, he made his first and currently only R-rated game: ''Zombie Trapping'', which includes zombies and blood and has fewer bright colors than his usual games. It really stands out visually compared to his other games. |
| 424 | * Overdrive is a maker of {{eroge}} but ''VisualNovel/GoGoNippon'' is completely devoid of any erotic content, even kisses. Justified in that it's an educational (sort of) visual novel and thus needs to be accessed by anyone (mostly otaku, though). |
| 425 | * Creator/PlatinumGames is known for fast-paced, NintendoHard StylishAction games like ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', ''VideoGame/GodHand'' (as Clover Studios), and ''VideoGame/NierAutomata''. They also made ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace,'' an {{Animesque}} SpaceOpera turn-based RPG. |
| 426 | * Creator/{{Psikyo}}: |
| 427 | ** While ''VideoGame/SpaceBomber'' is a shmup like most of their output, there are several differences from their other games: for starters it's a CuteEmUp (the only other one they've made is ''VideoGame/PilotKids''), it's a retro-styled single-screen vertical shooter a la ''Galaga'' or ''Space Invaders'' and also has some slight puzzle elements with its mechanic of grabbing and throwing enemies. Moreover, it's the most overtly wacky and parodic game they have made, directly spoofing cheesy alien invader B-movies. |
| 428 | ** Psikyo also made ''VideoGame/BattleKRoad'', a FightingGame about a martial arts tournament, showcasing several real-life combat styles. It stands out both for being an one-on-one fighting game among a series of shmups, and for having a contemporary setting and being (mostly) treated in a realistic way instead of being another fantasy/sci-fi title. |
| 429 | * Respawn Entertainment are known for being made of former team members of [[VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare Infinity Ward]] who left and made ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'', ''VideoGame/Titanfall2'', and ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'', all futuristic sci-fi First Person Shooters set in the same universe, with the single-player entries being linear. They then made ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediFallenOrder'', which is a third person hack-and-slash metroidvania soulslike platformer with elements of ''Franchise/TombRaider'', set in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' galaxy. However, their signature wall-running mechanic was implemented as one of the protagonist's force powers. |
| 430 | * [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar Games]]: |
| 431 | ** Rockstar is a developer and publisher famous for its self-conscious cultivation of a cool image, making their name with the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series and also releasing [[VideoGame/MaxPayne noir-inspired]] [[VideoGame/LANoire crime dramas]], [[VideoGame/MidnightClub slick open-world street racers]], [[VideoGame/{{Manhunt}} ultraviolent slashers]], [[VideoGame/TheWarriors adaptations of cult '70s action films]], and [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption gritty Westerns]]... so imagine everyone's surprise when they made ''[[http://kotaku.com/that-time-rockstar-made-a-table-tennis-game-1750981913 Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis]]''. It was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just that]]: a straightforward table tennis game, treated with the same seriousness as all of their other titles. Pretty much every retrospective on the game goes out of its way to note just how oddball and unlike the rest of the company's titles it was. ''Table Tennis'' was actually far more important to Rockstar than one may guess, as [[TechDemoGame it was a test run for the new Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)]] that powered titles like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' and ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' during the [[MediaNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames seventh generation of gaming]]. |
| 432 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'' could also count as pretty oddball by Rockstar's standards, given its LighterAndSofter tone compared to the rest of their games. Its WideOpenSandbox gameplay and sense of humor, though, were still very much in the Rockstar tradition. |
| 433 | * Rocksteady Studios is known these days for the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries''. It might seem strange, then, that their debut title was a rather violent first-person shooter (the sort of game Batman himself [[ThouShaltNotKill would]] [[DoesntLikeGuns despise]]) by the name of ''VideoGame/UrbanChaosRiotResponse''. |
| 434 | * Rather than a one-off, developer Syn-Sophia made a complete 180 with what kind of games they make. They were originally known for wrestling and beat-em-up games under the name [=AKI Corporation=], but now exclusively make VirtualPaperDoll games including ''VideoGame/StyleSavvy'', the ''VideoGame/PrettySeries'', and ''Fashion Dreamer''. |
| 435 | * Sui Ishida is a mangaka known for creating ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', a psychological horror manga about violence between ghouls and humans. By contrast, his other work ''VisualNovel/JackJeanne'' is a relatively light-hearted RomanceGame about a theatre academy. |
| 436 | * Tango Gameworks' first three games were horror games that, while having moments of levity, were serious in tone (''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'', [[VideoGame/TheEvilWithin2 its sequel]], and ''VideoGame/GhostwireTokyo''). The studio's fourth game, ''VideoGame/HiFiRush'', is an over-the-top action-RhythmGame hybrid with a very colorful and cartoony art style to match its more comedic atmosphere. The launch trailer even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the extreme contrast: |
| 437 | -->''From the makers of '' '''The Evil Within''' ''(seriously)'' |
| 438 | * Creator/{{Treasure}} is mainly known for hyperkinetic, colorful and difficult 2D action games with original, innovative mechanics and an Animesque style, such as ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'', ''VideoGame/AlienSoldier'' or ''VideoGame/MischiefMakers''. To the surprise of many they also made ''VideoGame/LightCrusader'': a very standard, slow-paced Western-style action RPG with a Westernized art style and an isometric perspective that they never used before or since. |
| 439 | * Creator/{{Valve}} created several well known FirstPersonShooters, like ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' and ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' but it also has dabbled in other genres. |
| 440 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', while a first person shooter of sorts, is a puzzle game that is mostly non-violent. |
| 441 | ** ''VideoGame/Dota2'' is a MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena. |
| 442 | ** ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'' is a {{FreeWare}} top down shooter. |
| 443 | * Creator/WestwoodStudios is known for the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' series of RealTimeStrategy games (though the studio wasn't limited to RTS, all their game ''series'' were), but also made ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade'', a FirstPersonShooter. Outside of the series, Westwood was also responsible for quite a few non-RTS games such as a PC version of ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'', a PlatformGame ''VideoGame/TheLionKing'', a fantasy RPG ''VideoGame/{{Nox}}'', a point-and-click AdventureGame ''VideoGame/BladeRunner'', and even a MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineGame ''VideoGame/EarthAndBeyond''. |
| 444 | * Zombie Studios was primarily known for making tactical shooters. In 2014 they made ''VideoGame/{{Daylight}}'', a procedurally generated maze horror game primarily notable for being the first game made with Unreal Engine 4. |
| 445 | * Creator/AlLowe, the creator of the very adult ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' series, initially started out as an in-house developer of many Disney games for [[Creator/{{Sierra}} Sierra On-Line]], ''VideoGame/TheBlackCauldron'' being his most well-known at the time. Came to a complete circle when he created ''VideoGame/TorinsPassage'', a game that harkened back to his pre-''Larry'' days, which confused many people unfamiliar with Lowe's work prior to ''Leisure Suit Larry''. |
| 446 | * Sierra co-founder Roberta Williams crossed this when she created her magnum opus, the gory and violent ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria}}.'' Prior to ''Phantasmagoria'', she was known for creating the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'', ''VideoGame/LauraBow'', and ''VideoGame/MixedUpMotherGoose'' series, all meant for general audiences. |
| 447 | * ''VideoGame/BalanWonderworld'' was the first 3D platformer published by legendary JRPG makers Creator/SquareEnix, known for ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', and ''VideoGame/DragonQuest''. Granted, they did not develop Balan Wonderworld, they were only the publishers, but there have been many reports of ExecutiveMeddling from Square Enix, who were keen to massively expand the game's story and lore (including a tie-in novel) similar to typical [=JRPGs=], culminating in the removal of Yuji Naka as director. General consensus is that they interfered too much in the development of a game in a genre they had no experience with, and it shows in the final product. |
| 448 | [[/folder]] |
| 449 | |
| 450 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 451 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Last Chance in Xollywood}}'': In-universe, Last Chance studio usually churns out NoBudget Z-grade exploitation movies, but they once made a film titled ''Police on Trial'', a documentary dealing with police brutality and social justice. [[spoiler:Randy made it after her twin sister on Earth was shot for a speeding ticket.]] |
| 452 | [[/folder]] |
| 453 | |
| 454 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 455 | * Canadian animator Alex Henderson's works include animated music videos for PowerMetal bands like {{Music/Alestorm}} and {{Music/Gloryhammer}} . However, one that stands out is ''Breathing Space'', which features [[Music/BlackGryph0n Black Gryph0n's]] "Getting Stronger", a Pop song. There's also his pilot ''WebAnimation/TheRhinoAndTheRedbill'', which is not only episode-lenght, but doesn't feature ''any'' songs at all. |
| 456 | * John P. [=McCann=], who is known for writing episodes of family friendly cartoons such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' wrote every episode of ''WebAnimation/LoboWebseries'', an adult oriented cartoon. |
| 457 | * The Creator/KrisStraub behind the ''WebAnimation/{{Mappy}}'' cartoon for Platform/ShiftyLook in the early 2010s is, indeed, the same Kris Straub behind such web horror series as ''Literature/CandleCove'' and ''WebVideo/Local58''. |
| 458 | * Creator/RoosterTeeth is an entertainment company that bills itself as a "Comedy Gaming Community", which got its start with the military WorkCom based on the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', and is still primarily known for material related to gaming. However, their biggest hit is ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': a completely original {{Animesque}} action/adventure webseries that spawned a multimedia franchise that includes video games, comics/manga, literature, and even an anime adaptation. |
| 459 | * Creator/Supermarioglitchy4 is best known for his wacky and meme-filled videos like his [[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers main self-titled show]], ''WebAnimation/GuardsNRetards'' and ''Sonic the Derphog''. He has also made ''WebAnimation/MetaRunner'', an action/adventure series with a darker and more mature tone than his other works, although it still has some comedic moments. |
| 460 | [[/folder]] |
| 461 | |
| 462 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 463 | * Parodied by Website/SomethingAwful in their [[http://www.somethingawful.com/series/the-great-authors-series/ "Great Authors" series]], where they imagine classic writers working far outside their regular genres, from Creator/HunterSThompson recapping an episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' to Creator/CormacMcCarthy writing for a parenting blog. |
| 464 | [[/folder]] |
| 465 | |
| 466 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 467 | * Creator/StanLee is one of the greatest superhero comic writers. He created and co-created a lot of MediaNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} superheroes. He also created the erotic animated series ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}'' which, while still a superhero show, is more adult and male-geared than his usual work, as are all the films and series produced by his production company POW Entertainment. |
| 468 | * The ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' cartoon was this, not for [[Creator/{{Nelvana}} its studio]], but for Creator/{{PBS}}, who aired it. It was--and remains to this day--one of the only non-educational children's shows ever to air on PBS. The reason it was aired [[ReadingIsCoolAesop was likely meant to encourage kids to read the books]], though. |
| 469 | * For Creator/CraigMcCracken, the ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie'' was almost this, as it was initially being produced as a PG-13 feature due to a desire to AvoidTheDreadedGRating. A shift in direction at the network concerning how to approach adult animation (which resulted in the formation Creator/AdultSwim) led to them changing targets to a PG rating more in line with the show. |
| 470 | * In-universe examples appear in ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'': |
| 471 | ** Most of Jem and the Holograms' songs are about romance, friendship, and love in general. Then there's "The Last Laugh" which is almost hateful and is [[TakeThat very mocking towards The Misfits]]. It's surprisingly mean-spirited and shows that Jerrica is fed up with Pizzazz. "Glitter and Gold" is also less fluffy than their normal fare, being a boastful song where Jem talks about how confident and fashionable she is. |
| 472 | ** The Misfits are all about boosting their own egos. "Misfits in Hawaii" is self-deprecating and portrays them in a negative light. "Love Sick" is a straight-up ''love song'' (fitting since Pizzazz does [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness become seriously out of it]] when she falls for Riot), which is not something The Misfits care for. |
| 473 | * ''WesternAnimation/LetsGoLuna'', a preschool cartoon on Creator/PBSKids, was created by Creator/JoeMurray, who created two other cartoons beforehand, ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' and ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'', the former of which is considered one of the raunchiest Nicktoons of all time and the latter also having its fair share of ParentalBonus. |
| 474 | * Stop-motion animator Art Clokey made a name for himself creating children's shows like ''WesternAnimation/DaveyAndGoliath'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}}''. He tried his hands in live-action with the mid-'60s short ''[[https://youtu.be/Np7FGgXoYps The Plucky Plumber]]'', and later explored the spirituality of human consciousness in his 1977 avant-garde cartoon ''[[https://youtu.be/PPqfEG4ritc Mandala]]''. |
| 475 | * ''WesternAnimation/OliveTheOtherReindeer'' is this for Creator/MattGroening. It's his only family-friendly work as opposed to [[WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}} his]] [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons adult]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} cartoons]] he's primarily known for. It's also the only one to not use his art style, instead being based on the illustrations of the original book. |
| 476 | * Creator/FreshTV is known for its PG-rated 22-minute animated series like ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Stoked}}'', all of which star and satirize 16-year-old teenagers and the lives they lead; feature a blend of comedy and drama, heavy focus on relationships, significant amounts of PG-rated humor and content (such as mild swearing and pixellated nudity); and are generally known for having a relatively realistic cast and tone[[note]]Although ''Total Drama'' would become increasingly DenserAndWackier over time[[/note]]. And then there's ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'', a [[LighterAndSofter G-rated]] TwoShorts show that stars a group of 13-year-old middle schoolers making songs for their band; features NoFourthWall, large amounts of BetterThanABareBulb jokes and SurrealHumor, extremely out-there plots; and has a very quirky tone that heavily emphasizes its offbeat sense of humor and musical elements. |
| 477 | * Most of Doug Langdale's shows are GagSeries filled to the brim with slapstick and off-the-wall humor (''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'', ''WesternAnimation/ProjectGeeker'', and ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian''). However, his most successful project was ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'', a fairly grounded SliceOfLife show. He would go more against type with his later action-packed works in the form of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'' and ''WesternAnimation/CleopatraInSpace''. While still having plenty of humor, they also tell overarching stories rather than being largely episodic. |
| 478 | * ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is this to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, due to its unusual art-style, ''heavy'' amounts of BlackComedy and horror, and attracting an older audience than most of the channel's shows. While Nickelodeon did intend for it to be this -- the reason they hired Creator/JhonenVasquez in the first place was that they wanted edgier material in the vein of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' -- the fact that it contrasted ''so'' much with their other programming like ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', in addition to the show's budget issues, ultimately led to an early cancellation and being destined to be a CultClassic. |
| 479 | * The ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' franchise represents another one for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}. While most of the network's programming consists of episodic zany comedies, the ''Avatar'' series are continuity-driven action cartoons, to say nothing of how both ''The Last Airbender'' and ''Legend of Korra'' enjoy exploring the themes of war, genocide, imperialism, and familial abuse. |
| 480 | * ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies2018'' stands from Mr. Warburton's [[WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor other]] [[WesternAnimation/The7D shows]] , being made for preschool audiences rather than older kids. [[note]] Although ''The 7D'' was originally going to be for Disney Junior before being retooled for Disney XD. [[/note]] |
| 481 | * It might be surprising for some to learn that the mafia-themed adult-oriented animated series ''WesternAnimation/FuggetAboutIt'' is produced by Canada's Creator/NineStoryMediaGroup, a company whose animated productions otherwise consist only of children's cartoons, including many Creator/PBSKids series. |
| 482 | * ''WesternAnimation/WildCATs1994'' was produced by Creator/{{Nelvana}}, and is one of their few, if not only, straight action series (all of their other shows with action have typically been action-adventure or mystery); furthermore, the visual style is straight out of [[ComicBook/WildCATsWildStorm the comic]], standing in stark contrast to the varied visual styles of Nelvana's other productions. |
| 483 | * In contrast with C.H. Greenblatt's wacky comedy shows like ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Jellystone}}'', ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBeaks'' is an atmospheric SliceOfLife. It's also the series [[CreatorsFavorite he's proudest of the most]]. |
| 484 | * ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy'' is this for Creator/FrederatorStudios, being the only preschool cartoon produced by them. In contrast, it has historically created cartoons aimed at older children and eventually moved into adult animation. |
| 485 | * ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' is also an oddball from Creator/FrederatorStudios, being a straight drama series. In contrast, all of their other shows are comedies (or, at the very least, {{Dramed|y}}ies). Its art-style is also far more detailed and {{Animesque}} than the studio's other works, which are generally cartoony.[[note]]''WesternAnimation/BeeAndPuppyCat'' is somewhat animesque, but still has a [[ThinLineAnimation fairly simple art-style]].[[/note]] |
| 486 | * While ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' wasn't the first adult animated project from Creator/KlaskyCsupo (having done the first three seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and the Music Video for the Music/BeastieBoys song "Shadrach"), it was easily their most adult work they've done before or since (the only adult works they've done since being the first season of ''WesternAnimation/StressedEric'', and ''Immigrants'', a compilation movie of the finished episodes of a show that would have been for Creator/SpikeTV). |
| 487 | * Creator/NormanLear is better known as the creator of famous sitcoms with an intelligent bent to them -- ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', etc. Perhaps this explains why he co-produced a short-lived EdutainmentShow for Creator/KidsWB in 1997, ''WesternAnimation/ChannelUmptee3''. |
| 488 | * ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' is a children's animated series is produced by Wind Dancer Films, a company known for producing live-action movies and TV shows aimed at an adult audiences. |
| 489 | * Most of the stuff that Aaron Augenblick has worked on, such as ''Series/WonderShowzen'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'', are very much ''not'' kid-friendly. ''WesternAnimation/CityIsland2022'' appears to be the first kids' show he has worked on. |
| 490 | * ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is this for Creator/ButchHartman, being a superhero action show rather than a wacky comedy like his other shows (although it does have its share of comedic moments). |
| 491 | * Creator/BillPlympton's works usually tend to be quite adult in nature, but he does have some oddballs in his filmography: |
| 492 | ** ''12 Tiny Christmas Tales'' is not only a sincere and ([[DerangedAnimation relatively]]) straightforward ChristmasSpecial, it's also one of his only family-friendly works, having a TV-G rating and even airing on Creator/CartoonNetwork. |
| 493 | ** His first full-length feature, ''The Tune'', is also [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness pretty different from his usual works]], as it's a light fantasy musical with a sincere romantic subplot and lacks much of his trademark political incorrectness. If it was submitted to the MPAA, it likely would've gotten a PG-13 rating, on account of a very brief shot of nudity during the "Dance All Day" sequence. |
| 494 | ** ''The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger'' is a short about, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a cow that wants to be a hamburger]]. It might be a little intense for younger viewers (particularly the climax where the titular cow finds out ''how'' hamburgers are made), but it's an allegorical fable with a happy ending, and kid-friendly enough to earn a G rating from the MPAA. |
| 495 | * Creator/BentoBoxEntertainment: |
| 496 | ** ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' utilises full-featured and fluid animation, compared to the usual LimitedAnimation the company is known for. |
| 497 | ** ''WesternAnimation/FutureWorm'' is aimed at children and aired on Creator/DisneyXD during its run, while most of Bento Box's other cartoons are aimed squarely at adults. |
| 498 | * Creator/CollingwoodAndCo: |
| 499 | ** ''WesternAnimation/PondLife'' is the only show for adults the studio - which mainly does child-friendly cartoons - worked on. |
| 500 | ** ''WesternAnimation/RuffRuffTweetAndDave'' is so far their only CGI production. |
| 501 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyGoldfishIsEvil'' is the only show Sardine Productions made that does not utilise Flash animation. |
| 502 | [[/folder]] |
| 503 | |
| 504 | [[folder:Other]] |
| 505 | * Lyrick Studios, the producers of ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' and the original mass market distributor of ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'', also distributed some other series on VHS in their early days... as well as the Catholic documentary series ''The Faithful Revolution: Vatican II'' about the Second Vatican Council, colloquially known as "Vatican II". The Audiovisual Identity Database, in its Lyrick Studios article, calls that video "a surprisingly non-children's release". |
| 506 | * Legendary freestyle skateboarder Creator/RodneyMullen has appeared in many a skateboard video and movie doing what he does best either as a skateboarding extra, a stunt double for another actor e.g. filling in for Creator/BenStiller in the skateboarding scene in ''Film/TheSecretLifeOfWalterMitty'' or a playable character in ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater''. His role as Jace Skell in ''VideoGame/GhostReconBreakpoint'' on the other hand is a surprising outlier, as it marks his only non-skating theatrical role to date; the game does however make a subtle reference to Mullen's occupation in the form of a fingerboard found on Skell's desk, though. |
| 507 | * Series/EurovisionSongContest: |
| 508 | ** Latvia, best-known for crazy novelty acts, sending the quiet, intimate "That Night" by Carousel in 2019. |
| 509 | ** In one of the most triumphant recent examples, Italy sending glam-rock band Måneskin with "Zitti e buoni" in 2021, which went against their usual grain and earned them their first victory in over thirty years. |
| 510 | *** Thirty years prior, they sent their only entry neither in Italian or English: Peppino di Capri's "Comme è ddoce 'o mare," which is in the Neapolitan language. |
| 511 | *** Earlier still, in 1957, Italy sent the longest song to ever compete in the contest. Nunzio Gallo's "Corde della mia chitarra" was a whopping 5:09, which led to the establishment of the rule that songs could be no longer than three minutes long the following year. |
| 512 | *** Al Bano and Romina Power's "We'll Live It All Again" (1976), Raphael Gualazzi's "Madness of Love" (2011), and Nina Zilli's "L'amore e femmina" (2012) are the only Italian entries to have as much, if not more, English in them as Italian. Francesca Michielin's "No Degree of Separation" (2016) was also partially translated into English for Eurovision, but the majority of it remained in Italian. |
| 513 | ** Most people would agree that ''the'' Mediterranean-sounding banger of 2019 was Luca Hänni's "She Got Me." Astonishingly, it came from ''Switzerland'', and its fourth-place finish was their best in over twenty-five years. |
| 514 | *** An earlier example would be their host entry from 1989, Furbaz's "Viver senza tei" - their only entry in the Romansh language. |
| 515 | *** Not necessarily sonically (although it is somewhat unusual for them to send a rock song), but conceptually: their 2005 entry "Cool Vibes" was performed by Estonian girl group Vanilla Ninja. While other singers from outside of Switzerland have represented them in the past, most at least sang in one of their native languages (French, German, or Italian). Vanilla Ninja had no connection whatsoever, but they did score very well and finished eighth. |
| 516 | ** At the time, Gina G's "Ooh, Aah...Just a Little Bit" was considered this for both the United Kingdom and the contest as a whole, as it was much more electronically-driven and contemporary than most of what was sent to the competition in the mid-90s. While it only finished eighth, it was still a huge hit and scored a Grammy nomination. |
| 517 | ** Lithuania managed to zig-zag this: they got their best result to this day with LT United's "We Are the Winners" in 2006, a straightforward sports chant/novelty song. That in and of itself was a break from type for them, but even more so was their sending a low-key acoustic number ([=4Fun=]'s "Love or Leave") the following year. |
| 518 | ** Starting in the '80s, Denmark's trademark at the contest was sending high-energy pop songs with brassy instrumentation and lots of dancing. 1991's "Lige der hvor hjertet slår" by Anders Frandsen was a simple piano ballad...and their first entry since 1985 to finish outside the top ten. |
| 519 | *** Back-to-back examples in 1995 (Aud Wilken's "Fra Mols til Skagen," a minimalistic, intimate song) and 1997 (Kølig Kaj's "Stemmen i mit liv," the only straight-up novelty song Denmark's ever sent). |
| 520 | ** At the time, Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah" was this for Finland, but seeing as they've sent several rock songs since then, it's much more common nowadays. |
| 521 | ** "Irlande Douze Points" by Dustin the Turkey. Ireland, the country known for classy ballads and folk songs, sent an electro-pop novelty song performed by a puppet turkey. It wasn't an experiment that paid off particularly. The duo of entries by Jedward are also quite different from what Ireland's known for sending, but at least they got decent results. |
| 522 | *** Earlier, we have Sandie Jones' "Ceol an Ghrá" (1972), which remains Ireland's only Irish-language entry. Subverted in regards to Ireland's Junior Eurovision participation, which is organized by Irish-language TV station Creator/TG4, thereby ensuring that every entry Ireland sends there is in Irish. |
| 523 | ** Most people probably wouldn't have expected ''Germany'', of all countries, to send a goofy, lighthearted song about brushing off the haters. Nevertheless, that sums up their 2021 entry, "I Don't Feel Hate" by Jendrik, pretty neatly. It comes complete with tap dancing and a woman dressed as a giant "deuces." The televote wasn't too keen. |
| 524 | ** Both Hovi Star's "Made of Stars" (2016) and Kobi Marimi's "Home" (2019) apply for Israel. They're mostly known for sending songs inspired by their diverse local cultures and immigrant populations, with a particular emphasis on sounds inspired by Eastern European and Mediterranean music. These two songs were both classically Eurovision-esque power ballads meant to sound more like what you'd hear from a Western European country. Neither did particularly well. |
| 525 | *** For a more successful example, 1998's "Diva" by Dana International was a hi-NRG dance number performed by an openly transgender singer. It wound up earning Israel their third victory. |
| 526 | ** Sonically, Portugal's 2021 entry "Love is on My Side" by the Black Mamba isn't too far afield from their usual entries. What sets it apart is that it's the only Portuguese entry (so far) to be performed entirely in English, as the majority of their entries are entirely or mostly in Portuguese. |
| 527 | *** Also applies to Spain's 2016 entry "Say Yay!" by Barei (also their only entry entirely in English) and France's 2008 entry "Divine" by Sebastien Tellier (mostly in English, save for a few lines in French to appease the broadcaster). Applicable at the time for two 2015 entries - Israel's "Golden Boy" by Nadav Guedj and Serbia's "Beauty Never Lies" by Bojana Stamenov - but both have since sent other entries in English. On the flip side, there are also several countries for whom the odd one out is a song ''entirely'' in their native language, which applies to Sevak Khanagyan's "Qami" (Armenia 2018)[[note]]Inga and Anush's "Jan Jan" (2009) is partially in Armenian but "Qami" is their only entry to date entirely in Armenian.[[/note]], Naviband's "Story of My Life" (Belarus 2017)[[note]]They almost had two other songs in native languages, but VAL's Belarusian-language hopeful "Da vidna" couldn't compete after the 2020 contest was canceled, and Galasy [=ZMesta=]'s Russian-language "Za nauchu tebya" was disqualified from competing in the 2021 contest for containing political content.[[/note]], Kabat's "Mala dama" (Czech Republic 2007)[[note]]There were a few lines in Czech in their 2021 entry "Omaga" by Benny Cristo[[/note]], Fomins and Kleins' "Dziesma par laimi" (Latvia 2004), and Go_A's "Shum" (Ukraine 2021)[[note]]A few other Ukrainian entries have been partially in Ukrainian, but "Shum" was the first entry entirely in the language. That distinction ''would've'' gone to "Solovey," also by Go_A, but it never competed as the 2020 contest was canceled[[/note]]. |
| 528 | ** The original oddball entry would be Sweden's 1965 contribution, "Absent Friend," performed by opera singer Ingvar Wixell. It was the first Eurovision entry performed entirely in a non-native language, in this case English (although Austria's 1963 entry was also partially in English), leading to the establishment of the native-language rule that would last from 1966-1972 and again from 1977-1998. |
| 529 | *** On that note, it made two entries from 1977 stand out: since both Germany and Belgium selected their entrants before the native-language rule was brought back, they were allowed to perform in English, thereby making their respective entries - "Telegram" by Silver Convention and "A Million in One, Two, Three" by Dream Express - the only two entries between 1977 and 1998 not performed in a country's native language. |
| 530 | ** The first example for France would be 1992's "Monté la rivie" by Kali, which was the first French entry to not be performed entirely in French (a lot of it was in Antillean Creole, as Kali hails from the French overseas territory of Martinique). They would go on to send entries in Corsican (Amaury Vassilly's "Sognu" from 2011, although - unsurprisingly - Patrick Fiori's "Mama Corsica" from 1993 also features a few lines in Corsican) and Breton (Dan Ar Braz et L'Heritage des Celtes' "Diwanit Bugale" from 1996). |
| 531 | ** For both the language and the contest as a whole, Morocco's 1980 entry "Bitaqat Hob" by Samira Said remains not only the sole Eurovision entry entirely in Arabic but also the only entry Morocco ever sent and the only appearance by an African country at the contest to date. |
| 532 | ** Several editions of the contest have unique quirks that never spread to subsequent editions: |
| 533 | *** The 1980 contest featured an ambassador from each competing country (mostly the countries' national final hosts or commentators) introducing their country's song. |
| 534 | *** Several from the 1996 contest, particularly its rebranding as "Eurosong," its unique relegation system (every country interested in competing could submit an entry, which were then judged by jurors from each country to determine which 22 countries would join hosts Norway - an idea that backfired when one of the relegated countries was frequent participant and major EBU financial contributor Germany), having politicians from each country wish their representatives luck, presenting the songs in a "letterboxed" format before the contest switched to widescreen in 2005, presenting the votes from a virtual "blue room," and the only instance to date of a country's spokesperson appearing onstage to deliver her country's votes (fittingly, Norway's). Most of these novelties would disappear the following year, and it's the only contest since the very first in 1956 to not feature a German entry. |
| 535 | *** Partially tested in 2001 and widely used in 2002, the EBU offered countries the choice of either determining their votes entirely through a televote, entirely through a jury (if they had no feasible way of conducting a televote) or through a 50-50 combination of jury and televotes. This backfired when it appeared the 50-50 countries and all-jury countries were trading votes, which led to the all-televote-unless-it's-impossible system being brought back the following year. The 50-50 system wouldn't return until 2009, and now every country was using it. |
| 536 | *** 2006 was the only year where a country voted that wasn't participating: the dubious circumstances surrounding their national final led to Serbia and Montenegro being forced to withdraw, but seeing as it was shortly before the contest and they still intended to broadcast it, the EBU allowed them to vote in both the semi and the final. |
| 537 | [[/folder]] |
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