Alternative Foreign Theme Song / Asian Releases

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Animation

• Atlantis: The Lost Empire has a different theme song for the Japanese version, called "Crystal Vine", written by DREAMS COME TRUE.
• The Japanese version of Ballerina has an original ending theme titled "Félicies", sung by Félicie's Japanese voice actress, Tao Tsuchiya.
• The Japanese version of Big Hero 6 uses Ai's "Story" as the ending theme. Amusingly enough, even though the artist originally sang it in Japanese, it instead uses the English version of the song.
• In Japan, the A Bug's Life's image song is "STAND" by the Japanese band Hoff Dylan. It is also the first song on the Japanese version of the film's soundtrack.
• The Japanese version of Bolt has a different ending theme called "Onaji Sora wo Miageteru" ("I Look Up at the Same Sky") by Natsu Kai.
• A Christmas Carol (2009) uses "Present" by JUJU as the theme song in the Japanese version.
• The Japanese dub of Cars 3 uses "Engine" by Tamio Okuda as it's ending theme, which is about coming to a crossroads in one's life. In fact, the title for the Japanese version of the film is "Cars: Crossroads".
• The theme song for the Japanese dub of Chicken Little is "Itsuka Kitto" by Mayo Okamoto.
• For the Japanese release of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Shoko Nakagawa wrote an upbeat, cheerful song called "Rainbow Forecast" as the ending theme, similar to Miranda Cosgrove's "Raining Sunshine". If you picture the ending credits with this, the song actually fits pretty well.
  • The sequel's Japanese dub gives us another song: "Tabechaitaino" by TEMPURA KIDZ.
• "Good Times (Bad Times remix) by Rip Slyme is the Japanese theme song of Despicable Me.
• The Japanese dub of Elemental (2023) features "Yasashii Kimochide" by Superfly as the ending theme.
• "Wonder Volt" by Kaela Kimura is the theme song for the Japanese version of Frankenweenie.
• The ending theme for the Japanese release of The Good Dinosaur was contributed by Kiroro, and was a newly rerecorded "Mother Earth version" of their song "Best Friend".
• The Japanese version of The Grinch (2018) features a song by Perfume called “Tiny Baby”.
• Hoodwinked! has its own Japanese theme song Daisuki!Happy end by Yuko Hara.
• The Japanese version of Happy Feet uses "Hoshi wo Mezashite" by NEWS as the theme song. One of the singers voiced Mumble in the dub.
• While the American version of How to Train Your Dragon has "Sticks and Stones", the Japanese version uses a J-pop song called "Emerald" written by Becky♪♯.
• In Japan, Ice Age, a family comedy, has a surprisingly melancholy theme song. It's called "Hitoshizuku" which translates to "A Single Drop of Tears" by ZONE. This could be because the first movie is Darker and Edgier than its sequels.
  • The second film has ICE AGE ~Hyougaki no Kodomo-tachi~ by Kaori Kishitani.
• "Itoshi no Riley" by DREAMS COME TRUE is the Japanese theme song for Pixar's Inside Out. This could be seen as an example of Additional Foreign Theme Song-the music video is sandwiched in between the Lava short and the actual film itself on the theatrical release.
• The Japanese version of Kung Fu Panda uses "Your Seed" by Hey!Say!JUMP as the theme song.
• The LEGO Batman Movie has a theme song that's exclusive to the Japanese version titled "Let's Go," performed by the band Kis My Ft2.
• The Japanese version of The LEGO Ninjago Movie also features an exclusive theme song, performed by the band Johnny's West, "Mou 1% (Another 1%)".
• An odd example: "Baby You Belong" by Faith Hill was used as the theme song in the Japanese version of Lilo & Stitch. This is odd because Hill is American and the song is sung in English, though in North America the song was simply an album track with no connotation to the film.
• "Someone" by Eiko Matsumoto is the theme song for the Japanese version of The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea.
• The Japanese version of Little Polar Bear uses Tomoko Tane's "Rainbow Song" as the ending theme.
• Yumi Matsutoya wrote the theme song for the Japanese release of The Little Prince, titled "Kidzukazu Sugita Hatsukoi."
• The Japanese dub of Luca has a new ending theme titled "Shonen Jidai (Boyhood)" by suis of Yorushika.
• Meet the Robinsons uses "Hitomi Hiraite" by Mitsuki as the Japanese theme song.
• The Japanese version of ''Migration uses “Tsuki e Ikou” (Let’s Go to the Moon) by Macaroni Enpitsu as the theme song.
• The theme song for the Japanese version of Moomins on the Riviera is "Eye" by Kaela Kimura.
• The Japanese dub of Monster House has "Seishun no Tobira" by Ikimonogakari.
• The Japanese version of Mulan has "Breathe" by Luna Sea as the theme song. The Korean version uses "Eternal Memory" by Lena Park.
• The Japanese version of Netflix film Next Gen uses Dream Ami’s song “Next” as its ending theme.
• The Japanese version of Oliver & Company has "Oliver" by Chami Satonaka.
• The Japanese dub of Onward uses Sukima Switch’s "Zenryoku Syounen" as the credits theme, which is interestingly a rerelease of a song they wrote in 2005 rather than an original song written for the movie.
• The theme song of the Japanese version of Open Season is called "Tookage" by Chemistry.
• Over the Hedge has "Key of Heart" as its Japanese theme and "People Say" as its Korean theme. Both were sung by BoA, who was the voice of Heather the opossum in both versions, making this a "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune.
• The Japanese version of The Peanuts Movie uses a different ending theme called "A Song for You" by Ayaka. It's pretty melancholy.
• For Robots, Japan uses "Mawaru Sora" written by Hitomi Yaida.
• The Rugrats Movie has "Winter's Review" by SHAZNA as its Japanese ending theme.
• The theme song for the Japanese release of The Secret Life of Pets is "Brand New Tomorrow" by Ieiri Leo.
  • Kaela Kimura supplies the theme song for the Japanese release of the sequel The Secret Life of Pets, titled "BREAKER," which is centered around the theme of "breaking out of your shell to try new things."
• Shrek the Third has a different theme song for the Japanese version, called "Love is the Greatest Thing" by w inds.
• The Japanese version of Soul use a jazz rendition of JUJU’s "Kiseki Wo Nozomu Nara" for the ending theme.
• The Japanese version of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has its own theme song titled “P.S. RED I” by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure. A sample of it can be heard in this trailer.
  • In the same vein, the Japanese version of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has "REALiZE" by LiSA of Sword Art Online and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba fame.
• The Japanese release of Storks uses "HEIWA" by AI as its theme song, named after the artist's newborn daughter, fitting for the theme of the movie.
• For the Tinkerbell films, Japan uses "Fairy Song" by Shion Yukawa as the theme song for the first film and "You Were" by Ayumi Hamasaki for the second film.
• The image song for the Japanese version of The Wild is called "Prisoner of Love" by the Gospellers.
• Strangely averted in Wreck-It Ralph. The song "Sugar Rush",^notealso the title of the film in Japanese sung mostly in Japanese by the Japanese girl band AKB48, isn't exclusive to the Japanese release (and isn't even played in full in the film itself).
• The Japanese version of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride has a cover of "He Lives In You" by TRF and the instrumental version of the movie version of "Love Will Find A Way" featured in the credits.

Live-Action

• "0 Game" by Spyair is the theme song for the Japanese version of The Amazing Spider-Man.
• The Japanese version of An Arctic Tale uses "Miracle Star" (no, not that one, thankfully) by Aoi Teshima as the theme song.
• The second Arthur and the Invisibles has "Uh Uh" by IMALU as its Japanese theme song.
• The theme song for the Japanese version of Bewitched is "I'll Fall in Love" by Seiko Matsuda.
• The theme song for Bridge to Terabithia is "To Be in Love" by MISIA in Japan.
• The theme song for the Japanese release of Captain America: Civil War is a rerecorded version of "Itsuka Kitto" by EXILE ATSUSHI.
• "Can We Go Back", sung by Koda Kumi, is the theme song to the Japanese dub of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant.
• "Love & Peace" by Kazuya Yoshii is the ending theme for the Japanese version of Countdown to Zero.
• In Japan, The Day After Tomorrow gets a theme song called "More Than a Million Miles" by a band (coincidentally enough) also called Day After Tomorrow.
• The theme song for the Japanese version of Dear Wendy is "Gogo no Teikiatsu" by Remioromen.
• "Sailing My Life", sung by Hirahara Ayaka and Fujisawa Norisama, is the theme song for the Japanese version of Disney Nature's Oceans.
• Amusingly, the theme song for the Japanese release of Dracula Untold is "VAMPIRE'S LOVE" by VAMPS.
• The Japanese version of The Expendables uses the song "Kizuna" by Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi as an Image Song.
• The theme song for the Japanese release of La Fammille Belier is "Seishun no Tsubasa" by MACO.
• The Japanese version of Fantastic Four (2005) uses "Kirikirimai" by Orange Range as its theme song.
• For the Korean release of 2015's Fantastic Four, a song named "Fantastic", interpreted by Korean rapper RM (of BTS fame) and American singer Mandy Ventrice was released as part of the promotional campaign.
• "Before I Decay" by The Gazett E is the Japanese theme song of The Fast and the Furious.
• In the Japanese release of Fearless (2006) the theme song was changed from "Fearless" by Jay to "Crime" by High and MIGHTY COLOR. This apparently upset many Japanese fans of the original song.
• The theme song for the Japanese version of The Fault in Our Stars is "Lil Infinity" by AAA.
• G-Force in Japan has a different theme song "Dake! G-Force" by Murasaki SHIKIBU.
• "Winner" by Kazuya Yoshii is used as the theme song for Goal II: Living the Dream.
• "Pray" by the Japanese rock band [ALEXANDROS] will serves as the main theme of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) in Japan.
• The Japanese version of Hachiko: A Dog's Tale uses "Wasurenai yo" by Aoyama Thelma as its theme song.
• Rie Fu's "Until I Say" is the Japanese theme of the 2005 film Heidi.
• "Girlfriend" by Crystal Kay, featuring BoA, is the theme song for the Japanese dub of He's Just Not That into You.
• The Japanese theme song for Hop is called "Hug Tomo" by Not Yet.
• The Japanese release for the Chinese live-action film adaptation of Initial D uses "Blood on Fire" by AAA.
• The Japanese version of Kung Fu Hustle uses "Shiwase Nara Te wo Tatakou" by Nobodyknows as the theme song.
• The Japanese version of The Legend of Tarzan uses "Nawe, Nawe" by Alexandros as its theme song.
• The Japanese version of Film/Pixels has a different theme song, titled "8-bit Boy" by Mito Natsume.
• The Japanese release of Strings (2004) has "Unexpectedly" by Misha Williams.
• "Solve" by dream is the image song for the Japanese release of Little Nicky.
• The theme song for the Japanese version of Mad Max: Fury Road is Out of Control by Man With a Mission.
• In the Japanese release of March of the Penguins uses "Hikari no Niwa" by Chara as the theme song.
• The Japanese version of Men in Black: International uses a song by Yoshimotozaka46, titled "Konya wa Eeyan".
• Mr. Bean's Holiday has OEDO-808 by Pistol valve for the Japanese release.
• SCANDAL's "Rainy" is the theme song for the Japanese release of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
• Kimura Kaela's "Jasper" is the theme song for the Japanese version of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. You can view the music video here.
• The theme song for the Japanese version of Nacho Libre is called "Go! Go! Carlito" by Jonny Jakobsen.
• "Natsu No Jewelry" by Seiko Matsuda was the theme song of the Japanese version of The Neverending Story.
• "Everlasting" by BoA is the image song for Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist.
• The theme song for the Japanese release of Paddington (2014) is "Happiness" by AI. This is an odd case because AI uses a song that was already written before the film was even produced instead of writing a new one, not unlike her aforementioned Big Hero 6 contribution, "Story".
  • She once again provides the theme song for the Japanese release of the sequel, titled "Little Hero."
• The theme song for the Japanese release of Pan is "Eien no Motto Mate Made" by Seiko Matsuda.
• The Japanese version of Passengers (2016) uses "Because of You" by JUJU as its theme song.
• "Returner" by Gackt was used as the theme song in the Japanese version of The Prestige.
• The Japanese version of P.S. I Love You has Chiisana Inori by Hideaki Tokunaga as its theme song.
• The Pursuit of Happyness uses "Shiawase no Chikara" by Sowelu as its theme song in Japan. What does the song translate to? "Pursuit of Happiness."
• The theme song for the Japanese version of Racing Stripes is "I Will" by Hitomi Shimatani.
• The Japanese version of Resident Evil: Extinction uses "Last Angel" by Koda Kumi as the theme song.
• The Japanese version of Return to Oz has "Keep On Dreamin'", performed by Godiego's Yukihide Takekawa, which was later re-recorded for one of his albums.
• The Japanese release of ''Les Saisons" used Crystal Kay's "Everlasting" for the theme song.
• The Secret Life of Words uses a song of the same name by Tamaru Yamada in the Japanese version.
• In the Japanese version of Silent Hill, Anna Tsuchiya's "Lovin' You" is used.
• The image song for the Japanese version of Silent Hill: Revelation 3D is "Claymore" by Gackt.
• The Japanese theme for Sin City is "Violet Sauce" by Namie Amuro.
• The Japanese dub of Shall We Dance? uses "a love story" by Toshinobu Kubota as its theme song.
• The theme song for the Japanese release of Short Term 12 is "dawn" by Hana Sekitora.
• DREAMS COME TRUE's "Winter Song" is the theme song for the movie Sleepless in Seattle in Japan, although the lyrics are in English.
• The Japanese version of The Smurfs uses Hey! Say! JUMP's "Magic Power" as its theme song. Again, a couple of the singers were voice actors in the Japanese dub.
  • The sequel has another "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune called "Hitomi no Tobira" by Minami Takahashi, the dub actress for Smurfette.
• The Japanese theme song of Spider-Man 2 is called "Web of Night" by T.M. Revolution.
• The Japanese version of Spider-Man: Homecoming has an exclusive theme song titled "Never Say Never" by the band Kanjani∞.
  • The Japanese version of the sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home features a song by Ling Tosite Sigure, titled "Neighbormind." The lead singer, TK, previously provided the theme song for the Japanese version of Spider Man Into The Spiderverse
  • The Japanese version of Spider-Man: No Way Home uses SixTONES "Rosy" as the theme song.
• The film of The Spiderwick Chronicles uses "Checkmate" by Yuugin as its theme song in Japan.
• Kyary Pamyu Pamyu was chosen by J.J. Abrams himself to provide the theme song for the Japanese release of Star Trek Into Darkness, which is titled "Into Darkness".
• The theme song for the Japanese version of the movie Stealth is called "Countdown" by Hyde.
• Koda Kumi's "But" is used as the theme song in the Japanese version of the first Step Up.
• The Japanese theme song for Son of the Mask is "Mask" by Tackey & Tsubasa.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014):
  • The theme song for the Japanese version is "Secret de Onegaishimasu" by RIP SLYME.
  • The theme song for the Chinese version is "Born to Fight" by UNIQ.
• The Japanese version of Tom & Jerry (2021) provides a new theme song for the movie titled "Piece of Cake" by Eito.
• The Japanese version uses "Thunderbird - your voice -" by V6 for the theme song of Thunderbirds movie.
• The Japanese version of Tomb Raider (2018) contains a theme song by the female band "E-girls" titled "Dynamite Girl", fitting for Lara Croft's personality.
• The Japanese release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts uses "Try This One More Time" by Sexy Zone as the ending theme.
• The theme song for the Japanese version of The Transporter Refueled is "IGNITION" by SHOKICHI of EXILE.
• The Japanese version of The Twilight Saga: New Moon uses Kato Miliyah's "Destiny" as its theme song. Other international releases use different songs as well - see the main page.
• The Japanese version of Van Helsing uses "Wild Romance" by Kyosuke Himuro.
• The Japanese dubbed version of Venom (2018) features a theme song sung by Uverworld called “GOOD and EVIL”.
  • The Japanese version of Venom: Let There Be Carnage uses "shout it out" by the band DISH// as its theme song.
• The Japanese version of Wanted uses the song "DAIGO" by Breakerz as its ending theme.
• The Japanese version of War (2007) uses "Strong Style" by Kreva.
• "Sweetest Coma Again" by Luna Sea is the Japanese ending theme for The World Is Not Enough.

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