Title Theme Tune

"By the way, if you walked in late,
Allow me to reiterate,
The name of this movie
Is Spy Hard!"

— "Weird Al" Yankovic, Spy Hard

So you have this show and need to make a Theme Tune for it that lets the viewer know what exactly they're going to be watching for the next half-hour. One common tactic is to just repeat the title of the show in the tune. May also incorporate a popular Catchphrase from the show.

Particularly in children's shows, the practice helps to cement the name of the show and its merchandise in the minds of the little viewers to get them interested.

Can easily overlap with the Expository Theme Tune. Sub-Trope of Title Drop. Often used in shows featuring a Character Title, thus emphasizing not only the show name, but the name of the show's star character.

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Example subpages:

• Live-Action TV
• Western Animation

Other examples:

Anime

General:

• While not as common in anime these days (a few still do it), it was more or less a regular thing during the 1960s and '70s, just like it is in Western animated media now. In the '70s, some subversions, and even aversions started coming up. That is, while the song may be named after the show, it may not necessarily contain the entire title, or it may omit the title. For example, the song is called "Cutey Honey", but the closest it comes to containing the title is when it refers to the character "Honey" by name, and also when it incorporates her transformation phrase ("Honey Flash!"). Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999 have theme songs named after their respective shows, but do not contain the actual titles of the shows in their lyrics. Instead, they merely describe what they are talking about.

Specific works:

• As you go-go-GO, Astro Boooooy! / Testuwa-n Aaaatomu! The Trope Maker, at least for anime.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (at least in the dub).
  • Averted with 5D's, but we had to fight for that one.
  • The Italian version of the 5D's theme has YU-GI-OH! in pretty much every line of the chorus, and at the beginning: "Yu-Gi-Ohhhh! You're still fighting for... Yu-Gi-Ohhhh! ... Fighting for your life! Yu-Gi-Ohhhh!" and so on.
• "Just like magic, watch and see; Magical DoReMi!"
• Onegai My Melody does this in some seasons of the show, such as Kuru Kuru Shuffle, where they sing "Onegai My Melody!" and "Kuru Kuru Shuffle!" At the end of the Onegai My Melody Kirara★ theme, they sing "My Melody!"
• Same goes for every opening of Pokémon: The Series.
  • Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl: The themes for Battle Dimension, Galactic Battles, and Sinnoh League Victors are less like this, though they still have to Title Drop at the very end to remind us that we're watching Pokémon.
  • The openings for Master Quest, Advanced Challenge, and Battle Frontier also, said phrases only mentioned once throughout the song.
  • Same goes to the Japanese opening too. Some of the opening are a few exceptions such as Best Wishes and Spurt.
• Dragon Ball:
  • The dub for Dragon Ball Z puts even less effort into it: "Dragon, Dragon, Rock the Dragon, Dragon Ball Z." Followed by some rock music, then more Dragons. (Later re-airings of the dub replaced the opening with an Instrumental Theme Tune).
  • And the less said of the French theme tune (itself also eventually replaced), the better.
  • But lots can be said about the extremely catchy Italian theme tune ("What's My Destiny Dragon Ball").
  • The Japanese 2nd opening for Dragon Ball Z however does use the series name, but it's more of a Throw It In and is done, like most music for the series, by Hironobu Kageyama of JAM Project fame.
  • "Tsukamou ze! DORAGON BOH-RU!"
  • "Limit Break x Survivor" ends with "Dragon Ball Super/Even Zen-Oh Sama will be blown away!"
• The original Anime Theme Song of The Big O consists mostly of "Big-O!" repeated over and over to an auditory Homage to Queen's "Flash Gordon", with three lines of actual lyric ("cast in the name of God, ye not the guilty, we have came to team") in the middle. There's also a line or two of Japanese that borders on Expository Theme Tune. (Swear an eternal oath/to this city that lost all of its past./Light a light in a lonely heart/Dying me with words.)
  • The second tune had less repeating of the name of the show, but was an auditory homage to UFO
• The first three seasons of the Digimon dub had a similar theme for all three seasons, changing only a few words. "Save the digital world" became "Save and defend the world", etc.
  • While seasons four and five eased up on this trope quite a bit, season five still references the whole title ("Digimon Data Squad") in its song.
  • In addition, Season four's dub theme song is actually called "Spirit Evolution".
    • While not entirely a Title Theme Tune, the "Digirap" that opens the first dub movie repeatedly repeats the title, most especially the "digi" in the title, making it something of a Hurricane of Puns using the show's title.
• Every single season of the Pretty Cure franchise.
  • From the English dub of Futari wa Pretty Cure: "Together, we are Pretty Cure!"
  • Do and say as you please, no-no problem Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash★Star!
  • Hooray! Fresh Pretty Cure!! Fresh Pretty Cure!
  • La, la, la la la~ Suite, Suite Pretty Cure ♪!
  • Smile, smile, smile, smile, Smile PreCure!!
    • And from the English dub: Here we go! Glitter Force! Shining bright, this light so we can find our way!
  • Glittering every day, Doki Doki! PreCure!
    • Glitter Force Doki Doki! Glitter Force, move your body!
  • HappinessCharge Pretty Cure! lovely complete, charge!
  • Make miracles, and Go! Princess Pretty Cure!
  • But if I'm with you, then I'll be fine! Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure!
  • Which one? All of them! KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode!
  • To the sparkling future we go, HuGtto! Pretty Cure!
  • Sparkle! Kimi to Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure!
  • Kimi to Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure!
  • Hand in hand, fight on! Ride the waves, ride on, Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure!
  • It'll become yummy, Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure!
  • Continue to tomorrow, miracles! Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure!
• Lupin the Thi-ird! Lupin the Thi-ird! Lupin, Lupin, Lupin, Lupin...
  • Usually, the only words in the theme are the title (Lupin the Third), although there have been a couple of versions with lyrics added.
• Macross, Macross dodedoodedoo MAAAACUUUROSSSS
• Almost every show licensed or created by 4Kids, one exception is the Mew Mew Power theme tune.
  • Chaotic & F-Zero GP Legend have the instrumental. Now why can't you do that for your dubs!?
• The North American DiC dub gave us: "She is the one named Sailor Moon!" When Cloverway and Pioneer took over the license for the S and SuperS seasons, they licensed the theme from DiC.
• The dub of Dinosaur King: Dinosaur King is what you want to be, yeah. Ironic in that being the "dinosaur king" is actually what the villain wants to be — the protagonists just want to prevent him from obtaining (and abusing) the dinosaurs.
• The English intro to Samurai Pizza Cats does this.
• Naruto's German opening is an odd example.
• "Here we go! (Go! Go!) Glitter Force! (Go! Go!)"
• GA-GA-GA GA-GA-GA GAOGAIGAR
  • This is a throwback to 70s or 80s-era giant robot series: Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Combattler V, Daitarn 3, Zambot 3, Voltes V, Godmars, the list goes on.
• "Itooshi Hito No Tame Ni" ends with "... mugen heto, hirake Fushigi Yuugi!"
• ...whoaaaa, Gatchaman! GATCHAMAN!
• A few psuedo-Ominous Latin Chanting tracks on the soundtrack of The Vision of Escaflowne have lyrics that consist solely of repeating the word "Escaflowne" over and over again.
• Sonic X:
  • The American dub's theme:
    ""So-nic's on the run! So-nic's number one! So-nic's coming next, so watch out for Sonic X!"
  • Exaggerated in the UK version, whereupon the entire song solely consists of only the title.
• "Maya, Maya the Bee!"
  • The Japanese version also sort of did this with its theme song.
  • Predating the former, but coming after the latter, we have this:
  "And...when...I...asked who she was she told me "Maja"..."^note The South African dub uses the original German spelling of her name.
• Gigantor! Gigantor! GIGAAAAAAAAANTORRRRRR!
  • "BYUN! to tondeku Tetsujin... NIJUU-HA-CHI GO (28-go)!"
• And of course we CAN'T forget: "Go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer GO!"
  • "Mahha (Mach) go go, mahha go go, Mahha go go GO!"
• "We're off to outer space! We're leaving Mother Earth! To Save the human race! Our...Star...Blazers!
  • "Saraba Chikyuu yo! Tabidatsu fune wa... Uchuu Senkan... YA-MA-TO!"
• "Ken! (Ken!) Survivant de l'enfer! Ken! (Ken!) Souvent croise le fer! Ken! (Ken!) Dans la chaos d'espirit! Ken! (Ken!) Contre les fous les bandits" (from the infamous French dub of Fist of the North Star, a.k.a. "Ken le Survivant").
• The Mysterious Cities of Gold. True for most version, including the French, English or Spanish ones.
• One cannot possibly forget "Fly! Gundam" from Mobile Suit Gundam. It even includes such lines as "Tobeyo GANDAMU / Kido senshi GANDAMU! GANDAMU!" ("Fly Gundam! / Mobile Suit Gundam! Gundam!"). This English version (effectively a professional fandub) is quite badass, considering the 70's campiness of the original.
• Another Western Animation trope present in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.
• The opening of Cardcaptors, the Nelvana dub of Cardcaptor Sakura. Also an Expository Theme Tune.
• "Shinryaku! Shinryaku! Shinryaku! Shinryaku! Shinryaku! Shinryaku! Ika Musume!"
• Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!. The theme for the Anime of the same name.
• "Oh, Superbook! I was afraid to look..."
  • "Superbook! Superbook! Superbook! Superbook!"^note Used in the "PC Travel Detectives" part (i.e., the second season).
    • "...y te recibirá con amabilidad y te contará lindas historias. Es el Superlibro, donde encontrarás el ejemplo y la bondad."
  • "Come on and go with us, Lord who knows where! It's so fun to fly through time, in our Flying House!..."
    • "Ton, ton, tondera-ra, tondera-ra, tondera-ra! Ton, ton, tondera-ra, tondera-ra, tondera-ra! Tondera HAUSU no DAIBOUKEN!
• "My favorite place to be. Maple Town and me!"
  • "MEIPURU TAUN, ni o-i-deyo!..."^note The original Japanese version is called "Maple Town Monogatari" (Maple Town Stories).
• "...La La Pretty...Guardian, Sailor MOOOOOOOOOON!!!"
• "Come join the fun, with The Littl' Bits..."
• "Who lives down in deepest, darkest Africa? (Africa!) Who's the one who brought the jungle fame? Who's the king of animals in Africa? Kimba the White Lion is his name..."
  • "Kimba...the White Lion, he's the bravest little guy in the land..."
  • Inverted by the original Japanese version, which is one of the very rare anime series to use an Instrumental Theme Tune.^note The original Japanese version of Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom) also did this originally, but is generally credited with popularizing vocal theme songs for anime.
• Shugo Chara!'s first opening theme has a line that goes "Shugo Chara ga tsuiteru yo".
• "Hello! Honey! Honey! Harikiri^note Given the kind of show this is, it's presumably NOT a reference to "that" kind of "harikiri"...Honey!..."
  • "Honey Honey! Honey Honey! Beautiful young Honey on the run!..."
• "KISU o...saseTE YO! BOTAN NOHZU..."
  • "Hey, little Button Nose! Everybody knows you are the ruler of this fairyland, a berry land where everything's so sweet..."
• "Albator! Albator! Du fond de la nuit d'or..."
• Ulysses 31:
  • "Ulysses! Ulysses! Soaring through all the galaxies, in search of earth, flying into the night. Ulysseeeees! No one else can do the things you do!..."
  • As well as the French version: "Ulysse! Ulysse! Au milieu de la galaxie..."
• "Heidi! (Heidi!) Deine Welt sind die Berge..."^note Both French dubs (which are based on the German version) also do this, but not the original Japanese version or the Spanish or Portuguese dubs (which adapt the original Japanese theme songs).
• "Bikke Bikke Bikke Bikke BAI-KIN-GU..."^note "Bikke" is the official Japanese romanization of his name.
  • "Hey, hey, Wickie! Hey, Wickie, hey!..."^note "Wickie" is the German spelling of his name.
  • "Hi ho, Vic! Hi ho, hi ho! Hi ho, Vic! Vikings let's go!..."^note A second theme adapts the German theme mentioned above.
• "Why, she's Alice. Alice in Wonderland! Alice! Alice in Wonderland! Curious friends, and happy adventures, too!..."
• The English themes for MegaMan NT Warrior repeat the title endlessly...
  • ... as does the English theme for Mega Man Star Force. Mega Man cartoons (Japanese or otherwise) apparently live on this trope. This time they were just making trouble for themselves, though. One character, Sonia Strumm (a.k.a. Sonia Sky a.k.a Hibiki Misora), is a pop idol who sings while she fights — and she often sings the Japanese theme. The English version had to substitute a whole new song.
• Bon-bon-Bakabon-Bakabon-bon!
• Say what?! (Bo-bobo!) Say what, say what?! (Bo-bobo!) Say what, say what?! (Bo-bobo!)...^note The song is actually called "Wild Challenger".
• "...Waratte! Waratte! Waratte Candy! Nakibeso nante sayonara, ne? Candy Candy!"
• "Ready, go! Hashi, go! Tamagotchi!"
• "Hayate no you ni! ZABUNGURU! ZABUNGURU!"...
  • "BURUU GEIRU! Namida wa ratte! BURUU GEIRU! Kirameku chikara!"...^note Although the literal English title of the show is "Combat Mecha Xabungle", it's referred to by some sources (including Sunrise themselves) as "Blue Gale Xabungle".
• "Stand up, stand up, tachiagari yo! Inazuma challenger!!"
  • "Stand up, stand up, if you like football! Inazuma Eleven!"
  • "¡Arriba, chuta, la victoria es tuya! ¡Inazuma campeón!"^note The Japanese and (European) Spanish versions both a have more direct example later on.
• An, an, an, tottemo daisuki, Doraemon! ("Ah, ah, ah, I love you very much, Doraemon!")
• FIIIIGHTING FOODONS!
• "Sugar Sugar Rune! Shoko Shoko Ruu-une!"

Eastern Animation

• "This is Babyyyyy... (Baby) Shark's Big SHOOOOOOOW! Doo doo-doo doo-doo doo!"
• "So we all need a saviour to defend our planet Earth: BoBoiBoy!"
• The theme song to Bread Barbershop, "Hey! Bread Barbershop" by Raon, features the title of the show in its chorus. Hey, hey! Bread Barbershop! He can't be beat...
• The theme tune of Chhota Bheem constantly repeats, "Chhota Bheem, Chhota Bheem, Chhota Bheem, Chhota Bheem! Bheem, Bheem, Bheem, Chhota Bheem, Chhota Bheem!"
• "Together we'll be able to fairytale... Open the door! Fantasy Patrol!"
• "Gatta gatta Gattu, batta batta Battu, two two in one, one one in two!"
• Oh GG Bond, a hero for today! Oh GG Bond, he makes it all OK! Oh GG Bond, super in every way! Bigger than big, so much more than your average pig!
• Keymon Ache in the house! All the cool kids shooooooooout! Keymon Ache!
• The theme song to the 4Kids Entertainment English dub of KikoRiki. "GoGoRiki! GoGoRiki, Riki-Riki, Go-Go..."
  • "Learning, rhyming, always smiling, BabyRiki time!"
  • "You will change your life forever when you figure out the secret PinCode, PinCode, PinCode, PinCode..."
• "Motu aur Patlu ki jodi! Motu aur Patlu ki jodi..."
• "Noonbory and the Super 7, saving Toobalooba again and again, yeah!"
• The theme song for Oye Golu constantly repeats "Oye Golu, Oye Golu, Oye Golu, Oye Golu..."
• The original theme song for Pleasant Goat Fun Class begins with lyrics along the lines of "Pleasant Goat Fun Class (Let's go to school)/We are happy to grow (Happy to grow)".
• "Pucca loves Garu / He's a pretty boy / Ninjas with noodles / Kissy chase, Kissy face / Wham bam bam!"
• "It's because I'm simple! It's because I'm really cool! Everybody loves me and I love them, too! And I'm happy just doing whatever I do... It's because I'm Simple... Samosa!"
• "Qumi-Qumi, haba-haba waka-waka! Qumi-Qumi, haba-haba jamana!"
• "YooHoo & Friends travel together / With friends, it's sure to be a blast!"
  • "YooHoo and Friends will lead you on!"

Films — Animation

• "Alice in Wonderland, how do you get to Wonderland?"
• "TO-to-ro, Totoro..."
• Beauty and the Beast
  Tale as old as time
  Song as old as rhyme
  Beauty and the Beast
• "Care Beaaaaaarrrrrs... In a biiiiig wish..."
• "Cinderella, you're as lovely as your name..."
• "...we're all A Boy Named...Charlie...Brown."
  • "Snooooopy! Snooooopy! Come Home, Snoopy, Come Home!"
  • Race, for Your Life! Charlie Brown!
• Colombia... Encanto! Encanto!
• "Magic Boy! Magic Boy! (There was a boy named Sasuke in Japan...)"
• "Hey there, Yogi Bear / Never seem to have a care / Always on the run..."
• "Who is the man? The Man Called Flintstone! That's who!"
• "I'm havin' a bad bad day / If you take it personal that's okay / Watch, this is so fun to see / Huh, Despicable Me"
• "Na-na-na-na-na-na, We're Hydee and the Hytops! Na-na-na-na-na-na, got everything a girl wants!"
• My Little Pony: Equestria Girls:
  • From the promotional music videos: "We're Equestria Girls and we're here to shout, that the magic of friendship is what it's all about!"
  • "As we learn how the rainbow, rainbow rocks!"
  • "All the way, all the way to the friendship games!"
  • "As you join in the legend of Everfree!"
  • From the later online specials and digital series: "You are my Equestria Girls!"
• "A legend is sung of when England was young, and knights were brave and bold / The good king had died, and no one could decide who was rightful heir to the throne / It seemed that the land would be torn by war, or saved by a miracle alone / And that miracle appeared in London town / The Sword in the Stone!"
• "Making brand new friends...brings a shining light in every face! Shines for all to see, to make the world a brighter place! Rainbow Brite and me!..."^note Used in the end credits of Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer.

Films — Live-Action

• "San Francisco", the theme tune composed for 1936 musical San Francisco, has become an iconic theme tune of the city. ("San Francisco, open your golden gate/Don't make a stranger wait outside your door.")
• Night Train to Mundo Fine. Ironically, the original title of the film is almost forgotten — instead, the film is almost always called by the title used on Mystery Science Theater 3000: Red Zone Cuba.
• "Who You Gonna Call?" "Ghostbusters!"
• Men in Black (also Theme Tune Rap).
• Frequent within the Eon Productions James Bond series. Justified in that the title song is created specifically for the movie.
  • Fully applies, in chronological order, for Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Skyfall and No Time to Die.
  • There are only a few exceptions where the film's title couldn't be made into a song without it sounding painfully forced: The Spy Who Loved Me ("Nobody Does It Better"^note Although, the movie's title is in the song's lyrics), Octopussy ("All Time High", the first Bond movie title song where the movie title isn't even mentioned in the lyrics), Casino Royale (2006) ("You Know My Name"), Quantum of Solace ("Another Way To Die"), and Spectre ("Writing's On The Wall").
  • Also arguably an aversion with Dr. No and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which, while they have theme songs with the same names as the respective movies, they're instrumental.
  • Strictly speaking, From Russia with Love is also instrumental, but Matt Monro did a singing version for the end credits.
  • Applies to the non-Eon film Never Say Never Again.
• Tends to go along with Beatles films, for obvious reasons:
  • A Hard Day's Night
  • Help!
  • Let It Be, even more obviously in that the film was a documentary about the making of the album
    • Note that Yellow Submarine doesn't apply since the song predated the movie, as did all films based on Beatles songs not involving the band.
• "Shaft! Can you dig it?"
  • Damn right!
• "Remember my name! (Fame)"
• Koyaanisqatsi, where the theme consists of the movie's title, ominously chanted. It works well in Scrubs, where it plays whenever the Janitor gives anyone the Death Glare.
• As quoted above, satirized by way of Lampshade Hanging in the theme to Spy Hard, by "Weird Al" Yankovic:
  ''By the way, if you walked in late
  Allow me to reiterate
  The name of this movie is Spy Hard!
  They call it Spy Hard!
  You're watching Spy Hard!
  It's the theme from Spy Haaaaarrrrrd!''
  • Speaking of Weird Al:
  "Don't change that channel! Don't touch that dial! We got it all on UHF!
• George of the Jungle: Both The Movie and its direct-to-video sequel adapted the iconic Title Theme Tune of the original cartoon in their Animated Credits Opening.
• Bless the Beasts & Children: A hit for the Carpenters, a theme for a mediocre Film of the Book.
• The Girl Can't Help It. The title song, by Little Richard, was one of only two original numbers in the movie.
• Barefoot in the Park
• The Moon is Blue
• "It's only a Paper Moon..."
  • Also a Real Song Theme Tune
• "Workin' 9 to 5 What a way to make a livin'..."
• "I'm cuttin' it loose! Footloose! Kick off your Sunday shoes!..."
• Swing Time is an unusual case: only the first section of "Waltz in Swing Time" has lyrics (which mostly repeat the movie's title), and they are only sung over the opening titles.
• "...written on the pages, is the answer to our Neverending Story! (ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah) Neverending Story (ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah)..."
• "Xanadu! Xanaduuuuuu! (Now we are here!) In Xanaduuuuuuuu!..."
• "Grease is the word!^note Grease is the word! Have you heard? It's got mood, it's got feelin'..."
• "The Learning Tree" plays over the opening credits of The Learning Tree, and mentions the title several times.
• The original The Parent Trap (i.e., with Hayley Mills) does this.
• "Pippi Longstocking is comin' into your town..."^note From the 1988 movie "The New Adventures Of Pippi Longstocking".
• "¿Quien es, esa niña? Who's That Girl? Señorita, mas linda. Who's that girl?..."
• "Doo-doo, doo doo. Doo-doo, doo doo, life is fine. Twelve of us in two straight lines, the bravest of all is Madeline..."^note The actual song is called "In Two Straight Lines".
• Frankie Lane's "3:10 to Yuma" plays at both the beginning and the end of the original 3:10 to Yuma (1957).
• Pat Boone, noted master of 1950s cheesefests, sings "Friendly Persuasion" in the 1956 movie Friendly Persuasion.
• "ATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK OF THE KILLER TOMAAAAAATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOES!!!..."
• In Going My Way, Father O'Malley tries to sell his tune "Going My Way" in order to raise funds for the church. The publisher isn't interested, but when Father O'Malley sings "Swinging on a Star", that one gets sold. In sequel The Bells of St. Mary's, Father O'Malley sings the school's theme song, "The Bells of St. Mary's".
• "If you wanted the sky, I would write across the sky in letters, that would soar a thousand feet high: To Sir, with Love..."
• "...'cause what you've got is what we need, and what we do are dirty deeds / We're the SPACEBALLS!!"^note Watch out!
• "Stroker Ace was born to race / he had a mean-streak two feet wide^note A son-of-a-gun with a taste for fun / and more than his share of pride..." A Country Rap ballad written by the Charlie Daniels Band that subverts the format by mentioning his name once, maybe twice total.
• A Thousand Clowns: The song "A Thousand Clowns" was co-written by Oscar-winning actress Judy Holliday, in what was her last film credit, as Holliday died of cancer before the movie was released.
• "Let's go! American Flyers..."
• Here, Yeller / Come back, Yeller / Best doggone dog in the west
• The Goonies 'R' Good Enough is only an example because the film's name had been forcibly added to the name of the song. Aside from a Title Scream during an instrumental part, the Goonies name otherwise doesn't appear in the song's lyrics.
• "Barbarella, psychadela, there's a kind of cockle-shell about you..." This plays over the opening credits and Barbarella also hums it at certain points.
• "There once was a Christmas that almost wasn't, almost wasn't, al-most wa-sn't! There once was a Christmas that almost wasn't, because of a man named Prune..."
• "Everybody's running when the circus comes into their towns...everybody's gunning for the likes of the Killer Klowns from outer space..." (This particular theme tune was written from the title alone, so it seems more fitting it'd be included as the most frequent lyric.)

• North to Alaska, with theme song provided by Johnny Horton.
• The Ghost Goes Gear has one over the opening credits.
  The ghost goes gear
  The ghost goes gear, the crazy spook
  The ghost goes gear
  If you don't like ghosts, don't look!
• Call Me Bwana has the song sung by Bob Hope during the end credits.
• In Against a Crooked Sky, a song that begins "An arrow flies against a crooked sky..." plays over a montage of the year after Charlotte's kidnapping, as well as the end credits.

Music

• The Backstreet Boys hit Everybody (Backstreet's Back).
• Parodied in Tom Lehrer's "Oedipus Rex" (from An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer). In his spoken-word introduction, he explains that he feels the 1957 film version of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex did not fare well with audiences because it "did not have a title tune which the people could hum, and which would actually make them eager to attend this particular flick". He then attempts to "supply this need" with a "prospective title song".
• ''Hey Hey, we're The Monkees... and people say we monkey around..." (already mentioned under Live Action TV Shows, but the band made a full-length cut on an album of the theme.)
• "We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, we hope you will enjoy the show..." (The Beatles)

Pinballs

• Black Knight 2000 is one of the very very few pinball machines to do this:
  You got the power! (Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!)
  You got the might! (No way!)
  Get ready for battle! (Give me your money!)
  Beat the Black Knight! (Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!)...
• "MON-STER BAAAAAAAAAAASH! (YOU GOTTA GET IT WHILE YOU CAAAAAAAAAAAN!)..."

Professional Wrestling

• Some ring entrance themes do this:
  • "I've got long sideburns, and my hair's slicked back / I'm coming to your town in my pink cadillac / I'm just a Honky Tonk Man (He's a Honky Tonk Man!) I'm just a Honky Tonk Man (He's a Honky Tonk Man!) I'm just a Honky Tonk Man, I'm cool! I'm cocky! I'm bad!..."
  • "...You'll serve hard time! You'll be serving hard time! / You know the Big Boss Man will make you walk the line! You better watch out boy, or you'll be serving hard time!..."
  • "Step into the town and break the walls down! / Your heartbeat is the only sound! / Step into the night and then you know / You were stopped and dropped on the Walls of Jericho!..."
  • "Well... Well it's the Big Show! Yes, it's the big man show tonight!..."
  • "Test, this is a Test, Test / Test, This is a Test..."
  • "Everybody's got a price / Everybody's gonna pay / 'Cause The Million Dollar Man / Always gets his way!"
  • "It's all about The Game and how you play it / All about control and if you can take it / All about your debt and if you can pay it / It's all about pain and who's gonna make it!" or "The King left none living, none able to tell / The King took their heads and he sent them to hell / Their screams echoed loud in the place of their death / Ripped open they died with their final breath / They hailed to the King, The King of Kings."

Puppet Shows

• "Bananas in Pyjamas are coming down the stairs..."
• "Let's go everyone, we're gonna go down / To a dookie little place called— Bunnytown!"
• Another French example for another Japanese series: Bomber X (a.k.a. Star Fleet by Go Nagai).
• "...we'll all be doubled over with laughter / At the expense of others, maybe even your mother! / Won't you join the Crank Yankers tonight? Crank Yankers!"
• "There's lots of things we like to do / Curious Buddies! / Do-bee-do-bee-do..."
• "Dance your cares away / Worries for another day / Let the music play / Down in Fraggle Rock!"
• Almost all of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation series of the 1960s have these.
  • "Supercar! Suuupercaaaar!!! With beauty and grace, as swift as can be, watch it flying through the air! It travels in space or under the sea, and it can journey anywhere! Supercar! Suuupercaaaar!!!..."
  • "I wish I was a spaceman / The fastest guy alive / I'd fly you 'round the universe / In Fireball XL5..."
  • "Stingraaaaaay, Stingray! Stingraaaaaay, Stingray!"
  • The most notable aversion is Thunderbirds, though narrowly: a closing theme with lyrics was composed for it, and it did repeat the title numerous times throughout.
  "Then you'll see Thuuuuunder-BIRDS! Flying way up hiiiiiigh! Thuuuuunder-BIRDS! Roaring through the skyyyyyy!"
  • Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: There were two versions, one with a full set of lyrics and another whose lyric was nearly only "Captain Scarlet" endlessly repeated^note "Indestructible Captain Scarlet was the final line.
• "Elliot Moose, is on the loose!"
• The Great Space Coaster
• Older viewers might remember: "It's Howdy Doody time!" They might easily have forgotten the song's other lines.
• It's a Big Big World, don't you agree? Big enough for you and me!
• "So, come on, everybody, / let's get up and go. / It's time to get started / It's Jack's Big Music Show!"
• "I was just Johnny till I walked through that door, but I'm not just Johnny anymore! I'm Johnny and the Sprites! Did you see one? Johnny and the Sprites! Could you be one? Johnny and the Sprites!"
• "Hey, it's Lamb Chop's Play-Along, where kids come to play-along, and fun things are all we ever do!"
• "Nothing, beats a, music, pizza, come hear the Charlie Horse Music Pizza play."
• "All God's creatures, fresh off the grill. So come on down to Mr. Meaty where friends meet to eat-meat!"
• "It's time to play the music / It's time to light the lights / It's time to meet the Muppets / On The Muppet Show tonight."
• "Here come the Muppets! Here come the Muppets! Here come the Muppets Tonight!"
• "Welcome to our place, we've been waiting. Time for some fun and celebrating! Something is always ready to POP! Here at The Noddy Shop!"
• "Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?" (They never did tell us...)
  • "...Vamos todos encontrar donde hay gran felicidad, el fantástico lugar, ¡Plaza Sésamo! (¿Como?) ¡Plaza Sésamo! (¡Muy bien!)..."
  • "Somebody come and play / Somebody come and play today / Somebody come and join the fun / There's lots of room for everyone / Somebody come and play... today... / Play With Me Sesame!"
• "Sifl... and... Ol-ly! Sifl and Olly Show! (ROCK!)"
• Tinky Winky... Dipsy... Laa-laa... Po. Teletubbies. "Teletubbies!" Say... hell-o! "Eh-oh!"
• "Im a tot! Je suis une tot!^note "¡Soy una tot!" in the North American version. Tilly, Tom, and Tiny! We're the tots of Tots TV! One, two, three, boo!..."
• "BOOH...BAH!!"
• "Pinwheel, Pinwheel, spinning around. Look at my pinwheel and see what I've found..."
• "Eureeka! ('Who, me?' 'No, you! Don't you see?') Eureeka's Castle..."
• "Come on everybody, let's all have fun with Wilbur!"
• "The Puzzle Place! The Puzzle Place! We're going to The Puzzle Place!"
• "Bookmice! Bookmice! They live inside the library; Bookmice!..."
• "Welcome to you, and how do you do? Everybody's waiting here at Pooh Corner. Waiting for you, and Winnie the Pooh, to have a happy hooky-pooh time!..."^note This is the theme to "Welcome to Pooh Corner", one of the very first series the Disney Channel ever aired.
• "...Dumbo's Circus, Dumbo's Circus is coming to visit, you won't want to miss it, coming to visit you!"
• Another example is the Canadian series Under the Umbrella Tree, which aired on the Disney Channel in the U.S..
• "Cause we're laughing and we're learning. We're singing a song. If you learn to trust your feelings, you'll never go wrong, and you know that you will always belong, at Wimzie's House."
• "Come and meet The Letter People, come and visit the family. Words are made of letter people, A B C D, follow me."
• "Wisharoo Park, Wisharoo Park, come down to Wisharoo Park."
• "If you've been looking for some fun, or a chance to be most anyone, there's a little shop I know, you'll find it on The Chica Show"
• "You know who The Hoobs are... Iver! Groove! And Tula!"
• Both the European version (1986-1995) and short lived American version (1987-1989) of The D.J. Kat Show did this with a Theme Tune Rap. This is the European version:
  "This is The D.J. Kat Show, and I am D.J. Kat...that's my name! That's a D and a J and a Kat with a K! Okay? Yeah!"
  • The American version is similar, but goes:
  "This is The D.J. Kat Show, and I am D.J. Kat! With a D and a J and a Kat with a K, so you better stick around, okay?! (D.J., Kat!) And this is MY show!"^note The announcer would then do a different opening narration for each episode concluding with "It's The D.J. Kat Show!", after which he would do a different introduction each episode for D.J.'s assistant "Elizabeth!" (or in the second season, "Jennifer Davis!").
• "Time to get those wheels a-rollin'! Big, Big, Big Garage! Time to get those horns a-blowin'! Big, Big, Big Garage!"
• "Sing a song, eat a snack, and take a nap / So much we're gonna wanna do today in Littleburg / Whoopi's Littleburg!"
• The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss has these:
  • Season one: "Tighten up, get loose. In the Wubbulous World, in The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. Yeah!"
  • Season two: "Come on along, we're waiting for you! (Come on!) This is the song to welcome you to The Wubbulous World... of Dr. Seuss!"
• "Téléfrançais, Téléfrançais, Téléfrançais!"
• "Here comes Donkey Hodie (Hee-haw!) Donkey Hodie! She loves adventure, she loves surprise. When there's a problem, she tries and tries!"

Radio

• The later years of Land of the Lost (1943) saw its once-instrumental opening theme being given lyrics, likely as a result of Executive Meddling:
  Land Of The Lost
  A kingdom fair as a dream
  It lies under the sea
  Mysteriously
  Shining with ripples that glimmer and gleam

Theater

• Though title songs of musicals aren't usually played this way, the prelude to On a Clear Day You Can See Forever features the title song sung by an offstage chorus.
• Another exception (at least in the movie) is:
  "Little Shop! Little Shop Of Horrors! Little Shop! Little shop of terror! Little Shop! Little Shop of Horrors! No! No-no, no!"
• The opening and closing themes of Wicked could be considered this too.
  "No one mourns the wicked, wicked, wicked!"
• —> "We want you to join in our fun, before the day is done.. "StarlandKrew, YEAH!"
• "Well, Well, Hello, Dolly! Well Hello Dolly! It's So Nice to have you back where you belong!"

Video Games

• The only legible words in the opening theme for Katamari Damacy are the game's title. Other versions of the theme within the game have actual lyrics.
  • Including the one that plays when you start a new game: DON'T WORRY DO YOUR BEST!
• Sonic Heroes. The game's title is also used rather ridiculously throughout the game: "Why can't I defeat you?" "Because we're Sonic Heroes!"
• Donkey Kong 64. "D.K! Donkey Kong is here!"
  • To be fair the exact title appears nowhere in that song. It's more about the character(s) and less about the game.
• Petville (YEAH!) Doodle-dee-doo doo-doo Petville (WHEE!)
• As a pastiche of James Bond movies' tendencies to have title theme tunes, as noted above, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater has a subtitle theme tune "Snake Eater".
• Almost every theme song of Super Robot Wars Boisterous Bruisers involves this. Especially "Ware Koso Waaa... Ware Koso Waaa... BARAN DOBAN!". Also Rand Travis' theme "Land Crasher" "Gun, Gunleon, Gunleon! Gun, Gunleon, Gunleon! Gun, Gunleon, Gunleon! Land Crasher...". Yes, both are Boisterous Bruisers.
• Segata Sanshiro! Segata Sanshiro! Sega Saturn... shiro!!
• (Burning Rangers!) To the brand new sky we dive. (Burning Rangers!) Dreams we have are shining bright!(Burning Rangers!) Aquamarine colored skies. Fly high with grace and pride... The actual name of the song however is "Burning Hearts" (also known as "Angels With Burning Hearts").
• Night Trap has this. The characters lipsync to it at one point.
• "Cruisin', yeah yeahhhh, Cruis'n USA"!
  • And the sequel: "Cruisiiinnn'... cruisin' the wooooorrrrrlllld!!!" Though if you want to get technical, the game was called Cruis'n World, with no "the".
• "He is a...GEX!"^note Also another Theme Tune Rap example. This was used for the end credits.
• Pepsiman: "PEPSI-MAAAAAAN!" It begins before the title appears, and variations on it make up most of the game's soundtrack, which contains no other lyrics.
• There are two Ur Examples, one for home systems, and one for arcade games:
  • While Alternate Reality: The City doesn't have any vocals (because of technology limitations), the lyrics appear as the game "sings" each word.
  • Psycho Soldier on the other hand, was the first arcade game (and probably the first video game period) to have a vocal theme song ("Fire! Fire! Psycho Soldier! Fire! Fire! Psycho Soldier!").
• The original Tokimeki Memorial is an example (along with its spinoffs), but the full title is only sung in the full-length version (only the "Memorial" part is heard in the "TV size" version that's played in-game).
• "Clay Fighter! Clay, Clay Fighter! Come on, fight them if you dare! Clay Fighter! Clay, Clay Fighter! Hit'em, smack'em, they don't care!"^note This was on the Super NES, where theme songs with actual, sung lyrics were unheard of. Although, unlike Tales of Phantasia's Anime Theme Song, this game's theme consists only of a single chorus.
• The Idolmaster is another example of a title theme tune where the title doesn't appear in the actual lyrics.^note It's also the only song to appear in every game in the franchise.
• Subverted in Super Mario Odyssey. Although it plays in the E3 2017 trailer, and although there's a shortened instrumental version in the title screen that plays on a loop, it's actually an Insert Song in-game.
  "...I'm flipping the switch! Get ready for this! Oh-oh! Let's do the Odyssey!"
• "Well, Cuphead and his pal Mugman / They like to roll the dice / By chance they came 'pon devil's game / And gosh, they paid the price...^note Paid the priiiiiiiiiice!"
• "All you gotta do, all you gotta do is, all you gotta do is just dance..."
  • "If you wanna party, then you can just dance! Just dance! Gotta move your body, so you can just dance! Just dance!"

Web Animation

• Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse has a theme with a chorus including five lines. The even-numbered lines proclaim the show's subtitle, and the fifth gives a full Title Drop.
  • "Dreamtopia (where adventure never stops)! Dreamtopia (it's just a sprinkle sparkle hop)! Dreamtopia-a-a! (It's just a dream away!)"
• Bravoman, Bravoman! Battling crime whenever he can! Who do you call when it hits the fan? You gotta call Bravoman!
• GoodbyeKitty, Goodbye Kitty! Goodbye Kitty! Oh, whoa, whoa. Oh- (zap) Goodbye Kitty!
• "'Cause you're Royal and Rebel, you're more than one together, however you go Ever in Ever After High!"
• "Mi Perro Chocolo, Y sus amigos estan aqui"
• "Yeah, life gets crazy here at Mermaid High! Mermaid, Mermaid High!"
• "Monster High, the party never dies!"
• "Glowin', slayin', fashion, frame it! RAINBOW HIGH!"

Webcomics

• The M9 Girls! main theme, featured in pivotal pages like this, is an electronic arrangment with anime vibes, which mentions the comic's title in a synthesized voice.

Web Original

• NatOne Productions has Obleeq, the silly, slapstick, fantasy story. Every episode begins with Jon (sometimes joined by the rest of the cast) singing "Oooobleeq! Doo doo dooooo...doodoodoo."
• "He's the angriest gamer you've ever heard. He's the Angry Nintendo Nerd. He's the Angry Atari Sega Nerd. He's the Angry Video Game Nerd.
  • Also in this episode of The Angry Video Game Nerd, a theme has this; this song is about "shitty" games for Spider-Man and how it sucks his "spider-balls." The song also has James' song, called the Angry Nerd.
• Taco-Man Plays A Video Game has its own theme song, which boasts a double-digit number of title drops, and spoofs the theme of Saturday Supercade. Eventually, it became an end credits song instead.
• Parodied by The Other Other Wiki with their own rendition of the Samurai Jack Theme Tune Rap, which was recently removed from their article on the show. Reproduced here for your convenience:
  Samurai Jack? Samurai Jack? Who Jacked Jack?
  Look out!
  Samurai Jack? Samurai Jack? Jack Jacked Jack?
  Jackity jack, jack jack jack, jackity jackity! Jacky jacky Jack!
  Jackity jack, jackity jack, jacky jack jack!!
  Look out!!
  Jacking jacking jackity jackity, ja-jack jack jack!!
  Jackawa jack! Jack jack jack! Jack jack jack!!
  Jacka jacka jack jack jack jack jack! JACKITY JACKITY JACKITY JACK!
  Jack jack jack jack jack jack jack jack! Jack jack jack!? JACK JACK JACK JACK JACK JACK JACK JACK JACKITY JACKITY JACK!!!
  JACK JACK!!!
  JAAAACK!!
  Jack? Can you hear me? JACK?! JAAAAAAACK?!
• Reel Geek Girls has a brief theme tune that plays over the intro. It consists of the title being said several times in rapid succession.
• Hector's World: The theme tune says the phrase "Hector's world" three times.

Other

• Teen Steam, a workout video from 1988 starring Alyssa Milano^note She was starring in Who's the Boss? at the time. is a rare example of a workout video doing this:
  Steam, Teen Steam! Gotta let it out!

Instrumental Themes

Not all that common, but there are instrumental themes in which the title of the television show or film is a perfect fit metrically and could, if one wished, be sung along to the instrumental theme. The metric fit often occurs in the opening bars of the instrumental theme.

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• Bonanza
  • Dun-da-dah-dun/ Dun-da-dah-dun/ Bo-nan-zaaaah! . .
• The Fall....and. Rise! Of Reg-in-ald Per-rin
• Hawaii Five-0
  • Ha-wai-ee Five-Oh/ Dah-dah-dah-dah-daaah/ Ha-wai-ee Five-0h/ Dah-dah-dah-dah-daaah. . .
• Hill Street Blues
  • Hill Street Blues/ Hill Street Blues/ Da-da-da-da-da-dah/ Hill Street Blues . . . .
• Mission Impossible Not exactly the same as the other examples, but the opening beats of the Mission Impossible theme song correspond to the Morse Code letters M and I if you give if a dot the value of one beat and a dash the value of one-and-a-half beats
• My Three Sons
  • It's My Three Sons/ It's My Three Sons/ It's My Three Sons/ It's My Three Sons/ . . . repeated until madness sets in.
• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em adds a Genius Bonus: the instrumental theme is played on a solo piccolo. Not only does one phrase echo the series title Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, but to anyone familiar with morse code - the staccato piccolo playing spells out the name of the show. In morse code.
• Star Wars theme as sung by Bill Murray in a Saturday Night Live skit about a third-rate ski-resort lounge singer:
  • Star Wars!/ Give me those Star Wars!/ Nothing but Star Wars/ Don't let them end. . . .

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