Does anyone remember watching films made in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s? In those films, all the credits were at the beginning of the film only thing up at the end were the cast, the words THE END (see above) and that’s about it? I liked those because when the movie was over, you were done. Now, there’s a spot in the credits for everything: every song that was used (even if you didn’t hear it playing) the gaffer, the key grip, the foley artist and all the other trades who worked on the film. Now I’m not saying that anyone who worked on a film is insignificant or that these people shouldn’t deserve credit for their work (artists on a Pixar or Dreamworks CGI film deserve all the credit if you ask me), but sometimes the credits get a little ridiculous.
Anyway, the reason I’m writing about this is to call out some movies where watching those credits can be entertaining and worth it in some cases. Have you ever sat watching a film and just as the credits start rolling, there are some extra little sequences put in amongst the credits? The Austin Powers films are one example as well as other comedies that use the credits as an extension of their films, or to showcase the hilarious outtakes. I personally liked how the Hot Shots! films would put actual jokes, trivia and even a recipe or two into their credits. Pixar has had success with outtakes (Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life) or just had their characters make appearances in the credits (Finding Nemo).
An end credit sequence, which sometimes breaks the fourth wall, gives the audience a little added bonus for watching the movie. It’s a definite perk for sitting through the boring 4-6 minute stretch but seems like a lot of these still go unnoticed. Personally, I like them better than the outtakes and so I’ve compiled a list of the ones I know about. This is my way of thanking the filmmakers who, by way of making these sequences in the first place, are thanking we the audience for sticking out the credits. And they say there’s no more gratitude these days…
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – That’s one nearly everyone on the planet should know about mainly because the movie keeps going through the credits enticing you to stick around and watch it…but if you haven’t seen it, click the image above…
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Captain Barbossa’s monkey (named Jack) sneaks into the cave on the Isla de Muerta, steals a coin from the chest and jumps at the camera. (Click this link for the video)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – The cannibal villagers from the beginning now worship the dog from the first movie. (Click this link for the video)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – 10 years later, Ms. Swan awaits Will Turner on a hilltop overlooking the ocean with their 10 year old son. (Click this link for the video)
Jingle All the Way – Arnold and his family just had a great Christmas, and his wife says “Oh its so great that you did all this for Jamie…What did you get for me?” Zoom in on Arnold’s frozen face…nicely done.
Finding Nemo – The little fish from earlier in the film gobbles up the “monster fish” with the iridescent bulb.
The Great Muppet Caper – After the Muppets are done parachuting through the sky (singing the last song of the film), Gonzo lands right in front of the camera, takes a picture (of the audience) and says, “I’ll send you each a copy“.
Zombieland – Pretty funny, but if you haven’t seen it, click here to check it out!
Hancock – Clever little “hostage scene” with Mike Epps that starts halfway through the credits. (Click this link for the video)
Let the Right One In – There’s a greyed out snow scene just before the credit start. If you wait you’ll see one final cute little sequence…very worth it!
Nothing to Lose– The hillbilly gas station attendant (that Terrance robbed earlier in the movie) gets a package delivered from the postman containing the returned money.
Three more I can think of are Dead Man on Campus, Me, Myself & Irene, and Not Another Teen Movie, but they’re not really worth it. There’s also a confusing one at the end of Planet Terror. It shows Tony (Robert Rodriguez’ real life) who was supposedly shot earlier in the film, playing on the beach. WTF? This is from an alternate ending that wasn’t used in the film. He explains it in the commentary.
Now there’s certainly more out there and very recently it’s been expected all in almost every major comic movie and include Iron Man, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Incredible HULK to name a few. But as far as the general idea of these bonus scenes being for the fans to “break the fourth wall” or contining the story, what do you all think? Anyone aware of these sequences after the credits? Are there any you’d like to add to the post?
13 Comments
Castor
All the crew does need to be given credit though. Directors and actors are coddled, the director of photography also gets his due as well as the composer but the crew does work just as hard and almost never gets any kind of praise thrown their way. One thing they should do though is make it more entertaining than just text displaying on the screen…
Marc
Well don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying anyone should be left out, but while credits now encompass each person/trade’s contribution, think of all the people from years back who got omitted. That can’t be helped but it can be a little defeating. As far as present day goes, come on, does the catering company really need their due?:P
I agree with you on making it more entertaining. I used to love the old Disney cartoon intro credits. They were fun and really got you in to the story, so to speak. I particularly like the throwback that Pixar did with Monster’s Inc. Also, Pixar has graphics and animation throughout the end credits giving it a fun factor. Be nice to see other studios take that lead. Thanks for the comment Castor!
mill1924
I don’t think I’ve ever stuck around to see these bonus scenes after the credits. Even if they are hyped up. Might have to check some of these out on the interweb sometime.
Marc
Haven’t found everyone of these I listed on the web, but if you own the movie, some of them are worth checking out. But speeding to them without watching the movie first, to me anyway, doesn’t have the same effect. To get you started, you can ignore the ones I listed as not being worth it. The others are simply just kinda neat…but then again, I have quirky tastes like that:)
Castor
Ahaha actually catering is probably the most thankless of all the job on a movie set so I guess a line in the credit doesn’t hurt 😉 One thing they should do to make it more entertaining is use real footage from the set for example.
mcarteratthemovies
Crap! I KNEW I should have stayed longer after the credits of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
Marc
You know Mer, sometimes I just can’t decipher your sarcasm:) At least I think it’s sarcasm…and there in lies my problem:P
chris
Hello,
I am the Blog Administrator at Movies Unlimited, a mail order retailer of classic movies. We’ve recently started a blog (www.MovieFanFare.com) and I think this post would be of interest to our readers. Would it be possible to reprint this? We would naturally provide a link back to your blog and provide a short bio if you supply it. The only changes we would make to your content would be adding any links we deem relevant to provide information to our readers (ex – links to our retail website or Wikipedia). Please let me know what you think of all of this, and keep up the amazing work!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Marc
Sending you an email now…
Heather
How you even found all these, remembered them, or anything is beyond me, but there are a few movies I’ve seen here numerous times that I had no clue had the endings. I actually like the Pirates At The Worlds End…egg.
My favorite of all, of course is Ferris Bueller.
GO HOME!
Marc
Yeah, I have a knack for remembering things that will do me absolutely no good:( Locker combinations from junior high, lines from countless movies, but math formulas?? Nope. I’m just a wealth of useless information…but hey, I’m fun at parties and have some cool bar tricks:)
David
After the credits on Heavyweights, Ben Stiller as Tony Perkis is shown performing his new occupation after the Fat Camp Infomercial thing didn’t pan out for him. What ever became of him, you ask? Stick around to find out.
Marc
Neat, thanks for the heads up. I’ve never seen Heavyweight but it sounds like he tried the same thing again at the end of Dodgeball (which is one I forgot to include here). Thanks for the comment David!