Post-credit scenes.

Daniel Brizuela                                                                                                                                5/24/12

Post-credit scenes.

            Something that’s more common in films today than films made say in the 1980s and before is that they have post-credit scenes, also known as stingers. This means that they have a scene, whether it’s meant to be important or just funny, after the end credits are done.

            Most types of films that are comic book based, superhero based, comedies, and animated are the ones that usually show these stingers. Rarely do other types of films show stingers, but if they do it’s usually to show something important that could lead to a sequel.

            The earliest use of stingers is in the second James Bond film, 1963s From Russia with Love, which showed text after the credits that Bond will be back in Goldfinger which is now used in every film since minus what the next film is called since it ended with 1983s Octopussy as they were unsure after that what the next title might be. However, a scene after the credits was first shown in The Muppet Movie, which was released in 1979, had a scene of one of the characters bursting out of the screen as the credits roll.

            Modern examples of stingers in films are especially used in the MARVEL based films that led up to The Avengers. Iron Man’s stinger was just meant as a joke for the fans with Nick Fury telling Stark about the Avengers Initiative, which eventually was taken seriously after the surprise success of the film. Iron Man 2 had a stinger that led to the events of Thor whose stinger lead to the events that would lead to the beginning of The Avengers. The stinger for the Captain America film was really a scene from the Avengers film along with some clips of the subsequent film. As for The Avengers, it had two stingers depending on which theatre it was shown in, with one being the heroes after the battle with Loki eating quietly at a restaurant and the other as a sequel hook by showing what looks like Thanos discussing Earth and its heroes.

            Other stingers include the four Pirates of the Caribbean films where the monkey becomes cursed again in the first, the dog being considered a god in the second, Elizabeth and her son waiting for Will in the third, and Penelope Cruz’s character finding Sparrow’s voodoo doll in the water and smiling. There’s also Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where Matthew Broderick’s character breaks the fourth wall by telling the audience that the film is over and they should go now. Cars had an earlier seen couple going on vacation lost because the husband doesn’t want to ask for direction. The stinger for Monster’s Inc. ends with Mike and Sulley performing a musical they wrote based off of the events of the film. A final stinger is The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie doing the same thing as the Ferris Bueller movie of breaking the fourth wall.