Or: The Big Damn Bronze Age Disney-Style Award-Baiting End-Credits Power Ballad.
Tropers who grew up in the 1990s know what we're talking about, right? It's the kind of song which plays over the end credits (usually) of an animated (usually) Disney (usually) movie (usually) from the '90s (usually). They each share a distinctive style and, as per the title, once you hear it you just know it's going to get nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, and if it doesn't, somebody's getting fired.
They generally have at least four of the following distinctive traits:
- Starts out soothing and mellow. Chances are high the first thing to come out of the singer(s) mouth is "Mmmmmmmm..." as if they're taking a pie out of the oven and like the smell.
- Instead of describing events that happen directly in the movie, it usually covers the more sweeping themes used in it such as The Power of Love, The Power of Friendship, and so on. May be a Silly Love Song. Most Award Bait Songs have absolutely nothing to do with the plot (love songs in movies with no romance, for example), and are rarely referenced in the film itself.
- Extremely feel-good and/or touching; may be a Tear Jerker.
- Lots of "sparkly" synth.
- Towards the middle, it gets more and more triumphant and builds to a big, epic finish.
- Is penned by a (usually) past-their-prime pop/rock star, especially if the film isn't a musical. If the song is a hit, it may prompt a comeback.
- If it is a musical it may appear in the film, but it's occasionally a Cut Song, as in the Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame examples.
- Context of a Falling-in-Love Montage (bonus points if it's also a ballroom dance).
- Truck Driver's Gear Change.
- A soaring electric guitar solo.
- Especially since the Turn of the Millennium (as opening credit sequences are almost unheard of except in James Bond films), it's not necessarily considered the film's theme song.
- A Video Full of Film Clips.
The distinguishing trademark, however, is when the song has a reprise, frequently a duet, done over the end credits. Bonus points if it's sung by Barbra Streisand, Céline Dion (or someone who sounds like her), Whitney Houston, Peabo Bryson, or Bryan Adams.
Sounds like the kind of song popularized by nineties Disney films, yes? The funny thing is that the film that probably helped to make this sort of thing popular during this particular part of movie history would be "Somewhere Out There" from Don Bluth's An American Tail, although Don Bluth's team had also had "Flying Dreams" in the earlier The Secret of NIMH. And even before that, songs unrelated to the story, usually of the love song variety, often sung by popular singers, had been a staple of closing credits for Asian films — particularly anime — for decades.
Award Bait Songs are also found in many live-action films, notably "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic (1997). Many, many films from the late-70's through late-90's had a song like this, leading some critics to call this period the last really amazing time for movie songs. This has been exchanged for "hip" pop songs from the popular artists at the time, and/or more commonly the movie soundtrack.
Movie Bonus Songs in film adaptations of stage musicals often fall under this trope, since the songs adapted from the stage play aren't eligible for Best Original Song, and this is the filmmakers' attempt at letting the film receive some accolade for its music. Whatever the song's reason for being, the "Award-Baiting" part isn't the important part, nor is the "End Credits" part. The important part is that the song is strongly associated with the narrative work, serves as a fitting capstone, and is in the style described above.
One tactic when trying for an award bait song is to take an existing, usually famous, song and record a Softer and Slower Cover.
It should also be noted that, while the song may be blatant award bait, that doesn't mean they still can't be really good regardless.
For other kinds of popular and/or Award-winning movie songs, see Breakaway Pop Hit and "I Want" Song. Compare The Power of Rock.
Examples
- After War Gundam X featured Human Touch, which was one of the last works composed by the Soulful Rain Man himself Warren Wiebe.
- "Happiness on the Same Earth" from Aikatsu!.
- AIR gave us the lovely "Aozora".
- There's also the ED, "Farewell Song".
- Ichiban no Takaramono (My Most Precious Treasure) and My Song from Angel Beats!
- The second ending theme for Season 2 of Assassination Classroom, "Mata Kimi ni Aeru no Hi" (Until the Day I See You Again).
- ''Attack on Titan has several. The main highlights are:
- The first ending of season 1, Utsukushiki Zankoku na Sekai by Yōko Hikasa, which is written from Mikasa's perspective
- Akatsuki no Requiem/Requiem der Morgenröte written and sung by Linked Horizon.
- 13 no Fuyu (13 Winters) Written and performed, again, by Linked Horizon with vocals from Yui Ishikawa. A tragic love ballad about the main couple of the series.
- Ai Higuchi wrote and sung not just one, but two Award Bait ending songs: Akuma no Ko/Child of Devil and Itterashai / See You Later. Interestingly, both serves as sort of a reply to each other.
- The Ending songs of the series finally reached their triumphant conclusion with Ni-sen Nen... Moshiku wa... Ni-man Nen-go no Kimi e/To You, 2000 Years, Or Perhaps, 20,000 Years Later, also by Linked Horizon but with a twist, featuring Yui Ishikawa and Yuki Kaji as vocals. The song pretty much summarize the main themes of the series as whole: starts with a reprisal from 13 no Fuyu above, then transition to reprisal of Requiem de Morgenröte with a different , but no less grievous lyrics, followed by going all in with the glorious melody reprise of the series first opening song Guren no Yumiya before finally ended with a somber outro which signals the end of the story as a whole.
- "Mierudarou Byston Well" and "Ao no Speech Balloon" from Aura Battler Dunbine.
- Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King features the beautiful and uplifting song Utsukushiki Mono (Something Beautiful) by R&B artist Ai, from her album Independent Woman which topped charts in Japan. According to The Other Wiki she felt it was the most vocally challenging song she had ever recorded.
- Guts' Theme from the Berserk (1997) series is an instrumental example.
- Wish by Mika Nakashima, from Berserk: The Golden Age Arc: Memorial Edition.
- "And Forever" from the ending of The Big O
- Life from Canaan.
- Mother from Carole & Tuesday.
- A Path from Casshern Sins.
- Chiisana Tenohira (The Palm of a Tiny Hand) from the end of the CLANNAD series.
- From ~After Story~, we got Toki wo Kizamu Uta (The Song That Transcends Time).
- Cowboy Bebop has The Real Folk Blues and the final ending theme Blue. The Movie has Knock a Little Harder.
- "I Really Want to Stay at Your House" from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is an interesting example given that it preexisted the anime by about two years. It was originally a song on one of the in-game radio stations in Cyberpunk 2077 and was well-regarded but given recontextualization by the anime it really exploded in popularity in 2022.
- When I cry from the 1997 anime movie adaptation of A Dog of Flanders. Fittingly, its one hell of a Tear Jerker.
- Dragon Ball GT may be not have been seen as great in everyone's eyes, but this Sabitsuita Machine Gun by WANDS was a great song to finish off to finish the franchise.
- Dragon Ball Z had "Hikari no Tabi" for its "Bardock: the Father of Goku" special. Bonus points for being a duet.
- Kimi ga Kureta Mono from Fairy Tail fits this trope very well.
- The Nasuverse is rife with this:
- Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau, sung from Irisviel's perspective and Manten from Fate/Zero.
- The Unlimited Blade Works anime has Brave Shine from Aimer on the opening, which actually won a Best Anime Theme Song award in Japan.
- The first anime movie adaptation of Heaven's Feel, Presage Flower has Hana no Uta, or Song of Flowers also by Aimer, which, in full of Heaven's Feel Tear Jerker glory, captures perfectly Sakura's feelings of his past treatment from the Matous, as well as to Shirou, being her only hope to get out of the mess.
- Speaking of Aimer, she herself is a fine example of this trope, with songs like Ninelie from Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress and Dare ka Umi wo from Terror in Resonance being great examples.
- Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) has the song Bratya which was featured at the end of the episode where we see Ed's and Al's past. Even though it's in Russian, a language most viewers probably don't understand, it definitely packs a punch.
- Full Metal Panic! featured no less than two of these songs as openings for its anime adaptation. The first, "tomorrow", was used for the original series, the second "Sore ga Ai deshou?"("I guess that's love?") strangely enough was used as the opening for Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu.
- Wakatte Ita Hazu from Fushigi Yuugi, used as an insert song for the most emotional moments of the anime.
- Gankutsuou's intro, "We Were Lovers".
- GaoGaiGar has "Itsuka Hoshi no Umi de" (Someday, In the Sea of Stars) by Shinomari Satoko as its ending theme.
- The gently sung "Boku no Honesty" by Shinichiro Kawakami plays during credits in the anime adaptation of They Were Eleven.
- Great Pretender has three examples, each fitting different Award Bait criteria:
- First is "Someday," the theme of the third arc. It begins with sparkly synth, it starts slow and builds to a big finish, it's played over a Falling-in-Love Montage, and it's a soulful ballad about overcoming one's past. It's treated as the Signature Song of the series, being heavily promoted by the show's social media and being one of the songs available on its official Spotify. However, it's more somber than other Award Bait, and it is directly about events that happen in the show.
- Second is "Our Love," the song used as a Friendship Song for Makoto and the other members of Team Confidence. It's a heartwarming, uplifting, and uptempo Silly Love Song about The Power of Love which isn't directly about the events of the series, it builds to a big finish, and it ends on a delicate piano trill. It's used in multiple places in the series and is one of its other signature songs.
- Finally, there's "Through the Night," the show's actual final song, used during its "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue. It's a big, sweeping ballad about persevering in the face of adversity, and it's actually used during the show's conclusion, as is traditional for Award Bait Songs. It's also not directly about the events of the series, though it does tie into them.
- Guilty Crown gives us three songs for consideration: "Euterpe", "Departures ~Anata ni Okuru Ai no Uta~", and from the Lost Christmas OVA/game, "Planetes".
- Toki no Kawa wo Koete for GunBuster and Tatsu Tori Ato wo Nigosa zu for DieBuster are instrumental versions of this type of song. WELCOME HOME.
- "Kimi o shinjiteru" by STEVE from Giant Gorg, a series also of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko fame. Weirdly enough, sounds a bit similar to the famous "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King (1994) despite being released years prior.
- Oku Hanako's "Kawaranai Mono" from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer has "Qualia" by UVE Rworld.
- Don't forget Yuna Ito's "Trust You".
- ''Tender Oblivion'', ending song for ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya''. The a cappella version is the one which plays at the ending credits, rather than the J-Pop version released as single.
- The original Hellsing anime has "Shine" by Mr. Big as the ending song.
- Destiny ~Shukumei~ from Hitsuji no Uta is a gloomier version of this trope.
- Nagareboshi Kirari, the fourth ending for Hunter × Hunter (2011), which has a much more somber tone compared to the other more energetic ending songs and plays during the first half of the Chimera Ant arc, arguably the darkest, most tragic arc in the entire series.
- No More Words from the first Inuyasha movie.
- "Season" from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2012 anime, sung by Kaori Kano and composed by Taku Iwasaki.
- Love Live! Sunshine!! has "Kiseki Hikaru", which isn't an end credits theme and was instead used as an insert song in The Movie, but nonetheless sounds like one and thematically fits the series' conclusion. It starts off as a soft, innocent tune reminiscing about a long journey's end, but the orchestral accompaniment steadily becomes more grand and sweeping as the lyrics become increasingly bittersweet and reveal it's actually about Aqours trying to stay hopeful after failing to accomplish their goals. (which is relevant to the ending of the anime, where they failed to save their school.) Nonetheless, it ends on an optimistic note, that the sun will rise again.
- The Macross franchise has a few J-Pop-style showstoppers, but special mention must be given to "Do You Remember Love?", specially written for the Summer Blockbuster of the same name by the late Kazuhiko Katoh.
- "Kaerimichi", the first opening of Mahoromatic.
- Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro has Kodoku no Hikari, the lyrics especially capture the feeling of trying to be hopeful in a very depressing environment which is very not that far from the actual events in the story especially with all of the Big Bad Sicks' atrocities and the death of Sasazuka while having a bittersweet tone that the show tries to give us.
- Eternal Wind from Mobile Suit Gundam F91, which unlike the planned series opening was preserved for the ending credits.
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans has "Orphans no Namida" by MISIA, "Streetlight of War", and "Freesia" by Uru.
- "Trust You Forever" from Mobile Fighter G Gundam.
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED has "Mizu no Akashi" sung by Rie Tanaka (as the character Lacus Clyne).
- The sequel, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, takes the trope further, by using the song "Fields of Hope" to accompany visuals of a space colony crashing into the Earth, destroying entire cities and killing millions.
- My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising has "Might+U", an epic arrangement of "You Say Run" that plays during the film's final battle after Midoriya transfers One For All to Bakugo.
- "Itsumo, Itsumo", from Now and Then, Here and There.
- One Piece Film: Strong World has Fanfare by Mr. Children.
- There's also "One Day" by The Rootless, although it kind of spoiled the fact that Portgas D. Ace got Killed Off for Real.
- ''Tsuki to Taiyou'', the twelfth ending, definitely sounds like one of these.
- After the epic fight to finish the first season of the anime series, the finale ending song for One-Punch Man has "Kanashimi Tachi Wo Dakishimete". Sayonara indeed.
- A group of unofficial fan dubbers creating an English track for the movie One Stormy Night took it upon themselves to actually pen an all-original award bait song for the end credits, replacing the movie's original end credits theme, "Star". "Watch the Moonrise" is actually quite sweet.
- Can also become a Tear Jerker, depending on how you look at it.
- Every Time You Kissed Me from PandoraHearts.
- Even Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt gets in on this trope with "Chocolat" by Stocking's Japanese voice actress Mariya Ise. It especially works in the context of its episode, "Ghost; The Phantom of Daten City".
- The eponymous song from the ending of the 2004 Phoenix anime. May sound like a fairly ordinary anime vocal ending at first, but easily becomes Tear Jerker by the end of the story by sheer stunning context with it. Effect may be amplified if you are particularly moved by the style of The Carpenters.
- Pokémon 3 has "To Know The Unown" performed by the girl group Innocence.
- And of course, The Power of One by the late great Donna Summer from Pokémon 2000 (the Japanese version uses a rather dissonant rap bit by Namie Amuro). This one was famous enough for Herman Cain to quote the lyrics for his exit speech from the 2012 USA Election Republican leadership race, with him referring to Donna Summer as "a poet."
- Pokémon: The First Movie features "We're A Miracle", which fits the trope fairly well, except being a little less epic and sung by a big pop star, Christina Aguilera. Curiously, the Japanese version of the film featured "Kaze to Issho ni", which certainly sounds like one of these. Honestly, every Pokémon movie makes an attempt at this.
- It Was You by Ashley Ballard.
- Pokémon: Jirachi: Wish Maker's "Make a Wish".
- By that extension, the Japanese version's "Chiisaki Mono" (A Small Thing).
- The Rise of Darkrai uses, of all things, "I Will Be With You (Where the Lost Ones Go)" for its award bait song—even in the Japanese version! Can lead to a bit of Soundtrack Dissonance over the ending credits, which has the beautiful, soulful ballad played over scenes of adorable frolicking Pokémon.
- Open My Eyes, the ending theme of Pokémon: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction. The song has the theme of letting go of one's fears and opening up to the world, with the second half being a beautiful melody.
- "All Alone With You" by EGOIST, the second ED from Psycho-Pass.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica gives us a soft-rock variation on this with Kyoko and Sayaka's Image Song "And I'm Home" by their seiyuu Ai Nonaka and Eri Kitamura, the ending for the Blu-Ray version of episode 9.
- Kalafina's Hikari Furu (a vocal version of the already heartbreaking Sagitta Luminis) is this for the second movie.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion celebrates Homura triumphant in her belief that Utopia Justifies the Means with the heartbreaking "Your Silver Garden".
- Tune the Rainbow from the RahXephon movie simply begs for this.
- "Beautiful World" from Rebuild of Evangelion.
- An acoustic version, which comes across as more of an award bait song than the original, is used in Evangelion:2.0.
- 3.0 does it again, this time with "Sakura Nagashi". Quite possibly the most Award-Bait-y out of all the Evangelion songs.
- 3.0+1.0 then tops out the previous songs with "One Last Kiss", followed by a seamless transition into a Triumphant Reprise of "Beautiful World", after being absent from the Downer Ending of the third film.
- "Wishing", the insert song for Rem from Re:Zero which is sung by her voice actress Minori Inase, is used this way to end episode 18 of the anime. Knowledge of her final fate at the end of arc 3 in the Web Novel can make this hope filled song a massive Tear Jerker.
- "Awake" from RWBY: Ice Queendom.
- "Tuxedo Mirage", the ending theme of Sailor Moon S. The song for that season's Non-Serial Movie, Moonlight Destiny, moreso, bonus points for coming from an actual film.
- "Blue Dream" from Saint Seiya.
- "Feel like A Girl" from School Rumble.
- "Girls Can Rock". That's like one of the most rockin' songs in all of the series!
- Slayers has "Somewhere in the World" that was used as the credits theme for the anime's third season finale, sung by Houko Kuwashima (the voice of Fillia). Sung in English no less.
- "Bokura no Natsu no Yume" (Our Summer Dream), from Summer Wars, sung by Tatsuro Yamashita.
- "First Love Song" from Symphogear.
- Weaponized with "Xtreme Vibes" from Symphogear XV as a way to save the entire fucking world.
- Tenchi Forever, which was meant to be the conclusion of the Tenchi Universe canon, has Love Song ga Kikoeru, which is appropriate considering he actually picks someone in this continuity.
- "Tenchi Muyo! in Love" has "Alchemy of Love" by Nina Hagen and Rick Jude.
- "Namida no Tane, Egao no Hana" from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann The movie: Lagann-Hen.
- Quite a few in Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- "Tsubasa" by FictionJunction KAORI
- "Yume no Tsubasa" by Yui Makino there's also a duet version with Miyu Irino
- "Ring Your Song" by Eri Ito
- "Kaze no Machi He" by FictionJunction KEIKO
- "You Are My Love" by Yui Makino and there's an English version by Eri Ito
- ''Dream Scape" by FictionJunction KAORI
- After All from ∀ Gundam.
- Zutto Sono Machi De from Uta∽Kata.
- Asu e no Kaze by George Yanagi in the credits of Venus Wars. An atypical example for the artist since he's mostly known for upbeat songs.
- The Vision of Escaflowne: A Girl In Gaea has You're Not Alone.
- Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song has the titular Fluorite Eye's Song Vivy's ultimate triumphant song, sung by Kairi Yagi, the singning voice for Vivy.
- The opening theme song, Sing My Pleasure'' also by Yagi. Another version also is sung by the AI character, Grace, provided by Hikari Kodama.
- Ensemble for Ploaris first sung by the AI character, Estella (singning voice of Rikka) and then later joined in a duet by her sister, Elizabeth (singining voice of Noa) as the Polaris colony plunges to earth.
- "Half Pain" from the ending of Witch Hunter Robin. The lyrics are heart-wrenching, but is warm and soft in its delivery. Hauntingly beautiful.
- Roughly "So long ago, I threw away my brightness; and like the light of the morning sun, it can never return".
- The second ending to the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series.
- "Sora wo Miagete" by Shirai Takako, the second ED from the first season of You're Under Arrest!.
- A Very Potter Musical has the affectionate parody "Not Alone".
"Now that we're finished that four-part harmony..."
- Aerith's Theme, a tribute to Aerith from Final Fantasy VII, also deserves to be mentioned.
- Team Starkid's Twisted parodies this with a slowed down pop-version of the main love duet over the end credits, which sounds exactly like every Disney credits song of the 90s.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- "Twilight's Journey" by Ponyphonic; a song about Twilight Sparkle's transformation into an alicorn princess.
- Forest Rain and Decibelle's "Great to Be Different", a duet ballad dedicated to Derpy Hooves.
- Another Forest Rain song, "To Catch a Falling Star", is an instrumental Lonely Piano Piece with a bit of an interesting history. Originally composed without any connotation to the show, it was to be released on a Kickstarter-funded community album in support of Kiki Havivy, a (very young) friend of Tara Strong's who had cancer. The album never got released and Kiki lost her cancer battle several months later. Forest Rain later uploaded it to YouTube in her honor.
- Acoustic Brony's and MandoPony's "A Long Way from Equestria" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vwHzwkStCg ) plays at the end of Bronies The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fansof My Little Pony, and perfectly reflects the fandom's struggles and beliefs.
- Undertale the Musical has "Home".
- Fangbone! has a nice tribute fan song called "Fight for Your Heart" which is a nice ballad about our favourite barbarian.
- Aladdin:
- "A Whole New World" was the 1992 Oscar winner.
- "Proud of Your Boy" was a Cut Song reinstated to the Screen-to-Stage Adaptation.
- "A Million Miles Away" was a new addition to the stage musical.
- All Dogs Go to Heaven ends with "Love Survives". While the song is a Tear Jerker on its own, it's even more heartbreaking if you know the Reality Subtext: It was not written for any awards, but was written in tribute and dedicated to Judith Barsi, the voice of Anne Marie, who was murdered by her father.
- From All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, there's "I Will Always Be with You".
- "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail is the Trope Maker.
- "Dreams to Dream" from the sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. An ironically straight example, as at the start of the film Tanya gets pelted with tomatoes by annoyed neighbors while reprising "Somewhere Out There".
- Anastasia has two: "Journey to the Past" and "At the Beginning". "Once Upon a December" is either this or a bonus "I Want" Song. "Journey to the Past" got the Oscar nomination (and a cover by Aaliyah, performed at the ceremony), but lost to "My Heart Will Go On".
- "We've Made It to the Top" from Animalympics, written and performed by Graham Gouldman of 10cc.
- Arrietty has "Arrietty's Song" and "The Neglected Garden" by Cécile Corbel. The Image Album has more such songs like "Sho's Song", "Forbidden Love", and "Sho's Lament". The American Disney dub also adds in Bridgit Mendler's (Arrietty's American voice) "Summertime".
- Céline Dion's "Let Your Heart Decide" from Astérix and the Vikings.
- "Where The Dream Takes You" by Mýa, from Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
- Babar: The Movie has "The Best We Both Can Be" by Molly Johnson.
- Balto has "Reach for the Light" by Steve Winwood.
- Bambi has "Love Is A Song" sung by Donald Novis. Though it's primarily used over the opening, a short reprise is also used during the ending.
- Bambi II had several country pop songs, though "Through Your Eyes" by Martina McBride plays over the end credits and fills most of the usual credentials best.
- "Shine" from Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses.
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm has "I Never Even Told You".
- The title song from Beauty and the Beast won the 1991 Best Original Song Oscar.
- "A Change in Me" from the later years of the Broadway Screen-to-Stage Adaptation, by replacement Belle Toni Braxton's request for a big number in Act Two.
- "As Long As There's Christmas" from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, sung by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack. Nominated at the 1998 Annie Awards.
- "Sometimes Secretly" from The BFG: The Movie.
- An example from China, Big Fish & Begonia has many songs that fit this trope perfectly, especially "Big Fish" by Zhou Shen and "Rendevous in This World" by Eason Chan.
- Fall Out Boy's theme for Big Hero 6, "Immortals" isn't much of an example, but the movie's Japanese theme song "Story" by Ai hits all the right notes for this trope. Too bad it would have been ineligible for the Oscar even if it was included in the North American release, since it wasn't written for the movie (in fact, the original Japanese version of the song predates the film by at least 5 years).
- "I Thought I Lost You" from Bolt.
- "I Love You Too Much" and "The Apology Song" from The Book of Life.
- The Boss Baby has a cover of "What the World Needs Now is Love", sung by Missi Hale (who voices Mrs. Templeton).
- The Boy and the Heron has "Spinning Globe" by Kenshi Yonezu.
- "Learn Me Right", by Birdy, featuring Mumford & Sons, from Brave.
- "Look Through My Eyes" by Phil Collins, from Brother Bear.
- Caillou has the closing credits song "Everyday" in Caillou's Holiday Movie, a Direct to Video film.
- "Our Town" from Cars, sung by James Taylor (one of the few songs on that soundtrack that's not a cover). Another one from the same movie, which is more baity, is "Find Yourself".
- Castle in the Sky has "Carrying You" as performed by Azumi Inoue in the end credits. Another example would be the Image Song "If I Could Fly in the Sky" by Yohko Obata, which was used in some early promotional material but never played in the film itself nor was included in most soundtrack releases.
- The Castle of Cagliostro has "Fire Treasure" in the opening credits and ending, being a much slower and more sombre song for the otherwise action-packed Lupin III franchise.
- The Cat Returns has the end credit song "Become the Wind" by Ayano Tsuji.
- Cats Don't Dance has "Our Time Has Come" and "I Do Believe", the former being a reprise of an upbeat version appearing in the opening credits.
- Even Chicken Little has one. "All I Know".
- "What If" from 2001's Christmas Carol: The Movie, sung by Kate Winslet.
- "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella.
- "I Still Believe" from Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has the rather upbeat, but still very sappy, "Raining Sunshine", performed by Miranda Cosgrove.
- Curious George's 2006 film has "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson.
- "Can Somebody Tell Me Who I Am" from the German version of Dinosaur.
- Donkey Xote, more Spanish fare, has "Dónde Están Mis Sueños", a more energetic example of this trope.
- "Someone Like Me" from Doug's 1st Movie and Doug Live!.
- Earwig and the Witch has "The World is in My Hands" by Sherina Munaf (the Japanese voice of Earwig's mother), with an instrumental example in "Memories are Always Beautiful".
- El Cid: The Legend, a Spanish animated film, has "The Power of a Broken Heart"; there are versions of the song in both Spanish and English.
- "My Funny Friend and Me", from The Emperor's New Groove, performed by Sting. It's also one of the few songs that actually remains in the movie in some fashion, being used as the Leitmotif for the "good" side of Kuzco. Oscar-nominated.
- Encanto has the traditional "I Want" Song "Waiting on a Miracle" as well as "Dos Oruguitas", which appears over a montage of Abuela Alma and her husband. Neither has a pop version, but the latter has an English version that appears during the credits. And while both songs charted on the Hot 100, and "Oruguitas" was nominated for the Oscar and Golden Globe, they were overshadowed in popularity by the more upbeat "Surface Pressure" and especially "We Don't Talk About Bruno", both of which had Top 10 peaks, with the latter reaching the top position.
- EQUESTRIA GIRLS:
- The first film has the end credits song "A Friend for Life", sung by Canadian Idol Season 2 semifinalist Jerrica Santos, who later sang as Torch Song in "Find the Music in You" from the fourth season episode "Filli Vanilli".
- Rainbow Rocks has "Shine Like Rainbows" from the end credits, and Sunset Shimmer's post-movie Image Song "My Past Is Not Today".
- Continuing with the trend, Friendship Games gives us "What More Is Out There?" Although not an end credits song, it stylistically fits this trope.
- And Legend of Everfree has "Embrace the Magic". It's notably Sunset Shimmer's first in-movie solo.
- "Don't You Worry" from The Fearless Four. It was also dubbed into English by James Ingram and Oleta Adams.
- The original German version also has an Award Bait cover of an earlier song, "What Can Go Wrong?"
- The German version of Felix the Cat: The Movie has the song "Something More Than Friends" sung by an unknown duet.
- "A Dream Worth Keeping" from FernGully: The Last Rainforest, performed by Sheena Easton. A little unusual in that it appears during a lovey-dovey sequence in the film and was not reprised over the end credits (instead the song in the credits is Elton John's "Some Other World").
- Freddie as F.R.O.7 gives us "I'll Keep Your Dreams Alive", performed by George Benson and Patti Austin.
- From Up on Poppy Hill has Aoi Teshima doing a new cover version of "Summer of Farewell", originally a theme song for an '80s dorama.
- "Let It Go" from Frozen. The movie version is performed by Idina Menzel (and as such, could be considered Disney's "Defying Gravity"), while the end credits version is sung by Demi Lovato; most of the movie's popularity can be attributed to Menzel's version, however. Interestingly enough, this was planned as a Villain Song in early stages of the movie when Elsa was planned to make a Face–Heel Turn. In that case Anna's "I Want" Song "For The First Time In Forever" would be the Award-Bait Song.
- Frozen II has three, all of which have pop versions in the credits and on the soundtrack. "Into the Unknown", "All is Found" and "Lost in the Woods" have their credits versions sung by Panic! at the Disco, Kacey Musgraves and Weezer respectively. The first of the three got its Oscar nomination, but lost to "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from Rocketman (2019).
- Grave of the Fireflies has "Home, Sweet Home" by Amelita Galli-Curci.
- "Yo Viviré en tus Sueños" from The Hairy Tooth Fairy. Also Spanish.
- "Love Is the Reason" from Happily Ever After.
- "Go the Distance" from Hercules, performed by Michael Bolton, was Oscar-nominated but lost to "My Heart Will Go On".
- Home (2015) has "Feel the Light", courtesy of Jennifer Lopez.
- "Anytime You Need a Friend" and "Wherever The Trail May Lead" from Home on the Range.
- Horus: Prince of the Sun has Hilda's songs.
- Howl's Moving Castle has "The Promise of the World" by Chieko Baisho, Sophie's Japanese voice.
- "Someday" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. A Cut Song from the body of the film. "God Help The Outcasts" is another example, though the Rewritten Pop Version sung by Bette Midler is buried in the back of the end credits. The film's music got Best Score Golden Globe and Oscar nominations but no Best Song nods; this was at the point that people were getting tired of Disney's domination of the category and the bloom was off the rose for the animated features themselves.
- Ice Age: The North American version doesn't have an awards bait song, but, in Japan, there's "Hitoshizuku" by Zone.
- In Britain, Ice Age: The Meltdown has "Real Love" by Lee Ryan.
- Jetsons: The Movie has "Home" and "I Always Thought I'd See You Again", both by Tiffany (who also provided the voice for Judy). Also, a young Shane Sutton performs "With You All the Way".
- Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie has two. Surprisingly, it was the end credits song "In The Belly Of The Whale" that was considered for Oscar nomination:
- "It Cannot Be", the song Jonah sings about not wanting to go to Ninevah.
- "Second Chances", the big musical number at the climax of the film, is an amazing number that gets the message of the film across. It helps that it was performed by Anointed.
- Kiki's Delivery Service has two '70s pop songs from Yumi Matsutoya "Message in Rouge" and "If I Were Covered in Tenderness" as the opening and ending themes, respectively. There are also two Image Songs by Azumi Inoue that are definitely Award-Bait Songs, "Turning Seasons" and "The Warmth of Magic", which would be included as instrumental versions in the film. Earlier releases of the American Disney dub additionally add in "Soaring" and "I'm Gonna Fly" from Sydney Forest, replacing the two Yumi Matsutoya songs, though these songs have since been removed in favour of the original Japanese songs.
- Kubo and the Two Strings has Regina Spektor's reworking of The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".
- The Land Before Time with "If We Hold On Together". Throughout the film, the song appears, eventually using Diana Ross' vocal version — over the end credits, naturally.
- The fifth film, The Mysterious Island has the gentle and plaintive "Always There".
- The tenth film, The Great Longneck Migration, has "Best of Friends" by Olivia Newton-John, a cover of another song heard in the film.
- "Man's Road" from The Last Unicorn, written by Jimmy Webb and performed by America.
- "Touch the Sky" by Wonderwall, from the 2004 film Laura's Star. On a somewhat lesser scale, the song that plays over the Good-Times Montage, "Stay."
- "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King (1994) continues to receive radio airplay even to this day. Oscar winner.
- An alternate version from a Disney Sing-Along Songs video was performed in the standard "'90s Disney movie duet credits pop song" style; so far it has not shown up on any albums.
- "Circle of Life" is another, also nominated. Elton John's single version still gets occasional radio airplay.
- The Lion King (2019) has two all-new songs that fit: "Spirit" by Beyoncé, who played Nala in the remake; and "Never Too Late" by Elton John, who wrote all the songs of the original film (which all carried over to the remake).
- "Love Will Find a Way" from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.
- "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" from the 1991 Direct to Video adaptation of The Little Engine That Could.
- "Part Of Your World" from The Little Mermaid (1989). Like "Over the Rainbow" 50 years before, it almost became a Cut Song — because one boy yawned during the test screening. The director and the song's lyricist Howard Ashman fought tooth and nail to keep it, saying it was a bad idea to cut it because of "one snot-nosed brat". It wasn't nominated for the Oscar in favor of the more upbeat Sidekick Songs "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl"; the former won. The tie-in album The Little Mermaid and Friends features an Image Song for Ariel titled "One Dance". The Screen-to-Stage Adaptation adds "Her Voice" and "One Step Closer". Both are sung by Eric, and the latter has him teaching the mute Ariel to dance. The Little Mermaid (2023) adds the Movie Bonus Song "Wild Uncharted Waters" to the list, also sung by Eric.
- "Heaven Is" by Al Jarreau from The Magic Voyage.
- "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas and "Another Believer" by Rufus Wainwright, from Meet the Robinsons.
- "How Far I'll Go" from Moana. Its reprise "I Am Moana" also qualifies, shifting the former from the "I Want" Song to an "I Am" Song.
- "Reflection" from Mulan. Although not featured during the credits, the soundtrack album has a substantially longer cover version by Christina Aguilera.
- My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) has "Rainbow" by Sia, starring as the pegasus popstar Songbird Serenade.
- My Neighbors the Yamadas has Akiko Yano's "Quit Being Alone" and a Translated Cover Version of "Que Sera, Sera" performed by the cast.
- My Neighbor Totoro has the titular theme, "Mother" and "A Lost Child", both performed by Azumi Inoue, as well as "The Path of the Wind" performed by the Suginami Children's Choir. The former is played during the end credits of the film while the latter three songs are played as instrumental versions in the film.
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind has the titular theme song performed by Narumi Yasuda, which does not play in the film itself but played prominently in promotional material. The film itself has instrumental examples with "Nausicaä - Requiem" during the climax of the film and "The Bird People" during the end credits. The first Cantonese dub also has "Green Water, Clear Wind", a Cantonese cover of "The Bird People" With Lyrics, performed by Sandy Lam (most known for singing a Translated Cover Version of "Take My Breath Away" for Wong Kar-wai's first film As Tears Go By).
- "Always Come Back to You" from The Nutcracker Prince, a Rewritten Pop Version of the ballet's "Waltz of the Snowflakes".
- The obscure Ocean Waves has "If I Could Be the Sea" by Youko Sakamoto.
- "Once Upon a Time with Me" from Once Upon a Forest.
- On Your Mark was made as a music video to such a song from Chage & Aska (of Street Fighter: The Movie fame)
- Only Yesterday has "Love is a Flower, You Are the Seed" by Harumi Miyako, a Translated Cover Version of Bette Midler's "The Rose".
- "Meet Me in the Meadow" from Open Season.
- A more straight example from this movie is "I Belong", particullarly the reprise used in the film.
- "Still" from Over the Hedge.
- "Whatever You Imagine" from The Pagemaster.
- "Dream Away" only appears in the end credits.
- Panda! Go Panda! has "Nennen Panda" by Ado Mizumori in The Rainy-Day Circus.
- The Japanese dub of The Peanuts Movie ends on a surprisingly melancholy note for a lighthearted family film: "A Song for You" by Ayaka. That said, it stands out as more of this trope than the two Meghan Trainor songs featured in the North American release.
- Barry Manilow strikes again with an end-credits cover of "Now and Forever" from The Pebble and the Penguin with Sheena Easton.
- "Candle on the Water" from Pete's Dragon (1977) received an Oscar nomination, but lost to the title tune from You Light Up My Life.
- Pinocchio's "When You Wish Upon A Star" was the first Disney song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and has been covered by many artists since then. If the Walt Disney Company has a Bootstrapped Theme, this is it.
- "If I Never Knew You" from Pocahontas. In the original theatrical version it was only featured during the end credits, as the animated sequence didn't perform well with the test audiences.
- "Colors of the Wind" took the 1995 Oscar.
- The sequel has "Between Two Worlds", by Judy Kuhn and Billy Zane.
- "Believe", from The Polar Express, was Josh Groban's first encounter with this trope. Oscar-nominated.
- Pom Poko has "In This Town of Asia" and "Always, Someone Is", both performed by Shang Shang Typhoon. The former is only used in the film's marketing while the latter is the end credit theme.
- While the titular theme of Ponyo may not count, the Image Song "Rondo of the House of Sunflowers" by Mai Hisaishi, which plays in the film as an instrumental version, definitely does.
- Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin: "Wherever You Are". Attached to a Direct to Video Winnie-the-Pooh movie that got a mixed critical reception, it failed to get nominated for any awards, though it's since become one of Disney's most popular songs of this type from the '90s.
- "The More I Look Inside" from Piglet's Big Movie.
- Porco Rosso has a cover version of "Le Temps de Cerises" and the original song "Once In a While, Talk of the Old Days" both by Tokiko Kato, Gina's voice actress. The film also has instrumental examples with "Bygone Days" and "Porco e Bella"
- Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston's "Dueling Divas" collaboration, "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt. (The version featured in the film is performed by Michelle Pfeiffer and Sally Dworsky.) It won the 1998 Oscar over two other examples of the trope, "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" and "The Prayer".
- There's also "I Will Get There", performed by Boyz II Men. There's the acapella version that closes out the end credits and is on the offical soundtrack album, and the R&B/pop version featured in the "Inspirational" soundtrack.
- The Princess and the Frog has "Never Knew I Needed" by Ne-Yo. It's a little more R&B than previous examples, but then you hear that synthy sparkle. Ahhh...
- "My Kingdom of the Heart" from The Princess and the Pea.
- Princess Mononoke has the titular theme, sang by Mai Hisaishi (composer Joe Hisaishi's daughter) in the Image Album, Yoshikazu Mera in the Japanese version of the film, and Sasha Lazard in the English version of the film.
- Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's "The Prayer" from Quest for Camelot. Nominated for an 1998 Oscar and won a Golden Globe, but this was almost solely because it was a Breakaway Pop Hit — in the film itself, Dion's solo performance is shoehorned into an action sequence. (The film had a Mid-Development Genre Shift.)
- "Rainbow Brite and Me" from Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer. An edited version went on to be used in the credits of the TV series.
- Raya and the Last Dragon has "Lead the Way" sung by Jhené Aiko, blasting The Power of Trust.
- "Someone's Waiting For You" from The Rescuers.
- "Telling The World" from Rio.
- Renée Fleming's beautiful "Still Dream" from Rise of the Guardians.
- The Road to El Dorado has "Someday Out of the Blue" and "Without Question", both performed by Elton John.
- Robin Hood (1973)
- "Love" was nominated for an Oscar, and later featured in other media, such as Fantastic Mr. Fox as well as Amazon's 2023 Super Bowl ad "Saving Sawyer". Notably, it was one of the few newly written songs not written or sung by Roger Miller.
- "Not in Nottingham" is another example, this one actually performed by Miller.
- Ronja the Robber's Daughter has the "Wolf Song".
- "Show Me the Light" from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1998). Sung by the team from Dirty Dancing, Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes!
- The first Rugrats movie had "Take Me There" by Mya Ft. Blackstreet, Mase, & Blinky Blink and "I Throw My Toys Around" by No Doubt, the second film had "When You Love" by Sinead O'Connor. No Oscar nomination for either — at least one newspaper review expected the latter to be snubbed for "Where Are You, Christmas?" (see Film — Live-Action), but that song wasn't nominated either.
- David Bowie originally wrote Safe — which went on to be the B-side for his 2002 single Everyone Says 'Hi' — for the first film, it ultimately went unused in favor of "Take Me There".
- Parodied in the Mexican animated film El Santos Contra La Tetona Mendoza with the theme song "Zombilaridad", ("Zombie-larity" in Spanish), who is a parody of "Solidaridad", a propaganda song used by the PRI (A political party in Mexico) in the '90s.
- "In Your Arms" from The Scarecrow.
- While not an original song and thus ineligible for awards, the original Shrek uses Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (as performed by John Cale) as its award bait-style song. That said, Shrek actually does have an original award bait song, but it's on the back end of the credits and was overlooked: "It Is You", which also uses the tune of the movie's instrumental theme "True Love's Kiss".
- Sleeping Beauty has "Once Upon a Dream".
- Smurfs: The Lost Village is a great example of this with the song "You Will Always Find Me In Your Heart" performed by Shaley Scott.
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the film that launched the Disney Animated Canon, has "Some Day My Prince Will Come".
- And then the song got a cover version to coincide with the Diamond Edition re-release of the movie which brings the song up to the same sparkly synth standards as other songs of this trope from the Disney Renaissance era.
- The cover released for the Platinum Edition even moreso.
- Naturally, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut took this one on with Satan's big ballad, "Up There", which specifically lampoons "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid (1989) and "Out There" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- A more traditional example is "Through the Eyes of a Child", played over the back half of the end credits. It's performed by Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers and only slowly tips its hand with lyrics like "Sure, life is kinda gay/But it doesn't seem that way/Through the eyes of a child".
- Ironically, it was "Blame Canada" that was nominated for the Oscar... and it lost to the aforementioned "You'll Be in My Heart". (Matt and Trey did not react to this well...) That this was nominated over "Up There" is even funnier given that the latter is about the only song in the entire film lacking profanity. The idea of "Blame Canada" even being performed at the Oscars was a bit controversial back in 2000 due to the lyrics, but Robin Williams was equally awesome and hilarious singing it!
- Robin Williams: Because when Canada is gone, there'll be no more Céline Dion!
- Spirited Away has Yumi Kimura's "Always With Me" (played during the end credits) and "The Name of Life" (which only plays in the film as an instrumental version). Other examples would be the Image Song "White Dragon" performed by Rikki (of "Suteki da ne" fame), and the instrumental song "Reprise", during the climax of the film.
- Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron arguably has several of these, but there are two that fit best — "Here I Am", the opening song that also plays over the end credits, and "I Will Always Return", the finale. And to top it off, BOTH are sung by Bryan Adams.
- Meanwhile, its pseudo-sequel Spirit Untamed has "Fearless" by Isabela Merced. There's also a Spanish duet version featuring Eiza González that plays during the credits too.
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has two which qualify: "Sunflower" by Swae Lee and Post Malone, as well as "What's up Danger" by Blackway and Black Caviar.
- The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie has "The Best Day Ever". Let's see... Sparkly synth? Check. Moving lyrics (the term "The Best Day Ever" could symbolize SpongeBob getting his manager placement at the end of the film)? Check. Backing vocals for the chorus? Check. Truck Driver's Gear Change? Check. Yup, this one qualifies.
- Played straight by "Far Longer Than Forever" from The Swan Princess, which rips off "Beauty and the Beast" to the point that they almost have the same melody on their respective title lines! That Regina Belle and Jeffrey Osborne handle the end credit reprise — just like the former did for Aladdin — doesn't help.
- "Eternity", performed by Japanese group Dreams Come True, has an English-language version played over the second half of the end credits. The Japanese-language version of the song is the one that got a music video, though.
- "Magic of Love" from The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain.
- "Because I Love Her" from "The Swan Princess: The Mystery Of The Enchanted Kingdom".
- The Tale of the Princess Kaguya has "When I Remember This Life" by Kazumi Nikaido, with instrumental examples in "Flying" and "The Procession of Celestial Beings".
- Tales from Earthsea has two examples from Aoi Teshima (Therru's Japanese voice actress): "Therru's Song" and "Song of Time".
- Talespin has "Home is Where the Heart Is" which was used in the uncut version of the pilot and is sadly edited out of the syndicated release of the episode. There's also a full-length version as can be heard in the link, which was available on the Disney Afternoon soundtrack.
- There's no cover of it during the credits, but "I See The Light" from Tangled certainly counts. The UK release adds a cover.
- "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan, courtesy of Phil Collins. 1999 Oscar winner.
- "A Boy Needs a Dog" from the feature film of Teacher's Pet is more or less a parody of these types of numbers. Though the mood is played straight in the reprise, it is not played in the credits, nor was it nominated for any awards.
- The Teacher's Pet Finale Movie has "A Boy Needs a Dog", an emotionally-driven number where Spot and Leonard spell out the importance of their bond.
- Team America: World Police parodies this trope with "The End Of An Act".
- Teen Titans Go! To the Movies playfully lampoons these types of songs with "Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life". For extra parody kick, it features Michael Bolton.
- Thanks to Executive Meddling that insisted on shoehorning the film into a Disney formula, the theatrical cuts of The Thief and the Cobbler contain not one but two of these: "Am I Feeling Love?" and "It's So Amazing".
- Thumbelina has this with "Let Me Be Your Wings", with co-writer Barry Manilow and Debra Byrd handling end-credit duties. (In an odd inversion, the comedy number "Marry the Mole" won a Razzie for Worst Song, the only animated feature that can claim such a "feat".)
- The Tigger Movie: "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" by Kenny Loggins.
- Titanic: The Legend Goes On just wouldn't be a complete knockoff of the James Cameron hit without its own sappy ballad, and "Holding Me" delivers.
- Tom and Jerry: The Movie has "Do I Miss You?" and "All in How Much We Give", the latter of which is a closer example of this.
- "When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2, sung by Sarah McLachlan. Lost the Oscar to "You'll Be in My Heart".
- The Transformers: The Movie has "The Touch" by Stan Bush, the franchise's unofficial theme song.
- "I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)" from Treasure Planet, by John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls.
- Turning Red with "1 True Love" performed by the in-universe boy band 4*Town.
- UglyDolls has "Unbreakable", which bears a suspiciously similar melody to Golden Globe winner "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman. Chances of the song being nominated for any major awards is slim, considering the film's overall negative reviews and commercial disappointment.
- "What We Gonna Do?" and "Do the Right Thing" from The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. They both are very upbeat and catchy.
- "Down to Earth", by Peter Gabriel, from WALL•E. Lost the 2008 Oscar to Slumdog Millionaire, whose two songs surprisingly didn't cancel each other out like Enchanted's three did.
- "Bright Eyes", from Watership Down, sung by Art Garfunkel. Also a Tear Jerker on several levels (it was originally written for a cancer patient), and in the actual film it underscores a Disney Acid Sequence.
- When Marnie Was There has "Fine on the Outside" by Priscilla Ahn.
- Whisper of the Heart has a Translated Cover Version of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads", as sang by Yoko Honna, Shizuku's voice actress. Another example would be "The Baron's Song", also performed by Yoko Honna.
- "Father and Daughter" from The Wild Thornberrys Movie by Paul Simon. Yes, that Paul Simon. Oscar-nominated.
- Rankin/Bass's The Wind in the Willows (1985) has its eponymous main theme by Judy Collins.
- The Wind Rises has Yumi Matsutoya's '70s hit "Vapor Trail" as the Award-Bait Song. An instrumental example would be Nahoko's leitmotif throughout the film.
- Wish (2023), Disney's Milestone Celebration film for the company's centennial that actually was partially inspired by "When You Wish Upon a Star" and incorporates its melody into the score as part of numerous Company Cross References (one character later notes "a dream is a wish your heart makes", too), has two: "This Wish" (which gets the choral reprise in universe) and "A Wish Worth Making" (which gets the end credits, though it appeared in a Deleted Scene). No nominations; in fact common complaint about the songs and film as a whole was that they were so focused on hitting all the "traditional" Disney animation tropes that they ended up generic.
- "Time Will Tell" from Wizards.
- "When Can I See You Again?" from Wreck-It Ralph, performed by Owl City. It's a bit more upbeat than most examples, but it's still got plenty of synth...
- "It's All Too Much" caps off the animated bulk of Yellow Submarine. While the song itself didn't get any Grammy nods, the soundtrack did get nominated for Outstanding Original Score for Motion Picture or Television. It should also be considered that "It's All Too Much" was not composed specifically for the film; it was one of four songs done during the Sgt. Pepper sessions (the others being "All Together Now", "Only a Northern Song" and "Hey Bulldog") that John Lennon had delivered to Heinz Edelmann at TVC-London with a note that read "Can you use any of these?"
- Blue Swat has one for its opening theme, "True Dream".
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer parodied this in "Once More, with Feeling", when Anya complained that her song with Xander would "never be a Breakaway Pop Hit". That would be reserved for Tara's "Under Your Spell".
- Glee usually just does covers, but they also churned out a few original songs that qualify as award baity: "Get It Right", "Pretending" and "As Long As You're There".
- Hi-5, a competitor to The Wiggles, has ''Three Wishes'' (which is interesting considering that The Wiggles have never really done one themselves).
- "Don't Forget Me", the finale song to Smash.
- On Johnny and the Sprites, the songs were all written by composers from Broadway shows, many of them Tony award-winners. Of all the songs they've written for this show, "Brightly Shining" stands out as the most blatant example of Award Bait. (It was going to be part of a stage show entitled Magical Holiday, but that was canceled and retooled as a more general non-holiday-themed stage show.)
- "Our World" and "When The River Meets The Sea" from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas . Both were composed by Paul Williams two years before he did "Rainbow Connection" for The Muppet Movie.
- Miami Vice started season 3 with "The Last Unbroken Heart" by Patti LaBelle and Chicago (Band)'s Bill Champlin.
- Roundhouse has a few, notably "I Can Dream", "Don't Wanna Play Games", "The Bridge", "If I Give You My Heart", "Trying To Reach You", "Sunrise", "Do Not Care", "Have A Little Faith", "Give Me A Second Chance", "Just A Dream" and "Can't Let Go". The first and last named songs won Best Song trophies from the Cable ACE Awards and the Youth Excellence Awards respectively. "Just a Dream", on the other hand, wouldn't be eligible for any such awards, as it was written by Madonna independently of the show, but she never recorded it (lyrically it wouldn't sound too out of place on Like a Prayer). Neither would "The Bridge", which was written by the show's primary musical director Benny Hester and dates back to 1978, 15 years before it was performed on the show.
- Overlapping with Breakaway Pop Hit, Céline Dion's "To Love You More" was originally written for the 1995 Japanese drama Koibito Yo (My Dear Lover). The Japanese version has since made its way to Website/YouTube.
- The Noddy Shop:
- "Thank You For Being You" from the Season 1 finale, "Noah's Leaving", could be considered this. So much so, that Dennis Scott wrote a Rewritten Pop Version for a tribute album to another PBS Kids show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, in 2005, which would be re-recorded again for another Mister Rogers tribute album 14 years later.
- From the Season 2 finale, there's "One Goodbye At A Time".
- Another song that qualifies is "The Friend You've Found in Me", a song about friendship.
- The Green Balloon Club has the song "It's Our World" which teaches children how to keep the planet clean.
- Kamen Rider Kuuga has "Aozora ni Naru" by Jin Hashimoto.
- Kamen Rider Ryuki caps off its final episode with Yui's character song, "INORI".
- Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger has "Healing You" by Salia.
- The Free To Be... You And Me TV special has "Circle of Friends", a fireside song about The Power of Friendship performed by Marlo Thomas, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, and the rest of the cast.
- If you don't think "Weird Al" Yankovic has parodied this, you must not know Weird Al very well! Peep your ears at "I Need a Nap". "Sparkle synth?" Check. Soulful duet? Lampshaded Truck Driver's Gear Change? Check. Passing melodic resemblance to "Part of Your World?" Check!
- Also "Don't Download This Song", a style parody of the forementioned "We Are the World".
- #1 Radio Single by by Psychostick describes how to write just such a song.
Whoooa yeah. whooooie oh, oh yeah. Whooooa yeah. Whoa whoa yeah, whoooa yeah
This is the part of the song where I talk about emotions.
This is the part of the song where I sing about how I feel so cold inside.
And this is where my producer told me to say, "Yeah!" - Cascada - "Everytime We Touch" (candlelight version) and "Another You"
- USA for Africa's "We Are the World"
- "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid, with excessive amounts of Sparkle Synth.
- Heart's "Alone", Carrie Underwood's version even more so.
- Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is", and Mariah Carey's Cover Version, which includes a Truck Driver's Gear Change.
- Fly on the Wings of Love by the Olsen Brothers.
- DHT - "Listen to Your Heart" (unplugged version), and for an original song, there's "My Dream".
- "Sea of Stars", "Town Circus" and "Shining Christmas Star" by mindXpander are of the instrumental type.
- "You Raise Me Up", no matter who is singing it.
- "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston
- "Can't We Try", anyone?
- "From A Distance", written as a fairly simple Folk Music piece, but Bette Midler's hit version unabashedly goes in this direction.
- Sash has also made a song that fits this trope perfectly called "Just Around the Hill".
- Halfway through Hadestown is "Why We Build the Wall," a sequence of Hades brainwashing the dead into thinking the wall is keeping them free... by explaining that the impoverished living are trying to get in. You know, the living who can get in at any time. Even for brainwashing, it makes little sense, but perfect sense played out of context as a commentary on capitalist ethics... especially since it doesn't contain a single mention of the album's mythological elements other than the unidentified wall.
- Kelly Clarkson - "A Moment Like This", winner of the first season of American Idol.
- Arguably, all the American Idol coronation songs qualify as award bait.
- The Alan Parsons Project has a number of songs that could be considered baitworthy. A few notable examples include "The Same Old Sun", "Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)", "Time", just to name a few.
- "Winner" by the Pet Shop Boys.
- "After the Fall" and "This Is Who You Are" from Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Rock Opera Beethoven's Last Night are hard-rock takes on the award bait song.
- The Bangles' "Eternal Flame".
- Parodied in Ylvis's "Someone Like Me", which alternates between a Disney-style romance ballad and a dubstep breakdown.
- "Sleeping Sun" by Nightwish
- Komar, Melamid, and Dave Soldier invoked this with "The Most Wanted Song," which was literally based upon survey results about what people liked and disliked in their songs—down to the keychange! The counterpart "Most Unwanted Song" is anything but.
- Pink Floyd of all bands did a few of these later: "On the Turning Away" is a very straight example, while "Lost for Words" subverts this with award bait music but Lyrical Dissonance, including a Precision F-Strike. "Marooned", an instrumental, was an untwisted variant of this: it actually won them their only Grammy.
- "Just Give Me a Reason" by P!nk and Nate Ruess of Music/fun.
- "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", whether the Céline Dion version, or the duet with Meat Loaf and Marion Raven. Really, any Power Ballad written by Jim Steinman would qualify.
- Even Rush (Band) did one. Listen to "The Garden".
- "All I Ask" by Adele.
- Vaults' cover of "One Day I'll Fly Away", which is based on the Moulin Rouge! version.
- "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon & Yoko Ono.
- "Close Your Eyes" by synthwave project The Rain Within.
- Mike Mareen's "Peace to Mankind"
- "Here In My Heart" is sung by Jodi Benson (the voice of Ariel) for the Christian children's album, Songs From The Beginner's Bible.
- The Caramella Girls, formerly Caramell of "Caramelldansen" fame, give us "How Can You Say Goodbye?", a Eurovision-worthy love ballad with the traditional award bait characteristics, including a Truck Driver's Gear Change at the end.
- Believe it or not, Green Day, of all bands, wrote one. "Wake Me Up When September Ends". The lyrics tell the stories of Billie Joe's father, who died when he was younger.
- Synthwave queen NINA's Synthian album concludes with the arena-style power ballad "The Distance", an ode to a long distance relationship especially relevant during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
- "Now I'm Alive" by Michael Oakley & Dana Jean Phoenix is a love letter to classic award bait ballads, complete with a mellow intro, sparkling keyboards, The Power of Love, a soaring synthesizer solo, and a Truck Driver's Gear Change leading to the epic finale.
- Faith Assembly have a textbook example in the form of "Rian", the finale track of their debut album Shades of Blue.
- Blixemi's Warrior Cats fan song Sink Away fits this, with the tear-jerking lyrics that build up to a triumphant conclusion, as well as lyrics that talk about love and hope without any mention of cats living in clans or other direct indication it is about Warrior Cats.
- Country-pop singer Sylvia (Hutton) presents "Surprise", from her 1984 album of the same name.
- Chicago's "Hard Habit to Break" is another solid example.
- Michael Bolton's "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You".
- "Home" by Kit Chan zigzags this trope. The song was originally composed for a national music festival in Singapore which had a music contest component; it also bears all the classic hallmarks of an Award Bait Song. However, although the song did not receive any awards, it soon took on a second life as perhaps Singapore's most iconic patriotic song after it was used in the 1998 National Day Parade.
- Goldust's theme, true to his film-obsessed gimmick, sounds like an instrumental mashup between an award bait song and a more traditional symphonic score.
- Shawn Michaels was injured at one point in a real life altercation in which he suffered a concussion in the mid-90s. He collapsed mid-match a few weeks later and when the medical report on why it happened came out, it was revealed that he was suffering from post-concussion syndrome. Apparently the doctors (and for that matter pretty much everyone) Failed a Spot Check, since nobody knew about this at the time, and even Shawn thought he was back to full health at the time. Anyway, it was briefly feared that Shawn would be forced to retire due to the incident both in-universe and out. To really drive home the point that Shawn's career might be in jeopardy, they aired a special tribute video set to an award bait song, "Tell Me a Lie".
- CBS has "One Shining Moment", which is traditionally played over a final montage at the end of the NCAA basketball tournament. It was originally intended as a closing montage song for Super Bowl XXI, but the broadcast was running too long and it had to be cut for time. A few months later, CBS decided to re-purpose it (with amended lyrics) for the NCAA tournament, where it has been played ever since.
- CTV had one for its Olympic Games coverage, "I Believe", which was its official "anthem" for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and also used as the basis for its main theme music. The song was used practically everywhere, from commercials, to montages, and of course, the closing ceremonies. It quickly became a pet peeve for many viewers, especially the ones who wished CBC hadn't had the Olympics swiped from under them like CTV also did with the Hockey Night In Canada theme (CBC did get the Olympics back in 2014, though).
- "The Song That Goes Like This" from Spamalot is largely a spoof of this type of song, as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber ballads (there's some overlap between them stylistically); "Find Your Grail," meanwhile, plays it straighter, albeit with the Lady of the Lake hamming it up.
- Most of the ballads in Jekyll & Hyde, in particular "This Is the Moment" and "A New Life", seem written only to be showstopping applause getters.
- "Defying Gravity" and "For Good" from Wicked. Idina Menzel also recorded a pop single version of the former.
- "Say It Somehow" from The Light in the Piazza.
- "Seasons of Love" from RENT, to the point where the original cast album has, after the show's finale, a version of the song "featuring Stevie Wonder and the cast of Rent."
- Also, "Your Eyes", and the reprise of "I'll Cover You", which overlays the chorus of "Seasons of Love" in its last part.
- The incarnation of "Chase The Morning" from the 2002 stage play version of Repo! The Genetic Opera. It had to be changed drastically for the film because it was too much of an Award Bait Song.
- If ever there was a theatrical analogue to Disney, it's Andrew Lloyd Webber:
- "Memory", from Cats.
- The Phantom of the Opera has two: "Music of the Night", and "All I Ask of You". "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" comes in as a close runner-up, but it stands alone without reprise, whereas the former two are not only called back several times, but run together in the finale.
- "Close Every Door" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
- Not to mention "Any Dream Will Do" which even gets a big-finale reprise.
- Starlight Express has the Starlight Sequence and its titular song, which was dialed up with the El DeBarge cover.
- Evita (and Madonna) give us "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina".
- Vanities: The Musical has three potential candidates: "Looking Good", the closing jazz ballad of the Theatreworks and Second Stage productions, as well as the original cast album, includes The Power of Friendship and a triumphant last verse and chorus following a Truck Driver's Gear Change. "Friendship Isn't What It Used To Be", although lyrically darker, also qualifies. And of course, "Cute Boys with Short Haircuts".
- "The Letter" from the elementary school musical Freedom Bound by Jill and Michael Gallina.
- "Fantasies Come True" from Avenue Q, also doubling as a major Tear Jerker.
- "Tomorrow" from Annie.
- First Date has "Things I Never Said", a posthumous duet with Aaron's late mother; and "Something That Will Last", Aaron and Casey's Final Love Duet.
- "Somewhere" from West Side Story.
- "Last Midnight" in Into the Woods is a possible example, though it does forward the plot.
- "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Stars" from Les Misérables. The 2012 film versions are especially tear jerkers.
- Cirque du Soleil has these occasionally, including:
- "Kalimando" from Mystere, later reused in the film Bogus.
- "Let Me Fall" from Quidam.
- "Reve Rouge" from La Nouba.
- "Alegria" and "Querer" from Alegría.
- "Vocea" from Varekai.
- "Hope" and "Run" from Amaluna.
- "Cierra los ojos" from Luzia, the live version more so.
- "To the Stars", "Inside Me", and "The Change" from Volta all meet the criteria, but the one that really takes the cake is "Because You're Still Here", added to the show in late 2018 in memory of aerialist Yann Arnaud.
- Flashdance: The Musical has a romance duet of this style titled "Here And Now", which also incorporates a reprise of "Don't Stop". The Beta Couple also gets one with "Remember Me".
- "You Have Brought Me Love", from the stage musical adaptation of Secondhand Lions.
- "Something To Believe In" from Disney's stage musical adaptation of Newsies hits all the major stylistic points, including calm piano opening, synth sparkles and dramatic modulations.
- "Somewhere That's Green" from Little Shop of Horrors.
- "Suddenly Seymour" also counts. In fact, the writers knew they could write a vaguer version of the song ("Suddenly Someone") and sell it as a pop hit, but they refused because they knew it wasn't true to the characters.
- "Just One Person", originating in a Peanuts-inspired musical called Snoopy: The Musical. Jim Henson had stated it to be his all-time favorite song, so much so, it would eventually go on to be used at his funeral.
- Matilda: The Musical has "I'm Here" and "My House", the former of which is reprised in counterpoint at the latter's climax.
- "When I Grow Up" also qualifies.
- "Some Other Me" and "Always Starting Over" from If/Then.
- The infamous 1988 musical version of Carrie would have had an example of this in "Unsuspecting Hearts", if the existence if a "pop version" demo is any indication.
- The Musical of The Secret Garden has "How Could I Ever Know", an eleventh hour duet between Archie and Lily's ghost.
- "It's A Giant Mystery" and "Without You" from Romy and Michele's High School Reunion: The Musical.
- The Broadway musical of Fun Home has "Ring of Keys", which was the producers' showcase number at the 2015 Tony Awards where the show won Best Musical. "Changing My Major" also qualifies.
- Heathers The Musical has a three-fer: "Our Love Is God", "Seventeen", and "Kindergarten Boyfriend".
- "The Portrait Song" from Austen's Pride.
- The Mrs. Doubtfire stage musical has three songs with this aesthetic, all in the show's last third: "Let Go", the Eleven O'Clock Number "Pretend", and the finale ultimo "As Long As There Is Love".
- "Send In the Clowns" from A Little Night Music, popularized by Judy Collins.
- The Prom has "Dance With You", which gets a Final Love Duet Triumphant Reprise to start off the finale. Other contenders include "The Acceptance Song" and "Unruly Heart".
- Disney Theme Parks often commission these for ad campaigns, day-ending pyrotechnic shows and/or Milestone Celebrations.
- 25th anniversary of Walt Disney World (1996): "Remember the Magic", sung by Brian McKnight, was probably the first example of this trope for the theme parks. A rewritten version was incorporated into the later Believe...in Holiday Magic fireworks show.
- EPCOT's Big Damn Pyrotechnics Show Illuminations: Reflections of Earth ends with one of these, followed by the exit music "Promise".
- The Millennium Celebration (1999-2000) centered on Epcot had the general theme song "Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand".
- A duet reprise of the song "Wishes" plays after the Magic Kingdom fireworks show of the same name.
- Beauty and the Beast — Live on Stage at Hollywood Studios uses the Céline Dion / Peabo Bryson version of the title song as exit music.
- 50th anniversary of Disneyland (2005): "Remember When", sung by LeAnn Rimes and written by Richard Marx. The finale of the Remember...Dreams Come True fireworks show was sung live at the park by Rimes on May 5th, 2005.
- World of Color has its own song with all sugary-sweetness we expect and love from Disney - although the portion played during the finale sounds less like an Award Bait Song.
- Even Space Mountain had its own Big Damn Bronze-Age Disney Style Award-Baiting Exit Tunnel Power Ballad for a while, a surprisingly moving number about believing in dreams and reaching for the stars. Not to be outdone, Mission: Space has a similar theme song, entitled "Destiny", about courage and hope and whatnot.
- The current fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, Happily Ever After has the titular song performed by Jordan Fisher and Angie Keilhauer playing during the opening and finale segments of the show. In addition, "Go the Distance" from Hercules plays during the start of the finale.
- Wondrous Journeys has "It's Wondrous", which sings praises for "the magic what we call life" and pursuit of dreams.
- narcissu ~eon~ has all the trappings of one, despite being the theme for the comparatively small-time VN Narcissu 2. Power ballad, check. Sparkly synth, check. Covering a theme of the game itself, check. Being a Tear Jerker song despite the seemingly-hopeful tune, check.
- All the Yarudora games have memorable Ending Songs, but the one that fits the trope out them all is "Kisetsu o Dakishimete", from the game of the same name. A love ballad sung by Oto Fumi in 1998, it's the only song in the Yarudora games to have entered the Japanese weekly Oricon charts, reaching the #64 rank and being charted for four weeks.
- Parodied with "Sean Connery: The Musical" by legolambs, a heartfelt ballad shung by "Sean Connery" about hish shignature acshent.
"Shome people shay I can't help it,
I ashure you thish ishn't the cashe.
It'sh jusht that I find,
You get more out of life,
When you follow your 's' with an 'h'!" - The Looking for Group movie, which lapsed into Development Hell before being retooled into a Kickstarter-funded series, seems to be an Affectionate Parody of the Disney animated musical. So far we've seen "Part Of Your World" and "A Whole New World".
- South Park: The episode "Pee" has a parody with "Minorities in my Waterpark", sung by Cartman. The lyrics are about Cartman's displeasure with too many minorities showing up at the waterpark.
- "If Only" from the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Mayhem Of The Music Meister!".
- "There's Always Tomorrow" from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964).
- Fellow Rankin/Bass Christmas special, the relatively obscure 1967 production Cricket On The Hearth, has the unnamed song that plays from the point of view of the leading human character; comparing his and his blind daughter's current Christmas with that of the First Christmas and realizing that it can still be Christmas without the usual decorations and trimmings associated with the holiday as long as he and his daughter still have each other. The song is actually reprised over the end credits, making it somewhat of an Ur-Example to the songs that played over the end credits of many a movie from the 80s onward.
- The theme song to the English dub of The World of David the Gnome.
- SpongeBob SquarePants had a parody in the form of "This Grill is Not a Home".
- "All You Need Is Friendship" is a straight example.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- "Love Is in Bloom," from the "Canterlot Wedding" two-parter. Appropriately, a Disneyish season finale ends with a Disneyish song.
- The Season 3 finale, which is also a Musical Episode, has "I've Got to Find A Way" and "Celestia's Ballad".
- Pinkie Pride, the show's second musical episode, gives us "Pinkie's Lament", which according to writer Amy Keating Rogers, was inspired by the aforementioned "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina".
- Season 4's finale does it again with "You'll Play Your Part" in Part 1, and "Let The Rainbow Remind You" in Part 2. Especially the former, with its Disney-esque instrumentation and lyrics.
- The Mane Theme itself has recieved an Award Bait arrangement sung by Kaylee Johnston, which was intended for the Equestria Girls ending credits but dropped in favor of the aforementioned "A Friend For Life".
- Crusaders of the Lost Mark, the show's third musical episode, marking the CMC's earning of their Cutie Marks and the fifth anniversary of the show's premiere, appropriately has "The Pony I Want to Be", also Diamond Tiara's first solo song.
- Season 5 Episode 24, "The Mane Attraction", features "The Magic Inside (I Am Just a Pony)", sung by Tony Award winner Lena Hall.
- The Times They are a Changeling gives Spike an award-baiting solo number with "A Changeling Can Change".
- Season 7's "The Perfect Pear" was the episode to finally give a backstory to Applejack's parents and naturally featured "You're In My Head Like A Catchy Song" - a love song from her mother to her father. Also performed by guest star Felicia Day.
- "Fame and Misfortune" climaxes with the Mane Six breaking into "Flawless" - an anthem about how none of them are perfect but it doesn't matter with The Power of Friendship. In six-part harmony too!
- The Grand Finale of the series, fittingly titled "The Last Problem", gives us an award-baiting final number called "The Magic of Friendship Grows", celebrating all the good times throughout the years.
- The song "Wishes" from the Madeline Christmas special stands out as this because of its pop-like quality and sound despite not being sung by someone famous. It doesn't lose the syrupy nature of most Madeline songs, and it fits.
- The Raccoons has three; ''Ain't No Planes'', ''All Life Long'', and ''New World''.
- Speaking of Christmas specials, the infamous Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa closes out with "Through the Eyes of A Child", sung by Paige O'Hara and Peabo Bryson. It's a bit more upbeat than a lot of other examples, but it still falls under this. Also, it's pretty much the only genuinely good thing about the special, while the rest of it falls squarely into So Bad, It's Good.
- "The Brightest Star" from the Precious Moments animated specials, most notably "Timmy's Gift", as performed by James Ingram and Melissa Manchester.
- Even Horrid Henry gets into this trope with ''Rockstar'' from the fictional band The Killer Boy Rats.
- Miraculous Ladybug: The song Ce mur qui nous sépare ("This wall between us") is a love duet between Marinette/Ladybug and Adrien/Cat noir and intended for the upcoming movie Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening.
- Although it was co-produced in South Korea, Iron Kid is a good example of this with the ending theme from the original Korean version ''Come Back'' performed by May. Another song on the show's soundtrack, also from the original Korean version, but not in the series are also slow and dreamy ballads like ''Forever.'' The ending theme from the Japanese dub is even more baity.
- Jelly Jamm has a more upbeat and lively use but manages to keep it's positive message about diversity with ''Holding Hands.'' It was also used for a Christmas album that Guille Milkyway, the person behind the songs in the show worked on.
- Ready Jet Go!: "The Spirit of Christmas" from "Holidays in Boxwood Terrace", has all the makings of one, including a piano instrumental, soft vocals, a message about friendship, and an overall warm tone. Jet even notes that the song is a crowd-pleaser. Despite this, it never won any awards in real life.
- "Hope's Song" from VeggieTales' "An Easter Carol".
- The main theme to the Pilot Movie of The Wind in the Willows (1983) was given a vocal arrangement in this style, sung by Ralph McTell, for the series.
- Award Bait Songs were so pervasive that in 2003, the Academy revised the rules. Nominees must be written specifically for the film and occur during the main action or as the first song in the credits. A later revision is that only two songs are eligible per movie (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Dreamgirls, and Enchanted had hogged the categories with three nominations each prior to this; the last two actually lost the category presumably due to vote splitting).
- In the '90s, a pair of artists and a composer created an internet poll to gauge people's opinions of various musical elements. Then, based on the data gathered, they created "The Most Unwanted Song", filled with the most unpopular elements on the survey, and "The Most Wanted Song", filled with the most popular. The latter is total award bait.
- The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has had a few, at least one of which was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Original Song:
- The earliest known award bait song associated with the parade was "It's Thanksgiving Day", which Ed McMahon would sing at the end of the first hour of coverage, at least since 1979 or so. The last time he did it (1981), he sang it with a girl named Kaleena Kiff.
- The successor to that song was another Milton and Anne DeLugg composition, "Giving Thanks". It was first performed by Mary Jo Catlett (yes, that Mary Jo Catlett) in 1983, and was reprised the next year by John Ratzenberger (yes, that John Ratzengerger). It was also the parade's closing theme for a few years.
- "A Wonderful Day Like Today", sung by Clifton Davis in 1988, would be a much straighter example if not for it being more upbeat and having a cheesy talk-singing bridge. Like "Giving Thanks", it too was the parade's closing music until 1993.
- The same with "Santa Claus Adventure" (1997) by Liz Callaway, minus the A Wild Rapper Appears! bridge (in fact, the song was more Disneylike in feel than "Wonderful Day", helped by Callaway's status as a veteran of Disney and non/Disney animated musicals).
- "Just Beyond The Dream" (1999), by Lillias White, which was also featured in Macy's 2000 4th of July Fireworks show.
- "When Hope Was There" (2003), by the USO Troupe of Metropolitan New York and Camp Broadway, written as a tribute to the recently-deceased Bob Hope. It's a bit more upbeat and patriotic than most Award Bait Songs, but it fits into this trope nonetheless.
- "Free To Dream" (2004), by Deborah Voigt
- "My Gift Of Thanks" (2005), by Michael Feinstein (who wrote it) and the Highbridge Voices
- That year's parade also featured the above-mentioned "Remember When", as part of a segment paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of Disney Theme Parks.
- "Key To This Wonderful City" (2007), by Feinstein and Anika Noni Rose is similar to "When Hope Was There" in that it's more upbeat than all of these examples, but still fits this mold.
- "I Believe" (2008), by Kermit the Frog and Camp Broadway is one of the more popular examples to come out of the parade. The next parade featured both a Triumphant Reprise of the song and a duet version featuring Kermit and actress Tiffany Thornton. The latter version was also released to iTunes and Radio Disney during the 2009 holiday season.
- "With You I'm Home" (2009), by Jane Krakowski.
- Cheyenne Jackson's "Play To Win" from 2009 as well, though it's performed in a swinging Rat Pack crooner style that isn't usually associated with Award Bait Songs.
- "Yes Virginia" (2010), by Ann Hampton Calloway is notable since it was inspired by the Macy's-funded TV special of the same name (which, bizarrely enough, aired on a rival network), but did not appear in it (the special debuted one year earlier).
- For the 2012 parade, Thirza Defoe contributed the Pocahontas-esque anthem "Tree of Life".
- Pat Benatar's "One Christmas Night" debuted in 2015.
- During Obama's last day in office, Lin Manuel Miranda and Christopher Jackson perform "One Last Time" from Hamilton and the song becomes an award bait song midway through as seen here.