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"Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Bram Stoker's Wes Craven's Tim Burton's The Beast of Yucca Flats. A Francis Ford Coppola film."

Many films, works of literature and other works are referred to not just by title but by author/ director/ etc., e.g. "William Shakespeare's Hamlet." There are several permutations:

  • Original Author's X — Putting the author of the original work before the title of the adaptation in order to differentiate it from other adaptations and add a stamp of authenticity. If the writer is still alive then this is intended to suggest the author did more than just sign the rights away and be done with it; if not, it's intended to suggest the creators are trying to be true to (their understanding of) the original work (especially if it's out-of-copyright — anyone can make a Dracula film).
  • Celebrity Sponsor's X — Attaching the name of a popular (living or dead) author or celebrity onto a game into which he probably had little input, in order to improve the branding and attract passing trade. This is similar to the George Foreman Grill, in that nobody is under the illusion that John Madden sat down and coded an entire video game in his spare time – although he did have more influence than most of these cases.
    • Then there's the double sponsor version: The (Sponsor #1) (event or game) sponsored by (Sponsor #2) or (Sponsor #1) Presents (Sponsor #2) (event). One (real) example of a golf game: "The Coca-Cola Invitational, sponsored by Safeway."
  • Executive's X — Putting the name of a producer or other executive with big-name power on the posters for much the same reason as above, but this is worse because these people are usually directors or writers themselves. There's an implicit suggestion that the named person had something to do with it creatively when he most likely just gave it some money (or, at most, came up with a plot outline and a few characters). Sometimes rendered as Steven Spielberg Presents: Animaniacs. Many people still labour under the impression that Tim Burton directed invoked The Nightmare Before Christmas (it was really Henry Selick; Tim Burton came up with the original story but didn't write the screenplay).
  • New Interpreter's X — A variation used to show that this adaptation is a bold new vision distinct from the original author's version. A relatively honest variation, in that the name at the front of the title actually does belong to the person who created the work.
  • Actual Creator's X — where the creator actually did create the work, no qualifiers needed.
  • Company's X — A variation with the company instead of a single person. Often this is done for trademark reasons, especially when the simple name X can't be reliably trademarked, or to emphasize the company for association.
  • Star's or Host's X — Another variation on #5 with the star or host instead of the creator. Occasionally used on Australian and British game shows.

Not to be confused with Author Catchphrase or Signature Style. Compare Self-Titled Album. See also Advertising by Association, where a previous work from the creator(s) is namedropped in a similar manner, and Billed Above the Title. For when the creator is frequently mentioned, though not necessarily in the title, see Copiously Credited Creator.


TV Tropes' Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Original Author's X 

    Celebrity Sponsor's X 
  • Isaac Asimov:
    • Asimovs Science Fiction: Originally titled Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Dr Asimov wrote the editorials (and provide responses for the Letters column) for the first decade and a half or so. However, he arranged from the very beginning to be under the control of another editor. George Scithers was the first one in charge, and it went through three other editors before Dr Asimov's death.
    • Asimov's SF Adventure Magazine: This magazine folded after only four issues, using Dr Asimov's name to advertise itself, and under the control of George Scithers. Launched in 1978, it closed in favour of the more popular sister magazine.
    • The Great SF Stories: Dr Asimov's name is used to sell twenty-five volumes of this Genre Anthology, providing a bit of commentary as a preface to each story. He left story selection and anthology introduction to the other editor, Martin H. Greenberg.
  • Clive Barker:
    • Despite the below-mentioned parody, Clive Barker's Jericho is actually a case of this... to a degree. Clive Barker didn't actually write the code or anything, but he collaborated on development and is listed as "creator" in the credits.
    • Clive Barker's Undying. Clive Barker was brought in partway through development for a rewrite of the story, and he also ended up doing a character's voice. His name was attached to it because Electronic Arts thought it would sell. Unfortunately, despite being a very good game, it didn't — due in no small part to the sum total of EA's marketing campaign for the game being slapping "Clive Barker's" in front of the title.
  • Tom Clancy lent his name to various series of books and games, but his involvement is limited to laying out the general concept for the respective series, while others do the actual writing. The Video Game publisher Ubisoft currently owns the intellectual property rights to Clancy's name for their games (Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, H.A.W.X., EndWar, and others) and any related works. Clancy wrote some stories for the early Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six games. Later ones are Celebrity Sponsor's X (above).
  • Arthur C. Clarke:
    • Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World, a documentary series; Clarke introduced each episode but was otherwise uninvolved (even the narration for the bulk of each episode was done by somebody else)
    • Arthur C. Clarke's Venus Prime is another example. While the novels are all based on short stories by Clarke (and in fact include those short stories in the text), most of the writing was actually done by Paul Preuss.
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
    • Also a number of anthologies of short stories for children (one centered on spies, one on horror, one on mysteries, etc.) were published as Alfred Hitchcock's X. The Three Investigators series was also "presented" and introduced by Hitchcock. Hitchcock had nothing to do with any of these, other than licensing his name out to them.
  • Madden NFL
    • Somewhat misleading, as John Madden did much more than to lend his name and sponsorship to the game. The game was not initially conceived as a realistic football simulation, but Madden refused to put his name on it unless it were one. The game as it exists is very much his concept instead of the developers', so it's fitting that it's named after him.
  • The Jon Pertwee Book of Monsters and Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters, short story anthologies trading on the stars of Doctor Who. Apparently, Davison actually chose the stories in "his" book, while Pertwee only provided introductions to stories selected by another; this may explain why only Davison gets the 's.
  • The Forgotten Realms series R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen. Each book in the series was written by a different author, and while Salvatore did oversee the project and write a prologue for each book, his name is basically a selling point for these novels by lesser-known authors.
  • The Adventure Island games are titled Takahashi-Meijin no Bouken Jima (Master Takahashi's Adventure Island) in Japan, after Hudson Soft's spokesman who is barely recognizable as his in-game likeness. The first game was actually titled Hudson's Adventure Island outside Japan, though it was originally Wonder Boy and not a Hudson Soft game at all.
  • Quentin Tarantino presents The Protector and Quentin Tarantino presents Hostel. Interestingly, this is done by Tarantino himself to promote films that would otherwise be ignored, not by the studios.
  • Tekno Comics, a short-lived comics company in the Nineties had all their titles like this: Neil Gaiman's Lady Justice, Isaac Asimov's I-Bots, Gene Roddenberry's Lost Universe, Mickey Spillane's Mike Danger, Leonard Nimoy's Primortals, Tad Williams' Mirrorworld and so on.
  • Both Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula had alternate titles: Andy Warhold's Frankenstein and Andy Warhol's Dracula. Paul Morrissey wrote and directed the movies and was a frequent collaborator with Andy Warhol, as was the two films' star, Joe Dellesandro. Because of this, they asked Warhol if they could use his name as a producer for publicity purposes. Morrissey did not expect the alternate titles and was angered when people believed the movies were made by Warhol.
  • Common in video games, usually including the likenesses (and sometimes voices) of the athlete named:
    • Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
    • Brian Lara Cricket
    • Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
    • Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer
    • Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road
    • Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
    • John Elway's Team Quarterback
    • Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf
    • Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (though in that game, Mike Tyson was the final opponent)
    • Shaun White Snowboarding and Shaun White Skateboarding
    • Tiger Woods PGA Tour
    • Early in the lifespan of the Sega Genesis, Sega's American division sought to cash in on recent championships for their sports games by adding famous figures to otherwise unrelated games, with Tommy Lasorda Baseballnote  and Arnold Palmer Tournament Golfnote  in 1989 (along with the Sega Master System-exclusive Walter Payton Footballnote ); James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing,note  Joe Montana Football and Pat Riley Basketballnote  in 1990, and Mario Lemieux Hockey in 1991.
      • A case with the parent Japanese arm (with help from Brazilian distributor Tec Toy) was Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II in 1992, where the Formula One champion's input was more than Celebrity Endorsement, even having a mode with tracks designed by him.
      • Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing, developed by ACME Interactive for the Sega Genesis as a successor to the Buster Douglas game, would receive a bit of a marketing blow when Holyfield lost the title to Riddick Bowe just one month after the game was released. ACME (renamed Malibu Interactive) ported the game to the Super NES as Riddick Bowe Boxing, but they weren't able to release the game before Bowe lost the title back to Holyfield.
      • The Sega Genesis port of Pigskin: 621 AD was retitled Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl, despite the game featuring a fictional Blood Sport that makes no pretense of following the rules of American Football.
      • Similarly, the Amiga game Future Basketball was retitled Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball when it was ported to the SNES. An Excuse Plot was added to explain the futuristic setting and changes in rules to remove fouls and the addition of weapons, in that Laimbeer became the commissioner of an American basketball league in 2031 and fired all the referees.
    • Earl Weaver Basketball
    • Emlyn Hughes International Soccer
    • Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker (which was followed up by the oddly-titled sequel Jimmy White's 2: Cueball in 1999)
    • Nigel Mansell's World Championship

    Executive's X 
  • Older Than Steam: Although the thing was built long before, few not present in 1480 know the Sistine Chapel was named after the man who had it restored to glory, The Pope Sixtus IV. Still, he had no real involvement with the artwork which makes the Chapel famous today, so it's not as if we've forgotten a secret genius of Western Art.
  • Wes Craven Presents: They, in addition to being a terrible film, is an example of #3.
    • Also Wes Craven's Wishmaster, Wes Craven presents Dracula 2000...
    • The "Wes Craven Presents" series was an attempt to give experience and an opportunity to some up-and-coming young directors. It was hoped that attaching Craven's name would make the films more appealing to distributors and renters. The whole effort has probably done more harm to Craven's name than it has good for anyone else's.
  • Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon, of which Motown head Berry Gordy was executive producer.
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents, an anthology television show featuring horror/mystery/crime stories, for which Alfred Hitchcock served as executive producer and host. He also directed some (but not all, or even most) of the episodes.
  • Are We There Yet?. the TV show from executive producer Ice Cube (who does do the promos for it).
  • Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (if it isn't obvious, The Movie is the one film that was directed by Jackson)
  • Jenna Jameson's Shadow Hunter. Many readers felt shortchanged by this comic, since it was fairly light on Fanservice despite being backed by a porn star.
  • Marvel Comics always included a "Stan Lee Presents" before the title of each comic issue for decades. This has led to Lee's reputation getting rather severely inflated among people unfamiliar with comic books.
    • Boom! Studios did the same thing with a trio of titles that Lee was involved in (but not as an actual writer or artist).
  • Billy Rose's ...
  • Steven Spielberg:
    • All the Warner Bros. TV cartoons that were co-produced with Amblin Entertainment were fully titled Steven Spielberg presents [show title].
    • The miniseries Steven Spielberg Presents Taken. Spielberg neither wrote nor directed the show: he was executive producer alongside Leslie Bohem, who created the show and wrote every episode, and each of the ten episodes had a different director.
    • Although Spielberg has "Story By" credit on 15 episodes of Amazing Stories (including the two he directed) and wrote another one, his name isn't part of the title except in British listings guides (which insisted on calling it Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories).
  • Oprah Winfrey:
    • Oprah Winfrey Presents The Color Purple, the musical adaptation of the 1985 film adaptation of the 1982 novel by Alice Walker.
    • See also the made-for-TV movies among others Oprah Winfrey Presents David And Lisa, Oprah Winfrey Presents The Wedding, and Oprah Winfrey Presents Mitch Albom's For One More Day.
  • Walt Disney's movies almost always had "Walt Disney presents..." written in the opening credits, even those originally distributed through RKO Radio Pictures instead of Disney's own distributing company. The posters and home video covers also often read, "Walt Disney's", "Walt Disney Presents...", "Walt Disney's Classic...", or "Walt Disney's Masterpiece..." above the title. Titles used for Walt Disney's anthology show include Walt Disney's Disneyland, Walt Disney Presents, and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.
  • Likewise, at the Disney Theme Parks, there's Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, although the "Walt Disney's" bit wasn't added into the titles until several decades after they first opened and after Walt passing away.
  • Possible Tomorrows: On the 1971 Pyramid Books cover, the Tagline says "Groff Conklin presents five fabulous novels of tomorrow by Isaac Asimov and four other great science fiction authors", then the title.
  • The Pink Panther cartoons were officially billed as Blake Edwards' Pink Panther, as Edwards had commissioned the title sequences for the original films. This extends to the home media releases.
  • The opening sequence of The Kids in the Hall begins with the title "Lorne Michaels Presents".
  • Similarly, the Season 1 George and Martha titles feature the credit "Maurice Sendak Presents".

    New Interpreter's X 

    Actual Creator's X 
  • Older Than Steam: This device was not unknown in the 17th century. One of the compositions of Johann Kaspar Kerll bears the title La batal à Casparo Ceerl.
  • Writers who are popular enough tend to have their names as large or larger than the title on the covers of their books. Sometimes this reaches ridiculous levels.
  • Gerry Anderson's later series featured this, specifically Terrahawks, the unbroadcast pilot GFI, Space Precinct, Lavender Castle, New Captain Scarlet (which could also be seen as "Just in Case You Forgot It Was a Remake"), and the upcoming post-humorous book series Gemini Force 1.
  • Rainbow's first album was titled Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, on account of being intended as a one-off solo record for Blackmore. Since the band's reunion in the 2010s, it gets billed by the full title including Blackmore's name.
  • Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
  • Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
    • A (probably intentional) effect of this is that many people by extension think that he directed Coraline as TV spots advertised it as "from the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas" and make no effort to tell you that means Henry Selick. The theatrical trailer included Selick's name.
    • DirecTV's listings took this a step further. "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King gives the yuletide season a touch of Halloween in an animated tale from the mind of Tim Burton. Animated. From a Tim Burton story."
    • Few also remember that this was, technically, a Disney film; aside from placing it under their Touchstone logo, Disney didn't want anyone to initially know it was from or associated with them, so adding Burton's name was one more degree away in their eyes.
      • They're happy enough to claim it now, and even redo the Haunted Mansion at the amusement parks part of the year (roughly, between Halloween and Christmas) with a Jack Skellington theme.
    • Though some networks that air the movie are still confused. As in 2013 when the advertisement for the local airing, first aired on YTV the commercial labeled it "Tim Burton's Coraline"
  • Kurt Busiek's Astro City. Put in by the author because his editor thought simply Astro City sounded too hokey. His name tends to be in rather smaller print. Then again, Astro City's largest TV station is "KBAC", just in case.
  • James Cameron's Avatar, in order to distinguish it from the other Avatar; Cameron did write and direct it.
  • John Carpenter is particularly notorious for adding his name to nearly all of his films' titles (such as Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Body Bags, John Carpenter's Vampires, Escape from New York, and Escape from L.A.). Even TV episodes he directs, such as the Masters of Horror episode "John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns".
  • Kira Is Justice was formerly called C0's Death Note, because it was a Working Title. It was changed.
  • Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate
  • In the 1960s kids' cartoon "Beany and Cecil" (also called "Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil"), creator Bob Clampett shoehorned his name in every episode about six times, including in the opening theme song, which also features a cartoon rendering of him. Every half-hour episode consists of three cartoon shorts, and in the beginning of every one of them, the main characters sang "so here are Beany and Cecil in—a whole half-hour—Bob Clampett cartoo—oon!" The Other Wiki reports that he was known as "a shameless self-promoter." Well...yeah.
  • Wes Craven's New Nightmare: Wes Craven attached his name to the title to announce his return to the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The title ties into the story, as it's referenced that Craven's horror films are inspired by his nightmares – meaning this movie is, literally, Wes Craven's new nightmare.
  • Lee Daniels' The Butler. Daniels' name is legally required to appear in the title for a reason that borders on the absurd: namely, Warner Bros. owned the copyright to a lost 1916 movie called The Butler, and got into a legal battle with The Weinstein Company over the title, reportedly as payback for TWC attempting to get WB to retitle a film called The Good Lie because it sounded similar to a film of theirs called The Good Life.
  • The Inferno by Dante Aligheri is almost always referred to as Dante's Inferno.
  • Blake Edwards did this with several of his films' onscreen credits from The Great Race onwards, as he often served as director, writer, and producer. He also named his 1980s production company Blake Edwards Entertainment.
  • Lampshaded in a Credits Gag for one episode of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme; "I myself wrote and starred in the programme, but modesty precludes me from ever telling you my name, save for one cryptic clue hidden deep within the title..."
  • Jim Henson's The Storyteller. Fraggle Rock, originally merely credited as "with Jim Henson's Muppets", was re-billed as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock" after the sale of the Muppet trademarks to Disney.
  • Tyson Hesse's Diesel
  • Movies that Alfred Hitchcock directed in 1942 or later say Alfred Hitchcock's [insert title here] in the opening credits and/or on the poster.
  • Michael Jackson's Moonwalker: "Game Concept and Design by Michael Jackson," at least according to the credits.
  • Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D: "The Naked Sample."
    • Phantom Pain: Each mission ends with a credits sequence, featuring Kojima near the start of the scroll. In this case, it might also double as a subtle Take That! at the Executive Meddling he experienced from Konami, so it's a tad more excusable.
    • Also with Phantom Pain, part of the Executive Meddling mentioned involved taking Kojima's name off the packaging. Fans responded by turning the credit "A Hideo Kojima game" into a meme.
  • Archer Maclean's Mercury
  • Syd Mead's Terraforming
  • Sid Meier has gained sufficient acclaim for his work that Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is the official title. And Sid Meier's Civilization. And Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon. Sid Meier's been getting less involved in the games of late; although he remains Chief Creative Officer of Firaxis, he doesn't write much code anymore. He apparently does contribute a lot conceptually, though.

    Company's X 

    Star's or Host's X 


References and parodies:

    Fan Works 

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Parodied by the film Jane Austen's Mafia!!, which has nothing at all to do with Jane Austen.
    • At the time, there were a lot of film and TV adaptations of Austen, the Bronte sisters, and their contemporaries that were using the formula (e.g., Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice), so it was a topical parody.
  • In the Hot Fuzz writers' commentary, it is stated that the film's Romeo and Juliet parody was initially going to be referred to as Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.
  • Parodied in Mr. Bean's Holiday: "CARSON CLAY PICTURES present -- CARSON CLAY -- in a CARSON CLAY production -- of a CARSON CLAY film" — PLAYBACK TIME
  • Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire, one can only guess that is title is for cases where you forgot, for cares to forget that the cinematic motion picture (feature-length) is adapted from a long-form narrative prose (fiction-American, written in English) work of a different name written by an author under a pseudonym.

    Live-Action TV 

    Theatre 
  • Buffalo Bill toured the world with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.

    Web Animation 

    Web Original 
  • Parodied by John Solomon of Your Webcomic is Bad and You Should Feel Bad: over time, his references to Robert A. Howard's webcomic review site Tangents have gotten increasingly unwieldy. For example: "Robert A. 'Tangents' Howard of Robert A. Howard's 'Tangents', by Robert A. Howard (featuring Robert A. Howard, of 'Tangents')".
  • Old Man Murray was absolutely merciless to American McGee, going so far as to insinuate that he referred to everyday objects in this fashion (i.e. "Have you seen American McGee's my pen?")
  • "Abe Vigoda is Abe Vigoda in Abe Vigoda: The Abe Vigoda Story!"
  • Caddicarus makes fun of this when talking about Goofy's Fun House during one of his videos, being glad that they called it Disney's Goofy on the spine, rather than A Serbian Film's Goofy.

    Webcomics 
  • Lilformers had "Michael Bay presents: A Michael Bay Movie: Michael Bay's Transformers. (Directed by Michael Bay)". (The movie did have at least one mention of Michael Bay's name in its credits, but Lilformers is Lilformers.)
  • "Penny Arcade's award for Best Penny Arcade goes to... Penny Arcade!"

    Western Animation 
  • Family Guy:
    • The show parodies this trope with "Peter Griffin Presents The King and I, a Peter Griffin Production." His new interpretation might as well have been a new play entirely; it was set on the planet Siam and featured partial nudity, kung fu fighting, & Groin Attacks.
    • The marquee also refers to "A Peter Griffin Joint", a parody of Spike Lee's odd director credit (instead of "A Spike Lee Film").
  • Brak Presents The Brak Show Starring Brak
  • The title of the work is Mary Shelley's Frankenhole, but it was created by Dino Stamatopoulos. While the setting is Dr. Frankenstein's lab in Eastern Europe, the show is a parody of horror genres.
  • Garfield and Friends: In "The Cartoon Cat Conspiracy", Garfield created a Show Within a Show titled "Sam the Cat", which was actually a Self-Parody, Garfield overpromoted himself in the opening credits and apologized for not having space to give Odie due credit for animating the story. (Garfield got Odie to do it because he was cheaper than any Korean staff)
  • "Virgil Van Cleef Presents BoJack Horseman Presents Newtopia Rising, Book 1: The Search for a New Utopia, A Todd Joint"
  • Tiny Toon Adventures:
    • In the episode "Kon Ducki", the Film Within a Show opens with three production companies bearing Plucky Duck's name, then calls it "Plucky Duck's The Voyage of the Kon Ducki", then lists him as the star and entire crew, and finally in very small writing adds that Hampton is in it as well.
    • Another episode, "Animaniacs!", mocked Spielberg as someone who merely put his name on the show.

Alternative Title(s): In Case You Forgot Who Made It

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