Closing-Credit Bloopers

Forgotten TV & Film · 1978–2010

Published

Closing-credit blooper reels were a recognisable, though never universal, feature-film convention, especially in certain comedies, stunt-driven action films and star vehicles. American examples appeared from 1978 to 1980, with Hal Needham an early populariser. The practice developed differently across the United States, Hong Kong and India: some reels used genuine missed lines, laughter and failed stunts, while others deliberately imitated them. Most recognisable from the late 1970s through the 2000s, the convention faded rather than ended, with occasional later appearances showing that it survives intermittently.

Why It Mattered

Its distinction was turning an administrative credit roll into one last comic performance. Viewers had a reason to stay seated and could leave laughing; genuine outtakes also revealed improvisation, production mishaps and the labour behind a polished scene. In Jackie Chan’s films, failed stunts, falls and visible injuries exposed the danger beneath the action spectacle. What has weakened is not recognition of bloopers themselves, but the expectation that a feature film might save them for its theatrical closing credits.

Early Feature-Film Examples

- Hooper (1978) used a hybrid closing montage dominated by repeated or alternate stunt footage, making it a precursor rather than a proven first blooper reel. - Being There (1979) placed footage of Peter Sellers breaking into laughter beneath the credits, although plain credits replaced it for Cannes and some foreign distribution after Sellers objected. - Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) presented actors blowing lines during the credits and is a defensible early example of the familiar format.

Authentic and Constructed Outtakes

- Authentic reels drew on missed dialogue, laughter, improvisation, collisions, unsuccessful stunts and injuries recorded during production. - Jackie Chan made this material a trademark, using closing credits to show amusing mistakes alongside the physical risks behind his action scenes. - A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. used scripted, voiced, rendered and animated mistakes designed to imitate live-action outtakes.

Fading Visibility and Survival

- By 2000–2003, bloopers and outtakes were established DVD selling points, providing an alternative home for the footage without proving that DVD extras caused the theatrical practice to fade. - Narrative post-credit scenes and streaming interfaces that minimise or skip credits are plausible later contributors, but no single cause of decline is established. - Approximately four minutes of bloopers were added to the end credits of the 2024 Tamil film GOAT, demonstrating intermittent survival.

Associated With

Hal Needham - early populariser; Jackie Chan - signature practitioner; Pixar - producer of constructed animated bloopers

Defining Feature

Production outtakes or deliberately constructed mistakes shown during feature-film closing credits

Status

Ongoing - faded but still appears intermittently

Primary Records

- **Hooper — closing-credit sequence** - **Liar Liar — closing-credit bloopers** - **Rush Hour — closing-credit bloopers**

Image Sources

- **Image 1** - **Image 2** - **Image 3** - **Image 4** - **Image 5**

Rights Notice

Images are included for historical and archival reference. Rights holders may contact Forgotten Archive through the publishing account to request a credit correction or removal.

Gallery

A red-haired woman and a dark-haired man laugh in a wood-panelled courtroom while the man holds a sheet of paper; white crew credits are superimposed across the lower-right portion of the scene.
Source
Credit

Liar Liar (1997) via Ximboz

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

End-credit outtakes let the cast break character, turning a finished courtroom scene into a glimpse of the laughter behind it.

Two men seated beside each other in an aeroplane cabin smile and laugh in a video panel on the left, while columns of white production credits appear on black at right.
Source
Credit

Rush Hour (1998) via Ximboz

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

The credits share the screen with an aircraft-scene outtake, leaving room for the performers’ amusement after the story has ended.

A computer-animated blue ant appears out of focus close to the camera while three other ants wearing purple flower petals stand behind it; a black boom microphone hangs visibly above them.
Source
Credit

A Bug’s Life via Matthew William

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

A Bug’s Life recreated a live-action blooper convention in animation, complete with a supposedly misplaced boom microphone.

An illustrated theatrical poster for Smokey and the Bandit II shows a uniformed sheriff, a moustached man in a red shirt and cowboy hat, and a woman in a purple top above cars, trucks, an elephant, desert scenery, cast names and production credits.
Source
Credit

Smokey and the Bandit II poster via Original Film Art

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

The Smokey and the Bandit II poster represents one of the films associated with the end-credit outtake tradition.

On a black background, white cast credits list Burt Reynolds, Jan-Michael Vincent, Sally Field, Brian Keith, John Marley and Robert Klein at left; at right, an inset film frame shows a moustached man in a blue jacket grappling with another person.
Source
Credit

Hooper (1978) closing-credit stunt reel via Porcja Wiedzy

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

Smokey and the Bandit II places cast credits beside comic footage, giving the audience one more performance on the way out.