Film

Whatever Happened To The End Credit Blooper Reel?

We talk to some experts about why end-credit bloopers faded from view.

by Merryana Salem  10 May 2021
bloopers

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Before the rise of the Marvel “secret” post-credit scene, the treat at the end of many a big movie was the blooper reel. More common in the comedy and action genres, throughout the 80s, 90s and early 2000s it was reasonable to expect some endearing outtakes as the credits began to roll.

The end-credit blooper reel was such a staple of the film experience that Disney’s Pixar films even animated fake bloopers for their end-credits. A Bug’s Life, Toy Story and Monsters Inc all had closing credits that featured fully animated blooper reels which, apart from being adorable, made it a real let down when I learned how films were actually made.

Other notable post-credit blooper reels in the ’80s,  ‘90s and ‘00s include The Cannonball Run, the original Bring It On, the ‘00s Charlie’s Angels films, Anchorman, Rush Hour, 10 Things I Hate About You, Kill Bill Vol 2, Predator and Spy Next Door. At the very least, these films are widely beloved cult classics.

Speaking to Stuart Richards, lecturer in screen studies at the University of South Australia on the topic, he agreed that the end-credit blooper reel has undergone somewhat of an evolution. “Once, they were very basic, mostly featuring actors stumbling over their lines,” he said. “But Increasingly they were an output for directors to use extra material from comedians that didn’t make the final cut, such as Anchorman.”

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kKB6LUyDf8 

There’s little written on exactly why the trend fell out of favour. Thusly, I have taken it upon myself to investigate, talk to some experts and get to the bottom of why once popular the end-credit blooper reel has all but disappeared. Here, I have whittled down my findings to three distinct factors.

One: Marvel’s Popularisation Of The Post-Credit Scene

The MCU certainly didn’t invent the post-credit scene, but they popularised it in place of the post-credit blooper reel. The end-credit extra scene (otherwise known as a stinger) was featured in films as far back as 1984’s Ferris Bueler’s Day Off. But the MCU made the post-credit scene into a bonafide mass audience event that continues to this day.

The post-credit scene offered a prestige that the end-credit blooper reel did not, offering audiences the feeling of knowing insider information. Cinephile podcaster, Alexei Toliopoulos confirms, “the daggiest thing about [bloopers] is that they kinda canonize something into the singular artifact that is a film that really isn’t part of the film.” These “secret” scenes also elevated films to pieces of intricately designed universes with lives beyond the single movie you just saw.

As superhero films post The Dark Knight (2008) competed for categorisation with more prestigious cinema, the post-credit blooper-reel undoubtedly became more of a hindrance than a help.

“The kind of films that would regularly feature blooper reels during the end credits – have all given way to mega-blockbusters, award season movies, and forgettable Netflix fare,” says Editor at Large of Art of the Title, Will Perkins. And he’s not wrong when you think about it.

The last thing filmmakers hoping for the superhero film to be taken seriously want is for the credits to dole up the reality these films were just 20-30-somethings in ridiculous fits goofing around in front of green screens. If these films wanted to establish their own realities, the last thing they should do is remind viewers of the real world. Even for some laughs.

That being said, Perkins believes that the phenomena of the end-credit blooper directly informed Marvel’s use of the post-credit scene. “The now-ubiquitous Marvel movie end title sequence and post-credits scene format may have been directly informed by the blooper reels and stingers you used to see in those broad comedies,” Perkins said. “It was the bloopers that kept audiences in their seats until then. Marvel uses the same approach with their flashy main-on-end title sequences to keep butts in seats during their extremely long end credits until the big reveal that sets up the next movie.”

Where the end-credit blooper reel offered an illusion-shattering parenthesis, the post-credit scene provided a far more alluring ellipsis that teased a larger more serious narrative. The goal, to keep people’s butts in seats for the credits, hasn’t changed, but the method moved from the low-brow blooper reel to the higher-brow of the post-credit stinger. As film culture leaned more towards prestige and away from cheesy escapist action comedies of the ’80s and ’90s, the strategy to keep people in seats for the credits had to become prestigious too.  So, just as video supposedly killed the radio star, the MCU post-credit scene was likely an accessory to the murder of the post-credit-blooper reel.

Two: Seeing Stars Goofing Off Is Everywhere…And Way More Deliberate

Another theory why the end-credit blooper reel faded to obscurity places the blame social media. The end-credit blooper reel as it operated in the decades prior to the 2010s served as a novel way to demystify the process of filmmaking, and humanise film stars. But with the proliferation of social media, there came a more intimate and immediate way of delivering the novelty of a blooper reel while also promoting a film.

Via filmmaker’s social media, behind-the-scenes shenanigans have become as much a part of the entertainment industry as films themselves. Why tack bloopers onto the end of a movie when you can use their novelty to promote the movie?

Think any #girlboss behind the scenes’ selfies of the gang from Big Little Lies. Think Ryan Reynold’s elaborate social media presence whenever he’s making a Deadpool film. Think the hilarious selfies and Instagram stories provided by the Game of Thrones cast over time. The humble blooper gave way, for better or worse, into a form of integrated social media influence that actors and personalities could better control.

 

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Speaking to Tara Lomax, a research scholar in Hollywood Entertainment, she explained how the blooper reel presented a double edge sword for actors looking to control their brands. “While [the blooper] is entertaining for the audience, it also displays the vulnerabilities of actors working to manage their brand as a professional,” Lomax said. And it’s not a stretch to imagine that as the 2000s closed out with the rise of the curated social media presence, it’s no surprise that the hilariously vulnerable blooper reel was squashed.

Lomax offers another factor to consider in the downfall of the humble end-credit blooper: streaming. “Perhaps it’s possible to trace a connection between the end of bloopers reels and the end of behind the scenes material,” she muses, “which has also dropped out of favour with the rise in streaming, which often doesn’t even let viewers watch the credits!” Had I known my binge-viewing habits would eliminate the space for my beloved bloopers, perhaps I wouldn’t have skipped to the next episode.

As the ’00s passed by and the ’10s came to a close end-credit-bloopers began to have an association with low quality as the decade came to a close.”Most often, I feel,” Richards said, “gag reels are seen after films that are painfully unfunny.” He’s not wrong either. End-credit bloopers are a sight now rarely seen and when they are, they’re seen as a last-ditch effort to ensure audiences leave the film with a smile.

Three: Bloopers Became An Incentive To Buy DVDs

Bloopers have always been crowd-pleasers. Even now blooper reels for older films regularly go viral on Twitter. With the advent of the DVD, the entertainment industry decided to make the popularity of bloopers pay their dues.

DVDs began being sold in 1997 and by the late ‘00s, DVDs had killed the VHS. More compact complex disk space offered the alluring possibility of DVD extras. Blooper reels, along with deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes features, became one of the “special features” movie-lovers were promised with the exclusive purchase of the DVD. Bloopers still existed and were still compiled. But not as a way to keep people om their seats, as a way to incentivise people to purchase DVDs.

As bloopers began to disappear from the credits of films, and even TV shows, they were relegated to the special features menu in Bluray and DVDs.

I recall quite vividly making my mum drive me to K-Mart early in the morning in late September of 2012 so I could lay my hands on a coveted Bluray of The Avengers (2012) due to a rumour I’d seen spread about on Tumblr at the time that the Bluray featured almost 10-minutes worth of bloopers.  It did not, but I enjoyed the reel all the same.

There is some hope though. Netflix semi-regularly releases blooper reels of their popular content on Youtube. Some most recent examples are Hubie Halloween, Enola Holmes, and Thunder Force.

Yet I miss the whimsy of the blooper reel credit. There was something comforting in knowing the often too beautiful and talented people you watched for over an hour had fun and made mistakes making their art. And there’s something sad in how the honesty of the blooper reel was commodified for social media.

At the end of the day, I don’t think having a laugh as the credits roll because an actor forgot their line is anywhere near as risky as indirectly promoting the idea that art is made in a vacuum free of unapproved mistakes.

Merryana Salem (she/they) is a proud Wonnarua and Lebanese–Australian writer, critic, teacher and podcaster on most social media as @akajustmerry. If you want, check out their podcast, GayV Club where they gush about LGBT rep in media. Either way, she hopes you ate something nice today.