Closing credits

Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a work. A full set of credits can include the cast and crew, but also production sponsors, distribution companies, works of music licensed or written for the work, various legal disclaimers, such as copyright and more. Some long-running productions list "production babies".

The closing credits are usually typed and appear in white lettering on a solid black background, featuring no sound effects or dialogue, only a musical background, sometimes the works' theme music. Credits are either static and flip from page to page, or scroll as a single list from the bottom of the screen to the top. Occasionally closing credits will divert from this standard form to either scroll in another direction, include illustrations, extra scenes, bloopers, joke credits and post-credits scenes.

The use of closing credits in film to list complete production crew and cast was not firmly established in American film until the 1970s. Before this decade, most movies were released with no closing credits at all. Films generally had opening credits only, which consisted of just major cast and crew, although sometimes the names of the cast and the characters they played would be shown at the end, as in The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, Mary Poppins, Oliver! and the 1964 Fail Safe. Two of the first major films to contain extensive closing credits – but almost no opening credits – were the blockbusters Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and West Side Story (1961). West Side Story showed only the title at the beginning of the film, and Around the World in 80 Days, like many films today, had no opening credits at all.

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