DuckTales Moon Theme Remixes

About

DuckTales Moon Theme Remixes, also known as “X on the Moon”, refer to a series of instrumental covers and YouTube Poop Music Videos (YTPMVs) that sample the 8-bit “Moon Theme” audio track from the 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game DuckTales.

Origin

In September 1989, Capcom released the North American version of the NES game DuckTales^[1], which is based on the Disney animated series of the same name. In the game, the player assumes the role of Scrooge McDuck, an anthropomorphic white duck that is obsessed with accumulating as much wealth as possible. The fifth stage level of the game features a background audio track called the “Moon Theme”:

The “Moon Theme” background music had enjoyed a cult-like status prior to its incorporation in the YTPMV genre, as evidently seen in a number of discussions threads on Reddit^[2][3] and isolated instances on the GIF-sharing community YTMND.^[4] The YouTube clip “Best VGM 40 – DuckTales – The Moon”^[5] has gained over 690,000 views since its original upload on October 24th, 2007.

Spread

On January 11th, 2008, YouTuber digamejh posted a live performance of the Moon Theme song cover by Californian rock band The Advantage, which came in second place out of over 50 contestants at the MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival, originally the Mid-Atlantic Gaming Festival) Dwelling of Duels.^[6]

On January 24th, YouTuber and Newground artist SupraDarky uploaded a synth remix of the Moon Theme titled “[SD] DuckTales Fun on the Moon.” Three days later on January 27th, YouTuber methidos posted a Mario Paint edition of the Moon Theme.

The same song was also used in a well-known YouTube Poop video titled “This is What I see With My Eyes Closed” (shown left) uploaded on December 3rd, 2009. It subsequently inspired a Garry’s Mod fad called “this is what I see with my X closed”:

Notable Examples

In early 2008, other YouTube Poop creators^[8] began mimicking the video style by using the 8-bit audio track in various videos with the phrasal template“(X) on the Moon”.

Remastered Edition

In March 2013, Capcom announced at the PAX East that a high-definition reboot of DuckTales was being developed by WayForward Technologies. Titled DuckTales: Remastered, the game was introduced as a “2.5D” platformer featuring 3D modeled levels and 2D hand-drawn character sprites voiced by surviving members of the original animated series cast. On August 7th, 2013, six days before the release of the game, Capcom released a documentary short film about the creative process behind remastering the video game’s soundtrack, featuring a series of interviews with the technical team as well as snippets of the new theme songs. On August 13th, DuckTales: Remastered was officially released on the PlayStation Network, Nintendo eShop and Steam.

Search Interest

External References