Justice League theme taken from "Twins of Evil"?

[TemporalFlux]

This may be old news, but I heard it for the first time today. So you remember the opening theme for the first two seasons of Bruce Timm's Justice League?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-683_Z6xRYo

It's apparently a rip off of the opening theme from a 1971 B Horror movie called "Twins of Evil":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-yKl7mMoB0

The composer for "Twins of Evil" is not credited for the theme of Justice League.

 

[TheBrew]

It wasn't until the end where it became really obvious and...

GRAND MOFF TARKIN!!!

 

[Christopher]

This thread is just another case of the way the word "ripoff" is tossed around by people who don't understand what they're talking about. Yes, it uses the same chord progressions and a very similar orchestration, but the melody is distinctly different. It's no more a "ripoff" than the Flintstones theme is a ripoff of "I Got Rhythm" or the Star Trek theme is a ripoff of "From Out of Nowhere." It's an homage, maybe even a pastiche, but that's something that composers do all the time and nobody who understands anything about music would believe that the composer for Twins of Evil was entitled to credit for something that's merely a tribute rather than an exact quote of the melody. You can't claim exclusive ownership of a chord progression or an orchestration; indeed, many are standardized and used in hundreds of songs or compositions. In composing the Justice League theme, Lolita Ritmanis (or perhaps her own arranger) borrowed more from the arranger of the Twins of Evil theme than from the composer. And there's nothing unsavory or unusual about that.

And Lolita Ritmanis's Justice League theme won an Emmy. Sometimes talent consists of knowing the best things to emulate and modify into something fresh.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

It wasn't until the end where it became really obvious and...

GRAND MOFF TARKIN!!!

...and I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!

 

[TemporalFlux]

It's an homage, maybe even a pastiche, but that's something that composers do all the time and nobody who understands anything about music would believe that the composer for Twins of Evil was entitled to credit for something that's merely a tribute rather than an exact quote of the melody.

Wouldn't a tribute inherently give credit? Or is it just a tribute to some great unknown in the ether? That doesn't even get into how an homage is supposed to be a showing of respect. But who am I to question...you're apparently the authority on ethical behavior.

It's pretty clear to me that the Justice League theme is just a lifted segment from Twins of Evil without acknowledging its origin; that's not an homage or tribute or whatever else you want to call it - it's just a lazy, uncredited copy. Honestly...we want to say the Justice League composer busted her ass to come up with something practically the same as Twins of Evil? Even MC Hammer's sample of Rick James had more originality.

The Justice League Unlimited theme is an homage or tribute to the theme of the first two seasons; it could even easily be called an original work. However, we all knew the connection; there's no question. Twins of Evil is just forgotten and thrown away as Ritmanis gladly runs away with all the credit. It's shameful in my opinion.