The Name Game - Name Game in Popular Culture

Name Game in Popular Culture

In Flawless the song is used when Robert De Niro's character is rehabilitating after getting a severe speech impairment following a stroke. The song is sung the 1991 movie My Girl by Vada (Anna Chlumsky) and Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin), as well as in the 1999 drama A Walk on the Moon and the film "Bewitched" (2005). The 1991 film Hudson Hawk, starring Bruce Willis, contains the line "Anna banana fo-fanna" after Sister Anna Baragli (Andie MacDowell) is captured.

In the movie Radio Flyer, Mike (Elijah Wood) and Bobby (Joseph Mazzello) sing "The Name Game" using the name Buck, causing Bobby to inadvertently curse. An episode of Tiny Toon Adventures devoted to spoofing music videos features a tribute to the opening scene of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope wherein Darth Vader captures most of the cast, but they proceed to teach him "The Name Game". That episode's end credits note that Plucky Duck was intentionally excluded from that particular scene, because the name would have resulted in an obscenity. In episode 1F08 of The Simpsons, entitled "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)", Krusty the Clown sings the song, using herpes in place of a name, as part of an adults-only comedy set at Mr. Burns' casino.

In the Good Wilt Hunting episode of the series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, a scene on a bus fades in with everyone except Frankie and Mac singing "The Name Game" with the name Coco and then Shut Up (begun by Frankie yelling, "Let's try SHUT UP!"). In the episode "Room 7" of The Golden Girls, Rose attempts to lighten up a car trip by singing the song, starting with the name "Dorothy", who immediately slams on the brakes and orders her out of the car. In an episode of Designing Women, Susanne uses the song with her maid's name (Consuela) for good luck in a casino.

In The Money Pit, Tom Hanks' character is waiting for a building inspector to arrive when he accidentally gets trapped as the carpet he's standing on sinks through a hole in the floor. Unable to answer the bell, Hanks realizes he will be trapped until his wife (Shelley Long) returns that evening, and passes the time singing "The Name Game" using the names Anna, Brad, and Walter. In the 1995 Stephen King novel Rose Madder, Norman sometimes repeats the song, using the names of various other characters in the book, as his sanity deteriorates.

In an episode of the 1990s sitcom Dinosaurs, the character Charlene tries to play the game with the baby, who has unfortunately received the name Ugh-Ugh-I'm-Dying-You-Idiot Sinclair. The song is sung in the "Road Trip" episode of My Wife and Kids. In an episode of Boy Meets World Cory and Shawn are in a terrible band and end up singing "Name Game" to the crowd; later they play one of Mr. Feeny's tapes, a recording of "Name Game" using the name Feeny. In the 1993 computer game Sam & Max Hit the Road, while at the Dinosaur Tar Pit at Mount Rushmore, the character Sam can be made to sing the song with the names of the presidents depicted on the mountain.

During the Booze Cruise episode of the US-version of the The Office, the character Michael Scott irritates one of his employees, Stanley Hudson, by taunting him with a version of the Name Game based on the name Stanley.

In the first episode of the 2008 episodic role-playing video game Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, while talking to a mime at Desperation Street, one of the dialogue options the player has is singing this song. However, it should be noted that this game takes place in the 1920s. In real life, the song had not been invented yet at this time.

Robert Downey Jr.'s character uses it in the movie Due Date to show his wife that naming their unborn son 'Art' is not a good idea.

Part of the song is also used in Eminem's song 'Git Up'.