Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Closing credits

Closing credits

Closing credits (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log | edits since nomination)

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I propose merging to Opening credits because this article is a short stub and it seems redundant to have separate articles for closing and opening credits. TheLegendofGanon (talk) 21:21, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

• Note: this discussion has been included in the AfD sorting lists for the following topics: Film and Television. TheLegendofGanon (talk) 21:21, 10 June 2026 (UTC)
• Merge – Besides the fact that the article is unsourced, it makes no sense from an editorial standpoint to keep these separate. FaviFake (talk) 21:47, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

• Merge w/ target rename - the target would need to be moved to Credit sequence or similar, since it would contain information that mostly applies to both the closing and opening. Merge both subject and target to Motion picture credits, see below comment for reason. RaisedArizona (talk) 21:54, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

• Note: this discussion has been included in the list of Video games-related AfD discussions. TheLegendofGanon (talk) 22:09, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

• Merge all three - There are three articles. Closing credits and Opening credits could both be merged to Motion picture credits. ApLundell (talk) 22:45, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

• Merge Closing credits, Opening credits and Motion picture credits and move this new page to Credit (creative arts)Credit (creative arts). Merge because all three are essentially the same topic - listing participants or contributors in the creation of a collective creative work of art. Details regarding how or when these are shown, and conventions around order can be discussed across all artforms when relevant. Move because currently Credit (creative arts) is a redirect to Acknowledgment (creative arts and sciences), which is imprecise as acknowledgements are not limited to participants or contributors in many creative arts see article by The Guardian and this is a more accurate title for the whole topic than that of any of the three articles being merged. Shazback (talk) 23:15, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

  I think that might need to be two separate conversations; you are advocating for the same larger merge suggested above (I think - can you clarify your target?) and then separately moving this page to Credit (creative arts). It might be best if we build consensus for merging first and then discuss a move (I'm actually not in favor of that name for the broader article, but we can/should address that later if it is relevant). RaisedArizona (talk) 23:50, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

  I'm fine with only implementing the merge as the outcome of this discussion. I just think that fundamentally neither of the three articles merged has the correct title. If we merge Opening credits and Closing credits it's clear that as they're opposing names/concepts they can't retain either name. So the only viable name of the three merged is Motion picture credits... which in its opening paragraph references television programs and video games, which are not all motion pictures. The basic concept/topic being discussed is that of Credits in creative works: what they are, where they are placed (e.g., conventions on opening & closing credits in film), the history of crediting performances and contributions in creative arts (this can reference / link to Billing (performing arts), but also discuss ordering of credits as per guidelines or conventions such as the WGA screenwriting credit system), the current / common credit ordering, etc. I think that there is no particular need to have separate articles for film vs other creative arts which have similar systems (e.g., video games, recorded music, even perhaps exhibited art/installations) - these can be covered through sections within the article (e.g., film credit systems stem from theatre billing practices and expansions in the 60s-70s to cover all contributors, video games practices are clearly inspired in turn by film after having started out with minimal/no credits, recorded music credits are linked to practices from soloist/performer billing in concerts that were progressively expanded to key non-performers...). Shazback (talk) 00:55, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

• Merge All have really needed merging for years, though there needs to remain differentation between film and 'small screen (television and online video) credits'. Nathannah • 📮 00:08, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
• Keep Unless Opening credits is going to be changed/moved to a name that covers all types of credits. Closing credits are different from opening credits. Episteme Aletheia (talk) 02:09, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
• Delete It doesn't appear to pass WP:GNG, and I can't even see it being a necessary redirect or having any info to merge. WP:NOTDICTIONARY. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 05:20, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
• Strong keep - Did you check to see that this standalone article exists in 20 other languages? Closing credits have a distinct history and culture that is different than opening credits, such as blooper reels, music videos, post-credits scenes, or stingers. Just because this particular article is short, doesn't mean its the justification for deleting it. - Fuzheado | Talk 13:11, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  The proposal of the nom isn't to delete, it's to merge - and I agree that merging to Opening credits is poorly targeted. There are other possible targets however, as mentioned above. RaisedArizona (talk) 13:39, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  Other languages having an article on something has no bearing on what we do here, FYI. I'm also not particularly convinced we need a separate article for each sort of "credits". There's plenty of ways to split hairs, but there's far more in common thatn different, conceptually speaking. Sergecross73 msg me 16:06, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

• Keep. Clearly meets WP:GNG (tons of book sources and for example https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/what-was-first-movie-closing-credits/ ; Gehlawat, Ajay. "The picture is not yet over!: The end credits song sequence in Bollywood." The Evolution of Song and Dance in Hindi Cinema. Routledge, 2020. 105-118; DiGiambattista, Nicole. Rolling Out the Interactive Credits: Evolving the Ending Credits into an Interactive Audience Experience. Diss. Drexel University, 2012; Davison, Annette. "The end is nigh: Music postfaces and end-credit sequences in contemporary television serials." Music, Sound, and the Moving Image 8.2 (2014): 195-215; Kolchina, T. F., et al. "Post-credit scene as a component of the final credits in a modern film text." Международный научно-исследовательский журнал 11-2 (65) (2017): 25-29; etc.) Closing/End credits are one thing, opening credits, another, no need to merge as the notability guideline permits a standalone article for both.--~2026-34148-20 (talk) 16:24, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  Far Out isn't usable per WP:FAROUT. Sergecross73 msg me 18:49, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  Sure. Don't use it. That leaves us with all the rest: plenty of good and reliable sources, then. ~2026-34615-72 (talk) 19:54, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  I didn't comment on the other sources because I had no means to evaluate them. Sergecross73 msg me 20:24, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  Just want to mention that Post-credits scene is its own page with content that isn't under consideration here, and likely should be its own thing. Regardless of if the subject article can be proven notable or not in spite of this, I think there's some applications of WP:MERGEREASON that would apply here. RaisedArizona (talk) 19:17, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  Thank you. Kolchina's paper, listed above, and addressing post-credits scene, approaches them as part of the end credits, not per se. WP:MERGEREASON? OK. Let's click on that link, then, and read it; this section's conclusion reads:

  "Merging should be avoided if:

  1-The resulting article would be too long or "clunky";

  2-The separate topics could be expanded into longer standalone (but cross-linked) articles.". Applies here, indeed. To quote User:Fuzheado above: "Closing credits have a distinct history and culture that is different than opening credits".

  Also don't forget a crucial point, stated in WP:RELAR: "Articles on distinct but related topics may well contain a significant amount of information in common with one another."

  Other sources include a whole range of approaches and a variety of sources, for example https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/ask-mick-movie-credits-21119792.php or lighter approaches such as: https://laughingsquid.com/some-of-the-best-closing-title-sequences-in-movies/ https://inews.co.uk/culture/call-me-by-your-name-ending-timothee-chalamet-film-credits-147713 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/magazine/closing-credits-movies.html?eafs_enabled=false etc showing real possibilities to expand the page, that a merge would simply annihilate. ~2026-34615-72 (talk) 20:13, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  This feels like it's getting contentious so this will be my last comment here, but what I meant above is that the topic being notable does not necessarily imply that it ought to be in its own article. I don't debate that there is room for expansion, and would encourage you to use sources you have available to expand the article while this AfD is ongoing. My point is that the amount of expansion that would create would not unbalance Motion picture credits (my target of choice) because there's a lot of overlap and the topics share the overwhelming bulk of their historical context. I respect your point of view though. RaisedArizona (talk) 20:37, 11 June 2026 (UTC)

  @RaisedArizona Thank you for your reply. Some sources have been added to the page. ~2026-34615-72 (talk) 09:28, 12 June 2026 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.