Theme Song & Opening Credits

The theme music for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe was composed by Danny Elfman, known for his work on films including Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Batman, as well as television themes including The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives.

Elfman’s theme song lays out the show’s premise of Stuart trying and failing to fix the universe. The theme also varies slightly from episode to episode, matching the show’s changing multiverse story.

The series features an animated opening title sequence with different on-screen messages each week, starting with a "Do Not Skip" sign pointing toward where the streaming button would appear. The animated credits draw on scenarios from the show, sometimes previewing realities and events before they appear in the episodes themselves.

Episode 1

The first episode’s credits feature a giant woman stomping through Pasadena, helicopters passing billboards with messages, Stuart and the gang standing with the vari-state quantum interference device in front of a bombed-out building, and a group eating Chinese food on a couch in an image that evokes The Big Bang Theory.

Other messages appear in a fortune cookie, on comic book store category cards and covers, on a doormat, and on an exit door. The sequence ends with Stuart sliding backwards through a hallway with open walls showing tropical plants, before an explosion reveals the Stuart Fails to Save the Universe logo. The episode title, which always contains the word "Spoiler", then flashes up.

  • “And shit is about to get weirder.”
  • “Don’t even think about clicking the skip titles button.”
  • “Well, sure you can think it, but fair warning… You’ll be missing out.”
  • “For starters, that’s a Danny Elfman theme song. Pretty goddamn catchy, right?”
  • “And how about these graphics?”
  • “Not bad considering we had like zero money in the budget.”
  • “Anyway, that’s our opening title sequence.”
  • “We’re hoping it’ll get better with each episode. Or your expectations will be lower.”

Episode 2

The second episode’s credits add a message written in the sand of a tropical island, while the doormat sequence includes a delivery box with its own message. As Stuart slides backwards through the hallway, the open walls show burned-out cars from a post-apocalyptic world.

  • “Once again, thank you for not pressing ‘skip intro’”
  • “We really appreciate it.”
  • “Hope you enjoyed the first episode.”
  • “This one’s a completely different deal.”
  • “You might hate it.”
  • “You might love it.”
  • “As my grandpa said…”
  • “That’s what makes a horse race.”
  • “But he said it in Yiddish.”

Episode 3

The third episode adds a sequence featuring Stuart and Denise in a car, with a message appearing on the display of an old-fashioned radio. During Stuart’s hallway slide, the open walls show pastoral scenes of cows grazing in fields.

  • “At this point, we assume you’re not skipping the titles.”
  • “If this is your first time not skipping, welcome.”
  • “Anyhoo…”
  • “The visuals are pretty cool, right?”
  • “Of course, these days a nine-year-old can do just as good on a phone.”
  • “Which is why we upped the game with these clever messages.”
  • “Maybe ‘clever' is too strong a word.”
  • “Let’s go with ‘original’. Yeah, original.”
  • “Whatever. Too late. You watched.”

Episode 4

The fourth episode adds a sequence featuring the vari-state quantum interference device in a lab, with messages appearing on dot-matrix displays. During Stuart’s hallway slide, several life-size wizard figures appear holding white orbs, echoing the figure seen by the comic book store door in the previous episode.

  • “If you have to make a bathroom run, this is probably the time to do it.”
  • “Go ahead, we’ll wait.”
  • “Ba-dum Ba-dum Ba-dum Ba-dum”
  • “Ba-dum Ba-dum Ba-dum Ba-dum”
  • “Oh, wow, back already?”
  • “Be honest.”
  • “I thought so. Go wash your hands. Ba-dum Ba-dum Ba-dum Ba-dum”
  • “Whatever. Too late. You watched.”

AI Speculation

The opening credits have attracted attention from viewers who suspect some of the animated scenes may have been AI-generated. Eagle-eyed viewers have pointed to garbled background text and oddly rendered objects in some sequences. Examples include nonsensical comic book category labels and door handles that point in multiple directions.

The producers have not confirmed whether generative AI was used to create the title sequences. The credits themselves make self-referential jokes about the graphics and how easy visual effects have become. The closing credits have prompted similar discussion. They feature animated scenes of technology meant to evoke the inside of the vari-state quantum interference device, including switches, labels and countdown-style displays. Some viewers have pointed to garbled text on the labels and unusual numbers in the sequence.

This page has been updated up to episode 104 Spoiler: Stuart Makes a Wallet