Singaporeans rejoice every time a TV show or movie is filmed on our island — be it K-drama Little Women or Bollywood movie Krrish (2006).
We’ve had Hollywood shoot scenes on our shores (Westworld, Equals, Hitman: Agent 47), and an anime where the characters visit Singapore and its sights (A Place Further Than The Universe).
Even Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love has Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) get a job on our island.
Here are eight more times Singapore — or something quintessentially Singaporean — has appeared in TV shows, movies and even a game show.
Tom and Jerry
With National Day tomorrow (Aug 9), our favourite cat-and-mouse duo have gone local.
What’s That Smell? is a new Tom and Jerry episode aired on Aug 7 which revolves around Singaporeans’ favourite (or least favourite, depending on who you ask) fruit, the durian.
It starts with Tom getting ready to grab a bite of durian while Jerry catches a whiff and tries to run away in horror.
Don’t fret, because he ends up enjoying the fruit in the end.
The episode is part of a localised series set in Singapore, with two local animation studios working on the designs and stories.
Independence Day: Resurgence
In some alien invasion movies, humans fight them off and save the day. In others, we get impressive montages of the world — with notable cities and monuments — being destroyed.
In the Independence Day universe, Singapore doesn’t get obliterated once — firstly by an aptly-named City Destroyer alien craft in the War of 1996 — but twice, when a Harvester mothership tears apart the city in Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).
Marina Bay Sands and a cargo ship are shown being lifted and torn apart by the alien ship’s gravity well, and there is mass panic in the streets. David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) can only look on in horror from his aircraft.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
The third season of cult classic anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has our heroes — Jotaro Kujo, Noriaki Kakyoin, Joseph Joestar, Mohammed Avdol and Jean Pierre Polnareff — go on a trip from Japan all the way to Egypt.
They stop by in Singapore on their journey in episodes eight and nine and immediately encounter a police officer who tries to fine them $500 for littering.
Set in 1987, there may be no Marina Bay Sands or Gardens by the Bay yet, but we can see the Merlion from their fancy hotel room. Jotaro and Kakyoin also take a cable car ride from Mount Faber.
Cowboy Bebop
An anime character from Singapore? Cowboy Bebop had that all the way back in 1998.
Faye Valentine was born in Singapore in 1994 and travelled into space in 2014 on her wealthy parents’ private spacecraft where they unfortunately met with an accident.
Faye’s parents were killed and her injuries were so severe that medicine from the time could not save her. She was put in a cryogenic sleep and Faye was revived and cured in 2068 — which left her with a huge debt.
Trying to pay off her medical bills, she becomes a wanted criminal with a bounty on her head, but eventually joins the Bebop’s bounty hunting crew.
In episode 24, Faye goes back to Singapore, which is in rubble. Only the Merlion remains, and there she meets an old lady in a wheelchair who claims to be from her graduating class in high school.
Euphoria
The popular teen drama Euphoria follows Rue Bennett (Zendaya), a troubled drug addict struggling to get sober, who is freshly out of rehab.
Alongside Rue, we also meet other teenagers in the fictional town of East Highland, California, as they navigate through love, loss and addiction.
With the recurring themes of drug abuse, casual sex and LGBTQ relationships, it may surprise viewers that the third season of the series, set to release in 2024, has been reported by IMDB to be filmed in Singapore.
Alongside Ireland, the US, London, the Vatican City and Italy, the show will reportedly be filmed at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer and Gardens by the Bay.
Takeshi’s Castle
Blink and you’ll miss it.
Popular Japanese game show Takeshi’s Castle, which originally ran from 1986 to 1990, has returned to our screens.
While viewers are excited to see contestants put through a set of creative and physical challenges, one Reddit user has spotted a Singapore icon in the series.
On July 29, they shared in the subreddit r/singapore that they had “found the Merlion in the Takeshi’s Castle reboot.”
The screengrab shows the game Dragon God’s Pond, where contestants run across a body of water on stones. The catch is that some of the stones aren’t stable and will sink — if you fall into the water, you’re out.
In the background, you see the Merlion spewing water into the pond and a kappa, a creature from Japanese folklore often associated with water.
Great Pretender
Makoto Edamura claims to be Japan’s Greatest Swindler, but while trying to trick who he thought was a clueless tourist, he ends up getting swindled instead.
The “clueless tourist” turns out to be a fellow con man named Laurent Thierry and Makoto ends up following him to Los Angeles to challenge him and find out who’s the better scammer.
Their next adventure is the Singapore Sky arc that takes place on our island. Makoto, who is trying to live a law-abiding life as a mechanic, meets with Laurent and his crew again, and they target an air race in Singapore and try to swindle two princes.
The saturated and bold art style of the anime presents popular destinations like Fort Canning Park, Raffles Hotel and Marina Bay Sands in a new and stunning light.
Detective Conan: The Fist of the Blue Sapphire
Detective Conan (also known as Case Closed) is a long-running detective manga that has spawned anime series, video games, live action dramas and movies.
2019’s Detective Conan: The Fist of the Blue Sapphire takes place in Singapore. In the movie, the world’s largest blue sapphire is said to have sunk off the coast of Singapore in the 19th century.
A local millionaire wants to retrieve the sapphire, and it reappears at a hotel exhibit. A murder takes place at the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and the calling card of “gentleman thief” Kaito Kid is left behind at the crime scene.
Kaito kidnaps our protagonist Conan Edogawa and the two conceal their identities while trying to solve the mystery and find the whereabouts of the sapphire.
This article was first published on AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.