Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” was one of the biggest earworm pop hits of 2014, and here’s a list of movies and shows that used it. Taylor Swift’s second album “Fearless” helped make her a huge star, with her early work being a fusion of country and pop. Her move from country to pop was cemented with her fifth album 1989, which spawned a seemingly endless series of successful singles like “Bad Blood” and “Wildest Dreams.”
Probably her best-known hit from 1989 is “Shake It Off,” which was the album’s lead single. The song’s lyrics were specifically about her critics, and while reviews were somewhat mixed, it was a big success and is now considered one of Taylor Swift’s defining songs. It was a single that was also somewhat impossible to ignore for about a year after its 2014 release, as it got heavy rotation on the radio, TV shows ands parodies, such as The Hillywood Show’s Supernatural “Shake It Off” video.
Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” also made some appearances in various movies and TV shows, and here are some of the most notable examples.
Sing
“Shake It Off” was featured in a major scene in the 2016 animated hit Sing, where Reese Witherspoon’s Rosita and Nick Kroll’s Gunter perform it for an audience. The song is particularly well used in Sing, with the lyrics relating to Rosita reclaiming her dreams of being a singer, with the song making her husband Norman (Nick Offerman) realize her talent too.
Norm Of The North
Norm Of The North is a 2015 CG-animated adventure starring Rob Schneider as the titular talking polar bear who heads to New York for a wacky adventure. Despite a cast that includes Bill Nighy, Ken Jeong and Heather Graham, the movie received poor reviews and was a box-office letdown, though it did spawn a bunch of STV sequels. The movie’s soundtrack also featured some notable pop hits, including Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance” and Swift’s “Shake It Off.”
Saturday Night Love – “Swiftamine”
The popularity of “Shake It Off” in 2014 found a lot of people who didn’t previously care for Taylor Swift’s music suddenly confronting the fact they kind of did. That’s the premise behind Saturday Night Live’s “Swiftamine,” where random people – including guest host Chris Rock – deal with sudden vertigo when they learn Swift was behind “Shake If Off.” Swiftamine is a drug introduced by Beck Bennett’s Dr. David Doctor, which prevents people’s brain’s fighting their ears when they hear the song.
The Magicians
Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” was also featured in The Magicians’ season 1 episode “The World In The Walls.” This saw Jason Ralph’s Quentin suddenly waking up in a mental hospital, with the staff trying to convince him he is suffering from delusions. One of the most memorable scenes sees Quentin breaking into song with “Shake It Off” during a therapy session, proving it’s still quite catchy even with Ralph’s somewhat tuneless rendition.
Little Monsters
Lupita Nyong’o’s Little Monsters from 2019 is one of the most unique zombies movies of recent years and sees her playing a kindergarten teacher protecting his class from zombies. It’s a surprisingly funny and warmhearted film, which sees Nyoung’o and her students singing along to “Shake It Off” a couple of times, including in the final scene. It turns out it was Lupita Nyong’o who personally wrote to Taylor Swift so the filmmakers could use the song, and it personally meant a lot to the actress for it to be included.
