World Trade Center in popular culture

The World Trade Center has been featured in films, television shows, cartoons, comic books, and computer games.

Movies

Most notable appearances

Date	Title	Notes	IMDB
1975	Three Days of the Condor	Three Days of the Condor has Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) offices based in the World Trade Center. James Sanders characterizes the World Trade Center and its offices as depicted in Three Days of the Condor as "a cold, anonymous, largely soulless environment...The Trade Center was not in its design a humane public place, a soulful place."	[1]
1976	King Kong	In this version, the final scene took place at the World Trade Center, instead of the Empire State Building where the scene took place in the original film. The change was due partially to poster campaign [2] and to acknowledge that the Twin Towers had taken the Empire State Building's place as the tallest building in the world, the reason that the Empire State Building was chosen in the first place. The death of King Kong was filmed using a styrofoam stand-in, which was equipped with electrical wiring, hydraulic hoses and jacks to control its movements.	[3]
1978	The Wiz	The 1978 film adaptation of the musical The Wiz uses the Twin Towers as the location of "The Wiz" in the Emerald City, and a musical number was shot on the plaza between the two towers.	[4]
1983	Trading Places	The 1983 film Trading Places includes an external shot of the towers (at the plaza level) where Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy enter the COMEX commodities trading floor in 4 World Trade Center which is featured in the climax of the film.	[5]
1988	Working Girl	Working Girl features the Trade Center complex in its opening sequence moving from the Staten Island Ferry to Lower Manhattan. Advertising and promotional pieces for the film also used images of the World Trade Center heavily. The film itself is set in 7 World Trade Center.	[6]
1992	Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	Home Alone 2: Lost in New York features the Trade Center complex after Kevin realizes he's all alone in New York, he catches a taxi and arrives at the plaza and goes up to the observation deck.	[7]
2008	Man on Wire	Man on Wire is a documentary film that chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Despite being made in 2008, it makes no reference to the towers' destruction.	[8]

Other 1971–2001 appearances

The World Trade Center appeared in nearly any film or television shot of downtown Manhattan, since the buildings were an integral part of the skyline.

Date	Title	Notes	IMDB
1971	The French Connection	The 1971 film The French Connection shows the still under construction complex in the background during the unloading of the "drug car" in Brooklyn Heights.	[9]
1972	The Hot Rock	The 1972 film The Hot Rock includes footage taken from a helicopter flying toward the World Trade Center, still under construction.	[10]
1981	Escape from New York	In the 1981 film Escape from New York, the lead character lands a glider on the roof of the World Trade Center. The film also has a group of terrorists crash Air Force One into a different New York City building.	[11]
1982	Mazes and Monsters	The 1982 made-for-television movie Mazes and Monsters includes a climactic scene at the top of the Twin Towers.	[12]
1989	Oliver & Company	In the 1988 movie {{Oliver & Company]], the Twin Towers are shown in three scenes. 1st appearance is at the intro of the movie, showing the tip of Manhattan with the Twin Towers above, then pulling in closer towards the city showing a closer, better view of the two buldings. 2nd apperance is shown behind an a buliding. The 3rd/final appearance is shown from a body of water showing a good view of the 2 buildings at night, and during the day.
1992	Freejack	In the 1992 movie Freejack, the Twin Towers are shown standing in the year 2009. In the last scene of the movie, just before the credits start rolling, the towers are seen in the background, just to the left of the 200 story tall "McCandless Building", which is in the future fortress of Battery Park City.	[13]
1996	Independence Day	In the 1996 movie Independence Day, the Trade Center appears several times in the New York skyline, as a large alien ship arrives over the city. They are the tallest remnants of a ruined New York in a later shot with a toppled Statue of Liberty in the foreground.	[14]
1998	Godzilla	The World Trade Center appears numerous times throughout the film and at the beginning of the film a T.V. reporter says that Godzilla's prescence in the city is the worst thing since the World Trade Center bombing of 1993.
1998	Jeans	The site appears in the Tamil film, Jeans, with the lead pair, Prashanth and Aishwarya Rai, dancing inside the tower and in areas surrounding the tower.	[15]
1998	Armageddon	The 1998 film Armageddon At first during a normal day in New York, the Twin Towers are shown in the background. Later, a meteor shower hits New York City in the beginning in the movie. The Twin Towers are shown three times during the meteor shower. The first appearance was a low point of view from between the towers looking up as large meteors pass over the towers. The second appearance is when the New York Financial District is shown as meteors passed by, one hitting the South Tower. The third appearance is New York City after the meteor shower. The North Tower had a hole on its north side of the tower while the top of the South Tower had been partially destroyed and was on fire. As a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the scene showing the towers getting hit and being on fire were cut when the movie aired on ABC in April 2002.	[16]
1999	Stuart Little	The World Trade Center can be seen when Stuart's mice parents drive over the Brooklyn Bridge and when they are arrive at the golf course.
2000	Kadhalar Dhinam	The site appears in the Tamil film, Kadhalar Dhinam, with the lead pair, Kunal Singh and Sonali Bendre, walking around New York, with the trade centre as the backdrop of the city.
2000	Left Behind: The Movie	The World Trade Center appeared in a brief scene of the New York skyline. The story, having been set in the future, would have taken place some time after the towers' destruction in the September 11, 2001 attacks.	[17]
2000	Model Behavior	The World Trade Center appeared in a brief scene of the New York skyline.
2000	Ready to Rumble	The World Trade Center appeared in a brief scene of the New York skyline as the RV leaves NYC.
2001	Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)	In the 2001 Steven Spielberg film Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), the towers were shown standing in the year 2142 where global warming has flooded many cities including New York City. Then, they are seen again, in the year 4142, many years after humanity has ceased to exist, this time covered in glacial ice but were one of the few buildings standing above the ice. Less than three months after the release, the towers were destroyed in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Although risking controversy and criticism, Steven Spielberg left the towers in the DVD release.	[18]
2002	Spider-Man	After the terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, Sony recalled teaser posters which showed a close-up of Spider-Man's face with the New York skyline (including, prominently, the World Trade Center towers) reflected in his eyes. The movie's original trailer, released in 2001, featured a group of bank robbers on their getaway in a helicopter, which Spider-Man catches in a giant spider-web between the two towers of the World Trade Center. The trailer was pulled after the events of September 11, 2001, attacks and can be found on the internet.

Computer and video games

• The 2007 computer game World in Conflict, set in 1989, revolves around the story that USSR did not collapse and the Cold War continued longer than in reality. The towers are visible in the background of the 10th mission, in which the player attempts to repel Russian Spetsnaz commandos from Liberty, Ellis and Governor's islands in an attempt to Invade the United States through New York City. The Towers are also prominently visible in one of the Trailers showcasing the invasion to show the location and time.

• In the 2000 video game, Midnight Club: Street Racing the World Trade Center is easily identified in the game. Players can drive their car into the plaza in between the towers. They can also gain access to the underground parking garage beneath the towers, the site of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
• Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro (2001), by Activision, depicted the tops of the Twin Towers as part of the final stage, with the large radio antenna as a crucial piece to defeat the final boss, Hyper-Electro. After the 9/11 attack, the game was pulled and re-released, changing two stage titles and modifying the final stage to add a large bridge to it.

• In response to the events of September 11, Microsoft announced that future versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator would not include the Twin Towers in the game's New York City skyline. A patch was also made available to remove the WTC buildings from the existing versions of the simulator.

• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) and Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (2002) feature a major plot on a ship going down the Hudson River, depicting the World Trade Center. The building was apparently cut from the game, delaying both games' releases.

• Max Payne, features the World Trade Center in several billboards, and in some of the graphic novel cut scenes. They are visible in the PC version of the game, however, they are not visible in the Playstation 2 version of the game, which was released after the terrorist attacks.

• Shortly after the attacks, the now defunct Westwood Studios pulled all remaining copies of the 2000 real-time strategy game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, whose box contained artwork of New York City under attack by invading Soviet forces; notable buildings depicted under attack included the World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty. The single player campaign of the game also contains a pair of missions in which the player was instructed to destroy The Pentagon and capture the World Trade Center as well as being able to destroy it. Westwood retooled the box art before re-releasing the game.

• The 1991 Arcade game King of Monsters features monsters fighting in different Destructible cities. Among them is New York City, where the Twin Towers can be Destroyed, even thrown at your enemy.

• Streets of Rage, a game released in 1991 on the Sega Genesis features the Twin Towers in the background of the final boss battle, which apparently, occurs in World Trade Center 3 (otherwise known as the Vista Marriott). The towers can also be seen in Streets of Rage 2, in the second level, glowing in the background.

• The 1994 action game Urban Strike, the third in the Strike series, features the scene of a giant laser deflecting from a satellite and hitting the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, thus marking the start of Mission 7, in which the player must accomplish three objectives before moving on to objective #4: rescuing 16 out of 20 NAFTA business leaders of the WTC (after hitting the radar building east of the WTC); and objective #5: disarming the time bomb in the South Tower (being careful not to cut either the green wire, as one of the members says, or the red wire). It is ironic that, although the game takes place in a fictional 2001 timeline when it was released in 1994, it would be seven years (marking the same number of the game's mission in New York City) before the actual year 2001 (i.e. September 11) would mark the damage of the Twin Towers not by a laser or time bomb, but by the planes crashing into the buildings, with its destruction rather than its survival (as in the game).

• The first map of the 2000 game Deus Ex, set in 2052, encompasses Liberty Island and a bombed Statue of Liberty. The section of the New York City skyline containing the Twin Towers is absent, to reduce memory requirements for the map. The reason that the developers gave, if anyone asked, was that they had been destroyed by terrorists. "We just said that the towers had been destroyed too. And this was way before 9-11. Years. That's kind of freaky."

• Gundam Battle Assault 2 featured a view of a city in the opening monologue of the story mode. The Twin Towers can been seen scrolling by, though one tower had a large addition to its side.

• The 2004 video game Spider-Man 2, the game adaptation of the movie, had a virtual New York City that Spider-Man could swing around in. At one spot, there is a large bit of sidewalk with two sets of eight lights arranged in a square. At night, the lights would come on, representing the Tribute in Light memorial.

• The 2007 video game Spider Man 3, the final battle takes place at a construction site that bears a strong resemeblance to the North Tower, possibly the Twin Towers 2.

• The 2005 video game True Crime: New York City, features a fenced in "ground zero" where all there is the concrete foundation and a blue fence surrounding it but it is inaccessible.

• Driver: Parallel Lines (2006) features a slightly modified World Trade Center complex in the game's depiction of New York City in 1978, lacking the Marriott World Trade Center hotel, as it was only completed in 1981. However, the complex features The Sphere, a 1967 Fritz Koenig sculpture, near the middle of the complex. Although unlike the real complex, a road cuts through what is supposed to be the center of the plaza. In the latter half of the game, set in New York in the year 2006, the entire complex (including the twin towers) is replaced by a fenced-off building site.

• In Tycoon City: New York, the World Trade Center is paid tribute to in the form of two very tall trees standing side by side, representing the Towers. Further into the park, there is a Pentagon-shaped base, with an American Flag at half mast. An inscription on the side reads We Will Never Forget.

• In the 1998 game, Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA, the entire World Trade Center complex is featured on the 'New York: Downtown' track. Buildings 1 - 6, and the western pedestrian bridge are all accessible to drive around. The stairways on both sides of the complex doubles as a jump for the racers.

• In Aero Fighters 2 (1994) for the Neo-Geo, the first half of the U.S. level takes place in New York City, featuring the World Trade Center in the background. In tradition of most top-down shooters, the buildings can be destroyed by shooting them multiple times.

Films

1970s

1973

• Godspell - musical number "All for the Best" performed by film's cast at the top of tower nearing completion.
• Serpico - at the end right before Pacino is shot.

1974

• The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three - can be seen briefly through the back window of a car.

1975

• Dog Day Afternoon - opening credits

1976

• In the remake of the 1933 classic Kong, King Kong (1976), Kong climbes the WTC instead of the Empire State Building.
• In the movie, Taxi Driver, the World Trade Center together with the lower Manhattan skyline is framed by the window behind Travis Bickle as he purchases a gun.

1977

• Saturday Night Fever - several times. Opening credits, and when John Travolta leaves and comes back to Brooklyn.
• Kentucky Fried Movie - the Manhattan skyline is shown with the Statue of Liberty in view.

1978

• In the film Superman, the Twin Towers makes a crucial scene as he performs one of his first rescues for the public, announcing his presence. The Twin Towers are seen in the background of the night sky as Superman turns around, while flying, making a dramatic and powerful scene. Highlighting the strength of Superman and the strength of the nation he looks after. Although it may be interpreted in different ways, it does show to amplify the power of the moment when he first uses his powers for the public to see. Later on, the Twin Towers are shown briefly as Superman takes Lois Lane on a flying tour of the city by night.

1979

• The film Meteor shows the Twin Towers hit by a meteor fragment.
• Manhattan - at the 0 minute 53 second mark.

1980s

1980

• Minor background scenes in Zombi 2.
• Dressed to Kill - The characters of Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon are having a drink at Windows on the World, the restaurant on the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center toward the end of the movie.

1981

• Escape from New York - In the film, Manhattan has become a maximum security prison. As Snake enters the island, he lands a gilder on top of the South Tower.

1982

• Mazes and Monsters - Tom Hanks tries to jump off the South Tower when he thinks he can fly.

1983

• Trading Places shows the twin towers near the end of the movie.
• Terms of Endearment - Debra Winger gives a speech in front of the Towers on a cloudy day.

1984

• Ghostbusters shows the World Trade Center in a few scenes from a far out view of the city.
• Splash, the WTC is featured in a couple scenes.
• The Pope of Greenwich Village - 2 establishing shots, and once when Eric Roberts is talking on a rooftop.
• The Killing Fields - Near the middle after Sam Waterston returns to New York, he's outside with the Twin Towers in view.

1986

• The Australian comedy film Crocodile Dundee featured a shot of the twin towers as the first indication that Mick Dundee had arrived in New York.

1987

• Wall Street with Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas, features the WTC in numerous scenes, especially the opening credits which has a number of sepia shots lingering on the towers and also features the WTC's PATH escalator bank.
• Coming to America features a good night-time sequence of the towers when Akeem gives away a large sum of money to tramps Randolph and Mortimer (now bankrupt since the end of 'Trading Places').
• The poster for the 1987 Michael Keaton workplace comedy The Squeeze features Keaton sandwiched between the Twin Towers, as a hand squeezes them together.
• Moonstruck - in the opening credits and once again later.

1988

• She-Devil with Roseanne Barr and Meryl Streep, briefly features the WTC in the background while Barr's character is searching for an office to open her own business venture.
• Crocodile Dundee II - opening credits.
• Big Business - Bette Midler movie - briefly seen in the background
• Bright Lights Big City - seen at the end as a symbol of hope and change when Michael J Fox decides to get off drugs and start a new life

1989

• The Dream Team features Michael Keaton, playing a pathological liar, pointing out the Trade Center, saying, "You see those two towers? World Trade Center. I was an architect working on them. First they just wanted to build one but I said, 'Hey, fellas, we're here - What the hell, let's throw another one up'. Turned out pretty well, didn't it?"
• The World Trade Center can be seen in the opening credits of the comedy film, See No Evil, Hear No Evil.
• Back to the Future II features a view across New York harbour of the WTC towers in 2015 on the cable TV station "The Scenery Channel".
• Ghostbusters II Around the time in the film they had the mechanical Statue of Liberty walking across the city you can see the towers, along with a shot of the city with the towers at the end of the film. They are also the buildings from which Janosz (as the ghost-nanny) flies to kidnap Oscar.
• In the beginning of the film Weekend at Bernie's where Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman are walking to work on a hot summer day, the twin towers are seen briefly in the background when a guy opens a water hydrant and is thrown to the sidewalk by the thrust of the water.
• New York Stories - during all three segments. The Towers can be seen through the window of Nick Nolte's apartment. Later, Woody Allen's mother talks over the skyline.
• When Harry Met Sally - after their drive from Chicago to New York.
• Friday the 13th Part VIII - It could be seen when the main characters head towards Manhattan on a canoe.

1990s

1990

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Twin Towers are shown at the very beginning of the movie.
• The Bonfire of the Vanities features an opening sequence following Bruce Willis through the basement of the World Trade Center Complex for nearly five minutes.
• The Godfather Part III - early on, after the opening narration.

1992

• Freejack starring Emilio Estevez and Mick Jagger, the Twin Towers are shown standing in the year 2009. In the last scene of the movie, just before the credits start rolling, the towers are seen in the background, just to the left of the 200 story tall "McCandless Building", which is in the future fortress of Battery Park City.
• Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) visits the outdoor observation deck of the WTC and snaps a photograph of the view during a montage in the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
• Scent of a Woman - after Al Pacino gets pulled over for driving the ferrari too fast.

1993

• Super Mario Bros. the Twin Towers become the "Koopa Towers" in the film's parallel dimension, which is a dinosaur-laden Manhattan run by antagonist King Koopa (Dennis Hopper). The North Tower features a sharpened top while the South Tower is unfinished with a jagged top. Both are adorned with Koopa's signature "K" symbol . Both have rather demonic looks to them. The towers briefly replace the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan when the two worlds are merged for a short time.
• We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, when the dinosaurs first arrive to New York City by the old Staten Island Ferry terminal they are shocked by how tall the twin towers are causing one of the dinosaurs to fall back into the East River. The towers are later seen several times throughout the animated film, sometimes portrayed as being side by side, other times one tower being rotated at an angle.

1994

• The Last Seduction- the towers are plainly visible as Bridget runs from cab to getaway car with the bag of money.
• The Cowboy Way - the towers can be seen as the boat enters manhattan

1995

• Die Hard: With a Vengeance the towers can be seen behind behind McClane and Zeus as they are jogging away from Wall Street.
• Mortal Kombat: Annihilation showed a brief shot of New York City including the towers after Liu Kang defeated Shao Kahn.
• The Usual Suspects - right after the cop car is set on fire.

1996

• Independence Day- After the aliens destroy New York City, there is a brief shot of the Twin Towers, severed in half and on fire.

1997

• Men in Black - the Twin Towers are in the background of the scene on the turnpike where the agents intercept the fleeing extraterrestrial family (one of whom gives birth). The finale of its 2002 sequel, Men in Black II, was set to take place atop one of the WTC buildings. Due to the fate of the towers, however, this was modified prior to release. The original ending can be seen on the DVD release as the "alternate ending".
• The made-for-television film Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing chronicled the events leading up to and shortly after the 1993 attack.
• In the film Donnie Brasco, in the background, during the scene by the water when Lefty reveals he is going to make Donnie a "made man"
• Copland - just before the closing credits.
• Jungle 2 Jungle - The Twin Tower complex can be seen near the beginning of the film. Tim Allen's character is shown walking out rotating doors. The scene then changes to an upwards shot of both towers while Tim Allen's character continues with his dialogue. The camera then pans down towards the front of the complex while the main speaking characters continue to walk off screen.

1998

• Antz - the opening shot shows what appears to be the New York skyline including the World Trade Center, but turns out to actually be grass. At the ending shot of the movie, the camera pans out of the anthill, which is in Central Park. The real New York City skyline appears in the background including the Twin Towers, appearing closer than they actually are (In real life you couldn't see the Twin Towers from Central Park unless you are high above it). The Twin Towers (a real picture of them) appear on the movie poster, along with the Empire State Building.
• TV movie Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, a TV Reporter from a news chopper is reporting the damage, the Two Towers had a few small fires on them, and the TV Reporter said "They look good. They're both still standing." They also appear in the ending behind the Statue of Liberty which was under reconstruction.
• Deep Impact A comet hits the earth, causing a megatsunami that hits the east coast. As the tsunami strikes New York the Twin Towers are shown as the wave engulfs them. At the end of the tsunami scene the water recedes, and the Twin Towers can be seen poking out of the water as the only buildings left standing.
• Half Baked The Twin Towers provide backdrop in a number of scenes including the intro. The character of Thurgood (played by Dave Chappelle stands on the Brooklyn Bridge awaiting "Mary Jane" (Rachel True) towards the end of the film. During this scene, the Twin Towers are clearly visible in the background.
• Armageddon depicts the Twin Towers (along with many other famous landmarks) severely damaged after New York City was struck by a meteor shower.
• Godzilla, a news report said that the event of Godzilla destroying the city was worse than the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The two towers can be seen before Godzilla arrives at the city.
• The documentary The Cruise, bus tour guide Speed Levitch, who is the focal point of the film, suggests to a tourist that she stand in the plaza between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and spin around in circles, then look up and experience the illusion of the towers toppling down on her. In a scene later in the film, Speed appears in the plaza of the World Trade Center, performing this very ritual.

1999

• Trick, which revolves around two gay men trying to find a place to have sex and eventually fall in love that same night. Near the end of the movie, an establishing morning shot is shown centered on Twin Towers in the early morning, and on the final scene a pan out zooms from the main character and pulls out to where we see the Twin's and a portion of 7 World Trade Center from Greenwich Village.
• The Matrix, Morpheus describes where Neo has gone by entering him into the Matrix system. He shows a scene from NY in a Matrix TV including the WTC before the 200 years prior to Neo's coming, to what the towers looked like 200 years later. The towers lost a heavy amount of concrete like most NYC buildings, but they were still both standing.
• Bicentennial Man, the future New York showed the WTC three times its height.
• Being John Malkovich - after John Cusack goes through the portal the first time.

2000s

• The World Trade Center is seen in the opening of the TV-mini series the 10th Kingdom, (2000). The opening shows New York City crumbling into mountains, waterfalls and castles. The Empire State Building crumbles and turns into a mountain, the Plaza Hotel teraforms into a majestic Castle, and the Twin Towers are drawn into the ground as 7 World Trade Center disintegrates.
• In the 2001 film Gypsy 83, Gypsy and Clive finally arrive in New York City, they see the Empire State Building and World Trade Center at night from the New Jersey Turnpike. At the final scene in the movie, Gypsy goes to visit her mother's grave in a cemetery in New Jersey, the towers and the rest of Lower Manhattan can be seen in the distance.
• In the 2001 Steven Spielberg film Artificial Intelligence: A.I., the towers were shown standing in the year 2142 where global warming has flooded many cities including New York City. Then, they are seen again, in the year 4142, many years after humanity has ceased to exist, this time covered in glacial ice but were one of the few buildings standing above the ice. Less than three months after the release, the towers were destroyed in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Although risking controversy and criticism, Steven Spielberg left the towers in the DVD release.
• Made - Released just a few weeks before the attacks, Jon Favreau walks outside with the Twin Towers in view near the end just before the bar shootout.
• The 2002 TV movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie depicts Kermit the Frog travelling to an alternate universe in which he had never been born. With the guidance of his guardian angel Daniel (David Arquette), Kermit seeks out this world's Miss Piggy who lives alone and works as a telephone psychic. From her apartment window, the twin towers of the World Trade Center can be seen.
• In the 2009 film Mao's last dancer the twin towers are clearly seen in a close up shot in a poster.

Post-9/11

• On November 2, 2001, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV premiered in New York City. During the following months after September 11 nearly all movies made in New York had the towers removed either by editing the footage out or digitally removing them from the frame. Lloyd Kaufman relates, in his book Make Your Own Damn Movie, that he felt audiences would be able to see the Twin Towers in film without being distressed. The opening narration features the Twin Towers prominently and it is reported that the audience cheered.
• Released in September 2002, "Igby Goes Down" is also one of the last films to show the twin towers. Establishing shots with the towers in prominent view were removed intentionally, however, remaining in the final cut of the film are two brief, street-level shots from SoHo showing part of one tower in the background.
• In Spider-Man (2002), the towers receive a few discreet cameos throughout the movie. The film's original trailer showed a web spun by Spider-Man between the two towers and was withdrawn after the attacks, although the towers did appear briefly in Spider-man's eyes, and towards the end of the movie when he climbed up the American International Building.
• The 2002 Spike Lee film 25th Hour directly incorporates the ruins of the Twin Towers. The opening credits are shown over views of the Tribute in Light, and one scene takes place at the apartment of Frank Slaughtery, which overlooks the site.
• The end segments of the movie Vanilla Sky feature the Twin Towers still standing in the panoramic city background. This is plausible as the ending scene to this movie, it is revealed, is created from the lead character's memory. If he remembers the Twin Towers to still be standing, then they would still appear in the skyline.
• The first 9/11 dramatization, 2002's Stairwell: Trapped in the World Trade Center, showed a number of different shots of the towers. The footage was shot in 1999 and was originally going to be used in a movie about the 1993 bombing. The movie, titled Hellevator, was shelved after the September 11 attacks.
• Martin Scorsese's 2002 film Gangs of New York, about life in New York's Five Points neighborhood in the 1860s, featured an ending sequence showing the city's skyline slowly progressing to its modern form. The final shot featured the World Trade Center restored to the skyline using computer-generated imagery. This scene also included a voiceover by one of the characters who said, (to paraphrase) "those who lived in those times would never forget what it was like".
• The 2004 film Miracle, set in 1979 and 1980, features a digitally re-inserted shot of the towers just prior to the USA hockey team's exhibition game against the USSR at Madison Square Garden. Oddly, the buildings of the World Financial Center, which would not be built for several years, are also included in the shot.
• In the 2004 film Spider-Man 2, the North Tower and 7 World Trade Center are briefly seen in a piece of stock footage showing the West Side Highway after Doc-Ock breaks out of the hospital. The footage is flipped horizontally, making it seem as if the skyline was viewed from the East River, the two buildings are only visible in the Wide Screen Edition. Like its predecessor, Spider-Man, both movies show the World Trade Center despite the events of 9/11.
• The towers are the focus of the last shot of Steven Spielberg's 2005 film Munich. A period film ending in 1973, the towers' presence served as a reminder that the troubles in the Middle East depicted in the film had not ended by 2001, when the World Trade Center was destroyed, or by 2005, when the movie was released. Despite the movie ending in 1973, several post-1980s postmodern skyscrapers are still seen in the skyline as they would be seen today.
• In the poster for the 2006 film United 93, the Twin Towers can be seen just under the Statue of Liberty's crown. As they were on 9/11, the North Tower was on fire and a plane, United Airlines Flight 175, is heading towards the South Tower. In the film itself, the towers are the last glimpse of Manhattan caught by the passengers (most notably the lead hijacker, played by Lewis Alsamari), through a plane window as the flight departs Newark International Airport. While the intact complex was digitally re-inserted into the skyline, its destruction was shown through actual news footage.
• The 2006 remake of the horror classic The Omen had a few screenshots of 9/11 as well as the 2004 Tsunami and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
• The 2006 movie Click, starring Adam Sandler, features a futuristic wedding scene with a futuristic version of the Twin Towers in the background, which was actually two Freedom Towers, the final design for the main tower of the new World Trade Center.
• Oliver Stone directed World Trade Center (released on August 9, 2006), the first feature-length film about the attacks on the Twin Towers themselves. It stars Nicolas Cage as Port Authority police officer John McLoughlin, one of the first men called to the scene of the 9/11 attacks. This movie has received much controversy, just like United 93. Although it's the second film about the September 11th attacks to be released to theaters (following United 93), it is the first dramatic non-documentary film based on 9/11.
• The 2007 movie The Kingdom, the opening sequence revolves around the history of U.S. involvement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including Terrorist Attacks during the 90's. A map is shown during the sequence showing America as the #1 Oil consumer in 2000, America rises like a bar graph and soon turns into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, with United Airlines Flight 175 heading torwards it. The screen blanks and quickly shows the Island of Manhattan with the World Trade Center site on fire.
• The 2007 movie We Own the Night, features a scene in which Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix have a discussion in an NYPD station in Brooklyn and the World Trade Center Towers can been seen behind them through a window. The film takes place in 1988, 13 years before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
• The 2008 movie Definitely, Maybe takes place in 1992 New York City, an aerial view of Manhattan is shown with the Twin Towers edited in place, although the reconstructed 7 World Trade Center can be seen despite it being completed in 2006.
• In the 2008 movie Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa when baby Alex arrives in New York, he looks out of his crate and sees the pre-9/11 skyline, meaning he came to New York before September 11, 2001.
• In the 2009 movie Notorious, which takes place during the 90's, The World Trade Center can be seen in a city shot.
• In the 2009 movie Watchmen the World Trade Center is present in New York, as the story is set in an alternate 1985. Both towers are shown several times inserted back into the skyline and even shown surviving a nuclear blast in New York City.

Notable Movie Posters

• Godzilla vs. Megalon, (1973), in the American theatrical poster it shows Godzilla and Megalon fighting on top of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. *Note: The movie contained no scenes set in New York City.*
• King Kong, (1976). Kong is shown atop the Twin Towers with one foot on each tower, grasping a burning fighter plane as other planes attack.
• Manhattan, (1979), seen as both towers make up the two legs of the "H" of the title "MANHATTAN".
• Superman II, (1980), seen in both versions of the poster. Both including the World Trade Center with the New York City skyline on fire, or in this case Metropolis.
• Splash, (1984), seen in the background of the original poster. In the 2004 anniversary edition, it is changed to a view of the Empire State Building.
• The Squeeze, (1987). The main character is actually being "Squeezed" in between the two towers with a large hand.
• Moonstruck, (1987), seen in the background behind Cher and beneath a giant moon.
• New York Stories, (1989). The poster shows a small apartment building with various people in each window, behind is the title and only the Twin Towers. They were removed in the 2003 DVD release.
• Home Alone 2, (1992), The Twin Towers can be seen in the logo.
• Jungle 2 Jungle, (1997), The Twin Towers can be seen in the background of the poster.
• Sidewalks of New York, (2001), showed the World Trade Center in the background, but the poster had to be changed, delaying the movie's release.
• Spider-Man, (2002), seen in Spider-Man's eyes in the pre/9-11 teaser poster.

Television

• The Nanny Shows The pre-9/11 skyline with the Twin towers in it.
• Diff'rent Strokes - (1978-1986) - opening credits
• Late 1980s airings of Late Night with David Letterman featured an opening helicopter shot with the camera view flying into the facade of one of the towers, inside and through the offices of one floor, then back out. The Twin Towers were also prominently featured in the intro of the Late Show with David Letterman up until September 11. Afterwards, shots of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building were used.

• The towers are shown during the opening credits of New York Undercover.

• The opening credits of the sitcom "Barney Miller" begin with a shot of the New York City skyline, with the World Trade Center prominently featured.

• During the last two seasons of the sitcom The Wayans Bros., shots of each cast member are shown with images of various NYC landmarks in the background during the opening sequence, including the WTC, Times Square, and the Statue of Liberty (with Shawn's face imposed on the statue). In one episode of the first season, "Afro Cab", an Arabic looking man gets in a cab driven by a Wayans Brother and demands, "Take me to the World Trade Center!" (alluding to the WTC bombing of 1993).

• In an episode of the sitcom Full House, (1987 – 1995) Stephanie is at home waiting for her date for a school dance to pick her up. She suddenly starts playing with some building blocks and eventually makes the Manhattan skyline. When Danny (Bob Saget) enters and sees what she's made, he comments' "The New York skyline. Wow, the World Trade Center looks as tall as ever."

• in a December 1991 episode of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show), the Double Trouble twins steal the World Trade Center.

• The Twin Towers made one very brief appearance in the Family Matters (1989 – 1998) episode "Fa La La La Laagghh!" After Carl turned on the Christmas light decoration on the Winslow's house, a malfunction (thanks to Steve?) results in a power outage. First, the Winslow's home goes out, then a row of family homes, then Lower Manhattan, and finally, the entire world. Steve then says "Look what you did."

• NYPD Blue a police drama from the mid 1990's featured the World Trade Center in many of the introductions to the show.

• The ABC series Sports Night (1998 – 2000) often used an establishing shot of the New York skyline in which the Twin Towers were the focal point, implying that the studios were in the Towers.

• The pilot of the TV series The Lone Gunmen, first aired March 4, 2001, had the gunmen thwarting a plot to fly a jet into the World Trade Center. In the episode, a faction of the U.S. government is behind the plot; they hope to blame the attack on another country's dictator and use it as an excuse to start a war with him. Transcript of pilot episode

• In the Northern Exposure episode The Quest, Dr Joel Fleischman returns to New York. He's standing at the rail of the Staten Island Ferry which is covered in fog. As the fog clears, the Twin Towers become visible in the distance. Cable channel A&E aired this episode (the second-to-last NX episode A&E aired) on Thursday, September 13, 2001.

• The opening credits of the first three seasons of the HBO mob drama The Sopranos (1999 – 2007) featured a shot of the World Trade Center as seen from the rear view mirror of Tony Soprano's SUV, as he enters the New Jersey Turnpike. In later seasons, after 9/11, the sequence was replaced with a new view of the Manhattan skyline in which the World Trade Center is absent. Among the things Tony later discloses to his psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi as contributing to his depression is "this whole 9/11 thing."

• The Twin Towers appear in the opening title for early episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-present). The sequence is replaced after 9/11 with generic shots of the city.

• The TV series Third Watch, (1999 – 2005) set in New York, featured many shots of the Towers during the show's first 2 seasons. One final shot appeared in the episode September 10, set the day before the attacks.

• King of Queens shows shots of New York with the WTC.

• Sex and the City, another HBO original series, also showed a quick shot of the World Trade Center in its opening credits (with the name of its lead actress, Sarah Jessica Parker). For seasons 5 and 6, shown after 9/11, the visual was changed to a stylized shot of the Empire State Building.

• Several shots of the Twin Towers appear in the introduction and several establishing shots of New York City, some episodes, all including the Twin Towers, for Friends (1994–2004) over the first seven seasons (1994–2001). Pictures of the Manhattan Skyline featuring the WTC also feature on many DVD cases, and DVD Box Set cases. As every season the Opening sequence slightly changes with a new shot of the skyline with the title card, some seasons showed the Twin Towers, others the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building. Later seasons after 9/11 still briefly showed the Towers, the original and main title card used for later seasons has a portion of both towers visible, yet they are not very obvious. The last episode (2004) even included one of the most common seen pieces of stock footage, a shot of Lower Manhattan in the late afternoon under the Brooklyn Bridge, this time, cut only panning as far as the South Tower. As of 2007 the Twin Towers are still shown in establishing shots throughout earlier seasons and have not been edited out.

• In the early 2000s The Twins appeared in an animated skyline including various United States skyscrapers in a commercial for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. The Towers where however represented as cylinders instead of their true rectangular shapes.

• An Anheuser-Busch advertisement for Budweiser beer features the company's signature Clydesdale horses appearing to pay their respects to the tower-less New York skyline. It was aired just once, during the broadcast of the 2002 Super Bowl [19].

• In the Hey Arnold! episode "Married", Helga has a dream about her future life with Arnold, one scene included them having breakfast atop a luxurious skyscraper north of Central Park. The Twin Towers are prominently seen in the distance, along with other landmarks such as the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and Chrysler Building. The episode first aired March 2002, but the view of the penthouse and New York City skyline weren't cut out until later airings, but the tops of the two towers can still be seen while the two conversate.

• In Eurosport`s Olympic Magazine commercial, few seconds of beginning of north tower collapse are shown.

• In Star Trek: Enterprise, (2001 – 2005) an image of the Twin Towers burning was visible in a panorama of historical images present in the timestream, when Daniels informed Jonathan Archer that time had been altered and set back on course. (ENT: "Storm Front, Part II")

• The 2003 HBO miniseries Angels in America (which takes place in the late 1980s) is noteworthy as being the first major post-9/11 production to digitally insert the towers in the New York City skyline.

• The 2004 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) PPV, WrestleMania XX had a model version of the future of New York City in the early going of the PPV, in which included the currently under construction Freedom Tower for what it may look like when it's complete, sending out a message to the Spirit of New York.

• In Rescue Me's (2004 – present) first season, the main character of Tommy Gavin has several flashbacks to 9/11, both before and after the towers fall. In addition, 9/11 is mentioned through the entire season as four firefighters were lost on that day. One of them appears in almost every episode as a vision to Tommy. Also, Rescue Me takes credit as the first and (as of July 2006), the only TV show to show a dramatized depiction of the events of 9/11.

• In a 2005 episode of Lost the Twin Towers are seen out of the window of a New York solicitor's office. They were digitally inserted to show the time frame of then and the present day.

• In a first season episode of Journeyman the Twin Towers are seen in picture on the front page of a San Francisco newspaper when the main character goes back in time before the terrorist attacks.

• The 2005-2006 Portuguese soap opera Tempo de Viver devoted its entire first episode to a diamond heist in a South Tower corporate office, and subsequent confrontation when the would-be thief is caught, being violently interrupted by Flight 11 crashing into the North Tower. The characters involved then scramble to leave the burning building after it is also struck, but one of them does not survive and a great deal of plot is later devoted to his widow seeking revenge and/or compensation, as well as to the ultimate fate of the diamonds. Fictional footage of the attack as seen from the interior of the office was digitally created, but stock footage was also used for the scene itself and latter flashbacks.

• 2007-present, 7 World Trade Center's facade is used as the preface to scenes in ABC's Dirty Sexy Money for the office of Patrick "Tripp" Darling III.

• In 2008, early in the pilot episode of ABC's drama Life on Mars, the World Trade Center buildings are shown for a dramatic setting as proof that the main character is in 1973. The premise of the show is that the main character is a detective from 2008 who has been transported, somehow, back to 1973.

• During the final scene of the first season finale of Fringe, the main character, Olivia Dunham, is revealed to be in an office in the South Tower in an alternate reality of 2009, in which the World Trade Center was not destroyed on September 11, 2001. A newspaper headline reading "OBAMAS SET TO MOVE INTO NEW WHITE HOUSE" suggests that the White House was destroyed in this alternate timeline instead of the Towers.

Cartoons and anime

• In the Disney animated film, Oliver and Company, the World Trade Center is seen in the opening sequence.

• In the 1985 cartoon M.A.S.K., an episode titled "Attack on Liberty" leads Matt Trakker to Miles Mayhem's current hideout - 3/4 of the way up the side of the North Tower. Hovering the Thunderhawk outside the window, Matt leaps through the window and confronts Miles, who later escapes and is pursued by Matt around the Statue of Liberty. Mayhem's plot circulated around destroying the Statue and creating a 9/11—style incident

• In the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon the WTC often is seen. One of the most infamous incidents in the series is the episode "Enter: The Fly", which begins with the TMNT flying in their blimp over New York City, searching for Shredder. April O'Neil said that Shredder was seen on the roof on one of the two WTC buildings, and the TMNT find Shredder and Baxter Stockman there. However, Shredder and Baxter Stockman manage to escape.

• In the 1999 cartoon Mike, Lu, and Og in one episode Mike makes a sand sculpture of Manhattan, and she mentions the Twin Towers when showing it to Lu.

• In the same series, during the finale of season three, The Big Blow Out, as The Technodrome rampages through New York, Krang uses the Trade Center Towers as the basis of a conduit that will transmit enough energy to propel the Earth itself into Dimension X, with Krangs spacefleet waiting to destroy New York City.

• A few scenes of the Twin Towers can be seen at the end of the 1992 Danger Mouse episode "The Statue of Liberty Caper". [20]

• In the 1994 animated series Gargoyles the Twin Towers are seen in a few episodes (such as the 4 part pilot) as well as the 3rd Season Opening of The Goliath Chronicles. The second season episode, "The Mirror" has an antagonist gargoyle, "Demona" use a magical mirror with help from "Puck" atop the World Trade Center's, South Tower at night in order to amplify and "broadcast" an evil magic spell to all of New York City's human population. Ironically, this episode first aired on September 11, 1995.

• In the 1997 episode of The Simpsons (season 9) titled The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, Homer is forced to deal with a mountain of parking tickets issued while his car sat illegally for months in the plaza of the WTC. Particular comic relief is provided when Homer, desperately needing to use the restroom, pushes people out of his way to get a ticket to the elevator into the towers and after pushing other people out of the elevator line to get to the elevator to ride to top of the South Tower only to discover the only working bathroom is in the North Tower, which he took the elevator for. You can see this because when Homer is going up the towers you can clearly hear the elevator rising and dinging at the top of both towers. Also in the episode, two men in opposite towers begin arguing with each other, which was tipped off after one proclaimed, "Sorry, they put all the jerks in Tower One", a line which the show's creators expressed deep regret at during the post 9/11 episode commentary on the season 9 boxset. A man apparently residing a few floors above the brawling men (as evidenced by a clothesline strung across the towers) finally yells at them to shut up. This episode has been banned from showing in many countries, but is included in the season 9 boxset. However, some FOX affiliates continued to show the episode in syndication, including New York City's own WNYW Fox 5 airing the unaltered episode less than two weeks after the towers' collapses.

• The 1998 fantasy anime OVA Shin (Change!) Getter Robo: The Last Days of the Earth (commonly known as Getter Robo Armageddon) had two episodes take place on Manhattan Island. The island (the WTC included) were destroyed when the Shin Getter Robo and the Black Getter Robo were forced to destroy the battleship they were using to stop a hoard of Invaders.

• In the first episode of the 2001 fantasy anime OVA Read or Die, an aerial battle in Lower Manhattan which climaxes around the Statue of Liberty begins with a helicopter crash on the roof of one of the WTC towers.

• In the 2001 anime Haré+Guu, the towers appear in Guu's "stomach".

• In the (1999–2003) animated series Futurama the setting takes place in the year 3000 in New New York City. In first episode, Fry, Leela and Bender adventured to the forgotten and decaying ruins of Old New York (which was under now located under the sewers of New New York) The destroyed towers appeared in the background several times. In New New York City, A future version of the Twin Towers appear in the futuristic skyline, similar to the originals but with skybridges. After 9/11 the Towers remained.

• In the special episode "The Tower Country" of Kino's Journey (2005), the plot revolves around a tower which collapses in a similar way as the first of the Twin Towers.

• The animated sitcom Family Guy episode titled A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks, Peter does a musical number with Meg across NYC, which had the Twin Towers. During the musical, Peter jumps off one of the towers and goes into match cut.

• In the 2002 Family Guy episode Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows Brian performs a musical number to Pearl on how America has changed since the 1950s. Many cut scenes show places around the U.S., including a shot of the Twin Towers. When the episode Aired in 2002 on Fox the two towers were digitally erased, or technically, shortened. Other airings of this episode elsewhere show the Twin Towers intact. Also in the episode Baby Not On Board Peter and the family minus Stewie visit Ground Zero.

• In the Hey Arnold! episode "Married", Helga has a dream about her future life with Arnold, one scene included them having breakfast atop a luxurious skyscraper north of Central Park. The Twin Towers are prominently seen in the distance, along with other landmarks such as the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and Chrysler Building. The episode first aired March 2002, but the view of the penthouse and New York City skyline weren't cut out until later airings, but the tops of the two towers can still be seen while the two conversate.

• In the anime Eden of the East, The Freedom Tower/World Trade Center 1 can be seen in the background and when mentioning the subject of the destroyed twin towers, Takizawa takes a picture of himself and Saki in a background that is reminiscent of 9/11. The series is set in the year 2010.

• In the 2000 MTV animated series Spy Groove, entitled "Manhattan Glam Chowder", the villain Mr. Fish is on top of the South Tower of the World Trade Center about to lure Agent #2 into a trap. Later Agent #1 appears on the North Tower and uses a laser to slice the antenna to make a bridge over to the South Tower. This episode did not air in the United States, because the show was cancelled after six episodes. The episode is found in Europe and Canada.

Music

• The song "The Evil Has Landed" by American Thrash metal band Testament from their 2008 release The Formation of Damnation was written about the 9/11 attacks. It includes lyrics such as "The towers got hit, a steel bird with wings of destruction".
• "New York, New York" is a song composed and performed by American alt-country musician Ryan Adams. The song's music video shows Adams performing in front of the city's skyline, and features the World Trade Center visible from across the East River, from Brooklyn where Adams is for the majority of the video. It was filmed just four days before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Because of this, profits of the video went to a 9/11 charity, as well as a message written at the end of the video giving tribute to those who lost their lives.
• The twin towers of the World Trade Center briefly appear twice in the music video to R.E.M.'s 1989 single "Stand".
• The World Trade Center appears behind and to the left of the Empire State Building on the front cover to the Oasis album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants.
• Stevie Wonder's video for his 1985 hit song "Part-Time Lover" shows the twin towers in the background (at night) while he is singing.
• The Twin Towers are shown in some of Madonna's music videos, such as "Like a Virgin," "Papa Don't Preach," and "Ray of Light."
• The World Trade Center appears in the music video for Blondie's hit "Heart of Glass."
• In Al B. Sure's music video "Nite and Day", the towers are shown.
• The towers can be seen in Zhane's "Vibe" music video.
• The towers appeared prominently in Neal McCoy's 1994 video "The City Put the Country Back in Me."
• Alan Jackson's 1994 "Gone Country" video had them featured in a flyover scene.
• Vince Gill's 1995 "When Love Finds You" video had several scenes of the towers.
• Martina McBride's "Wild Angels", released in 1995, showed the tower in a wide shot of the video.
• Lil' Kim's music video for her 1996 debut single "No Time" features her and P. Diddy riding up and down the World Trade Center escaltors while rapping. Kim makes a reference to the video in her 2005 single "Whoa" were she says "...told you I'm the same bitch from the escalator...".
• The song by The Notorious B.I.G., "Juicy" released in 1994 features the lyrics "blow up like the World Trade" in a reference to the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993". When the verse was sampled for the Jay-Z song, "A Dream" in 2002, the words "World Trade" were omitted.
• One of the barhops from Hogs and Heifers in downtown Manhattan walks near the globe where the twin towers stood in The Kentucky Headhunters' 2001 "Louisiana Coco" video.
• In the music video for the song "Cherish the Day", Sade is singing the song on top of a NYC skyscraper. The twin towers are seen in the background while the Chrysler Building is seen in the forefront.
• New York based Progressive metal band Dream Theater's song "Sacrificed Sons" from their 2005 album Octavarium is a tribute to the rescue workers who died during and after the attacks. Their 2001 live album Live Scenes from New York was also recalled, as it showed the NYC skyline, including the WTC, in flames. The album was released on September 11, 2001.
• The group Limp Bizkit feature the World Trade Center in their music video for the song "Rollin'" (2000). The band is shown on the South Tower, staging portions of the music video on its rooftop observation deck. The end of the video features a gradually distancing helicopter shot of the towers.
• The video for the Spice Girls song "2 Become 1", released in 1996, features numerous night-time shots of the World Trade Center, from differing angles, throughout the duration of the clip.
• The cover for the album The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One by Liam Howlett of The Prodigy shows counter with 3 rows of numbers. Second row has value "0090". Third row has value "1101". This album was released in 1999.
• The back cover for the album How I Spent My Summer Vacation by The Bouncing Souls shows the Twin Towers, among other buildings, burning and being destroyed. This album was released in May 2001.
• Rap group The Coup released an album in late 2001 called Party Music, whose original depicts explosions in the towers set off by a detonator. The cover was changed after the 9/11 attacks.
• The cover of the Beastie Boys' sixth studio album, To the 5 Boroughs, is a drawing featuring the Twin Towers in a compressed New York skyline. This album was released in 2004.
• Dave Matthews Band was set to film a music video for their song "When the World Ends" from the album Everyday. The music video was supposed to feature lead singer Dave Matthews climbing a ladder to the top of a giant tower. The video idea and single were shelved after the 9/11 attacks and replaced by the more uplifting song "Everyday".
• A promotional video for Depeche Mode's video "Enjoy the Silence," features the band performing the song on the observation deck of the South Tower. This video is not, however, the official music video for the song.
• The song "United Stand" on the Impelliterri album system X is about the two towers.
• Rapper Jay-Z pays tribute to the dead of 9/11 attack in album Blueprint 2. He was also one of the first entertainers to also help out after the disaster, using his tour money as part of the donation.
• Rapper Jay-Z features the World Trade Center in his music video "Dead Presidents".
• Will Smith wrote a song titled "Why", which in the first verse of the song mentions him and his son watching the attacks on TV. He presumably based it on what he and his son referenced on that day, with his son asking him "Why" and how could he explain it to him.
• Filmed in the NYC area, the video titled "Scenario" by A Tribe Called Quest featuring Leaders of the New School (with Busta Rhymes) briefly shows the Twin Towers in the background. The towers are also seen in their video "Electric Relaxation."
• Rapper Pete Miser wrote a song titled "Might Be" which mentions the events of September 11, 2001. The song is featured on Pete Miser's album "Radio Free Brooklyn" which was released in 2002.
• The song "Open Letter to NYC" also includes Mike D referencing to The Twin Towers and pays homage to New York City.
• In Linkin Park's 2007 single, What I've Done the video features many clips of Global Issues, a brief shot of the Lower Manhattan Skyline is shown with the Twin Towers, also scenes of 9/11 are shown later in the video.
• In Bruce Springsteen's Song "Darlington County" (Born in the U.S.A. - Released 1984) a lyrical reference to the trade centers is made: "...Our pa's each own one of the World Trade Centers for a kiss and a smile I'll give mine all to you..."
• The music video for "Worst Comes To Worst" by Dilated Peoples contains a shot with the Twin Towers in the background. The video was filmed before the attacks, but was released afterwards with a disclaimer stating that the artists meant no disrespect by including the image of the World Trade Center.
• I Am the World Trade Center, a music group active since 1999. After the September 11 attacks, the group briefly went by the name "I Am the World".
• The My Chemical Romance song "Skylines and Turnstiles" was written as a tribute to the 9/11 attacks. Gerard Way witnessed the attacks first hand from a ferry.
• Eminem highlights the World Trade Center attacks in his song "My Dad's Gone Crazy" from the Eminem Show album. The lyrics are: "More pain inside of my brain, than in the eyes of a little girl inside of a plane, aimed at the World Trade..."
• AC/DC used the World Trade Center in the video for "Shake Your Foundations".
• In the Kevin Rudolf song "N.Y.C." Nas raps and mentions the towers: "The illest city on the planet, towers came down, wall street barely standing."
• The video of Dinosaur JR's "Feel the Pain" was filmed with the World Trade Center as a backdrop.
• The band Breaking Benjamin filmed their 2009 single I Will Not Bow in the World Trade Center Building 10.

Comic books

• Adventures of Superman #596 was released one day after the September 11, 2001 attacks. It depicted Metropolis after an alien attack, including Lex Luthor's twin LexTowers heavily damaged. The artist, Mike Wieringo remarked, "The book was completed months ago. The ironic thing is that the damage done by the terrorists is far greater than I could ever portray visually." The book's writer, Joe Casey, could not have intentionally referenced the attacks on the World Trade Center, but DC acknowledged that it mirrored the devastation so vividly that they made the books returnable without penalty to retailers. Many retailers took DC up on this offer, causing the issue to become sought after on the secondary market due to its rarity and general curiosity towards the real-life synchronicity with the 9-11 attacks.

• In 1982 Fantastic Four #242-243, the Fantastic Four fight Terrax in a battle atop the World Trade Center.

• In 1985 The Uncanny X-Men #189 continued the alternate vision of the future first seen in the Days of Future Past storyline. Rachel Summers (who came from the future), while describing the dire future of the early 21st century, says "The twin towers of World Trade Center lie in ruins. Thousands are dead, many more injured". The accompanying image is of a somewhat futurized Twin Towers smouldering, after having been hit by an unknown attack.

• In the 1989 Damage Control, the Twin Towers were damaged when a giant robot fell on them. Damage Control, a construction company that specialized in repairing superhero-related damage, had the towers repaired (although visibly crooked) by the end of the issue.

• In the Mortadelo y Filemon comic "El 35 Anniversario" (The 35th Anniversary) appears an image of a plane that cracks in the WTC.

• The 2004 comic Ex Machina detailed the life of Mitchell Hundred, formerly the world's first and only superhero, who was elected mayor of New York City in the wake of his saving hundreds of lives during the collapse of the North Tower, and in preventing the collapse of the South Tower.

• Most of the Marvel Comics heroes reside in New York City, so views of the towers was not uncommon. Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) issue 36 showed the aftermath of the Tower's collapse through the eyes of the heroes, more specifically, Spider-Man's. Captain America (vol. 4) issue 1 had Steve Rogers arguing with Nick Fury when the former decided to stay and find survivors before heading to Afghanistan.

• Issue #1 of Valiant Comics's Game Boy comic series had two teenagers going through Manhattan Island, aiding Mario in rescuing Princess Daisy from the villainous Tatanga, the story concluding at the Windows of the World restaurant.

• In the Aliens: Outbreak graphic novel, Hicks and Newt escape from a mental hospital using "Jet Rescue technology". It was "developed after the World Trade Center Smoked in '24".

• In a Duck Tales comic, Twin buildings made by Uncle Scrooge get destroyed by a flying money vase which many people think it might have something to do with 9/11.

• Marvel Comics Marvel Graphic Novel #17 depicts the Living Monolith standing almost as tall as the World Trade Center and thrusting his giant fist through one of the towers.

Further reading

• Dixon, Wheeler Winston (2004). Film and Television After 9/11. Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 080932556X.
• Sanders, James (2001). Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies. Knopf. ISBN 0394570626.

External links

• WTC in Movies The Web's most definitive list
• World Trade Center - Literary and Cultural Reflections, Dennis G. Jerz, Seton Hill University
• Celluloid Skyline, James Sanders