system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Back in the olden days, movies showed the majority to all of their credits BEFORE the actual movie. Now, the credits roll after the movie. When was the official transition between the two, and why did Cinema change it?
gpt
One of the first films to have substantial closing credits was Around the World in 80 Days, in 1956, however it wasn't until the 1960s that it started to become common, and the 1970s when it became standard.

Initially, credits were only shown in the beginning because that was in line with book credits or theater programs (which you get when you enter) -- you see the credits right up front. And when the credits only included the above-the-line personnel (the key creative personnel who shape the film), that was feasible. Think of the handful of people included at the bottom of movie posters, and who are sometimes still credited at the beginning of the film: the actors, director, writer, producer, DP, editor, composer, production designer, etc. When those were the only people being credited, it was easy to put them all up front.

It wasn't until movies started crediting more than just the above-the-line personnel that there was any need to move them to the end, because audiences didn't want to sit through extensive credits before the film started; showing them at the end, when people could get up and leave, was the only alternative. Further, big spectacular films, with very large casts and crews (like Around the World) were the ones most likely to have extensive credits, so in many cases they were the earliest films to do so.

It's also worth noting that, initially, end credits tended to be an *addition*, not a replacement -- most films still included the key personnel in opening credits (just as they had always done), while also providing a complete list of credits at the end. But over time, as end credits became standard, more films began opting to forgo the opening credits altogether.