Comments on: The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos

By: annabelle

annabelle — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 06:25:17 +0000

if you’ve got dreamworks up there, how about pixar? their bouncing lamp is taken from the first film the company made in 1986 – Luxo Jr.

By: Steve Soffer

Steve Soffer — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:30:42 +0000

Quick update on a few things… The 22 stars in the Paramount logo represent satillite offices from which the prints of the movies were distributed to the theater chains via bicycle. A guy named Rocky who worked for years at Pacific Title was the artist who painted the original version on glass. fyi, I was the producer of the Gulf and Western version done in the early nineties for the Studio in honor of their 75th Anniversary while at graphics animation company Studio Productions. My partner Jay Jacoby was the Director and we had a great team of professionals working with us. CGI was in its infancy and we had a heck of a time doing the film recording using a B&W military film scanner and color lenses to record the CGI stars. John Dykstras company Apogee built the model using 20,000 hand made trees and shot the motion control. The film was composited in VistaVision which just so happened was an old film format that Paramount had introduced many years earlier. I had the pleasure of working with Frank Mancuso who was chairman of Paramount Pictures at the time and a wonderful guy!

A version of the 20th C. Fox logo was originally produced in 1991 by ILM and failed to be released because it was deemed a failure. Gotta run but I will share that story another time.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:21:45 +0000

It disgusts me to no end that people find an article about companies who wish to control your freedom of speech and fracture the very medium on which you present this information to be amusing. Turn off your damn tv’s people. Logo’s are not interesting. This amounts to nothing more than a free advertisement.

By: Anastasia

Anastasia — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:17:52 +0000

What a great post! I loved looking at progression of these logos. The MGM lion will always be my favorite :]

By: D.L. Chandell

D.L. Chandell — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:06:43 +0000

From one brilliant source of information to another, I am ever so pleased to find this nice historical account of production logos OUTSIDE the CLG bringing people together to share our thoughts, fascinations, and memories with one another.

By the way, Paramount dropped two of their 24 stars for GULF and WESTERN, when they acquired them in 1967 and the byline was made official in 1968.

Always Watching,
D.L. CHANDELL
The DLC Organization,
parent of CLG Wiki

By: Thierry

Thierry — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:21:11 +0000

What is the technical name for all of these logos that appear before a film?
If there is one?

By: Chris Ronk

Chris Ronk — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:31:50 +0000

I am feeling a little more educated today thanks to you. Keep up the good work.

By: Mimi Dutelle

Mimi Dutelle — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:20:44 +0000

Glad to see I’m not the only one fascinated by the way studio logos change over the years! Thanks! I found the best description of the creation of MGM’s lion logo in Hollywood East (Carol Publishing)by Diana Altman, daughter of a famous MGM talent scout.

Altman points out that the words in the MGM logo, Ar Gratia Artis, do NOT mean Art for Art’s sake but are gibberish. Howard Diez wanted his lion to seem intelligent so he surrounded it with Latin. If he had studied Latin, he would know that the Ars in his phrase means art as in the art of baking bread, the art of public speaking. The concept of Art (fine art) for its own sake is an idea that never would have occurred to the Romans because all Art was created for one’s patron.

The true origin of this phrase is not Latin but English.

By: Rob Wallace

Rob Wallace — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:41:43 +0000

This is THE perfect site for me. I have been watching film company trademarks for 50 years. I love knowing whats behind the logo.

MGM’s (how the heckk can it be Sonuy Pictures with that nonsense trademark?) Art for Art’s Sake.” was a revelation for me.

Keep adding content!

By: history of hollywood

history of hollywood — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:02:01 +0000

An interesting read – some good tips here

By: craig

craig — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 02:54:53 +0000

Hi does anyone know where to get posters of current studio logos
THANK YOU

By: anna maria lopez lopez

anna maria lopez lopez — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:28:52 +0000

What an interesting article, really well documented. We are so familiar with these opening logos that is great to know their origin and roots. Thanks for sharing! Greetings from Spain!

By: Arrica Lee

Arrica Lee — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:23:14 +0000

Great! I never know any of this before. Thanks for sharing!

By: Balee

Balee — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:42:58 +0000

Hi, I heard that in Paramount logo it is mountain Matterhorn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matterhorn), isn’t it?

By: LeeW

LeeW — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:03:11 +0000

Fascinating stuff. Gotta confess: I HATE Tristar’s logo. Pegasus flying out of the screen toward the viewer scares the hell out of me. If I even hear that trumpeting music, I turn my head until it’s over!

By: Maury

Maury — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:20:22 +0000

I’ve heard the streak in the “Touchstone” logo is actually, Mickey Mouse from Fantasia, just skewed. Would make sense as Disney created Touchstone…

By: jaxon

jaxon — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:16:47 +0000

very interesting…I just stumbeled onto you….jax

By: alizee

alizee — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:11:39 +0000

Great article but after mentioning Alfred Newman`s famous logofanfare I wonder if you can`t do the same about those companies Logofanfares, that would be a great accompany to this interesting article..

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:32:48 +0000

I got the following factoids from a ibrary assistant at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

Did you know that MGM used to use a young lion cub as their logo for their short films, ca: 1940 I’ve seen it in their promotional materials, but don’t know if he “roared”. I believe they referred to him as “Leo Junior”.

I was able to print out your article on the various film studios’ logos, and it will be added to our file here at the library under “Trademarks”. And I found a bit more info for you. Hope you can find these articles by these citations:

Variety (W) Sept. 1, 2008 “Leaping Logos! A limitless litany adorns every new pic” -by Peter Debruge

Hollywood Reporter July 10, 2006 “Disney magic of old in new animated logo” -by Sheigh Crabtree (re: the new ‘castle’ logo that debuted with
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”)

and our most-recent entry is rather short, from the L.A. Times Nov. 7, 2008 “Updated style for MGM’s lion” -by Susan King

Leo the Lion has had a makeover. The famed MGM logo feline has been digitally restored and given a new roar. The refurbished Leo will make his
bow on the James Bond thriller “Quantum of Solace,” which opens in the U.S. on Nov. 14.

The famed logo was designed by Howard Deitz 92 years ago for the Goldwyn Pictures Corp. and first appeared on the 1917 romance “Polly of the Circus.” Over the last nine decades, five different lions have been used as the logo. Slates, who was hired after the 1924 merger that created MGM, made his debut on the studio’s first feature, 1924′s “He Who Gets Slapped.” Jackie was the first of the lions to roar, thanks to a gramophone recording, for the 1928 adventure “White Shadow of the South Seas.”

Leo has been king of the MGM logo for the last 51 years and was used in the digital restoration. The studio’s postproduction team scanned Leo into the computer from the original camera negative of 1958′s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” for his digital makeover. They enlisted sound designer Mark Magnini, who had recorded lion roars for the ghostly sound effects in 1982′s “Poltergeist.” Mangini used those 26-year-old elements to create a new stereo roar for the iconic lion.

Thanks Kathryn!

By: Naomi

Naomi — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:03:47 +0000

that’s pretty awesome. i just think there is a little lacking in the conceptual explanation of the logos. i want more

By: Ronald Crair

Ronald Crair — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:37:48 +0000

Paramount films. Am I the only one to see the Greek letters Alpha and Omega? The stars and the line acros the bottom makea the omega and the peek makes the alpha.

By: Robert Miller

Robert Miller — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:30:49 +0000

I found your article quite entertaining, and concise and informative. I think you did a great job. Though you have some negative comments, the article does what it is meant to do, entertain. I always look at articles like these as teasers, and a jumping point to do my own research. Well done.

By: kazoo

kazoo — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:04:18 +0000

Interesting.

Adding to what others have said about the female entity named “Columbia”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_(name)

She is the woman the District of Columbia (as well as many other things)is named after and her name is based on Christopher Columbus. So she is indeed “the female personification of America”

By: Dinflux Ed

Dinflux Ed — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:52:56 +0000

Great article, very informative and well researched. Gave you a link on my blog so my readers can come check it out.

I love how the WB logo went through some horrible phases, they really should have just made up their mind…

By: Ivo

Ivo — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:36:18 +0000

Heheh, such a usefull information, I have always wondered what those logos mean ..

By: tommy

tommy — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:54:28 +0000

Great history post. Great follow up as well.

By: Cindylover1969

Cindylover1969 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:13:21 +0000

“after mentioning Alfred Newman`s famous logofanfare I wonder if you can`t do the same about those companies Logofanfares, that would be a great accompany to this interesting article.”

I have to agree, especially since they’ve had some notable composers – the current Universal fanfare is by Jerry Goldsmith (RIP), and the DreamWorks music is by none other than John Williams.

By: Dew

Dew — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:07:09 +0000

Very interesting. I like all the conspiracy nonsense in the comments too. Man, some people just can’t read something interesting without trying to make it a world changing drama.

By: Alfonso Lozano

Alfonso Lozano — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:54:30 +0000

Estupenda reseña sobre la historia de estos logotipos.

Hay un post de referencia en Portafolioblog.

Saludos

By: Devlin Thompson

Devlin Thompson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:17:31 +0000

The “modern” MGM logo mentioned by commenter #8 didn’t have a lot of use onscreen, but it was used for some years in print materials, as the MGM Records logo, and by the MGM Grand casino (I’ve got a couple of gold plastic swizzle sticks with it).

By: Jangsoyoung

Jangsoyoung — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:46:35 +0000

sorry..
I can not say in English.
Google is using a translator.
I would like to move to my blog post.
This article will be translated into Korean.
Blog address- http://blog.naver.com/nyovung
Have a good day.

By: Pola

Pola — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:52:15 +0000

I have noticed that one of the major Italian online newspaper, La Repubblica, often copies Neatorama content.
In the past I tought that it was because news are news and are world-widely known, but when I find articles like this one: http://www.repubblica.it/2008/12/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/loghi-ho llywood/loghi-hollywood/loghi-hollywood.html
just 2 days after you published this post, I wonder if you should be at least given credits.

By: rafb

rafb — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:50:46 +0000

great compilation!

By: Daniele

Daniele — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:07:15 +0000

Well… it was actually ripped-off by one of the most important italian newspapers:
http://www.repubblica.it/2008/12/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/loghi-ho llywood/loghi-hollywood/loghi-hollywood.html?ref=hpspr1
without even referring the source

Daniele

By: aidan

aidan — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:17:39 +0000

i never knew this! thanks for sharing!

By: jasen

jasen — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:08:23 +0000

Interesting logo history… Thumbs up!!

By: rip

rip — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:13:21 +0000

excellent

By: Steven Nicholson

Steven Nicholson — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:07:04 +0000

I believe one of the unnamed lions was called Steven. And was from a zoo in Ireland. Great blog entry. My favorite would be Warner Independent or Scott Free (sadly not mentioned).

By: Dan Wilcox

Dan Wilcox — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:53:37 +0000

I met Claudia Dell about 15 years ago at a party. She was a very funny old stout lady. Wish I’d known about the Columbia Logo. I could have asked her.

By: kenk

kenk — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:53:02 +0000

Realart was a small company in the late 40′s & early 50′s that mainly re-released Universal horror classics
and Abbott & Costello comedies. The logo: 2 spinning film reels on the left and right with a piece of film
spelling out “Realart” with an accompaning music cue.
Recently I’ve only seen it on the front of the video
for the movie “The Fighting Sullivans”.

By: Dan Wilcox

Dan Wilcox — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:51:53 +0000

Love this site.

By: mike weeks

mike weeks — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:38:39 +0000

Republic been gone so long, but they had good logos. The glass tower, and there famous eagle

By: Danny

Danny — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:23:49 +0000

What about Mel Gibson’s Icon film studio? You know, the one with the lightning, thunder and Inka-like face? A very cool logo indeed!!!

By: David Sparks

David Sparks — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:19:47 +0000

haha columbia the torch lady

also known as the Goddess Columbia who happens to be the goddess of America that most people dont know about.

seen in statue form all over our nations capital. if youve seen a female statue at any government building, it is the goddess columbia.

not the torch lady haha

By: Gale

Gale — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:59:37 +0000

I agree with Wendy, but I thought Annette Benning already model for the Columbia Torch Lady. She looks just like her.

By: Joey

Joey — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:24:59 +0000

Awesome read! I totally love movie trivia like this.

I remember reading an article that said at the beginning of Dead Man Walking Torchlady’s face was replaced with Susan Sarandon’s face. Anyone catch/remember that? Am I on drugs? I can’t seem to find any facts to back me up…maybe it was a different film. And did TorchLady wink at the beginning of a movie too….?

Whoever posted the comment about the studio logo setting them up for a good movie…. I love it see that Focus Features logo before a film! Or in the 90′s I used to believe any thing from New Line was made just for me! And though I’m not really that big of a Star Wars nerd, it’s fun to hear the yells of delight when the green Lucas Film Logo appears before a movie.

By: waldolydecker

waldolydecker — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:22:51 +0000

Visual puns on well-known logos would be interesting to write about – for instance the Paramount mountain becoming a REAL mountain in the precredit sequence of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, or the Columbia Statue screaming and running away fwhen seeing a tiny mouse in THE MOUSE THAT ROARED, etc. Hope you go on with Universal and RKO, both of high interest.
I’ll mention this exciting piece on my french weblog. Thanks for it.

By: soma

soma — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:39:18 +0000

What’s with the Lucha Libre mask beneath the MGM lion… I recently noticed that and it has bothered me since. Maybe someone tried to combine the comedy/tragedy masks into one…?

By: Soulknock

Soulknock — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:49:36 +0000

Great article, though I miss the story behind the Universal logo, as many other commenters do. I like the idea of “light spreads all over Earth”, which has been used for some years now.
I’ve always been a “fan” of studio logos, my other favourites,which are not discussed here,includethe New Line Cinema, the Spyglass Entertainment and the Lakeshore Entertainment logos.
In my opinion, Ravenclawed had a very fitting observation just a few comments above about the dispension of traditional Hollywood logos during the 70s (most notably of WB) – I think it was something to do with the breaking with the old Hollywood, after all it was a revisionist era in the movies and such great directors as F.F. Coppola, Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg or Peter Bogdanovich emerged, just to name but a few.

By: Bisse Borjesson

Bisse Borjesson — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 09:53:12 +0000