Every part of the ritual of a film can and should be used to further immerse the audience into its world. Hearing, for example, that Universal Pictures fanfare while the globe of their logo spins isn’t technically part of the narrative, but it’s literally part of the film. So why not take these studio logos, these overtures to the ritual of watching a movie, and go even further toward immersion?
To celebrate the times when movie studios have messed with their own imagery and traditions to get us into the purview of the film even quicker, here are 38 of our favorite logo variants — that is, times when a movie radically changed its studio logo in the credits. From mountains made of buttons to Batsignals made of water towers, you’ll see the wide breadth of what can happen when well-known icons get a film-boosting twist.
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2 Fast 2 Furious
Thejoie de vivreof theFast and Furiousfranchise, here represented by the perfectly titled2 Fast 2 Furiousis so strong, so tantalizing in its siren song, that it causes the entire friggin' globe to transform into a spinning hubcap on a car. How would you react were you alive when the earth suddenly transformed into a spinning hubcap on a car? I’d be like, “AHHHHHHH actually this is pretty cool, I get it.”
The Adventures of Robin Hood
One of, if notthefirst, movie studio logo variants presented to audiences, 1938’sThe Adventures of Robin Hood, starringErrol Flynnas the classic character, begins with an ornate, medieval, and simply exquisite rendering of the Warner Bros. logo. This thing is beautiful, stylishly adorning the aesthetics of the period while also laying the benchmark for what “classic Hollywood” would mean many years later. Why not just make this the official logo?
Bah-bah-bah-baaaah! Bah-bah-bah-baaaaah! Bah-bah-baaaaaaaHHHHWHHHWHHZHZHZHWHWHWHZ!
You know the 20th Century Fox fanfare like the back of your hand. AndAlien 3understands that the quickest way to get under your skin before the official horrors of the film even start is to corrupt this iconic, catchy, bombastic fanfare, cruelly unallowing it to resolve, sliding the minor fourth (already a spooky chord) into a tidal wave of disquieting dissonance. This must’ve been very fun for the orchestra to play!
American Made
What a disruptive set of logos! To delve us back into the politically incendiary 1970s, a time of gas shortages and broken wars and Jimmy Carter telling his constituents they were all very sad,American Madehard cuts into the retro versions of its various movie studios (some of which had tomakeretro versions, given that they didn’t exist back then) while interrupting them with actual archival television footage of the era. “A Fifth of Beethoven” underscores the whole thing, giving it all a queasy but intoxicating vision of American excess persevering among such American squalor. The sequence might actually make its points better than the movie that follows?
Another You
Goddammit,Richard Pryoris so funny. To open hisAnother You, Pryor simply comments on the Pegasus at the center of the Tri-Star Pictures logo as if it’s a regular white horse coming to cause chaos and havoc. It’s such perfect, simple voice of reason work, and it ends with about the funniest distillation of the myth of Pegasus that I’ve ever heard.
Batman Forever
Batman Foreversquishes the Warner Bros. logo into a Bat symbol using strange morphing effects that do not hold up.It remains a perfect movie, no notes.
The Cannonball Run
Another 20th Century Fox interruption, this time from the cops and outlaws and steel-laden car chases centering the rebellious road comedyThe Cannonball Run. The fanfare slows down like some smashed stop on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder, and a cartoon car literally drives into the 0 of 20th to outrun a nefarious cop car.The Cannonball Run20th Century Fox logo variant said ACAB!
Cat Ballou
Yee-haw! The Columbia Pictures Torch Lady drops her shining pinnacle of class and dignity to turn into a cartoon, pick up a six-shooter, and start spewin' bullets left and right. It’s a chaotic but invigorating start toCat Ballou, a comedic western starringJane Fonda, one that mixes up classic mythologies with a modern sense of muckraking.
Constantine
Ready for a quick trip to Hell? To represent the gritty trappings ofConstantine, ourKeanu Reeves-played detective of all things demony, the Warner Bros. logo fades to a murky red before dissolving away in decrepit dust, ash, and hellfire. Cheesy? Perhaps. Unbelievably metal in its mood-setting? Hell yeah.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A simple idea rendered with intriguing visuals and surprising class. If your film is calledThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button, presenting the studio logos in literal buttons might feel a bit cartoonish on paper. But in practice — and especially underscored to an orchestra tuning up the way they would at a live concert — the result is just so, so lovely and elegant. What else would you expect from master craftsmanDavid Fincher?
