The 25 most iconic movie company logos, from A24 to Pixar to TriStar
In honor of Napoleon and Ridley Scott's Scott Free imprint, these are our favorite film studio and production company logos
Film Features TriStar
A good studio logo says something about the movie you’re about to see. Sometimes it’s as literal as “this movie is based on a Marvel comic book,” sometimes it’s a testament to a studio’s place in film history, and sometimes it’s—at the risk of sounding very cool—a total vibe that gives you a sense of what to expect from the movie you’re about to see. There are even extremely rare occasions when the logo is so good at hyping up a movie that it makes you wish the Dark Universe hadn’t been a catastrophic flop.
So, in honor of the release of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon and the beautifully haunting logo for Scott Free Productions, here are The A.V. Club’s 25 favorite production company logos (in alphabetical order, so no fighting!) and what they say about the movies they’re attached to.
47 Comments
MGM
Bingo.
I don’t know how that was missing.
Was Paramount missing too, or am I blind? (not going through another slide show).
#16 was paramount
My bad. Meant Columbia lady.
That’s so blatant it has to be on purpose. Especially since it’s been around for over a hundred fucking years.
United Artists
The logo in front of GoldenEye is my favorite one. The next one up is pretty slick with the music too.
It’s missing the best one.
I thought about posting that video and decided to go with one that had more versions.
I was in a bar in NYC in the early aughts and met a woman who said she wrote the piano part for the UA vanity card.I believed her in part because it’s such an obscure claim to fame.
Wow, that’s amazing. I’d believe her, too. Not a very complicated composition, but it’s perfect. I used to say it was my favorite piece of music ever.
You can tell it’s good/memorable because when she mentioned it I knew exactly what she was talking about.
This is almost a good list. But Orion Pictures is quite a glaring omission.
Orion
Also Studio Ghibli – you want a flashy logo? So what! Here’s a picture of Totoro. And everyone is satisfied.
Golan/Globus! You know this was the lead in to, like, every Jean-Claude VanDamme movie ever…
I assume this was one of the really obvious ones left out so that it’d create more comments …which worked I guess.
You say “iconic”, then you use the Transformers Paramount logo when everyone knows it means Indiana Jones.And to me, Columbia is as much the start of Ghostbusters as 20th Century Fox is Star Wars.And the variant for one movie that no one saw?
One more complaint: where’s Arriving Flight?
“Come on, growl!” “What are you, on Valium?” “Maybe I oughta crank his tale, start him up.”Bob and Doug Mackenzie dealing with their live MGM lion in Strange Brew…
Maybe I oughta crank his tale TAIL, jeez, I know how to spell it – how embarrassing. (Thought about saying that Bob and Doug would spell it that way, but..)Damn this can’t-edit-after-15-minutes thing.
So Bad Robot made the cut but not J. Arthur Rank/The Archers?
Holy shit, this is an actual article/discussion?
This sort of article is a entertaining substitute for the actual thought and composition that go into writing real copy. I’m off to sign up for the annual Huxley Jingle Competition.
I’ve only seen this logo during Blade Runner, but it’s forever etched in my head. It oddly fits with the cyberpunk theme of the movie.
Also shown (appropriately as the story was cyberpunkish as well given the future evil corporation angle), 1981’s Outland, the Sean Connery movie where he plays a Marshall trying to clean up a notoriously corrupt space mining facility.
No one cares. Trash.
1. This is stupid.2.
Ah yes, but for Freddy or LotR?
It doesn’t get more iconic than this:
The floating lion that is DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group – simple, lion-y and with gongs.Plus lots of their films had boobs and I was 14 years old.
Good lord, a slideshow of company logos. Must be the slowest of slow news days.
Are you folks about 15 years old? Seems like it.
So yesterday Dan Murrell posts a 150 Studio Logos explained video and today y’all post this here?Shame on you.
Dan Murrell just released a video yesterday about 150 studio logos on his YouTube channel – coincidence?
I think the Pixar intro is legendary because of that moment the lamp turns toward the audience and just “stares” right at you for an extended pause. There’s something so directly engaging about it. Every time I see it I feel like it’s asking me “are you ready?” Like so many things (once) associated with Apple, it’s thoughtfully crafted.
When you’re at an office meeting or a regional film festival you know you’re in for something truly special the moment this logo pops up.
Bad Robot is “iconic?” Oh fuck off
They’re just a flash in the pan. Or more appropriately for J.J., a lens flare!