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Movies that alter or use the studio logo

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Movies that alter or use the studio logo

Old 06-27-07, 09:00 AM
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Movies that alter or use the studio logo

The wife and I saw Ocean's Thirteen last night. During the opening they altered the colors of the studio logos and actually put moving graphics over the top of them. I work with corporate logos and a lot of companies would consider that a HUGE no-no so it always jumps out at me when I see it.

A couple of other examples I could think of include coloring the Dreamworks logo sepia for Gladiator and making the Warner Brothers logo techno-green and shiny for The Matrix. I think WB also let them turn the logo into bats for Batman Begins.

I always thought they missed an opportunity to put sunglasses on the woman on the Columbia logo for the Men in Black films - seemed pretty obvious to me.

The other thing was movies that use the logo to really start the film. Two examples I could think of are the opening of Charlie's Angels where the camera flies into the clouds behind the Columbia logo and using the Paramount mountain to open Mission: Impossible II.
Old 06-27-07, 09:02 AM
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Raiders of the Lost Ark memorably opens with the Paramount mountain fading into the image of a real mountain in the background of the opening scene. (This is the first time that I can remember a movie using the studio logo as a part of the movie itself.)
Old 06-27-07, 09:04 AM
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Saw this: http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=306239
Might help.
Old 06-27-07, 09:05 AM
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Originally Posted by dhmac
Raiders of the Lost Ark memorably opens with the Paramount mountain fading into the image of a real mountain in the background of the opening scene. (This is the first time that I can remember a movie using the studio logo as a part of the movie itself.)
I think that was Temple of Doom as I just saw it this past weekend. Maybe it was both?
Old 06-27-07, 09:06 AM
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Alien 3 was the first that came to mind. During the memorable Fox opening music, the last note freezes up and changes into spooky background music (IIRC).
Old 06-27-07, 09:09 AM
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Originally Posted by ShaunoftheDead
I think that was Temple of Doom as I just saw it this past weekend. Maybe it was both?
I know Raiders definately opened to a mountain, was their a mountain on the gong for Temple of Doom?
Old 06-27-07, 09:10 AM
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Didn't 'Doom' use/alter the Universal globe?
Old 06-27-07, 09:12 AM
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Didn't 300 "graphic-novelize" (for a lack of a better term) the WB logo (in a similar vein to what was done in The Matrix)?

Also, Land of the Dead used the really old-school Universal logo. Technically I guess it may not qualify as altering the logo, but it was different compared to other modern Universal films.

And I'm pretty sure Shrek altered the Dreamworks logo in some way, but I can't remember how.

And, although not a movie, Futurama modified the 20th Century Fox logo to read "30th Century Fox" (I don't think there exists a separate entity called "30th Century Fox", so I'm assuming this qualifies as altering).

Last edited by Yavin; 06-27-07 at 09:25 AM.
Old 06-27-07, 09:15 AM
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban didn't do much, but I remember thinking it was cool to look through the WB logo into Harry's room as he was reading at night.

Also, while obviously it has nothing to do with the picture and is fan-made, I always loved this opening for the Transformers movie. I thought it was perfect in a way that no studio would ever do.

Old 06-27-07, 09:15 AM
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Land of the Dead starts with the old old old Universal logo which i thought was pretty cool
Old 06-27-07, 09:21 AM
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The Mummy movies copied the Indiana Jones series by having the Universal logo fade into another round object.

Waterworld has the continents on the Universal logo sink underwater.

Legal Wreckin 4 has the WB logo engulfed by flames which leads into the opening scene with the dude with the flamethrower.

Coming To America combines the Paramount logo with its opening shot.

Deja Vu repeats the Touchstone and Jerry Dreckhelmer logos(at first I thought my Blu-ray disc was defective).
Old 06-27-07, 09:38 AM
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Originally Posted by ShaunoftheDead

I completely forgot about that thread, and I said the exact same thing about Men in Black. Apparently I am unoriginal.

Originally Posted by pinata242
Also, while obviously it has nothing to do with the picture and is fan-made, I always loved this opening for the Transformers movie. I thought it was perfect in a way that no studio would ever do.

Agreed 100% - that was too cool to actually be something from the upcoming movie.

Last edited by Draven; 06-27-07 at 09:40 AM.
Old 06-27-07, 09:55 AM
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I know there have been a lot of spoofs on the Leo the Lion/MGM logo. From the wikipedia page:

In the trailer for the Marx Brothers film A Night at the Opera, the brothers took the place of the lion in the logo.

Tom and Jerry cartoons directed by Chuck Jones from 1963 to 1967 include Tanner roaring in the MGM logo, to be replaced by Tom meowing in the style of the lion, as depicted in the two images shown on the right.

In The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), blood is seen dripping from the lion's mouth.

In Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), Tarzan's yell is in place of the MGM lion's roar.

In Strange Brew (1983), the lion belches instead of roaring. The camera pans behind the logo façade to show the movie's two main characters, Bob and Doug MacKenzie, attempting to "sober up" the lion. One suggests to the other to "crank its tail".

In The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2005), a crocodile takes the place of the lion in the logo. The trailer for the film features Steve Irwin in place of Leo, where he briefly addresses the audience.

In The Pink Panther (2006), the standard studio logo was again modified; after the lion roaring, an animated version of the character Inspector Clouseau appeares. An animated panther also appears. Following this the lion reappears, bewildered.

In The Brothers Grimm (2006), the lion roars once, and then howls like a wolf.

The film The Great Muppet Caper opens with a spoof of the MGM logo featuring the character Animal. He roars, then begins to eat the rest of the logo, revealing the opening scene behind him.

In the film Silent Movie (1976), Sid Caesar appears in a spoof of the MGM logo at the start of the movie within the movie, roaring like a sealion.
Old 06-27-07, 10:12 AM
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Originally Posted by ToddSm66
I know there have been a lot of spoofs on the Leo the Lion/MGM logo. From the wikipedia page:

In the trailer for the Marx Brothers film A Night at the Opera, the brothers took the place of the lion in the logo.

Tom and Jerry cartoons directed by Chuck Jones from 1963 to 1967 include Tanner roaring in the MGM logo, to be replaced by Tom meowing in the style of the lion, as depicted in the two images shown on the right.

In The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), blood is seen dripping from the lion's mouth.

In Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), Tarzan's yell is in place of the MGM lion's roar.

In Strange Brew (1983), the lion belches instead of roaring. The camera pans behind the logo façade to show the movie's two main characters, Bob and Doug MacKenzie, attempting to "sober up" the lion. One suggests to the other to "crank its tail".

In The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2005), a crocodile takes the place of the lion in the logo. The trailer for the film features Steve Irwin in place of Leo, where he briefly addresses the audience.

In The Pink Panther (2006), the standard studio logo was again modified; after the lion roaring, an animated version of the character Inspector Clouseau appeares. An animated panther also appears. Following this the lion reappears, bewildered.

In The Brothers Grimm (2006), the lion roars once, and then howls like a wolf.

The film The Great Muppet Caper opens with a spoof of the MGM logo featuring the character Animal. He roars, then begins to eat the rest of the logo, revealing the opening scene behind him.

In the film Silent Movie (1976), Sid Caesar appears in a spoof of the MGM logo at the start of the movie within the movie, roaring like a sealion.
huh? I thought 'Brothers Grimm' was a Disney/Miramax release?
Old 06-27-07, 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Giles
huh? I thought 'Brothers Grimm' was a Disney/Miramax release?
On IMDb it shows MGM was one of the productions companies, so I presume (without seeing the movie), that the logo was used along with Miramax and Dimension.
Old 06-27-07, 10:27 AM
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if i recall, i think it was the first X-Men movie...as the 20th Century Fox logo was fading, the X at the end of Fox was highlighted for an extra couple of seconds.
Old 06-27-07, 10:29 AM
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Originally Posted by yojimbo44
if i recall, i think it was the first X-Men movie...as the 20th Century Fox logo was fading, the X at the end of Fox was highlighted for an extra couple of seconds.
Yeah, and I believe they did that with 2 and 3 as well.
Old 06-27-07, 10:30 AM
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Moulin Rouge (2001) - The 20th Century Fox logo was played as if on the stage of the play with a silhouetted conductor.
Old 06-27-07, 11:28 AM
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Loved seeing the 60's/early 70's Paramount logo at the beginning of Zodiac. One of my favorite alternates is in Gremlins 2 with the completely random appearance of the old Looney Tunes opening, complete with Bugs and Daffy getting into an argument that has all but anything to do with the rest of the movie.
Old 06-27-07, 11:51 AM
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Charlies Angels has a zoom into the clouds behind the Columbia logo and then into a plane.
Old 06-27-07, 11:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Draven
I think WB also let them turn the logo into bats for Batman Begins.
That was only the trailer. In the film, they only turn the WB logo black and white.

Originally Posted by dhmac
Raiders of the Lost Ark memorably opens with the Paramount mountain fading into the image of a real mountain in the background of the opening scene. (This is the first time that I can remember a movie using the studio logo as a part of the movie itself.)
Yeah. The same was done for Temple Of Doom and The Last Crusade. I expect the same will hold true for the fourth film.
Old 06-27-07, 11:55 AM
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Originally Posted by ShaunoftheDead
I think that was Temple of Doom as I just saw it this past weekend. Maybe it was both?

All three Indiana Jones films dissolve from the Paramount logo into some mountain shape.

In Raiders, it was the mountain in the distance.
In Temple of Doom, it was the mountain on the gong in the Chinese restaurant.
In Last Crusade, it was the pointed rock formation that the Boy Scouts rode by on horseback.


And you can bet that Indiana Jones and the City of Gods will do the same thing.

Last edited by jeffkjoe; 06-27-07 at 11:59 AM.
Old 06-27-07, 12:25 PM
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Missed opportunity in my book -- they should have done the WB logo in red spray-paint for V for Vendetta.

In Live Free or Die Hard, just like the trailers, the lights surrounding the logo click off one by one.

In The Day After Tomorrow there is lightning behind the logo.

In Doom, the Universal globe was Mars, to answer someone's question.

In The Cat and the Hat, the Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine logos were Seussed up.

There is water reflected in the DreamWorks and Fox logos for Minority Report, the DreamWorks/Paramount logos are black and white in Collateral and the DreamWorks logo is generally silent in dramas.

Based on the trailer I expect Superbad to use the 1970's Columbia logo.

Last edited by tylergfoster; 06-27-07 at 12:33 PM.
Old 06-27-07, 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Doughboy
Waterworld has the continents on the Universal logo sink underwater.
This remains one of my favorites.
Old 06-27-07, 12:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Draven
The wife and I saw Ocean's Thirteen last night. During the opening they altered the colors of the studio logos and actually put moving graphics over the top of them. I work with corporate logos and a lot of companies would consider that a HUGE no-no so it always jumps out at me when I see it.
While it is a normal no-no, it is pretty common in the entertainment industry.

Some logos are harder to do any manipulation or to somehow incorporate into the movie seamlessly (Disney for example) while other are easier (Warner Bros and Paramount).

IIRC, Mars Attacks! had a martian saucer circling the logo.

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