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Orion Pictures
Logo descriptions by James Fabiano, Jeffrey Gray, and Matt Williams
Logo captures by Eric S., Juniorfan88, and Shadeed A. Kelly
Editions by V of Doom, codyfinke, Shadeed A. Kelly, and Lee Cremeans
Video captures courtesy of Eric S.
Background: Orion was first known as the "Orion Pictures Company", that was first started in March 1978 as a joint between Warner Bros. Pictures and three former executives of United Artists: Arthur B. Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert S. Benjamin. Orion's theatrical distribution business was initially ran through Warner Bros. Pictures under Warner Communications (now "TimeWarner") for a while. In 1982, Orion bought Filmways, Inc., after Orion was unhappy with distribution agreements with Warner Communications in the end of 1981. In June 1982, Filmways announced that its name would reincorporate as "Orion Pictures Corporation". In 1983, Orion introduced "Orion Classics" as Orion's art-house division. Orion did very well as far as making big blockbuster hits and scoring numerous awards, but everything went sour in the mid-1990s when Orion was losing money and went bankrupt by the time the new decade rolled. In 1996, Orion Pictures under Metromedia acquired Samuel Goldwyn Entertainment. On April 11, 1997, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. acquired Orion/Goldwyn, and the Motion Picture Corporation of America and the deal was closed in July. A year later, Orion was folded into MGM and MPCA broke apart from MGM becoming independent. However, Orion remains currently as an in-name-only unit of MGM. Currently, most of the old films made by Orion are held by MGM under the umbrella of Sony and its partners, except all the 1979-1982 and some post-1982 releases, which are owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment.
1st Logo
(1979-1981)
Nicknames: "Red/Blue Split", "Splitting Rectangles", "The Orion/WB Combo"
Logo: On a black screen, two rectangles, one blue and one orange, each one tilted forward at a 45 degree angle (making them appear like the floor and ceiling of a tunnel), shoot out towards the center of the screen. When they both connect at the center of the screen, they tilt back 45 degrees, so that they are facing the viewer completely, and enlarge to fill the screen. In the blue rectangle, which is on the top, we see the \\' logo and the words "WARNER BROS." in orange. In the orange rectangle, which is on the bottom, we see the words "ORION (in the same font as in logo #2) PICTURES COMPANY (in a more plain font)" in blue. After a while, the blue and orange rectangles move to each others spot, briefly overlapping. "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" and "presents" fade-in under "WARNER BROS".
Closing Variants:
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The tilting and sliding, all cheap cel animation. The colors used also don't go together very well.
Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Seen on old VHS releases of such films as Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time After Time, Sharky's Machine, Arthur, and Caddyshack, among others. Extinct on recent videos, all DVD releases (except for that of Prince of the City, which has the logo intact) and most TV broadcasts of those films and instead replaced with the Warner Communications variation of Orion 2nd logo. When American Movie Classics or Turner Classic Movies shows Time After Time, the logo is intact, but in AMC's case, only on the letterbox airings. It might be seen on some Orion films on the Encore movie channel, as well on earlier video prints of Wolfen. A recent TV Land airing of Caddyshack kept the logo intact, but did not show the part with the rectangles zooming forth. The second closing variant is probably extinct, only being seen on an 80s TV airing of Arthur.
Scare Factor: Low, because of the rectangles reversing.
2nd Logo
(1981-1996)
Nicknames: "The Constellation", "Starry Sky"
Logo: We first see a starry sky, then a constellation of stars in the middle shine brighter than the rest. It moves to the left, forms a circle, and spins around until, in a small, but bright flash, it forms a letter "O." Then the letters "RION" appear (by a sliding effect) to complete the logo, which is stylized when a line is drawn across it. The traces of the line remain on the left side of each letter except the "I," which has the line across the word. "An" and "PICTURES RELEASE" all in light blue appear above and below the logo accordingly.
Trivia: This logo was parodied in the Family Guy S8 episode "April in Quahog".
Variants:
FX/SFX: The constellation and "Orion" forming.
Cheesy Factor: The way the whole Orion logo appears after the constellation appears is just cheesy, and the stars forming a solid "O" is also pretty cheesy. Still, the logo looks very, very good after over 25 years.
Music/Sounds: Usually, the opening theme of the movie, or it's silent. Sometimes, a horn fanfare against the background of a futuristic sound effect.
Availability: Very common but slowly getting uncommon due to plastering. Can be found in a lot of '80s movies and early '90s movies such as the Robocop franchise. A shortened version can be seen at the end of the TV series Green Acres when it is rerun on TV Land or local stations. The earlier variant with the WB byline was seen on movie releases of the era, as well on early 80s prints of 1979-1981 movie releases (plastering the first logo), such as The Wanderers, The Great Santini, Sharky's Machine, and Wolfen among others, all of them retained on current DVD releases. On television, the MGM logo precedes this on 1982-1996 releases except some films, such as Amadeus (seen on U.S. theatrical prints), and First Blood, which was the very first movie to use this logo without the Warner Bros. byline. Also found on the DVD release of The Thing With Two Heads and Little Man Tate. It can also be seen on recent prints/most TV airings of Caddyshack, probably plastering the first logo.
Scare Factor: Low. The appearance of the "O" might scare a few, and the music may startle people, but other than that, it's very popular and very famous.
3rd Logo
(1996-1998)
Nicknames: "The CGI Constellation", "CGI Starry Sky"
Logo: Very much the same as the Starry Sky logo, but updated for the 1990's, with computer effects. The starfield behind the logo no longer zooms-out as the logo forms, but shoots out towards the screen. The animation is the same, but the stars now have a "trail" that forms the "O", and the forming of the actual logo is different, with a laser light forming the line in the logo. The logo itself is now silvery and 3D, and only "PICTURES" appears below the logo, in the same font as last time. Inside the "Orion" text has an animated landscape.
Variant: There is a B&W variant of this logo for classic AIP movies in B&W.
FX/SFX: This is how you update a logo. The same thing as the popular "Starry Sky" logo, but the nice computer animation and similar to the original have made this a favorite of those who have seen it.
Music/Sounds: Begins with a variation of the "futuristic sound effect" in the original Starry Sky, then a soft but majestic horn tune. As the logo begins to form, it gets faster and faster, culminating in a majestic hit and three-note sounder.
Availability: Can be found on movies that ranged from 1996 until 1998. On television, the MGM logo precedes this. It can also be seen on the DVD releases of Hell Up In Harlem and Bucktown. Also plasters the 1981 Filmways Pictures logo on the DVD release of Blow Out, and it is seen on late-1990s prints of the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, including the 2001 UK VHS.
Scare Factor: None.
Logo captures by Eric S., Juniorfan88, and Shadeed A. Kelly
Editions by V of Doom, codyfinke, Shadeed A. Kelly, and Lee Cremeans
Video captures courtesy of Eric S.
Background: Orion was first known as the "Orion Pictures Company", that was first started in March 1978 as a joint between Warner Bros. Pictures and three former executives of United Artists: Arthur B. Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert S. Benjamin. Orion's theatrical distribution business was initially ran through Warner Bros. Pictures under Warner Communications (now "TimeWarner") for a while. In 1982, Orion bought Filmways, Inc., after Orion was unhappy with distribution agreements with Warner Communications in the end of 1981. In June 1982, Filmways announced that its name would reincorporate as "Orion Pictures Corporation". In 1983, Orion introduced "Orion Classics" as Orion's art-house division. Orion did very well as far as making big blockbuster hits and scoring numerous awards, but everything went sour in the mid-1990s when Orion was losing money and went bankrupt by the time the new decade rolled. In 1996, Orion Pictures under Metromedia acquired Samuel Goldwyn Entertainment. On April 11, 1997, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. acquired Orion/Goldwyn, and the Motion Picture Corporation of America and the deal was closed in July. A year later, Orion was folded into MGM and MPCA broke apart from MGM becoming independent. However, Orion remains currently as an in-name-only unit of MGM. Currently, most of the old films made by Orion are held by MGM under the umbrella of Sony and its partners, except all the 1979-1982 and some post-1982 releases, which are owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment.
1st Logo
(1979-1981)
Nicknames: "Red/Blue Split", "Splitting Rectangles", "The Orion/WB Combo"
Logo: On a black screen, two rectangles, one blue and one orange, each one tilted forward at a 45 degree angle (making them appear like the floor and ceiling of a tunnel), shoot out towards the center of the screen. When they both connect at the center of the screen, they tilt back 45 degrees, so that they are facing the viewer completely, and enlarge to fill the screen. In the blue rectangle, which is on the top, we see the \\' logo and the words "WARNER BROS." in orange. In the orange rectangle, which is on the bottom, we see the words "ORION (in the same font as in logo #2) PICTURES COMPANY (in a more plain font)" in blue. After a while, the blue and orange rectangles move to each others spot, briefly overlapping. "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" and "presents" fade-in under "WARNER BROS".
Closing Variants:
- At the end of the credits, we see the text "AN ORION PICTURES/WARNER BROS RELEASE" with "ORION" in its trademark logo font and "WARNER BROS" in its 1972 font from the theatrical logo. We see the byline, "Thru WARNER BROS, A Warner Communications Company", with Warner Bros.' \\' logo in between the name and the company byline.
- Another variant looks close to the opening logo, but has a red stripe on a blue background, inside which it has "WARNER BROS. ORION PICTURES COMPANY"; below which is "Thru", with the \\' to the right, and the Warner Communications byline below (all company names are in their trademark fonts as with the regular closing variant).
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The tilting and sliding, all cheap cel animation. The colors used also don't go together very well.
Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Seen on old VHS releases of such films as Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time After Time, Sharky's Machine, Arthur, and Caddyshack, among others. Extinct on recent videos, all DVD releases (except for that of Prince of the City, which has the logo intact) and most TV broadcasts of those films and instead replaced with the Warner Communications variation of Orion 2nd logo. When American Movie Classics or Turner Classic Movies shows Time After Time, the logo is intact, but in AMC's case, only on the letterbox airings. It might be seen on some Orion films on the Encore movie channel, as well on earlier video prints of Wolfen. A recent TV Land airing of Caddyshack kept the logo intact, but did not show the part with the rectangles zooming forth. The second closing variant is probably extinct, only being seen on an 80s TV airing of Arthur.
Scare Factor: Low, because of the rectangles reversing.
2nd Logo
(1981-1996)
Nicknames: "The Constellation", "Starry Sky"
Logo: We first see a starry sky, then a constellation of stars in the middle shine brighter than the rest. It moves to the left, forms a circle, and spins around until, in a small, but bright flash, it forms a letter "O." Then the letters "RION" appear (by a sliding effect) to complete the logo, which is stylized when a line is drawn across it. The traces of the line remain on the left side of each letter except the "I," which has the line across the word. "An" and "PICTURES RELEASE" all in light blue appear above and below the logo accordingly.
Trivia: This logo was parodied in the Family Guy S8 episode "April in Quahog".
Variants:
- On films from 1981-1982, under the logo itself, there was a byline that said "Thru Warner Bros., A Warner Communications Company," with a little \\' next to the company name and the Warner byline underneath. A different starfield was also used.
- In 1984, there is a registered trademark symbol "®" that appears next to the Orion name.
- Another version has "PICTURES INTERNATIONAL" below the logo with "INTERNATIONAL" replacing the word "RELEASE".
- Starting in 1984 on trailers, the logo is close up and begins from the stars spinning to form the "O", and instead of the words "An" and "PICTURES RELEASE" fading in, the words "COMING FROM" (in a larger font) and "PICTURES CORPORATION" fade in above and below the logo respectively. Starting in 1986, an updated version with the words in blue and smaller size was used.
- On some trailers (Bull Durham for example), the Orion logo fades out and the words "PREVIEW" and "COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU" fade in.
- On ¡Three Amigos!, the Orion logo fades out and the credit "In Association with HOME BOX OFFICE" fades-in.
- Closing: The end of each film would say just the same as the opening logo, but on a black background of the end credits. From 1981-1982, the text and byline were in bold and in all caps in the same font used on the 1972 Warner Bros. Pictures logo. Some pictures have all text in one line and the byline is absent.
FX/SFX: The constellation and "Orion" forming.
Cheesy Factor: The way the whole Orion logo appears after the constellation appears is just cheesy, and the stars forming a solid "O" is also pretty cheesy. Still, the logo looks very, very good after over 25 years.
Music/Sounds: Usually, the opening theme of the movie, or it's silent. Sometimes, a horn fanfare against the background of a futuristic sound effect.
Availability: Very common but slowly getting uncommon due to plastering. Can be found in a lot of '80s movies and early '90s movies such as the Robocop franchise. A shortened version can be seen at the end of the TV series Green Acres when it is rerun on TV Land or local stations. The earlier variant with the WB byline was seen on movie releases of the era, as well on early 80s prints of 1979-1981 movie releases (plastering the first logo), such as The Wanderers, The Great Santini, Sharky's Machine, and Wolfen among others, all of them retained on current DVD releases. On television, the MGM logo precedes this on 1982-1996 releases except some films, such as Amadeus (seen on U.S. theatrical prints), and First Blood, which was the very first movie to use this logo without the Warner Bros. byline. Also found on the DVD release of The Thing With Two Heads and Little Man Tate. It can also be seen on recent prints/most TV airings of Caddyshack, probably plastering the first logo.
Scare Factor: Low. The appearance of the "O" might scare a few, and the music may startle people, but other than that, it's very popular and very famous.
3rd Logo
(1996-1998)
Nicknames: "The CGI Constellation", "CGI Starry Sky"
Logo: Very much the same as the Starry Sky logo, but updated for the 1990's, with computer effects. The starfield behind the logo no longer zooms-out as the logo forms, but shoots out towards the screen. The animation is the same, but the stars now have a "trail" that forms the "O", and the forming of the actual logo is different, with a laser light forming the line in the logo. The logo itself is now silvery and 3D, and only "PICTURES" appears below the logo, in the same font as last time. Inside the "Orion" text has an animated landscape.
Variant: There is a B&W variant of this logo for classic AIP movies in B&W.
FX/SFX: This is how you update a logo. The same thing as the popular "Starry Sky" logo, but the nice computer animation and similar to the original have made this a favorite of those who have seen it.
Music/Sounds: Begins with a variation of the "futuristic sound effect" in the original Starry Sky, then a soft but majestic horn tune. As the logo begins to form, it gets faster and faster, culminating in a majestic hit and three-note sounder.
Availability: Can be found on movies that ranged from 1996 until 1998. On television, the MGM logo precedes this. It can also be seen on the DVD releases of Hell Up In Harlem and Bucktown. Also plasters the 1981 Filmways Pictures logo on the DVD release of Blow Out, and it is seen on late-1990s prints of the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, including the 2001 UK VHS.
Scare Factor: None.
thehugetvfan |
Latest page update: made by thehugetvfan
, May 1 2012, 8:54 AM EDT
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More Info: links to this page
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| Kylejaker1988 | About Carolco logo | 2 | Feb 21 2010, 9:16 PM EST by Yoshidude987 | ||
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Thread started: Nov 13 2009, 4:09 PM EST
Watch
I don't know if the Carolco logo was ever even used for "First Blood". I heard it had a very grainy 1982 Orion logo at the beginning. The DVD release I have of it has no logo at all.
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| BrycesNewLogos | No Orion Pictures logo | 0 | Dec 7 2011, 8:46 PM EST by BrycesNewLogos | ||
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Thread started: Dec 7 2011, 8:46 PM EST
Watch
The 1983 Thorn-EMI Video release of First Blood uses the 1982 Orion Pictures logo at the beginning. But, the HBO airings, the AMC airings, and the DVD release of First Blood don't have the logo at all.
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| ShyGuysToyBox | WARNER COMMUNICATIONS!?! | 5 | Nov 24 2011, 2:07 AM EST by Logophile | ||
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Thread started: Aug 20 2011, 10:42 AM EDT
Watch
I didn't know Warner Communications owned Orion Pictures until MGM Holdings, Inc. took over
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| wikithomasian | 2nd Logo | 0 | Feb 20 2011, 2:10 AM EST by wikithomasian | ||
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Thread started: Feb 20 2011, 2:10 AM EST
Watch
I have found the 2nd Orion Pictures logo which can be seen on "Under Fire".
It was playing on television. |
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