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TriStar Pictures
Logo descriptions by Ryan Mead, James Fabiano, Matt Williams, and Juniorfan88
Logo captures by Eric S., Logophile, CuriousGeorge60, snelfu, EnormousRat, JoeCool85, and V of Doom
Editions by Juniorfan88, Shadeed A. Kelly, Logophile, V of Doom, kidinbed, and betamaxflyer
Video captures courtesy of IdentsandLogos, TheMr2795, Eric S., and TheRedBaron1985 (JoeCool85)
Note: This is not to be confused with an earlier company of the same name.
Background: TriStar Pictures (originally spelled "Tri-Star") was formed in 1982 as a joint venture between Columbia Pictures (then owned by the Coca-Cola Company), HBO, and CBS, hence the name of the studio. Originally it was known as "Nova Pictures" until the name was changed on May 16, 1983 in order to avoid confusion with PBS's hit science series Nova. CBS was the first joint-owner who dropped out venture on November 15, 1985 and sold its interest to Columbia Pictures for $48 million. In December 1987, HBO sold it stake in Tri-Star to Columbia as well. Tri-Star and Columbia then became part of "Columbia Pictures Entertainment" (or "Columbia/Tri-Star"), of which Coca-Cola owned 49% of its stock. In late 1987, most of Tri-Star releases were copyrighted under the "Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." name until mid-1988 when it was reverted back to "Tri-Star Pictures, Inc." On August 7, 1991 under Sony Pictures Entertainment, the hyphen (-) was taken off of the name to refer it to the current CamelCase-style name, "TriStar".
1st Logo
(April 6, 1984-May 28, 1993)
Nicknames: "The Early Pegasus", "Wobbly Wings", "Jumping Pegasus", "Pegasus Over Pyramid", "'80s Pegasus", "The Quiet/Loud Music", "Majestic Pegasus", "Pegasus Over A Triangle", "From Stallion to Pegasus", "The TriStar Pegasus"
Logo: On a dark blue/purple evening background with pink skies, a splashed white horse that's known as a stallion, gallops into view coming from the left. When it gets really close, three stars coming from the left, right, and bottom of the screen crash into each other, forming a "T" in Didot font (the same font used for the CBS text as CBS was one of the joint owners of Tri-Star until 1985). The stallion grows a pair of wings and flies over the "T". It zooms out, revealing two more letters: "R", and "I", and below it is the word "STAR" reading the stacked words, "TRI STAR". The text continues to zoom out. A yellow outline of a triangle zooms out with the word "PICTURES" under it, surrounding the text and the background. As this happens, the triangle outline reveals an abstract drawing of a Pegasus "jumping" over the logo. In some movies the triangle and the Pegasus shrinks while the jingle plays.
Trivia: This logo was spoofed on the Family Guy S4 episode "Petergeist" where it shows Joe Swanson riding his wheelchair instead of the Pegasus and it says "JOE SWANSON THEATRES" instead of "TRI STAR PICTURES".
Variants:
Closing Variants:
FX/SFX: The wings growing on the horse, the forming of the "T", the text zooming out.
Cheesy Factor: The wings looks sorta like it was drawn by an old early 80s computer, and the Pegasus doesn't look like it jumps over the gate-like "T", but still the logo looks very well done and is ahead of the others by approximately 10 years.
Music/Sounds: An orchestrated piece done by Dave Grusin. As the horse gallops into view, three low French horn notes play and they repeat. When the Pegasus flies over the "T", more enlightening trumpets play and are combined with the trombone. For the logo formation, a loud trumpet solo is played. Although on early movie releases, the logo is silent.
Music/Sounds Variant: For other movies, see the TriStar Pictures variants page for details.
Availability: Can be found on Tristar movies from the 80s and early 90s, particularly The Muppets Take Manhattan, Birdy, Red Heat, Total Recall, Night of the Creeps, Steel Magnolias, Rad, Hook, Glory, The Monster Squad, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo III, L.A. Story, the first two Look Who's Talking movies, Labyrinth, and Sniper, among others. This logo made its first appearance on Where The Boys Are '84 (not The Natural, which is often mistaken for the first release from the company) and officially ended with Cliffhanger on May 28, 1993. Strangely, this logo replaces the 1993 logo on ABC Family's print of Matilda. The trailer logo is rare and seen on previews of TriStar films from 1991-1993, such as Bugsy, Candyman, Sniper, Cliffhanger, and Sleepless in Seattle (though the latter uses the next logo in the actual movie). The silent version can also be found on the 1999 VHS of The Muppets Take Manhattan. Many video releases of Carolco productions remove this logo, but it's preserved on the earliest VHS releases of Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, DeepStar Six, and Basic Instinct and even plasters the Carolco logo on recent releases of Angel Heart and Extreme Prejudice.
Scare Factor: Low, due to the sudden loud music at the end of the logo.
2nd Logo
(June 25, 1993- )
Nicknames: "'90s Pegasus", "Ultra Majestic Pegasus", "The TriStar Pegasus II"
Logo: We start out on a black background. Then we see a part of the evening, which slowly fades in and brightens up to reveal a dark background with dark cumulonimbus clouds with fog on the bottom. Then we see a white flash of light that starts to glow and gets bright as it almost fills the background. A Pegasus appears from far distance spreads its wings out and takes a few steps causing the fog to flow, while "TRISTAR" in a light shiny gold chiseled bold font slowly fades in above it, on top of the screen with the letters "T" and "S" in a bigger font that the other letters as the flash dims away slowly. The Pegasus stops when its wings are fully spread out and the "TRISTAR" text fully appears. The text slowly shines as the fog still flows.
Trivia: This logo was animated by Intralink Film Graphic Design. The footage of the white stallion was shot in a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. The wings were done by combining real feathers and digitized computing and were merged with the white stallion's image via computer morphing. The footage of the cloud background was shot from the Haleakala Crater on Maui.
Byline: Referred to as "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" starting in December 1995. However, some post-1995 films, such as the 1998 film Desperate Measures, may still lack the byline.
Variants:
Closing Variants:
FX/SFX: The light beam forming the Pegasus, the fog flowing, the text fading in and shining.
Music/Sounds: A more majestic remix of the first jingle, composed by Bill Johnson.
Music/Sounds Variants:
Availability: Common. It's seen on all current TriStar releases since Sleepless in Seattle in June 1993. The variant with the Sony Pictures byline first appeared on Jumanji in December 1995. Strangely, this logo is seen on 1997 VHS prints of Multiplicity and Alaska instead of the Columbia TriStar Home Video logo (some prints do have the CTHV logo instead). The Live Home Video release of Wagons East! preserves this logo. The 1984 music is replaced with the 1993 music on early VHS prints of Sleepless in Seattle.
Scare Factor: None. This logo is beautiful over the years, including the music and mind-blowing CGI.
Logo captures by Eric S., Logophile, CuriousGeorge60, snelfu, EnormousRat, JoeCool85, and V of Doom
Editions by Juniorfan88, Shadeed A. Kelly, Logophile, V of Doom, kidinbed, and betamaxflyer
Video captures courtesy of IdentsandLogos, TheMr2795, Eric S., and TheRedBaron1985 (JoeCool85)
Note: This is not to be confused with an earlier company of the same name.
Background: TriStar Pictures (originally spelled "Tri-Star") was formed in 1982 as a joint venture between Columbia Pictures (then owned by the Coca-Cola Company), HBO, and CBS, hence the name of the studio. Originally it was known as "Nova Pictures" until the name was changed on May 16, 1983 in order to avoid confusion with PBS's hit science series Nova. CBS was the first joint-owner who dropped out venture on November 15, 1985 and sold its interest to Columbia Pictures for $48 million. In December 1987, HBO sold it stake in Tri-Star to Columbia as well. Tri-Star and Columbia then became part of "Columbia Pictures Entertainment" (or "Columbia/Tri-Star"), of which Coca-Cola owned 49% of its stock. In late 1987, most of Tri-Star releases were copyrighted under the "Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." name until mid-1988 when it was reverted back to "Tri-Star Pictures, Inc." On August 7, 1991 under Sony Pictures Entertainment, the hyphen (-) was taken off of the name to refer it to the current CamelCase-style name, "TriStar".
1st Logo
(April 6, 1984-May 28, 1993)
Nicknames: "The Early Pegasus", "Wobbly Wings", "Jumping Pegasus", "Pegasus Over Pyramid", "'80s Pegasus", "The Quiet/Loud Music", "Majestic Pegasus", "Pegasus Over A Triangle", "From Stallion to Pegasus", "The TriStar Pegasus"
Logo: On a dark blue/purple evening background with pink skies, a splashed white horse that's known as a stallion, gallops into view coming from the left. When it gets really close, three stars coming from the left, right, and bottom of the screen crash into each other, forming a "T" in Didot font (the same font used for the CBS text as CBS was one of the joint owners of Tri-Star until 1985). The stallion grows a pair of wings and flies over the "T". It zooms out, revealing two more letters: "R", and "I", and below it is the word "STAR" reading the stacked words, "TRI STAR". The text continues to zoom out. A yellow outline of a triangle zooms out with the word "PICTURES" under it, surrounding the text and the background. As this happens, the triangle outline reveals an abstract drawing of a Pegasus "jumping" over the logo. In some movies the triangle and the Pegasus shrinks while the jingle plays.
Trivia: This logo was spoofed on the Family Guy S4 episode "Petergeist" where it shows Joe Swanson riding his wheelchair instead of the Pegasus and it says "JOE SWANSON THEATRES" instead of "TRI STAR PICTURES".
Variants:
- On many Tri-Star releases in 1985, we can see the white stallion made it half way and starts to grow its wings and jumps over the "T".
- The text "A TRI-STAR RELEASE" appears on a black background after the end of the Tri-Star logo. The 1984 theme, which appears to be out of sync in this variant, plays over it as well. Seen originally on earlier films such as Supergirl and Santa Claus: The Movie. It has since been cut on TV airings and video releases, though it might appear only on Premium Cable airings such as HBO or Cinemax. On the U.S.A. Home Video VHS of Supergirl, the standard version is used.
- On 1991-1993 movie trailers and commercials, the words "TRI STAR" are in white over a black background with a little "Pegasus Over Pyramid" logo in the upper right next to "TRI", while the films themselves used the 1984 logo and the newly-formed TriStar Television did use this for their logo.
- There was a logo for Producers Sales Organization that began at the end of the Tri-Star logo.
- The beginning of Tri-Star Showcase has this logo edited, with the horse galloping. When it jumps over the "T", it fades to the preview of the movie.
Closing Variants:
- May 11, 1984 -1991, January 29, 1993: Scrolling in the end credits would have the same exact logo, minus the purple triangle with the gold outline color. Above the logo has the phrase "A TRI-STAR RELEASE". On Sniper, the "A TriStar Release" phrase is below the logo.
- 1991- October 16, 1992: The closing variant of the still logo from the movie trailers and the 1991 TriStar Television logo, but minus "TELEVISION" below "STAR" or "PICTURES" below the triangle with the phrase "A TRISTAR RELEASE" minus the hyphen between the TriStar name seen above the logo. Sometimes, the rectangular box is seen below the logo. Starting in late 1992, there is a new version with "RELEASED BY" above the logo and below is a rectangular box with the Sony Pictures Entertainment byline.
FX/SFX: The wings growing on the horse, the forming of the "T", the text zooming out.
Cheesy Factor: The wings looks sorta like it was drawn by an old early 80s computer, and the Pegasus doesn't look like it jumps over the gate-like "T", but still the logo looks very well done and is ahead of the others by approximately 10 years.
Music/Sounds: An orchestrated piece done by Dave Grusin. As the horse gallops into view, three low French horn notes play and they repeat. When the Pegasus flies over the "T", more enlightening trumpets play and are combined with the trombone. For the logo formation, a loud trumpet solo is played. Although on early movie releases, the logo is silent.
Music/Sounds Variant: For other movies, see the TriStar Pictures variants page for details.
Availability: Can be found on Tristar movies from the 80s and early 90s, particularly The Muppets Take Manhattan, Birdy, Red Heat, Total Recall, Night of the Creeps, Steel Magnolias, Rad, Hook, Glory, The Monster Squad, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo III, L.A. Story, the first two Look Who's Talking movies, Labyrinth, and Sniper, among others. This logo made its first appearance on Where The Boys Are '84 (not The Natural, which is often mistaken for the first release from the company) and officially ended with Cliffhanger on May 28, 1993. Strangely, this logo replaces the 1993 logo on ABC Family's print of Matilda. The trailer logo is rare and seen on previews of TriStar films from 1991-1993, such as Bugsy, Candyman, Sniper, Cliffhanger, and Sleepless in Seattle (though the latter uses the next logo in the actual movie). The silent version can also be found on the 1999 VHS of The Muppets Take Manhattan. Many video releases of Carolco productions remove this logo, but it's preserved on the earliest VHS releases of Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, DeepStar Six, and Basic Instinct and even plasters the Carolco logo on recent releases of Angel Heart and Extreme Prejudice.
Scare Factor: Low, due to the sudden loud music at the end of the logo.
2nd Logo
(June 25, 1993- )
Nicknames: "'90s Pegasus", "Ultra Majestic Pegasus", "The TriStar Pegasus II"
Logo: We start out on a black background. Then we see a part of the evening, which slowly fades in and brightens up to reveal a dark background with dark cumulonimbus clouds with fog on the bottom. Then we see a white flash of light that starts to glow and gets bright as it almost fills the background. A Pegasus appears from far distance spreads its wings out and takes a few steps causing the fog to flow, while "TRISTAR" in a light shiny gold chiseled bold font slowly fades in above it, on top of the screen with the letters "T" and "S" in a bigger font that the other letters as the flash dims away slowly. The Pegasus stops when its wings are fully spread out and the "TRISTAR" text fully appears. The text slowly shines as the fog still flows.
Trivia: This logo was animated by Intralink Film Graphic Design. The footage of the white stallion was shot in a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. The wings were done by combining real feathers and digitized computing and were merged with the white stallion's image via computer morphing. The footage of the cloud background was shot from the Haleakala Crater on Maui.
Byline: Referred to as "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" starting in December 1995. However, some post-1995 films, such as the 1998 film Desperate Measures, may still lack the byline.
Variants:
- During this logo's early years, on movie trailers and commercials, when the Pegasus is spreading out its wings, The "TRISTAR" text is fully transparent, rather than fading in, in the regular version. Also, it doesn't shine.
- On Sleepless in Seattle (The first movie to use this logo), the flash dims away quickly before the Pegasus spreads out its wings and the "TRISTAR" text appears.
- In 1998, the logo became enhanced by making the clouds a lighter gold color.
- In 2007, starting with Daddy Day Camp, the logo was given a "enhanced" look, with the SPE byline in gold to match the cloud's color.
- Since 2012, the SPE byline is smaller and is a bit darker, but not centered.
- A very early trailer and commercial logo has a black background with the stacked words "TRI STAR" and next to it is the box with the Pegasus in front of the cloud. This can be seen on the trailer for Rudy.
Closing Variants:
- It's the same current print logo that appeared on movie trailers during its early years, and looking similar to the last print logo. The Pegasus is placed inside a box, with a cloud background overlapping the top. Its wings overlap both ends of the box. Below the logo is the phrase "A TRISTAR RELEASE", or "RELEASED BY" above the logo with the SPE byline underneath. Sometimes, "A TRISTAR RELEASE" isn't there. Sometimes, it's bylineless.
- One early variant of such featured the boxed Pegasus logo at center, with "TRISTAR PICTURES" (In Bank Gothic MD BT), and the SPE byline below one another. This particular closing variant happened to appear at the end of the features, Chaplin and Cliffhanger, which both used the old logo at the beginning although the latter was the last movie to use the old logo at the beginning; though this may be unsurprising, since both Columbia and TriStar first introduced their new logos for their home video and television divisions a year earlier in 1992.
FX/SFX: The light beam forming the Pegasus, the fog flowing, the text fading in and shining.
Music/Sounds: A more majestic remix of the first jingle, composed by Bill Johnson.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- Early movies with this feature this logo with the original 1984 music, such as Sleepless in Seattle, Jury Duty, and Magic in the Water.
- Sometimes, this logo is silent. Other times, there's music from any music soundtrack playing over the logo.
- In 1998, a rearranged version of the fanfare was introduced.
Availability: Common. It's seen on all current TriStar releases since Sleepless in Seattle in June 1993. The variant with the Sony Pictures byline first appeared on Jumanji in December 1995. Strangely, this logo is seen on 1997 VHS prints of Multiplicity and Alaska instead of the Columbia TriStar Home Video logo (some prints do have the CTHV logo instead). The Live Home Video release of Wagons East! preserves this logo. The 1984 music is replaced with the 1993 music on early VHS prints of Sleepless in Seattle.
Scare Factor: None. This logo is beautiful over the years, including the music and mind-blowing CGI.
Logophile |
Latest page update: made by Logophile
, May 3 2013, 5:07 AM EDT
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Keyword tags:
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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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| LogoFan121092 | Looper | 1 | Apr 11 2013, 4:47 PM EDT by Handyman003 | ||
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Thread started: Oct 11 2012, 10:12 PM EDT
Watch
Just saw "Looper" today, and there was no TriStar print logo at the end; just the movie's title, and then black screen. I wonder if maybe the film cut off?
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| TheoryOfRelativity | The HBO Asia Prints of "Faster" (2010). | 0 | Mar 29 2013, 7:01 PM EDT by TheoryOfRelativity | ||
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Thread started: Mar 29 2013, 7:01 PM EDT
Watch
On the international prints of the movie, the CBS Films fanfare plays throughout the logo.
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| Rod1014 | New logo in the future. (page: 1 2) | 20 | May 3 2012, 7:29 AM EDT by Rod1014 | ||
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Thread started: May 7 2010, 5:17 PM EDT
Watch
I wish they should make a newer TriStar Pictures logo for the future.
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