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Warner Bros. Pictures
Logo descriptions by Jason Jones and Matt Williams
Logo captures by Eric S., Hoa, V of Doom, Logophile, and naxo-ole
Editions by Bob Fish, Shadeed A. Kelly, Logophile,Curiousgeorge60, Chowchillah, and Yoshidude987
Video captures courtesy of 21stCenturyRumBoon, joliver325, VideoMaster1994, TheAdmeister, Alivarito12, ColumbiaPicturesFan, phasicblu, lenhill240, KidCairbre, and Eric S.
Background: Warner Bros. Pictures was originally founded in 1918 by the Warner brothers Harry (1881–1958), Albert (1883–1967), Sam (1887–1927), and Jack L. (1892–1978), Polish-Jewish brothers who emigrated from Belarus to Ontario, Canada, as the third-oldest American movie studio in continuous operation, after Paramount Pictures, founded on May 8, 1912 as Famous Players, and Universal Studios founded on June 8, 1912. However, Warner Bros. Pictures officially opened its doors on April 4, 1923. In 1967, this studio merged with Seven Arts Productions, who renamed it to "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts". In 1969, it was purchased by Kinney National Co., which was later reincorporated as Warner Communications in 1972 when it spun off its non-entertainment assets, due to a financial scandal over its parking operations. Since 1990, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, formed as a joint venture between the conglomerates Time, Inc. and Warner Communications. In 1992, Time Warner formed "Time Warner Entertainment" by merging all of its entertainment operations for the first time. Internet giant AOL merged with Time Warner in January 2001, renaming the company to AOL Time Warner, but in summer 2003, the conglomerate name was reverted to TimeWarner (with no space in between the words) due to lawsuits and a $99 million loss. Today, with the exceptions of some WB releases, like the WB films Sayonara and Moby Dick (currently owned by MGM), the WB film Rope (currently owned by Universal) and the WB film Hondo (currently owned by Paramount), the pre-1950 catalog is held by Turner Entertainment Co., but all are still owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Visit the website here.
1st Logo
(September 22, 1923-August 30, 1929)
Nickname: "Brain Shield", "Studio Shield"
Logo: On a black background, a large, bizarrely shaped shield is seen, with a very wide top. The top part of the shield shows a picture of the Warner studio in Burbank CA, the bottom having a squashed, stylized "WB". "A WARNER BROTHERS" is above the shield (with "WARNER BROTHERS" in an arc around the shield, ala the first Columbia logo), with "CLASSIC of the SCREEN" below. Starting in 1926 or so, it changed to "PRODUCTION".
Closing Titles: There are two closing titles for this WB era:
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Extremely rare; the only evidence of this logo was seen on a Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary trailer on 1998 Warner videos. However, it has appeared at the start of the film The Jazz Singer, and was kept intact on the 75th Anniversary DVD. This is retained on all extant silent-era Warner Bros. films shown on TCM such as The Better 'Ole.
Scare Factor: Minimal, due to the strange design of the logo.
2nd Logo
(November 7, 1929-August 29, 1936)
Nickname: "The Early Shield", "Vitaphone Shield"
Logo: The words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC." appear, and below that "& THE VITAPHONE CORP." appears in a much smaller font, with the "VITAPHONE" using "electric" style letters. Below that is a very small WB shield (using the stylized WB seen in logo 1), and in script, "Present". Behind it there is the drawing of a flag, "waving" so it looks like it is in 3 sections. On the first one, "WARNER BROS." appears, followed by the electric-letter "VITAPHONE" logo and on section 3, "PICTURES".
Closing Title: The closing variation has "The End" instead of "Present".
Trivia: The First National Company also used this logo, but modified with the words "FIRST NATIONAL" instead of "WARNER BROS. PICTURES". Also, on some features, only a very big banner saying "VITAPHONE", was shown, omitting the First National or the Warner Bros logo.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Very rare; preserved on any film from Warner Bros. from the period. However, on the DVD version of G-Men, it has usually been updated with the 1948 shield logo, as this logo is kept at the end of G-Men.
Scare Factor: None.
3rd Logo
(November 23, 1936-October 23, 1937)
Nickname: "Zooming Shield"
Logo: Over a cloud setting, a superimposed WB Shield design zooms-in to the screen. The words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC. Presents" appear over the shield.
Variants: There are three odd, rare variants of this logo:
Closing Title: We see, on a special BG, superimposed on the last scene of a movie or the cloud background of the opening logo, the words "The End" in a fancy script font, with either the WB or the FN logos and "Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.", or rarely "Warner Bros. Productions Corporation", or "First National Pictures, Inc." below. Later, the disclaimer changed to either "A First National Picture" or "A Warner Bros. Picture" and the font for "The End" would change different times.
FX/SFX: The shield zoom-in. Could it be that this is what inspired the Looney Tunes "Bullseye" opening titles? It's a possibility.
Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Extremely rare; occasionally seen on TCM.
Scare Factor: Low to medium, on account of the really rough zoom-in and the shield's rather strange, elongated design, especially to viewers who are not used to this.
4th Logo
(December 25, 1937-April 7, 1948)
Nickname: "WB Shield"
Logo: Inside a shield, a more realistic version of the stylized "WB" as seen in the previous logo appears. Over the shield is a banner that reads "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC." Below the logo is the word "Presents" in script.
Variants:
Closing Title: Superimposed on a special background or sometimes on the last scene of the movie, the huge words "The End" (with font varying on a movie) fade in, with the "WB" shield bug and "A WARNER BROS. PICTURE" in small letters below, but sometimes, due to the deal between WB and First National Pictures, the disclaimer was "A WARNER BROS.-FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE", or it was sometimes shortened to "A FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE" with the WB shield bug intact.
FX/SFX: None; like most Warner logos, this is a static logo.
Music/Sounds: Usually the beginning of the movie's theme, or a majestic horn sounder. On Humphrey Bogart's at least two films, To Have and Have Not and Dark Passage, an unknown fanfare plays.
Availability: Fairly common; seen on Warner releases of the period, like Casablanca on Turner Classic Movies.
Scare Factor: None.
5th Logo
(August 28, 1948-August 4, 1967)
Nickname: "The Classic Shield", "The Golden Shield"
Logo: Same as before, only the design has been cleaned up a bit. The border of the shield, banner, text, and "WB" are now gold, and the inside of the shield is now blue. The banner phrase is now changed to "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" and is now gold. "Presents", in the same font as the previous logo, usually appears below. Also, the background is now a cloud skyline (much like the logos of 1984 on). This logo was also usually superimposed onto the titles of Warner features of this period.
Variants:
Closing Titles:
FX/SFX: None; it's a still logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo. Sometimes, it was usually the beginning of the movie's theme music.
Availability: Seen on many Warner movies on AMC and TCM. It has also been plastered onto the DVD version of G-Men. This logo also makes a surprise appearance after the 1972 logo on the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, released on December 9, 1974.
Scare Factor: None.
6th Logo
(August 13, 1967-July 15, 1970)
Nicknames: "WB-7", "W7", "Lucky number 7 on WB"
Logo: Just a superimposed stylized-shield, with a combination of a "W" and a "7", representing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. The "W7" is drawn on-screen, ala the NBC Snake. Below the shield, "WARNER BROS.-SEVEN ARTS" is seen.
Closing title: After the words "The End" and the credits, the words "Distributed by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts" are seen in the screen superimposed in the last scene of the movie or a special BG with the W7 shield bug below.
FX/SFX: The "trace"; sometimes done over the backdrop of a specific movie.
Music/Sounds: None, or the opening of the movie.
Availability: Rare; might be seen on Warner Bros. films of the period, though WB might replace it with a newer logo. The DVD release of Bullitt has the logo intact, however.
Scare Factor: Minimal; the logo looks weird, but nothing is scary.
7th Logo
(August 3, 1970-March 10, 1972)
Nicknames: "Shield Stretch", "The Kinney Shield", "Long Shield"
Logo: Over a blue screen is an abstract shield (like those seen on WB movie posters in the '60s) in a golden color with a dark brownish color inside. A simple lettering of the WB appears at the upper part and a rectangle of the same colors appear at the lower part of the shield, with the Kinney byline inside. The word "PRESENTS" appears underneath the logo.
Bylines:
Variants:
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Again, the opening/closing theme of the movie's theme or it's silent.
Availability: As we all know, Warner was incredibly shoddy with logo preservation until recently. AMC and TCM showings of Warner movies MAY include this logo, but expect one of the more recent WB shield logos, most likely the Warner Communications and Time Warner (not Time Warner Entertainment) variations. No logo is seen at all in the 2007 DVD release of A Clockwork Orange. Is seen on the Encore Westerns print of the John Wayne film Chisum!, and on the legendary Visconti movie Death in Venice (1971). On AMC, it can be found on Dirty Harry. The logo is also retained on the DVD releases of The Omega Man and THX-1138.
Scare Factor: None; this logo is actually neat to see.
8th Logo
(May 12-July 21, 1972)
Nickname: "WCI Shield", "Early WCI Shield", "Tiny Shield", "Mini Shield"
Logo: The standard WB shield logo, without the banner. It is on a blue background with "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" underneath. "Presents", in script, may appear below.
FX/SFX: None, though that would change in a few short months.
Music/Sounds: Silence, or the beginning of the movie's theme.
Availability: Ultra rare; this was on only a few movies to begin with (notably Deliverance and The Candidate) and has usually been updated with the 1984 shield logo and its later variations, so it's hard to say.
Scare Factor: None.
9th Logo
(December 15, 1972-December 9, 1983)
Nicknames: The Big "W", "(\\')"
Logo: On a black background, a red abstract "W" consisting of 2 slanted elongated circles and a shorter elongated circle zooms in towards us. Around halfway through, the words "WARNER BROS" (in the Warner Communications custom typeface) appear below it. The red logo overtakes the screen as a smaller white "W" zooms-in. It stops at the middle of the screen and a black square field, whose corners have been rounded and softened, fades in around the logo. "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" in the same font used for "WARNER BROS" fades in below. Most of the time, "PRESENTS" fades in below after that (in Helvetica).
Variants:
Closing Variants:
FX/SFX: The zooming in of the W. None for the closing variant.
Cheesy Factor: Rather limited animation.
Music/Sounds: Usually silent, but some movies have the beginning of the movie's theme playing over it.
Availability: Warner Bros.' editing bug in the late '80s and early '90s meant that Warner Communications and Time Warner shield logos were seen over this logo. WB continues to plaster this logo with newer ones, even into the early 2000s, such as on The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie and The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, which both have it replaced with the 2003 WB Family Entertainment logo. However, a few movies on Encore contain this logo (Oh, God! is one) after the 1992 WB logo. The 2007 remastered edition of the Led Zepplin movie The Song Remains the Same retains this logo, and you can find this logo on early VHS and Betamax releases by WCI/Warner Home Video. On AMC's prints of the Dirty Harry films, Magnum Force, The Enforcer and Sudden Impact, this logo is retained, though the latter two films have their logo edited due to time. Also seen intact on the HBO Family print of The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, the 1999 VHS release of Twilight Zone: The Movie, most WCI releases, earlier and some later WHV releases, and the 2-disc DVD of Enter the Dragon. Can also be seen on the DVD releases of Uptown Saturday Night and Outlaw Blues, which was recently released under their Warner Archive label.
Scare Factor: Minimal; this is a favorite of many.
10th Logo
(February 17, 1984-January 19, 2001)
Nicknames: "The Time Warner Shield", "The Shield Returns", "Shield of Staleness", "Shield of Boredom", "Shield in the Sky"
Logo: Over a set of clouds, the WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with the name of the owner at the bottom.
Bylines:
Variants:
Closing Variants:
FX/SFX: None, except for the "PRESENTS" text fading-in on the original Warner Communications variation.
Music/Sounds: In most cases, silent, or the beginning of the movie's theme is used. For some of their first features, a loud and majestic horn sounder (a classic WB fanfare) is heard.
Availability: This logo is very easy to spot and has been plastered onto older releases of films. WB has eased up on this, however, and older logos have been seen more often in recent years. The "Presents" version can be found on National Lampoon's European Vacation, Gremlins and Lassiter, which the latter was the first film to have this logo. The one with the Warner Communications byline can be found on the DVD release of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The movie ending variation can be seen on films such as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park, Twister, and Conspiracy Theory.
Scare Factor: None; you'll probably just be annoyed by how many times you've seen it.
11th Logo
(January 16, 1998- )
Nickname: "CGI Shield", "Shield in the Sky II"
Logo: A picture of the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, CA is seen with a gold tint. The picture "ripples" slowly for a bit and then rotates, revealing that it is the WB shield, redone in CGI and reflecting the studio. The cloud background is more computer generated. The logo rotates towards us and zooms out to its usual position, with the company byline fading in underneath.
Bylines:
Variants:
Closing Variants:
FX/SFX: Just VERY good CGI. The rippling effect may remind you of a rock plopping through the pond.
Music/Sounds:
Availability: Common; is seen on most WB films from 1998 onward. Several classic films have had their old logos plastered with this one. Plus, it's normally found on the most recent releases. In most cases, the logo uses music, especially post-2001 when the AOL Time Warner byline version was used. The one with the AOL Time Warner byline can be found on pre-2003 films like Exit Wounds, Scooby-Doo, and The Powerpuff Girls Movie among others.
Scare Factor: None; you'll either love it or hate it. It's held up remarkably well over the past twelve years it's been used.
Logo captures by Eric S., Hoa, V of Doom, Logophile, and naxo-ole
Editions by Bob Fish, Shadeed A. Kelly, Logophile,Curiousgeorge60, Chowchillah, and Yoshidude987
Video captures courtesy of 21stCenturyRumBoon, joliver325, VideoMaster1994, TheAdmeister, Alivarito12, ColumbiaPicturesFan, phasicblu, lenhill240, KidCairbre, and Eric S.
Background: Warner Bros. Pictures was originally founded in 1918 by the Warner brothers Harry (1881–1958), Albert (1883–1967), Sam (1887–1927), and Jack L. (1892–1978), Polish-Jewish brothers who emigrated from Belarus to Ontario, Canada, as the third-oldest American movie studio in continuous operation, after Paramount Pictures, founded on May 8, 1912 as Famous Players, and Universal Studios founded on June 8, 1912. However, Warner Bros. Pictures officially opened its doors on April 4, 1923. In 1967, this studio merged with Seven Arts Productions, who renamed it to "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts". In 1969, it was purchased by Kinney National Co., which was later reincorporated as Warner Communications in 1972 when it spun off its non-entertainment assets, due to a financial scandal over its parking operations. Since 1990, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, formed as a joint venture between the conglomerates Time, Inc. and Warner Communications. In 1992, Time Warner formed "Time Warner Entertainment" by merging all of its entertainment operations for the first time. Internet giant AOL merged with Time Warner in January 2001, renaming the company to AOL Time Warner, but in summer 2003, the conglomerate name was reverted to TimeWarner (with no space in between the words) due to lawsuits and a $99 million loss. Today, with the exceptions of some WB releases, like the WB films Sayonara and Moby Dick (currently owned by MGM), the WB film Rope (currently owned by Universal) and the WB film Hondo (currently owned by Paramount), the pre-1950 catalog is held by Turner Entertainment Co., but all are still owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Visit the website here.
1st Logo
(September 22, 1923-August 30, 1929)
Nickname: "Brain Shield", "Studio Shield"
Logo: On a black background, a large, bizarrely shaped shield is seen, with a very wide top. The top part of the shield shows a picture of the Warner studio in Burbank CA, the bottom having a squashed, stylized "WB". "A WARNER BROTHERS" is above the shield (with "WARNER BROTHERS" in an arc around the shield, ala the first Columbia logo), with "CLASSIC of the SCREEN" below. Starting in 1926 or so, it changed to "PRODUCTION".
Closing Titles: There are two closing titles for this WB era:
- 1st Closing Title: We see the words "THE END" all in capitals on both sides of the WB shield, with "THE" on the left and "END" on the right. The "T" on "THE" and the "E" on "END" are bigger than the other letters. Below the shield, we see "A WARNER BROTHERS CLASSIC OF THE SCREEN" in big capital letters. But on some movies, the WB shield was omitted. For example, Beau Brummel (1924) had a BG with some books and two candles on both sides of the screen. Above the books, we see the "The End" in a small, fancy white script arched above a small "A WARNER BROTHERS "CLASSIC of the SCREEN"" text.
- 2nd Closing Title: The second variant is the one you are seeing on the 3rd photo from left to right. On The Jazz Singer (1927), it was superimposed on a marble-like BG.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Extremely rare; the only evidence of this logo was seen on a Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary trailer on 1998 Warner videos. However, it has appeared at the start of the film The Jazz Singer, and was kept intact on the 75th Anniversary DVD. This is retained on all extant silent-era Warner Bros. films shown on TCM such as The Better 'Ole.
Scare Factor: Minimal, due to the strange design of the logo.
2nd Logo
(November 7, 1929-August 29, 1936)
Nickname: "The Early Shield", "Vitaphone Shield"
Logo: The words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC." appear, and below that "& THE VITAPHONE CORP." appears in a much smaller font, with the "VITAPHONE" using "electric" style letters. Below that is a very small WB shield (using the stylized WB seen in logo 1), and in script, "Present". Behind it there is the drawing of a flag, "waving" so it looks like it is in 3 sections. On the first one, "WARNER BROS." appears, followed by the electric-letter "VITAPHONE" logo and on section 3, "PICTURES".
Closing Title: The closing variation has "The End" instead of "Present".
Trivia: The First National Company also used this logo, but modified with the words "FIRST NATIONAL" instead of "WARNER BROS. PICTURES". Also, on some features, only a very big banner saying "VITAPHONE", was shown, omitting the First National or the Warner Bros logo.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Very rare; preserved on any film from Warner Bros. from the period. However, on the DVD version of G-Men, it has usually been updated with the 1948 shield logo, as this logo is kept at the end of G-Men.
Scare Factor: None.
3rd Logo
(November 23, 1936-October 23, 1937)
Nickname: "Zooming Shield"
Logo: Over a cloud setting, a superimposed WB Shield design zooms-in to the screen. The words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC. Presents" appear over the shield.
Variants: There are three odd, rare variants of this logo:
- For colorized releases, mainly Captain Blood, the cloud background is blue and the shield is yellow.
- The shield is a still image, and is shaped extremely bizarrely.
- The shield is seen on a white backdrop. Instead of the shield zooming into the camera, the opposite takes place.
Closing Title: We see, on a special BG, superimposed on the last scene of a movie or the cloud background of the opening logo, the words "The End" in a fancy script font, with either the WB or the FN logos and "Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.", or rarely "Warner Bros. Productions Corporation", or "First National Pictures, Inc." below. Later, the disclaimer changed to either "A First National Picture" or "A Warner Bros. Picture" and the font for "The End" would change different times.
FX/SFX: The shield zoom-in. Could it be that this is what inspired the Looney Tunes "Bullseye" opening titles? It's a possibility.
Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Extremely rare; occasionally seen on TCM.
Scare Factor: Low to medium, on account of the really rough zoom-in and the shield's rather strange, elongated design, especially to viewers who are not used to this.
4th Logo
(December 25, 1937-April 7, 1948)
Nickname: "WB Shield"
Logo: Inside a shield, a more realistic version of the stylized "WB" as seen in the previous logo appears. Over the shield is a banner that reads "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC." Below the logo is the word "Presents" in script.
Variants:
- For color releases, this logo was sepia-toned.
- Starting in 1942, "JACK L. WARNER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER" was seen below the Warner Bros. Pictures banner.
- Starting in 1944, the word "PRESENTS" is now in the same font as the Warner Bros. Pictures banner.
- A colorized version of this logo exists on The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca among others.
- An ornate hand-drawn version of the shield against a parchment-like background was seen on some films, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.
Closing Title: Superimposed on a special background or sometimes on the last scene of the movie, the huge words "The End" (with font varying on a movie) fade in, with the "WB" shield bug and "A WARNER BROS. PICTURE" in small letters below, but sometimes, due to the deal between WB and First National Pictures, the disclaimer was "A WARNER BROS.-FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE", or it was sometimes shortened to "A FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE" with the WB shield bug intact.
FX/SFX: None; like most Warner logos, this is a static logo.
Music/Sounds: Usually the beginning of the movie's theme, or a majestic horn sounder. On Humphrey Bogart's at least two films, To Have and Have Not and Dark Passage, an unknown fanfare plays.
Availability: Fairly common; seen on Warner releases of the period, like Casablanca on Turner Classic Movies.
Scare Factor: None.
5th Logo
(August 28, 1948-August 4, 1967)
Nickname: "The Classic Shield", "The Golden Shield"
Logo: Same as before, only the design has been cleaned up a bit. The border of the shield, banner, text, and "WB" are now gold, and the inside of the shield is now blue. The banner phrase is now changed to "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" and is now gold. "Presents", in the same font as the previous logo, usually appears below. Also, the background is now a cloud skyline (much like the logos of 1984 on). This logo was also usually superimposed onto the titles of Warner features of this period.
Variants:
- A color version of this logo appears on color releases, such as Rope among others.
- A sepia-toned variant of this logo can be found on Jack and the Beanstalk.
- Some movies, most notably The Crimson Pirate and The Master of Ballantrae, had this logo on a different cloud skyline.
- On some three-dimensional color Warner releases, like House of Wax, Hondo, Dial M for Murder, Them!, The High and the Mighty, and Rebel Without a Cause, the WB shield looks more three-dimensional.
- Some movies, most notably Battle of the Bulge and Cool Hand Luke, had the logo on a black background.
Closing Titles:
- 1st Closing Title: Was the same as above, seen only with the "A Warner Bros.-First National Picture" and "A First National Picture" text.
- 2nd Closing Title: Superimposed on the last scene of a movie or a special BG, the words "The End" with font variating on that movie fades in with the WB shield bug between two thick lines below. Sometimes, the following disclaimers were used:
- "Produced and Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc."
- "Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc."
- "Produced and Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures"
- "Distributed by Warner Bros."
FX/SFX: None; it's a still logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo. Sometimes, it was usually the beginning of the movie's theme music.
Availability: Seen on many Warner movies on AMC and TCM. It has also been plastered onto the DVD version of G-Men. This logo also makes a surprise appearance after the 1972 logo on the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, released on December 9, 1974.
Scare Factor: None.
6th Logo
(August 13, 1967-July 15, 1970)
Nicknames: "WB-7", "W7", "Lucky number 7 on WB"
Logo: Just a superimposed stylized-shield, with a combination of a "W" and a "7", representing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. The "W7" is drawn on-screen, ala the NBC Snake. Below the shield, "WARNER BROS.-SEVEN ARTS" is seen.
Closing title: After the words "The End" and the credits, the words "Distributed by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts" are seen in the screen superimposed in the last scene of the movie or a special BG with the W7 shield bug below.
FX/SFX: The "trace"; sometimes done over the backdrop of a specific movie.
Music/Sounds: None, or the opening of the movie.
Availability: Rare; might be seen on Warner Bros. films of the period, though WB might replace it with a newer logo. The DVD release of Bullitt has the logo intact, however.
Scare Factor: Minimal; the logo looks weird, but nothing is scary.
7th Logo
(August 3, 1970-March 10, 1972)
Nicknames: "Shield Stretch", "The Kinney Shield", "Long Shield"
Logo: Over a blue screen is an abstract shield (like those seen on WB movie posters in the '60s) in a golden color with a dark brownish color inside. A simple lettering of the WB appears at the upper part and a rectangle of the same colors appear at the lower part of the shield, with the Kinney byline inside. The word "PRESENTS" appears underneath the logo.
Bylines:
- 1970-Early 1971: "A KINNEY NATIONAL COMPANY"
- Mid-Late 1971: "A KINNEY LEISURE SERVICE"
- Early 1972: "A KINNEY COMPANY"
Variants:
- At the end of the film, we sometimes see the byline "Distributed by WARNER BROS." or "Distributed by WARNER BROS. INC." on top of (or, in the case of THX-1138, underneath) a superimposed rendition of the company logo. (On earlier films from 1970, such as Chisum! and The Battle of Cable Hogue, there is no banner/byline on the superimposed version.)
- Some films (including THX-1138) had the logo on a black background.
- Others (such as The Omega Man) had it superimposed over the opening credits.
- Some films had a two-dimensional version of the shield appearing in white over a black background.
- On the 1970 re-release print of the 1956 movie Giant, the Kinney Shield was set over the Classic WB Clouds!
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Again, the opening/closing theme of the movie's theme or it's silent.
Availability: As we all know, Warner was incredibly shoddy with logo preservation until recently. AMC and TCM showings of Warner movies MAY include this logo, but expect one of the more recent WB shield logos, most likely the Warner Communications and Time Warner (not Time Warner Entertainment) variations. No logo is seen at all in the 2007 DVD release of A Clockwork Orange. Is seen on the Encore Westerns print of the John Wayne film Chisum!, and on the legendary Visconti movie Death in Venice (1971). On AMC, it can be found on Dirty Harry. The logo is also retained on the DVD releases of The Omega Man and THX-1138.
Scare Factor: None; this logo is actually neat to see.
8th Logo
(May 12-July 21, 1972)
Nickname: "WCI Shield", "Early WCI Shield", "Tiny Shield", "Mini Shield"
Logo: The standard WB shield logo, without the banner. It is on a blue background with "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" underneath. "Presents", in script, may appear below.
FX/SFX: None, though that would change in a few short months.
Music/Sounds: Silence, or the beginning of the movie's theme.
Availability: Ultra rare; this was on only a few movies to begin with (notably Deliverance and The Candidate) and has usually been updated with the 1984 shield logo and its later variations, so it's hard to say.
Scare Factor: None.
9th Logo
(December 15, 1972-December 9, 1983)
Nicknames: The Big "W", "(\\')"
Logo: On a black background, a red abstract "W" consisting of 2 slanted elongated circles and a shorter elongated circle zooms in towards us. Around halfway through, the words "WARNER BROS" (in the Warner Communications custom typeface) appear below it. The red logo overtakes the screen as a smaller white "W" zooms-in. It stops at the middle of the screen and a black square field, whose corners have been rounded and softened, fades in around the logo. "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" in the same font used for "WARNER BROS" fades in below. Most of the time, "PRESENTS" fades in below after that (in Helvetica).
Variants:
- On the 1976 film All the President's Men, the logo is in black-and-white and "PRESENTS" is absent. This variant is preserved on the DVD of the film.
- On some films (including The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie), "PRESENTS" fades in at the same time as the Warner Communications byline.
- On Superman: The Movie and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, a white (\\') zooms in on a black background and stops in the middle. The words "RELEASED BY WARNER BROS" fade in below.
- On some other outside productions released by WB (including Superman III, among others), "RELEASED BY WARNER BROS" replaces "WARNER BROS" at the beginning of the logo. (This version was retained on the original video release of Superman III.)
- On the original version of The Exorcist, the logo is austerely presented over a black background.
- On Exorcist II: The Heretic, there is a black \\' inside a red square field, with "WARNER BROS, A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" below in red.
- On some prints of Night Moves, the word "PRESENTATION" appears below the Warner Communications byline, making the phrase "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY PRESENTATION".
- Though the 1973 film Steelyard Blues had the "Big W" logo, it still used an in-credit "Distributed by" version of the early 1972 WB logo at the end.
Closing Variants:
- The closing "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS" logo has the colors inside out, with the "W" in black and the field in white.
- An early version of this logo had different font in the text as well. (This version appeared at the beginning of some prints of The Shining.)
FX/SFX: The zooming in of the W. None for the closing variant.
Cheesy Factor: Rather limited animation.
Music/Sounds: Usually silent, but some movies have the beginning of the movie's theme playing over it.
Availability: Warner Bros.' editing bug in the late '80s and early '90s meant that Warner Communications and Time Warner shield logos were seen over this logo. WB continues to plaster this logo with newer ones, even into the early 2000s, such as on The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie and The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, which both have it replaced with the 2003 WB Family Entertainment logo. However, a few movies on Encore contain this logo (Oh, God! is one) after the 1992 WB logo. The 2007 remastered edition of the Led Zepplin movie The Song Remains the Same retains this logo, and you can find this logo on early VHS and Betamax releases by WCI/Warner Home Video. On AMC's prints of the Dirty Harry films, Magnum Force, The Enforcer and Sudden Impact, this logo is retained, though the latter two films have their logo edited due to time. Also seen intact on the HBO Family print of The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, the 1999 VHS release of Twilight Zone: The Movie, most WCI releases, earlier and some later WHV releases, and the 2-disc DVD of Enter the Dragon. Can also be seen on the DVD releases of Uptown Saturday Night and Outlaw Blues, which was recently released under their Warner Archive label.
Scare Factor: Minimal; this is a favorite of many.
10th Logo
(February 17, 1984-January 19, 2001)
Nicknames: "The Time Warner Shield", "The Shield Returns", "Shield of Staleness", "Shield of Boredom", "Shield in the Sky"
Logo: Over a set of clouds, the WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with the name of the owner at the bottom.
Bylines:
- 1984-1990: "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY"
- 1990-1992: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY"
- 1992-2001: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
Variants:
- For some of their earlier films, and for films that had this logo plastered on over older logos, the word "PRESENTS" faded in a couple of seconds afterward, like on WB films that originally used the 9th logo.
- On The Killing Fields, we see the WB shield, then the Warner Communications byline fades in, then "PRESENTS".
Closing Variants:
- 1984-1998: The end logo, seen at the end of most movies, features a superimposed WB shield (without a banner), much like the short lived logo from early 1972. The phrase "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS." appears above the shield with the owner byline at the bottom. On films from 1984-roughly 1989, it would use the big W logo. A variation of the credit logo can be seen at the end of The Bonfire of the Vanities with the WB shield and below that "Distributed by Warner Bros., A Time Warner Company".
- 1990-2000: Another ending variation features the movie logo, but modified with the words "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS." above the shield. This was also used for the beginning of Freejack.
- 2000-2001: Only the words "DISTRIBUTED BY" appear above the shield; the "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" text is redone. Some releases have the banner reading simply "WARNER BROS.". Also added is the URL byline, www.warnerbros.com, below the owner disclaimer.
FX/SFX: None, except for the "PRESENTS" text fading-in on the original Warner Communications variation.
Music/Sounds: In most cases, silent, or the beginning of the movie's theme is used. For some of their first features, a loud and majestic horn sounder (a classic WB fanfare) is heard.
Availability: This logo is very easy to spot and has been plastered onto older releases of films. WB has eased up on this, however, and older logos have been seen more often in recent years. The "Presents" version can be found on National Lampoon's European Vacation, Gremlins and Lassiter, which the latter was the first film to have this logo. The one with the Warner Communications byline can be found on the DVD release of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The movie ending variation can be seen on films such as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park, Twister, and Conspiracy Theory.
Scare Factor: None; you'll probably just be annoyed by how many times you've seen it.
11th Logo
(January 16, 1998- )
Nickname: "CGI Shield", "Shield in the Sky II"
Logo: A picture of the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, CA is seen with a gold tint. The picture "ripples" slowly for a bit and then rotates, revealing that it is the WB shield, redone in CGI and reflecting the studio. The cloud background is more computer generated. The logo rotates towards us and zooms out to its usual position, with the company byline fading in underneath.
Bylines:
- 1998-2001: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
- 2001-2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company"
- 2003: "A Time Warner Company"
- Late 2003-: "A TimeWarner Company" (with "TimeWarner" in it's own logo font)
Variants:
- January 16-December 18, 1998: For this logo's first year, when the logo is zooming out, "75" and "YEARS" appear from behind the shield and move away to surround it. "Entertaining The World" fades in underneath followed by the Time Warner Entertainment disclaimer in white. On very rare occasions, the banner would read simply "WARNER BROS."
- A somewhat enhanced WB shield was spotted on the movies NASCAR on IMAX and Beowulf.
- At the beginning of New York Minute, the logo is accompanied by a rock version of the theme.
Closing Variants:
- 1998-2001: Same as the previous logo.
- 2001- : This closing logo features the 1984 shield with the banner inscription updated to match that of the current opening logo; the words "Distributed by" appears over the shield with the URL disclaimer underneath the byline.
FX/SFX: Just VERY good CGI. The rippling effect may remind you of a rock plopping through the pond.
Music/Sounds:
- January 16-December 18, 1998: The original 75th Anniversary version of this logo used a wind-blowing chime fanfare.
- February 12, 1999- : An 8-note piano tune that builds into a powerful, moving fanfare, based on the theme from Casablanca, "As Time Goes By".
- In other cases, it uses the opening theme of the movie, or silence.
Availability: Common; is seen on most WB films from 1998 onward. Several classic films have had their old logos plastered with this one. Plus, it's normally found on the most recent releases. In most cases, the logo uses music, especially post-2001 when the AOL Time Warner byline version was used. The one with the AOL Time Warner byline can be found on pre-2003 films like Exit Wounds, Scooby-Doo, and The Powerpuff Girls Movie among others.
Scare Factor: None; you'll either love it or hate it. It's held up remarkably well over the past twelve years it's been used.
Shadeed329 |
Latest page update: made by Shadeed329
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| LogoFan121092 | Logo Variant on "Camelot" | 0 | Aug 27 2010, 2:11 AM EDT by LogoFan121092 | ||
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Thread started: Aug 27 2010, 2:11 AM EDT
Watch
Apparently on 80s cable airings of the 1967 musical film "Camelot", the W7 shield was shown in-credit before the film's title appeared (after the overture), but on every other print (including it's original roadshow and theatrical run in '67) there was only the text "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts presents". On the current DVD the 1992 WB logo appears before the overture; is it possible the W7 shield didn't appear on the film at all? Or did it originally appear before the overture?
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| Logophile | The Kinney shield on Dirty Harry | 3 | Aug 25 2010, 1:43 AM EDT by LogoFan121092 | ||
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Thread started: Nov 19 2008, 10:33 AM EST
Watch
The WB Kinney shield is on Dirty Harry on AMC. But it seems unnatural. It has no "PRESENTS" (possible variation?) and the fade in and fade out seem unnatural for a 1971 film, probably WB just added it back on there after plastering it for years.
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| familyfunforeveryone | Cool logo use on "Blazing Saddles" | 0 | Aug 15 2010, 4:02 AM EDT by familyfunforeveryone | ||
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Thread started: Aug 15 2010, 4:02 AM EDT
Watch
Somebody put up the 1974 Mel Brooks film mentioned in the title, and first of all, either the 1984 Warner Bros. Pictures logo or the current Warner Bros. Pictures logo was intact. But also, they showed the "Blazing Saddles" variant of the 1948 WB shield!
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