Production Logo’s Research

Universal Studios The first logo that was used already showed a globe

which has a lot of resemblance to Saturn with its ring. The second logo was the first one where the planet

looks like earth. This one shows a plane flying around the world leaving a trail of smoke which slowly turn into the words “Universal Pictures”.

 The third shows the globe made from plexiglass with the words A Universal Picture circling around it surrounded by sparkling stars. 

Universal Studios As the company merged with International Pictures Company

a new logo was commissioned. This version simply showed a rotating globe with the words “Universal International” shown on top of it.

On this one the camera zooms through space towards a rotating earth where the word “Universal” fades in.

This one starts on the side of the earth with a short reflection of the sun on the water after which the Universal letters come around as the camera slowly zooms out to show the earth and the stars behind it

Warner Brothers The original version of the logo already had a shield (it’s

unclear why it was chosen) and the WB, but also a picture of the actual studio.

Here the picture of the studio has disappeared and the letters WB fill the whole shield. The text shows “WARNER BROS. PICTURES.

In the next version of the logo the shield zoomed into view out of the clouds, followed by the text “WARNER BROS. PICTURES, Inc. Present” appearing over it.

Warner Brothers The logo has now has more depth to it and a banner has the

text “WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC.” on it. The classic WB logo colours, gold and blue, are introduced.

Sometimes the clouds are the background, but it’s also shown superimposed on the movie itself, as is the case in this screenshot from Rope.

At the end of the sixties a big change was made to the logo as Seven Arts productions acquired a controlling interest in Warner Bros. It appeared in yellow or white and was quite simple.

Warner Brothers When the newly formed Warner Bros-Seven Arts was

acquired by Kinney National Company it decided to drop the Seven Arts from the name and the logo changed again.

In 1984 the classic logo returned with not a lot of difference compared to earlier versions.

In 1998 a CGI version of the logo was introduced which started with a picture of the studios, a ripple going across it and slowly turning to reveal the logo.

Universal Studios The first CGI version of the logo where light emerges from

the globe, slowly revealing the continents. The name Universal appears in gold and white lettering.

The brand new logo to celebrate the 100th Anniversary.

Warner Brothers The newest version. The intro has also been designed for specific films such as

Harry Potter