Universal Studios Logo

One of the most iconic studio logos belongs to Universal Studios.  So here is a brief history of the logo and some fun film variations.

Universal Logo (1937-1946)
Fanfare by Jimmy McHugh/arrangment by Frank Skinner

Universal Logo (1946-1964)
As seen in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Universal Logo (1963-1990)
As seen in Jaws (1975)

Universal Logo (1990-1997)
Fanfare by James Horner
Featured 75th anniversary text (1990-91) and incorporated previous logos
First seen on Back to the Future: Part III (1990) 

Universal Logo (1997-2012)
Fanfare by Jerry Goldsmith
First seen on The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) 

Universal Logo (2012-Current)
Fanfare by Jerry Goldsmith/arranged by Brian Tyler
From 2012-2013, it featured the 100th anniversary text
First seen on The Lorax (2012)

And now onto some fun variations:

Waterworld (1995) - Zooms into the water-covered globe

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) - Just like Flintstones (1994) the prehistoric Univershell appears over Pangea.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (2002 20th Anniversary) - Combined with John Williams' ET theme for the film's anniversary live concert.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) - Logo turns into silver car rim with hydraulic sounds

The Cat in the Hat (2003) - Specially animated Seussified version

Van Hesling (2004) - Black and white logo lights on fire and transitions to a torch

Inglorious Basterds (2008) - An updated throwback to the past

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010) - Animated in video game style with an 8-bit fanfare arrangement

Pitch Perfect (2012) - Fanfare sung acapella by the characters - recreated also on the sequels

Minions (2015) - Fanfare sung by the Minions, continuing into the Illumination logo 

Krampus (2015) - The logo is tinted turquoise and is frosted over

The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) - Another updated throwback

Happy Death Day 2U (2019) - Just like the first film's looping logo, simultanous logos start before they converge

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2 Comments

  1. Awesome post.

    There are obviously a TON of different film-specific logos.

    The 75th anniversary logo (See it on BTTF: Part 3!) with the great Horner score is very cool and Goldsmith's is classic, of course.

    And here's something interesting. I always wondered why The Scorpion King had a unique sounding arrangement of Goldsmith's theme. It's very similar to the Williams E.T. version of the same year, but with the traditional closing (No theme from E.T.).

    It turns out that starting with The Scorpion King on April 19, 2002, Universal dropped the E.T. Anniversary logo, but used a Williams arrangement of the full Goldsmith theme.

    It was only used until May 17 of the following month, after which it reverted back to the original Goldsmith version.

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  2. Probably no one knows that before Jimmy McHugh's 1936 trademark music (BTW it was arranged by Frank Skinner), U's third music director, Heinz Roemheld, wrote one (I have a copy of the conductor part). Offhand, though, I don't know what early U films it was used in, but it was composed in 1931!

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