63 thoughts on “The Story Behind… The 20th Century Fox logo

  1. It’s a classic logo. You hear the music and see that and you instantly know the studio.

    It’s interesting to see it hasn’t changed a whole huge deal since the logo we know now was created.

  2. Awesome love this post! Great bit of history. I wonder if there are there are other films where the logo has been changed just for a specific movie? Like with the snowy version for Edward Scissorhands?

  3. Interesting article, at uni I covered film pre-1930s and it seemed like an interesting time in seeing how these companies like Fox, Warner Bros and even RKO came to be and how we see them today. Some things change and some things don’t!

    Looking forward to seeing the Universal post, if i’m not mistaken it used to be a muscular man pounding on a gong of some sort?

    • Yeah, I never looked into the history of these companies, but learning about their history through these logos has been very rewarding. I don’t know about the Universal one, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon. Thanks for commenting!

  4. One of the most iconic images in contemporary cinema. I always wondered about the beginnings of the logo but I never took the chance to find out a little more. Very interesting read. Perhaps things would be very different had Fox merged with MGM, starting with the logo, which would have never seen the light of day.

    Thanks for dropping by my blog the other day. Very nice one you have going here.

    Niels

    • Nice to share a bit of knowledge and see it being appreciated. I always wondered as well and thought it be interesting for others to read it as well.

      Thanks for visiting Niels!

  5. Pingback: The Story Behind… The Columbia Pictures Logo « My Filmviews

  6. Did anyone ever notice the simularity between the logo change made by universal for Smokey and the bandit and the logo used by 20th Century Fox for Cannonball run? both have cartoon Car chases around and through the logos and then have a version of Main Star Burt Reynolds Laughing at the end.

    Smokey and the Bandit:
    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F249ib1bzOY&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLC0F55869835062DC]
    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-_9whWIGvQ&feature=BFa&list=PLC0F55869835062DC&lf=results_main]
    Cannonball Run:

  7. I wish there was an Edit Button for this site. To see the Smokey and the Bandit one click on the blue and to see the Cannonball run one click on the embedded video.

  8. hello, great article.
    someone knows maybe in which movie this logo take part?
    not before the movie but actually in it.
    thanks ahead!

    • I decided not to look at all the variants, just the main logos which were used. There are sites which do show all of the variants that were done for specific movies.

  9. In 1953 Alfred Newman composed the ‘CinemaScope Extension’ to allow for the addition of the ‘advertisement’ of the new screen process, shown after a dissolve. I think that the grandeur of the full fanfare and Kosa’s brilliant reworking of the high-rise logo in the CinemaScope years make for the most awe-inspiring version of the logo. It’s very stately, and the ‘architecture’ of the logo is more distant than the more intimate earlier view, which adds to its majesty. The brass in the fanfare sounds as epic as you can get. It all makes me want to bow down in homage – even though Doris Day in ‘Caprice’ might follow!

    (Paramount of course followed the trend with their magnificent VistaVision opening, with its smashing fanfare by Nathan Van Cleave.)

    I think that the current 20th-Fox CGI version, with the full fanfare sensibly restored (conducted by Alfred’s son David) is of course impressive, but just a little too ‘perfect’, and kind of pretentious. Plus, the ’20’ isn’t rendered nearly as well as in Kosa’s version. David Newman is a wonderful composer, but his version just doesn’t have his dad’s unique ‘sound’ to it.

    The most powerful (and haunting) non-fanfare (and non-CinemaScope) 20th-Fox opening, in my opinion: ‘The Sand Pebbles’, with Jerry Goldsmith’s score starting to build. Incredible effect. And for ‘Cleopatra’, filmed in Todd-AO, there’s no CinemaScope extension, and no fanfare, though Alex North’s intriguing arpeggio makes for a unique introduction to a tremendous picture.

  10. Im scared of 20th centry of fox because the starting noise creapes me out and gives me nightmares. i bet in the movie Mr. Pebody and Sherman the scenes starts old fasion and goes to the 2014 vershon because of time travel. It will creap me out more because I never saw the movie and i do not know what going to happen

    • one time I looked at funny 20th centry of fox somebody cropped Benson (from cartoon networks Regular Show). His gumball machine face was cropped on the 0 for 20th. Prety funny. HE HE HE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  11. du¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????¿?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿??????????????

  12. this site is wonderfull. I WILL STILL CAPTURE PRINCESS BUBLEGUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  13. GUMBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! says:

    MACILENE should shut herself up

  14. YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  15. I enjoyed your article. It cleared up a few things I had been wondering about the evolution of the 20th Century Fox logo. One comment though… You mentioned the camera “panning up” in reference to the 2010 logo. A pan is a horizontal camera movement. You cannot pan up. The phrase you’re looking for is “tilting up”.

  16. This is a very and fine interesting 20th Century Fox logo there! And it’s 80 years old this year(1935-2015)and it will continue to put more and exciting and interesting movies(and TV shows as well)the most interesting logo in the world!

  17. This is a cool logo. I pray to Yahweh (God) that Disney does NOT buy this logo because it would never be the same again once they do.

  18. Pingback: A Century of Film: 20th Century-Fox | News from the San Diego Becks

  19. FYI | As a Fox veteran, I can tell you that on the Fox lot it’s not referred to as a logo, but as “the monument.” The current iteration of its theme music was commissioned by Barry Diller when he became CEO in 1984.

    • I read somewhere in YouTube’s comments regarding the 20th Century monument, as you put it, was believed to be an actual physical construct where tourists might go up and get a picture of themselves by the monument.

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