Columbia Pictures: Difference between revisions

    When viewed in full screen, there are varying versions where we see her pedestal. There are close, medium and far views.

    Starting around 1989, the logo fades in and then the company name fades in about a second afterward. There was no big bright light in this variation. This version of the logo debuted on Ghostbusters II.

    This logo was also used for the first half of the Triumph Films logo in 1982.

    On a 1986 HBO airing and the 1985 VHS of Starman and the original UK VHS release of Flatliners, the logo's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio was squeezed into 4:3 full screen.

    Oddly, on the original 1993 video releases of A League of Their Own and A Few Good Men, they have a shortened version of the sunburst logo. The first film fades in as the sunburst retracts, while the second film fades in when the sunburst flares in. Current prints of said films, however, have the standard 1989 logo.  

    From 1989-April 30, 1993, Columbia's print logo was featured scrolling at the end of the movies' closing credits. This features the Torch Lady with the "sunburst" from the 1981-1989 variation of the opening logo. The phrase, appearing in the same font as the opening logo, reads "A Columbia Pictures Release" underneath. An earlier version of this didn't include the print logo, but rather the text instead. A few movies such as Ghostbusters II, Welcome Home and Year of the Comet have the words in a different font (the latter two films did not even feature the print logo, as did The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, When Harry Met Sally... and Misery). This would stop regular use on August 28, 1992, with the release of Honeymoon in Vegas, but this made a surprise appearance on The Pickle.

    Another one would feature the same closing logo, but would use "COLUMBIA PICTURES" in Bank Gothic font with the SPE byline below. On A River Runs Through It and El Mariachi, as well as Castle Rock films, the words "RELEASED BY" appear on top. Used from September 23, 1992-May 14, 1993. A variant also appeared at the end of Josh and S.A.M., released on November 24, 1993. In this one, it has "A COLUMBIA PICTURES RELEASE" above the "RELEASED BY" variant, while the movie itself would use the 1993 logo at the beginning. The possible reason for this is that it was delayed; a teaser for said film, which was found on the 1993 VHS releases of Single White Female and Mr. Saturday Night, had it originally intended for a spring 1993 release, but when it finally came to theaters, Columbia might have replaced the 1989 logo with their new logo, but didn't touch the credit logo. Another example of Sony's poor editing habits.

    On Sibling Rivalry, the closing logo is based on the 1981-1989 print logo: it has the Torch Lady with sunburst inside a dome with "Columbia Pictures" below. Below that is "A COLUMBIA PICTURES RELEASE".

    Eat a Bowl of Tea and The Big Picture have the "Torch Lady in a Dome" print logo with "A Columbia Pictures Release" below it.

    There are two versions of the Torch Lady print logo. One with a short lady and the big sunburst, which was the one seen inside the dome, but would occasionally appear without the dome. A later version was introduced in 1989, with a smaller sunburst and the Torch Lady appears taller and slimmer and more cleaned up in design. No dome was used for this version.

    On the DVD release of Big Trouble (1986), the 1984 Australian VHS of Christine, the 1985 Australian VHS of Educating Rita, a mid '80s Australian VHS of Tough Guys (1974; plastering the 3rd logo), a 1988 Goodtimes Home Video VHS of The Amsterdam Kill (plastering the previous logo), and the 1999 Australian VHS of The Karate Kid, it has the Sunburst music from the previous logo.

    On post-2005 prints of Stripes, as well as some foreign dub tracks of Tootsie, the fanfare from the next below is strangely heard. It is unknown whether these instances were attempts at plastering or placement choices when making the audio remixes/dubbing.

    On a Portuguese print of Stone Cold, this has the 1995 MGM lion roar, due to a reverse plastering error.

    The first film to use this logo was Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams, while it was last seen on Lost in Yonkers; However, the logo made incameo appearance in Last Action Hero (although the teaser trailer and TV Spot had the logo, itself using the next logo) where Danny watches the preview of Jack Slater IV in the local theater.

    New Line Home Video releases (and later, MGM Home Entertainment) of Castle Rock Entertainment films such as Misery, City Slickers, and Mr. Saturday Night edit this logo out, though it is retained on the New Line VHS of Amos and Andrew.

    The MGM DVD release of Amos and Andrew has it plastered with the 1987 New Line Cinema logo, while the YouTube print on the Warner VOD channel had the New Line logo before Columbia's, but was taken off and is now on MGM's channel with it only featuring the MGM and Castle Rock logos. But the combo (minus New Line) was seen on the VUDU print of the aforementioned film, as well as an airing of the movie on Laff TV.

    The Columbia-Castle Rock combo is also preserved on a 1998 MGM Movie Time VHS release of Amos and Andrew, the German DVD of Misery, a 1997 MGM Movie Time VHS of City Slickers and the widescreen Laserdisc release of the aforementioned film retains this logo as well. This was also preserved on cable TV airings of When Harry Met Sally... and also appeared on the widescreen Laserdisc release of said film. Can also be seen on the Amazon Instant Video print of Late for Dinner (after MGM) and the Olive Films Blu-ray release of Sibling Rivalry (also after MGM).

    It also appears on the Vidmark and Starmaker VHS releases of The Shadow Riders (they used the overseas theatrical version, which is why this logo is seen at the start), along with the Trimark DVD (don't expect this on the 2006 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD release, as it uses the original TV version).

    Oddly, in lieu of RCA/Columbia's logo appearing, this logo plasters that of Cinema 5 on the English-dubbed cassette of One Sings, the Other Doesn't.]

    The logo is seen on the 1986 VHS of Casino Royale (1967), plastering the 3rd logo, and it also plasters older Columbia logos on several other post-1981 videocassettes as well, including The Black Bird,Gidget(1959) andFunny Girl.

    While removed from the MGM DVD and oddly, the British Columbia TriStar Home Video DVD, it was preserved on the U.S. RCA/Columbia VHS and Laserdisc of Double Impact. It is unknown if the recent MVD Rewind Blu-Ray of the film retains this logo.

    Don't expect this to appear on Weintraub Entertainment Group films that they distributed theatrically, with the exception of The Gods Must Be Crazy II, where a still Weintraub logo is seen at the end.

    Originally, the logo was set to appear on Striking Distance (originally titled Three Rivers) on May 21, 1993 where it would have made its final appearance. However, it was pushed back to September 17 and it has 1993 logo instead.

Nicknames: "'90s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady V'', "Majestic Torch Lady", "The Jenny Joseph Logo"

    1993-2006: This logo has a face lifted Torch Lady from 1936-1976 on her pedestal on a sky background filled with cumulonimbus clouds, giving more detail to the drawing. First, we see a bright light, as if in sunburst, with the cloud background fading in a brief second later. The light is coming from a torch, which zooms out to reveal the lady who's holding it. After the lady, along with the cloud background, are fully zoomed out, on the top "COLUMBIA", seen in a bold, silver chiseled font, fades in afterwards as a ring of light shimmers around the lady, while the cloud background very slowly moves to the right.

    2006-2014: Starting with The Holiday, released on December 8, 2006, the logo was given a more "enhanced" look, similar to the 2001 Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment logo and Michael J. Deas' original artwork of the logo, which can be seen here. The hand is in a different pose in which the finger is at the tip of the torch. The sky is also darker and the "COLUMBIA" text has more silver in it and is slightly off-center. Trailers and TV spots, however, continued to use the 1993 version of the logo until 2008. On The Holiday, it shows the logo already formed; the fully animated variant debuted on Ghost Rider, as between those two films, the 1993 version was still used until The Messengers.

    2014-: Starting with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, released on May 2, 2014, the logo is preceded by the Sony Corporation logo. This involves the addition of blurry parting clouds with a very bright light between them. The light gets brighter until the clouds are apart and then it fades to the traditional zoom out from the torch.

    The logo's most recent overhaul was undertaken during this era when Sony Corporation of Japan (which bought Columbia on November 8, 1989) commissioned illustrator Michael J. Deas to redesign the lady and return her to her "classic" look. The result, based on Deas' sessions with Mandeville, Louisiana homemaker Jenny Joseph, who posed for him with a makeshift robe and torch, was a taller, slimmer Columbia Torch Lady with lighter, curlier hair and a dimmer torch. Rather than use Joseph's face however, Deas constructed a composite face made up of a couple of computer-generated features. Deas' artwork, created in 1992, was featured in the Columbia TriStar Home Video identity prior to this logo's appearance. The logo was animated at Synthespian Studios by Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walczak. The duo used 2D elements from Deas' painting and converted them to 3D. The clouds were divided up to 66 image maps and Walczak mapped every cloud onto a 3D object and twist-distorted and translated on Wavefront animation software.

    The identity of the Torch Lady's model wasn't divulged until 2004; prior rumors persisted that Annette Bening was the model.

    A face hidden within the clouds can be seen to the left of the Torch Lady as the camera is zooming out of the torch. It is very hard to distinguish in the original 1993 variant, whereas the 2006 version makes it a lot more noticeable.

    It is unknown what animation company did the 2006 and 2014 versions of the logo.

    In 1999, the company celebrated its 75th anniversary. The beginning of the logo started off with the 1936 logo of Columbia Pictures in black & white, leaving the 1993 cloud background intact. The Torch Lady then slowly morphs into the current Torch Lady as the effects from black & white later turn to color. As the camera zooms back, we see a red arched banner dropping from above saying "SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY LIGHTING UP SCREENS AROUND THE WORLD" and the Torch Lady standing on the pedestal, where we see a red box with the gold, giant chiseled name "COLUMBIA" inside on top, and the small word "PICTURES" below in spaced-out letters. We also see the gold giant number "75" unfolding in between the Torch Lady.

    There is one version where the left and right sides of the cloud background are stretched out more and the Torch Lady and the "COLUMBIA" text, along with the byline, are zoomed out a little.

    At the end of Black Hawk Down, the logo zooms out to a much further distance than usual, revealing the bottom of the cloud background below the pedestal. This is because the film was shot in Super 35 1.66:1 negative ratio, and framed for 2.39:1 scope. This variant is seen on 4:3 prints of the film, which exposes more vertical information that was not meant to be seen. This variant can also be found on a trailer for Erin Brockovich (2000).

    On a few Columbia Pictures licensed video games, such as Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime and The Smurfs, the print version, seen on most DVD covers of Columbia films, appears on a white background, with the text in black (as with Columbia Pictures Television) and the byline below the stacked words.

    After the end credits of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the logo is still and the print logo is replaced.

    The superimposed closing variant features the Torch Lady (and the cloud background) placed inside a rectangular box. The torch, and the cloud BG, overlap the top of the box. Next to the logo are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES", with "COLUMBIA" over "PICTURES". The phrase below the text reads "A COLUMBIA PICTURES RELEASE" or "RELEASED BY" above the logo with the SPE byline underneath the logo. On some movies such as Stuart Little, the animated short Early Bloomer, Hollywood Homicide, and 13 Going on 30, the SPE byline is smaller, more spaced out, and in a different font.Starting with American Hustle, the byline was shortened to "a Sony Company", though the older SPE byline made a surprise appearance on Pixels, released on July 24, 2015.

    One early closing variant of such featured the boxed Torch Lady logo at center, with "COLUMBIA PICTURES" and the SPE byline below one another. Sometimes, the text and byline are smaller and the logo is bigger to fit the width of the text.

    Beginning with Life in 2017, a revised version of the above-mentioned variant is used. Here, the text and byline are larger.

    On the Open Season short "Boog & Elliot's Midnight Bun Run" and The ChubbChubbs Save Xmas, the first half of the Sony Pictures Animation logo music can be heard during the logo, before the Columbia logo cuts into the mentioned logo as the music finishes.

    There is a high tone theme on such films like The Pink Panther, Open Season, Casino Royale (2006), The Pursuit of Happiness, Catch and Release, Ghost Rider, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, How Do You Know, the 2012 remake of Total Recall, and Hotel Transylvania.

    On Finding Forrester, a guitar version of the theme is heard.

    There is also a double-pitched (very high tone) version of the theme, which can be heard on Hollow Man and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.

    On Palmetto, yet another arrangement of the theme is heard without cymbal hits, ending smoothly with synthesized flutes. This variant was only seen on the original Columbia TriStar releases, as the current releases remove this logo (prior to Time Warner owning Castle Rock library, as Palmetto is a Castle Rock film).

    It is believed that on the Sony region 2 DVDs of Evolution (2002), the 5.1 English track contains the DreamWorks jingle. Oddly enough, a similar thing happened on the DreamWorks logo on the R1 DVD when the 2.0 English track is selected and the 1993 CP jingle is heard.

    The first film to use this logo was Last Action Hero (although the teaser trailer and the TV Spot had the previous logo).

    This logo was also seen at the beginning of Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

    Some cable prints and New Line Home Video releases of Castle Rock films such as Needful Things, Malice, Josh and S.A.M., and North actually keep this logo (though don't expect to see it on MGM releases of the former three films, although the Kino Lorber Blu-Rays of Needful Things and Malice have it, the latter after MGM).

    On current prints of City Slickers 2: The Legend of Curly's Gold, this is replaced by the 2001 Warner Bros. Pictures logo (though the 1989 Castle Rock logo is kept).

    Current prints of 1994-1998 Castle Rock films distributed by Columbia have the logo either plastered by a Warner Bros. logo or edited out, altogether. Even the end in-credit notices aren't safe as they're either blacked out or replaced by a WB logo (though it is retained on the 1999 DVD release of City Hall). The 1998 Warner Home Video VHS release of The American President retains this, however.

    Interestingly, the print logo made its first appearance in early 1993 on posters for The Pickle and Lost in Yonkers as well as newspaper ads for Groundhog Day; however, those aforementioned titles use the previous logo.

    This also appears on the 1997 Director's Cut version of Das Boot.

    Also, the 2006 version plasters the original 1993 logo on the Blu-ray of Muppets from Space.

    It also may have been seen on theatrical prints of The Wind in the Willows (1996), later re-titled Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but it doesn't appear on any VHS or DVD releases of said film due to Disney owning the video rights, as a result it was plastered by the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo.

    While the print logo appears on ads for The Angry Birds Movie 2, the logo itself doesn't appear on trailers for the film or the film itself.

    A portion of this logo appears about halfway through The King.