Columbia Pictures: Difference between revisions

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'''Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.''' (commonly known as '''Columbia Pictures''') is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of [[Sony Entertainment]]'s [[Sony Pictures Entertainment]], itself a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony and one of the major American film studios. It was headquartered in 1993 at Sony Pictures Studios (formerly MGM Studios) in Culver City, California.

Following a reorganization, the Cohn brothers renamed the predecessor company as "Columbia Pictures Corporation" on January 10, 1924. Columbia's product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and a short-subject program of comedies, serials, cartoons, and sports films. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, building a reputation as one of Hollywood's more important studios. On December 23, 1968, it was reorganized as "Columbia Pictures Industries" (commonly known as "Columbia Pictures") after Columbia Pictures Corporation merged with its television division [[Screen Gems Television|Screen Gems]]. On June 22, 1982, Columbia Pictures was sold to [[The Coca-Cola Company]] for $750 million, became part of Columbia Pictures Entertainment in December 1987 with Coke owning 49%, and since November 8, 1989, it's owned by Sony Corporation of Japan. Since 1998, it is part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group since 2013), which is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the mentioned multinational conglomerate.

Columbia Pictures titles were distributed through a partnership with [[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]] under the name "[[Warner-Columbia Films|Columbia-Warner]]" internationally (with some partnerships in [[Columbia-Cannon-Warner Distributors|the UK]]) until 1987 when Columbia reorganized its international distribution division into [[Sony Pictures Releasing International|Columbia Tri-Star Films]]. The UK partnership would last until 1988.  

'''Logo:''' On a {{color|darkgray|dark gray}} background with arch clouds below, we see a woman dressed in a Roman soldier's outfit (similar to the Greco-Roman goddess Athena/Minerva), crowned with a wreath and covered in a toga, holding a shield in her left hand and holding an olive branch in her right hand. We see the text "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION Presents" with "COLUMBIA PICTURES" appearing in an arched text and the text "CORPORATION" underneath the arched words in a straight line and the text "Presents" below.

'''Availability:''' Ultra rare. Seen on very early films by Columbia Pictures. Last seen on ''The Lady with the Torch'' documentary on Encore Drama (whenever the network decides to rebroadcast it). More recently, this logo made a surprise appearance as part of the ''Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' variant of the 1993 logo.

'''Logo:''' We see a medium shot of a lady (Columbia, a representation of the USA), holding a light torch in her right hand. The lady is featured with a dark bob and a kind of Cleopatra-like headdress across her forehead. She is draped in an American flag complete with the stars on her left shoulder and the stripes coming across her middle, supported by her left arm, and hanging down her right side. Her torch is displayed with a rather primitive, flickering style of animation emitting lines of light as rays. The Torch Lady's head is under an arch of chiseled, square-shaped letters reading the words "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION". At the end of the movie or short subject, the words are "THIS IS A COLUMBIA PICTURE" with "The End" below it in a script font.

'''Trivia:''' The Torch Lady shown here is actress Claudia Dell; she appeared as Spanky's mother in the ''Our Gang'' shorts "Mama's Little Pirate" and "Anniversary Trouble".

* Earlier movies until 1932 would feature the name in a different typeface, and will sometimes read as "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION" at the start of the film (sometimes also with the word "Presents" below, in a script font), and "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" at the end of the film, like on ''The Miracle Woman''.

* There is another closing variant that has the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES", with "The End" appearing below, which can be found at the end of ''The Secret Witness'', ''Maker of Men'', ''Forbidden'' (1932) and ''Shopworn'' (1932).

'''Technique:''' Done using moiré effects and clever editing, such as the "sparkling" torch rays.

'''Music/Sounds:''' A majestic horn sounder, much like the [[20th Century Fox]] logo, or the opening/closing theme of the short/feature.

'''Byline:''' Starting in 1974, the company byline "A DIVISION OF COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC." appears at the bottom of the screen. This variant was introduced around the time its television production division [[Screen Gems Television]] changed its name to Columbia Pictures Television.

* 1942: The lady looks much like she did in 1936, only the flag becomes a plain red mantle (the Sony website implies that the change was to coincide with a new law that forbade the usage of the American flag as clothing; perhaps not coincidentally, this variation first appeared within a year of America being catapulted into World War II), dark on the left shoulder but only the shadows of the folds differentiating the rest of it from the lady's white gown on her right side. The "COLUMBIA" lettering is also modified, still chiseled but less bold, and with darker shadowing.

* August 12, 1956: Similar to the CinemaScope variant, only now in 4:3 full-screen, which means more of the logo can be seen on the top and bottom. This logo is adapted for the 1.37:1 "academy" process, as well as the CinemaScope process.

* On the 1976 film ''Taxi Driver'', the logo is on a black background with {{color|blue}} clouds and has all of the text appearing at the same time.

* On the 1948 ''Three Stooges'' short "Fuelin' Around", the 1968 logo in black & white is seen at the beginning. Obviously, this plastered the Screen Gems logo on some TV prints, with/without the original music. This variant was seen on said short when reran on The Family Channel in the mid '90s.

* An ending variant was used on serials in the '30s and '40s. Along the bottom, it would read "A Columbia Serial" along the bottom. These were used on the Batman serials among others.

* Two ending variants existed for short subjects during the early '40s: (1) Near the top of the screen, "THE" is in a 3D-like Futura font with a white face and dark/light shadows to the left of the Torch Lady, and "END" in the same font and effects is to the right; the shadows from "THE END" go behind the Torch Lady to an unknown vanishing point behind the rays of her torch (much like the early-to-mid-60's [[Four Star Television]] logo's effect). Near the top of the Torch Lady's pedestal, "COLUMBIA" is in a small but wider version of the company name's "chiseled" font, and "SHORT" "SUBJECT" "PRESENTATION" is chiseled onto each step of the pedestal, going from top to bottom respectively (when seen on colorized prints of ''The Three Stooges'', "THE" "END" and "COLUMBIA" are in a {{color|gold|yellowish}}-{{color|gold}} color, and the clouds and shadows are shades of {{color|darkblue|dark}} and {{color|lightblue|light blue}}, respectively); and (2) the standard "The End" additional text below would read "A Columbia Short Subject Presentation". These variants are usually seen on ''The Three Stooges'' shorts and often accompanies the aforementioned title card variant.

<center><big><u>'''''OPENING VARIANTS'''''</u></big></center>

* 1981-1990: We see the standard Columbia Torch Lady (a somewhat less detailed version of the '70s Torch Lady; she also appears to be resembling Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa) standing on a pedestal with her torch against the backdrop of clouds (which are now slightly less detailed and have a {{color|blue|blueish}} tone to them). The torch then shines into a bright abstract shape, as if in a sunburst, then dims back in place. The words "{{color|#FFA500|'''Columbia Pictures'''}}" (appearing in the same font from the last logo) fade to the left and right of the Torch Lady. Her torch "shines".

'''Music/Sounds:''' Usually, it is silent or has the opening theme of the movie playing over it.

<center><big><u>'''''OPENING VARIANTS'''''</u></big></center>

* 1993-2008, 2019: First, we see a ray of light, resembling a sunburst, with the cloud background fading in a brief second later. The light is coming from a torch, as we zoom out to reveal that a face-lifted Torch Lady, now with a more detailed and realistic look, is holding it. Once the camera is fully zoomed out, "C O L U M B I A", seen in a bold, {{color|silver}} chiseled font, fades in atop the Torch Lady. A ring of light then shimmers around the lady, as the clouds slowly move to the right.

'''Technique:''' Excellent CGI animation, done by Synthespian Studios and Sony Pictures Imageworks for the later versions.

'''Music/Sounds:''' A majestic tune is heard, which ends with a brass sounder. This was composed by Jonathan Elias. There are four versions of the fanfare (two commons and two alternates), all of them having the same ending, with only the 1998 common version still being used today:

* The 1993 common version has the piano tune emphasized more, and sounds more "stripped down" compared to later iterations. This variant debuted on ''In The Line of Fire'' (the second film to use the 1993 logo). It was used mostly on films from 1993-1998, however it made a surprise appearance in some 2000-01 films. It is the one usually associated with the "original Columbia 1993 logo".

* The 1998 common (and most common) version sounds like a hybrid version whose power is between the first and second versions. Noticeably, you can hear new brass sections. It was first used on John Carpenter's ''Vampires'', released on October 30, 1998, and has been the staple fanfare used by Columbia ever since.

* The 1998 alternate version has the piano tune emphasized more, but seems to have the additional brass and chime sections based from other renditions. It also sounds noticeably powerful. This version first debuted on ''Stepmom'', released on December 25, 1998. It was used in tandem with the 1998 common version. The final film to use this rendition was ''Hotel Transylvania'' (2012).  

* Starting with ''Sex Tape'', released on July 18, 2014, an extra build-up is added at the beginning of the 1998 common fanfare, to match up with the parting clouds.

* Some newer prints of 1993-1998 films may have their original 1993-98 fanfares (whether common or alternate) reverse plastered with a later 1998 one (whether common or alternate, as well). Examples of this are Blu-ray prints of ''Last Action Hero'' (though digital prints keep the original fanfare), Netflix's print of ''In the Line of Fire'' (which also includes both films' 2021 UHD releases), and later releases of ''Desperado''.

* The first film to use this logo was ''Last Action Hero'' (although the teaser trailer, a scene from the film itself and the TV spot had the previous logo).

* Some cable prints and [[New Line Home Entertainment|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 Home Entertainment|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), while the [[Shout! Factory]] Blu-ray deletes it out and the 1989 Castle Rock logo is the only one to appear. UK and Australian prints keep this intact due to Columbia keeping the rights to ''City Slickers 2: The Legend of Curly's Gold'' for those countries.

* 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'' and the Blu-Ray release and 2021 UHD release of ''The Shawshank Redemption''). 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.

* It also may have been seen on US 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 American video rights. As a result, it was plastered by the 1985 [[Walt Disney Pictures]] logo.