Columbia Pictures: Difference between revisions

* In 1999, a special variant was produced to commemorate the company's 75th anniversary. It starts off with the 1936 logo in black and white, leaving the 1993 cloud background intact. The Torch Lady then slowly morphs into her current counterpart as the black and white elements later transition to color. As the camera zooms back, there is a red arched banner dropping from above reading "SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY LIGHTING UP SCREENS AROUND THE WORLD", and on the pedestal is a red box with the gold, giant chiseled name "COLUMBIA" inside on top, and the small word "PICTURES" below in spaced-out letters. The gold giant number "75" is also shown unfolding in between the Torch Lady. This variant's only known onscreen use was on the 75th anniversary home video collection promo attached to most Sony VHS tapes released in 1998 and 1999; all Columbia movies released in 1999 simply used the normal logo.  

* On a [[Warner Home Video]] VHS of ''The Shawshank Redemption'', the logo starts a second in.

* Starting with ''The Shallows'' in 2016, the Sony byline stays onscreen for a split second longer before fading out.

* On 4:3 prints of ''The Remains of the Day'', the logo zooms out to a much farther distance, making it look like an open-matte version, but it's positioned so as to not show the cloud background below the pedestal.

* At the end of ''Black Hawk Down'', the logo zooms out to a 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 of the image that was not meant to be seen. This variant can also be found on a trailer for ''Erin Brockovich'' (2000).

* On non-HD versions of the ''Surf<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Up'' game, the logo zooms out to a point where a small sliver below the pedestal is visible. This can be accessed on the Wii version if the console is set to 4:3.

* 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.

* The 1993 main version (demo mix) is an early draft of the fanfare with the piano tune emphasized more, and thus 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, though it was also used on some 1999-2000 films (examples being ''Gloria'' and ''Loser''). The surround tracks of this mix have minimal volume; it may have been intended for theaters at the time that were still formatted in stereo sound and have not yet converted to surround sound.

* The 1993 alternate version (rough mix) is re-orchestrated, and has additional sections/instruments (such as brass, horns, chimes, synthesizers, and flute sections), additional tracks for surround sound channels, and sounds way more powerful than the other fanfares listed here. The added tracks serve as a basis for the later versions of the fanfare. It only appeared on six films from 1993-1997, however: ''Last Action Hero'' (the first film to use this logo), ''Striking Distance'', ''Josh and S.A.M.'', ''Geronimo: An American Legend'' (although some prints may have the 1993 main version), ''Little Women'' (1994), and ''Buddy''. This fanfare could have possibly have been intended to take advantage of the then-new SDDS sound system. A theory as to why this fanfare was seldom used was due to the technical problems of the SDDS systems in various theaters, thus resulting in the 1993 demo version being more widely used until 1998.   

* The 1998 main version (final mix) is the finalized version of the 1993 alternate fanfare (rough mix). It was first used on John Carpenter's ''Vampires'', released on October 30, 1998, and has been the standard version used by Columbia ever since, being used the longest out of the four mixes. This change may have been intended to take advantage of newer digital 5.1 surround sound technologies.

* The 1998 alternate version is an alternate mix of the 1998 main fanfare with less brass and more piano similar to the 1993 demo version. This version first debuted on ''Stepmom'', released on December 25, 1998. It was used in tandem with the 1998 final version. The final film to use this rendition on a regular basis was ''Hotel Transylvania'' (2012), although it made an appearance in the 2014 Brazilian film ''Confissões de Adolescente'', and then again nine years later with ''Napoleon'' in 2023. It was the most regular rendition heard in Sony's Brazilian co-productions during the 2000s as well.

* 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.

* From 2005 to 2012, the alternate mix of the fanfare is PAL pitched.

* From 1999 to 2000, there is also a double-pitched (high tone) version of the 1998 theme.

* On the 2000 Region 2/4 PAL DVD release of ''Erin Brockovich'' (and its 2012 reprint), for some reason, the 1998 theme is NTSC-pitched (as with the 1997 Universal logo's theme). This is also the case on the film's UK VHS release.

* Some newer prints of 1993-1998 films may have their original 1993-98 fanfares (whether demo or rough mix) replaced with a later 1998-present one (whether final mix or alternate, as well). Examples of this are Blu-ray prints of ''Last Action Hero'' (as well as the 2021 UHD release if the Dolby Atmos track is selected; other digital prints and original theatrical mixes keep the original rough mix fanfare), Netflix's print of ''In the Line of Fire'' (as well as the 2021 UHD release), and later releases of ''Desperado''.

* On the UHD release of ''The Remains of the Day'' (1993), it starts off with the original 1993 demo mix of the fanfare, but blends into the current 1998 final mix due to a attempted reverse plaster, with the previous fanfare heard over the current one.

* This logo was also seen at the beginning of ''Ghostbusters: The Video Game'' (the original version has the full version of the 1993 logo in high-tone, while the Remastered version has the trailer version of the 2014 logo with the Sony logo at the start and no music).