TriStar Pictures: Difference between revisions

|founded=March 2, 1982 ({{age|1982|3|2}} years ago)

'''TriStar Pictures''' (originally spelled "Tri-Star") was formed in 1982 as a joint venture between [[Columbia Pictures]] (then owned by [[The Coca-Cola Company]]), [[HBO IDs|HBO]], and [[CBS National IDs|CBS]], hence the name of the studio. Originally it was known as "Nova Pictures" until the name was changed on May 16, 1983 in order to avoid confusion with [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]'s hit science series ''Nova''. CBS was the first joint-owner who dropped out of the venture on November 15, 1985 and sold its interest to Columbia Pictures for $48 million. In 1986, HBO sold its shares in Tri-Star to Columbia as well and formed [[HBO Films|HBO Pictures]].

On December 21, 1987, Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. was renamed to "Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." and Coke merged Tri-Star and Columbia to become "Columbia/Tri-Star", of which Coca-Cola owned 80% of its stock. In late 1987, most of Tri-Star's releases were copyrighted under the "Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." name until mid-1988, when it was reverted back to "Tri-Star Pictures, Inc.", as a new entity with that name was incorporated on April 13. In January 1988, CPE's stocks fell a little and Coke decreased its shares in CPE to 49%. On November 8, 1989, Sony Corporation of Japan acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment for $3.4 billion. On August 7, 1991, under [[Sony Pictures Entertainment]], the hyphen (-) was taken off of the name to refer it to the current CamelCase-style name, "TriStar".

Early on (with a few exceptions), TriStar's films were released on home video by either [[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment|RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)]], CBS/FOX/[[Key Video]] (now [[20th Century Studios Home Entertainment]]), occasionally [[Vestron Video]]/[[Lightning Video]] (now [[Lionsgate Home Entertainment]]), or [[Thorn EMI Video|Thorn-EMI]]/[[HBO/Cannon Video]]/[[HBO Home Entertainment|HBO Video (now HBO Home Entertainment)]], among other companies. In 1988, following Columbia's buyout of TriStar, home video distribution of films produced by the studio moved exclusively to RCA/Columbia. From 1985 until 1994, TriStar also distributed films produced by [[Carolco Pictures]] in the US and select international regions; these were released on the [[Artisan Entertainment|International Video Entertainment and Live Home Video]] labels (now Lionsgate Home Entertainment), often with TriStar's logo cut. ''Cliffhanger'' is the only Carolco film in which the rights were retained by the original distributor. The [[Taft Entertainment Pictures|Taft Entertainment]] movies they released (such as ''The Monster Squad'' and Stephen King's ''The Running Man'') now belong to [[Paramount Pictures]] after Taft merged into [[Republic Pictures (1985-2010)|Republic]] and then [[Viacom (1971-2006)|Viacom]]. International distribution rights to Tri-Star's titles were previously handled by [[Warner-Columbia Films|Columbia-Warner Distributors]] (a partnership between Columbia and [[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]]) until it was absorbed into [[Sony Pictures Releasing International|Columbia Tri-Star Films]] in 1988.

'''Logo:''' On a {{color|darkblue|dark blue}}/{{color|darkviolet|purple}} evening background with {{color|pink}} skies, a splashed white stallion gallops into view coming from the left. When it gets really close, three stars coming from the left, right, and bottom of the screen (hence the company name) crash into each other, forming a "{{font|Times New Roman|'''T'''}}" in the Didot font (the same font used for the CBS text as CBS was one of the joint owners of Tri-Star until 1985). The stallion suddenly grows a pair of wings (if watching in HD, you can easily notice the wings appear on the stallion out of thin air) and "flies" over the "{{font|Times New Roman|'''T'''}}". It zooms out, revealing the stacked words "{{font|Times New Roman|'''TRI STAR'''}}". The text continues to zoom out. A {{color|gold|golden}} outline of a triangle zooms out with the spaced-out word "{{font|Times New Roman|'''PICTURES'''}}" under it, surrounding the text and the background. As this happens, the triangle outline reveals an abstract drawing of a Pegasus "jumping" over the logo.

*According to then-TriStar head Victor Kaufman: "One of the advisers in creating the company was Sydney Pollack, who was a famous director and actor, and he helped us put together the logo. The horse for the TriStar logo was the horse from ''The Electric Horseman'', which he directed and made with Robert Redford. And the horse from ''The Electric Horseman'' was a dark horse, so he transposed the horse to look white, and put it on the screen, and created a Pegasus and created ... the music and everything ..."

*According to Elizabeth Kaye McCall's book ''The Tao of Horses'', the Pegasus was played by a white Arabian gelding named "T-Bone", who was trained by Hollywood horse trainer Corky Randall. The Pegasus sequence was filmed at night in an outdoor arena Randall frequently used. T-Bone, powdered to look whiter, was to run in an especially made L-passage flanked by black curtains. When Randall called him, he galloped through it, and jumped over a fence to reach him, creating the desired effect.

*This logo was spoofed on the ''Family Guy'' S4 episode "Petergeist", where it shows Joe Swanson riding his wheelchair instead of the Pegasus, and it says "JOE SWANSON THEATRES" instead of "TRI STAR PICTURES".

*On films shot in 2.35:1 (anamorphic Panavision), the abstract triangle and Pegsaus zoom out further back to accommodate the wider ratio. On VHS and full-screen DVD releases, they might use the full image or use the pan-and-scan version of the zooming Pegsaus by (1) the screen focusing on the Pegasus when it appears and suddenly shifting when it jumps over the "T", (2) the screen following the Pegasus or (3) the screen starting in the middle and the Pegasus appearing shortly before it jumps over the "T". On two Carolco movies in the aforementioned format (in this case, shot in Super 35), ''Deepstar Six'' and ''Air America'', the standard logo is stretched to fit the ratio.

*On ''Iron Eagle'' and ''The Fisher King'', a 1.85:1 version of the shrinking Pegasus was used. A cropped 2.35 version was used on ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. The open matte version, which shows more of the top but crops out some of the sides, appears only on the 4:3 version of ''The Fisher King''; ''Iron Eagle'' used the full image in its 4:3 version, and ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' never had a known 4:3 release with the TriStar logo.

*Some anamorphic Scope films, such as ''The Bear'', used the full image in their 4:3 versions. This was also used for early 4:3 prints of ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'', ''Rambo III'', ''Music Box'', and ''Narrow Margin'' whenever they preserved this logo.

*The text "{{font|Times New Roman|'''A TRI-STAR RELEASE'''}}" appears on a black background after the end of the Tri-Star logo. The 1984 theme, which appears to be out of sync in this variant, plays over it as well. This was seen on a December 24, 1986 HBO airing of ''Santa Claus: The Movie''.

*On 1991-1993 movie trailers and commercials, the words "{{font|Times New Roman|'''TRI STAR'''}}" are in white over a black background with a little "Pegasus Over Pyramid" logo in the upper right next to "{{font|Times New Roman|'''TRI'''}}", while the films themselves used the 1984 logo and the newly-formed [[TriStar Television]] did use this for their logo. However, an animated version of the logo did exist with the TriStar text scrolling through space and the Pegasus and pyramid scrolling back in their place. It was seen on a video showing Sony Pictures Entertainment's plans for Culver City. It is unknown whether or not it was an abandoned attempt for a new theatrical logo or if it was just made for promotional purposes.

*The beginning of [[Tri-Star Showcase]] has this logo edited, with the horse galloping. When it jumps over the "T", it fades to the preview of the movie.

*On the VUDU print of ''Lock-Up'', the 2011 [[StudioCanal]] logo plays, and after it ends, it cuts in the middle of the TriStar logo when the Pegasus jumps over the "T".

*May 11, 1984-September 20, 1991, January 29, 1993: Scrolling in the end credits is the same exact logo, minus the {{color|darkviolet|purple}} triangle with the {{color|gold}} outline color. Above the logo is the phrase "A TRI-STAR RELEASE". On some films such as ''The Natural'', ''Johnny Handsome'', ''The Freshman'', and ''Sniper'', the "A TriStar (or Tri-Star) Release" phrase is below the logo. ''Flashpoint'' has the "A TRI-STAR RELEASE" text on the right of the logo. The movie ''Sweet Dreams'', being produced by [[HBO in association with Silver Screen Partners|HBO/Silver Screen Partners]], has the text "Presented by HBO Pictures in association with Silver Screen Partners" above the Pegasus-over-Pyramid and the "A TRI-STAR RELEASE" text below. ''Made in U.S.A'' (produced by [[Hemdale Film Corporation|Hemdale]]) has the text "Released through Tri-Star Pictures".  

*December 11, 1991-October 16, 1992: The closing variant of the still logo from the movie trailers and the 1991 TriStar Television logo, minus the "{{font|Times New Roman|'''TELEVISION'''}}" rectangular box below "{{font|Times New Roman|'''STAR'''}}" nor "{{font|Times New Roman|'''PICTURES'''}}" below the triangle with the phrase "A TRISTAR RELEASE", minus the hyphen between the TriStar name seen above the logo. Sometimes, the rectangular box is seen below the logo, but it lacks the "{{font|Times New Roman|'''TELEVISION'''}}" text inside it. Starting in late 1992, there is a new version with "{{font|Times New Roman|'''RELEASED BY'''}}" above the logo and the rectangular box has a Sony Pictures Entertainment byline. This was seen on ''Wind'' and ''Candyman''.

'''Music/Sounds:''' An orchestral piece by Dave Grusin. As the horse gallops into view, three low French horn notes play and they repeat. When the Pegasus flies over the "T", more enlightening trumpets play and are combined with the trombone. For the logo formation, a loud brass fanfare is played.

*On some films, such as ''Birdy'', ''Candyman'', ''The Muppets Take Manhattan'' (the [[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment|Columbia/TriStar]] DVD has the fanfare while the Hulu print and CTHV VHS print are silent), a recent [[Turner Classic Movies]] (TCM) broadcast of ''Places in the Heart'' (also on the Columbia/TriStar DVD of said film), and the original theatrical release and some streaming prints of the theatrical version of ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (save for the Director's Cut), among others, the logo is silent.

*Sometimes, the theme echoes after the logo ends.

*On some prints of ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (beginning with the 2002 Artisan VHS and DVD release) and other Carolco films, the Carolco theme is heard (one TV airing of the movie had the high-tone version of the theme). This also appeared on a 1995 Australian television broadcast of ''Iron Eagle II'' (with the 1988 theme). This is likely due to poor plastering. The original domestic print had the standard TriStar fanfare, as this was the version used on HBO early on, starting in 1986.

*On the US Scream Factory Blu-ray print of ''Lifeforce'' (1985), the 1984 fanfare plays in low tone.

*A French print of ''The Hitcher'' (the 1986 version) had this logo with the music from the [[Cannon Films]] logo, probably thanks to sloppy plastering.

*TubiTV's print of ''Bat*21'' (1988) uses a master that preserved this logo, but also contains the 1995 [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios|MGM]] lion roar due to poor reverse plastering.

*TBS and Freeform's print of ''Matilda'' (1996), which feature this logo under strange circumstances, has the 1993 jingle playing over this instead due to poor reverse plastering.

*Can be found on TriStar movies from the '80s and early '90s, particularly ''The Muppets Take Manhattan'', ''Birdy'', ''Red Heat'', ''Total Recall'', ''Night of the Creeps'', ''Light of Day'', ''Side Out'', ''Air America'', ''The Natural'', ''Places in the Heart'', ''Jacob's Ladder'', ''Short Circuit 1'' & ''2'', ''Toy Soldiers'' (1991) (although it's removed from the Dutch [[Arrow Film|Arrow Film]] VHS), ''Volunteers'' (1985), ''Tap'' (1989), ''Steel Magnolias'', ''The Running Man'' (except for the 1999 [[Republic Pictures (1985-2010)|Republic Pictures]] DVD), ''Universal Soldier'', ''The Hitcher'' (1986), ''Supergirl'' (1984) ([[Artisan Entertainment|USA Home Video]] release), ''Heaven Help Us'', ''Sweet Dreams'', ''Rad'' (including the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-Ray), ''Hook'', ''Glory'', ''Touch and Go'' ([[HBO/Cannon Video|HBO/Cannon]] VHS only; it is unknown if it appears on the 1999 [[Trimark Home Video]] VHS release), ''The Monster Squad'', ''Mountains of the Moon'' (the 1999 Artisan/Pioneer DVD), ''Head Office'', ''Bat*21'' (while it's saved on the [[Media Home Entertainment]] VHS, it's presumed missing from the MGM DVD; and it is unknown if it is preserved on the Kino Lorber Blu-Ray), ''Q&A'' (including the [[20th Century Studios Home Entertainment|20th Century Fox]] DVD from 2003), ''Every Time We Say Goodbye'' (though it's skipped on the [[Video Treasures]] re-issue), ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'', ''Rambo III'' (except the Lionsgate Ultra HD release), ''L.A. Story'', the first two ''Look Who's Talking'' movies, ''Labyrinth'' (though not on the [[Embassy Home Entertainment|Embassy]] VHS release), and ''Sniper'', among others.

*This logo made its first appearance on ''Where the Boys Are '84'' as TriStar's first released film and then on ''The Natural'', TriStar's first produced film and officially ended with ''Cliffhanger''.