# 20th Century Fox movie intro **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595 "2011-11-11T13:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/1 "2011-11-11T13:52:24Z")
This has bugged me for years, so I turn to the Dope for an answer. Mods this could possibly go in GQ, because I’m looking for a factual answer, but it deals with movies. Move to where necessary. 20th Century Fox has a theme they run during the introduction to their movies – however, during certain movies, it runs longer. Examples are [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GES4RYDFZBg) for the most common shorter one, and [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cdwiu1SA1w) for the longer one. The additional fanfare is at about :10 on the second one. My question is, why do they have the longer one, and how do they decide which movies will get the longer version? I suspect it’s used for those movies intended to be blockbusters, although I can’t think of any specific examples. Although (and again I can’t come up with anything concrete) I’m sure I’ve heard the additional fanfare on garbage movies that clearly weren’t all-time gems…they were maybe equal to Friday the 13th Part X or something. Does anyone know for sure the process for picking which movies get which intro? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/2 "2011-11-11T15:03:16Z")
The longer version is called the “Cinemascope” version, as it was originally created in the 1950s for use on movies which were filmed in that format. It had fallen out of use (in large part because Cinemascope had, as well), until George Lucas brought it back for use in front of the original \*Star Wars \*in 1977. I get the sense that the choice of which version (if any) to use is, at least in part, up to the individual filmmaker; I suspect that Lucas wanted the longer version in order to be evocative of older movies (or maybe he just liked it). > **[20th Century Studios | Logo and fanfare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox#Logo_and_fanfare)** > > The 20th Century Fox production logo and fanfare originated as the logo of Twentieth Century Pictures and was adopted by 20th Century-Fox after the merger in 1935. It consists of a stacked block-letter three-dimensional, monolithic logotype (nicknamed "the Monument") surrounded by Art deco buildings and illuminated by searchlights. In the production logo that appears at the start of films, the searchlights are animated and the sequence is accompanied by a distinctive fanfare that was origina In 1... ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/3 "2011-11-11T16:34:16Z")
Alfred Newman, Randy Newman’s uncle, composed the theme in the 1930s. I think another Newman, not sure which one, composed the extention piece you sometimes hear. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/4 "2011-11-11T16:58:33Z")
Funny, I only remember the longer one in movies. Probably because the shorter one doesn’t stick in my brain at all. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/5 "2011-11-11T17:02:40Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Alfred Newman, Randy Newman’s uncle, composed the theme in the 1930s. I think another Newman, not sure which one, composed the extention piece you sometimes hear. According to the Wikipedia entry on [Alfred Newman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Newman), he wrote the Cinemascope version as well. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/6 "2011-11-11T17:08:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > According to the Wikipedia entry on [Alfred Newman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Newman), he wrote the Cinemascope version as well. Odd, the wiki article doesn’t mention anything about being the face of Mad Magazine. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/7 "2011-11-11T17:55:09Z")
Well, damn, thanks **kenobi 65**. 'Preciate the info. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/8 "2011-11-11T18:03:09Z")
Isn’t it also true that there’s a very short version (possibly without music altogether) which plays before movies which Fox distributes but didn’t actually produce? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/9 "2011-11-11T18:03:32Z")
> [@Iggins](#): > > Odd, the wiki article doesn’t mention anything about being the face of Mad Magazine. > > 😃 No. [This one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_e_newman#Genesis) does, though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/10 "2011-11-12T00:02:58Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Isn’t it also true that there’s a very short version (possibly without music altogether) which plays before movies which Fox distributes but didn’t actually produce? And the theme was played on piano only before _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_, which is the only instance I can recall without a full orchestra. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-movie-intro/602595/11 "2011-11-12T00:34:07Z")
I always liked the full “Cinemascope” version, and always looked for it. When I saw **Star Wars** for the first time, and heard the entire overture for the first time in a movie theater, I knew that Lucas was the kind of director that paid attention to details, and that the movie would be a real treat. I wasn’t disappointed.