# 20th Century Fox--what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-what/438288 "2008-02-19T18:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-what/438288/1 "2008-02-19T18:56:19Z")
In the opening credits of 2oth Century Fox films, there is a picture of a giant structure, carved into the image of the words “20th Century Fox”. It is gold-colored, & surrounded by searchlights. There is a small, tower-like structure to the left of the “20th”, pointed a searchlight straight up. [ol] [li]What kind of building is this?[/li][li]What is the tower to the left?[/li][li]Hi **Opal**.[/li][li]Is this based on any kind of real building, however loosely?[/li][li]What is the origin of this logo?[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-what/438288/2 "2008-02-19T19:11:52Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] [li]Hi **Opal**.[/li][/QUOTE] Dude, you’re misusing the “Hi Opal.” Your list already has more than four items. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-what/438288/3 "2008-02-19T19:14:47Z")
[Here’s an image](http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/film_images/20th_century_fox_television_TCFT.jpg). From Wiki: > [@](#): > > The distinctive Art Deco 20th Century Fox logo originated as the 20th Century Pictures logo, with the name “Fox” substituted for “Pictures, Inc.” in 1935. The logo was originally created as a painting on several layers of glass and animated frame-by-frame. It had very little animation – just a sideline view of the tower with searchlights, some moving and some non-moving. Over the years, the logo’s design went through several changes. In the 1950s, Rocky Longo, an artist at Pacific Title, was hired to recreate the original design for the new CinemaScope process. In order to give the rather static design the required “width”, Longo tilted the “0” in 20th – an idiosyncratic element which became part of the design for more than two decades. It goes on to discuss various revamps and subsidiary variations created since (all playing on the same visual theme). ---
**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:** [February 19, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-what/438288/4 "2008-02-19T19:21:49Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] various revamps and subsidiary variations created since [/QUOTE] IMHO, [the best of them](http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/4/49/220px-Logo_30th_century_fox.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-what/438288/5 "2008-02-19T19:45:12Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Dude, you’re misusing the “Hi Opal.” Your list already has more than four items. [/QUOTE] :smack: I meant, “more than two items.” But now I feel obligated to actually contribute to the thread. So, here are a couple of links Google gave me: [A video](http://video.aol.com/video-detail/20th-century-fox-logo/1872284636) of various versions of the Fox logo through history [Hollywood Lost and Found’s page](http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/stories/studiologos/page3.html) on the Fox logo. I can’t find a specific answer to the OP’s questions, but it _seems_ as though the logo was just something the artist dreamed up, not intended to depict any particular real structure. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20th-century-fox-what/438288/6 "2008-02-19T19:58:30Z")
I always thought it was a stylized art deco movie theater, hence the tops of other buildings around it. The spotlights and all are for a classic movie opening.