# Studio logos styled for the movie, or incorporated into first scenes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2016, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138 "2016-01-04T07:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/1 "2016-01-04T07:15:35Z")
At the beginning of _The Matrix_, the WB and Village Roadshow logo sequences are given a green, flickery appearance that is clearly styled to fit the movie. At the beginning of _Serenity_, the globe from the Universal logo becomes Earth-That-Was. What are the first chronological examples of both of these devices? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/2 "2016-01-04T07:38:20Z")
I don’t know if it was the actual first, but the first I can remember seeing is in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the [Paramount mountain logo turns into a real mountain](https://youtu.be/DpCSFKF_9as?t=1m33s) as the movie opens with Indy in the jungle… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/3 "2016-01-04T07:44:21Z")
OK, so that’s (so far) 1981 for logo-as-scene-element ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/4 "2016-01-04T08:02:46Z")
Which one of these movies came out first?: > **[Logo Joke - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LogoJoke)** > > Some studios have vanity plates that are recognized everywhere. The moment you see a ring of stars swirling into place above a serene-looking mountain, for example, you know you're watching a Paramount movie. That little kid who tosses a fishing … ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/5 "2016-01-04T09:30:29Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I don’t know if it was the actual first, but the first I can remember seeing is in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the [Paramount mountain logo turns into a real mountain](https://youtu.be/DpCSFKF_9as?t=1m33s) as the movie opens with Indy in the jungle… All of the Indiana Jones films did a variation on this, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/6 "2016-01-04T09:41:11Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I don’t know if it was the actual first, but the first I can remember seeing is in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the [Paramount mountain logo turns into a real mountain](https://youtu.be/DpCSFKF_9as?t=1m33s) as the movie opens with Indy in the jungle… Same with _Coming To America._ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/7 "2016-01-04T09:57:00Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > Which one of these movies came out first?: > > [Logo Joke - TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LogoJoke) Looks like _The Mouse That Roared_ (1959) might be it. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/8 "2016-01-04T12:30:40Z")
The Marx Brothers movies played with the MGM “Leo the Lion” opening. **A Night at the Opera** had the three Marx Brothers (Zeppo was out of it by then, although virtually replaced by Alan Jones) “roaring” through the “Ars Gratia Artis” frame. the silent Harpo was supposed to reach into the film/foliage and retrieve his trademark horn to use. > **[A Night at the Opera (1935) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026778/trivia)** > > A Night at the Opera (1935) Trivia on IMDb: Cameos, Mistakes, Spoilers and more... [https://www.google.com/search?q=Marx+brothers+movie+Leo+the+lion&biw=1920&bih=934&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2-\_u0kJDKAhXB4yYKHabiBFEQsAQIGw&dpr=1#imgrc=1bJaPHCPdyWJJM%3A](https://www.google.com/search?q=Marx+brothers+movie+Leo+the+lion&biw=1920&bih=934&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2-_u0kJDKAhXB4yYKHabiBFEQsAQIGw&dpr=1#imgrc=1bJaPHCPdyWJJM%3A) They played with the logo in another film – normally the Lion is matte into the frame, but for this opening they actually had the lion behind a cutout, and after the roar the camera dollies around behind it, where you see Harpo with it. MGM also “played” with the logo by having Tom of Tom and Jerry hissing through the opening instead of Leo The Pink Panther, too: Anticipating the "Matrix" opening the OP lists, in 1959 they surrounded the Leo the Lion with the same odd green used in the opening credits of \*\*North by Northwest\*\*: For \*\*The Fearless Vampire Killers\*\* Leo morphs into a fanged vampire: So MGM has been screwing around with its trademark logo, changing it sometimes to fit the movie, since the mid-1930s, long predating paramount’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. By the way, Paramount replaced the m,ountain with Mt. Sinai in its opening for 1956’s **The Ten Commandments** ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/9 "2016-01-04T12:45:29Z")
No help for you in terms of going back earlier, but I do remember a couple of fun ones were done for _Waterworld_, where the Universal logo was covered in water, and then one that the Internet suggests was _The Cannonball Run_, when the Fox logo had a car chase all over it. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/10 "2016-01-04T12:49:31Z")
For **2001: A Space Odyssey** they replaced the roraing Leo and its Ars Gratia Artis film frame with a fixed, stylized lion: > It’s the only time I can recall that they ever used that “futuristic” form of the logo. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/11 "2016-01-04T12:55:28Z")
Here’s the “Mt. Sinai” opening from 1956’s \*_The Ten Commandments_: https://www.google.com/search?q=Paramount+logo+%22The+Ten+Commandments%22&biw=1920&bih=934&tbm=isch&imgil=luIHg8VVnD3JCM%253A%253BDXG8oJc5\_fvaEM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.youtube.com%25252Fwatch%25253Fv%2525253DgmV2TCtQwxo&source=iu&pf=m&fir=luIHg8VVnD3JCM%253A%252CDXG8oJc5\_fvaEM%252C\_&dpr=1&usg=\_\_-NhLOM6C10QBwcTukEbYDCLkims%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjW9InMmZDKAhVL5yYKHV5LBTUQyjcILw&ei=JmuKVtbJN8vOmwHelpWoAw#imgrc=luIHg8VVnD3JCM%3A&usg=\_\_-NhLOM6C10QBwcTukEbYDCLkims%3D I have a suspicion that Steven Spielberg might be responsible for using the "Paramount logo changes intoi the mountain" in \*Raiders of the Lost Ark\* precisely \*because\* of this opening. Spielberg clearly had a "thing" for The Ten Commandments -- it's playing o the TV in the background as Roy Neary Richard Dreyfus) is building the model of Devil's Tower in his living room\*, echoing his efforts. In addition, the Ten Commandments' special effects are echoed by those in Raiders, especially the Angel of Death. So it wouldn't surprise me if he was inspired by the specialized opening logo, too. \*“Gonna build a mountain In my Living Room” as the mailboxes sing in the parody _Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind_ (at 5:42) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KEkW4es9okU/hqdefault.jpg "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind (full length) 1980") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEkW4es9okU) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/12 "2016-01-04T19:21:32Z")
Around the time Xanadu came out, Universal did a montage of all their old logos which I always thought was neat. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/13 "2016-01-04T19:28:38Z")
I always like the version of the Universal logo with the Genesis Effect. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/14 "2016-01-04T19:46:17Z")
I prefer the [1930s version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeCSdzSouUI) of the Universal logo. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/15 "2016-01-04T20:14:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s the only time I can recall that they ever used that “futuristic” form of the logo. That version of the logo was also used for MGM’s record division around that time. [Example](http://www.pinkfloydarchives.com/Discog/US/LP/Sdtrk/ZP/ZP1/labels.jpg). ---
**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:** [January 4, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/16 "2016-01-04T20:30:46Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > That version of the logo was also used for MGM’s record division around that time. > > [Example](http://www.pinkfloydarchives.com/Discog/US/LP/Sdtrk/ZP/ZP1/labels.jpg). Not for the openings of any other movies, though, AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/17 "2016-01-04T21:09:34Z")
Moulin Rouge had a conductor conducting the Fox symphony as the curtain opened (i vaguely remember this). ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/18 "2016-01-04T22:08:32Z")
Monsters vs. Aliens had the “kid fishing on the moon” sucked up into a UFO with a tractor beam. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/19 "2016-01-04T22:17:08Z")
WB’s logo for the Harry Potter movies darkened for each movie. It’s not amazingly unique, but they definitely felt the pattern of the movies. [Evolution of HP WB logos](http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/evoution-of-warner-bros-logo-in-harry-potter#.xwN9mzLqK) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138/20 "2016-01-05T02:46:01Z")
In “The Last Remake of Beau Geste” Marty Feldman reaches down and destroys the Universal logo with his hands. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-logos-styled-for-the-movie-or-incorporated-into-first-scenes/742138.md?page=2)