Universal Pictures/Summary

Background : Universal Pictures was originally formed on April 30, 1912 by Carl Laemmle, a German-Jewish immigrant who settled in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he managed a clothing store. It is the oldest studio in Hollywood. The word "Universal" means "Omnipresent". In 1915, he opened Universal Studios. In 1946, Universal merged with International Pictures, headed by Leo Spitz and William Goetz. This team ran Universal-International, while Nate Blumberg and J. Cheever Cowdin remained at the helm of Universal Pictures, the parent company. Universal-International destroyed its remaining silent film copies in 1948. In late 1951, Universal-International was acquired by Decca Records. In 1962, Music Corporation of America (MCA) purchased Decca Records and with it, Universal-International Pictures, leaving Milton Rackmil and Edward Muhl in charge, while Dr. Jules Stein (Board Chairman) and Lew Wasserman (President) guiding MCA. As a result of a consent decree with the justice department, MCA divested itself of its talent agency business. In 1990, MCA/Universal was acquired by Panasonic Corporation and later sold to Seagram and Sons in 1995. On December 9, 1996, MCA was reincorporated and renamed as "Universal Studios". In December 2000, French company Vivendi acquired Universal Studios from Seagram and Sons and formed Vivendi Universal Entertainment. On May 11, 2004, it was part-owned by Vivendi SA (20%) and General Electric (80%) and became a subsidiary of NBC Universal, Inc. On January 26, 2011, Vivendi S.A. sold the remaining 20% of NBC Universal to GE until January 28, when Comcast Corporation acquired a 51% controlling interest of the renamed NBCUniversal, LLC, and the remaining stock (49%) from GE on March 19, 2013. Universal is one of the world's first major film studios, alongside Gaumont Film Company, Pathé, Titanus, and Nordisk Film and Nikkatsu, and the very first major film studio in Hollywood. Currently, its logos were credited at the end of every film that was produced by Universal.

===1st Logo (1913?-1918?)===

Nicknames : "CGI Globe II", "100th Anniversary Globe", "Rotating Letters IV", "Majestic Globe", "100 Years of Universal", "Comcast Globe", "Centennial Globe", "Earth Globe VII"

Logo : On a black starry background, as the sun shines on the planet Earth, the camera pans backwards across Europe and Africa. Then "UNIVERSAL" in white with golden bordering rises upward as the sun pans down, and light glows on the continents. Then the screen eases back to its familiar position. The continents glow as the globe revolves showing the Americas. The sun shines, leaving a glow behind the Earth and the Earth's surface. Then the byline that reads "A COMCAST COMPANY " fades in underneath. The "UNIVERSAL" name shines before fading out.

Trivia : The logo was designed by Weta Digital of New Zealand. It syncs to the four notes of the last part of the fanfare, shining on the first four letters.

Early Variant : Just like as they did with their 1990 logo when the company celebrated their 75th Anniversary, Universal initially used a special variant of this logo on the year they celebrated their centennial milestone. In a similar manner the 75th Anniversary variant of the 1990 logo was revealed, the logo acts out as another "grand unveiling" or "passing of the torch," as it begins with clips of the previous logos of the company's history, beginning with the 6th logo and finishing with the previous logo; in which the current logo makes its majestic debut shortly afterwards. The 100th Anniversary variant of the logo also featured the words, "100TH ANNIVERSARY" in gold, which are seen rotating in under "UNIVERSAL" at the same time. Movies that have this logo include Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (first film to use this logo), American Reunion, The Five-Year Engagement, Battleship, Snow White & the Huntsman, Ted, Savages, The Bourne Legacy, ParaNorman (international releases), Pitch Perfect, The Man with the Iron Fists, Anna Karenina, Zero Dark Thirty (European releases), This Is 40, Les Misérables, and Mama (the final film to use this variant of the logo). This was only used from March 2, 2012 to January 18, 2013. The logo w/ montage is only seen on the Internet as a promotion video for their 100th year, as films released in this era only have just the logo.

Variants :
 * On the Pitch Perfect movies, the end of the logo cuts right to the opening shots.
 * On Les Miserables, it fades in just before "UNIVERSAL" comes in.
 * On A Dog's Purpose, it fades in just as the camera reveals "UNIVERSAL". After the byline fades in, it fades to the Amblin Entertainment logo.

 Alternate Descriptive Video Description : In a black star-sprinkled sky, we soar backward over Earth. As massive block letters of gold and silver orbit into view, we pass to the dark side of the planet, where the continents show the speckled electrified glow of hundreds of cities. The Earth eclipses the Sun, and a massive word hovers front and center. Universal. A Comcast Company.

 Early Variant : Just like as they did with their 1990 logo when the company celebrated their 75th anniversary, Universal initially used a special variant of this logo on the year they celebrated their centennial milestone. The logo acts as another "grand unveiling" or "passing of the torch," as it begins with clips of the previous logos of the company's history, beginning with the 5th logo and finishing with the previous logo; in which the current logo makes its majestic debut shortly afterwards. The 100th Anniversary variant of the logo also featured the words, "100TH ANNIVERSARY" in gold, which are seen rotating in under "UNIVERSAL" at the same time. The logo with the montage was only used as a promotional video for their 100th year.

Other Variants :
 * A prototype version exists as seen on the behind-the-scenes videos of the logo being composed below. Noticable differences include the logo being entirely in daytime, a different space background, a slightly different wordmark and an unfinished atmosphere, with the text even clipping through it.
 * In Blu-ray discs, there is a letterboxed version with the text "Loading a Fresh Preview from the Internet" added on the top black border. This pops up when a preview is loading from online while the viewer is using BD-Live.
 * There is a 4:3 version of the logo seen on certain fullscreen pre-1950 Paramount films and the 2018 DVD releases and Freeform broadcasts of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman as well as fullscreen prints of films starting with Mama (the last film to use the "100TH ANNIVERSARY" variant of the logo).
 * A still version appears on licensed movie games, such as Battleship.
 * On the cover video of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Canada's Facebook page, the globe is rotating as it shines, and the stars are twinkling in the background.
 * A short version of the above variant exists on the Criterion Collection Blu-ray of One-Eyed Jacks (1961).
 * The tinting in the logo may vary, sometimes it has a bluish, greenish or purplish tint.

Closing Variants :
 * The full animation as transcribed above was seen at the end of American Made.
 * At the end of 1917, the logo is still. This is also used in the video games, American Ninja Warrior Challenge and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Video Game Definitive Edition, with the latter in low quality to match the game's visuals, without the Comcast byline and the 1997 fanfare.

FX/SFX : The panning of the planet, the company name rising, the continents glowing. All brilliant CGI effects, and is reminiscent of the last two logos.

Music/Sounds : A powerful re-orchestration of the last logo's fanfare, originally composed by Jerry Goldsmith, accompanied by "a choir, new string parts, and drum cadence utilizing world percussion instruments", according to the Hollywood Reporter. Arranged by Brian Tyler. A behind the scenes video of making the fanfare can be viewed here. Tyler also uploaded a retrospective video, which can be viewed here, and the full version of the fanfare, which is also heard before the start of Universal's Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories, as well as the first two videos, which can be heard here. If you look closely at the first two videos, there was a prototype version of the logo while Tyler is conducting the fanfare.

Music/Sounds Variants :
 * On the 100th Anniversary logo variant, "One Last Wish" from Casper, composed by James Horner, is used during the montage.
 * Sometimes, the opening theme or the opening song plays over it.
 * On The Land Before Time: Journey of the Brave and Disney Channel's print of Big Fat Liar, the previous music is heard with this logo, due to sloppy plastering.
 * On the 2012 Blu-ray of Vertigo, it uses the 10th logo's fanfare.
 * Minions has five titular characters 'singing' the fanfare.
 * On the Pitch Perfect trilogy, an a capella version of the fanfare is sung by a group of a capella singers.
 * Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping features a vaguely EDM-sounding remix of the theme, albeit only halfway through the logo's animation.
 * An indie rock version of the logo's fanfare is heard in Yesterday. However, this only appears in the film's soundtrack (under the name "The World is Universal"), as the film itself uses the normal fanfare.

Availability : Common. It can be seen on newer films from the company.
 * The 100th anniversary logo was first unveiled on January 10, 2012, and is currently available on Universal's YouTube channel. It made its theatrical debut with Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (although trailers and TV spots for it had the previous logo) and made its last appearance on Mama, released on January 18, 2013.
 * The version without the "100TH ANNIVERSARY" wording debuted theatrically on Identity Thief, released on February 8, 2013, although it previously appeared at the end of Universal's Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories at Universal Studios Florida, on trailers for movies released in 2013, and on the Blu-ray release of Vertigo.
 * This has plastered the 1997 logo on an airing of The Perfect Man on TBS and Big Fat Liar on Disney Channel with the previous fanfare.
 * It has also been used as a de-facto home entertainment logo since 2012.
 * This logo also appears on international prints of MGM films (the ones distributed by United Artists Releasing) since 2019.
 * This logo also appears on reprints of DreamWorks Animation films, starting in 2018, and on newer films from said studio in 2019, beginning with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. A few examples of plastering or joining in include it being added to the 2021 UHD of Shrek and digital prints of Shark Tale, plastering the final 20th Century Fox logo at the start of newer prints of the movies they released (though it is still intact on rare occasions), and plastering the Paramount Pictures closing logo on the 2018 Blu-ray of Over the Hedge (going straight to the DreamWorks Animation logo at the end) and relocating to the start, among other examples. On South Korean releases, this logo plasters the CJ Entertainment logo, as CJ distributed DWA's films here. Universal does not use a closing variant on these new prints, unlike Paramount and Fox.
 * It was also seen on the 2019 Fathom Events screenings of The Muppet Movie (which is currently owned by Walt Disney Pictures), preceding the Jim Henson Pictures logo.
 * It also appeared on anime shows distributed by NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan that are licensed by Funimation, as well as Jurassic World: Evolution, Jurassic World: Evolution 2, Fast & Furious: Showdown and Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious.

Editor's Note : A worthy update of the 1990 and 1997 logos, with beautiful CGI.

Copyright Stamps : Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the Universal Pictures films:
 * 1925-1935: Copyright © by Universal Pictures Corporation.
 * 1936-1937: Copyright © by Universal Productions, Inc.
 * 1937-1966: Copyright © by Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
 * 1966-1977, 1999-present: Copyright © by Universal Pictures.
 * 1977-1998: Copyright © by Universal City Studios, Inc.
 * 1999-present: Copyright © by Universal Studios.
 * 2019-present (DreamWorks Animation films only): Copyright © by DreamWorks Animation LLC. A Universal Studios Release.

Currently, the logo is also credited at the end of every Universal film as "ANIMATED UNIVERSAL STUDIOS LOGO".