Touchstone Pictures

Logo descriptions by Matt Williams, Kris Starring, and JuniorFan88 Logo captures by Eric S., V of Doom, and Others Editions by V of Doom, Bob Fish, betamaxtheflyer, and Vahan Nisanian Video captures courtesy of Tlogos, IdentsandLogos, and Eric S.

Background: Touchstone Pictures (formerly "Touchstone Films") was established by The Walt Disney Company in 1983 to produce and distribute more adult-oriented films.

1st Logo (March 9, 1984) Touchstone Films (March 9, 1984)

Nicknames: "Thunderball", "Thunderball of Boredom", "Touchstone Thunderball"

Trivia: The logo was designed by Jerry Kuyper of Landor Associates.

Logo: Just a static logo under a salmon background with the blue text:

TOUCHSTONE

FILMS

and a lightning bolt over a blue circle, or a "thunderball".

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Usually, the static logos are certainly cheap, and the background definitely is cheesy because nobody uses any shade of pink anymore.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare, as Splash was the only film to have this logo, and it was a placeholder logo. It is seen on TV airings, video prints, and recent DVD issues of said film, however some late-80s to mid-90s issues plaster it with the early version of the "Snake" logo.

Scare Factor: None. After all, it's a placeholder.

2nd Logo (September 29, 1984-March 22, 1985) Touchstone Pictures - CLG WikiTouchstone Films (1984)

Nicknames: "Thunderball Shattering Light", "Thunderball II", "Touchstone Thunderball II"

Logo: It starts out on a blue background. The blue color shrinks into a ball on a dark background and zooms out into the upper center portion of the screen. After it heads toward the background, it flashes and turns into the typical thunderball, and the whole background lights up with "TOUCHSTONE FILMS" at the bottom in navy blue text. Essentially, it's an animated version of the last logo.

Variant: On fullscreen versions of Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, as that film was shot in 2.35:1, the logo was squeezed vertically to fit the standard TV aspect ratio, so the circle became an vertical oval.

FX/SFX: The "shrinking" of the circle, the flash.

Cheesy Factor: The only thing cheesy about the logo is the CGI animation for the blue ball at the beginning, but other than that, it's an OK logo.

Music/Sounds: A "wind-blowing" sound followed by a "chime" during the flash part of the animation. In other cases, it's silent.

Availability: More common than the previous logo. It appeared on two films, Country and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. It also appears on their respective DVD & Blu-Ray releases.

Scare Factor: Low. The sound effects used may catch a viewer unaware.

3rd Logo (August 9, 1985-February 7, 2003, October 17, 2003) Touchstone Films (1985)Touchstone Pictures - CLG WikiTouchstone Pictures - CLG Wiki Touchstone Pictures (1987)Touchstone Pictures - CLG Wiki

Nicknames: "The Snake", "Thunderball III", "Touchstone Thunderball III", "Thunderball Snake"

Logo: We see a blue oblong on a black background that moves from right to left with the text "TOUCHSTONE PICTURES", like this:

TOUCHSTONE

PICTURES

After the oblong turns into a blue ball and the text is in the camera shot, the text shines through the letters from right to left and hits the ball to make the logo complete with a gold lightning bolt at the top.

Variants: • For the first two years of this logo's use, "FILMS" was seen instead of "PICTURES". The "shining" of the letters is also difficult to see. This version appeared on My Science Project, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Off Beat, Ruthless People, and The Color of Money. • The positioning of the logo varies. Earlier variants were in the middle; for the rest of the logo's run, it was on the bottom.

FX/SFX: The "flash" and the "electricity", but otherwise pretty good 2D animation.

Cheesy Factor: Since this logo uses cel animation, the logo wasn't that bad when it made its debut back in the mid-1980s, but in the later years of the logo's use, the cel animation looked dated and worn out, the logo looked pretty cheap, and reeked of early computer graphics.

Music/Sounds: A tune that begins with synthesized bells, ending in a "twang" when the circle and thunder meet. In other cases, it used the opening/closing theme of the movie, or it's silent. (On some films, such as The Color of Money and The Waterboy, the film's opening score is deliberately meant to sync up with the logo's animation.)

Availability: Common. Found on many movies produced by the company during this time, and considering its long period of use. Notable films with this logo include Ed Wood, Ernest Scared Stupid, and Double Take among others. This logo wasn't seen at all on Gangs of New York, released on December 20, 2002 and makes a surprise appearance on Veronica Guerin, released on October 17, 2003. This logo was seen on pre-2006 prints of The Nightmare Before Christmas, though newer remastered prints have it plastered with the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo starting with the 3D re-release. It can still be found on pre-2006 DVD and VHS releases of said film.

Scare Factor: None for the films that use their music for this logo, but it is elevated to low, bordering on medium, as the synth-bell theme may creep out a few, not to mention the dark and ominous nature of the logo.

4th Logo (August 2, 2002- ) Touchstone Pictures (2003)

Nicknames: "Thunderball IV", "CGI Golden-Light Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball IV", "CGI Touchstone Thunderball"

Logo: On a black background, the lightning bolt from the previous logo streaks in. It zooms back onto a 3D sphere. After that, the text

TOUCHSTONE

P I C T U R E S

in the style you see here zooms out, at first a shadow then is lit up.

Trivia: This logo was made by Picture Mill.

Variants: Sometimes,the logo is tinted blue.

FX/SFX: Great CGI. A notable successor to the rather simple, outdated "Snake" logo.

Cheesy Factor: None, but the music and this logo really clash with each other.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo. Starting in 2010, the "twang" was replaced with a single echo-ey synth note. The synthesized bells are still intact. Sometimes it uses the film's music or silence.

Availability: Seen on all Touchstone releases starting with the debut of Signs in 2002 and beyond in 2003, and also now seen at the start of DreamWorks films that Touchstone distributes, and end of trailers for those films, starting with I Am Number Four. Also seen on American prints of The Wind Rises.

Scare Factor: Minimal for the silent and film music versions, and low to medium for the version with the 3rd logo's music.