20th Century Studios/Summary

Fox Film Corporation
Background : The Fox Film Corporation was an independent film production company that was formed in 1915 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox. Fox formed Fox Film Corporation by merging two companies he had established in 1913: Greater New York Film Rental, a distribution firm, which was part of the independents; and Fox (or "Box", depending on the source) Office Attractions Company, a production company. ===1st Logo (September 13, 1915-November 28, 1935)===

Logo : Here is the in-credit text of Fox Films. It would just say:

FOX   FILM

PRESENTS

In other cases, it mentioned the name of William Fox:

WILLIAM FOX

PRESENTS

FX/SFX : Just a simple fade in and out.

Music and Sounds : Silent, or the film's opening.

Availability : VERY rare. Can be seen on Sunshine (1927) and other films from this era, but most of them just contain a "Fox Films" notice in the credits sequences. Occasionally appears on films shown on TCM's Silent Sunday Nights or on Fox Movie Channel, but showings on the latter have been scarce to none. The logo premiered on Regeneration and made its final appearance on In Old Kentucky.

Editor's Note : None.

===2nd Logo (1917)===

Logo : We see the word "COPYRIGHT " in a slightly curly serif font with two shapes on either side to make it look like a ribbon or banner, below that we see "WILLIAM FOX " in the same font but larger letters, below that we see an abstract "T" like shape with a diamond and the letters "WF" in a diamond shape.



FX/SFX : The logo appearing, then disappearing.

Music/Sounds : Silent, or the film's opening music.

Availability : Ultra rare, as its only known appearances are on A Tale of Two Cities and Regeneration. Beyond that, it is unknown where it was used.

Editor's Note : None.

===3rd Logo (1929?-1931?)===

Logo : Over the final frame of a film, we see a long "F" wiping in. Then, "OX" appears letter-by-letter. At this point the background fades into a black screen. Another long "F" wipes in, and "ILM" appears letter-by-letter. A trail appears behind the letters. The entire text is in a weird font.

FX/SFX : The wiping and appearing letters, the changing background.

Music and Sounds : The ending theme to the film.

Availability : Ultra rare.

Editor's Note : The first actual logo used for this company. The design resembles the Art Deco design trend of the late 20s-early 30s.

Twentieth Century Pictures, Inc.
Background : in 1932 Twentieth Century Pictures was founded by four prominent men, these men were: Darryl F. Zanuck, Joseph M. Schenck, Raymond Griffth, and William Goetz. Films from Twentieth Century Pictures were released thru United Artists, the company then merged with Fox Film Corporation in 1935.

(October 7, 1933-April 17, 1936)
Nickname : "The Searchlights", "Futuristic Structure", "Majestic Tower", "Pre-Fox Structure", "The Jutting 0"

Logo : On a dark night sky, we see a futuristic art deco-like monument with searchlights scanning the sky in the background. The center of the monument contains the carved out words "20th CENTURY PICTURES, INC." With "20th" the biggest row. There is total of 9 searchlights, with 2 being in the front of the camera, 2 that can't move, and 5 more in the background.

Alternate Descriptive Video Transcription : Searchlights pierce a starry night sky, sweeping the clouds and illuminating a towering edifice in the form of "20th CENTURY PICTURES, INC."

Trivia : This logo was designed by Emil Kosa Jr. and the logo was a matte painting, also this logo's fanfare was composed by Alfred Newman.

FX/SFX : The searchlights moving.

Music and Sounds : A drum roll that goes into a 21-note fanfare.

Availability : This logo is very rare due to heavy plastering and the company only being independent for two and a half years. It can be seen on Blu-Ray prints of Call of the Wild and on TCM/Fox Movie Channel prints of Twentieth Century Pictures films.

Editor's Note : The first appearance of the Fox identity, even though it wasn't even Fox yet. If you pay close attention in the background, there are two searchlights that bend, which is considered to be an impossible phenomenon.

20th Century Fox Film Corporation
Background : In 1935, Twentieth Century Pictures, Inc. and Fox Film Corporation merged together to form "Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation" (the hyphen between "Century" and "Fox" was dropped in 1985), or simply "20th Century Fox". Currently, it's a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox Inc., which was a company formed when News Corporation split up into two companies. As of July 2018, their two most financially successful films are Avatar, released in 2009, and Titanic (under international rights), released in 1997. Both films were directed by James Cameron. Fox's most highly acclaimed film, according to review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes (jointly owned by Universal and Warner Bros.), is All About Eve, released in 1950 and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The failure of their 2015 film adaptation of Fantastic Four released on August 7, 2015 would ultimately end the studio's association with the Murdoch family, as two years later the studio and its library were put up for sale, with Disney acquiring within the year following a bidding war with Comcast; the acquisition process is slated to be completed on March 20, 2019, with the last pre-Disney release from the studio being Alita: Battle Angel.

=== 1st Logo (November 8, 1935-July 20, 1966) ===

Nicknames : "CGI Searchlights II", "Ultra Majestic Tower II", "Enhanced Searchlights", "The Searchlights VI", "Majestic Tower VI", 'Fox Structure V", "Decade Tower", "2010 Fox", "20th's 75th", "Happy Anniversary, Fox!" "Happy 75th, 20th!", "2010s Tower", "Celebrating 75 Years of 20th Century Fox"

Logo : It's a redone and more realistic version of the 1994 20th Century Fox logo. This time, it is in a dark/orange evening environment. When the structure is in its distance, we can see an extra searchlight and a pair of palm trees on the bottom right hand corner. This structure, like the 1994 structure, also looks similar to the 1981 logo. This logo was designed by Dave Strick and Ian Butterfield and was animated at Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox's sibling company and creator of Ice Age.

Trivia : This logo debuted on a trailer for Avatar on August 20, 2009 for the very first time. Afterwards, the logo first appeared on the aforementioned film, released on December 18, 2009 (though earlier premiering in London on December 10, 2009). Like the previous logo, if one looks very close in the far right-hand corner before approaching the main structure, one can see the Hollywood sign or the radio transmitter (despite not seen in the previous logo). It is still not very big, but it is still visible if one looks hard enough. And still, you can see stars at the end of the logo, but there are fewer than the previous logo. The "Celebrating 75 Years" variant for TCF's 75th anniversary is a well done contemporary throwback of--and a contemporary homage to--the 20th Century Fox CinemaScope logo, where the 20th logo faded after 10 seconds into the CinemaScope logo. Also a picture of Scart from Ice Age can be seen. Surprisingly, this has made an appearance on a season 3 episode of This Is Us.

Bylines :
 * December 10, 2009-June 28, 2013: "A NEWS CORPORATION COMPANY"
 * July 17, 2013-: Bylineless

Variants :
 * For the logo's first official year (2010, even though the logo actually debuted in 2009), while the logo finishes its move into position, the camera pans up and two streaks of light draw "75" with the word "CELEBRATING" above the numbers and "YEARS" below both in spaced-out letters. The camera pans the words and numbers in position. Also, the Registered trademark symbol "®" and the News Corporation byline are engraved on different parts of the structure.
 * The prototype version had a much darker red-orange sunset sky, harder shading, and different searchlight positions.
 * The version where the wireframe fades in on the 3D geometry at the end of the logo sequence is part of Dave Strick's environment reel video. The details including his email address is also at the beginning where the logo starts blurry and then gains focus.
 * A short version with the final seconds of the animation appears on licensed video games, such as Rio: The Video Game, Aliens vs. Predator, Ice Age: Continental Drift and Aliens: Colonial Marines.
 * The final half of this logo's camera-panning sequence can be seen at the beginning of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D.
 * Starting with the release of Turbo on July 17, 2013, the News Corporation byline is excluded and the logo is bylineless for the first time since the 1981 logo. This is mainly due to the aforementioned split on June 28, 2013.

Closing Title : For the most part, none. There are a few closing variants, however:
 * A short version without the camera panning is seen at the end of Lincoln, DreamWorks Animation films starting with The Croods and ending with Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, and the FOX network airings of Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas. Surprisingly, it's also seen on The Simpsons short: Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare, the Home teaser short: Almost Home and the Ice Age: Collision Course announcement short as an opening logo. A bylineless version appears at the end of Ice Age: The Great Egg-scapade.
 * At the end of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D, the text "Released by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation" is shown.
 * Like the previous logo, at the end of Parental Guidance and Son of God, the print logo is shown.

FX/SFX : Same as before.

Music/Sounds : The 1997 fanfare, same as the one from the previous logo.

Music/Sound Variants :
 * The 2007 recording of the 1989 20th Century Fox Television fanfare was heard at the end of Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas.
 * The 1999 recording of the 1980 re-orchestrated fanfare, as conducted by John Williams and played by the London Symphony Orchestra, was retained at the beginning of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D when the final half of 20th's current logo animation was seen, followed by the Lucasfilm logo.
 * On 3D Blu-ray release of Predator, the 2009 logo is used to plaster the 1981 logo, but uses the 1982 fanfare.
 * On the international 3D release of Titanic and in German productions, such as Klitschko, Ausgerechnet Sibirien and the first two of Rico, Oskar films, the 1994 fanfare is heard.
 * In rare cases, such as on US prints of The Monuments Men, the film's opening music plays over the logo.
 * Rio 2 has a Samba style of the fanfare, as conducted by John Powell.
 * In very rare instances, such as on Bridge of Spies, the logo is silent.
 * On Joy, it has the first half of the 1997 fanfare, but ultimately ends with the last note, followed by the opening theme starting over it on the second half.
 * The 2012 recording of the 1989 20th Century Fox Television fanfare was heard at the end of Ice Age: The Great Egg-scapade, though it's slightly quieter and has a small amount of echo at the end.
 * On War for the Planet of the Apes, the fanfare is played on jungle drums and a didgeridoo.
 * On Bohemian Rhapsody, the fanfare is played on electric guitar and rock drums. This version was recorded by Brian May and Roger Taylor, both of rock group Queen.

Availability : Very common. First appeared on Avatar, and the trailer for Aliens vs. Predator (PS3/XBOX 360). The prototype versions are found on the trailers and TV spots for Avatar, as well as various newer 20th Century Fox games. This logo with the phrase "Celebrating 75 Years" and an engraved News Corporation byline officially first appeared on Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, released on February 12, 2010, and was seen for the last time on Gulliver's Travels, released on December 25, 2010. Surprisingly, the "Celebrating 75 Years" variant appeared at the end of The Negotiator. Also appears on most international theatrical releases of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films starting with Hot Tub Time Machine. Also appears on some video games based on 20th Century Fox films. The last film to use this logo with the News Corporation byline was The Heat, released on June 28, 2013. This additionally plasters the previous logo on Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (3D prints only) and international prints of Titanic since 2012, and the 1981 logo on Predator (3D prints only) since 2013.

Editor's Note : A suitable successor to 20th Century Fox's original CGI searchlights.