Paramount Pictures/Summary

Background
Paramount traces its history when it was originally founded on May 8, 1912 by the Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons (film theaters that cost 5 cents admission), saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman, he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the middle class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "famous players in famous plays"). By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films and Zukor was on his way to success. That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky opened his Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, who was later known as "Samuel Goldwyn". The Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with no virtually film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a suitable location site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles for his first film called, The Squaw Man.

(1912-1916)
 Logo : On a black background, we see two masks alongside a mirror or a simple oval, and inside the oval reads "PRODUCED BY THE FAMOUS PLAYERS FILM CO. ADOLPH ZUMOR PRES.". Underneath the logo is a byline reading "Distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation"

 Variant : Sometimes, the byline doesn't appear.

 FX/SFX : None. It's a still logo.

 Music/Sounds : None, or the music added to a silent film.

 Availability : Ultra rare, as the Paramount Pictures rebrand would happen just two years later. Can be found on Snow White and Poor Little Peppina.

 Scare Factor : Low to medium, due to the masks and the dark atmosphere.

Background
Beginning in 1914, the former company was renamed Paramount Pictures Corporation, as the oldest running movie studio in Hollywood, beating Universal Studios by a month. On March 24, 1966, Paramount was acquired by Gulf+Western Industries, which later became Paramount Communications on June 5, 1989. On March 11, 1994, Paramount Communications was merged with Viacom. Viacom on December 31, 2005, split into two companies: one retaining its original name (that owns the BET Networks, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures) and the other what was once the old Viacom but currently known as the "CBS Corporation" (which owns Paramount's television production and distribution arms, currently known as CBS Television Studios, CBS Television Distribution, and CBS Studios International, respectively); both companies are owned by National Amusements, Inc.

=== 1st Logo (July 12, 1912, September 14, 1914-February 15, 1927) ===

 Nicknames : "Majestic Mountain III", "VistaVision Mountain", "Perumount"

 Logo : Originally created for Paramount's 3-D process called "Paravision" and later modified especially for widescreen, this logo appears more realistic and features a canyon scenery with trees around it. The sky is more distant in depth and is very contrast. Everything is pretty much the same as before here.

 Trivia :
 * The mountain that you see is known as "Artesonraju", the mountain that's located in Peru.
 * The painting of the mountain was created by matte artist Jan Domela.

 Variants : Several renditions of this logo have been discovered. This is going to get complicated, so let's explain this simply. There are many main variations of this logo:
 * 1953-1968: "A Paramount Picture" or "A Paramount Release" (written in the Paramount corporate font). When this logo--where the text and stars were bigger and the mountain was seen from afar--debuted on Paramount's first 3-D picture Sangaree, the words "A Paramount Picture" faded a few seconds later to the words "in 3 Dimension". At the end of the movie, the "The End" byline appears by itself, right in front of the mountain. It then fades to the company name a few moments later. The standard opening version was later seen on Those Redheads from Seattle and Money from Home.
 * 1968-1975: "Paramount" (in the same font) is seen on the mountain's peak, with the stars encircling the mountain. The byline "A Gulf+Western Company" appears on the bottom. Sometimes, the font for "Paramount" is different.
 * On films with VistaVision, the stars and text would fade out, and "in" would fade in. Then it fades out and a big "V" zooming in (a la the Viacom "V of Doom" logo) and "VISTA" left of the V and "ISION" right of the "V" appear in a wiping effect. Then, "MOTION PICTURE" appears under "VISTA" and "HIGH-FIDELITY" under "ISION" fade in.
 * On White Christmas, "Paramount (with the "P" written in their corporate font) proudly presents the first picture in" would first appear over the mountain, and then the VistaVision logo appeared, without any "MOTION PICTURE" or "HIGH FIDELITY" texts, then the Paramount logo played as usual.
 * The logo has appeared in Spanish ("Paramount Films Presenta"), French ("C'est un film Paramount", or "Distribué par Paramount"), and German ("Ein Paramount Film").
 * Another version exists at the beginning of movie trailers, where we see the 24 stars, and then "COMING FROM Paramount Pictures" (or "COMING FROM Paramount" since 1968) appears one by one in the center, with the Gulf+Western byline appearing below in the latter variation. It was used until around 1977. However, trailers for Harold and Maude had the normal version of this logo instead.
 * There is a variation that in 1974, two of the stars are clipped away. The mountain looks the same as logo 2's version, but the stars are bigger. "A Gulf+" slides in from the left and "+Western Company" from the right in Helvetica Black typeface. The script name also had a few variations of its own. At least three movies, The Great Gatsby, Brother Sun, Sister Moon and Death Wish, featured the then-current TV logo version, and the standard 1974 logo features the print logo variation, which remains from this day forward.
 * A variation that exists has the logo as usual, but this time the mountain is simply a drawing with one color: Orange-brown. Seen on War and Peace (1956).
 * Some movies, such as Lady Sings the Blues and The Italian Job (1969), had a still version of this logo.
 * Sometimes, the text and stars appear in shadow mode. This can be found on True Grit (1969) and the 2002 DVD version of Big Jake (a Cinema Center Films production strangely; seen before the logo of the former company).
 * On some movies, like Alfie (1966), the clouds move a bit faster than in the normal version.
 * The film Is Paris Burning? (1966) has a different drawing of the mountain in the ending. Also, the stars are kept intact and instead of "A Paramount Picture", we see "THE END", in white, overlapping the mountain.
 * On Barbarella, the Gulf + Western byline is slightly off-center.

 FX/SFX : Just the gliding clouds. On the "COMING FROM" variant, the stars appearing, followed by each word one by one and then the G+W byline (or "Pictures" in the corporate Paramount font on trailers prior to 1968).

 Music/Sounds : Most of the time, it is silent or has the beginning/end music from any given film. For films shown in VistaVision, the logo has a majestic fanfare composed by Nathan Van Cleave, except on those like Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Strategic Air Command, and Vertigo, which had the opening themes. Some TV movies, such as Seven in Darkness, had an extended version of the 1969 Paramount Television "Closet Killer" theme from the era. On Money from Home, it had a different brass fanfare, composed by Leigh Harline.

 Music/Sounds Variants :
 * The VistaVision fanfare was sometimes rearranged specially for films such as The Desperate Hours (Gail Kubik, Daniele Amfitheatrof), The Tin Star (Elmer Bernstein) and Artists and Models, where it was revised by Walter Scharf and also low-toned.
 * For the "COMING FROM" variant, a rhythmic timpani sound is heard for each word that appears, followed by a drum beat.
 * On Charlotte's Web, a 13-note orchestra fanfare that utilized part of the opening song "Deep in the Dark" is heard.

 Availability : Common. Again, preserved on most Paramount releases of the period. This logo, without the VistaVision logo, was first seen on Sangaree. The VistaVision version is mostly seen on Western films (including Last Train from Gun Hill, the Magnetic Video release of which preserves the logo in its entirety) and is also seen on White Christmas (the first film to use that logo's "VistaVision" variation) and Vertigo. It was plastered by the 1963 Universal logo at the beginning of four Hitchcock films that Paramount merely released: The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, and Rear Window; recent remastered prints of the films restore this on their current DVD and Blu-ray releases. Another Hitchcock production from Paramount, Psycho, also preserves this logo on its MCA Videocassette, Inc. release. Among the titles released with the 1968-74 variation were The Godfather, Catch-22, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Charlotte's Web, Paint Your Wagon, Harold and Maude, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (now owned by Warner Bros.), Rosemary's Baby, and Chinatown. Also seen at the end of the 2001 DVD release of The Godfather Part II and the 1974 film Chinatown, which had the 2nd logo at the beginning. The 1974-75 variation can be found on The Longest Yard (1974), The Godfather Part II, The Day of the Locust, Bug, Nashville, Framed and Three Days of the Condor, and also plasters the 1968-74 variation on many current prints of Goodbye, Columbus. New prints of Danger: Diabolik and Such Good Friends, Nineties prints of Charlotte's Web, and earlier DVD releases of the first two Godfather films have this logo plastered with the 1986 logo, while many current prints of Once Upon a Time in the West, Barbarella, Ace High, Downhill Racer, Fear is the Key, Three Days of the Condor, and Murphy's War have this logo plastered with the next one (although it's still retained at the end of Barbarella). The last film to use this logo was Three Days of the Condor.

 Scare Factor : None.

6th Logo (October 8, 1975-December 12, 1986; 1988; 1989)
 Nicknames : "Blue Mountain", "Abstract Mountain", "'70s Mountain", "80s Mountain", "Fading Mountain", "VistaVision Mountain II", "Perumount II"

 Logo : We see the same mountain with the canyon-style scenery as the previous logo. 22 white stars fade in, encircling the mountain. The word "Paramount" fades in on the mountain's peak. "A Gulf+Western Company: fades in at the base of the mountain. The logo then fades to a light blue mountain surrounded by a circular navy blue border on a light blue screen. The final product turns out to be Paramount's current print logo from that point onward, but as most print logos, they change over the years, because in the future, the byline for this logo and the byline for this print logo will change two times. This logo is similar to the Paramount Television ID of the period and has darker colors compared to the TV ID.

 Variants :
 * The distance between the words and the mountain tip sometimes varies.
 * The size of the logo may vary.
 * One variation (probably the original) has a smaller blue circle around a smaller mountain, both kind of receded. The text for "Paramount" is smaller than usual and the text for "A Gulf+Western Company" is drastically larger, along with the stars. This rather ugly variation was seen on Hustle, Leadbelly, The Last Tycoon and Looking for Mr. Goodbar, among others. An improved version with resized text (but still keeping the receded circle and mountain) appears on some films. This version also lacks a registered trademark (®) symbol.
 * A variation of this logo was used as a bumper for trailers to upcoming films with the phrase "Coming From" above the logo. However, trailers for Popeye and D.A.R.Y.L. among some other movies had the normal version instead.

 FX/SFX : The clouds moving, the stars, company name, and byline fading in.

 Music/Sounds : Often had no music, or the film's opening/closing theme. In some cases, a new orchestral fanfare by Jerry Goldsmith, based loosely on Paramount on Parade, was used on the "Coming From" variant of the logo on trailers for films like Islands in the Stream, Saturday Night Fever, Foul Play, and Airplane!. A few films, such as Starting Over, had this fanfare at the beginning.

 Music/Sounds Variants :
 * Older prints of Grease had a theme, which seems to be a horn re-orchestration of the intro to "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing".
 * On the 2002 and 2014 Warner Archive DVDs of The Big Bus, it uses the 1987 re-orchestration of the theme, likely due to a sloppy reverse plastering job when the 1986 logo plastered it on its 90s VHS release.

 Availability : Common. Can be found on most release versions of their mid '70s-mid '80s output. Most films released on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray, as well as TV airings, have this logo intact or restored as well. The first film to use this logo was Mahogany and was used up until Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. It has been restored on the recent Sony DVD release and TV broadcasts of Meatballs, which was previously plastered with the 7th logo. It also appears at the end of the first two Indiana Jones films (and the third film, on the DVD release) and the 1980 film Popeye, which all had the 5th logo at the beginning. The 1976 variation can be found on Lipstick, the original The Bad News Bears, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, Gallipoli (although the 2015 R4 DVD release removes it), and many current prints of Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Some films have this plastered over with the next logo in any of its three byline variations, such as the 2000 DVD of the Director's Cut of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (though a recent Australian airing retained this logo), video releases of Grease from 1998 onward, King Kong (1976), and the 2002 DVD of Mahogany (all with the Viacom byline version). Early video releases and some post-2005 prints of Top Gun retain this logo, though all other copies are plastered with the 1986 logo (although the 1987 VHS of said film retained the 1975 logo only at the very end, as it was plastered by the 75th Anniversary logo at the beginning). The last film to use this logo was The Golden Child (though only at the end; the 7th logo was used at the beginning of the film, making Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home the last movie to use it at both ends of the film). Of the films released during their distribution pact with Lorimar, An Officer and a Gentleman still has this logo (albeit with Lorimar's logo removed), but the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Escape to Victory, Blake Edwards' S.O.B., and The Sea Wolves all have it removed (since the studio only had North American distribution rights), being replaced by the 1999 Warner Bros. logo on most current prints. Night School, however, had this and Lorimar's logo intact on a recent Movie Channel airing, and on the widescreen Laserdisc, with Warner's "Shield of Staleness" preceding it. The "Coming From" variant is usually preserved on trailers for films such as Flashdance, Saturday Night Fever, and Islands in the Stream on their DVD and Blu-ray releases (though on the Blu-Ray release of Airplane! and on iTunes, the 2002 logo plasters it while still retaining the fanfare). It was most recently seen at the end of the IMAX version of Raiders of the Lost Ark. This logo is seen on the 1982 Paramount Home Video/Gateway Video VHS release of the Star Trek episode "Space Seed", in between the warning screen and episode opening. (The Betamax version instead uses a trailer for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.)

 Scare Factor : Low. A lack of elements found on the TV version (the "Paramount" sliding in and the music) make this logo much less scary than its television counterpart. However, the realistic mountain fading to blue may seem a bit jarring.

7th Logo (December 12, 1986-February 4, 2003)


 Nicknames : "Mega Majestic Mountain", "2010s Mountain", "Ultra Majestic Mountain II", "CGI Mountain III", "Majestic Mountain VII", "100 Years of Paramount", "Perumount V", "Master Majestic Perumount", "Centennial Mountain", "Centennial Majestic Mountain", "Model Mountain III"

 Logo : On a dark cloudy background, we see several stars flying towards us, a mirrored reference to the previous logo. As the third star flies towards us, we follow the star to reveal that we were looking at the reflection of a lake. We follow the stars as they skim the lake and create ripples. We continue to fly forward as a total of 22 stars line up and encircle the mountain ahead. Then the word "Paramount" zooms back to take its place on the mountain, which is situated on a cloudy sunset landscape. The 2010 Viacom byline fades in below.

 Trivia  : This logo was designed by DevaStudios, Inc.

 Variants :.
 * For the logo's first official year (2012, even though the logo actually debuted in 2011), "100 years" appears between the text and byline.
 * Closing: Just like the last logo, sometimes "DISTRIBUTED BY" appears above the logo. This variant was first seen on Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol and can be seen on some trailers. It was even seen at the end of Star Trek Into Darkness, There is also an open matte "DISTRIBUTED BY" variant that can be seen at the end of The Paramount Vault prints of their movies. This can be seen on some DVDs like fullscreen DWA products.
 * Sometimes, an open-matte fullscreen version of this logo is used. This can be seen on the Paramount Vault's prints of their movies.

 FX/SFX : Beautifully crafted CGI.

 Music/Sounds : A light bell and string piece which rises in intensity to become a majestic fanfare which ends in an orchestral piece, scored by Michael Giacchino.

 Music/Sounds Variants :
 * On Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, there is an alternate version with some slight changes, in effect making the theme sound more powerful.
 * Sometimes, it's silent or has the opening theme.
 * On some films, there are whooshes while the stars and text fly by with the fanfare.

 Availability : Current. Seen on all Paramount movies since Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. However, the opening logo is seen on The Dictator, but the previous closing logo is used at the end, and vice versa on Capture the Flag.

 Scare Factor : None.