Geffen Pictures

Logo description by Matt Williams and Thehugetvfan
Logo captures by Thehugetvfan, Eric S., and V of Doom
Editions by Thehugetvfan, Logophile, CuriousGeorge60, V of Doom, Shadeed A. Kelly, and FilmReel
Video captures courtesy of Eric S., EnormousRat, and rarevideosUK

Background

Geffen Pictures (also known as "The Geffen Film Company" and "The Geffen Company") was the movie production arm of Geffen Records established in 1980 by David Geffen. Its output was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Geffen later sold the Geffen Company to Universal Studios, but Warner continued distributing most of Geffen's film releases. Geffen Pictures was folded into Warner Bros. in 1998, and Geffen Records became a subsidiary of the Universal Music Group; however, the Geffen movies, with the exception of Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (owned and distributed by Paramount Pictures), are currently held by Warner Bros. Entertainment.

In 2024, Warner Bros. revived the brand for use on the Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

(February 5, 1982-April 3, 1998; September 6, 2024)

Geffen

Nicknames: "The Circle-G", "The Geffen G"

Logo: On a black background, a light blue (or silver) sphere appears and slowly moves forward. At the same time, the sphere slowly turns clockwise, revealing a thin, inscribed "G". When the "G" is fully revealed, the sphere stops, and text that reads "A GEFFEN COMPANY RELEASE", "A GEFFEN PICTURES RELEASE" or "GEFFEN PICTURES" appears under it. A few seconds later, smaller text appears near the bottom of the screen, which says "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS." or "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS. PICTURES" on the left side of the WB bug (either the Saul Bass [\\'] from 1982-86 or bannerless WB shield from 1986-98) and next to the bug is the Warner byline.

Bylines:

• February 5, 1982-February 2, 1990: "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY"
• March 22-December 13, 1991: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY"
• October 1, 1993-April 3, 1998: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"

Variants:

• On Personal Best and Risky Business, the company text is in a Century Gothic font.
• A still version of this logo exists on the trailer for Personal Best, the first Geffen movie release, and it's also seen at the end of most Geffen movie releases.
• On Little Shop of Horrors, the logo is on a starry background.
• A version has been spotted where, instead of the sphere slowly spinning clockwise, the finished logo remains intact, but then the company's name and the WB bug fade out. The sphere then zooms backwards and disappears into the black background. This was seen at the end of Geffen-produced films, mainly Little Shop of Horrors.
• A later variant of this logo had the finishing animation of the sphere revealing the "G" suddenly freezing rather than slowing down, leaving a small gap on the right side of the sphere.
• On Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the logo is bylineless. On the latter film, the company text reads "GEFFEN COMPANY".
• Some films have the "G" sphere white or blue.

FX/SFX: The sphere rotating clockwise to the familiar Geffen logo. This was designed and animated by the late Saul Bass.

Music/Sounds: A series of chime-like synth notes which is accompanied by a deep synth fargo note, which then leads to a 5-note lullaby-like synthesizer tune. In most cases, it's silent or uses the opening theme of the movie.

Music/Sounds: In some cases, other fanfares were used:

• Multiple church bells (in either standard or low tone).
• A funeral bell toll-like fanfare.
• A different theme entirely (in short and long versions).

Availability: Common.

• It debuted on Personal Best and last appeared on The Butcher Boy, which was completed in 1997 and premiered in the U.S. in 1998.
• Appears at the beginning of Geffen-produced films, such as Beetlejuice, Risky Business, After Hours, Little Shop of Horrors, Joe's Apartment, The Last Boy Scout and Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, to name a few.
• The logo was brought back in 2024 specifically for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, appearing on trailers as well as on the film itself.

Others

• For other related logos and images see: Geffen Pictures/Other