Touchstone Pictures

Background[]

Touchstone Pictures (formerly "Touchstone Films") was established by The Walt Disney Company in February 1984 to produce and distribute more adult-oriented films. The studio was merely a brand, and didn't operate as a separate company. Touchstone became a dominant force between its establishment in the 1980s to the early 2000s, making several successful films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Three Men and a Baby, Adventures in Babysitting, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Color of Money, Con Air, Unbreakable, Signs, and many more films. They also co-produced some films with other major studios in the mid-late '90s such as Paramount Pictures, Columbia/TriStar Pictures, Interscope Communications/PolyGram Films and Universal Pictures. However, the company began a slow decline in 2003 with the success of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as the first PG-13 film released under the mainline Disney banner. The label became relegated to R-rated and PG and PG-13 fare that didn't fit the mainline banner as a result.

Two huge blows were dealt to the company in 2009: first, the then-new Disney chairman Rich Ross trimmed the number of films Disney released in a year to eight. This business plan resulted in planned sequels for Touchstone hits being cancelled, and many more flops to come for Disney in general (he left after the failures of John Carter and Mars Needs Moms); the last Touchstone film released solo, without distributing for others, was You Again. Meanwhile, Disney eventually stopped producing adult-oriented but family-friendly films after Old Dogs flopped with critics (though it did reasonably well at the box office). After all this, Touchstone began merely distributing films for Lucasfilm, Miramax, and DreamWorks, as well as foreign films and titles Disney didn't see value in. It didn't help either that Disney was beginning to release their Marvel and Star Wars films under the respective Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm brands. The final blow came with the critical and commercial failure of Strange Magic, with them only distributing Bridge of Spies and The Light Between Oceans since then, the latter ultimately being the company's final film. Disney quietly retired the label in 2018 after the expiration of their DreamWorks deal (since they went back to Universal Pictures for distribution) and their eventual acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. While the 2019 film Glass was rumored to be released by Touchstone outside of the United States, it was instead released under the revived Buena Vista International label.

Disney launched another brand in 1989, Hollywood Pictures, that produced films of similar nature to Touchstone's throughout the '90s.

1st Logo (March 9, 1984)[]

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

Logo: On a gray/salmon gradient background is a blue ball with 2 yellow thunderbolts cut into it diagonally. Underneath it is the dark blue text, "TOUCHSTONE FILMS".

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

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Only seen on Splash. It's preserved on TV airings and VHS and DVD prints of said film as well as on Disney+, but some late-'80s to mid-'90s issues plaster it with the early version of the 3rd logo.

Editor's Note: This was a placeholder logo, as Disney introduced the Touchstone brand less than a month before the release of Splash, which explains its static nature. The pink color scheme for the background is very 1980s.

2nd Logo (September 29, 1984-March 22, 1985)[]

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

Logo: A blue background fades in, which then shrinks into a ball on a black background zooming out into the upper center portion of the screen. After it takes a small dip, it moves into the upper-third position where it flashes and turns into the thunderball from the 1st logo. The thunderbolts shine as the background lightens up with salmon concentric circles, which dim the farther out they go. "TOUCHSTONE FILMS" at the bottom in navy blue text, then fades in below.

Variant: On full screen prints of Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, the logo is squeezed vertically. Because that film was originally shot in 2.35:1 scope ratio, the circle is more oval-like.

FX/SFX: The "shrinking" of the circle, the flash. All 80's cel animation.

Music/Sounds: A "wind-blowing" sound followed by a "chime" during the flash part of the animation.

Availability: Very rare. Only appeared on two films, Country and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. It's intact on their respective DVD & Blu-ray releases.

Editor's Note: A notable wasted logo. It was actually an effective, if somewhat dated, piece of art.

3rd Logo (August 9, 1985-October 17, 2003)[]

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

Logo: On a black background, a blue oblong moves from the right side of the screen to the left. As it shrinks to the left, the blue stacked text "TOUCHSTONE PICTURES" slides next to it. After the oblong morphs into a blue ball, the text shines from right to left. When the shine streak hits the ball, it flashes brightly, creating the thunderbolt.

Variants:

On most films released in 1985-86, "FILMS" was seen instead of "PICTURES". The "shining" of the letters is also difficult to see and the flash was bigger.
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. Full screen prints of films usually have the logo closer to the lower-third area of the screen.
In its later years, the logo was enhanced with a motion blur effect added when the logo slides, and a slightly larger shine. This variant can be seen on movies like Unbreakable, Gone in 60 Seconds, and Veronica Guerin. However, some films still used the original version.
At the end of a French television broadcast of Six Days, Seven Nights on the Chérie 25 network, a shortened version was used (most likely as a result of time compression), which starts with the text shining and also cuts to the 2006 Buena Vista International Television logo before it fades out.

FX/SFX: The stretching ball, the "flash" and the "electricity". Pretty good 2D animation (sometimes 3D during the logo's later years) from Walt Disney Productions (now known as Walt Disney Animation Studios).

Music/Sounds: A series of synthesized bells, ending in a "twang" when the circle and thunder meet. This was composed by John Debney. In other cases, it's silent or uses the opening theme of the movie. In the logo's later years, the theme decreased in usage, to the point that starting in the early 2000s, it was mostly used on Spyglass Entertainment productions.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On some films, such as The Color of Money, 3 Ninjas, The Waterboy and Mumford, the film's opening score deliberately syncs up with the logo's animation. Other times, it starts off silent, and when the oblong morphs into a blue ball, the opening theme starts over the second half.
On AMC's print of Shanghai Noon, the logo's theme is low pitched.
On The 6th Man, the logo's theme starts as normal, but ends abruptly as the "twang" is replaced with the start of Doug E. Fresh's version of "Superstition" that continues over the Mandeville Films logo and into the opening credits.

Availability: Common, due to its longevity of nearly 20 years. It's found on many movies produced by the company during this time.

It was first seen on My Science Project and was last seen on Shanghai Knights, released on February 7, 2003, but made one last surprise appearance on Veronica Guerin.
The early "FILMS" variant appears on My Science Project, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Off Beat, Ruthless People, and The Color of Money. On current prints of My Science Project, the "PICTURES" variant plasters it.
The first film to use the "PICTURES" variant was Tough Guys.
This logo wasn't seen at all on Gangs of New York, Jerky Boys: The Movie, and overseas theatrical prints of Face/Off, Air Force One, Starship Troopers, and Die Hard With a Vengeance (for the latter, co-producer Cinergi sold most international theatrical rights to Disney/Buena Vista). However, all overseas TV, video, and streaming releases of the former 3 films start with the Buena Vista International logo, while Die Hard With a Vengeance (save for the European Touchstone Home Entertainment Blu-ray, which contains Buena Vista International) only opens with Cinergi.
This is seen after the 1999 Paramount logo on domestic prints of Runaway Bride and Bringing Out the Dead, due to Touchstone co-producing those films as well as distributing them internationally.
It is unclear if either this logo or Buena Vista International appears on international prints of either End of Days or The Hurricane (both Beacon Pictures productions), though some European DVDs contain the home video variant of this logo on the latter film.
This logo was seen on pre-2006 prints of The Nightmare Before Christmas (as well as on Netflix, at one point), though starting with the 3D re-release, the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo plasters it (though Touchstone is still listed at the end of the closing credits).
Surprisingly, this can be seen at the start of the original UK VHS release of Pulp Fiction, before the Miramax Films logo.

Editor's Note: One of the most iconic logos of the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to its mystical music and memorable animation.

4th Logo (August 2, 2002-September 2, 2016)[]

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.

Variants:

Sometimes, the logo is tinted blue.
Beginning in the late 2000s, the logo has a more orange tint to it.
On 4:3 prints of films, the logo is shown in open matte.

FX/SFX: The zooming out of the flash. Great CGI that was animated by Picture Mill.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie.

Music/Sounds Trivia: Composer James Newton Howard wrote a theme for the logo to be specially used for Signs, played on a piano. Although it wound up unused, it was later featured in the respective film's expanded score album. It might have been created as a main theme for the logo in general, but this remains unknown. The possible theme can be heard here, and its alternate version can be heard here.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On a few films, such as Mr. 3000, the previous logo's music is used.
On some films such as Under the Tuscan Sun, the synth chord in the background and the final note are removed and a different synth note sustains itself.
At the end of 25th Hour, a dog barks over it.

Availability: Common.

Seen on all Touchstone releases starting with the debut of Signs in 2002 and beyond in 2003 (although the VHS and DVD prints of Hidalgo don't feature it, and Veronica Guerin uses the previous logo), and also seen at the start of DreamWorks films that Touchstone distributed, and end of trailers for those films, starting with I Am Number Four.
Also seen on an American English version of The Wind Rises.
It made its final appearance on The Light Between Oceans, the final film to be released under the Touchstone label.

Editor's Note: A great CGI effort that still holds up very well today.