The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos - Neatorama
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You see these opening logos every time you go to the          movies, but have you ever wondered who is the boy on the moon in the DreamWorks          logo? Or which mountain inspired the Paramount logo? Or who was the Columbia          Torch Lady? Let's find out:
1. DreamWorks SKG: Boy on the Moon
In 1994, director Steven Spielberg, Disney studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg,          and record producer David Geffen (yes, they make the initial SKG on the          bottom of the logo) got together to found a new studio called DreamWorks.
Spielberg wanted the logo for DreamWorks to be reminiscent of Hollywood's          golden age. The logo was to be a computer generated image of a man on          the moon, fishing, but Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren of Industrial          Light and Magic, who has worked on many of Spielberg's films, suggested          that a hand-painted logo might look better. Muren asked his friend, artist Robert Hunt to paint it.
Hunt also sent along an alternative version of the logo, which included          a young boy on a crescent moon, fishing. Spielberg liked this version          better, and the rest is history. Oh, and that boy? It was Hunt's son,          William.
The DreamWorks logo that you see in the movies was made at ILM from paintings          by Robert Hunt, in collaboration with Kaleidoscope Films (designers of          the original storyboards), Dave Carson (director), and Clint Goldman (producer)          at ILM.
Photo courtesy of Robert Hunt - Thanks for the neat story, Robert!
2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM): Leo The Lion
In 1924, studio publicist Howard Dietz designed the "Leo The Lion"          logo for Samuel Goldwyn's Goldwyn Picture Corporation. He based it on          the athletic team of his alma mater Columbia University, the Lions. When          Goldwyn Pictures merged with Metro Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer          Pictures, the newly formed MGM retained the logo.
Since then, there have been five lions playing the role of "Leo          The Lion". The first was Slats, who graced the openings of MGM's          silent films from 1924 to 1928. The next lion, Jackie, was the first MGM          lion whose roar was heard by the audience. Though the movies were silent,          Jackie's famous growl-roar-growl sequence was played over the phonograph          as the logo appeared on screen. He was also the first lion to appear in          Technicolor in 1932.
The third lion and probably most famous was Tanner (though at the time          Jackie was still used concurrently for MGM's black and white films). After          a brief use of an unnamed (and very mane-y) fourth lion, MGM settled on          Leo, which the studio has used since 1957.
The company motto "Ars Gratia Artis" means "Art for Art's          Sake."
Sources: MGM          Media Center | Wikipedia entry on " Leo          The Lion "
3. 20th Century Fox: The Searchlight Logo
In 1935, Twentieth Century Pictures and Fox Film Company (back then mainly          a theater-chain company) merged to create Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation          (they later dropped the hyphen).
The original Twentieth Century Pictures logo was created in 1933 by famed          landscape artist Emil Kosa, Jr. After the merger, Kosa simply replaced          "Pictures, Inc." with "Fox" to make the current logo.          Besides this logo, Kosa was also famous for his matte painting of the Statue          of Liberty ruin at the end of the Planet of the Apes (1968) movie,          and others.
Perhaps just as famous as the logo is the "20th Century Fanfare",          composed by Alfred Newman, then musical director for United Artists.
4. Paramount: The Majestic Mountain
Paramount Pictures Corporation was founded in 1912 as Famous Players          Film Company by Adolph Zukor, and the theater moguls the Frohman brothers,          Daniel and Charles.
The Paramount "Majestic Mountain" logo was first drawn as a          doodle by W.W. Hodkinson during a meeting with Zukor, based on the Ben          Lomond Mountain from his childhood in Utah (the live action logo made          later is probably Peru's Artesonraju). It is the oldest surviving Hollywood          film logo.
The original logo has 24 stars, which symbolized Paramount's then 24          contracted movie stars (it's now 22 stars, though no one could tell me          why they reduced the number of stars). The original matte painting has          also been replaced with a computer generated mountain and stars.
Paramount logo history, for more details, see: CLG          Wiki
5. Warner Bros.: The WB Shield
Warner Bros. (yes, that's legally "Bros." not "Brothers")          was founded by four Jewish brothers who emigrated from Poland: Harry,          Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. Actually, those aren't the names that they          were born with. Harry was born "Hirsz," Albert was "Aaron,"          Sam was "Szmul," and Jack was "Itzhak." Their original          surname is also unknown - some people said that it is "Wonsal,"          "Wonskolaser" or even Eichelbaum, before it was changed to "Warner."          (Sources: Doug          Sinclair | Tody          Nudo's Hollywood Legends )
In the beginning, Warner Bros. had trouble attracting top talents. In          1925, at the urging of Sam, Warner Bros. made the first feature-length          "talking pictures" (When he heard of Sam's idea, Harry famously          said "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"). That got the          ball rolling for the studio and made Warner Bros. famous.
The Warner Bros. logo, the WB Shield, has actually gone many revisions.          Jason Jones and Matt Williams of CLG Wiki have the details:
Warner Bros. Logo History - see the full details at CLG          Wiki
If you're interested in WB cartoons, you can't go wrong with Dave Mackey's          Field guide: Link
6. Columbia Pictures: The Torch Lady
Columbia Pictures was founded in 1919 by the brothers Harry and Jack          Cohn, and Joe Brandt as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales. Many of the studio's          early productions were low-budget affairs, so it got nicknamed "Corned          Beef and Cabbage." In 1924, the brothers Cohn bought out Brandt and          renamed their studio Columbia Pictures Corporation in effort to improve          its image.
Vintage Columbia Pictures Logo (Source: Reel          Classics )
The          studio's logo is Columbia, the female personification of America. It was          designed in 1924 and the identity of the "Torch Lady" model          was never conclusively determined (though more than a dozen women had          claimed to be "it.")
In her 1962 autobiography, Bette Davis claimed that Claudia          Dell was the model, whereas in 1987 People Magazine named model and          Columbia bit-actress Amelia Batchler as the girl. In 2001, the Chicago          Sun-Times named a local woman who worked as an extra at Columbia named          Jane Bartholomew as the model. Given how the logo has changed over the          years, it may just be that all three were right! ( Source )
The current Torch Lady logo was designed in 1993 by Michael          J. Deas , who was commissioned by Sony Pictures Entertainment to return          the lady to her "classic" look.
Though people thought that actress          Annette Bening was the model, it was actually a Louisiana homemaker and          muralist named Jenny Joseph that modeled the Torch Lady for Deas. Rather          than use her face, however, Deas drew a composite face made from several          computer-generated features (Source: Roger          Ebert , Photo: Kathy Anderson)
 
Obviously, we're missing the stories of the logos of many other          film studios. We'd love to hear from you if you know any! Please tell          us in the comment section.
If you like this article, please check out Neatorama's articles on logos: