Twilight Sparkle's Retro Media Library
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20th Century Fox started off as two companies -- Fox Film Corporation (founded in 1915) and 20th Century Pictures (founded in 1933). The two companies merged together on May 31, 1935, resulting in the founding of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.



1935-1966

20th Century Fox (1935)

Although it's a very old logo, it is still available on all films from November 8, 1935 to July 30, 1966 (though much less commonly as of 1953). Examples are Ramona (1936) (the studio's first Technicolor film), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), All About Eve (1950), Decision Before Dawn (1951), and With a Song in My Heart (1952). The last official film to use this logo was Batman: The Movie (1966). So if you're a fan of movies from the 1940s and 1950s, you will very much often see this logo before the film.

1953-1987

20th Century Fox (1953)
20th Century Fox (1965)

This is the CinemaScope logo, debuted on September 16, 1953 with The Robe. There were actually two versions of this logo -- one with a slanted 0, and the other with a striaght 0. It still appears on many films, such as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The King and I (1956), An Affair to Remember (1957), The Fly (1958), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), Return of the Fly (1959), Sons and Lovers (1960), The Longest Day (1962), Cleopatra (1963), The Sound of Music (1965), Curse of the Fly (1965), Von Ryan's Express (1965), Doctor Dolittle (1967), Planet of the Apes (1968), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), MASH (1970), Patton (1970), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), The French Connection (1971), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Legend of Hell House (1973), The Towering Inferno (1974), French Connection II (1975), Breaking Point (1976), The Omen (1976), Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), High Anxiety (1977), Damien: Omen II (1978), Alien (1979), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Brubaker (1980), Willie & Phil (1980), The Final Conflict (1981), Chariots of Fire (1981), History of the World: Part I (1981), Porky's (1982), and Without a Trace (1983). This was also the home video logo for 20th Century Fox tapes during most of 1982, except with a voiceover, with the company name known as 20th Century Fox Video. The last official film to use this logo was Wall Street (1987), though the logo became much less common as of 1981.

This logo was only seen in the original theatrical releases of the first two Star Wars films in the original trilogy, and also on the 1995 VHS prints of both films.

1981-1994

20th Century Fox (1981)

The logo is redrawn and redone here. It can still be seen on films like The Pirate Movie (1982), The Verdict (1982), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Porky's II: The Next Day (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984), Revenge of the Nerds (1984), Porky's Revenge (1985), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Cocoon (1985), Commando (1985), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Aliens (1986), The Fly (1986), Predator (1987), Wall Street (1987), Broadcast News (1987), Die Hard (1988), Alien Nation (1988), Cocoon: The Return (1988), Working Girl (1988), The Fly II (1989), The Abyss (1989), The War of the Roses (1989), Die Hard 2 (1990), The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990), The Exorcist III (1990), Home Alone (1990), Predator 2 (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Class Action (1991), Omen IV: The Awakening (1991), Only the Lonely (1991), The Commitments (1991), Alien 3 (1992), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Hoffa (1992), The Vanishing (1993), The Sandlot (1993), Once Upon a Forest (1993), Rookie of the Year (1993), The Good Son (1993), Freaked (1993), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), The Chase (1994), Bad Girls (1994), Speed (1994), and Baby's Day Out (1994). The last film to use this logo was Airheads (1994), which was released on VHS on January 4, 1995.

The pre-1995 prints of all three Star Wars films in the original trilogy, up to the 1992 VHS releases, contain this logo. It's also possible that this logo was used on the first Star Wars film when it aired on CBS from 1984 to 1988, The Disney Channel in 1990, and USA Network from 1993 to 1996, and on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, when both aired on NBC, HBO, Showtime, The Movie Channel, Cinemax, and USA Network from 1987 to 1998.

This logo was also seen on both Home Alone films when they aired on HBO and Cinemax from 1992 to 1995, and their network television counterparts as well, on NBC, FOX, TBS, Cartoon Network, FX, ABC Family, and several other networks.

1994-2010

20th Century Fox (1994)

For 19 years until June 2013, 20th Century Fox Film Corporation was recognized as a News Corporation company. The logo made its VHS debut on January 11, 1995 with the film to first use this logo, True Lies. It was also seen on films such as The Pagemaster (1994), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Dunston Checks In (1996), Broken Arrow (1996), Independence Day (1996), Chain Reaction (1996), Volcano (1997), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), The Edge (1997), Soul Food (1997), Anastasia (1997), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Home Alone 3 (1997), The X Files (1998), Doctor Dolittle (1998), Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), X-Men (2000), Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), Minority Report (2002), X-Men 2 (2003), Man on Fire (2004), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Garfield (2004), AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004), Fat Albert (2004), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Aquamarine (2006), Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Just My Luck (2006), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006), Eragon (2006), and Night at the Museum (2006). The last film to use this logo was Tooth Fairy, first seen in theaters on January 22, 2010, and on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on May 4, 2010.

The first film with this logo premiered on FOX on February 11, 1997, and was later seen on many over-the-air and cable networks throughout the years, especially on Spike TV, where the original Star Wars trilogy most recently aired.

2009-Present

20th Century Fox (2009-A)
20th Century Fox (2009-B)
20th Century Fox (2011)

When 20th Century Fox Film Corporation was about to turn 75 years old, an early "Celebrating 75 Years" version of this logo (left) began in use, starting with Avatar, which premiered on December 18, 2009. The logo in its entirety made its home video debut on April 22, 2010. This logo was last seen on Gulliver's Travels, which was released on December 25, 2010. Of course, the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid film has this logo, since it was released in 2010. The standard variant, still in use today on all 20th Century Fox movies playing in theaters, was first seen on Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son on February 18, 2011, and this current logo made its home video debut on June 14, 2011.

The fanfare music for this logo is the same as the 1994 logo (as of November 21, 1997).

The logo can still be seen on all three Diary of a Wimpy Kid films when reran on Cartoon Network.

When News Corporation became defunct on June 28, 2013, the last film with its byline on the 20th Century Fox logo was released in theaters -- The Heat (2013). At the same time, 21st Century Fox was established and became News Corporation's successor. Turbo was the first film without the old byline, and was released in theaters on July 17, 2013.

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