Paramount Pictures has used a mountain-and-stars emblem since the studio’s earliest days, making it one of the oldest continuously used studio logos in Hollywood. The mark depicts a rugged, snow-covered peak from the Wasatch mountain range, encircled by an arc of stars, with the company name set above. The studio’s first logo was created in 1916, and the core composition has endured through numerous refinements over more than a century.[1]
Design and History
William W. Hodkinson, who founded the Paramount Pictures Corporation as a film distribution company in May 1914, is credited with designing the first logo. According to the official Paramount history, legend has it that Hodkinson doodled an image of a star-crested mountain on a napkin during a meeting with Adolph Zukor, drawing on a memory of a mountain peak from his childhood in Ogden, Utah.[2] The peak is widely identified as Ben Lomond in the Wasatch Range near Ogden, though the logo is a stylized rendering rather than a geographically accurate depiction.[2]
The original logo began as a charcoal rendering of the mountain ringed with stars and originally featured twenty-four stars, a tribute to the number of actors Paramount had under contract at the time.[3] In 1952, the logo was redesigned as a matte painting created by Jan Domela, Paramount’s chief matte painting artist.[3] A more realistic-looking version debuted in 1954 for Paramount’s VistaVision films.[3]
In 1968, the text was shortened from “A Paramount Picture/Release” to simply “Paramount,” with the byline “A Gulf+Western Company” added below.[3] The number of stars was reduced to 22 in 1974, and in September 1975 the logo was simplified in shades of blue, adopting the design of the then-current television version. This print logo remained in use for many decades afterward.[3]
In December 1986, the studio launched an entirely new logo with computer-generated imagery of a lake and stars. This version was designed by artist Dario Campanile, who was chosen from hundreds of artists to create the 75th Anniversary logo for Paramount Studios, and was animated by Apogee, Inc.[4][3] In this version, the stars moved across the screen into the arc shape rather than being superimposed over the mountain as before.[3]
For Paramount’s 90th Anniversary in 2002, a new, completely computer-generated logo was created, with the south col peak of Mount Everest as the basis for the mountain.[3] The animation, which featured shooting stars falling from a night sky to form the arc, was created by BUF Compagnie.[5]
On December 16, 2011, Paramount unveiled a new logo commemorating the studio’s 100th anniversary. The 100th Anniversary logo was created by Devastudios, Inc., and first appeared before Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.[1] The new design includes a surrounding mountain range and the sun shining in the background.[3] Paramount used the logo throughout its centennial year in 2012, and beginning in 2013, the 100th anniversary wording was removed from the logo with the rest of the design remaining in use.[1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The original logo had 24 stars, one for each of the two dozen actors under contract in 1916.[6] The number of stars has varied over the decades, ranging from 25 to the current 22, which was standardized in 1974.[3] The company has noted that the meaning behind the stars “has always been a subject of lore in the industry.”[6]
Typography and Design
The Paramount wordmark is set in a classic script style, with the company name arched above the mountain. The studio’s official press materials describe the brand identity as “the name, the mountain, the halo of stars.”[7] For the 2011 centennial logo, composer Michael Giacchino, who scored Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, created a new fanfare to accompany the animation.[8]
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