The 25 most iconic movie company logos, from A24 to Pixar to TriStar

What is it? The legendary 20th Century Fox logo is everything that the modern, self-obsessed Disney logo wishes it could be (more on that in a minute). It’s all big, triumphant spectacle, set to a musical fanfare that makes you just want to… sit down quietly and enjoy a film. Just a giant logo, towering above some kind of magical fantasy land called Hollywood, inviting you to the show.

What does it mean? Big excitement, with a classical old Hollywood-inspired flair. One of those logos that says “get ready, you’re about to watch a dang movie.”

As seen in: Underwater, the last movie to feature this logo before it became 20th Century Films

What is it? Just the name, which is kind of buzzy all on its own, but how about one where it’s made of eyes? Or it’s a stained glass window? Or it’s made of sheep?

What does it mean? Quirky, cool, hipster indie stuff. This is a cheat, since the A24 logo tends to be normal when it actually shows up in a movie, but the studio loves to do cool things with it in trailers.

As seen in: Trailers for A24 movies

What is it? A dark field, broken by a little red guy scurrying through before pausing in front of the camera—revealing that he’s a retro-looking robot, a Bad Robot, if you will.

What does it mean? Statistically, you’re about to see a secret Cloverfield movie. But seriously, it means you’re about to be welcomed into the J.J. Abrams mystery box, where the puzzles are better than the solutions because the solutions don’t exist. Who is this robot? What’s, you know, his deal? Trust us: The answer will be unsatisfying!

As seen in: Star Trek

What is it? You find yourself in a derelict room. An old chair is spinning in the air upside-down. Creepy voices fill your ears. The door slams shut and books begin flying around, then you turn and see?a ghost girl!

What does it mean? You’re about to get spooked, at least ideally. Blumhouse later replaced this perfect logo with a similar one that has Marvel-style cameos from the various haunted dolls and other creepy killers that have appeared in its movies, but this one sends a clearer message: “Mr. Blum’s house is haunted, and now you are in it.”

As seen in: Sinister

What is it? Lightning flashes and we see a stone gargoyle rendered in chillingly realistic CG. As the camera pulls away it comes to life and screeches. It is then revealed to be but one small, scary part of a whole scary Dark Castle. A work of art.

What does it mean? Things are about to get scary. Well, based on the Dark Castle canon, maybe not super scary, but scary enough to have fun with. Nobody should be turning their nose up at the opening scene of Ghost Ship, for example.

As seen in: Orphan

What is it? The moon, reflected in a pool of water. A bobber from a fishing pole splashes and the camera swings up to reveal a small boy fishing off of the moon.

What does it mean? Childlike wonder and joy! Of course, DreamWorks recently replaced the iconic logo with a ridiculously busy one where the boy surfs on the moon and flies past the Bad Guys and Shrek and stuff. Like every other logo that does something like that, it stinks. This one is nice, though. And these days you can turn to your friends and say “the ‘K’ in ‘SKG’ is for the guy who made Quibi.”

As seen in: Shrek

What is it? Welcome to Movie City’s Film District, population: You! Beginning in an oddly empty room, the camera flies through the streets as movies float through the air like billboards in Blade Runner, and ultimately you arrive at the golden logo, shining like a beacon of artsy vibes.

What does it mean? You’re living in the Film District, baby. Your neighbors are films, the local schools are films, the closest shopping and dining options are films. Your local alderman is a film. You wake up one morning and realize your boyfriend is a film. Soon you will be a film as well.

As seen in: Drive

What is it? The scary door slams! But who could’ve done it? Why not peek through the keyhole and see. There’s no way it’s a … skeleton jumpscare! Ahhhh!

What does it mean? It means Blumhouse cribbed from one of the best, but the (mild) jumpscare of the skull in this one sets it apart from the more elaborate terrors of the Blumhouse one. This logo, along with the name Ghost House, would also be a cool T-shirt. Someone might think it’s a metal band and not a movie company.

As seen in: The Grudge

What is it? Shh! Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doodoo

What does it mean? Good times were had by all while sitting in a … movie theater and not at home. Maybe you just saw The Edge Of Seventeen? That movie was a lot of fun. And you saw it in a theater, not on Fox on a random Sunday night. Alright, we confess: The best thing about this logo is that it reminds everyone of The Simpsons.

As seen in: The Simpsons. Oh, also The Simpsons Movie

What is it? The camera flies down a desert road at a million miles per hour as a thunderstorm crackles in the background. Finally, the camera arrives at a sad tree with no leaves and lightning strikes the tree, causing leaves to appear.

What does it mean? The road is the road of life. We’re heading down it at impossible speeds. The sad tree is us, before Jerry Bruckheimer Films, represented by the lightning strike, entered our lives.

As seen in: Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl

What is it? Golden gears, grinding and turning toward some unfathomable purpose. The camera sweeps through before pulling out of a keyhole to reveal the eponymous gate of the lions, which opens on the sky. Apparently all of that machinery was operating a gate?

What does it mean? Majesty and security, like a gate of lions. At the very least, it’s much more intriguing than the modern Lionsgate logo, which is some Universal ripoff bullshit with no gate or gears or anything cool. Also, a scary version of the gears was brought back for Saw X.

As seen in: The Hunger Games

What is it? Comic book pages are being flipped through rapidly, becoming more colorful, everything is very zippy, with classic comic book sound effect explosions. Eventually it zooms out to reveal the name.

What does it mean? It’s a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, obviously, but the message this one sends has a little more deference to comic books than the self-aggrandizing “we started as disgusting comic books and then we became scripts and concept art and now Captain America is throwing his shield at you FOR REAL.” That one’s fine, but come on. Get over yourself, Marvel.

As seen in: The Avengers

What is it? You’ve been to the film district, you’ve been to the whole planet, but how about New York City? This is a logo that banks on the appeal of the Big Apple and makes it its own.

What does it mean? Something about New York? Miramax appeared out of the ether, having been founded by no one and run by no one until it was later bought by other movie studios and bounced around Hollywood, which means there’s no one we can ask. Shrug emoji.

As seen in: There’s no way to know, since so much information about Miramax has been lost to history.

What is it? A slow tracking shot through a stop-motion animated train car that ends on a shot of a severed hand stirring tea.

What does it mean? Recalling Catherine Keener’s sinister, tea-based hypnosis from Jordan Peele’s Get Out, the production card is your final warning before succumbing to the latest terrifying vision from the mind of Jordan Peele.

As seen in: Nope, Us, Wendell & Wild, and Candy Man (2022)

What is it? Ah yes, the regular, modern Paramount logo. A nice mountain towering above a lake, now here come the stars, flying in: Fwoom! Bzzt! Skrrrt! Churk! Transformer noises!

What does it mean? It means you’re about to watch a Transformers movie. But also that Paramount holds that series in somewhat high regard. Not every franchise gets a special little tweak in the logo like that, so that must mean the Transformers movies are actually good.

As seen in: Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts

What is it? The name “Pixar,” with sort-of mascot Luxo Jr. (a lamp) hopping around the letters before eyeing up the letter “I” and then squashing it.

What does it mean? That this movie has character, but also that one or more of those characters might be an object that isn’t normally alive coming to life. Y’know, like a toy. Or a car. Or a good dinosaur.

As seen in: All of them, so let’s say Toy Story.

What is it? A quietly compelling short story rendered in thick, painterly brush strokes of a man running from something before transforming into a bird.

What does it mean? Perhaps that the man is now “scot-free,” having escaped from the pressures of his life, and now he can soar like a bird? The fact that it’s kind of haunting at least indicates that whatever film you’re about to see probably won’t be a nonstop explosion party, or a kid-friendly cartoon about the Minions. Instead, it’s most likely going to be something that makes you think (or something that the filmmaker at least put some thought into), just like the man turning into a bird.

As seen in: Napoleon

What is it? Clickclickclickclick, a roller coaster is climbing up a hill! Camera pans around to reveal the logo and wheeeeeee!

What does it mean? You’re in for a ride as thrilling as a rollercoaster! Real movie fans throw up their hands and scream when they see this in a theater.

As seen in: John Wick, baby. We weren’t joking about the “thrilling as a rollercoaster” thing.

What is it? A real white horse gallops through a cloudy void as victorious horse music plays, then the horse grows wings and flies over the logo, where it is replaced with a drawing of a pegasus.

What does it mean? Not much these days, but in the ’80s it meant you were probably going to watch an ’80s-ass ’80s movie. Or maybe, like, you’re going to see something you think is normal (like a horse) and then it’s going to turn magical (like a pegasus).

As seen in: Rambo: First Blood Part II

What is it? An homage to The Odyssey, a bearded Odysseus-like man shoots an arrow through a bunch of axe heads. It’s cooler than most movies.

What does it mean? That the man who has returned after however many years at sea is, indeed, Odysseus. No one else could be strong enough to string the bow and shoot so accurately, and so he proceeds to murder all of the suitors trying to steal his wife. Also, something about movies?

As seen in: A handful of Ridley Scott films, coincidentally. Let’s say The Last Duel

What is it? Just the name, very dull. But then, oh no! Barbed wire weaves itself through the letters and a spike shoots down, winding the barbed wire together.

What does it mean? Well, Twisted Pictures has released other movies, but would it surprise you to hear that the company is best known for one thing and one thing only, and that that thing is the Saw franchise?

As seen in: Saw X

What is it? A montage of three classic Universal Pictures vanity cards, followed by the 1990 versions, which sees the word “Universal” circle a spinning globe in the vast darkness of space.

What does it mean? Universal, like all movie studios worth their weight in celluloid, respects its history, or, at least, it’d like the viewer to think that it respects its history. Though not all of its history, since it didn’t include its original 1914, creepy 1923, or its 1946 Universal international logos. Still, the 75th-anniversary logo includes the 1927 logo, which sees a plane circling the globe and enchanted children getting ready to watch Back To The Future Part III

As seen in: Child’s Play 2, Back To The Future Part III

What is it? In a twisted play on the late-2010s Universal logo, the animation zooms pasted the light side of the Universal globe and reveals a dark side, a Dark Universe side.

What does it mean? That you’re about to see one movie and one movie only: 2017’s The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. Despite the production card and a now-legendary cast photo, the Dark Universe died upon birth. (Editor’s note: No, Universal’s Dark Universe was not a production company, but this logo is awesome. Make your own slideshow if you disagree.)

?As seen in: The Mummy (2017)

What is it? A blue background, the crescendoing “When You Wish Upon A Star” as the castle appears. Clean, elegant, classy.

What does it mean? There’s a good chance you’re watching a good Disney movie, since the logo was used throughout most of the modern age before it was replaced by the self-aggrandizing modern version with the CG castle, or the even more self-aggrandizing modern-er version that treats Disney as if it should be our god.

As seen in: The Black Cauldron was the first version with music, apparently.

What is it? ’Tis him, the little stinker. Bugs Bunny pops out from behind the shield, spins the “family entertainment” belt, and gnaws on a carrot.

What does it mean? Buddy, you’re watching some of the finest family entertainment Warner Bros. has to offer in the early 1990s. This ain’t your daddy’s WB. It’s got Bugs!

As seen in: Richie Rich, Free Willy. Bonus: Gremlins 2: The New Batch, which turns this into a short cartoon