Allied Artists Pictures Corporation

Background
Allied Artists Pictures Corporation started life as a subsidiary of Monogram Pictures that was established in 1946 as an outlet for films with more well-known cast members and higher budgets than films that Monogram Pictures produced. Monogram Pictures continued to produce "B" movies through 1952, while the studio's special attractions were released as Allied Artists Productions. In 1953, the company dropped the Monogram name and functioned as a single entity, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. For better or for worse, one of its better known films today is Mitchell (1975) which was spoofed/reviewed in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Although the studio produced and/or distributed major films such as Papillon, Cabaret and The Man Who Would Be King, it met with financial catastrophe and filed for bankruptcy in 1979. Lorimar Motion Pictures purchased the former Allied Artists Pictures Corporation film library in 1980. With Warner Communications (now Time Warner) purchasing Lorimar-Telepictures in 1989, most of the Allied Artists Pictures Corporation library (including some Monogram Pictures films) became owned by Warner Bros. Pictures. The name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation continues to be used as the name of a film distribution and production company owned by an entertainment company called Allied Artists International (formed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation in 1971 as Allied Artists Records before becoming a separate company and eventually acquiring the trademarks to the Allied Artists name).

1st Logo (February 22, 1949-1966)
Nicknames: "Connected AA", "Twin As", "AA in a Box"

Logo: We see two connected A's engraved in a line segmented rectangle on a sky background. "llied" is seen next to the first A, while "rtists" is seen next to the A below the first. "PRODUCTIONS, INC" is seen below the logo and "presents" is seen farther underneath.

Variants:
 * The logo commonly appears as an in-credit emblem seen in the movie's opening credits.
 * On Tickle Me, the logo is seen without the segmented rectangle on a blue background with "Pictures Corporation" in the same font below. The emblem appears below the logo itself.
 * Another variant is shown where the Allied Artists Pictures Corporation text is laid out horizontally on a navy blue background. Also, "Presents" is in script.
 * The logo will sometimes appear on the "The End" card at the end of the film, with "Allied Artists Productions, Inc." appearing between "The End" and the logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the film.

Availability: The standalone version of the logo itself is rare, but the in-credit one appears on most films distributed and/or produced by the company.

Editor's Note: From 1966 to 1972, Allied Artists would use an in-credit notice. After the success of Cabaret, they would resume production on new films, resulting in a new identity.

2nd Logo (December 16, 1973-November 11, 1978)
Nickname: "The a's"

Logo: We see a green background shorten into a circle, with white surrounding it. After the white circle is small enough, we now see that the white figure is a large lowercase "a", with a backwards "a" the same size next to it zooming out to the from the left, and settling in the middle of the screen. When it's done zooming, it reads:

Emanuel L. Wolf presents db An Allied Artists Film

Variants:
 * On older prints of Mitchell (1975), the logo is set on a blue background with light blue lettering.
 * There is a variant that is nearly the same to the aforementioned variant. The only difference is that there no credit for Emanuel L. Wolf and the logo appears to be zoomed in. It is possible this is a cropped version of the aforementioned variant.
 * On Papillion and The Internecine Project, the logo is on a black background and the double a is under the company name.
 * On Three the Hard Way, the logo (in red) just fades in on a black background, along with the text that reads "An Allied Artists Film".
 * Starting in 1976, the Emanuel L. Wolf credit is omitted from the logo.

FX/SFX: The zooming out of the "a's"

Music/Sounds: Usually silent, or sometimes the film's opening theme accompanies it.

Availability: Rare. It is currently unknown when this logo made its debut. Allied Artists became a distributor after the release of Tickle Me, and did not become a producer again until Cabaret. Still intact on The Man Who Would Be King, Three The Hard Way, and The Internecine Project, among others. Sometimes, it is plastered with a WB shield on films such as Papillon, where the logo made its first appearance. It plasters the previous logo on the Allied Artists Video release of Tickle Me.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (2000s- )
Nicknames: "The a's II", "a's in a Circle"

Logo: The two a's, in gold, move towards each other from both sides of the screen. The two then bounce off each other and a circle in the same color animates around it, the two then bounce off their side of the circle and come to a stop next to each other. The text "ALLIED ARTISTS" fades in under the letters. The registered trademark symbol appears next to the right-side "a".

FX/SFX: The moving of the a's, the a's bouncing off each other, the drawing of the circle and the fade in of the text.

Music/Sounds: When the letters are moving towards each other, there is a bombastic fanfare. After they make contact and the circle animates, a high-pitched xylophone plays.

Availability: Should be on any recent films distributed and/or produced by the company. It can also be seen before some videos on the YouTube channel alliedartists.

Editor's Note: None.