Pathé

Background
Pathé is a major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Les Cinémas Pathé Gaumont and television networks across Europe. It is the second oldest operating film company behind Gaumont Film Company which was established in 1895 by the four brothers Charles, Émile, Théophile and Jacques Pathé.

(1901-1915)


Nickname: "The Pathé Rooster"

Logo: On a black (or grey/worn-out black) background, we see a still image of a rooster in white (sometimes orange) posing as if it is about to crow. Below it is the cursive text "Pathé fréres".

Variants:
 * There are alot of colored variants.
 * This logo can vary depending on movie.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Silent, or sometimes may have featured the accompanying score.

Availability: Can be seen on earlier films from Pathé.

Editor's Note: TBA.

(1920's-19??)
Nickname: "The Pathé Rooster II"

Logo: On a black background, we see a rooster on the top "K.O.K.", also is in the top, "Marque Déposée", in the middle and "Pathé Fréres", wrapped.

Variant: A brighter variant exists.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Depends on the variant.

Availability: Unknown.

Editor's Note: TBA.

(19??-1926)
Nickname: "The Pathé Rooster III"

Logo: We see a chicken, moving a bit. Then we see the word "Pathé", with the tops of the "t and "h" connected and "Distributors" below. On the left and right sides are circles with rooster drawings in crowing stances, both in opposite directions.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Silent, or (often) had the accompanying score over it.

Availability: Extremely rare/near extinction. One film that had this logo was Grandma's Boy.

Editor's Note: TBA.

(1921-1929)


Nickname: "The Pathé Rooster IV"

Logo: We see the word "Pathé", with the tops of the "t and "h" connected and "Distributors" below. On the left and right sides are circles with rooster drawings in crowing stances, both in opposite directions.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Silent, or (often) had the accompanying score over it.

Availability: Extremely rare/near extinction. One film that had this logo was Grandma's Boy.

Editor's Note: TBA.

(1918?-1927?)
Nickname: "The Pathé Rooster VI"

Logo: On a black background, we see a coin and a rooster in white, with a shining on it. Text are seen embossed in a stone, with "PATHEX" and "TRADE - MARK" on the top and bottom below.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Ultra rare. Seen on many Pathex 9.5mm films (including a short subjects) such as Here It Is, The Monkey Dressed as a Humans, California Or Bust and Felix The Cat (Félix Le Chat) cartoons, which can be watched on YouTube.

Editor's Note: The drawing of the coin, and the text looks old school. Also, the logo is very shaky.

(Mid 1921?-1925?)
Logo: On a black background, we see a white triangle with a film reel overlaps the triangle, with the 3 words "SAFETY FILM" on the left, right and top, albeit is in the outlined top. We fades in to see the words:

PATHESCOPE Presents

in a script font, which then overlaps the emblem.

Closing Variant: On the closing variant, the text "A PATHESCOPE FILM" is appeared on the emblem.

FX/SFX: The fading in.

Music/Sounds: Silent, or the opening theme.

Availability: Rare, during the 40-80 years of use. Seen on many Pathescope films in the UK, such as The Alarum Clock and The ABC of Aviation, albeit can be seen on YouTube.

Editor's Note: TBA.

1st Logo (1929-1936)


Nicknames: "The Pathé Rooster VII", "The Pathé Globe"

Logo: Inside a white circle on a black BG, we see a rooster, which seems to be standing on top of a model globe. Below it is the word "Pathé", in the same style as before. The word is in white, except the areas which overlap the circle, which are in black. The rooster crows.

Variant: On Two Fresh Eggs, a sepia-toned version is used.

FX/SFX: The rooster crowing.

Music/Sounds: Just the rooster crowing. On silent films with this logo, it had the film's score over it.

Availability: Very rare. Most surviving prints of their output have this removed or plastered over with the 11th logo (an example of this is on the Olive Films DVD & Blu-ray of the 1959 French version of Les Misérables). May still be intact on French films released by The Criterion Collection, Fox Lorber, and Koch Media, among other specialty/art film labels. Was also seen on UK and French prints of Hal Roach's Laurel and Hardy comedies. This was found intact on Pathegrams News Digests. Also seen on Van Beuren cartoons from 1929-1930 (most YouTubers remove the Pathé logo, but some kept them, particulary Motion Pictures).

Editor's Note: TBA.

2nd Logo (1943)
Nicknames: "The Pathé Rooster VIII", "The Skyscraper", "The Pathé Building"

Logo: We see the front of a skyscraper at dusk. A black square with a picture of a rooster is in the middle of the building. The large text "PATHE" is beneath the square while a marquee with the text "PICTURES LTD" beneath "PATHE". The camera then pans down to reveal that the text is part of a building awning with "PRESENTS" encased in a rectangle.

FX/SFX: The camera panning.

Music/Sounds: An uninspired horn fanfare.

Availability: Rare. Most prints of titles from this period have it removed or plastered over with the 11th logo. Some films, such as Cosmo Jones and Crime Smasher, have kept it intact with the 11th logo following.

Editor's Note: TBA.

3rd Logo (1945-1948?)


Nickname: "The Pathé Rooster IX"

Logo: We see a circle with a rooster, beneath the rooster is "Pathé Pictures".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Unknown.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1946)


Nickname: "The Pathé Rooster X"

Logo: We see the words "Un film" and a circle with a black and white picture of a rooster fade in. Then "Pathé" in large handwritten font draws itself below.

FX/SFX: The name drawing.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the film.

Availability: Rare. Seen on the French DVD and the Criterion DVD of Les Enfants du Paradis at the start, the end of part 1 and end of part 2. On the Criterion Blu-ray, the current Pathé ident replaces this at the start but it is seen at the end of the film since both parts 1 & 2 are combined into one.

Editor's Note: TBA.

5th Logo (1970-1980s?)
Nicknames: "The Pathé Rooster XI", "The New Rooster", "Trademark of Quality Since 1896"

Logo: On a worn-out black background, we see a white rectangle containing an abstract red rooster. Beneath that is the white text "PATHÉ". "TRADEMARK OF QUALITY SINCE 1896" is beneath "PATHÉ" in smaller print.

FX/SFX: TBA.

Music/Sounds: TBA.

Availability: Unknown.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1989)
Nicknames: "The Pathé Rooster XII", "The New Rooster II", "The Red Rooster"

Logo: A still, with a red rooster, and "Pathé", stacked onto "Pictures".

Variant: A superimposed variant exists.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant fanfare.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was only seen on Arthur Murray Dance Lessons: Cha Cha.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (1991-1999)


Nicknames: "The Sunrise Rooster", "The Pathé Rooster XIII", "The New Rooster III"

Logo: On a black background, we see a yellow line appearing, which slowly turns into a sunrise. Dark blue and red streaks come from the bottom of the sun, forming a rooster. Once it appears, the sun disappears, leaving a yellow rectangle surrounding the rooster, with "PATHE" written under it, and a small yellow line. After a few seconds, the rectangle flips over vertically, turning into a star, and zooms out. A blue oval-shaped ball appears. Four white stars appear from the top of it, surrounding the ball, while the yellow star floats on top of the ball. The text "une société de" appears on the top of the logo, while "CHARGEURS" appears below it.

Variants:
 * The trailer variant features this logo zooming to us.

FX/SFX: The sunrise effect and the rooster and logo forming.

Music/Sounds: A short synthesized fanfare, followed by a dreamy synth/piano tune. Sometimes silent.

Availability: Scarce. Seen UK prints of films such as 1492: Conquest of Paradise, but has likely fallen to plastering with the current logo. It also appears on several VHS tapes from Guild and Fox.

Editor's Note: This is a beautifully animated logo. It looks similar to the 5th logo as well.

8th Logo (1999- )
Nicknames: "The Mobile", "The Shadow Rooster", "Pathé Mobile", "The Pathé Rooster XIV", "The New Rooster IV", "Pathé!"

Logo: On a grey background, we see a balloon reading "PATHE!" in yellow, stylized after the speech bubble variant, made into a mobile, rotating around clockwise, with the letters revolving around as well. There are two shadows of the mobile casted in the background by two spotlights. Then, the mobile stalls in it's moment, only for it to rotate to it's side, with a shadow of a rooster to turn into view.

Trivia: There are replicas of the mobile seen in some Pathé cinemas. However, they are designed differently than the logo does.

Variants:
 * On the British trailer of Be Kind Rewind, the logo is "Sweded", it is much cheaper-looking, and during the variant, Jack Black's hand turns the backwards "P" forwards. Instead of a rooster, a rubber duck on a stick pops up, and the sound of a chicken is added at the end (the American release has the standard New Line Cinema logo).
 * An enhancement to the logo, with more realistic-looking tinting, was introduced in 2012.
 * Dirty Sanchez uses the same logo, with the exception of the end, when we see the shadow of scissors cutting one the threads of the balloon, making the rooster fall.
 * On several trailers, the print version of the logo is seen, containing only "PATHÉ!" in its corporate bulbous yellow font, without any motion.
 * There is another version which has the name in 2 speech bubbles, coming from a rooster. The text here is now stretched and straightened upwards..
 * On the trailer for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the logo is gray-green.
 * On the trailer for Eden Lake and several other films, the logo is silver.

FX/SFX: The Pathé logo turning backward and the shadows. Nice CGI animation (though it may also be done with real models), produced by Landor Associates in Paris, France.

Music/Sounds: A lush piano, drum, choir, and string fanfare, sometimes with a chicken clucking at the end. Be Kind Rewind uses a cheap rendition of the fanfare, with acapella voices and kazoo.

Availability: Very common.
 * This plasters older logos on current prints of their output, and other distributors tags on films Pathé now owns (an example is on the Criterion Collection release of Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down, in which Pathé obtained U.S. rights from its previous owner, Miramax)
 * As with the last logo, it is used as a de-facto home video logo in the UK and France.
 * It is also seen at the beginning of the UK releases of Chicken Run, accompanied with the film's theme music; however, it does not appear on the DreamWorks print, due to the length of that logo at the start of the film (although the 7th logo appears at the end).
 * The print logo is seen on several trailers, on Chicken Run and Magic Roundabout (also known as Doogal in the US) and also appears (in yellow) on the video game Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar. The version with the rooster is very rare, which was seen on a trailer for Iron Lady.

Editor's Note: This logo is considered a favorite for anyone who grew up watching Pathé films on cable television, VHS tapes, and DVDs during the 2000s and 2010s.