Paramount Pictures

Background
Paramount Pictures traces its history back to May 8, 1912, when it was originally founded as Famous Players Film Company by Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor. He had been an early investor in nickelodeons (film theaters that cost 5 cents for admission), and saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman, he planned to offer motion pictures that would appeal to the middle class by featuring leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "famous players in famous plays"). By 1913, Famous Players had completed five films and Zukor was on his way to success. That same year, fellow aspiring producer Jesse L. Lasky opened the Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish (later known as Samuel Goldwyn). The Lasky company hired Cecil B. DeMille, a stage director with virtually no film experience, as their first employee; DeMille would find a suitable location site in Hollywood for his first film The Squaw Man.

In 1914, the former company was renamed Paramount Pictures Corporation, as the second oldest-running movie studio in Hollywood, with Universal Pictures being founded only eight days earlier. Lasky left Paramount in 1932 with Zukor blaming him for the studio's financial issues at the time. In 1948, Paramount was taken to the United States Supreme Court. This case,, resulted in studios being forced to divest themselves of their theater holdings and, in addition to the concurrent rise of television, would mark the beginning of the end for the old "studio system". In 1959, Adolf Zukor stepped down from running the studio and assumed the role of chairman, which he held until 1964. On March 24, 1966, Paramount was acquired by Gulf+Western Industries, which later became Paramount Communications on June 5, 1989. As part of the acquisition by Gulf+Western, Lucille Ball's Desilu Productions was brought under Paramount's control and, in 1967, renamed Paramount Television. On March 11, 1994, Paramount Communications was merged with Viacom. On December 31, 2005, Viacom split into two companies: one retaining its original name (inheriting Paramount, MTV Networks and BET Networks) and the other being named CBS Corporation (inheriting Paramount's television production and distribution arms, currently known as CBS Studios, CBS Media Ventures and the ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group, respectively), with both companies owned by National Amusements. Television rights to Paramount's library are currently handled by Trifecta Entertainment & Media. Paramount relaunched its Paramount Television division (now known as "Paramount Television Studios") on March 4, 2013. On August 13, 2019, it was announced that Viacom and CBS would reunite and merge to form ViacomCBS, and the merger was completed on December 4, 2019.

(1912-1916)
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Nicknames: "Pre-Paramount Mountain", "The Masks"

Logo: On a black background, we see two masks alongside a mirror or a simple oval, which reads:

PRODUCED BY THE FAMOUS PLAYERS FILM CO. ADOLPH ZUKOR PRES.

The text "Distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation" appears below.

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the "Distributed by Paramount" notice doesn't appear.
 * On Poor Little Peppina (and possibly other films), the masks and the mirror are different and a different font is used.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the music added to a silent film.

Availability: Ultra rare. Can be found on Snow White and Poor Little Peppina, among some other films of the time. Some of them were destroyed and some are in the public domain. Despite the company's first rebrand in 1914, this logo continued to be in use until two years later.

1st Logo (July 12, 1912, September 14, 1914-1917)
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Nicknames: "The Original Paramountain", "Paramount Mountain"

Logo: On a black background, we see a mountain above a few clouds surrounded by stars. There is text over the mountain reading:

Paramount Pictures

Variant: Depending on the film, the colors are different.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the film's opening music.

Availability: Ultra rare.

Editor's Note: This marks the first use of the studio's famous mountain, though it may look strange to those familiar with the later designs.

2nd Logo (1917-February 15, 1927)
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Nicknames: "The Three Mountains in the Credits", "Three Paramountains", "Paramount Mountain II"

Logo: We see one of the following bylines at the top of the screen:


 * "ADOLPH ZUKOR PRESENTS" (films produced on the East Coast).
 * "JESSE L. LASKY PRESENTS" (films produced on the West Coast).
 * "ADOLPH ZUKOR AND JESSE L. LASKY PRESENT" (films produced on both coasts).

Below, we see the title of the film and more info. Somewhere on the screen, we see a snow-capped mountain poking out of a cloud at the bottom, surrounded by a ring of stars. There is text overlapping the mountain reading:

Times New Roman Times New Roman Times New Roman

At the bottom of the screen is a box with two Paramount pseudo-logos on either side. Each has a ring of stars inside a ring; the one the right reads "Paramount Pictures, and the other has some more text. At the top of the box, we see "COPYRIGHT [YEAR]". Inside the box, we see the words "FAMOUS PLAYERS-LASKY CORPORATION" in a large font. Below this, we see the words "ADOLPH ZUKOR, PRESIDENT" in a slightly smaller font. Below Zukor's name, we see the words "NEW YORK CITY". Below the box, we see, in a large font, "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED".

Variant: On some of Paramount's earlier movies, the pseudo-logo "A Paramount Picture" is nowhere to be seen in the movie's title, keeping only the two small pseudo-logos below the title. Instead, the full "A Paramount Picture" logo is seen after it. After a few seconds, the film's opening credits overlap with the logo. It can be seen on films such as Love 'Em or Leave 'Em.

Closing Title: We see the words "THE END" on the screen. At the top of the screen is the title of the movie. Below "THE END", we see the opening logo.

Closing Variants: On all films until 1922, the "A Paramount Picture" logo appears after the movie ends instead. After a few seconds, the "THE END" overlaps the logo and fades out. Another variant, from Stage Struck (1925), shows the "THE END" in white script with the "T" and E" in fancy lettering. After a few seconds, the "A Paramount Picture" pseudo-logo is seen on a reddish pink background.

FX/SFX/Trivia: None. It was actually a painting that was filmed by a cameraman.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Most of Paramount's silent output featured its print logo over the opening and ending titles, while later films featured the onscreen logo fading into the film's title card. Like most silent films before 1924, the rest are in public domain or have passed on to other companies that released versions with copyrighted music scores. Most of these versions use new opening titles due to lost material for the original credits (the current version of Metropolis is an example of this); however, some films such as such as the restored version of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan have survived with the original Paramount tags intact. A picture showing the filming of this logo can be found on page 71 of the book A Pictorial History of the Western Film. The variants are ultra rare, although it was kept intact on the DVD of Love 'Em or Leave 'Em.

Editor's Note: Despite being similar, the 1917 logo is actually different from the 1914 version, due in part to the different cloud design.

3rd Logo (January 22, 1927-November 28, 1953)
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Nicknames: "Dark Mountain", "Paramount Mountain III", "Ben Lomond Mountain"

Logo: We see a snow-capped mountain against a dark sky, with clouds that look like smoke. Encircling the mountain are 24 stars, accompanied by the following text in a majestic script font overlapping the mountain:

Times New Roman Times New Roman Times New Roman

At the end of the movie, we see "The End", in script, overlapping the company name. On many movies, "The End" fades out, leaving only the logo and "A Paramount Picture".

Variants:
 * Sometimes the clouds around the mountain look foggier.
 * Though the same general design of this logo remained the same, there were subtle changes from 1929 to 1931, including brighter stars on some films released from 1927 to 1930, or a slightly different design on films from 1935 to 1939. From 1939 to 1942, the words "A" and "Picture" fade out a little and the word "PRESENTS" fades in below "Paramount".
 * There are also sepia variants.
 * On the infamous Koch Media widescreen DVD and Blu-ray of the 1939 animated film Gulliver's Travels, the opening Paramount logo is still on a (poorly) retouched widescreen background, then the "filmed" portion of the mountain stretches and morphs as its fades into the opening title card. The closing variant is similar to the opening version as well, morphing and all.
 * In earlier color films released from 1931 to 1938, the logo is colored in blue/purple. Starting in 1941, the logo is more colorized.
 * Sometimes, the word "Release" replaces "Picture", though The House That Shadows Built used the word "Program" instead.
 * On Horse Feathers and Now and Forever, the logo has 23 stars instead of 24.

Trivia:
 * The mountain was doodled by William W. Hodkinson during a meeting with Adolph Zukor. It is based off of Ben Lomond Mountain in Utah, which is near where Hodkinson spent his childhood.
 * 24 stars surround the mountain: one for each movie star that had a contract with the studio at the time.

FX/SFX: The gliding clouds.

Music/Sounds: The beginning or end of a movie's theme. Starting with the 1930 film Paramount on Parade, almost all films from Paramount use the fanfare of the same name (written by Elsie Janis and Jack King).

Availability: Uncommon, but it's still retained on films of the era. On old prints of Paramount films distributed by MCA TV, they are usually plastered with the MCA-TV logo of the time. On current prints that Universal owns from the MCA package, the 1997 Universal logo precedes it. The last film to use this logo was Forever Female. The logo made a surprise appearance at the beginning of Broadway Bill (originally a Columbia Pictures release that Paramount acquired the rights to years after they remade that film as Riding High).

Editor's Note: The darker and more detailed mountain seen here is known to unnerve a few.

4th Logo (1934-1949)
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Nickname: "The Popular Science Mountain", "Paramount Mountain IV"

Logos:
 * 1934-1936 Variant: We see a mountain shooting above a cloud deck, with a ring of 19 or 24 stars (similar to the 5th logo). In an unusual font, we see the words "Times New Roman".
 * 1936-1949 Variant: We see a brown mountain with a brownish sky. This is similar to the Paramount movie logo, except the word "Times New Roman" is slightly below the top of the mountain, which has 30 stars.

Openings:
 * Popular Science: We see a cartoon airplane zooming toward us. After the plane passes, we see either "ADOLPH ZUKOR PRESENTS" or "PARAMOUNT PRESENTS" while we're looking down at the airplane. The words "POPULAR SCIENCE" are seen on the airplane's wings. At the bottom is a copyright notice and a Paramount pseudo-logo. Also present may be another copyright notice for Shields Pictures.
 * Unusual Occupations: On a shining red background, we see the above words, except the words "UNUSUAL OCCUPATIONS" are seen.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds:
 * Popular Science: A variation of the Paramount on Parade fanfare accompanies the sound of the airplane passing.
 * Unusual Occupations: A patriotic theme is heard, which leads into a medley of "I've Been Working on the Railroad", "Pop Goes the Weasel" and "Old MacDonald Had a Farm".

Availability: Near extinction. The aforementioned shorts have had barely any exposure since AMC stopped playing them over a decade ago (when they aired them under the umbrella title AMC Short Cuts). It can be found on a GoodTimes Entertainment DVD release of Popeye: When Popeye Ruled The World, which contains a short featuring behind-the-scenes footage of a Popeye cartoon.

5th Logo (December 23, 1950-October 22, 1953)
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Nicknames: "Ugly Mountain", "Early Blue Mountain", "Paramount Mountain V"

Logo: Same as the 3rd logo, only this variation looks more marble and uneven in appearance. The sky background is a bit lighter as well.

Variant:
 * Prior to the release of the widescreen feature Shane, the logo appears closer up.
 * A German version has been spotted at the end of The War of the Worlds and at the beginning of When Worlds Collide.

FX/SFX: Same as the 3rd logo.

Music/Sounds: Usually the opening music/audio of any given film. Sometimes it is silent, and on rare occasions, it uses the Paramount on Parade theme.

Availability: Uncommon. It's still seen on Paramount color releases of the period, including Branded, When Worlds Collide, The Greatest Show on Earth, Shane, Arrowhead, and The War of the Worlds, among others. The last film to use this logo was Here Come the Girls. Also, it makes a surprise appearance at the beginning of the Duckman episode "The Road to Dendron".

Editor's Note: The lopsided mountain makes this one an eyesore, especially with the stars now being disconnected.

6th Logo (May 27, 1953-September 24, 1975)
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Nicknames: "VistaVision Mountain", "Perumount", "Paramount Mountain VI", "Gulf+Western Mountain"

Logo: We see a more realistic mountain than before with canyon scenery and trees around it. The sky is more distant in depth and is very contrast. Everything else is pretty much the same as before here.


 * 1953-1968: The text on the mountain reads "Times New Roman" or "Times New Roman" (written in the Paramount corporate font).
 * 1968-1975: "Times New Roman" (in the same font) is seen on the mountain's peak with the stars encircling the mountain. The byline "A Gulf+Western Company" appears on the bottom.
 * 1970-1975: Sometimes, the font for "Times New Roman" is different.

Trivia:
 * This was originally created for Paramount's 3D process "Paravision" and later modified especially for widescreen.
 * The mountain seen here is known as "Artesonraju", located in Peru.
 * The painting of the mountain was created by matte artist Jan Domela.

Variants:
 * On Paramount's first 3D film Sangaree (the first film to use this logo), the text and stars are bigger and the mountain is seen from afar. The words "Times New Roman" fade a few seconds later to the words "Times New Roman". At the end of the movie, the "The End" text appears by itself in front of the mountain, then fades to the company name a few moments later.
 * On films shot in VistaVision, the stars and text fade out, followed by the text "in", which itself fades out and is followed by a big "V" zooming in (a la Viacom's "V of Doom" logo). The words "Impact" and "Impact" then appear on either side in a wiping effect. Then the words "Impact" appear under "Impact", followed by "Impact" under "Impact".
 * On White Christmas, "Times New RomanImpact (with the "Times New Roman" written in their corporate font) Impact" first appears over the mountain, followed by the VistaVision logo without any other text. The rest of the logo then plays as usual.
 * The logo has appeared in Spanish ("Paramount Films Presenta"), French ("C 'est un film Paramount", or "Distribué par Paramount"), and German ("Ein Paramount Film", or Im Verleih der Paramount ).
 * On movie trailers, another version is used where we see the 24 stars, followed by "COMING FROM Times New Roman" (or "COMING FROM Times New Roman" since 1968) appearing one by one in the center, with the Gulf+Western byline appearing below in the latter variation. This was used until around 1977; however, the trailers for Harold and Maude use the normal version of this logo instead.
 * There is a variation used in 1974 that has two of the stars clipped away. The mountain looks the same as it does in the second version, but the stars are bigger. Also, "A Gulf+" slides in from the left and "+Western Company" from the right. The script name also had a few variations of its own. At least three movies from 1974 (The Great Gatsby, Brother Sun, Sister Moon and Death Wish) featured the TV version of this logo; the standard 1974 logo features the print variation, which remains from this day forward.
 * A rare version of this variant has the byline in a different font. This was seen at the end of a French print of The Godfather - Part 2.
 * On War and Peace, the mountain is simply a drawing in orange and brown.
 * Some films such as Lady Sings the Blues and the original 1969 version of The Italian Job have a still version of this logo.
 * Sometimes the text and stars have a more noticeable drop shadow. This version can be found on the original 1969 version of True Grit and the 2002 DVD release of Big Jake (a Cinema Center Films production).
 * On some films, such as the original 1966 version of Alfie, the clouds move a bit faster than in the normal version.
 * Is Paris Burning? (1966) has a different drawing of the mountain in the ending. Also, the stars are kept intact and instead of "A Paramount Picture", we see "Impact" in white overlapping the mountain.
 * On Barbarella, the Gulf+Western byline is slightly off-center.
 * Sometimes the 1968-1974 logo appears zoomed in. This variant appears on the 2001 widescreen DVD release of Charlotte's Web, and possibly on other films from the period.

FX/SFX: Same as the last logo. The stars appearing on the "COMING FROM" variant, followed by each word one by one and then the G+W byline (or "Pictures" in the corporate Paramount font on trailers prior to 1968).

Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening/ending music from the film. On films shown in VistaVision, the logo has a majestic fanfare composed by Nathan Van Cleave (which wasn't used on VistaVision films such as Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Strategic Air Command and Vertigo, which used their respective opening themes).

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The VistaVision fanfare was sometimes specially rearranged for films such as The Desperate Hours (Gail Kubik and Daniele Amfitheatrof), The Tin Star (Elmer Bernstein) and Artists and Models (Walter Scharf, also in a lower pitch).
 * On White Christmas, the final notes of the Paramount on Parade fanfare are heard, followed by the sound of a bell.
 * For the "COMING FROM" variant, a rhythmic timpani sound is heard for each word that appears, followed by a drum beat.
 * On Money from Home, a different brass fanfare is heard, composed by Leigh Harline.
 * Some TV movies such as Seven in Darkness have an extended version of the 1969 Paramount Television "Closet Killer" theme from the era.
 * On Charlotte's Web, a 13-note orchestra fanfare featuring part of the opening song "Deep in the Dark" is heard (the music starts before the logo fades in and finishes when the logo fades out).

Availability: Common. Again, preserved on most Paramount releases of the period.
 * The version without the VistaVision logo was first seen on Paramount's first 3D film Sangaree.
 * The VistaVision version is often seen on Western films (such as Last Train from Gun Hill, the Magnetic Video release of which preserves the logo in its entirety; also on the film's Starmaker Video VHS release) and is also seen on White Christmas (the first film to use the VistaVision variation) and Vertigo.
 * It was plastered by the 1963 Universal logo at the beginning of four Alfred Hitchcock films that Paramount merely released: The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, and Rear Window. Recent remastered prints of those films restore the Paramount logo on their current DVD and Blu-ray releases. Also, Psycho, another Hitchcock production released by Paramount, preserved this logo on its initial MCA Videocassette release, as well as all releases from 1989 onward. It is unknown whether this logo and/or the Universal logo appears on the DiscoVision release.
 * This logo surprisingly appeared at the beginning of the Indiana Jones films (with the Gulf+Western byline from the 6th logo added in) and Big Top Pee-wee.
 * Among the titles released with the 1968-74 variation were The Godfather (at least on the 1990 VHS; most prints have either newer Paramount logos or none at all), Catch-22, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Charlotte's Web, Paint Your Wagon, Harold and Maude, and Rosemary's Baby. Also seen at the end of the 2001 DVD release of The Godfather Part II and Chinatown, which had the 2nd logo at the beginning. It also appeared at the beginning of Escape from Zahrain (1962) when it was streamed on the Paramount Vault YouTube channel in 2016; it is unknown if it plastered the 1953-69 version.
 * Original theatrical prints of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory contained the 1968-74 logo, but the rights were sold to Warner Bros. after that film initially underperformed at the box office; so most newer prints plaster this with a variety of Warner Bros. logos, most prominently the various 1990s Warner Bros. Family Entertainment logos. However, the 2021 UHD of the film restores the Paramount logo after nearly 50 years of plastering.
 * The 1974-75 variation can be found on the original 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, The Longest Yard, The Godfather Part II, The Day of the Locust, Bug, Nashville, Framed, and Three Days of the Condor, and also plasters the 1968-74 variation on many current prints of Goodbye, Columbus.
 * Newer prints of Danger: Diabolik and Such Good Friends, the 1995 VHS release of Charlotte's Web, and earlier DVD releases of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II have this logo plastered with the 1986 logo, while many current prints of Once Upon a Time in the West, Barbarella, Ace High, Downhill Racer, Fear is the Key, Three Days of the Condor, and Murphy's War have it plastered with the 6th logo (although this logo is kept at the end of Barbarella).
 * The last film to use this logo was Three Days of the Condor.

Editor's Note: This is one of the more famous logos of Paramount, and is a favorite among fans of their older catalogue. Also, the mountain seen here would later serve as a template for all future Paramount logos.

7th Logo (October 8, 1975-December 12, 1986)
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Nicknames: "Blue Mountain", "Abstract Mountain II", "Fading Mountain", "Perumount II" "Print Mountain II", "Paramount Mountain VII", "Gulf+Western Mountain III", "Pre-Viacom Mountain"

Logo: We see the same mountain from the 6th logo, only slightly less detailed. 22 white stars encircling the mountain fade in all at once, followed by the word "Times New Roman" on the mountain's peak (in a redone script font). The Gulf+Western byline (this time with each word stacked) and a registered trademark symbol ("®") also appear at the same time below it. The scene then crossfades to a navy blue version of Paramount's print logo (with the stars still in white) on a light blue background.

Trivia:
 * The final product is similar to the Paramount Television logo of the period, only with slightly darker colors.
 * The design of this logo allowed it to be used as a full closing logo rather than a simple still variant.

Variants:
 * The distance between the words and the mountain tip sometimes varies.
 * The size and the color tint of the logo may vary.
 * One variation from 1976 has the navy blue portion of the final logo appear further away than usual, with the "Paramount" script slightly smaller than usual and the stars and Gulf+Western byline drastically larger. This rather strange (if not ugly) variation was seen on Hustle, Leadbelly, The Last Tycoon, Lifeguard, and Looking for Mr. Goodbar, among others. A less uglier version with resized text (but still keeping the smaller mountain) appears on films such as The Bad News Bears, Lipstick, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, and Thieves. This version also lacks a registered trademark symbol.
 * A variation of this logo was used as a bumper for trailers for upcoming films with the words "Coming From" above. However, trailers for Popeye, D.A.R.Y.L. and other films use the normal version instead.
 * On a promotional film for the studio, a circle of stars is seen and the logo is revealed, but is completely white.
 * On some French releases, the finished product looks more like the previous logo. The Gulf+Western byline is larger, in a different font, and moved up the mountain.

FX/SFX: The clouds moving, the stars, company name, and byline fading in.

Music/Sounds: None or the film's opening/closing theme.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * 1976-1985: In some cases, a new orchestral fanfare by Jerry Goldsmith was used for the "Coming From" variant on trailers for films like Islands in the Stream, Saturday Night Fever, Foul Play, and Airplane!. A few films such as Starting Over had this fanfare at the beginning.
 * On Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, another orchestral fanfare by Neal Hefti was used, which sounds similar to the Paramount on Parade theme.
 * Pre-1998 prints of Grease had a theme which seems to be a horn re-orchestration of the intro to "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" or the 1976 Paramount Television fanfare. The Grease 40th Anniversary DVD/Blu-ray restores the horn theme.
 * On the promotional film variant, a male announcer says, "In 1985, Paramount has a whole new attitude."

Availability: Common. Can be found on most release versions of Paramount's mid-'70s-mid-'80s output. Most films released on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray, as well as TV prints, have this logo intact or restored as well. Some well-known movies that used this include The Bad News Bears, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Heaven Can Wait, The Warriors, Escape from Alcatraz, the first four Star Trek films, the first six Friday the 13th films, Airplane!, An Officer and a Gentleman, 48 Hrs., Flashdance, Trading Places, Terms of Endearment, Footloose, Beverly Hills Cop, Pretty in Pink, Top Gun, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Crocodile Dundee.
 * The first film to use this logo was Mahogany, and the last to use it was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
 * This logo has been restored on the recent Sony DVD release and TV airings of Meatballs, which previously plastered it with the 9th logo.
 * It also appears at the end of the first two Indiana Jones films (and the DVD release of the third film) and the 1980 film Popeye, which all had the 5th logo at the beginning.
 * The 1976 variation can be found on Lipstick, The Bad News Bears, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, the 1996 VHS release of Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, Gallipoli (although the recent 2015 Region 4 DVD release and a Nine Network broadcast of the film had it replaced by a remastered per frame screen), US prints of Bugsy Malone, and current prints of Looking for Mr. Goodbar.
 * Some films have this plastered with the next logo in any of its three byline variations, such as Grease starting with its 1998 video releases, the 1976 version of King Kong, and the 2002 DVD release of Mahogany (all with the Viacom byline version). Early video releases and some post-2005 prints of Top Gun retain this logo, though all other copies plaster it with the 7th logo (although the 1987 VHS retained this logo at the very end, as it was plastered by the "75th Anniversary" variant of the 7th logo at the beginning). Late 1990s American TV broadcasts of Dragonslayer briefly plastered this logo with the Viacom byline version, but recent broadcasts retain the original logo. The 2001 Director's Cut DVD of Star Trek: The Motion Picture also replaced this logo with the 1986 version, although it's retained on copies of the theatrical cut.
 * The last film to use this logo was The Golden Child (albeit at the end; the 7th logo made its debut at the beginning of the film).
 * Of the films released during Paramount's distribution pact with Lorimar, An Officer and a Gentleman still has this logo due to it being financed and owned outright by Paramount, but the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Escape to Victory, S.O.B., and The Sea Wolves all have it replaced by the 1999 Warner Bros. Pictures logo on most current prints (since the studio only had North American distribution rights). Night School, however, had this and the Lorimar logo intact on a recent Movie Channel airing, and on the widescreen laserdisc, with Warner's "Shield of Staleness" preceding it.
 * The "Coming From" variant is usually preserved on trailers for films such as Flashdance, Saturday Night Fever, and Islands in the Stream on their DVD and Blu-ray releases. While the 8th logo plasters this (but retains the original fanfare) on the iTunes and Blu-ray trailer for Airplane!, the DVD release retains the original variation.
 * This logo is seen on the 1982(?) Paramount Home Video Gateway Video VHS release of the Star Trek episode "Space Seed", following the 1979 Acid Trip warning and preceding the episode (the Betamax version precedes the episode with a trailer for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan after the warning, instead of the logo).
 * Strangely, this appears after the credits on the VHS release of Jailbait (aka Streetwise), at least on the screener VHS.
 * This may have been seen on Canadian theatrical prints of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group films such as The Transformers: The Movie.

Editor's Note: This is also another famous Paramount logo, and the only one that is fully abstract, though the earlier variants look really awkward and ugly with their odd differences in size.

8th Logo (December 12, 1986-October 7, 2003)
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Nicknames: "CGI Mountain", "'80s/'90s Mountain", "Perumount III", "Paramount Mountain VIII", "75 Years of Paramount", "Gulf+Western Mountain IV", "Viacom Mountain"

Logo: We see a model of a mountain with a CGI lake in front of it and a light blue/yellow gradient sky with a yellow sunset behind it. As the sky darkens, the camera zooms towards the mountain as 22 silver CGI stars fly from the bottom left and encircle the mountain. The " Paramount" script, redone in a shiny silver color, then fades in on the peak of the mountain, along with a registered trademark "®" symbol. One of the three bylines (as seen below) fades in below.

Trivia:
 * The logo was designed and composited by Jay Jacoby of Studio Productions (now Flip Your Lid Animation), who went on to produce the logos for Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Fox Sports in 1990 and 1994, respectively. The CGI stars were created by David Sieg at Omnibus/Abel on a III Foonly F1 computer and the mountain scenery was a physical model created and filmed by Apogee, Inc. The 1999 enhanced version is alleged to have been animated at Pixar Animation Studios, though this remains unconfirmed.
 * Paramount used a painting commissioned for its 75th Anniversary from artist Dario Campanile as a basis for this logo, which can be seen here.

Bylines:
 * December 12, 1986-August 30, 1989: "A Gulf + Western Company" (which fades in with the Paramount script and looks the same as it did in the previous logo).
 * September 22, 1989-January 13, 1995: " A Paramount Communications Company " (with a line above it) fades in. For its first year, the byline faded in with the Paramount script like the Gulf+Western version and was colored gold. On video releases from the era, the color scheme of the logo is more washed out than normal.
 * February 17, 1995-October 7, 2003: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (in white, with a line above it in the 1990 \/I/\CO/\/\ "Wigga-Wigga" font), with a line above the byline fades in, again, in white.
 * One variant, used on the trailer for Mission: Impossible II and international releases, has no byline whatsoever (see below).

Variants: While there have been some variations of the logo depending on the movie, and of course the three byline variants, there are two main variants of this logo:
 * December 12, 1986-December 18, 1987: For this logo's first official year (1987, even though the logo actually debuted in 1986), the words "Times New Roman" appear over the mountain, between the Paramount script logo and the Gulf + Western byline. "Times New Roman" was in silver with "Times New Roman" bigger and "Times New Roman" smaller and "Times New Roman" in gold. Also, a trademark ("™") symbol was used instead of a registered trademark ("®") symbol. On The Golden Child (which was the first film to use this logo), a different 75th Anniversary disclaimer appears, and the Gulf+Western byline is in a bolder font.
 * February 5, 1988-August 30, 1989: The "Times New Roman" disclaimer is removed, and the Gulf+Western byline is shifted up slightly.
 * March 2, 1990-October 7, 2003: The logo has been slightly enhanced, and the stars have a lighter color.
 * May 21, 1993-January 13, 1995: The clouds and stars are slightly darker, and the Paramount Communications byline now has a shadow.
 * February 17, 1995-February 4, 2003: The logo was enhanced again. If you watch very closely, the animated clouds (and consequently, the logo) become still once the Viacom byline appears. This usually occurs on VHS releases of TV shows and specials, and sometimes may plaster older logos on VHS and DVD. Examples of this are the 1999 and 2004 DVD releases of Star Trek: Generations.
 * June 30, 1999-June 28, 2002: The same basic concept is here, but the logo was enhanced once more to look nicer. The stars are thicker (with golden sides), shinier, and have a motion blur effect. Their reflection can now be seen in the lake in front of the mountain, and the Paramount script logo and the Viacom byline now shine. The mountain now also turns dark, and the cloud background is slightly enhanced. Also, the "®" symbol now fades in at the same time as the byline. These additions are subtle, but add a lot to the logo nevertheless. This version debuted on South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, and made its final appearance on Crossroads.
 * On some films with the 1999 variant, such as Bringing Out the Dead, Mission: Impossible II, Shaft, and Rat Race, the logo starts with a still picture of the mountain before animating normally, much like its home video counterpart. It also has a bit of a brownish or bluish color scheme.
 * Some films released from 1999 to 2002 that were shot in 2.39:1 have the stars, text and byline somewhat smaller than in the normal 16:9 variant in order to match the aspect ratio.
 * An extremely rare videotaped version of the 1999 variant exists. In this variant, the mountain doesn't turn dark. This can be seen on some Paramount VHS trailers from 2000 to 2002, and on Paramount's "Now in Theaters" bumper from 2000 to 2002, although the variant in its entirety hasn't been seen yet.
 * On Double Jeopardy, the "®" symbol fades in with the Paramount script.
 * On Runaway Bride and Wonder Boys, the "®" symbol and Viacom byline fade in with the Paramount script.
 * On CIC Video's The Paramount Movie Show segments, VHS trailers for Chinatown and A Place in the Sun, theatrical trailers for I.Q., The Brady Bunch Movie, Star Trek: Generations, and Braveheart, a TV spot for Milk Money, the teaser trailer for The Indian in the Cupboard, and the second trailer for Forrest Gump, the logo is bylineless.
 * A black-and-white version of the 75th Anniversary logo appears on the 1987 VHS release of The Docks of New York.

Closing Variants:
 * At the end of movies, the logo appears still. This version also appears on syndicated airings of Death Wish 4: The Crackdown before the Cannon logo.
 * Despite replacing the 1995 variant as an opening logo, the 1999 variant is seldom used as a closing logo, with most films released from 1999 to 2002 instead using the 1995 variant at the end.
 * On Mission: Impossible II, the logo fades in without the Viacom byline, which fades in after about a second.

FX/SFX: The stars circling the mountain, the zoom in, and the text fading in, all in a beautiful mixture of CGI and practical effects that have held up remarkably for over 30 years.

Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening theme of the movie, although a few films such as Fatal Attraction, Crocodile Dundee II, The Blue Iguana, Hot Pursuit, Pet Sematary, Black Rain, Wayne's World, Tropical Snow, Bobbie's Girl (a 2002 made-for-TV movie from Showtime), the demo VHS release of Hawks, and post-1998 prints of Grease have synthesized chimes segueing into the 1976 fanfare.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Event Horizon, a rearranged, slower and more "powerful" version of the 1976 fanfare, composed by Michael Kamen, is heard, with the final note held out as everything but the background disappears and the camera zooms into space to segue into the opening credits.
 * On Campus Man, a different fanfare composed by James Newton Howard plays.
 * On Stepping Out, a different fanfare composed by Peter Matz plays.
 * On The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, a different fanfare composed by Ira Newborn plays.
 * On Harriet the Spy, we can hear (if you listen hard enough) some soft-sounded chimes sampled from Mrs. W's garden.
 * On Snow Day, wind from a snowstorm is heard throughout the logo.
 * On a Spanish TV airing of Titanic, the 1994 20th Century Fox fanfare is heard due to the airing using an international Spanish audio track.
 * On the 1998 reissue of Grease, the fanfare is given a more "powerful" remix with louder cymbals.
 * On a French print of The Next Best Thing, the Lakeshore Entertainment theme is heard over the logo due to a sloppy editing job where the order of the logos are reversed but the audio isn't.
 * On the UK Second Sight Blu-ray of Creepshow (1982), the 1994 Warner Bros. Television fanfare plays over the end version of this logo.
 * On European TV airings of Braddock: Missing in Action II, the 2001 MGM lion roar is heard over the Viacom byline version of the logo in one of the sloppiest plastering jobs ever. This is likely due to those airings using a Paramount-owned TV print with audio from an MGM-owned master.

Availability: Very common, even though the logo has been officially retired for almost 20 years. While it has been plastered on some TV airings and video releases of Paramount films as well as some remastered or restored prints, most of these still retain their original logos. The Paramount Communications byline variant can be found on films such as Ghost, The Hunt for Red October, Wayne's World, and Forrest Gump. The 1995 Viacom byline variant can be seen on films such as Clueless, Star Trek: First Contact, American prints of Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, and The Truman Show. The 1999 enhanced version can be found on films including Mission: Impossible II, Save the Last Dance, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Zoolander.
 * It can be seen at the end of Big Top Pee-Wee and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which both have the 5th logo at the beginning (though strangely enough, the DVD of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade has the "Blue Mountain" at the end instead).
 * The first film to use this logo was The Golden Child, released on December 12, 1986, and the last was Crossroads, released on February 15, 2002. The last release overall to use it was the VHS release of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: Sea of Trouble, released on October 7, 2003.
 * Paramount has used the 1995 Viacom variation in all logo plasters and TV movies, such as those made for Showtime.
 * The 75th Anniversary logo appeared on 1987 video releases of Top Gun, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Whoopee Boys, Crocodile Dundee, Children of a Lesser God, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and was plastered with its later variations for many years. However, Paramount nicely preserved this variant later on, as it appears on the DVD releases of Planes, Trains and Automobiles and The Untouchables.
 * The prototype 75th Anniversary variation can be seen on The Golden Child, Hot Pursuit, and the trailer for Beverly Hills Cop II (which is preserved on iTunes).
 * The Viacom variation of this logo plasters the Paramount Communications variant on post-1995 VHS releases and some DVD and Blu-ray releases of films released in late 1994. For example, on the 1999 DVD and 2004 Special Edition release of Star Trek: Generations, the Viacom variant appears at both ends instead. On the 2009 Blu-ray and DVD re-release, the Paramount Communications variation is preserved.
 * The Paramount Communications variant of this logo plasters the 1982 Orion Pictures logo on Spike TV airings of First Blood. It was also found on video releases from 1989 to 1995, and also makes a surprise appearance at the end of American prints of Sleepy Hollow, with the standard 1999 logo at the beginning of said film. The Paramount Communications variant makes surprise appearances on the Mexican DVD release of Demonic Toys (Juguetes Demoniacos) and the Echo Bridge Home Entertainment DVD releases of Puppet Master 5, likely due to being sourced from older VHS masters. The tail end of it also makes a surprise appearance on the rough cut of the final Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Diabolik", while the actual episode itself cuts it out.
 * The standard Gulf+Western variant of this logo can be found on video releases from 1988 to 1989, and makes a surprise appearance on the Razor Digital DVD release of the original Puppet Master.
 * The Viacom variant of this logo was seen on video releases from 1995 to 2003, and at the end of AMC airings of Rambo: First Blood Part II and Prancer.
 * Strangely, the 1995-2002 version with the Viacom byline was spotted after the split-screen credits of Nickelodeon airings of Barnyard. This was the result of a credits error that resulted in Nickelodeon instead using the ones for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which was also an O/Paramount movie.
 * Speaking of Jimmy Neutron, this logo appears on DVD and digital prints of the movie, as well as TV airings, but is plastered with the 90th Anniversary version of the next logo on its original VHS release.
 * A silent version of the Viacom variant appears on Hulu prints of The Lorax (1972) and The Cat in the Hat.

Editor's Note: Much like some of its predecessors, this logo is a favorite within the logo community thanks to its seamless use of models and CGI, as well as its fanfare.

9th Logo (1998-1999)


Nicknames: Millennium Paramountain

Logo: In a sunset environment, we see the Paramount mountain with the stars and company name in place, but without a byline. Several other mountains can be seen in the background. The camera then zooms in, working its way to the back of the mountain. Afterwards, we see a lens-flare effect, then the logo fades out.

FX/SFX: The camera rotating, the lens flare effect. This was done by Pittard Sullivan.

Music/Sounds: The theme of the trailer/promo.

Availability: Rare. This was used on Paramount's Millennium Collection promos. It was also used on the trailer for Mission: Impossible II.

Editor's Note: This showcases nice CGI for its time. It also appears to be the base for the Paramount Classics logo, which virtually has the same animation albeit in reverse.

10th Logo (March 1, 2002-June 5, 2012, November 9, 2012, August 25, 2015)
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Nicknames: "2000s Mountain", "CGI Mountain II", "Perumount IV", "Space Mountain", "Decade Mountain", "90 Years of Paramount", "Paramount Mountain IX", "Viacom Mountain II", "Mount Paramount"

Logo: We pan down from a starry sky to a set of clouds. As the camera slowly zooms backwards, a few comet-like objects fly down and reveal themselves as the trademark Paramount stars that zoom past the camera. The familiar " Paramount " script (with a gold border) zooms out to show we had been watching a reflection (which fades to white) all along as a total of 22 stars shoot past the script and encircle the mountain behind it. The script continues to zoom out before taking its place at the peak of the mountain. The Viacom byline (once again, with a line above) then fades in below the logo.

Bylines:
 * March 1, 2002-March 26, 2010, 2015: "/\ \/|/\CO/\/\ CO/\/\PANY" in its 1990 "Wigga-Wigga" font. This version last appeared on She's Out Of My League and the 2015 movie Capture the Flag (for the full animation variant) and How to Train Your Dragon (for the closing and distribution variants).
 * May 7, 2010-June 5, 2012: " A VI a COM COMPANY " in its 2005 font. This version first appeared on Iron Man 2 and last appeared on The Adventures of Tintin.

Variants:
 * March 1-December 20, 2002: For its first year of use, the words "Times New RomanTH ANNIVERSARY" in gold with "Times New Roman" bigger and "TH" smaller and on the top right of "Times New Roman" and "ANNIVERSARY" below, fade in with the Viacom byline, sandwiched between the peak of the mountain. Again, the trademark symbol ("™") is used in place of the registered trademark symbol ("®") in this variation.
 * A prototype variant of the 90th Anniversary logo was spotted (and only appeared) on the video game The Sum of All Fears, where the "Times New RomanTH ANNIVERSARY" text appears bigger and shinier.
 * On earlier films released with the 90th Anniversary variant (such as Hey Arnold!: The Movie, Serving Sara, Extreme Ops, and The Hours), the stars in the sky at the beginning are blue, the clouds in the sky and around the mountain appear less realistic, ghosts of the stars can be seen, the stars circling the mountain are behind the script, some of the stars encircling the mountain are darker, and the camera settles at a lower angle at the end. The logo's general shade of color is also brighter and more cartoonish, and also fades in after the camera pans down from the starry sky. This version was reanimated to look more natural starting with The Sum of All Fears; the version used on that film would later become the regular version that was introduced the following year.
 * On We Were Soldiers (the first movie to use this logo), the camera settles at a higher angle at the end (which would later be used for the later 2002/2003 revision).
 * A still version of the logo was spotted on international prints of Sleuth.
 * A variant is used at the end of every trailer for Paramount's films on online stores such as iTunes, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Store. A still version of the Paramount logo is seen with the words "Now Available from Paramount" above and a copyright stamp below it. Below it is a copyright stamp. Has also been seen zoomed in (so the copyright and the "now available" text is not seen) and on the trailer for Airplane!, where the logo plasters the 1975 trailer version of the logo (keeping the music). This is also seen on old DreamWorks movie trailers.
 * A short version exists that starts when the stars fall from the sky. This is mainly seen on video releases.
 * On video releases from the company, the logo is videotaped and often in open-matte.
 * Late 2005-March 26, 2010: The logo has been slightly enhanced.
 * November 16, 2007: The logo was enhanced again. It's basically the same as the 2010 variant (see below), but with the Viacom byline in the "Wigga-Wigga" font and no errors. This can be seen on U.S. prints of Beowulf. The standard closing variant appears at the end of the aforementioned film.
 * May 7, 2010-June 5, 2012: The logo was enhanced once more with sleeker stars and shinier text, and the Viacom byline is switched to its 2006 font. There is a noticeable error in this variant.
 * On fullscreen DVDs of Paramount movies shot in 2.39:1, the logo is incredibly zoomed in, since it is in the 4:3 ratio. On matted films, it is either zoomed in halfway or in open matte.

Closing Variants:
 * Only the finished product of the logo, with the only animation being the clouds moving westward in the background. It's basically the same as its pre-2006 television counterpart, but slightly extended and silent. Plus, the logo always fades in and fades out.
 * On Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the logo is completely still.
 * 2006-October 28, 2011: When distributing films from another company, the words "DISTRIBUTED BY", in white, are seen above the logo with the Viacom byline and the line. Usually seen at the end of DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation films beginning in late 2006. Also oddly appeared at the end of Iron Man, before the Marvel Studios logo.
 * The text "DISTRIBUTED BY" was updated along with the Viacom byline starting in 2010.

FX/SFX: The stars, the camera, and the text. Incredibly breathtaking CGI by BUF Compagnie; very reminiscent of the more majestic and stylized 1940s and '50s mountains.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the film.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Mean Girls, the 1987 fanfare is heard. This is the only film with this logo to use that fanfare.
 * On the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard, a different fanfare composed by Teddy Castellucci plays.
 * On an AMC airing of Rambo III, this plasters the Carolco logo and keeps the low-pitched version of the theme, in an incredibly bad plastering job that rivals that of Braddock: Missing in Action II (as described above).
 * On Twisted, wind is audible throughout the logo.
 * On Jackass Number Two, a loud jet sound is heard along with wind when the stars fly down, whooshes and the stars pass by the screen, then a final whoosh sound when the Viacom byline fades in.
 * On a French Paramount Channel airing of Assassination, the 1984 Cannon Films theme plays over the logo.
 * On some TV airings of films, the next logo's fanfare is used.

Availability: Common. Seen on all Paramount films from 2002 to 2011, as well as video releases from 2002 to 2006.
 * The 90th Anniversary variant was first seen on We Were Soldiers and last appeared on The Wild Thornberrys Movie. It sometimes plastered old logos on 2002 video releases, as well as the TriStar Pictures logo on Encore airings of Rambo III.
 * The version without the "Times New RomanTH ANNIVERSARY" disclaimer debuted on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and last appeared on The Adventures of Tintin; its final appearances overall were on the 2012 restorations of Wings and Hondo, and the 2015 movie Capture the Flag. The 2004 logo also made an appearance on the Brazilian theatrical compilation film of the animated series Peixonauta: Agente Secreto da O.S.T.R.A..
 * It appears at the end of Grease Sing-a-Long (a re-release of 1978's Grease), which retains the 7th logo at the beginning.
 * It also appears at the end of IMAX prints and all international prints of Watchmen; on North American IMAX prints, it is followed by the Warner Bros. Pictures closing logo.
 * It plasters the Weintraub Entertainment Group logo on an Encore airing of My Stepmother is an Alien, retaining the film's opening music.
 * It plasters the 1982 Orion Pictures logo on HBO, Comedy Central and IFC airings of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (also plasters the closing version of the logo at the end, with the following Nelson Entertainment logo kept at the beginning), and the 1995 MGM logo on older HBO airings of House Arrest.
 * Surprisingly, the full version appears at the beginning of a few early episodes of Hogan's Heroes on MeTV, including the pilot episode and the HD remasters on Universal HD.
 * Strangely, this logo does not appear at the beginning of Strange Wilderness, although the "Distributed by" variant apepears at the end. Some have speculated this might be due to that film's extremely negative reception.
 * It is seen at the end of DreamWorks Animation films released from 2006 to 2011, but not at the beginning of them, unlike 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures. It did, however, appear on the VCD release of Flushed Away before the DreamWorks Animation logo. Some later prints of these movies like the 2018 Blu-ray of Over the Hedge have this plastered with the 2012 Universal logo.
 * It plasters the 1972 Warner Bros. logo on a VCD release of Cujo due to Paramount gaining the rights to that film when Taft Entertainment was merged into Republic, which became part of Viacom.

Editor's Note: Much like the previous logo, except made with even better CGI.

11th Logo (December 16, 2011-)
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Nicknames: "2010s/2020s Mountain", "CGI Mountain III", "Perumount V", "Centennial Mountain", "Decade Mountain II", "100 Years of Paramount", "Paramount Mountain X", "Century Mountain", "Sunset Mountain", "Viacom Mountain III", "ViacomCBS Mountain", "Mount Paramount II"

Logo: On a dark cloudy background, we see several stars flying towards the camera, a mirrored reference to the previous logo. As the third star flies towards us, we follow the star as the camera pans upward to reveal that we were looking at the reflection of a lake. We follow the stars as they skim the lake and create ripples. We continue to fly forward as a total of 22 stars line up and encircle the mountain ahead. Then the " Paramount " script zooms out to take its place on the mountain, which is situated on a cloudy sunset landscape. The Viacom or ViacomCBS byline then fades in below.

Trivia: This logo was designed by Devastudios and animated using Terragen from Planetside Software.

Bylines:
 * December 16, 2011-November 8, 2019: " A VI a COM COMPANY " set in the 2006 Viacom font.
 * January 10, 2020-: "A ViacomCBS Company" set in Gotham Bold.
 * Mid-2021- (tentative): "A ViacomCBS Company" set in ViacomCBS Raisonné.

Variants:
 * December 16, 2011-December 21, 2012: For the logo's debut and its first official year, a bright light shines to reveal the text" 100 Years " with " 100 " bigger and " Years " smaller, before a smaller Viacom byline fades in underneath.
 * On Daddy's Home 2 and a recent French print of Easy Down There! (1971), the byline fades in earlier than usual when the "Paramount" script zooms back. This can also be seen on trailers and TV spots for some Paramount films.
 * On Pain and Gain (2013), the opening version of this logo is bylineless.
 * An open-matte version of this logo exists. This was spotted on later 2012 reissues of Wings and the Australian trailer for Jackass Forever.
 * A version of this logo exists where the camera angle is slightly different, the mountain has slightly less light reflection, the stars have a lighter color, the "Paramount script" is darker, and some of the clouds above the mountain are not visible. This can be seen on movies like The Wolf of Wall Street, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, and Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and home video releases from the company starting in late 2020.
 * A version of the aforementioned variant exists for the 100 Years version of this logo, where the Viacom byline is shifted upwards. This can be seen on Cirque de Soleil: Worlds Away, Katy Perry: Part of Me, and the 2012 reissues of Titanic and Top Gun. It also appears at the end of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Rise of the Guardians, the last two DreamWorks Animation films to be distributed by Paramount.
 * On The Avengers, Iron Man 3 (studio credits only), Without Remorse, short films, and trailers and TV spots for many Paramount films, the logo is cut down to its last few seconds.
 * On movies such as Transformers: Age of Extinction, the logo is slightly enhanced.
 * A black-and-white version of this logo exists. This can be seen on newer prints of older films now owned by Paramount.
 * On YouTube advertisements from the side of a video (done after a video ad), the logo appears without a byline and has a dark blue and black gradient on the sides.
 * On the ViacomCBS byline variants, the trademark symbol ("™") is used in place of the registered trademark symbol ("®").

Closing Variant: Same as the last logo; sometimes "DISTRIBUTED BY" appears above. Sometimes, the logo fades in and out; other times, it cuts in and out.

FX/SFX: Beautifully crafted CGI that combines elements from the last two logos, which still holds up well nearly 10 years later.

Music/Sounds: A light bell and string piece which rises in intensity and becomes more majestic and orchestral, scored by Michael Giacchino. Sometimes none, or the opening theme of the film instead (examples being The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Monster Trucks).

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the first film to use this logo, there is an alternate version of the fanfare with some slight changes, in the note of the orchestration, making it sound more powerful. An unused alternate version is heard on the aforementioned film's OST that features a very different, more sweeping and even more powerful orchestration.
 * On Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, Zoolander 2, Baywatch, and the 2019 4K Blu-ray release of Pet Sematary (1989), whooshes are added to the logo over either the fanfare or the opening theme of the film when the stars and the text fly by.
 * None for the closing variant. Sometimes the closing theme of the movie would be used instead.
 * At the end of a Starz print of Hero and the Terror, a Cannon film, the Viacom "V of Steel" jingle plays over the end variant of this logo due to a plastering error.
 * On some TV airings of films, the previous logo's fanfare (heard on Mean Girls) is used, due to sloppy plastering.

Availability: Current.
 * Seen on all Paramount movies since Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.
 * The 100 Years version debuted on the aforementioned film and made its last appearance on Jack Reacher, released on December 21, 2012. The version without the "100 Years" wording first appeared on Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.
 * Also seen as a de-facto home entertainment logo on Paramount's 4K UHD Blu-ray releases starting in 2016 with Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, and on regular Blu-rays and DVDs starting in 2019 with Bumblebee.
 * It also appears on the first four films from Paramount Animation (which are The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Monster Trucks, Sherlock Gnomes, and Wonder Park) before they got their own logo in 2020.
 * The Viacom byline made its final appearance on Playing with Fire; the ViacomCBS byline first debuted in 2019 on a Spanish TV spot for Sonic the Hedgehog and made its theatrical debut in 2020 on Like a Boss.
 * The ViacomCBS byline in the ViacomCBS Raisonné typeface debuted on the UK trailer for the upcoming Clifford the Big Red Dog movie, and is expected to be seen on future releases from Paramount.
 * It was seen on the trailers for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, but the movie itself used the byline in the Gotham font.
 * This also appears at the end of most (if not all) international prints of Brad Krevoy Television-produced TV movies on Hallmark Channel, such as the Crossword Mysteries series, the Wedding March movies, Winter Love Story, and Christmas Encore, among others.
 * It's also seen at the end of some TV shows distributed by Paramount Worldwide Television Licensing & Distribution (the distribution unit of Paramount Television Studios), such as Spin City on Pluto TV and Viaplay.
 * This is also seen on post-2012 and 3D US prints of Titanic, plastering the 8th logo.
 * The "DISTRIBUTED BY" closing variant appeared at the end of the DreamWorks Animation films Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Rise of the Guardians (the latter of which was the last DreamWorks film to be distributed by Paramount). Plastered by the final 20th Century Fox or current Universal Pictures logo on recent prints. It also made an appearance at the end of Paramount Players' Body Cam.
 * Even though The Avengers and Iron Man 3 were both distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (which was credited at the end of both films), the latter film has the Paramount logo show up at the beginning and end, while the former had this logo appear only at the beginning.
 * It strangely plasters the 2009-2020 20th Century Fox logo on BBC prints of four DreamWorks Animation films that Fox distributed (which are now owned by Universal Pictures and use their current logo), which are How to Train Your Dragon 2, Penguins of Madagascar, Home, and Kung Fu Panda 3, even though they actually did not distribute them. In a similar case, the 2020 "DISTRIBUTED BY" logo also strangely appears at the end of BBC's broadcast of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World instead of the current Universal Pictures logo which was originally in front.
 * This can be also seen sometimes at the end of modern prints of DreamWorks Pictures films, such as on a Netflix print of The Cat in the Hat and the Blu-ray of Mousehunt.
 * The ViacomCBS variant has been spotted on a TCM airing of a newer print of The Senator Was Indiscreet, newer prints of My Fair Lady, Adam at 6 A.M., The Big Operator, and the 30th Anniversary edition of The Godfather: Part 3, where it plastered the 1990 Paramount logo.

Editor's Note: This is a true masterpiece of a logo, with its powerful, majestic theme, perfect CGI, and the sheer power it radiates. It's certainly a worthy successor to all the 100 years' worth of Paramountains before it.