American Zoetrope

1st Logo (March 11, 1971, February 8, 2013, September 12, 2016)
Logo: Against a black background, we see the text:

AN american zoetrope

Below that is a lowercase "A" colored red, white, and blue. To the right of it is a zoetrope (a cylinder with images displayed inside that, when the outside is spun, gives the pictures the appearance that they are being animated when viewed through the slits at the top) colored in the same way. "PRODUCTION" is below that.

Variant: On a few films, we see parts of the zoetrope slide all across the screen until finally ending with the finished product.

FX/SFX: None, aside from the variant.

Music/Sounds: None, or the opening of the movie.

Availability: Seen on THX 1138. The variant makes surprise appearances on A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, and Paris Can Wait. This also plasters the Paramount logo on current prints of Tucker: The Man and His Dream.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (February 12, 1982-August 12, 1988)
Logo: On a red background, we see a red spotlight. Then the words "ZOETROPE STUDIOS", with the second "S" as a backwards "Z" and "Z" and "S" connected by a line, fades in. There is a rainbow line underneath the text.

Trivia: The logo was designed by legendary graphic designer Saul Bass.

Variant: Most often, this logo just uses the text. This is occasionally seen as part of the end credits.

FX/SFX: The fade in.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1st logo.

Availability: Seen on some American Zoetrope films from the time, such as One from the Heart, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club, Peggy Sue Got Married and Tucker: The Man and His Dream.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (November 13, 1992-)
Logo: We can see a print image of a radio tower which emits four lightning sparks. The name (aligned left) says "AMERICAN ZOETROPE" in two lines, with "FROM" above and "SAN FRANCISCO" below the text.

Trivia: The building depicted here is Columbus Tower in San Francisco, where the headquarters of American Zoetrope are located.

FX/SFX: None.

Variants:


 * A later version has text on the right side, separated with three lines. A website appears over the tower.
 * A red-colored version appears at the end of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
 * There is a greenish borderless version seen on The Odyssey.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Jeepers Creepers 2 and several other films, like Moby Dick and Bram Stoker's Dracula. The closing version was used on The 4400 and The Odyssey episodes. Many films like Lost in Translation, Kinsey, Marie Antoinette, The Good Shepherd, Youth Without Youth and Tetro have no logo.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1999-2002)
Logo: We see a performer with a hat dancing in the middle. Suddenly, we zoom out and the footage appears to be on a spinning zoetrope. The words "AMERICAN ZOETROPE" with "PICTURES" below spins in an angle (ala the 1990 and 1997 Universal logos).

FX/SFX: The zoom out, and the words spinning. Marvelous animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1st and 2nd logos.

Availability: Rare. Seen on several movies, one of them is Jeepers Creepers. Appears on the trailer for Assassination Tango. Some other films have the 2nd logo, but most of them miss it.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (February 6, 2014-)
Logo: Basically the same radio-tower concept as in the 3rd logo, moved into the vertical box. The name is written in two lines inside the lower white part of the box.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Mozart in the Jungle episodes.

Editor's Note: None.