Universal Newsreel

Background
Universal Newsreel was a series of newsreels produced by Universal Pictures between 1929 and 1967, producing at least 40 volumes. The majority of the 7-10 minute reels were shot in black and white. In 1976, MCA, Universal's owner at the time, unusually turned over ownership of all their newsreels to The National Archives. This decision effectively ended Universal's copyright claim, releasing the films into the public domain. Many of Universal's newsreels can be found online, and have since become a popular source of file footage in recent years (two notable examples of the films' use are the 80's PBS TV show Newton's Apple starring Ira Flatow, and the kids' series Retro News: A Blast from the Past on TBN's family-oriented network Smile).

1st Logo (1929?-1932?)
Visuals: The logo begins in a black and white flower-like background and the face of newscaster Graham McNamee. Above McNamee is the curved text "GRAHAM MCNAMEE broadcasting as the". Under the face is the text "Universal Talking Reporter". The text fades out and is replaced by "UNIVERSAL NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL", with "NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL" being curved above the head, and the bottom now has a byline "By Arrangement With NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY". The logo then cuts to a cloudy background with a globe. There is the text "THE NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL", and a biplane passing the globe. The biplane leaves the text "UNIVERSAL NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL" behind.

Variant: An early version features a choppier animated biplane, the globe moving to the left and a darker background.

Technique: Live action footage.

Audio: An announcer says "How do you do ladies and gentlemen? This is Graham McNamee broadcasting the latest event, as the Universal Newsreel Talking Reporter." As soon as the announcer stops, an orchestral horn is heard.

Availability: This appeared on the first four volumes, as well as in the documentary Stringer - Portrait of a Newsreel Cameraman.

Legacy: This marks the beginning of the very long running relationship between Universal Pictures and NBC.

2nd Logo (1929?-1934)
Visuals: In a cloudy background, there is a glowing globe. There is the text "UNIVERSAL NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL" in a curvy font, and the text "THE NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL" under the globe. Under the text, is a copyright notice. The volume and issue numbers are seen on the top.

Technique: None.

Audio: An orchestral theme that goes higher as the theme progresses.

Availability: It can be spotted at the end of the first few volumes up until Volume 4.

3rd Logo (March 5, 1933-January 1935?)
Visuals: The logo starts in a cloudy background and the Universal globe, with the text "UNIVERSAL NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL" in front of the globe and a copyright notice on the bottom. The text "THE TALK OF THE WORLD" fades and zooms in, making the other text fade out. After the "TALK OF THE WORLD" has zoomed in, the screen fades out to the NRA emblem.

Technique: Live action model work.

Audio: A five note orchestral theme, with the last note stretched out, with a cymbal crash at the end, or the end of the last newsreel story.

Availability: It was seen at the end of volume 5. Would probably be seen on volume 6 too.

4th Logo (July 7, 1934-1936)
Visuals: In a dark cloudy background, there is a globe spinning from left to right. There is the text "UNIVERSAL NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL" in a curvy font, and a copyright notice in the bottom. The texts fade out, as a new text, saying "THE TALK OF THE WORLD", fades in. It is still for a second, then it suddenly zooms towards the viewer. After a few seconds, it fades out to the NRA emblem.

Variant: A prototype version with a much cloudier background, as well as a different globe spinning right to left, exists.

Technique: Live action model work.

Audio: None.

Availability: It has been spotted in Volume 7, issues 322 and 324.

5th Logo (1936-May 15, 1937?)
Visuals: In a dark cloudy background, there is a globe spinning from left to right. There is the text "UNIVERSAL NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL" in a curvy font, and a copyright notice in the bottom. The texts fade out, as a new text zooms in, the text saying "THE TALK OF THE WORLD".

Variant: The copyright notice may change between newsreels.

Technique: Live action model work.

Audio: None.

Availability: It can be spotted at the end of the 8th and 9th volumes.

6th Logo (1936-1939)
Visuals: The sequence starts with the Universal Pictures logo from the time, then it transitions to a top-down view of an ocean. A ship comes from the top of the screen. While the ship is passing, the following text appears: THE NEW UNIVERSAL Presents UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL COPYRIGHT (year) UNIVERSAL PICTURES COMPANY, INC. Then the logo transitions to different things. In order, there is a volcanic scene with volcanoes exploding, then a wavy beach with a boat, a horse race, an explosion and seven airplanes going on a straight line. The logo fades out, along with the background.

Variants:
 * A variant with a different copyright year exists.
 * Sometimes, different footage is played.
 * Sometimes, the copyright text is in a different font.

Technique: Fading effects.

Audio: Bombastic music, that slows down at the end, accompanied with sound effects. In other cases, none.

Availability:
 * This can be seen in the beginning of volumes 10 and 11.
 * The variant with different footage can be seen in the documentary Stringer - Portrait of a Newsreel Cameraman.

7th Logo (1939-1940)
Visuals: There is the Universal Pictures logo of the time, then the screen fades to a a globe spinning from right to left in a cloudy background, with cameramen and equipment on the top. There is the text "THE NEW UNIVERSAL PRESENTS. The text "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" in a curvy font fades in from top to bottom. A copyright notice appears on the bottom of the screen. Then the globe disappears, followed by screens showing footage of different things.

Variant: A closing variant exists, where the text "The Talk of the World" zooms in the middle, along with "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" on top replacing "THE NEW UNIVERSAL PRESENTS", though separated by the cameramen, and a different copyright notice on the bottom. The zooming of the "The Talk of the World" text varies.

Technique: Live action.

Audio: Two bombastic themes were used during the usage of this logo. One for the opening, and one for the closing. In some cases, none.

Availability: It has been spotted in the 11th volume.

8th Logo (1941-1944)
Visuals: In a cloudy background, the Universal globe is seen moving from left to right, accompanied with text saying: "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" coupled with a copyright notice on the bottom, and "THE NEW UNIVERSAL PRESENTS" on the top, with "PRESENTS" stacked under the former. Then the logo transitions into four screens that show different things. The "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" text turns into an outlined text. The screens change every 2 seconds.

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the text is in a different font.
 * A Canadian version exists, in which an outlined "THE CANADIAN UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" replaces the "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" text.

Technique: Live action.

Audio: Same as the previous logo's opening variant.

Availability: It can be seen from volumes 12 to 16. The Canadian variant is harder to find, since it was only seen on Canadian prints.

9th Logo (1944-1946)
Visuals: In a cloudy background, there is a globe and flags circling around from right to left. There is also "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" in a curvy font, and the text "'COVERS WORLD-WIDE EVENTS'". In the bottom, there is a copyright notice.

Trivia:
 * The flags over the smaller globe in the closing variant are the main Allied nations of World War II, thus they're the flags of the Soviet Union, the United States, the UK, France, Norway, (Republic of) China, Canada (with the former Canadian Red Ensign), Australia, New Zealand, Czechoslovakia, British India(?), Greece and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
 * The referred "bonds" in the closing variant are war bonds, dept that the government sold to the population to fund military operations in the war effort. This campaign commonly appeared in the end card of various WWII-era movies.

Variant: A closing variant exists. In a gradient background with lines, flags both on the top and bottom are seen over a smaller second globe and the texts "BUY BONDS" in a transparent but a dotty font, "THE END" and "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" are there.

Technique: On the opening, live action. On the closing, none.

Audio: A typical 40's military march.

Audio Variant: A variant with bombastic music exists. The closing variants have a shorter version of the music, or the closing music from the 6th logo.

Availability: It can be seen in volumes 17 to 19. Both the closing variant and the bombastic music variant have been spotted on later issues of the 17th volume.

10th Logo (1944)
Visuals: Above the US Capitol Building, that's surrounded with searchlights in a cloudy background, the "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" text is seen curved above the building. Above that reads "UNIVERSAL PICTURES" and "Present", with the latter being written in a script.

Technique: Live action.

Audio: None.

Availability: It can be seen in volume 17.

11th Logo (1946-1949)
Visuals: In a cloudy background, there is a globe, which transitions into an explosion. The explosion fades to a boat, which fades into another explosion, which fades into a marching army, which transitions to a ship going against a wave, which transitions back to yet another explosion. After the explosion, the screen fades into some smoke and a horse race. During the entire duration of this, the "UNIVERSAL Newsreel" text, with the "Newsreel" text being in a script font. Under that, is "COVERS WORLD-WIDE EVENTS" and a copyright stamp.

Variant: A closing version exists, where in a gradient/shiny-looking background, we see the text "THE END" stacked to each other. Under that, we see "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" and "COVERS WORLDWIDE EVENTS" stacked to each other.

Technique: Live action.

Audio: A bombastic theme.

Availability: This could be in Volumes 18 and 19.

12th Logo (1949-1955)
Visuals: In a starry background, the Universal globe from the time is seen spinning from left to right. There is also text "Universal International NEWSREEL" and a copyright notice on the bottom.

Variant: A closing version exists where the text "THE END" is in the middle and "Universal International NEWSREEL" in the bottom right corner.

Technique: Live action model work.

Audio: Typical 50s music.

Audio Variants:
 * Later newsreels have a more bombastic theme.
 * In Volume 25, it has a different bombastic theme, where the last 5 notes are slower, with the last one being held out the longest.
 * On the closing variants, a shorter version of the music is used. This applies to the later variants.

Availability: It can be seen from volumes 20 till 26. On earlier newsreels using the next logo, the closing variant from this logo is used instead.

13th Logo (March 31, 1955-January 27, 1964)
Visuals: The logo begins in a starry background with globes spinning counterclockwise in a ring. There is also the text "Universal International NEWS" along with a copyright notice.

Variants:
 * A closing version exists. A bold text reading "THE END" is in the middle and another text reading "Universal International NEWSREEL" is at the bottom right corner.
 * A variant with bigger letters exists.

Technique: Live action model work.

Audio: A bombastic theme.

Audio Variant: The closing version has a shortened version of the opening theme.

Availability: It can be seen from every newsreel from Volumes 28 up to early issues of Volume 37. The later issues of Volume 37 plaster the big letter variant with the next logo. On earlier newsreels using this logo, the closing variant from the previous logo is used.

14th Logo (September 3, 1964-October 24, 1967)
Visuals: Just the 1963 Universal Pictures logo, but when the camera is zooming in the globe, the text "UNIVERSAL" pops up while glowing. The glow dims as we reach the globe. The text "NEWSREEL" and a copyright notice pop up when the camera has stopped zooming.

Variants:
 * A closing version exists, where the globe zooms in and the text "THE END" is visible at the center of the screen. Another text reading "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" appears on the bottom right.
 * A later variant was made in 1965, where the text "Universal Pictures", coupled with their print logo at the time, appears from the glow. Before the camera stops zooming, The "NEWSREEL" text pops up. Once the camera has stopped zooming, the copyright notice appears. The closing version exists has the globe zooming in and "THE END" in the center of the screen. This later closing version used a different font for "THE END" and the "UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL" text was removed.

Technique: Live action model work.

Audio: A bombastic theme composed by Hal Mooney, who at that time was Universal's director of music.

Audio Variants:
 * The closing version has a shortened version of the opening theme.
 * An alternate theme can be heard on Volume 40.

Availability: It can be seen on newsreels from the later issues of Volume 37 until Volume 40, the last known volume. The later version was in use from Volume 39 onwards.