Gracie Films

Background
Gracie Films is the film and television production company of James L. Brooks, established in 1986 and named after comedian Gracie Allen (1895-1964). Their first production was The Tracey Ullman Show, an early hit for Fox. Alongside other theatrical films like Broadcast News, Big, and Say Anything, they are best-known for producing The Simpsons (which came from The Tracey Ullman Show).

1st Logo (April 5, 1987-)

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Visuals: The sequence starts off in a cinema, with lots of chattering going on. Then, after a few seconds, a female silhouette that is close to us makes a "shush" gesture. Then, the audience becomes silent, the lights dim, and the projector comes on and casts a light to the screen, and then the words "Serif" (in white color) fade in. It is usually followed by a black background with the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" written against it leading into a co-producer's logo.

Later Variant: On The Simpsons Movie (released on July 27, 2007) and The Simpsons Game (released on October 30 that year), and again since February 15, 2009, the logo was enhanced with slightly cleaner Flash animation.

Trivia:
 * This logo was parodied at the end of Queer Duck: The Movie (created by veteran The Simpsons writer/producer Mike Reiss). The audience is different here (consisting of the main characters of Queer Duck), and the text in the projector screen reads "DISGRACE FILMS". There is the sound of a woman shushing, to which Queer Duck (voiced by Jim J. Bullock) saying "Oh, hush yourself, b****!", followed by a sound-alike of the Gracie Films jingle played on a keyboard.
 * On both Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of The Simpsons Game, if your console's video setting is set to 480i and the aspect ratio is set to 4:3, the original version of the logo plays. Otherwise, setting it to 16:9 and/or have the video set to 720p or 1080i/p will play the enhanced version instead.

Selected Variants:
 * The Simpsons has featured many alternate variations of the logo over the years, with different music, sound effects, and/or dialogue. One recurring variation is on Halloween episodes, where a woman screaming is heard followed by a pipe organ playing the theme. For a comprehensive list of variations, see The Simpsons Archive: Alternate Credits Guideor our variations page on this company.
 * Another example of a variant is on The Simpsons episode "Kamp Krusty", where a mariachi band plays the jingle, and after that, a bunch of people yell "¡Olé!".
 * The first visual variation of this logo on a Simpsons episode was at the end of "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" (which can be shown on this page).
 * On the first season of The Tracey Ullman Show, the "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" text is in a different font and stays there a bit longer.
 * The PS2/GameCube/Xbox/PC game The Simpsons: Hit & Run uses this logo, but with the print logo's texture, smoother Flash-esque animation and with flickering effects as the screen lights up.
 * An early variant of the enhanced version appears at the very end of The Simpsons Movie. The lit-up theatre (apart from the "shushing woman") appears to be a photo still of the original logo, which fades into a Flash-esque animation with a darker blue colour for the light and a smoother font for the text.
 * On Disney+'s 4:3 print of The Simpsons episode "Like Father, Like Clown", a single frame of the original version briefly appears before switching to the enhanced version, due to sloppy visual plastering.
 * On the mobile game The Simpsons Arcade, the logo is brighter and blue, has a black outline, and is up against an arcade monitor.
 * The second visual variation (and the first in 17 years) on a Simpsons episode occurred on "Looking for Mr. Goodbart", which is described here.
 * On FXX airings of The Simpsons Movie, a squished version of the logo is seen.

Technique: Seems to be done with traditional animation. Flash animation for The Simpsons: Hit & Run version and the enhanced version.

Audio: The sound of an audience muttering and murmuring is heard (voiced by former Fox CEO Garth Ancier and composer Jeffrey Townsend, double tracked to sound like more than two people), sometimes extended during the logo's early years, followed by a shushing sound effect (provided by Ancier), then a 9-note piano theme with drums composed by Jeffrey Townsend on a tiny Korg 05R/W rack with a custom preset.

Audio Trivia:
 * The music in this logo appears at the end of the Neil Cicierega song "Alanis", from his album Mouth Sounds.
 * There were two other music tracks that ended up being unused for this logo; one was a George Winston-inspired track, and the other one was inspired by Phillip Glass.

Audio Variants:
 * From September 16-November 21, 2003 and again on July 27, 2007 and since February 15, 2009, more people muttering are heard.
 * On Halloween episodes of The Simpsons, starting with "Treehouse of Horror IV", a woman screaming cowardly replaces the shush, and the logo theme is played on a synthesized pipe organ. Numerous other alternate versions of the theme have been used over the years (see "Variants" above). Earlier ToH installments lacked some parts of the audio (the very first "Halloween of Horror" episode uses the standard theme, while the second and third ones have only the organ). On "Treehouse of Horror XXI" (2010), the woman's scream is replaced with a low-quality 8-bit sound file of the Wilhelm scream.
 * Some episodes might use a soundbite from the episode, or use a voiceover from a character in that episode that plays alongside the jingle. Others have sound effects and/or voiceovers completely replacing the sound effects.
 * On some Simpsons episodes that feature songs during the closing credits, such as "Dancin' Homer" and "Lisa the Vegetarian", the closing song continues playing over the Gracie Films logo. This includes some syndication prints that shift the closing music so it starts after the last commercial break, causing the music to end over the logo.
 * The Simpsons episodes "Fat Man and Little Boy" and "Homer the Father" feature a low tone version of the jingle.
 * On many Simpsons episodes since Season 4, the logo is shown without the murmuring (as a result, the "Shhh!" sound effect plays right after the last note of the closing theme, which is heard at the start of the logo). With the show's cable debut on FXX on August 21, 2014 (when the Every Simpsons Ever marathon began), new syndication prints which are cropped (with some parts stretched) to fill the 16:9 screen now feature two credit cards for the Spanish Language audio track in between the copyright card and the Gracie Films logo, so now this is not seen on the new syndication prints. However, this is preserved on the DVD releases, older local syndication prints, and on Disney+ (4:3 option must be selected).
 * A shorter version is found on Sibs and Phenom, which cuts off the murmuring along with the "Shhh!".
 * ABC airings of What About Joan use a generic theme.
 * On the first three seasons of The Tracey Ullman Show, the jingle is slightly high-pitched. Furthermore, throughout the first season, the last note of the jingle is extended.
 * On a season 3 episode of The Tracey Ullman Show, Ullman says "Go home" (her catchphrase) during the middle of the logo. This was the first ever variant of the logo.
 * On FXX airings of The Simpsons episode "Days of Future Future", this logo has the audio from the 20th Television logo playing over this. This logo's audio was heard over the Spanish cast credits and the 20th Television logo was silent. This was likely caused by an editing goof.
 * Sometimes, a certain tune plays over the entire logo, with no sound effects heard. This most recently occurred on The Simpsons season 27 episode "Barthood".
 * On the Family Guy episode "The Simpsons Guy", Peter Griffin (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) sings along with the theme with new lyrics; "And now, the show is over now!".
 * Due to Ricky Gervais' dialogue during the credits going over half of the logo, the Simpsons episode "Angry Dad: The Movie" uses an abridged version of the jingle, composed of the first four notes and the final note. There is also no "Shhh!" in this version. However, the logo is not interrupted on FXX's airing of this episode due to the SAP credits at the end.
 * The Simpsons season 27 episode "Treehouse of Horror XXVI" features a slightly abridged version of the Halloween organ music. Due to the standard scream being replaced with Homerzilla's roar, the music comes in halfway through the logo with the music finishing up over the "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" screen, so the last note, usually held down, plays for the same length as the normal piano tune.
 * The Simpsons season 28 episode "Treehouse of Horror XXVII" (which, coincidentally, is the show's 600th episode) also uses the same abridged version from the previously mentioned episode - however, while the previous one used a long, loud roar which causes the music to come in late, the standard scream is played, but it comes in late (after the "Shhh!" gesture is made), resulting in the music playing late.
 * On Fox reruns of the Simpsons episode "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting", a high-pitched version of the music is sometimes used.

Availability:
 * The original version can be seen on the first nineteen seasons of The Simpsons, as well as the first nine episodes of the twentieth season. It's also found on the PSP and Nintendo DS versions of The Simpsons Game.
 * The enhanced version can be seen on The Simpsons Movie, most versions of The Simpsons Game, and newer episodes of The Simpsons starting with "Take My Life, Please". It also currently plasters over the previous version on FXX's airings and Disney+'s prints of pre-2009 episodes of The Simpsons (the audio variants heard with it over time are left intact, and play under this logo as a result), as well as on DVDs from seasons 15 to 17. However, seasons 18 and 19 have the original version reinstated.
 * The Halloween variant can be seen on all Treehouse of Horror episodes starting with II.
 * Other shows that have this logo include What About Joan, Sibs, Phenom, The Tracey Ullman Show (which was the first show to have this logo), and The Critic.
 * The other variants can be found with the guide above.
 * Aside from The Simpsons Movie, it was not seen of any of the company's films from this time period.
 * It also wasn't seen on The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special-in 3D! On Ice! or the initial airing of the Season 29 premiere of The Simpsons (entitled "The Serfsons", with the logo returning on subsequent airings).
 * This logo made an appearance before the credits at the end of the Family Guy episode "The Simpsons Guy" (crossing over with The Simpsons).

Legacy: A very iconic logo amongst fans of The Simpsons.

2nd Logo (December 12, 2000-)

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Visuals: Same concept as the previous logo; however, instead of a lighted movie theater, the background is pitch black. The audience (including the "Shhh!" lady), is on a outline. It continues like the first logo, with the projector casting the light with the text "Serif" appearing, but the text zooms in as it fades. The logo then fades out. The finished result resembles the print logo.

Variants:
 * An extended website version with alternative animation exists. The animation starts with a blue screen with empty seats. Then the guests fill up the seats. Later, the projector turns on, showing an old scratchy screen. It fades out and the animation proceeds as normal, but it skips the "shush" gesture. Then four of the people start doing things if you click on them (laughing, whispering in someone else's ear, and sneezing, respectively) while the woman shushes them. Currently, a similar version exists where the scratchy screen is still. Then the whispering gesture is played first, followed by the sneezing gesture, and then the laughing gesture, and finally the shush. This can be found here and here. Since the original Flash animation has since been replaced with a GIF of the same animation, it now has no sounds.
 * On the webisodes of The Critic, the logo is in the center of the screen, is brighter and blue, and is still.
 * On The Longest Daycare, the logo cuts to black instead of fading out.
 * On Simpsons shorts starting with Maggie Simpson in Playdate with Destiny, Mickey Mouse's head replaces one of the male audience members' heads, a reference to The Simpsons now being owned by Disney with the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Also, if you look closely, the silhouette of a person's head has been removed at the left side of Mickey's head.
 * On The Simpsons meet the Bocellis in "Feliz Navidad", the Mickey Mouse variant is used, with the "Shhh!" lady wearing a Santa hat.
 * On The Simpsons: Tapped Out, the logo is above the Fox Digital Entertainment and Electronic Arts logos.
 * On the 2012 rerelease of The Simpsons Arcade Game, the logo is seen still in a small gray box.

Technique: Flash animation.

Audio: Same as before.

Audio Variants:
 * The webisodes variant uses the end theme of the show.
 * On The Longest Daycare, the theme after the "Shhh!" is replaced by a timpani roll.
 * On The Simpsons: When Billie Met Lisa, the ending theme plays over the murmuring, but the "Shhh!" is still heard.
 * The extended version from the graciefilms.com website removed the muttering and murmuring, and adds film projector sounds, as well as sneezing, whispering, and laughing sounds. Of course, the regular theme is still present.

Availability:
 * It debuted as a still variant on The Critic webisodes, that are accessible on the 2004 DVD of The Critic: The Complete Series.
 * It appeared on the (now-delisted) release of Konami's The Simpsons Arcade Game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and later on the Simpsons short The Longest Daycare, which was shown before Ice Age: Continental Drift in theaters. However, it didn't appear again until the short's network premiere (on Fox) on February 17, 2013.
 * It reappeared after three years on The Edge of Seventeen, and then later on the HBO original movie Icebox and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
 * The website variant can be seen on the company's homepage; although the animation was interactive before Flash's discontinuation in January 2021.
 * Also seen on later theatrical/Disney+ Simpsons shorts.