Geffen Pictures

Logo description by Matt Williams and Thehugetvfan Logo captures by Thehugetvfan, Eric S., V of Doom, and Mr.Logo Editions by Thehugetvfan, Logophile, CuriousGeorge60, V of Doom, Shadeed A. Kelly, and FilmReel Video captures courtesy of Eric S., EnormousRat, Paperking99, and rarevideosUK

Background: Geffen Pictures (also known as "The Geffen Film Company" and "The Geffen Company") was the movie production arm of Geffen Records established in 1980 by David Geffen. Its output was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Geffen later sold Geffen Records to MCA, but retained ownership of Geffen Pictures. Geffen Pictures closed its doors in 1998 or 1999; the Geffen movies, with the exception of Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (owned by Paramount Pictures), are currently held by Warner Bros. Entertainment.

(February 5, 1982-April 3, 1998)

A Geffen Company Release (1982, Personal Best Trailer)Geffen Company Release (1983)Geffen Pictures (1985)Geffen Pictures Circle-G" (1988) Geffen Pictures "Circle-G" (1991)Geffen Pictures "Circle-G" (1993)Geffen Pictures "Circle-G" (1997)Geffen Pictures Bylineless "Circle-G" (1997)

Nicknames: "The Circle-G", "The Geffen G"

Logo: On a black background, a light blue (or silver) sphere appears and slowly moves forward. At the same time, the sphere slowly turns clockwise, revealing a thin, inscribed "G". When the "G" is fully revealed, the sphere stops, and text that reads "A GEFFEN COMPANY RELEASE", "GEFFEN PICTURES" or "A GEFFEN PICTURES RELEASE" in ITC Eras Bold font, appears under it. A few seconds later, smaller text appears near the bottom of the screen, which says "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS." on the left side of the WB bug (either the \\' or WB shield) and next to the bug is the Warner byline.

Bylines (next to the WB bug):

February 5, 1982-February 2, 1990: "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" March 22-December 13, 1991: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY" October 1, 1993-April 3, 1998: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" Sometimes, the logo appears bylineless.

Variants:

On Personal Best and Risky Business, the early variant of this logo had "A GEFFEN COMPANY RELEASE" in L&C Hairline font. A still version of this logo where the sphere "G" is completely enlarged, exists on the trailer for Personal Best, the first Geffen movie release, and it's also seen at the end of most Geffen movie releases. On Little Shop of Horrors, the logo is on a starry background. A version has been spotted except instead of the sphere slowly spins clockwise, the finished logo remains intact, but then the company's name and the WB bug fades out, which the sphere then zoom backwards and disappear into the black background. This was seen at the end of Geffen-produced films, mainly Little Shop of Horrors. The later variant of this logo had the finishing animation of the sphere revealing the "G" halts rather than slowing down-leaving a small gap on the right side of the sphere (if someone looks carefully at it). This was seen at the beginning of later Geffen-produced films. Some films have the "G" sphere white or blue. On Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, the Warner Bros. byline is absent.

FX/SFX: The sphere rotating clockwise to the familiar Geffen logo. This was designed and animated by the late Saul Bass.

Music/Sounds: A series of lullaby-like synth notes which is accompanied by a deep synth fargo note is heard, which then leads to a 5-note synthesizer tune. Sometimes, the opening and closing themes of the movie, or none.

Availability: Appears at the beginning of Geffen-produced films, such as Beetlejuice, Risky Business, After Hours, Little Shop of Horrors, Joe's Apartment, and The Last Boy Scout to name a few. The last movie produced by Geffen was the 1997 movie The Butcher Boy, released in the U.S. in 1998.