Touchstone Pictures

Background
Touchstone Pictures (formerly "Touchstone Films") was established by The Walt Disney Company in February 1984 to produce and distribute more adult-oriented films. The company was merely a brand, and didn't operate as a separate company. The company became a dominant force between its establishment in the 1980s to the early 2000s, making several successful films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Three Men and a Baby, Adventures in Babysitting, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Color of Money, Con Air, Unbreakable, Signs, and many more films. However, the company began a slow decline in 2003 with the success of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as the first PG-13 film released under the mainline Disney banner. The label became relegated to R-rated and PG and PG-13 fare that didn't fit the mainline banner as a result. Two huge blows were dealt to the company in 2009: first, the then-new Disney chairman Rich Ross trimmed the number of films Disney released in a year to eight. This business plan resulted in planned sequels for Touchstone hits being cancelled, and many more flops to come for Disney in general (he left after the failures of John Carter and Mars Needs Moms); the last Touchstone film released solo, without distributing for others, was You Again. Meanwhile, Disney eventually stopped producing adult-oriented but family-friendly films after Old Dogs flopped with critics (though it did reasonably well at the box office). After all this, Touchstone began merely distributing films for Lucasfilm, Miramax, and DreamWorks, as well as foreign films and titles Disney didn't see value in. It didn't help either that Disney was beginning to release their Marvel and Star Wars films under the respective Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm brands. The final blow came with the critical and commercial failure of Strange Magic, with them only distributing Bridge of Spies and The Light Between Oceans since then, the latter ultimately being the company's final film. Disney quietly retired the label in 2018 after the expiration of their DreamWorks deal (since they went back to Universal Pictures for distribution) and their eventual acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019. Since then, the role of Touchstone was transferred to Walt Disney Pictures (for most Disney style films), 20th Century Studios (for non-Disney style films and several mid-budget adult films), and Searchlight Pictures (for low-budget and independent films), while several other Disney divisions have produced or are developing television series and films based on previous Touchstone properties for Disney+ and Hulu. However, Sherlock Gnomes, the sequel and spin-off to Gnomeo & Juliet, was released by Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of Disney. Although the 2019 film Glass was rumored to be released by Touchstone outside of the United States, it was instead released under the revived Buena Vista International label.

1st Logo (March 9, 1984)
Nicknames: "Thunderball", "Static Thunderball", "Thunderball of Boredom", "Touchstone Thunderball"

Logo: On a black/salmon gradient background, we see a blue ball with 2 yellow thunderbolts cut into it diagonally. Underneath it is the dark blue text:

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Trivia: The logo was designed by Jerry Kuyper of Landor Associates.

Variant: An open matte version of this logo exists on full-screen versions of Touchstone's debut release, Splash, along with the movie itself in 4:3 ratio.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Very rare. Only seen on Splash. It's still seen on TV airings and VHS and DVD prints of said film as well as on Disney+, but some late-'80s to mid-'90s issues plaster it with the early version of the 3rd logo.

Editor's Note: This was most likely a placeholder logo, as Disney introduced the Touchstone name and logo less than a month before the release of Splash, which explains its static nature. The pink color scheme for the background is very 1980s.

2nd Logo (September 29, 1984-March 22, 1985)
Nicknames: "Shattering Thunderball", "Thunderball II", "Touchstone Thunderball II"

Logo: We start on a blue background, which then shrinks into a ball on a black background zooms out into the upper center portion of the screen. After it takes a small dip, it heads toward the background where it flashes and turns into the thunderball from the 1st logo. The thunderbolts shine as the background lightens up with salmon concentric circles, which get dimmer the farther out they go. "TOUCHSTONE FILMS" at the bottom in navy blue text, then fades in below.

Variant: On fullscreen versions of Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, as that film was shot in 2.35:1, the logo was squeezed vertically to fit the standard TV aspect ratio, so the circle became an vertical oval.

FX/SFX: The "shrinking" of the circle, and the flash. All 80's cel animation.

Music/Sounds: A "wind-blowing" sound followed by a "chime" during the flash part of the animation. Composed by Jaime Robbie Robertson. In other cases, it's silent.

Availability: Rare. Only known to appear on 2 films: Country and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. It's intact on their respective DVD and Blu-ray releases.

Editor's Note: A notable wasted logo. It was actually an effective, if somewhat dated, piece of art.

3rd Logo (August 9, 1985-October 17, 2003)
Nicknames: "The Snake", "Thunderball III", "Touchstone Thunderball III", "Snake Thunderball"

Logo: On a black background, a blue oblong moves from the right side of the screen to the left. As it shrinks to the left of the screen, the stacked text "TOUCHSTONE PICTURES" slides next to it. After the oblong morphs into a blue ball, the text shines from right to left before hitting the ball. After the text hits the ball, the ball flashes and glows orange, gaining the thunderbolt from the last 2 logos on it.

Variants:
 * For the first two years of this logo's use, "FILMS" was seen instead of "PICTURES". The "shining" of the letters is also difficult to see and the flash was bigger. This version appeared on My Science Project, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Off Beat, Ruthless People, and The Color of Money.
 * The positioning of the logo varies. Earlier variants were in the middle; for the rest of the logo's run, it was on the bottom.
 * In its later years, the logo was enhanced with a motion blur effect added when the logo slides, and a slightly larger shine. This variant can be seen on movies like Unbreakable, Gone in 60 Seconds, and Veronica Guerin. However, some films still use the original version.
 * At the end of a French television broadcast of Six Days, Seven Nights on the Chérie 25 network, a shortened version was used (most likely as a result of time compression), which starts with the text shining and also cuts to the 2006 Buena Vista International Television logo before it fades out.

FX/SFX: The stretching ball, the "flash" and the "electricity", pretty good 2D animation (sometimes 3D during the logo's later years) from Walt Disney Productions (now known as Walt Disney Animation Studios).

Music/Sounds: A series of synthesized bells, ending in a "twang" when the circle and thunder meet, composed by John Debney. In other cases, it used the opening/closing theme of the movie or its silent. On some films, such as The Color of Money, 3 Ninjas and The Waterboy, the film's opening score deliberately syncs up with the logo's animation. In later years, the theme was rarely used, at a point that starting in the early 2000s, it was mainly mostly used on Spyglass Entertainment productions.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On AMC's print of Shanghai Noon, the logo is low pitched.
 * Other times, it starts off silent, and when the oblong morphs into a blue ball, the opening theme starts over the second half.
 * On The Sixth Man, the theme ends abruptly as the "twang" is replaced with the start of Doug E. Fresh's version of "Superstition" that continues over the Mandeville Films logo and into the opening credits.

Availability: Common, due to its longevity of nearly 20 years. It's found on many movies produced by the company during this time. It was first seen on My Science Project and was last seen on Shanghai Knights, released on February 7, 2003, but made one last surprise appearance on Veronica Guerin. This logo wasn't seen at all on Gangs of New York, Jerky Boys: The Movie, and overseas theatrical prints of Face/Off, Air Force One, Starship Troopers, and Die Hard With a Vengeance (for the latter, co-producer Cinergi sold most international theatrical rights to Disney/Buena Vista). However, all overseas TV, video, and streaming releases of the former 3 films start with the Buena Vista International logo, while Die Hard With a Vengeance (save the European Touchstone Home Entertainment Blu-ray which contains Buena Vista International) only opens with Cinergi. It is unclear if either this logo or Buena Vista International appears on international prints of either End of Days or The Hurricane (both Beacon Pictures productions), though some European DVDs contain the home video variant of this logo on the latter film. This logo was seen on pre-2006 prints of The Nightmare Before Christmas, though newer remastered prints have it plastered with the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo starting with the 3D re-release (though Touchstone is still listed at the end of the closing credits). It can still be found on pre-2006 DVD and VHS releases of said film. Surprisingly, this can be seen at the start of the original UK VHS release of Pulp Fiction, before the Miramax Films logo.

Editor's Note: One of the most iconic logos of the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to its mystical music and memorable animation.

4th Logo (August 2, 2002-September 2, 2016)
Nicknames: "Thunderball IV", "CGI Golden-Light Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball IV", "CGI Touchstone Thunderball"

Logo: On a black background, the lightning bolt from the previous logo streaks in and zooms back onto a grey-blue 3D sphere. After that, the text "TOUCHSTONE PICTURES" zooms out, at first a shadow then is lit up. The lightning bolt also lets out orange streaks that die down when the text settle in place.

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the logo is tinted blue.
 * Beginning in the late 2000s, the logo has a more orange tint to it.
 * On 4:3 prints of films, the logo is shown in open matte.

FX/SFX: The zooming out of the flash. Great CGI from Picturemill.

Music/Sounds: Usually none or the film's opening theme, but on a few films, such as Mr. 3000, the previous logo's music can be heard.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On some films such as Under the Tuscan Sun, the synth chord in the background and the final note are removed and a different synth note sustains itself.
 * Composer James Newton Howard wrote a theme for the logo to be specially used for Signs, played on a piano. Although it wound up unused, it was later featured in the respective film's expanded score album. It might have been created as a main theme for the logo in general, but this remains unknown. The possible theme can be heard here, and its alternate version can be heard here.

Availability: Common. Seen on all Touchstone releases starting with the debut of Signs in 2002, and ending with The Light Between Oceans in 2016. Despite the logo appearing as early as 2002, the previous logo continued to be used until 2003, where this logo's use became more widespread, starting with Bringing Down the House, released on March 7. Also seen at the start of DreamWorks films from I Am Number Four to The Light Between Oceans, and at the end of trailers for those films, as well as American prints of The Wind Rises.

Editor's Note: A great CGI effort that still holds up very well today and a nice logo to end off the company's history.