De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
EnormousRat and others
Editions by
Michael Kenchington
Background
Dino De Laurentiis formed the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) in 1984 after founding a studio complex in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. De Laurentiis subsequently purchased Embassy Films Associates from Coca-Cola. In 1988, due to most of their films failing at the box office, DEG went bankrupt and its assets were split: its library was sold to British financiers Michael and Anthony Stevens, the Wilmington studios were sold to Carolco Pictures (with which the DEG library would merge following its own bankruptcy several years later), and De Laurentiis Entertainment Limited, an Australian subsidiary that was intended to produce films on the Gold Coast, was sold to Village Roadshow (DEG itself was not sold to Village Roadshow). Dino De Laurentiis then formed a new production company, "Dino De Laurentiis Communications". The rights to most of the DEG catalog are now with StudioCanal, with Lionsgate and (for some films) MGM holding the video rights.
1st Logo (June 6-September 19, 1986)
Visuals: On a gray background, a black silhouette of the lion from the Dino de Laurentiis Company logo flies up from the bottom to the top of the screen. Then, the letters "DEG" in red, with a thick white line with a thin black line on it bordering the top and bottom of the letters, slowly rises onto the screen, with "DE LAURENTIIS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP" in a red serif font, underneath the letters. They're backwards for the first few seconds, but they rotate to the other side as they rise up. Black copyright information fades in below the logo, as well as a black TM bug near the text.
Variants:
- The text may either rotate from the left or the right.
- An earlier version seems to exist where the text has a smoother rotation, only notable for a few frames. Later runs of the logo have those frames cut out.
- For full-screen prints of films, the letters and copyright info are pushed up to fit the aspect ratio.
Technique: 2D cel animation for the lion. The text appears to be a chroma-keyed model.
Audio: A dramatic thirteen-note synth fanfare.
Audio Variants:
- Sometimes on some films, it is silent or (on a rare occasion) it has the film's opening score play over the logo.
- On some North American prints of Transformers: The Movie (1986), the gong sounds from The Rank Organisation logo are heard (due to a plastering error; as international rights went with the former company while North American rights went with the latter).
- However, on some releases of the aforementioned film, such as the 1987 FHE VHS release, the Australian Blu-ray release, and the 2007 Metrodome UK DVD release (Surround sound option; the Stereo sound version has the Rank gong sounds) it is silent.
Availability: It was used for a very short time (only three months).
- It appears on films such as Manhunter, Raw Deal, North American prints of Transformers: The Movie, My Little Pony: The Movie, Maximum Overdrive, Radioactive Dreams (International prints used the Manson International logo instead), and Blue Velvet, among others.
- Usually preceded by an MGM or StudioCanal logo on current prints.
- It also appears on the trailer for Trick or Treat, but the actual film had the next logo instead.
2nd Logo (October 24, 1986-April 27, 1989)
Visuals: On a black background, the camera fades in to a dimly-lit gold lion's face, panning upwards. It then fades to a shot of its mane, panning from right to left, and then fading to a shot of its tail, zooming out. The tail then fades to a flat gold color with black white outline, and it zooms out to reveal the lion from before as the background wipes to red. Underneath the lion, the same "DEG" from before, but the letters are now gold and the lines black, is seen when zooming out. When the logo stops zooming out, we have the name "DE LAURENTIIS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP" in white appearing underneath. The "G" in "DEG" then shines.
Variant: There is a short version of this logo on later releases.
Technique: Live-action and 2D cel animation.
Audio: A dramatic fanfare, composed by Maurice Jarre.
Audio Variants:
- Again, sometimes it is silent or has the film's opening theme heard over it.
- The short version is silent, but some films have the last half of the theme or the film's opening score.
Availability:
- This logo can be found on Tai-Pan, Trick or Treat, Crimes of the Heart, and King Kong Lives, among others.
- The short version was seen on later releases circa 1987-89 such as Near Dark, Hiding Out, Date With an Angel, Dracula's Widow, The Bedroom Window, Traxx, Million Dollar Mystery, Collision Course, and international prints of Rampage (American prints used the Miramax logo instead), Pumpkinhead (AKA: Vengeance: The Demon) and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, respectively.
- Like the last logo, an MGM or StudioCanal logo precedes this (though in the case of current prints of The Bedroom Window (1987), it is plastered by the latter).
- The short version also appeared at the end of an August 24, 2023 UK airing of S01E01 of Noble House on Talking Pictures TV.
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