Producers Sales Organization
Eric S., Matthew Mayfield, Shadeed A. Kelly, and thisisanswer
Background
This was the first production company of Mark Damon, who later formed MDP Worldwide and Foresight Unlimited and co-founded Vision P.D.G. International with Peter Guber and Jon Peters. Most of the majority of the library would end up with Lionsgate, and later Icon Entertainment International (originally founded by Mel Gibson).
1st Logo (August 1, 1980-1984)
Visuals: Over a white background, pieces of a blue rectangle appear one by one. Then pieces of a "P", a "S", and a "O" appear one by one. The blue rectangle with "PSO" in it zooms out. Then the words "PRODUCERS SALES ORGANIZATION" appear one by one. Then "Presents" appears at the bottom of the logo.
Technique: Cel animation.
Audio: Silent.
Availability: It was seen on international prints of films such as The Final Countdown, Dead and Buried, and the English dubbed theatrical cut of The Boat (AKA, Das Boot), but most current releases use domestic prints or remove this logo. It makes an appearance on the Shout! Factory Blu-ray and VUDU's print of Class of 1984.
2nd Logo (1983-1986?)
Visuals: On a black background, the word "THROUGH" in yellow fades in. After a few seconds, the stacked words "PRODUCERS SALES ORGANIZATION", one on each line in school bus yellow, appears near a curved school bus yellow square with the letters "PSO" in black on it via sloped blinds. The logo fades out with a sloped blinds effect after few seconds.
Technique: Fading effects.
Audio: Silent, though it is said it had a jingle where there is a 8-note synthesizer theme followed by a two uplifting notes and a woosh sound when the PSO text fades in.
Availability: It was seen on foreign releases of Fire and Ice, The Day After, and Prizzi's Honor, among others. Can be seen on La Traviata and the international trailer for Once Upon a Time in America. It can also be seen on the U.S. VHS of 8 Million Ways to Die instead of the 4th logo.
3rd Logo (August 26, 1983-April 25, 1986)
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Visuals: Just an in-credit variant of the previous logo.
Technique: None, or the scrolling of the credits.
Audio: None or the opening/end credits music.
Availability: Can be seen at the end of films such as Fire and Ice, 8 Million Ways to Die, 9½ Weeks, and foreign releases of Flight of the Navigator. It might not appear on the UK Second Sight Blu-Rays of the latter film as they appear to have used the U.S. print that starts with the Disney castle logo.
4th Logo (May 19, 1986)
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Visuals: On a black background, two horizontal lines move towards each other. As this happens, the inside turns blue while the outside turns gray. It zooms back to reveal a blue slanted rectangle with white borders. The white letters "P", "S" and "O" appear one by one, then next to "PSO", "PRODUCERS SALES ORGANIZATION" in stacked words wipe themselves inside. Then below "THROUGH TRI-STAR PICTURES" in orange wipes itself in.
Technique: Early computer animation.
Audio: A humming sound begins throughout the theme and the TriStar theme ends before the last three notes while the humming continues. When "PSO" appears, chimes are heard when each letter appears. Then as the rest of the logo wipes itself in, two twinkling noises are heard. Strangely, on Netflix and TubiTV prints of the movie said below, it is silent, though TriStar's theme is not.
Availability: This can be seen seen on some copies of 8 Million Ways to Die. It is unknown if it appeared on foreign prints of other films (and if it did, it probably wouldn't have included the Tri-Star byline).
