Shaw Brothers Ltd.

This article is about the original film company. For the revived company, see Shaw Brothers Pictures Ltd.

Credits

Descriptions by
Lazlow, m3urious, Logoarto, rj4712 and Henrynguye5

Editions by
Prodigy012

Video captures courtesy of
Peakpasha, Hong Kong Movie Studios ID Channel and Amovielogos11

Shaw Brothers Ltd.
Founded:	7 December, 1958 (65 years ago)
Founder:	Run Run Shaw Runme Shaw
Defunct:	2011 (13 years ago)
Successors:	Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited Shaw Brothers Pictures International Limited
Location:	Hong Kong
Parent:	Young Lion Holdings Limited

Background

Shaw Brothers was one of the largest and oldest film studios in Hong Kong. In 1925, Runje, Runme, Runde and Run Run Shaw founded the Shaw Organisation in Singapore as a distribution company. In 1930, they founded South Sea Films in Hong Kong, later renamed Shaw Brothers Studio. It is famous for its martial arts films. Today, Shaw Brothers only distributes films in Southeast Asia. The company went defunct in 2011 as it was reincorporated into the Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited.

Today, a catalog of the pre-2002 library was held by Celestial Pictures, while post-2002 Shaw Brothers films are still held by China Media Capital and TVB.

1st Logo (April 12, 1951?-June 22, 1956)

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Visuals: On a blue background is a shield, which is turquoise with a red border. In red, the following text is on the shield:

A
SHAWS
PRODUCTION

Under it is a yellow ribbon with some red Chinese text.

Variant: On Madame White Snake, the logo is yellow and is on an orange background and shares with the Toho logo.

Technique: A live-action model being pointed at by a camera. The variant appears to be a printed card.

Audio: A bombastic fanfare similar to the 20th Century Studios logo. The variant uses the opening theme.

Availability: Can be seen on martial arts films from the era. ^[Examples?]

2nd Logo (1956-August 18, 1959)

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Visuals: There is the same shield and ribbon from before, except they're now bronze along with the text "A SHAW PRODUCTION". It is set on a midnight blue satin-like background with some tan-colored satin sheet-looking material at the top and bottom.

Technique: A live-action model being pointed at by a camera.

Audio: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Can be seen on martial arts films from the era. ^[Examples?]

3rd Logo (May 28, 1958-2011)

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  Screen 1

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  Screen 2

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  Screen 3

Visuals: The background looks like some kind of glass, with various colors waving behind it. First, a shield, similar to the Warner Bros. shield, appears with the letters "SB" in gold on it. It fades out and some Chinese text (translating to "Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Limited / Shaw Studios / Presents") appears on the same background. It fades out and the shield appears again under some more Chinese text (translating roughly to "The following Shaw Brothers film is presented in Shaw Scope"). The shield is between "SHAW" and "SCOPE".

Variants:

• A B&W variant exists.
• A full-screen version exists.

Technique: Practical effects.

Audio: A bombastic fanfare with drums and trumpets.

Audio Variants:

• On some films, the theme is slightly different.
• In 1998, the theme was re-orchestrated with more horns and ends with a timpani hit.

Availability: Seen on every Shaw Bros. film of the period. It notably appears at the beginning of Kill Bill Vol. 1, with the preceding Miramax Films logo overlapping the first segment of this logo; however, Shaw Bros. had no involvement with the film, and director Quentin Tarantino merely put their logo in as a tribute to their works.

4th Logo (1979-2003?)

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Visuals: There is the inside of the shield from the last logo, animated to look like a spinning sunburst background (a la Toho). The initials "SB" zoom-out via trail effect. The screen then zooms out from the shield, which is placed on a starburst background. The shield leaves a slightly transparent trail which then merge with the logo turning it gold. The shield flashes, turning into orange Chinese text translating to "Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Limited / Shaw Studios / Presents".

Technique: A mix of camera-controlled and cel animation.

Audio: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: This was seen mainly on trailers, such as the trailer for Fast Fingers. It has also been spotted on a trailer for Drunken Monkey.

5th Logo (2002-2011)

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Visuals: There are many clips from Shaw Bros. movies zooming out and transforming into the "SB" shield. "SHAW" then rotates, and fairy dust effects sprinkle over it.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An abridged version of the previous logos' music, with the additions of a fiery swoosh sound and a gong.

Availability: Seen on every Shaw Brothers film of the time, preceding the third logo. ^[Examples?]

Shaw Brothers Ltd.

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