Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures traces its history back to May 8, 1912, when it was originally founded as Famous Players Film Company by Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor. He had been an early investor in nickelodeons (film theaters that cost 5 cents for admission), and saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman, he planned to offer motion pictures that would appeal to the middle class by featuring leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "famous players in famous plays"). By 1913, Famous Players had completed five films and Zukor was on his way to success. That same year, fellow aspiring producer Jesse L. Lasky opened the Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his sister Blanche Lasky's husband and his brother-in-law - the founder of Goldwyn Pictures (later part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Samuel Goldfish (later known as Samuel Goldwyn). The Lasky company hired Cecil B. DeMille, a stage director with virtually no film experience, as their first employee; DeMille would find a suitable location site in Hollywood for his first film The Squaw Man (1914).

In 1914, the former company was renamed Paramount Pictures Corporation, as the second oldest-running movie studio in Hollywood, with Universal Pictures being founded only eight days earlier. Lasky left Paramount in 1932 with Zukor blaming him for the studio's financial issues at the time. In 1948, Paramount was taken to the United States Supreme Court. This case, known as United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., resulted in studios being forced to divest themselves of their theater holdings and, in addition to the concurrent rise of television, would mark the beginning of the end for the old "studio system". In 1959, Adolph Zukor stepped down from running the studio and assumed the role of chairman, which he held until 1964. On March 24, 1966, Paramount was acquired by Gulf+Western Industries, which later became Paramount Communications on June 5, 1989. As part of the acquisition by Gulf+Western, Lucille Ball's Desilu Productions and the Desilu lot were brought under Paramount's control and, in 1967, Desilu was renamed to Paramount Television.

On March 11, 1994, Paramount Communications was merged with Viacom. On December 31, 2005, Viacom split into two companies: one retaining its original name (inheriting Paramount, MTV Networks and BET Networks) and the other being named CBS Corporation (inheriting Paramount's television production and distribution arms, currently known as CBS Studios, CBS Media Ventures and Paramount Global Content Distribution, respectively), with both companies owned by National Amusements. One year later, Stage M where movies and TV shows such as Wild Things, City Hall, The Wedding Singer, Executive Decision and Star Trek: The Next Generation scored there permanently closed and was demolished two years later to house a new post-production facility. Television rights to Paramount's library are currently handled by Trifecta Entertainment & Media. Paramount relaunched its Paramount Television division (now known as "Paramount Television Studios") on March 4, 2013.

On August 13, 2019, it was announced that Viacom and CBS would reunite and merge to form ViacomCBS; the merger was completed on December 4, 2019. On February 16, 2022, ViacomCBS was renamed Paramount Global (or simply Paramount for short), named after the studio.

(1912-1916)
Logo: On a black background, we see two masks alongside a mirror or a simple oval, which reads:

PRODUCED BY THE FAMOUS PLAYERS FILM CO. ADOLPH ZUKOR PRES.

The text "Distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation" appears below.

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the "Distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation" notice doesn't appear.
 * On Poor Little Peppina (and possibly other films), the masks and the mirror are different and a different font is used.
 * On very few films, colors may vary.
 * In closings, the usual "The End" notice appears in center, and a rectangle is shown at the bottom with the print logo inside.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the music added to the silent film playing.

Availability: Near extinction. This is very difficult to find, as many silent films had been destroyed. Snow White and Poor Little Peppina are the only known surviving films containing this logo.

Legacy: One of the first Hollywood logos, alongside with Universal Pictures and Nestor Film Company. Despite the company's first official rebrand in 1914, this logo continued to be in use until two years later.

1st Logo (1914-1917)
Logo: On a black background, we see a mountain above a few clouds surrounded by stars. There is text over the mountain reading:

Paramount Pictures

Variants:
 * Depending on the film, the colors are different.
 * An in-credit version exists.
 * A rare blue toned version of this exists.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the film's opening music.

Availability: Like the last logo, near extinction. Can be seen on the earliest films under the Paramount name. Some films are still around, while others are destroyed. The only surviving movies containing this logo are The Squaw Man, The Virginian, The Bargain, The Italian and The Cheat.

Legacy: This marks the first use of the studio's famous mountain.

2nd Logo (1917-June 11, 1927)
Logo: We see one of the following bylines at the top of the screen:


 * "ADOLPH ZUKOR PRESENTS" (films produced on the East Coast).
 * "JESSE L. LASKY PRESENTS" (films produced on the West Coast).
 * "ADOLPH ZUKOR AND JESSE L. LASKY PRESENT" (films produced on both coasts).

Below, we see the title of the film and more info. Somewhere on the screen, we see a snow-capped mountain poking out of a cloud at the bottom, surrounded by a ring of stars. There is text overlapping the mountain reading:

Times New Roman Times New Roman Times New Roman

At the bottom of the screen is a box with two Paramount pseudo-logos on either side. Each has a ring of stars inside a ring; the one the right reads "Paramount Pictures", and the other has some more text. At the top of the box, we see "COPYRIGHT [YEAR]". Inside the box, we see the words "FAMOUS PLAYERS-LASKY CORPORATION" in a large font. Below this, we see the words "ADOLPH ZUKOR, PRESIDENT" in a slightly smaller font. Below Zukor's name, we see the words "NEW YORK CITY". Below the box, we see, in a large font, "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED".

Trivia: According to some information, this was actually a painting that was filmed by a cameraman.

Variants:


 * On very few films, logos may vary. On some films, the "A Paramount Picture" logo is omitted. For example, on Zaza (1923), we see the "A Paramount Picture" logo seen in a background, containing credits which overlap the logo.
 * Sometimes, only the print logo will be present on screen, fading into the film's title card.
 * On the opening of Manhandled (1924), the two Paramount pseudo-logos are split, containing the boxes under each Paramount pseudo-logos.
 * Closing Titles: We see the words "THE END" on the screen. At the top of the screen is the title of the movie. Below "THE END", we see the opening logo.
 * Closing Variants: On some films, the "A Paramount Picture" logo appears after the movie ends instead. After a few seconds, the "THE END" overlaps the logo and fades out or the text "THE END" fading into the logo. Sometimes, the MPPDA logo is seen on the lower-left screen. Another variant, from Stage Struck (1925), shows the "THE END" in white script with the "T" and "E" in fancy lettering. After a few seconds, the "A Paramount Picture" pseudo-logo is seen on a reddish pink background, while on Manhandled (1924), the words "The End" with the "T" and "E" in fancy lettering. After a few seconds, the "A Paramount Picture" logo is in sepia background.
 * On some of Paramount's earlier movies, the pseudo-logo "A Paramount Picture" is nowhere to be seen in the movie's title, keeping only the two small pseudo-logos below the title. Instead, the full "A Paramount Picture" logo is seen after it. After a few seconds, the film's opening credits overlap with the logo. It can be seen on films such as Love 'Em or Leave 'Em.
 * On the openings of Grass, Stage Struck, Moana, Dancing Mothers, It's the Old Army Game, Nell Gwyn, Fine Manners and So's Your Old Man, the credits are seen, with the on-print logo at the bottom, being similar to the Closing Title.
 * Early Variant: Early in the logo, we see the words "A Famous Players-Lasky Super Production" or "A Paramount Picture" above the box. We see the Artcraft Pictures or the Paramount Pictures logo on the right. Instead of "ADOLPH ZUKOR, PRESIDENT", we see the words "ADOLPH ZUKOR Pres. JESSE L. LASKY Producer CECIL B. DEMILLE Director General", and instead of "NEW YORK CITY", we see the words "NEW YORK". Sometimes, the words "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" are seen below.

Technique: Usually none. As with the "Trivia" section, this might be possibly live-action.

Music/Sounds: None, or the opening and closing themes of a movie.

Availability: Most of Paramount's silent output featured its print logo over the opening and ending titles, while later films featured the onscreen logo fading into the film's title card. Like most silent films before 1924, the rest are in public domain or have passed on to other companies that released versions with copyrighted music scores. Most of these versions use new opening titles due to lost material for the original credits (the current version of Metropolis is an example of this); however, some films such as such as the restored version of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan have survived with the original Paramount tags intact. A picture showing the filming of this logo can be found on page 71 of the book A Pictorial History of the Western Film. However, this logo can be found on the Blu-ray and the DVD of these aforementioned titles. The variants are ultra rare, although it was kept intact on the DVD of Love 'Em or Leave 'Em.

3rd Logo (January 22, 1927-November 28, 1953)
Logo: We see a snow-capped mountain against a dark sky, with clouds that look like smoke. Encircling the mountain are 24 stars, accompanied by the following text in a majestic script font overlapping the mountain:

Times New Roman Times New Roman Times New Roman

At the end of the movie, we see "The End", in script, overlapping the company name. On many movies, "The End" fades out, leaving only the logo and "A Paramount Picture".

Trivia:
 * The mountain was doodled by William W. Hodkinson during a meeting with Adolph Zukor. It is based off of Ben Lomond Mountain in Utah, which is near where Hodkinson spent his childhood.
 * 24 stars surround the mountain: one for each movie star that had a contract with the studio at the time.

Variants:
 * Sometimes the clouds around the mountain are foggier.
 * Although the same general design of this logo remained the same, there were subtle changes from 1929 to 1931, including brighter stars on some films released from 1927 to 1930, or a slightly different design on films from 1935 to 1939. From 1939 to 1942, the words "A" and "Picture" fade out a little, and the word "PRESENTS" fades in below "Paramount".
 * There are also sepia variants.
 * On the infamous Koch Media widescreen DVD and Blu-ray of the 1939 animated film Gulliver's Travels, the opening Paramount logo is still on a (poorly) retouched widescreen background, then the "filmed" portion of the mountain stretches and morphs as its fades into the opening title card. The closing variant is similar to the opening version as well, morphing and all.
 * In earlier color films released from 1931 to 1938, the logo is colored in blue/purple. Starting in 1941, the logo is more colorized.
 * Sometimes, the word "Release" replaces "Picture", although The House That Shadows Built uses the word "Program" instead.
 * On Horse Feathers and Now and Forever, the logo has 23 stars instead of 24.
 * On The Cocoanuts, we see the words "The END" fading into the closing logo.

Technique: Possibly made on cel animation, given the gliding cloud effect.

Music/Sounds: The beginning or end of a movie's theme. Starting with the 1930 film Paramount on Parade, almost all films from Paramount use the fanfare of the same name (written by Elsie Janis and Jack King).

Availability: This is still easy to find on films of the era. On old prints of Paramount films distributed by MCA TV, they are usually plastered with the MCA-TV logo of the time. On current prints that Universal owns from the MCA package, the 1997 Universal logo precedes it. The last film to use this logo was Forever Female. The logo made a surprise appearance at the beginning of Broadway Bill (originally a Columbia Pictures release that Paramount acquired the rights to years after they remade that film as Riding High).

Legacy: One of the most iconic logos during Hollywood's golden age, and one of Paramount's most famous logos in general, given its lifespan.

4th Logo (1934-1949)
Logos:
 * 1934-1936 Variant: We see a mountain shooting above a cloud deck, with a ring of 19 or 24 stars (similar to the 5th logo). In an unusual font, we see the words "Times New Roman".
 * 1936-1949 Variant: We see a brown mountain with a brownish sky. This is similar to the Paramount movie logo, except the word "Times New Roman" is slightly below the top of the mountain, which has 30 stars.

Openings:
 * Popular Science: We see a cartoon airplane zooming toward us. After the plane passes, we see either "ADOLPH ZUKOR PRESENTS" or "PARAMOUNT PRESENTS" while we're looking down at the airplane. The words "POPULAR SCIENCE" are seen on the airplane's wings. At the bottom is a copyright notice and a Paramount pseudo-logo. Also present may be another copyright notice for Shields Pictures.
 * Unusual Occupations: On a shining red background, we see the above words, except the words "UNUSUAL OCCUPATIONS" are seen.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds:
 * Popular Science: A variation of the Paramount on Parade fanfare accompanies the sound of the airplane passing.
 * Unusual Occupations: A patriotic theme is heard, which leads into a medley of "I've Been Working on the Railroad", "Pop Goes the Weasel" and "Old MacDonald Had a Farm".

Availability: Near extinction. The aforementioned shorts have had barely any exposure since AMC stopped playing them over a decade ago (when they aired them under the umbrella title AMC Short Cuts). It can be found on a GoodTimes Entertainment DVD release of Popeye: When Popeye Ruled The World, which contains a short featuring behind-the-scenes footage of a Popeye cartoon.

5th Logo (December 23, 1950-October 22, 1953)
Logo: Same as the 3rd logo, but this variation looks more marble and uneven in appearance. The sky background is a bit lighter as well.

Variants:
 * Prior to the release of the widescreen feature Shane, the logo appears closer up.
 * A German version has been spotted at the end of The War of the Worlds and at the beginning of When Worlds Collide.

Technique: Same as the 3rd logo.

Music/Sounds: Usually the opening music/audio of any given film. Sometimes it is silent, and on rare occasions, it uses the Paramount on Parade theme.

Availability: Still intact on Paramount color releases of the period, including Branded, When Worlds Collide, The Greatest Show on Earth, Shane, Arrowhead, and The War of the Worlds, among others. The last film to use this logo was Here Come the Girls. Also, it makes a surprise appearance at the beginning of the Duckman episode "The Road to Dendron".

6th Logo (May 27, 1953-September 24, 1975)
Logo: We see a more realistic mountain than the last one, with canyon scenery and trees around it. The sky is more distant in depth and is very contrast. Everything else is pretty much the same as before here.


 * 1953-1968: The text on the mountain reads "Times New Roman" or "Times New Roman" (written in the Paramount corporate font).
 * 1968-1975: "Times New Roman" (in the same font) is seen on the mountain's peak with the stars encircling the mountain. The byline "A Gulf+Western Company" appears on the bottom.
 * 1970-1975: Sometimes, the font for "Times New Roman" is different.

Trivia:
 * This was originally created for Paramount's 3D process "Paravision" and later modified especially for widescreen.
 * The mountain seen here is known as "Artesonraju", located in Peru.
 * The painting of the mountain was created by matte artist Jan Domela.

Variants:
 * On some films, there is a shadow behind the "Paramount" script.
 * On Paramount's first 3D film Sangaree (the first film to use this logo), the text and stars are bigger and the mountain is seen from afar. The words "Times New Roman" fade a few seconds later to the words "Times New Roman". At the end of the movie, the "The End" text appears by itself in front of the mountain, then fades to the company name a few moments later.
 * On films shot in VistaVision, the stars and text fade out, followed by the text "in", which itself fades out and is followed by a big "V" zooming in (a la the Viacom's "V of Doom"). The words "Impact" and "Impact" appear on either side in a wiping effect. Then the words "Impact" appear under "Impact", followed by "Impact" under "Impact".
 * On White Christmas, "Times New RomanImpact (with the "Times New Roman" written in their corporate font) Impact" first appears over the mountain, followed by the VistaVision logo without any other text. The rest of the logo then plays as usual.
 * The logo has appeared in Spanish ("Paramount Films Presenta"), French ("C 'est un film Paramount", or "Distribué par Paramount"), and German ("Ein Paramount Film", or Im Verleih der Paramount ).
 * On movie trailers, another version is used where we see the 24 stars, followed by "COMING FROM Times New Roman" (or "COMING FROM Times New Roman" since 1968) appearing one by one in the center, with the Gulf+Western byline appearing below in the latter variation. This was used until around 1977; however, the trailers for Harold and Maude use the normal version of this logo instead.
 * There is a variation used in 1974 that has two of the stars clipped away. The mountain looks the same as it does in the second version, but the stars are bigger. Also, "A Gulf+" slides in from the left and "+Western Company" from the right. The script name also had a few variations of its own. At least three movies from 1974 (The Great Gatsby, Brother Sun, Sister Moon and Death Wish) featured the TV version of this logo; the standard 1974 logo features the print variation, which remains from this day forward.
 * A rare version of this variant has the byline in a different font. This was seen at the end of a French print of The Godfather - Part 2.
 * On War and Peace, the mountain is simply a drawing in orange and brown.
 * On Modern Madcaps short, Boy Pest with Osh, the byline was replaced with copyright beside the MPAA logo.
 * Some films such as Lady Sings the Blues and the original 1969 version of The Italian Job have a still version of this logo.
 * Sometimes the text and stars have a more noticeable drop shadow. This version can be found on the original 1969 version of True Grit and the 2002 DVD release of Big Jake (a Cinema Center Films production).
 * On some films, such as the original 1966 version of Alfie, the clouds move a bit faster than in the normal version.
 * Is Paris Burning? (1966) has a different drawing of the mountain in the ending. Also, the stars are kept intact and instead of "A Paramount Picture", we see "Impact" in white overlapping the mountain.
 * On Barbarella, the Gulf+Western byline is slightly off-center.
 * On a German print of The Caddy, the text is in German and the stars and text are disconnected from the mountain.
 * Sometimes the 1968-1974 logo appears zoomed in. This variant appears on the 2001 widescreen DVD release of Charlotte's Web, and possibly on other films from the period.
 * A rare textless version was seen on an Italian print of the 1967 movie El Dorado.
 * The "INTERMISSION" and "THE END" variants have an awkward-looking mountain.

Technique: Same as the last logo. The stars appearing on the "COMING FROM" variant, followed by each word one by one and then the G+W byline (or "Pictures" in the corporate Paramount font on trailers prior to 1968).

Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening/ending music from the film. On films shown in VistaVision, the logo has a majestic fanfare composed by Nathan Van Cleave (which wasn't used on VistaVision films such as Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Strategic Air Command and Vertigo, which used their respective opening themes).

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The VistaVision fanfare was sometimes specially rearranged for films such as The Desperate Hours (Gail Kubik and Daniele Amfitheatrof), The Tin Star (Elmer Bernstein) and Artists and Models (Walter Scharf, also in a lower pitch).
 * On White Christmas, the final notes of the Paramount on Parade fanfare are heard, followed by the sound of a bell.
 * For the "COMING FROM" variant, a rhythmic timpani sound is heard for each word that appears, followed by a drum beat.
 * On Money from Home, a different brass fanfare is heard, composed by Leigh Harline.
 * Some TV movies such as Seven in Darkness have an extended version of the 1969 Paramount Television "Closet Killer" theme from the era.
 * On Charlotte's Web, a 13-note orchestra fanfare featuring part of the opening song "Deep in the Dark" is heard (the music starts before the logo fades in and finishes when the logo fades out).

Availability: Common. Again, preserved on most Paramount releases of the period.
 * The version without the VistaVision logo was first seen on Paramount's first 3D film Sangaree.
 * The VistaVision version is often seen on Western films (such as Last Train from Gun Hill, the Magnetic Video release of which preserves the logo in its entirety; also on the film's Starmaker Video VHS release) and is also seen on White Christmas (the first film to use the VistaVision variation) and Vertigo.
 * It was plastered by the 1963 Universal logo at the beginning of four Alfred Hitchcock films that Paramount merely released: The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, and Rear Window. Recent remastered prints of those films restore the Paramount logo on their current DVD and Blu-ray releases. Also, Psycho, another Hitchcock production released by Paramount, preserved this logo on its initial MCA Videocassette release, as well as all releases from 1989 onward. It is unknown whether this logo and/or the Universal logo appears on the DiscoVision release.
 * This logo surprisingly appeared at the beginning of the Indiana Jones films (with the Gulf+Western byline from the 6th logo added in) and Big Top Pee-wee.
 * Among the titles released with the 1968-74 variation were The Godfather (at least on the 1990 VHS; most prints have either newer Paramount logos or none at all), Catch-22, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Charlotte's Web, Paint Your Wagon, Harold and Maude, and Rosemary's Baby. Also seen at the end of the 2001 DVD release of The Godfather Part II and Chinatown, which had the 2nd logo at the beginning. It also appeared at the beginning of Escape from Zahrain (1962) when it was streamed on the Paramount Vault YouTube channel in 2016; it is unknown if it plastered the 1953-69 version.
 * BBC One UK airings of the original 1969 version of The Italian Job retains the logo, sometimes after The Wonderful World of Disney intro.
 * Original theatrical prints of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory contained the 1968-74 logo, but the rights were sold to Warner Bros. after that film initially underperformed at the box office; so most newer prints plaster this with a variety of Warner Bros. logos, most prominently the various 1990s Warner Bros. Family Entertainment logos. However, the 2021 UHD of the film restores the opening Paramount logo after nearly 50 years of plastering (the closing Paramount logo had previously appeared on an old British VHS release).
 * The 1974-75 variation can be found on the original 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, The Longest Yard, The Godfather Part II, The Day of the Locust, Bug, Nashville, Framed, and Three Days of the Condor, and also plasters the 1968-74 variation on many current prints of Goodbye, Columbus.
 * Newer prints of Danger: Diabolik and Such Good Friends, the 1995 VHS release of Charlotte's Web, and earlier DVD releases of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II have this logo plastered with the 1986 logo, while many current prints of Once Upon a Time in the West, Barbarella, Ace High, Downhill Racer, Fear is the Key, Three Days of the Condor, and Murphy's War have it plastered with the the 1968-74 variation of the 6th logo (although this logo is kept at the end of Barbarella).
 * The last film to use this logo was Three Days of the Condor.

Legacy: This is one of the more famous logos of Paramount, and is a favorite among fans of their older catalogue. Also, the mountain seen here would later serve as a template for all future Paramount logos.

7th Logo (October 8, 1975-December 12, 1986)
Logo: We see the same mountain from the 6th logo. 22 white stars encircling the mountain fade in all at once, followed by the word "Times New Roman" on the mountain's peak (in a redone script font). The Gulf+Western byline (this time with each word stacked), set in the News Gothic typeface, and a registered trademark symbol also appear at the same time below it. The scene then crossfades to a navy blue version of Paramount's print logo (with the stars, script and byline still in white) on a light blue background.

Trivia:
 * The final product is similar to the Paramount Television logo of the period, but with slightly darker colors.
 * The design of this logo allowed it to be used as a full closing logo rather than a simple still variant.

Variants:
 * The distance between the words and the mountain tip sometimes varies.
 * On films produced in 2.35:1 and some 1979-1986 films shot in 1.85:1, the stars fade in further down the mountain than usual, and "Paramount" overlaps the mountain's peak. This usually does not affect the end product.
 * The size and the color tint of the logo may vary.
 * One variation from 1976 has the navy blue portion of the final logo appear further away than usual, with the "Paramount" script slightly smaller than usual and the stars and Gulf+Western byline drastically larger. This rather strange variation was seen on films such as Hustle, Leadbelly, The Last Tycoon, and Lifeguard, among others. A less awkward version with resized text (but still keeping the smaller mountain) appears on films such as The Bad News Bears, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Lipstick, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, and Thieves. This version also lacks a registered trademark symbol.
 * A variation of this logo was used as a bumper for trailers for upcoming films with the words "Coming From" above. However, trailers for Popeye, D.A.R.Y.L. and other films use the normal version instead.
 * On a promotional film for the studio, a circle of stars is seen and the logo is revealed, but is completely white.
 * On some French releases, the mountain is quite awkward, and the finished product looks more like the previous logo. The Gulf+Western byline is larger, in a different font, and moved up the mountain.
 * On Rockstar Games' The Warriors (2006), the logo has the "Wigga-Wigga" Viacom byline.
 * On a 1991 BBC 2 airing of Pretty in Pink, the logo doesn't fade to the abstract mountain.

Technique: Same as the previous logo in the first half, accompanied with fading effects for the 2D transition.

Music/Sounds: None or the film's opening/closing theme.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * 1976-1985: In some cases, a new orchestral fanfare ending with an electric guitar chord was used for the "Coming From" variant on trailers for films like Islands in the Stream, Saturday Night Fever, Foul Play, and Airplane!. A few films such as Starting Over had this fanfare at the beginning. This theme was composed by Lalo Schifrin.
 * On Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, another orchestral fanfare by Neal Hefti was used, which sounds similar to the Paramount on Parade theme.
 * Pre-1998 prints of Grease had a theme which seems to be a horn re-orchestration of the intro to "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" or the 1976 Paramount Television fanfare. The Grease 40th Anniversary DVD/Blu-ray restores the horn theme.
 * On the promotional film variant, a male announcer says, "In 1985, Paramount has a whole new attitude."

Availability: Common; can be found on most of Paramount's mid-'70s-mid-'80s output. Most films released on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray, as well as TV prints, have this logo intact or restored as well. Some well-known films that used this include The Bad News Bears, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Heaven Can Wait, The Warriors, Escape from Alcatraz, the first four Star Trek films, the first six Friday the 13th films, Airplane!, An Officer and a Gentleman, 48 Hrs., Flashdance, Trading Places, Terms of Endearment, Footloose, Beverly Hills Cop, Pretty in Pink, Top Gun, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Crocodile Dundee.
 * The opening version of this logo made its first appearance on Mahogany, and made its last appearance on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The last film that used this logo in regular usage was The Golden Child (albeit at the end; the next logo (shown below) made its debut at the beginning of the film).
 * This logo has been restored on the recent Sony DVD release and TV airings of Meatballs, which previously plastered it with the 9th logo.
 * It also appears at the end of the first two Indiana Jones films (and both the DVD and UHD Blu-ray releases of the third film) and the 1980 film Popeye, which all had the 5th logo at the beginning.
 * The 1976 variation can be found on Lipstick, The Bad News Bears, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, the 1996 VHS release of Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, US prints of Bugsy Malone, and current prints of Looking for Mr. Goodbar.
 * Some films have this plastered with the next logo in any of its three byline variations, such as Grease starting with its 1998 video releases, the 1976 version of King Kong, and the 2002 DVD release of Mahogany (all with the Viacom byline version). Early video releases, most 2004-2012, and post-2020 prints of Top Gun retain this logo, though all other copies plaster it with either the 7th logo (although the 1987 VHS retained this logo at the very end, as it was plastered by the "75th Anniversary" variant of the 7th logo at the beginning) or the 10th logo for most 2013-19/3D prints. Late 1990s American TV broadcasts of Dragonslayer briefly plastered this logo with the Viacom byline version, but recent broadcasts retain the original logo. The Director's Edition 2001 DVD and 2022 Blu-ray and UHD of Star Trek: The Motion Picture also replaced this logo with the 1995 or 2011 logos respectively, although it's retained on copies of the theatrical cut and the Director's Edition on Paramount+.
 * Of the films released during Paramount's distribution pact with Lorimar, An Officer and a Gentleman still has this logo due to it being financed and owned outright by Paramount, but the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Escape to Victory, S.O.B., and The Sea Wolves all have it replaced by the 1999 Warner Bros. Pictures logo on most current prints (since the studio only had North American distribution rights). Night School, however, had this and the Lorimar logo intact on a recent Movie Channel airing, and on the widescreen LaserDisc, with Warner's "Shield of Staleness" preceding it.
 * The "Coming From" variant is usually preserved on trailers for films such as Flashdance, Saturday Night Fever, and Islands in the Stream on their DVD and Blu-ray releases. While the 8th logo plasters this (but retains the original fanfare) on the iTunes and Blu-ray trailer for Airplane!, the DVD release retains the original variation.
 * This logo is seen on the 1982(?) Paramount Home Video Gateway Video VHS release of the Star Trek episode "Space Seed", following the 1979 Acid Trip warning and preceding the episode (the Betamax version precedes the episode with a trailer for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan after the warning, instead of the logo).
 * Strangely, this appears after the credits on the VHS release of Jailbait (aka Streetwise), at least on the screener VHS.
 * This may have been seen on Canadian theatrical prints of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group films such as The Transformers: The Movie.
 * It may have been seen on international prints of Gallipoli, as Paramount distributed the film internationally (it also appears on the 2005 Australian Region 4 DVD release of said movie, but most Australian prints (such as the 1982 Australian VHS) use no logo at the start.)
 * It is unknown whether it appeared on Canadian theatrical prints of Disney features The Black Hole, Midnight Madness, and The Watcher in the Woods, which Paramount distributed theatrically in Canada.

Legacy: This is another famous Paramount logo.

8th Logo (December 12, 1986-October 7, 2003)
Logo: We see a model of a mountain with a CGI lake in front of it and a light blue/yellow gradient sky with a yellow sunset behind it. As the sky darkens, the camera zooms towards the mountain as 22 silver CGI stars fly from the bottom left and encircle the mountain. The " Paramount" script, redone with a shiny silver finish, then fades in on the peak of the mountain, along with a registered trademark symbol. One of the three bylines (as seen below) fades in below.

Trivia:
 * The logo was designed and composited by Jay Jacoby of Studio Productions (now Flip Your Lid Animation), who went on to produce the logos for Universal Pictures, Morgan Creek, 20th Television, 20th Century Fox, and Fox Sports in 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1994, respectively. The CGI stars were created by David Sieg at Omnibus/Abel on a III Foonly F1 computer, and the mountain scenery was a physical model created and filmed by Apogee, Inc. The 1999 enhanced version is rumored to have been animated at Pixar Animation Studios, but this remains unconfirmed.
 * Paramount used a painting commissioned for its 75th Anniversary from artist Dario Campanile as a basis for this logo, which can be seen here.

Bylines:
 * December 12, 1986-August 30, 1989: "A Gulf + Western Company" (in Helvetica Bold) fades in with the Paramount script.
 * September 22, 1989-January 13, 1995: " A Paramount Communications Company " (in Times, with a line above it) fades in. For its first year, the byline faded in with the Paramount script like the Gulf+Western version, and was colored gold. On video releases from the era, the color scheme of the logo is more washed out than normal.
 * February 17, 1995-October 7, 2003: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (in the 1990 "Wigga-Wigga" font, with a line above it) fades in.
 * One variant, used on the trailer for Mission: Impossible II and international releases, has no byline whatsoever (see below).

Variants: While there have been numerous variations of the logo depending on the movie (and of course, the three byline variants), there are two main variants:
 * December 12, 1986-December 18, 1987: For this logo's first official year (1987, even though the logo actually debuted in 1986), the words "Times New Roman" appear over the mountain, between the Paramount script logo and the Gulf + Western byline. "Times New Roman" was in silver with "Times New Roman" bigger and "Times New Roman" smaller and "Times New Roman" in gold. Also, a trademark ("™") symbol was used instead of a registered trademark ("®") symbol. On films such as The Golden Child and Hot Pursuit (the former being one of the first films to use this logo, while the latter has the normal music), a different 75th Anniversary disclaimer appears, the Paramount script is slightly smaller, and the Gulf+Western byline is in a bolder font. It is unknown whether the first two DEG films to use this logo in their Canadian release, Crimes of the Heart and King Kong Lives, used this variant as well.
 * There's a second prototype variant where the Paramount script is still slightly small, but contains elements of the official variant, including the refined 75th Anniversary disclaimer. This can be seen on the original home video releases of Critical Condition; later releases use the official variant instead. It was also spotted on a March 1987 promotional reel.
 * February 5, 1988-August 30, 1989: The "Times New Roman" disclaimer is removed, and the Gulf+Western byline is shifted up slightly.
 * March 2, 1990-October 7, 2003: The logo has been slightly enhanced, and the stars have a lighter color.
 * May 21, 1993-January 13, 1995: The clouds and stars are slightly darker, and the Paramount Communications byline now has a drop shadow.
 * An early version of the Viacom byline variant has it slightly bigger and off-center. The clouds also stop moving once it fades in, likely because it reuses footage of the Paramount Communications variant. This appears on the first two films that use this byline (The Brady Bunch Movie and Losing Isaiah).
 * June 30, 1999-June 28, 2002: The same basic concept is here, but the logo has been enhanced once more to look nicer. The stars are thicker (with golden sides), shinier, and have a motion blur effect. Their reflection can now be seen in the lake in front of the mountain, and the Paramount script and Viacom byline now shine. The mountain now also turns dark, and the cloud background is slightly enhanced. Also, the "®" symbol now fades in at the same time as the byline. These additions are subtle, but add a lot to the logo nevertheless. This version made its first appearance on South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and made its final appearance on Crossroads.
 * On some films shot in 2.39:1 aspect ratio, such as Bringing Out the Dead, Mission: Impossible II, Shaft (2000), and Rat Race, the logo starts with a still picture of the mountain before animating normally, much like its home video counterpart. It also has a bit of a brownish or bluish color scheme, and the stars, text and byline are somewhat smaller than the normal 16:9 variant in order to match the aspect ratio.
 * An extremely rare videotaped version of the 1999 variant exists, in which the mountain doesn't turn dark. This can be seen on some Paramount VHS trailers from 2000 to 2002, and on Paramount's "Now in Theaters" bumper from 2000 to 2002, although the variant in its entirety hasn't been seen yet.
 * On Double Jeopardy, the "®" symbol fades in with the Paramount script.
 * On Runaway Bride and Wonder Boys, the "®" symbol and Viacom byline fade in with the Paramount script.
 * On CIC Video's The Paramount Movie Show segments, VHS trailers for Chinatown and A Place in the Sun, theatrical trailers for I.Q., The Brady Bunch Movie, Star Trek: Generations, and Braveheart, a TV spot for Milk Money, the teaser trailer for The Indian in the Cupboard, and the second trailer for Forrest Gump, the logo is bylineless.
 * On a 1991 trailer tape from CIC Video, the CIC Video logo morphs into the mountain as seen in the start of the logo, and it animates as usual, but with a smaller Paramount Communications byline. The logo then morphs into the Universal logo. This was only seen on some Latin American videos as the beginning of a short promo to commemorative 1,000,000 copies of CIC videotapes sold.
 * On a Brazillian TV Spot for Clear and Present Danger, "Distribuido por United International Pictures" appears below the logo.
 * On bumpers for the Brazillian channel Telecine, the Viacom byline is replaced with an edited one written in the Eagle font.

Closing Variants:
 * At the end of movies, the logo appears still. This version also appears on syndicated airings of Death Wish 4: The Crackdown before the Cannon logo.
 * Despite replacing the 1995 variant as an opening logo, the 1999 variant is seldom used as a closing logo, with most films released from 1999 to 2002 instead using the 1995 variant at the end, with some exceptions including the domestic release of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (which was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally) and the 4K remaster of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which was released on Blu-ray and digital in 2022.
 * On Mission: Impossible II, the logo fades in without the Viacom byline, which fades in after about a second.
 * A zoomed-in variant of the 1988 version of the 1986 logo also exists, which was seen at the end of a February 14, 1995 UK airing of The Presidio (1988) from February 14, 1995.

Technique: A mixture of CGI and live-action.

Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening theme of the movie. However, a few films such as Fatal Attraction, Crocodile Dundee II, The Blue Iguana, Hot Pursuit, Pet Sematary, Black Rain, Wayne's World, Tropical Snow, Bobbie's Girl (a 2002 made-for-TV movie from Showtime), the demo VHS release of Hawks, and post-1998 prints of Grease have synthesized chimes segueing into the 1976 fanfare.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Event Horizon, a rearranged, slower and more "powerful" version of the 1976 fanfare, composed by Michael Kamen, is heard, with the final note held out as everything but the background disappears and the camera zooms into space to segue into the opening credits.
 * Earlier films with the 1976 fanfare have the synth chimes fade out when the music begins.
 * On Campus Man, a different fanfare composed by James Newton Howard plays.
 * On Stepping Out, a different fanfare composed by Peter Matz plays.
 * On The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, a different fanfare composed by Ira Newborn plays.
 * On Harriet the Spy, we can hear (if you listen hard enough) some soft-sounded chimes sampled from Mrs. W's garden.
 * On Snow Day, wind from a snowstorm is heard throughout the logo.
 * On a Spanish TV airing of Titanic, the 1994 20th Century Fox fanfare is heard due to the airing using an international Spanish audio track.
 * On the 1998 reissue of Grease, the 1987 fanfare is given a more "powerful" remix with louder cymbals.
 * On a French print of The Next Best Thing, the Lakeshore Entertainment theme is heard over the logo due to an editing error where the order of the logos are reversed but the audio isn't.
 * On the UK Second Sight Blu-ray of Creepshow (1982), the 1994 Warner Bros. Television fanfare plays over the ending version of this logo.
 * On European TV airings of Braddock: Missing in Action II, the 1995 MGM lion roar is heard over the Viacom byline version of the logo in one of the sloppiest plastering jobs ever. This is likely due to those airings using a Paramount-owned TV print with audio from an MGM-owned master.

Availability: Very common, even though it's been officially retired for 20 years. While it's been plastered on some TV airings and video releases of Paramount films (as well as some remastered or restored prints), most of these still retain their original logos. The Paramount Communications byline variant can be found on films such as Ghost, The Hunt for Red October, Wayne's World, and Forrest Gump. The 1995 Viacom byline variant can be seen on films such as Clueless, Star Trek: First Contact, US prints of Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, and The Truman Show. The 1999 enhanced version can be found on films such as Mission: Impossible II, Save the Last Dance, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Zoolander.
 * It can be seen at the end of Big Top Pee-Wee and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which both have the 5th logo at the beginning (strangely enough, however, the DVD and UHD Blu-ray releases of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade have the "Blue Mountain" at the end instead).
 * The first films to use this logo were The Golden Child and Crimes of the Heart (the latter a De Laurentiis Entertainment Group production distributed in Canada by Paramount), both released on December 12, 1986, and the last was Crossroads, released on February 15, 2002. The last release overall to use it was the VHS release of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: Sea of Trouble, released on October 7, 2003.
 * Paramount has used the 1995 Viacom variation in all logo plasters and TV movies, such as those made for Showtime.
 * The 75th Anniversary logo appeared on 1987 video releases of Top Gun, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Whoopee Boys, Crocodile Dundee, Children of a Lesser God, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and was plastered with its later variations for many years. However, Paramount nicely preserved this variant later on, as it appears on the DVD releases of Planes, Trains and Automobiles and The Untouchables.
 * The prototype 75th Anniversary variation can be seen on The Golden Child, Hot Pursuit, and the trailer for Beverly Hills Cop II (which is preserved on iTunes).
 * The Viacom variation of this logo plasters the Paramount Communications variant on post-1995 VHS releases and some DVD and Blu-ray releases of films released in late 1994. For example, on the 1999 DVD and 2004 Special Edition release of Star Trek: Generations, the Viacom variant appears at both ends instead. On the 2009 Blu-ray and DVD re-release, the Paramount Communications variation is preserved.
 * The Paramount Communications variant of this logo plasters the 1982 Orion Pictures logo on Spike TV airings of First Blood (as Paramount Communications had already folded into Viacom by the time Viacom purchased Worldvision Enterprises, Carolco's television distributor, in full, it's possible that the logo first appeared on that film around the time Viacom, which had by then already acquired Paramount Communications, merged with Blockbuster, which owned Worldvision's parent company Spelling Television). It was also found on video releases from 1989 to 1995, and also makes a surprise appearance at the end of American prints of Sleepy Hollow, with the standard 1999 logo at the beginning of said film. The Paramount Communications variant makes surprise appearances on the Mexican DVD release of Demonic Toys (Juguetes Demoniacos) and the Echo Bridge Home Entertainment DVD releases of Puppet Master 5, likely due to being sourced from older VHS masters. The tail end of it also makes a surprise appearance on the rough cut of the final Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Diabolik", while the actual episode itself cuts it out.
 * The standard Gulf+Western variant of this logo can be found on video releases from 1988 to 1989, and makes a surprise appearance on the Razor Digital DVD release of the original Puppet Master.
 * The Viacom variant of this logo was seen on video releases from 1995 to 2003, and at the end of AMC airings of Rambo: First Blood Part II and Prancer.
 * Strangely, the 1995-2002 version with the Viacom byline was spotted after the split-screen credits of Nickelodeon airings of Barnyard. This was the result of a credits error that resulted in Nickelodeon instead using the ones for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which was also an O/Paramount movie.
 * Speaking of Jimmy Neutron, this logo appears on DVD, digital, and Blu-ray prints of the movie, as well as TV airings, but is plastered with the 90th Anniversary version of the next logo on its original VHS release.
 * A silent version of the Viacom variant appears on Hulu prints of The Lorax (1972) and The Cat in the Hat.
 * This appears on ThisTV's prints of Wild Geese II plastering the Cannon logo, and That Championship Season (1982) on the same station, as they used a Paramount master. Also appears on Screenpix Action airings of Avenging Force.

Legacy: Much like some of its predecessors, this logo is a favorite within the logo community thanks to its seamless use of models and CGI, as well as its fanfare.

9th Logo (March 1, 2002-June 5, 2012, November 9, 2012, August 25, 2015)
Logo: We pan down from a starry sky to a set of clouds. As the camera slowly zooms backwards, a few comet-like objects fly down and reveal themselves as the trademark Paramount stars that zoom past the camera. The familiar "Times New Roman" script (with a gold border) zooms out to show we had been watching a reflection (which fades to white) all along as a total of 22 stars shoot past the script and encircle the mountain behind it. The script continues to zoom out before taking its place at the peak of the mountain. The Viacom byline (once again, with a line above) then fades in below the logo.

Bylines:
 * March 1, 2002-March 26, 2010, November 9, 2012, August 25, 2015: "/\ \/|/\CO/\/\ CO/\/\PANY" in its 1990 "Wigga-Wigga" font. This version last appeared on She's Out Of My League, the 2012 Brazilian animated film Peixonauta: Agente Secreto da O.S.T.R.A. and the 2015 movie Capture the Flag (for the full animation variant) and How to Train Your Dragon (for the closing and distribution variants).
 * April 26, 2010-June 5, 2012: " A VI a COM COMPANY " in its 2005 font. This version first appeared on Iron Man 2 and last appeared on The Adventures of Tintin.

Variants:
 * March 1-December 20, 2002: For its first year of use, the words "Times New RomanTH ANNIVERSARY" in gold with "Times New Roman" bigger and " TH " smaller and on the top right of "Times New Roman" and "ANNIVERSARY" below, fade in with the Viacom byline, sandwiched between the peak of the mountain. Again, the trademark symbol ("™") is used in place of the registered trademark symbol ("®") in this variation.
 * A prototype variant of the 90th Anniversary logo was spotted (and only appeared) on the video game The Sum of All Fears, where the "Times New RomanTH ANNIVERSARY" text appears bigger and shinier.
 * On earlier films released with the 90th Anniversary variant (such as Hey Arnold!: The Movie, Serving Sara, Extreme Ops, and The Hours), the stars in the sky at the beginning are blue, the clouds in the sky and around the mountain appear less realistic (with the ones around the mountain also looking flat compared to later variants), the sky background appears to be stretched vertically, the stars circling the mountain are behind the script, some of the stars encircling the mountain are darker, and the camera settles at a lower angle at the end. The logo's general shade of color is also brighter and more cartoonish, and also fades in after the camera pans down from the starry sky. There is an error during the portion where the script zooms back, in which the stars seem to jump out of the reflection on the text. This version was reanimated to look more natural starting with The Sum of All Fears; the version used on that film would later become the regular version that was introduced the following year.
 * On We Were Soldiers (the first movie to use this logo), the camera settles at a higher angle at the end (which would later be used for the later 2002/2003 revision).
 * A still version of the logo was spotted on international prints of Sleuth.
 * A variant is used at the end of every trailer for Paramount's films on online stores such as iTunes, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Store. A still version of the Paramount logo is seen with the words "Now Available from Paramount" above and a copyright stamp below it. Below it is a copyright stamp. Has also been seen zoomed in (so the copyright and the "now available" text is not seen) and on the trailer for Airplane!, where the logo plasters the 1975 trailer version of the logo (keeping the music). This is also seen on old DreamWorks movie trailers.
 * A short version exists that starts when the stars fall from the sky. This is mainly seen on video releases.
 * On video releases from the company, the logo is videotaped and often in open-matte.
 * On US prints of Beowulf and trailers for the 2017 re-release of Titanic, the logo was enhanced again. The 2003-2009 logo starts off fast, and then, after the view pans down to the clouds, the logo slows down to normal speed, and the stars are sleeker like in the 2010-2012 logo that would be introduced in Iron Man 2. The standard closing variant appears at the end of the former film.
 * Starting with Iron Man 2, the logo was enhanced once more with sleeker stars that jump out of the reflection of the sky and shinier text, and the Viacom byline is switched to its 2006 font. There is a noticeable error in this variant where the stars from the first half of the logo are visible behind the "Paramount" text as it zooms out where the text should normally obscure them.
 * On fullscreen DVDs of Paramount movies shot in 2.39:1, the logo is incredibly zoomed in, since it is in the 4:3 ratio. On matted films, it is either zoomed in halfway or in open matte.
 * On the early prototype trailer for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, the logo is bylineless, the finished product is shown, and it transitions to the Nickelodeon Movies logo.

Closing Variants:
 * Only the finished product of the logo, with the only animation being the clouds moving westward in the background. It's basically the same as its pre-2006 television counterpart, but slightly extended and silent. Plus, the logo always fades in and fades out.
 * On The Eye and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (both 2008), the logo is completely still and often in open-matte on 4:3 full-screen prints.
 * 2006-October 28, 2011: When distributing films from another company, the words "DISTRIBUTED BY", in white, are seen above the logo with the Viacom byline and the line. Usually seen at the end of DreamWorks Pictures (however some films will say "DISTRIBUTED BY DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT DISTRIBUTION") and DreamWorks Animation films beginning in late 2006. Also oddly appeared at the end of Iron Man, before the Marvel Studios logo.
 * The text "DISTRIBUTED BY" was updated along with the Viacom byline starting in 2010.

Technique: Incredibly breathtaking CGI by BUF Compagnie; very reminiscent of the more majestic and stylized 1940s and '50s mountains.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the film.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Mean Girls, an enhanced version of the 1987 fanfare is heard. A version of this fanfare with louder percussion and the final note being cut in half (abruptly shifting to the electric guitar chord, which is much louder now), has been rumored to exist.
 * On the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard, a different fanfare composed by Teddy Castellucci plays.
 * On an AMC airing of Rambo III, this plasters the Carolco logo and keeps the low-pitched version of the theme, likely due to a plaster error.
 * On Twisted, wind is audible throughout the logo.
 * On Jackass Number Two and Jackass 2.5, a loud jet sound is heard along with wind when the stars fly down, whooshes and the stars pass by the screen, then a final whoosh sound when the Viacom byline fades in.
 * On a French Paramount Channel airing of Assassination, the 1984 Cannon Films theme plays over the logo.
 * On some TV airings of films, the next logo's fanfare is used.

Availability: Very common. This was seen on all films from the company from 2002 to 2011, as well as video releases from 2002 to 2006, and was used in tandem with the next logo until June 5, 2012.


 * It first appeared on We Were Soldiers, and made its final appearance on The Adventures of Tintin.
 * The 90th Anniversary variant debuted on the aforementioned film and last appeared on The Wild Thornberrys Movie. It sometimes plastered old logos on 2002 video releases, as well as the TriStar Pictures logo on Encore airings of Rambo III.
 * The version without the "Times New RomanTH ANNIVERSARY" disclaimer debuted on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and last appeared on the aforementioned The Adventures of Tintin;
 * Despite being mostly retired after 2011, this logo made a surprise appearance on films such as the the 2011 French film Beur sur la ville, 2012 Brazilian animated film Peixonauta: Agente Secreto da O.S.T.R.A., and the 2015 Spanish film Capture the Flag (only at the beginning, the ending of the film uses the next logo). It also appeared on the 2012 restorations of Wings and Hondo.
 * It appears at the end of Grease Sing-a-Long (a re-release of 1978's Grease), which retains the 7th logo at the beginning.
 * It also appears at the end of IMAX prints and all international prints of Watchmen; on North American IMAX prints, it is followed by the Warner Bros. Pictures closing logo.
 * It plasters the Weintraub Entertainment Group logo on an Encore airing of My Stepmother is an Alien, retaining the film's opening music.
 * It plasters the 1982 Orion Pictures logo on HBO, Comedy Central, and IFC airings of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (also plasters the closing version of the logo at the end, with the following Nelson Entertainment logo kept at the beginning), and the 1995 MGM logo on older HBO airings of House Arrest.
 * Surprisingly, the full version appears at the beginning of a few early episodes of Hogan's Heroes on MeTV, including the pilot episode and the HD remasters on Universal HD.
 * Strangely, this logo does not appear at the beginning of Strange Wilderness, although the "Distributed by" variant appears at the end.
 * It is seen at the end of DreamWorks Animation films released from 2006 to 2011, but not at the beginning of them, unlike 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures. It did, however, appear on the VCD release of Flushed Away (2006) before the DreamWorks Animation logo. Some later prints of these movies like the 2018 Blu-ray of Over the Hedge have this plastered with the 2012 Universal logo.
 * It plasters the 1973 Warner Bros. logo on a VCD release of Cujo due to Paramount gaining the rights to that film when Taft Entertainment was merged into Republic, which became part of Viacom.
 * Disney has retained this logo on current prints of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger, all of which Paramount distributed on behalf of Marvel Studios until 2013.
 * This logo also appears at the end of the Criterion Ultra HD Blu-ray release of The Virgin Suicides (1999) as well.

Legacy: Another favorite of the logo community due to its more advanced CGI.

10th Logo (December 7, 2011-)
Logo: On a dark cloudy background, we see several stars flying towards the camera, a mirrored reference to the previous logo. As the third star flies towards us, we follow the star as the camera pans upward to reveal that we were looking at the reflection of a lake. We follow two of the stars as they skim the lake and create ripples. We continue to fly forward as a total of 22 stars line up and encircle the mountain ahead. Then the " Paramount " script zooms out to take its place on the mountain, which is situated on a cloudy sunset landscape. The Viacom or ViacomCBS byline then fades in below (Prior to 2022).

Bylines:
 * December 7, 2011-November 8, 2019: " A VI a COM COMPANY " set in the 2006 Viacom font.
 * January 7, 2020-February 11, 2022: "A ViacomCBS Company" set in Gotham Bold.
 * 2021-March 29, 2022: "A ViacomCBS Company" set in ViacomCBS Raisonné.
 * April 26, 2013, June 3, 2016, March 12, 2022-: Bylineless

Variants:
 * December 7, 2011-December 21, 2012: For the logo's debut and its first official year in 2011 and 2012, a bright light shines to reveal the text "Times New Roman" with "Times New Roman" bigger and "Times New Roman" smaller, before a smaller Viacom byline fades in underneath.
 * On Daddy's Home 2 and a recent French print of Easy Down There! (1971), the byline fades in earlier than usual when the "Paramount" script zooms back. This can also be seen on trailers and TV spots for some Paramount films until 2022.
 * On Pain and Gain and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (as a variant), the logo is bylineless. This was made the new main version following the corporate rename to Paramount Global in February 2022.
 * On some films, the logo fades in and out when the ®/™ symbol fades in.
 * An open-matte version of this logo exists. This was spotted on later 2012 reissues of Wings and the Australian trailer for Jackass Forever.
 * A version with a French byline, reading " UNE SOCIÉTÉ VI a COM ", exists. This was merely a corporate variant and never actually appeared on films from 2011-2019.
 * A version of this logo exists where the camera angle is slightly different, the mountain has slightly less light reflection, the stars have a lighter color, the "Paramount" script is darker, and some of the clouds above the mountain are not visible. This can be seen on films and also home video releases from the company, starting in late 2020.
 * A version of the aforementioned variant exists for the 100 Years version of this logo, where the Viacom byline is shifted upwards.
 * Sometimes, the logo is cut down to its last few seconds. This is also used on short films, and trailers and TV spots for many Paramount films.
 * On some movies, the logo is slightly enhanced. Noticeable changes include a more bluish sky and brighter clouds.
 * A black-and-white version of this logo exists. This can be seen on newer prints of older films now owned by Paramount, and others such as Overlord (2018) and the trailer for Nebraska.
 * On YouTube advertisements from the side of a video (done after a video ad), the logo appears without a byline and has a dark blue and black gradient on the sides.
 * On the ViacomCBS byline variants, a trademark symbol ("™") is used in place of the registered trademark symbol ("®").
 * Starting with digital prints of The Lost City, the trademark symbol ("™") is removed.
 * A still open matte version of the 100 Years variant was spotted when the Paramount Movies app on Xbox 360 is launched in both fullscreen and widescreen.
 * Similarly, a version with the 100 Years print logo in silver on a steel background with "100 Years of Movie Magic" below it is seen as the splash screen on the Paramount100 app, exclusively on iPad.

Closing Variant: Same as the last logo; sometimes "DISTRIBUTED BY" appears above. Sometimes, the logo fades in and out; other times, it cuts in and out.

Technique: Beautifully crafted CGI that combines elements from the last two logos, which still holds up well over 10 years later. Designed by Devastudios and animated using Terragen from Planetside Software. Devastudios also used Terragen for the current Warner Bros. Pictures logo.

Music/Sounds: A light bell and string piece which rises in intensity to become more majestic and orchestral, with the final note also using a brief choir, scored by Michael Giacchino (composer of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the first film to use this logo) and recorded at the Newman Scoring Stage at the Fox Studio Lot. Sometimes there is no music, the opening theme of the movie, or a different fanfare.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the first film to use this logo, there is an alternate version of the fanfare with some slight changes, in the note of the orchestration, making it sound more powerful. It is also the only film to use this version of the fanfare. An unused alternate version is heard on the aforementioned film's OST that features a very different, more sweeping, and even more powerful orchestration.
 * Sometimes, whooshes are added to the logo over either the fanfare or the opening theme of the movie when the stars and the text fly by.
 * None for the closing variant. Sometimes the closing theme of the movie would be used instead.
 * At the end of a Starz print of Hero and the Terror (1988), a Cannon film, the 1986 Viacom "V of Steel" jingle plays over the end variant of this logo due to a plastering error.
 * On some TV airings of films, the previous two logos' fanfare (last heard on Mean Girls) is heard, due to a plastering error.

Availability: Current, this was used in tandem with the previous logo until June 5, 2012.
 * Seen on all Paramount films since Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (trailers and TV spots for the movie use the previous logo).
 * The 100 Years version debuted on the aforementioned film and made its last appearance on Jack Reacher, released on December 21, 2012. The version without the "100 Years" text first appeared on Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, released on January 25, 2013.
 * It's also seen as a de-facto home entertainment logo on Paramount's 4K UHD Blu-ray releases starting in 2016, and on regular Blu-rays and DVDs starting in 2019 with Bumblebee.
 * It also appeared on the first six films from Paramount Animation (The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, The Little Prince, Anomalisa, Monster Trucks, Sherlock Gnomes, and Wonder Park) before the division got their own logo in 2019. This still appears as a closing logo, although this could change in the future. The logo will still appear at the beginning of animated films that Paramount Animation has no involvement with, such as Paw Patrol: The Movie (Canadian prints remove this logo) and Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (American prints only).
 * The Viacom byline made its final appearance on Playing with Fire; while the ViacomCBS byline version first debuted in 2019 on a Spanish TV spot for Sonic the Hedgehog and made its theatrical debut on Like a Boss.
 * The ViacomCBS byline made its final appearance on The In Between, and its final appearance overall being on O Palestrante.
 * The bylineless version (re)debuted on TV spots for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and its first theatrical appearance as a regular logo being on The Lost City (though as previously mentioned, it appeared bylineless on two films before this). It made its first non-US appearance on Laal Singh Chaddha (a Bollywood remake of Forrest Gump produced by Aamir Khan), released in India on August 11, 2022.
 * The ViacomCBS byline in the ViacomCBS Raisonné typeface debuted on the UK trailer for Clifford the Big Red Dog and trailers for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, but was never used on an actual film.
 * This logo also appears on French prints of films produced by Orange Studio, such as Les Gazelles.
 * This also appears at the end of most (if not all) international prints of recent Brad Krevoy Television TV movies.
 * It's also seen at the end of some TV shows distributed by Paramount Worldwide Television Licensing & Distribution (the distribution unit of Paramount Television Studios), such as Spin City on Pluto TV and Viaplay.
 * This is also seen on post-2012 and 3D US prints of Titanic; plastering the 8th logo, 2013-19 and 3D prints of Top Gun, plastering the 7th or 8th logos (the 4K/2020 remastered BDs restore the 7th logo).
 * The "DISTRIBUTED BY" closing variant appeared at the end of and the trailers of the DreamWorks Animation films Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Rise of the Guardians (the latter of which was the last DreamWorks film to be distributed by Paramount). Sometimes plastered by either the final 20th Century Fox logo or more commonly, the current Universal Pictures logo on some recent prints.
 * Despite The Avengers and Iron Man 3 both being distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures via Marvel Studios (which was credited at the end of both films), the latter film has the Paramount logo at the beginning and end, while the former has this logo only at the beginning.
 * It strangely plasters the 2009-2020 20th Century Fox logo on the BBC prints of the five DreamWorks Animation films that 20th Century Fox distributed (which are How to Train Your Dragon 2, Penguins of Madagascar, Home, Kung Fu Panda 3 and Trolls), even though they never actually distribute them. In a similar case, this is also seen after the 2009-2020 20th Century Fox logo on the BBC prints of the two films that TCF also distributed (The Boss Baby and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie), in which they never actually co-distributed those two and the 2020 "DISTRIBUTED BY" logo also strangely appears at the end of a BBC print of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World instead of the current Universal logo and since Universal never use a closing variant, which was originally in front.
 * In the case of the former two and the second latter, the BBC wanted consistency with the previous Paramount-distributed entries.
 * This can be also seen sometimes at the end of modern prints of DreamWorks Pictures films, such as on a Netflix print of The Cat in the Hat and the Blu-ray of Mouse Hunt.
 * The ViacomCBS variant has been spotted on a TCM airing of a newer print of The Senator Was Indiscreet, as well as newer prints of My Fair Lady, Adam at 6 A.M., The Big Operator, and the 30th anniversary edition of The Godfather Part III, where it plastered the 1990 Paramount logo.
 * With the incorporation of Paramount Players to Paramount proper, this appears at the end of their titles starting with Senior Year and Jerry and Marge Go Large.
 * Strangely enough, this appeared at the end of the August 7, 2022 Cartoon Network airing of Shrek 2, plastering the closing variant of the previous logo, similar to BBC's plaster above.
 * This also appears at the end of Secret Headquarters, a Paramount+ original film. However, it does not appear at the beginning of the film, as the Paramount+ logo appears instead.

Legacy: This is widely considered a true masterpiece of a logo, with its powerful, majestic theme, perfect CGI, and the sheer power it radiates.