MTV Entertainment Studios

Background
MTV Entertainment Studios is the film and television production arm of MTV Entertainment Group. Founded in 1991 as MTV Productions and in 1996 as MTV Films, it has produced television shows and films based on MTV programs such as Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and Jackass: The Movie, as well as other adaptations and original projects such as Napoleon Dynamite. Its films are released by fellow ViacomCBS division Paramount Pictures. On August 21, 2006, Nickelodeon Movies, Comedy Central Films, and MTV Films became full labels of the Paramount Motion Pictures Group. By 2017, Paramount Players was created as a joint venture with MTV Films, Nickelodeon Movies, and BET Films. In 2019, MTV Studios launched MTV Documentary Films, a label producing and acquiring documentary features. In 2020, MTV Films was folded into MTV Studios. In 2021, MTV Studios became MTV Entertainment Studios, encompassing content for and based on all of MTV Entertainment Group's brands.

1st Logo (June 2, 1991-January 1, 1995)
Logo: On a swirling background with blue water droplets (from the intro of the program), we see the MTV logo in a red gradient with TV in white and "MUSIC TELEVISION" also in white beneath. The logo zooms in slowly and tilts to the right.

FX/SFX: The background animation, the animation of the MTV logo.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the show.

Availability: Extinct. Seen on Liquid Television.

2nd Logo (October 25, 1993-June 23, 1995)
Logo: It's a shortened version of the MTV Home Video logo of the era, but "PRODUCTIONS" appears below instead.

FX/SFX: Same as the MTV Home Video logo of the era.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the show.

Availability: Extinct. Seen on The Jon Stewart Show.

1st Logo (1996)
Logo: On a black background, we see a small MTV logo on the left and the word "PRODUCTIONS" is on the right.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the trailer.

Availability: Very rare. Was only seen on the teaser trailer for Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (July 26, 1996)
Nicknames: "The MTV Logo", "The Static-Filled MTV"

Logo: On a black background, we see the MTV logo (with "MUSIC TELEVISION" intact underneath). In the "M" is some animated static. When the static disappears, the "M" in the logo turns into white.

FX/SFX: The animated static, and the "M" turning white.

Music/Sounds: The cockroaches singing the "Charge" fanfare and shouting "JOE!"

Availability: Only seen at the end of Joe's Apartment.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (December 20, 1996-August 27, 2004, October 18, 2019- )
Nicknames: "The Astronaut", "The MTV Astronaut"

Logo: We fade into space as we see an astronaut floating around from right to left. The astronaut suddenly comes close to the camera, and we see that the MTV logo is reflected backwards onto his helmet. We zoom into the reflection and out again to reveal the MTV logo (With "MUSIC TELEVISION" intact under it) with the word "PRODUCTIONS" below it.

Variants:
 * On TV shows from the company, it just shows the MTV Productions logo zooming out.
 * Orange County was the last film to use the "PRODUCTIONS" variant, but only on theatrical prints. Starting with Crossroads in 2002, the word "PRODUCTIONS" is replaced by "FILMS" in spaced-out letters.
 * On home media prints of Orange County, the part where the astronaut comes close to the camera is removed.
 * This logo was revived starting with Eli; here, the logo reflected onto the astronaut's helmet is just the post-2010 MTV logo next to the text "Films", all in white. The logo zooms out with a fisheye-esque effect.

FX/SFX: The astronaut floating in space, the zooming in and out of the MTV logo.

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

Music/Sounds Variant: On Jackass: The Movie, we hear breathing followed by a laugh provided by Johnny Knoxville.

Availability: Common. Can be seen on all MTV films from the era. It originally first appeared on Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and last appeared on Napoleon Dynamite before returning 15 years later on Eli.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (January 14, 2005-October 23, 2009)
Nicknames: "The Astronaut II", "The MTV Astronaut II", "The Astronaut Theater"

Logo: We see an overhead view of Earth, which turns out to be a reflection on the helmet of an astronaut. The astronaut is one of many sitting in a movie theater. Popcorn flies in zero-gravity. We then zoom out of the MTV logo (With "MUSIC TELEVISION" intact underneath) as "FILMS" zooms out underneath it.

Variants:


 * On Coach Carter, the logo turns into a drawing (for a split-second) before turning back to normal.


 * There's a prototype version of the logo where it has a slower zoom-out, the astronauts in different positions and all wearing white spacesuits. The word "FILMS" appears letter-by-letter.

FX/SFX: The reflection and the zooming back, paired together with nice CGI.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie. On Jackass Number Two, we can hear the astronauts laughing and chuckling (provided by Steve-O and Chris Pontius), then a metal slam. On the prototype version of the logo, it starts off with an engine huffing, followed by a note sounding similar to the THX deep note when we zoom out of the astronaut's helmet. As we zoom out, a calm piano tune plays, accompanied by sounds of beeping. When the company name forms, a rock guitar chord is heard.

Availability: No longer current, but still very common. Can be seen on movies starting with Coach Carter and ending with Dance Flick. The prototype variant was only used as a test logo, and thus, was not used on any movie.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (December 26, 2007)
Nickname: "The MTV Logo II"

Logo: On a white background, we see the MTV logo (with "MUSIC TELEVISION" intact underneath).

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Only seen on Jackass 2.5.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (October 15, 2010-June 15, 2014)
Nickname: "The Astronaut III", "The MTV Astronaut III", "The MTV Flag"

Logo: We see an astronaut standing on the moon surface, near the flag with the MTV logo. The shot of the astronaut repeats three times from various directions, but finally it zooms into the flag, which constantly changes its surface and colors.

Trivia: This was based on the very first MTV bumper, only with much cleaner graphics (as well as using the post-2010 MTV logo with "FILMS" appearing underneath).

FX/SFX: The shot with the astronaut repeating, and the colors changing on the flag.

Music/Sounds: A slightly rearranged version of the track from the bumper from which it came.

Music/Sounds Variant: In some cases, such as Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, it's the opening theme of the movie playing over the logo.

Availability: The logo first appeared on Jackass 3D and is seen on movies by MTV Films up to Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (July 31, 2013, January 30, 2015)
Logo: We see several flashing shots of multicultural and multicolored eyes. When we get to the last eye, we zoom in onto the iris and several flashing lights are seen before the MTV logo slides up on a box with the word "Films" in it. Inside the finished product is a live-action shot of a cheering audience, possibly taken from an EDM concert. The logo ends with several flashing shots and we get to the last eye.

Variant: On Project Almanac, the logo cuts off early.

FX/SFX: The flashing eyes and lights.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: First seen on the trailer for Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (but the film itself uses the previous logo instead). The fully animated version appeared only on Project Almanac.

Editor's Note: None.

(2003-2019)
Logo: We see a shot of some grass with the silhouettes of (presumably) a camera crew. Then the MTV logo appears, followed by the stenciled text "Production" and "Development" and a copyright stamp below it (all in white).

Variants:
 * On Teen Wolf, the logo is shortened to a tenth of a second.
 * Sometimes, the logo is still.
 * There is a version that takes place on a beach, with waves crashing into the sand.
 * Sometime around 2011, the logo was updated to have the current MTV logo.

FX/SFX: The text appearing and the shadows moving.

Music/Sounds: An ambient piano theme with the sound of a sprinkler and crickets chirping, or the ending theme of the show.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the beach version, there is the sound of seagulls and waves crashing.

Availability: Extinct. Seen on MTV-produced shows, such as Teen Wolf and Jersey Shore.

Editor's Note: This logo is well-remembered by people who grew up watching Teen Wolf and Jersey Shore, as well as other MTV shows of the time.

1st Logo (2018-June 13, 2019)
Logo: Same as the 3rd MTV Films logo, but the reflected part is replaced with the 2010 MTV logo. A rectangle is seen next to it with the word "S T U D I O S" inside of it.

FX/SFX: Same as the 3rd MTV Films logo.

Music/Sounds: A descending synth sound, followed by a remake version of the 1981 "One Small Step" theme.

Availability: Only seen on Viacom's Vimeo account.

2nd Logo (June 13, 2019-March 4, 2021)
Logo:
 * Opening variant: TBA
 * Closing variant: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA. Designed by Antibody.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy five-note jingle based on the MTV's very first ident from the 1981.

Availability: Seen on the Facebook Watch iteration of The Real World, including the Mexico and Bangkok versions. The full version was uploaded to Vimeo by Patrick Clair.

Editor's Note: It's a pretty nice nod to the astronaut ident, which was the first ever MTV ident to be played in the channel.

(March 4, 2021-)
Logo: Same as above, but the 2010 MTV logo was updated where the letters "TV" are redrawn, and the "M" remains cropped just like the 2008 revised, chopped down version of the 1981 logo. Its design looks similar to the flag from the previous logo. "STUDIOS" is also replaced with "Entertainment S T U D I O S".

FX/SFX: Same as the 2019 MTV Studios logo.

Music/Sounds: A short version of Dire Straits' song "Money for Nothing" with a sound bite of the "I want my MTV" chorus.

Availability: Brand new. Currently seen on The Real World Homecoming: New York and The Challenge: All Stars, as well as season 7 of Younger. It also appears in the credits of recent episodes of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Editor's Note: See above.