In 2012 Universal and Paramount had their 100th anniversaries. In 2023 Disney and warner Bros had their 100th anniversaries. Now this year MGM and Columbia have their 100th anniversaries. Time to see who has the best 100th logos.
6. Disney
Composed by Christopher Beck. Adds a train that means… Adds a waterfall that means… This is just too long, and with how often Disney uses variants it just seems to lack any importance. Also it is way too long, as it is 2 times the length as the rest. I am also not a fan of how Beck extends “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
With all these problems Disney gets last place.
5. MGM
This one is only 16 seconds, and it probably needed around 10 more. I get what they are going for- the brief showing of their iconic movies, but at this speed I can only recognize one of them. At least the Lion replacing a 100 is cool. The music in previous logos was done by Franz Waxman. I cannot find the current composer, but this is much worse. That 100 being replaced is the only thing saving this from the bottom spot. Granted it is one of only that attempt to show 100 years.
I appreciate the ambition, but it is way too short and disjointed to make it work.
4. Warner Bros
I think they still use variants of Max Steiner’s theme. I am glad they added the Clocktower, but now the shield is almost invisible next to the giant “100.” Also I think Morgan Freeman’s voice over is distracting. At least it is really short.
3. Paramount
Composed by Michael Giacchino. It is very different from the previous music used by Jerry Goldsmith. I prefer the previous fanfare, but I appreciate them doing something different. Before joining the logo the stars now ski over the water, and I like that touch. The music still summarizes how I feel. The previous logo was better, but I like that they went different.
This is the lowest one I consider to be a good logo. As picking the top 3 and bottom 3 was really easy.
2. Universal
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith, and this time they kept using his old music from the previous logo. Such wonderful music for the best logo there is. I prefer the older version where The Northern Lights are shown over the cities, but I still love this one. The Centennial part does not distract form Universal. The 75th anniversary logo is better, which had music from James Horner, but this is a really solid 100th logo too.
I am sure a major reason for their high rank is Universal has the best logo. Their floor was always very high.
1. Columbia
They kept the composition by Jonathan Elias. Easily the best. Instead of saying it is 100 years they show it with a brief showing of all the logos, and it feels very whelming with how easy it is to keep track of them all. So much is covered in only 30 seconds. I also love how they reverse The Wizard of Oz and go from color to black and white.
Without this great logo I probably would not have bothered even making the list.
Next time-
I do not know when I will get to Starchaser The Legend of Orin with the Olympics coming, but that is next.
The Animation Historian 