Amblin Entertainment

Main

Credits

Descriptions by
Sega3dmm, Jeffrey Gray, and LJK193

Captures by
Sega3dmm, SubparMario63, Jeffrey Gray, Logohub, filmbaza.net, Derrick Anderson and Logophile

Editions by
KramdenII and BoyOnTheMoon

Video captures courtesy of
john mello, LogoLibraryinc and Another Moon

Background

Named after a short film titled Amblin' (1968), Amblin Entertainment is a production company founded by Steven Spielberg (the author of said short film), Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall in 1981. Its logo features the silhouette of E.T. riding in the basket of Elliott's bicycle flying in front of the moon, from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

1st Logo (June 8, 1984-)

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Nicknames: "The E.T. Logo", "In-Credit E.T. Logo", "The Original Moon Boy"

Logo: A still version of the Amblin logo in white, with an inverse silhouette of Elliott and E.T. flying in front of the moon (represented by an outline) and "AMBLIN" to the right in a font known as Optima; the design is identical to that of Amblin's print logo.

Variants:

• On Gremlins, the logo appears in the color scheme used from the standard version of the logo, but with the "moon" colored blue; "AN" is above the logo, and "PRESENTATION" is below it, both in red.
• Starting with Jurassic World in 2015, the silhouette of Elliott and E.T. have been updated to match the current onscreen logo, with the cape being redrawn and more accurate. It looks less like a chicken riding a bicycle.

FX/SFX: None, unless one wants to count the logo scrolling up near the end of the end credits on some of these films.

Music/Sounds: Music from any given soundtrack.

Availability: The in-credit Amblin logo debuted on Gremlins, and can also be seen on Fandango, all four Men in Black films, and The Mask of Zorro.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (June 7, 1985-August 8, 2014, September 21, 2018)

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Nicknames: "The E.T. Logo II", "The Original Moon Boy II", "The Moon Hen"

Logo: We see a close-up of the moon, which zooms backward until it is on the left side of the screen. Right before the moon stops in its place, a silhouette of a young boy on a bicycle (Elliott from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) slowly flies in front of the moon from the left side of the moon's border, stopping in the middle (even when the bicycle stops, the wheels continue to move). At the same time, two red/blue stripes move in from both sides of the screen. The stripe that comes in from the bottom left side places itself right underneath the moon, while the stripe that comes in from the top right side places itself near the top of the moon (this creates a small space to the right of the moon bordered by the stripes on the top and the bottom). When the moon and stripes are in place, the word "AMBLIN" appears in a strange fade-in (shadows form the blue letters one at a time, referred to as a "shadow wipe"). When the word "AMBLIN" is finally revealed, the wheels begin to stop and smaller red text appears under the bottom red/blue lines that reads "ENTERTAINMENT" in spaced out letters to fit the width of the bottom line. Both words are in a similar thin font.

Moon Colors:

• Earlier films, The House With a Clock in its Walls: Blue
• Later films: Realistic white.

Variants:

• A shorter version shows the moon and stripes in place without animation, and it just shows the fade in of the company name, as well as the wheels turning. This version first appeared on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and made its last appearance on Catch Me If You Can. It is also seen at the very end of The Flintstones.
• On some movies such as The Goonies (1985) (first film to use the logo), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), Cape Fear and Hook (both 1991), and A Far Off Place (1993), shot and released in 2.35:1 (anamorphic Panavision) as well as early ITV UK airings of both Back to the Future Part III (1990) and The Flintstones (1994), the moon is flipped backwards. Full screen versions of some of these movies (e.g. 2001 VHS release of The Goonies) use the normal variant on certain prints.
• A still version appears at the end of War Horse, Lincoln, and The Hundred-Foot Journey (The final movie to use this logo; with the closing theme), as well as some TV shows from Amblin.
• A black & white version of the logo appears at the end of Hereafter.
• A medium-length version is known to exist on the original trailer of We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story, with the logo starting in the middle of it's formation and also having the entire name fade in at once.
• On 4:3 full screen prints of later films from 2005 until 2014, starting with The Legend of Zorro, the logo zooms out to a much farther distance than usual. Because the latters are shot and released in 2.35:1 (anamorphic Panavision) and framed for 2.39:1 scope.

FX/SFX: The moon zooming backward, the boy on the bicycle appearing and its wheels moving, the red/blue stripes coming from both sides, AMBLIN shadow-wiping in. It's all traditional animation.

Music/Sounds: A light orchestral theme composed by John Williams was used with this logo on Young Sherlock Holmes, The Color Purple, The Money Pit, and the 1988 video release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. However, it is usually silent, or has the film's closing score.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On Young Sherlock Holmes, The Color Purple, The Money Pit, and the 1987 theatrical reissue (as well as the 1988 VHS and the 2012/2017 Blu-Ray/DVD releases) of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a light orchestral theme by John Williams is heard.
• At the end of the first two Back to the Future films, the closing theme ends over it, with the tail end of the music echoing to the MPAA rating screen.
• At the end of Batteries Not Included (1987), the last two notes of the closing theme plays over it.
• At the end of An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), Hook (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) and Casper (1995), the very last note of the closing theme plays over it.
• At the end of Cape Fear (1991), the closing wind sound (carried from the closing credits) is heard over it, the MPAA rating screen, the Universal Studios Hollywood promo, and the black screen.
• At the end of Twister (1996), "Respect the Wind", performed by Van Halen, (carried from the closing credits, but with a landscape) is heard over it, and the tail end continues over the 1992 Warner Bros. Pictures closing variant logo before it fades out.
• At the beginning of Monster House (2006), the tail end of the ImageMovers logo music echos over the very beginning of the zoom-out, then the movie's opening theme starts over most of it.
• On The House with a Clock in its Walls, tick-tocking sounds are heard over it.

Availability: Common. The flipped moon variant debuted at the end of The Goonies while the normal variant debuted at the end of Back to the Future, and can be found on every Amblin film from this era (except Schindler's List, The Bridges of Madison County, Minority Report, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters from Iwo Jima, as well as the three Amblimation productions, which featured that company's special logo, and the aforementioned with the 1st/print logo on the credits). Most prints of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial don't show this logo despite showing the logo on the packaging, except on the 1988 home video release and ABC Family/Freeform's print of the film. The last film to use this logo was The Hundred-Foot Journey. This logo makes a reappearance on The House with a Clock in Its Walls, fitting with the retro theme. This surprisingly appears at the end of the TV Movie Amazing Stories: The Movie II.

Editor's Note: A favorite of many, especially for fans of Steven Spielberg's films. Although the way Elliot's cape is positioned makes him look sort of like a chicken riding a bicycle.

3rd Logo (June 12, 2015- )

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Nicknames: "The E.T. Logo III", "CGI E.T. Logo", "The Original Moon Boy III (in CGI)"

Logo: Same concept as before, only CG is used, and the moon and silhouette are three-dimensional. The moon swooshes down and hovers to the left of the screen, while Elliot and E.T. fly on the screen from behind, making an immediate right in front of the moon and parking to form the graphic. Also, the word "AMBLIN" no longer has the strange shadow wipe effect, and instead uses a more gradual fade-in from the left, and the rest of the logo (the orange and blue bars and "ENTERTAINMENT", which, along with "AMBLIN", now have texture on the logo) fades in. The finishing background is now red-gradient black (evening sky). If you look closely, you can see E.T.'s finger glowing.

FX/SFX: Fantastic CGI!

Music/Sounds: The ending of the orchestral theme from the previous logo, the opening theme of the movie or silence.

Availability: Debuted after the Universal logo on Jurassic World and has appeared on all Amblin films since (save for The House with a Clock in Its Walls, which used the previous logo). The version with the theme debuted on The BFG.

Editor's Note: An excellent upgrade to the previous logo, E.T.'s finger glow is especially a nice touch.