American Zoetrope

Credits

Descriptions by
mr3urious

Captures by
Prodigy012, Dison and logofreak98

Editions by
logofreak98

Video captures courtesy of
Sagan Blob's Logos, LogicSmash, The MovieLogos Database and Logo Archive

Background

Founded in 1969 by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, American Zoetrope is an American film production company based in San Francisco, California. It was formerly known as Omni Zoetrope and Zoetrope Studios from 1980 until 1990. The company has produced notable films by Coppola, such as Apocalypse Now and Bram Stoker's Dracula, as well as George Lucas's pre-Star Wars films, including THX 1138 and American Graffiti. Additionally, American Zoetrope has distributed works by avant-garde directors like Jean-Luc Godard, Akira Kurosawa, Wim Wenders, and Godfrey Reggio. Being an early adopter of digital filmmaking, the company has been credited with some of the earliest uses of HDTV.

American Zoetrope (first iteration)

Contents 1st Logo (March 11, 1971, May 12, 2001-2021) 2nd Logo (1974)

Zoetrope Studios

Contents   Logo (February 12, 1982-July 22, 1990)

American Zoetrope (second iteration)

Contents 1st Logo (November 13, 1992-) 2nd Logo (May 12, 2001-August 8, 2003) 3rd Logo (September 11, 2011-)

American Zoetrope (first iteration)

1st Logo (March 11, 1971, May 12, 2001-2021)

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Visuals: On a black background is a large lowercase "a" colored red, white, and blue. To the right of it is a zoetrope (a cylinder with images displayed inside that, when the outside is spun, gives the pictures the appearance that they are being animated when viewed through the slits at the top) with the same color scheme. Above this is the text "AN" in a Futura font, and "american zoetrope" in a thin abstract font. Below is "PRODUCTION" also in a Futura font.

Variants:

• For this logo's return in 2001, an animated variant was created. Here, the "a" and zoetrope slide away from each other, while copies of them sliding across at different sizes can be seen off the sides. After the logo finishes, the words appear one by one.
• On the 2021 director's cut of Dementia 13, "PRESENTATION" replaces "PRODUCTION".
• On the official first look clip of Megalopolis, the animated variant plays as normal, but the words appear all at once instead of one by one.

Technique: A still image.

Audio: None or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: It originally appeared on THX 1138; most of the company's early output, such as the first two Godfather films, carry no logo. In 2001, after 30 years of dormancy, the logo returned on CQ. It has since appeared on Pumpkin, No Such Thing, Twixt, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Paris Can Wait, and Mainstream. This also plasters the Paramount Pictures logo on current prints of Tucker: The Man and His Dream, as well as appearing at the end of current prints of The Outsiders. The logo's most recent appearance was on the trailer for Megalopolis and will most likely be seen on the film itself.

2nd Logo (1974)

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Visuals: On a black background is a spinning zoetrope on the bottom right, "from" and "american zoetrope" in ITC Souvenir font on the top, and "san francisco" also in ITC Souvenir in the bottom left.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: The closing soundtrack of the featurette.

Availability: Only seen on the 1974 featurette Close-Up on The Conversation.

Zoetrope Studios

Logo (February 12, 1982-July 22, 1990)

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Visuals: On a red background, a red spotlight powers up. Then the words "ZOETROPE STUDIOS", with the second "S" as a backwards "Z" and the "Z" and "S" connected by a line, fade in. There is a rainbow line underneath the text. The text and the spotlight's base then fade out, leaving only the light and the background to fade out afterwards.

Trivia: The logo was designed by Saul Bass.

Variants:

• Most often, this logo just uses the text. This is occasionally seen as part of the end credits.
• A version with a plain white line, as well as a "IAW" mention, can be seen on The Outsiders TV series.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: None or the opening/closing theme of the movie.

Availability: Seen on some American Zoetrope films from the time, such as One from the Heart, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club, Peggy Sue Got Married and Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Some films from this era, such as The Godfather Part III, only use an in-credit notice.

American Zoetrope (second iteration)

1st Logo (November 13, 1992-)

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Visuals: There is a boxed in print image of a building with an antenna on top emitting four lightning sparks. To the left of the tower is the following text:

F R O M
AMERICAN
ZOETROPE
SAN FRANCISCO

Trivia: The building depicted here is the Columbus Tower/Sentinel Building in San Francisco, where the headquarters of American Zoetrope are located. Its usage here was repurposed from the logo for Commercial Pictures, a production company owned by Francis Ford Coppola's children, Roman and Sofia.

Variants:

• On The 4400, the text is to the right of the tower, separated by three lines. A web address is seen on the bottom right corner.
• On Titanic (1996 miniseries), "FROM" is removed and "in association with" is seen above the box.
• A red-colored version appears on Bram Stoker's Dracula.
• On The Odyssey, the logo has a greenish tint.

Technique: A printed image made using traditional ink and paint.

Audio: None or the closing theme of the movie/show.

Availability: It debuted at the end of Bram Stoker's Dracula and has appeared on such films as Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Don Juan DeMarco, Jack, The Rainmaker, Buddy, Jeepers Creepers and The Virgin Suicides. It also appeared on the miniseries Titanic, The Odyssey, and Moby Dick. Many films, such as Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, The Good Shepherd, and Youth Without Youth, have no logo.

2nd Logo (May 12, 2001-August 8, 2003)

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Visuals: There is a white silhouette of a performer with a top hat and cane doing a soft-shoe dance. After a while, the image duplicates on opposite sides. The logo zooms out, revealing the footage to be inside a spinning zoetrope. The words "AMERICAN ZOETROPE" with "PICTURES" below spins in from the right (a la the Universal logo).

Variant: On Jeepers Creepers 2, the logo is in sepia tone.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The opening theme of the movie or none. On Assassination Tango, a jazz tune with piano and drums plays which segues to an abridged version of the Commercial Pictures fanfare.

Availability: It appeared on CQ (after the credits), Assassination Tango, and Jeepers Creepers 2. It also appeared on the trailer for the 2004 rerelease of THX 1138, although not on the film itself.

3rd Logo (September 11, 2011-)

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Visuals: There is the same building from the 2nd logo, only this time it is inside a vertical box. Below is a white rectangle with the name "AMERICAN ZOETROPE" inside.

Variant: On most films, the logo scrolls up with the credits side-by-side with other logos.

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: None or the opening/closing theme of the movie.

Availability: Seen on On the Road, Life After Beth, A Very Murray Christmas, Last Days in the Desert, Joshy, Love Is Love Is Love, and the series Mozart in the Jungle. It also appeared at the end of Twixt, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Paris Can Wait, and Mainstream, all of which used the 1971 logo at the beginning.

External Links

• Official website
• American Zoetrope article on Wikipedia