===Background===
'''Castle Films''' was a home-movie distributor founded in 1924 in California by former newsreel cameraman Eugene W. Castle (1897-1960) in 1924. The company originally produced business and advertising films. By 1931, it had moved its principal office to New York City. In 1937, Castle branched out into 8mm and 16mm home movies, buying newsreel footage and old theatrical films for home use. Castle's first home movie was a newsreel of the Hindenburg explosion. That same year, Castle launched his "News Parade" series, a year-in-review newsreel; travelogues followed in 1938. Castle also released sports films, animal adventures, and "old time" movies. (source:It Wikipedia)became a subsidiary of [[Universal Pictures]] and was eventually renamed [[Universal Eight]] from 1977 before folding in the early 1980s due to competition from home video.
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'''LogoVisuals:''' There are two {{color|gray}} towers on both ends and a barbican in the center, each with battlements. Two dark gray walls connect the buildings and several film holes are seen on the bottom of each part of the castle. The company name in a bold, white font with a black shadow is placed over the castle whereas "A" and "PRODUCTION" in a wide format are above and underneath it.
'''Closing LogoVisuals:''' On a moving background featuring various landmarks, "The End" in a fancy font and stacked format is seen above the same logo without "A" and "PRODUCTION".
'''Variant:'''
'''Technique:'''
* Most of the variants: nonea still, printed graphic.
* On-screen closing variant: traditional animation.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The opening/closing theme of the film.
'''Availability:''' Ultra rare. Seen on the earliest 8mm and 16mm films they distributed, which include ''Yesterday Lives Again'' and very early ''News Parade'' showreels.
===2nd Logo (1937-1941)===
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'''LogoVisuals:''' WeThere seeis a dark castle stylized like a roll of film with the company name in the same font as before in a stacked format. "presents" in a cursive font is seen underneath. The camera slowly zooms into the logo before stopping when close.
'''Variants:'''
'''Technique:''' Traditional animation.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The opening theme of the film.
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Closing Variants=
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'''LogoVisuals:''' On a {{color|gray}} background, "''The End''" is aligned to the center and the logo, with a shine on its towers, is underneath it. The former text also has a shadow facing the slight top right.
'''Variants:'''
* One <u>early closing variant</u> has the logo centered on a black background with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's copyright underneath it. "THE END" in a large, Art-Deco font fades over the logo.
'''Technique:''' NoneA still, printed graphic.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The closing theme of the film.
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'''Availability:''' Extremely rare. It was seen on ''News Parade'' showreels from this period, which include those covering early battles in World War II such as "Battle for France" and "Franco's Victory". ''Music Album'' films such as "Snowtime Serenade" also had this logo. Like the pervious logo, these films have gone out of print.
===3rd Logo (1941-1945)===
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'''LogoVisuals:''' Same concept as before except the logo has more shine and detail to it with the castle resembling less like a roll of film and its towers curve outwards and are reflective. The shadow on the company name is more visible and so is "''PRESENTS''", now in a different font.
'''Variants:'''
'''Technique:''' Traditional animation.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The intro of the respective film.
{{!}}-{{!}}
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'''LogoVisuals:''' WeThere seeis the big words "The End" in either plain letters or in cursive font on the top-left corner. On the bottom-right corner is the Castle Films logo without "PRESENTS".
'''Variants:'''
* On <u>''Washington In War Time''</u>, a trademark to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was added underneath the logo.
'''Technique:''' NoneA still, printed graphic.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The closing theme of the film.
}}
'''Availability:''' Extremely rare. Can be seen on early 1940's 16mm prints of ''News Parade'' newsreels and various [[Terrytoons]], [[Walter Lantz Productions|Walter Lantz]], and Ub Iwerks cartoons such as ''The Homeless pup'' and ''Old Mother Hubbard''. Some public domain VHSes such as [[Kid Flicks]]' ''Little Lulu'' tape from 1987 has this logo intact at the end of ''The King's Tailor''.
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Videos=
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'''LogoVisuals:''' On a white background, the castle from the previous logos is light gray, more fixed in its rectangular shape, and resembles a film roll like the 2nd logo. The company name is black and is warped along the edges of the castle whereas "'''PRESENTS'''" is inside an upper-arched flag.
'''Variants:'''
* There are some <u>colorized</u> version of the logo:
** One has the castle in <u>{{color|blue}}</u> against a tan background.
'''Technique:''' NoneA still, printed graphic.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The opening/closing theme of the film.
'''Availability:''' Ultra rare, due to its short lifespan and many films using the previous logo instead. This is only known to appear on a few cartoon shorts such as ''Mary's Little Lamb'' and ''The King's Tailor''. Like the previous logo, public domain VHSes such as [[Kid Flicks]]' has this logo intact.
===5th Logo (1945-1968)===
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'''LogoVisuals:''' It follows the same concept as the 2nd and 3rd logos except the company name is in an Arial Black-like font and the castle is taller, the walls have lost its holes, there are three holes for each tower on the bottom, and they are made of stone. The background is also set in the sky with several clouds surrounding the logo.
'''Variants:'''
* On <u>''Survival Under Atomic Attack''</u>, "''Produced by''" in a cursive font appears above the logo whereas "TELEVISION RIGHTS RESERVED" and a different United World Films copyright notice is underneath the logo.
* One variant gives the whole logo a <u>motion-blurred shadow</u> facing the top right.
* A <u>colorized variant</u> exists, which has the logo in light brown, the sky in dark blue, and "''Presents''" in {{color|red}}.
* A <u>later variant</u> features the logo in less detail than the normal logo with the castle with less shading and the background with a reduced amount of clouds.
** The <u>colorized version</u> of this logo has the castle in {{color|saddlebrown|brown}} and the text in white.
'''Technique:''' Traditional animation.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The opening theme of the film.
{{!}}-{{!}}
Closing Variants=
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'''LogoVisuals:''' It follows the same format as the 3rd logo's closing variant except like this logo's opening title, it is set to a different partly cloudy background.
'''Variants:'''
* A few <u>Terrytoons re-prints</u> feature the Castle Films logo alongside the Terrytoons logo. In this variant, the castle is black and minimalist.
'''Technique:''' NoneA still, printed graphic.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The closing theme of the film.
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'''Availability:''' Extremely rare.
* Can be seen on old home video prints of [[Universal Pictures|Universal]], [[Walter Lantz Productions|Walter Lantz]] and [[Terrytoons]] films as well 8mm and 16mm films such as ''Howdy Doody Christmas''. This is also found on later ''News Parade'' showreels as well as abridged versions of classic movies such as ''Mummy's Ghost'', and world and sports showcase films such as ''London Landmarks'' and ''Surf Riders'' respectively. It is intact on ''Rifftrax'' riffs of their shorts as well.
* The later variant was used starting the late 1950's and was spotted on ''The Big Surf'' and ''Hawaii State of Paradise''.
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'''LogoVisuals:''' The same castle from before is shown but with the font now in a regular Arial font. Underneath it, "Presents" is in a cursive font. Unlike the previous logo, it is still. Additionally, the clouds are more spread out and less realistic.
'''Closing LogoVisuals:''' Same as the normal logo but "Presents" is replaced with "The End".
'''Variants:'''
* <u>Colorized version</u> of the logo features it in the same coloring as the previous logo but with the bottom text in white and its shadow in {{color|red}}.
* At the end of an abridged version of <u>''Psycho''</u>, the following text is placed underneath "The End":
<center>{{Font|Arial|'''For home and non-theatrical showings only.<br>ALL OTHER USES STRICTLY PROHIBITED'''}}</center>
* An <u>in-credit variant</u> exists.
'''Technique:''' NoneA still, printed graphic.
'''Music/SoundsAudio:''' The opening/closing theme of the film.
'''Availability:''' Seen on the company's last films they distributed, which includes several Apollo 11 films such as ''Apollo 11: On The Moon''. One of its last appearances was on a 1970's 7-minute digest reel of ''Psycho''.
{{Chronology||[[Universal Eight]]}}
[[Category:Home entertainment logos]]
[[Category:Universal]]
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