Republic Entertainment
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Background
On December 28, 1984, National Telefilm Associates (NTA) was renamed Republic Pictures Corporation. After a 25-year hiatus, Republic Pictures returned to active production with a number of movies, series for television including the CBS series Beauty and the Beast, and TV movies, although they did produce few independent theatrical films including Freeway. In 1993, Republic won a landmark legal decision reactivating the copyright on Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life (they had already owned the film's negative, music score, and the story on which it was based, "The Greatest Gift"). In 1994, Spelling Entertainment, controlled by Blockbuster, acquired Republic. Shortly thereafter, Spelling consolidated its many divisions, reducing Republic Pictures to an video distribution company and reincorporating it as "Republic Entertainment, Inc.", its last name. In 1994, Viacom bought Blockbuster. In 1998, Viacom dismantled Spelling's non-television assets, and after folding Republic Pictures Home Video, licensed the home video rights of their films to Artisan Entertainment. In 1999, Viacom acquired 100% interest in Spelling. Republic was then made an in-name-only unit of Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom. In 2015, Viacom folded Republic Pictures into Paramount Pictures and created a new holding company called "Melange Pictures, LLC" as the holder of the Republic film library. As for the TV library, most of it is currently owned by ViacomCBS through CBS Television Distribution and Spelling Television Inc., all of them controlled by National Amusements, Inc. The syndication rights to the theatrical library is controlled by Paramount, with U.S. broadcast syndication rights licensed to Trifecta Entertainment & Media. Olive Films currently distributes their films on DVD/Blu-Ray after Paramount's deal with Lionsgate expired.
1st Logo (1985?-1987)
Nicknames: "The Bald Eagle IV", "The Bald Eagle in the Sky II"
Logo: Same as the previous logo, but this time, the logo is computerized, with some clouds appearing to move, and the text "REPUBLIC PICTURES" flies in from the bottom of the screen.
Variants:
- On some movies, the word "Presents" would fade in below the logo, in a script font.
- There is also a black and white variant.
- There are videotaped and filmed variants.
- There is also a variant with the text "REPUBLIC PICTURES" simply fading in. The text is in the same font, but is less-detailed.
FX/SFX: The clouds moving, and the company name flying up or fading in.
Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie, or none.
Availability: Extremely rare. It's seen on some Republic Pictures movies. The "Presents" version appears on Gun Battle at Monterey on Starz Encore Westerns. The variant with the text fading in appears at the end of a 1995 VHS of It's a Wonderful Life.
Editor's Note: The "retroness" of the logo as well as the computer effects make this logo look outdated. Also, the "filmed" version is just a kinescope of the videotaped version, which explains why it looks blurry.
2nd Logo (1987-1990)
Nicknames: "The Bald Eagle V", "The Restored Bald Eagle"
Logo: On a sky background, we see the bald eagle from the previous logos (not including the Castle Republic Pictures logos). The words REPUBLIC PICTURES fly up.
FX/SFX: The company name flying up.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Very rare. Appears on some Republic Pictures videos from the late '80s.
Editor's Note: Not much effort here. Very boring logo.
3rd Logo (1990-1994)
Nicknames: "The Bald Eagle VI", "The Restored Bald Eagle II"
Logo: On a blue sky background, we see the bald eagle standing on a mountain with the words "REPUBLIC PICTURES" below. White clouds are also shown at the bottom.
FX/SFX: The company name fading in or none.
Music/Sounds: The patriotic fanfare from the '50s. In most cases, the opening theme of the movie, or none.
Availability: Very rare. Appears on some Republic Pictures movies from the early '90s.
Editor's Note: Again, not much effort here. The scope variant looks pretty good, actually.
4th Logo (1993-2010)
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Nicknames: "The Bald Eagle VII", "CGI Bald Eagle"
Logo: We start with a white cloud background. Then the sky and the clouds disperse, revealing the old view of the Republic Pictures bald eagle, redone in CGI. At the bottom-right is the rock. "REPUBLIC PICTURES", in white fades-in underneath and until 2006, the respective company byline appears below the company name.
Bylines:
- 1993-1994, 2006-2010: Bylineless
- 1994-1995:"A Unit of Spelling Entertainment, Inc."
- 1995: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC."
- 1995-2006: "A Subsidiary of Spelling Entertainment Group, Inc."
Variants:
- There is also a "60th Anniversary" variant.
- There is also a still variant.
FX/SFX: The camera panning to show the Republic bald eagle.
Music/Sounds: A wind blowing effect, followed by a dramatic string tune. The still variant uses the second half of the jingle.
Music/Sounds Variant: This logo plastered the Paramount logo on some 1990s-era prints of the Fleischer Brothers' animated Gulliver's Travels. On said prints, the beginning of the opening credits music played over this logo.
Availability: Uncommon. It appears on the VHS edition of The Tin Soldier and the remastered version of It's a Wonderful Life. The bylineless variant was seen on the mini-series The Stand, as well as the DVDs of Freeway and Bound. You can also find this logo on Two-Bits & Pepper. It could also be seen on video/DVD releases of their material through Artisan Entertainment, as well as releases through Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The 1995 byline variant can be found on the VHS release of A Lady Takes a Chance. Also appeared on the Roku Channel's print of Highlander II: The Quickening, which was clearly derived from a pan-and-scan master from the '90s.
Editor's Note:
- It looks as if they didn't put any effort into this. They make a bald eagle perched on top of a mountain seem boring more than anything else. Seems to be a recurring theme for this company's logos.
- Even though Spelling Entertainment dissolved in 1999, the byline on the logo remained on the logo for years afterward, indicating a lack of interest from Paramount to update the logo. (Republic officially shut down in 1998, relegating the name and logo as mere brands.)
