Shaw Brothers Ltd.

Background

Shaw Bros. is one of the largest and oldest film studios in Hong Kong. In 1924, Run Run Shaw and Runme Shaw founded the Shaw Organisation in Singapore as a distribution company. In 1930, they founded South Sea Films in Hong Kong, later renamed Shaw Brothers Studio. It is famous for its martial arts films. Today, Shaw Bros. only distributes films in Southeast Asia. The company went defunct in 2011 as it was reincorporated into the Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited, but in 2015 it was revived as Shaw Brothers Pictures by TVB Group, which was Shaw's former subsidiary.

1st Logo (1930s-1958)

Nicknames: "Word Shield", "20th Century Shaw", "Word on SB Shield", "The Early Shield"

Logo: On a blue background, we see a shield, which is turquoise with a red border. In red, the following text is on the shield:
A
SHAWS
PRODUCTION

Under it is a yellow ribbon with some red Chinese text.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: A bombastic fanfare similar to the 20th Century Studios logo.

Availability: Extremely rare. Can be seen on martial arts films from the era.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1940s-1959)

Nicknames: "Word Shield II", "20th Century Shaw II", "Word on SB Shield II", "The Early Shield II", "Shield and Satin"

Logo: We see the same shield and ribbon from before, except it's bronze with the bronze text "A SHAW PRODUCTION". It is set on a midnight blue satin-like background with some tan-colored satin sheet-looking material at the top and bottom.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Same as the previous logo.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1958-2011)

Nicknames: "Glass Shield", "Glass SB Shield", "SB Shield", "Warner Bros' Best Friend"

Logo: The background looks like some kind of glass, with various colours waving behind it. First, a shield, similar to the Warner Bros. shield, appears with the the letters 'SB' in gold on it. It fades out and some Chinese text appears on the same background. It fades out and the shield appears again under some more Chinese text. The shield is between 'SHAW' and 'SCOPE'.

FX/SFX: The constant moving of the shapes in the background and the various fading ins and outs.

Music/Sounds: A bombastic fanfare with drums and trumpets.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on every Shaw Bros. film of the period such as Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 with the Miramax logo overlapping the first segment of this logo.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1979-1980s)

Nicknames: "The Golden Shield", "SB Shield II", "Warner Bros' Best Friend II"

Logo: We see the inside of the shield from the last logo, animated to look like a spinning sunburst background (a la Toho). The initials "SB" zoom-out via trail effect. We then zoom out from the shield, which is placed on a starburst background. The shield leaves a slightly transparent trail which then merge with the logo turning it gold. The shield flashes, turning into orange Chinese text.

FX/SFX: The zooming. Very unprofessional animation, and the transition from the normal to golden shield is a little bit choppy.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: TBA

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (2000s-2011)

Nicknames: "Films inside the Shield", "SB Shield III", "Warner Bros' Best Friend III"

Logo: We see many clips from Shaw Bros. movies zooming out and transforming into the SB shield. "SHAW" then rotates, and fairy dust effects sprinkle over it.

FX/SFX: The clips merging the shield and text. Decent CGI, but the next one is even better.

Music/Sounds: An abridged version of the previous logos' music with the fiery swoosh sound and the gong.

Availability: TBA

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (2015- )

Nicknames: "CGI Shield", "Shield in the Space", "CGI SB Shield", "SB Shield IV", "Warner Bros' Best Friend IV", "The TVB Shield"

Logo: On a space background, we see the shield (without the initials "SB") rotating for a bit, done in glorious CGI. The initials then zoom onto the shield letter-by-letter. After that, the shield emits sparks (like fireworks) as it zooms back in a comfortable distance. Fairy dust effects wipes in the words "Shaw Brothers Pictures LTD" and its Chinese translation (which rotates a bit). The byline "A member of TVB Group" rotates, and finally, a comet appears flying into the right side of the byline and flashes into the TVB logo (a white rounded square with a tri-colored circle on the center).

FX/SFX: This is one of the best-looking Hong Kong logos ever. Every little detail is present in this logo, including the shield.

Music/Sounds: A remastered version of the previous logo's music.

Availability: Current. Seen on movies released by the company such as Triumph in the Skies and From Vegas to Macau II.

Editor's Note: None.