Walt Disney Pictures/Logo Variations

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

Revision as of 20:25, 26 November 2021 by imported>Rhodri


A Goofy Movie (1995):

  • The logo goes away, but the blue backdrop remains. The opening titles and the first scene of the film then appear over the logo's backdrop.

Pocahontas (1995):

  • The writing of the curve-line is delayed for a few minutes to maintain the logo in time with the opening music.

Toy Story (1995):

  • The first film to employ the unique Pixar variant of the 1985-2006 logo, which had previously been used until 2007's Ratatouille. Finally, the entire logo zooms out and transitions into the opening titles. The 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo and the Pixar Animation Studios logo were pasted on newer prints, with the latter fading in to the opening scene.


That Darn Cat! (1997):

  • Cats purr to the tune of the logo's fanfare.


Meet the Deedles (1998):

  • The logo transitions into an undersea picture.

I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998):

  • As soon as the curving line is created, Christmas lights appear and flash continuously all over it.

Tarzan (1999):

  • The background transforms into a toon shaded jungle as the burst of light produces the "Walt Disney" text.

Inspector Gadget (1999) and Inspector Gadget 2 (2003, DTV):

  • CGI is used to mechanize it, and the white curving line is replaced with a gear. The castle then falls apart in a flurry of cartoon sound effects. The soundtrack in the first film is a parody of "When You Wish Upon A Star." The music fades out as the castle goes wild, and a gear flies toward the screen as the opening titles begin. The 1985 fanfare is utilized in the second film, along with various sound effects as the castle is demolished, and it also zooms out.

My Favorite Martian (1999):

  • It gradually fades into Mars. It also freezes for a few seconds before drawing the curved line.

Fantasia 2000 (2000):

  • Opening: Same as the Tarzan variant, but The background fades into space.


  • Closing: The arc disappears into the distance. It's also heard at the end of The Emperor's New Groove, however in a shorter form with the closing theme.

Recess: School's Out (2001):

  • Gus, Mikey, Gretchen, Spinelli, Vince, and TJ play the fanfare on kazoos after the flash.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001):

  • Opening: The lights reflected by the river ripples reveal the already-formed emblem on a rusted-steel wall. Within the curving line, a flash of light arcs. The camera pans forward slightly.


  • Closing: Nearly the same as the opening variant, but it is already formed and the background is well-lit (signifying Atlantis' resurrection to former splendor), the camera still zooms forward slightly.

The Country Bears (2002):

  • The logo plays as usual, but once it's finished, It is set against a wood background. A spark of fire travels all the way to the bottom right.

Return to Never Land (2002):

  • The opening sequence is part of the prologue. Pixie dust falls from the curving line as it animates. The curving line is drawn by a yellow glowing ball (representing Tinker Bell), which then flies around and inside the gate, revealing the hazy texture in the backdrop. It then zooms out to the left and reveals itself to be on a cloud. The camera then moves around and the logo vanishes as the film begins.

Snow Dogs (2002):

  • It becomes ice and begins to snow once the curved line is drawn.

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002, Disney+):

  • We begin with a background. Then, at the very bottom, a four-pointed star rises up, splits, and explodes like fireworks, showing a section of the 1985 Disney castle. The final one rises and bursts, revealing the whole castle. The "Walt Disney" signature then writes itself as the remainder of the logo continues to play normally. For the initial shot, the letters and arc fade away, and the castle dissolves into Cinderella's castle.

Lilo & Stitch (2002):

  • The logo is on a black backdrop in CGI, and the flash that forms the curving line is now green with a "pulsing" sound effect. After then, it gets taken by a UFO beam.


  • On "Stitch's Trial", the original opening from the home media release, The logo is white on a gray backdrop, and the foreign language writing fades in and out before transitioning to English. After the rest of the animation is completed, it fades into the opening scene.

Winnie The Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002):
  • While the text "Walt Disney" is formed, snowflakes begin to fall across the logo.

The Jungle Book 2 (2003):

  • It is superimposed in front of a piece of cloth behind a blue light as the logo fully animates and weaves the bit until it fades and the color changes.

Piglet's Big Movie (2003):

  • It animates normally (with the beginning of the opening music playing over it), except the arc is pink instead of white, like Piglet.

Freaky Friday (2003):

  • It animates normally, then fades into an aged parchment sheet, moving into the opening credits sequence of the film.

Stitch! The Movie (2003, Disney+):

  • The background fades to space as the arc forms, causing the castle and words to TV static out.

The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003):

WARNING: DUE TO BULK,VIDEOS OF THE OPENING VARIANT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED ON THIS SITE.

  • Opening: The castle zooms in quickly in parts, followed by letters arriving from the left (one after the other). The logo then begins to flash blue and red, similar to police lights, while police sirens can be heard in the background. The curving line design is blue, and after the logo is completed, it vanishes, and the logo itself travels to the right.


  • Closing: Same as the opening variant, but It is already formed with the flashing blue and red lights gone, and it fades away when the curving line is formed.

101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003, Disney+):

  • Dogs bark in response to the logo's fanfare.


George of the Jungle 2 (2003, DTV):

  • After it has been formed, George swings around the screen and collides with the castle, causing it to collapse.

The Haunted Mansion (2003):

  • While gloomy clouds obscure the writing, the castle transforms into a mansion.

Teacher's Pet (2004):

  • It is animated in the same manner as the film.

Lorenzo (2004):

  • It is made out of bright neon signs. It is also animated in the same way as neon signs are. The arc is timed to the male conductor's animation. As the conductor counts, one of the arc segments flickers.

Home on the Range (2004):

  • Opening: The almost-formed logo is branded onto a piece of leather. Then the arc fires in and the leather burns up to reveal the opening shot.


  • Closing: On the brown background used for the credits, the logo fades in.

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004, Disney+):

  • In the manner of the film, it is white with a tinge of red over a red Christmas ornament on a Christmas tree. In the opening, a little stylised Christmas tree appears within the castle before disappearing as "Walt Disney" flashes in.

Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005):

  • It animates normally. The castle then dissolves into a cloud formation, and the backdrop and letters fade to a hazy sky. To begin the feature, the camera pans down.

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch (2005, DTV):

  • It encounters a glitch, just like a computer would do. Also, the castle segments go backwards at the beginning, starting from the bottom segment of the castle appearing and more segments appear one-by-one until the top segment appears and then, the top segment flashes like a neuralyzer.

Ice Princess (2005):

  • The "flashlight" logo is blue with ice coming out of the curved line.

Sky High (2005):

  • The "flashlight" logo fades into a silhouette of the Disney castle as seen in the skyline.

Chicken Little (2005):

  • Opening: A fairytale castle with many towers and a portcullis floats in a clear blue sky. The text drifts in beneath it, and a shooting star inscribes an arc above the castle.


  • Closing: The logo animates as usual, but the background is black instead of blue.

Tarzan II (2005, DTV):

  • Exactly like on Tarzan, but the jungle is more detailed and different.

Brother Bear II (2006, DTV):

  • Birds fly out from the castle.

Bambi II (2006, DTV):

  • It is white and superimposed in the mist. Then after it forms, the mist covers it up.

Leroy & Stitch (2006, DTV):

  • When the arc forms, the background fades to space, just like in Stitch! The Movie. After that, the logo goes into hyperdrive.

The Shaggy Dog (2006):

  • The castle turns into a doghouse (both at the beginning and end of the movie).

The Wild (2006):

  • In the darkness, the particle makes its usual way above the castle while Samson the lion (voiceover) is about to tell his son Ryan a story. Suddenly, as Ryan tells Samson he's already heard his story a billion times, it stops and rushes back. Then as the conversation repeats, it tries again, makes 2/3 of the distance, and rushes back again. Next time, the conversation occurs again and the particle is drawn back by a hand. For the fourth time, the particle (and thus, Samson) finally succeeds, and the logo turns into the sun. The text is in 3-D, made of stone, and has some acacia trees surrounding the castle.

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest (2006):

  • The first movie with the current Disney logo. The logo plays normally all the time, except that it is dimmed.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006):

  • When it fully forms, the camera zooms out to reveal a snow globe surrounding it that Santa holds. He then shakes the snow globe, which causes snow to surround the castle. Also, when the snow globe appears, the music is slowed down to match the opening theme.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007):

  • This variation is similar to the variation from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, except that the logo is darker.

Enchanted (2007):
  • The sparkles that surround the text disappear as the last note of the music hits. Then, as the opening music starts, the camera zooms forward past the text to the castle into a room in the top middle of it.

Presto (2008):

  • We see the castle on a red textured background as an homage to the old Disney cartoons. It reads "Walt Disney Pictures Presents" underneath, with the "Walt Disney" text taken from the Walt Disney Animation Studios logo.

Bedtime Stories (2008):

  • When the music ends, the entire animation stops and the sparkles disappear, then it turns into a pop-up book.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008):

  • When the music ends, the logo turns into a diamond shape and moves into the opening title.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008):

  • When the last five notes are playing, a light appears at the way of the glowing pinpoint, then it morphs into a lightbulb surging into the opening title sequence.

Race to Witch Mountain (2009):

  • The logo gets darkened when the text fades in and the castle turns into the mountain from the Witch Mountain films.

Tron: Legacy (2010):

  • Opening: The logo is gradually formed by graphics like those found in the Grid.
  • Closing: Same as opening, but the logo is already formed.

Mars Needs Moms (2011):

  • It animates as normal, but the sky turns red when the arc is drawn.

Prom (2011):

  • It starts normally, but when the glowing pinpoint reaches the end, it suddenly turns into a photo tinted in yellow, then a pencil drawing of a castle on a separate sheet paper covers the original castle and a paper cut-out of the text "Walt Disney" from the 1990 logo pasted onto it. The music also turns into a rock version when it transforms.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011):

  • The movie's opening theme is heard. The dark blue fog comes in from the left to fill the screen as the animation (which is tinted in dark blue) fades in at the camera panning down (you still see the glimpse of the stars as it fades in.) On the castle, the Jolly Roger flag is at the highest spire. The fireworks are in a white tint while sounds of firing cannons are heard. In the river in front of the castle, two mermaids flip their tails before the text fades in as it zooms to position.

John Carter (2012):

  • Opening: The entire logo is tinted red (in accordance with the fact that the movie is set on Mars).
  • Closing: Same as the opening, but it starts at the arc being formed.

Frankenweenie (2012):

  • The logo starts as usual (with an re-orchestrated version of the music by Danny Elfman). Near the end of the logo, it turns black-and-white, while lightning starts striking as some organ music plays. A moon is also shown and there is some fog around the river in front of the castle, while a rainstorm occurs.

Paperman (2012 short, Closing):

  • It is grayscaled just like the short, "Disney" is written in chalk, the castle is stylized like the short, and the curved line is drawn by a paper airplane.

Wreck-It Ralph (2012, Closing):

  • The closing logo starts as usual, but it then glitches as errors appear with "RALPH" misspelled as "RALF". Then, it turns into a parody of the Pac-Man kill screen. The 1985 logo is briefly seen, but with the "Disney" text amongst other remnants like the Walt Disney Animation Studios logo and other characters seen in the film as sprites. It ends with an arcade screen turn-off effect.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013):

  • It is grayscaled, in an art-deco style, in a 4:3 aspect ratio (like the first few minutes of the film), and it is part of the opening credits. The logo starts at the top of the sky (different to original logo) with animated stars, then it pans down to the cardboard castle. Other elements (like the river and sky) are drawn on the ground and wall and "Disney" is made up of two connected sticks with the letters on them (with "Dis" on the left stick and "ney" on the right stick). While the glowing pinpoint appears without passing the front of the castle, the camera zooms into the door of the castle, and the "Disney" text opens like a gate. This variant was done by yU+co.

The Lone Ranger (2013):

  • Opening: The entire logo is tinted gray-blue (keeping in with the 1940s Western movie color).
  • Closing: Same as the opening, but it starts at the arc being formed.

Planes (2013):

  • It doesn't start after a few seconds, and the "Disney" text is in glass, colored in white, and zooms in. When it finishes, the sparkles around the text disappears. Then, the aviation warning light appears on the highest tower of the castle. After one full rotation of light, the tallest spire has added a blinking red light and two planes fly past the logo towards the screen, cutting into the opening shot.

Saving Mr. Banks (2013):

  • On a blue sunburst background, the castle (as seen in the 1985 logo) in white zooms out as the arc is drawn with a bright light, as well as the text ''Walt Disney'' (in a similar fashion to Walt's own signature) and ''PRESENTS'' below. Some copyright info fades in below, including the stacked byline ''WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED'', a certificate number, a logo for Disney Sound Recording, a notice reading ''DISTRIBUTED BY WALT DISNEY PICTURES'', and a copyright date for ''MMXIII" (2013).

Frozen (2013):

  • The opening theme plays over the logo and it doesn't begin after a few seconds.


Get a Horse! (2013 short, Closing):

  • It is grayscaled and filmed in 70mm, with "Disney" written in an older-looking signature font with an underline. Clarabelle Cow is seen leaping over the castle and leaves behind the trail of pixie dust... well, we HOPE it's pixie dust.

Maleficent (2014):

  • It starts as normal with the usual kingdom, but the castle is replaced with King Stefan's castle (with the textures from the 2006 castle), and the front side is entirely different. "Disney" is in silver with sparkles around it. It then changes into daytime, as the narrator starts the story while the camera starts zooming past the word and through the castle to reveal the kingdom which in the movie and the horizontal line of the original logo becomes the Kingdom of the Moors.

Feast (2014 short, Closing):

  • The logo is decorated on a plate, and the man from the preceding short squirts ketchup onto the plate, creating the arc over the castle.

Into the Woods (2014):

  • Opening: Sound effects accompany the logo's theme on this variation. It fades from black (similar to the On Stranger Tides variant, but without the fog). It is darkened and the fireworks are absent. The glowing pinpoint fades in, moving as usual, arcs over the castle becoming the moon and the sparkles disappeared early. The camera backs up to some leafless trees (hence the title of the film) as "Disney" without the sparkles fades in.


  • Closing: Same as the opening, but it starts at the arc being formed, omits the trees and moon, and is a bit darker. These variants were done by yU+co.



Frozen Fever (2015 short, Closing):

  • One of the tiny snowmen (from the preceding short) is standing on the right, and leaps over the castle from right to left, leaving a trail in the shape of the usual arc.

Cinderella (2015):

  • In the last few seconds when "Disney" zooms in, the entire logo transitions to daytime, with the castle similar to the one found at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, USA. Then, the camera pans up to follow two blue birds to the opening.

Tomorrowland (2015):

  • The castle is replaced with Tomorrowland's buildings and structures and the glowing pinpoint is replaced by an out of control flying machine.

The Jungle Book (2016):

  • The logo is reanimated traditionally except it takes place in Disneyland, Anaheim, California, USA and the music is rearranged. "Disney" is in orange. When the word "Presents" (in the same style as the opening credits of the 1967 film) fades in under "Disney", the music segues into the rearranged version of "Jungle Beat" as it zooms out into the realistic jungle for the opening title as it darkens out.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016):

  • After a few seconds when "Disney" fades in, the camera pans up away from the logo to the night sky.

The Finest Hours (2016):

  • Opening: The logo is sepia-toned.
  • Closing: Same as the opening, but it starts at the arc being formed.

Inner Workings (2016 short, Closing):

  • The camera pans right from the end of the closing credits to a sunset beach rendition of the logo with the castle made out of sand. "Disney" in white fades in at the bottom as the last part of the short's song "California Loco" plays.

Beauty and the Beast (2017):

  • The music begins a second before the logo begins. Like the Into the Woods variant, it fades in as the camera pans down. It is set in France, complete with the town of Villeneuve and The Prince's Castle (with the lights on, meaning that the masquerade party begins in the following prologue), although the river has the usual shape. The sky is an extremely dark nighttime sky, and the fireworks explode in yellow. The glowing pinpoint is different and arcs as usual with a different trail. "Disney" fades in the same time as the front sparkles around it. When the music ends, the text & sparkles fade out and the camera pans back a little bit more to the bush of the red enchanted roses. The Enchantress' hand picks the middle rose up and she moves to one of the petals of the rose, transitioning into the prologue. An open-matte variant of this logo exists on likely TV airings of the film.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017):

  • The logo is tinted dark blue, with storm clouds and real thunder added to the sky and the fireworks, glowing pinpoint and the front sparkles are all absent. "Disney", in the style of the Maleficent variant, fades in.

The Last Warrior (2017; Russia):

  • The logo animates as usual but the front side and flag are different, with an entirely different entrance & the water is still. As the glowing pinpoint moves, a house with chicken legs leaps from the right side, jumps over the river & the lands on the other side. The house looks at us briefly before leaving. The sparkles that surround "Disney" are absent.

Coco (2017):

  • The logo plays as normal, but the firework sounds are absent, and the fanfare is done in Mariachi style.

A Wrinkle in Time (2018):

  • The logo plays as usual. After the music ends, the logo suddenly reverses colors with a wormhole effect. Later, the background is the galaxy of stars which moves like a kaleidoscope with the top part of the castle in which the castle itself (which glows in blue) starts deforming. The front returns to normal, but "Disney" is in copper orange and becomes the same size as the 16:9 logo, which fades in. After a couple seconds, the logo wormholes again then suddenly cuts to the film's opening shot.

Incredibles 2 (2018):

  • An entirely different fanfare is used, by Michael Giacchino. The entire logo is reanimated in 2D and is in the style of the 60's, in a red/yellow scheme. The main star twinkles in, while the rest of the stars and the background fade in. The camera pans down to Metroville, the fictional city in the world of The Incredibles. The castle has a blinking light at its tallest spire, while the fireworks are omitted. From the right side of the castle, the glowing pinpoint moves from behind and arcs over the castle. The yellow "Disney" text simply fades in without the sparkles. When it fades out, the castle's entrance shows the "2 I's" symbol (the film's official symbol), which also fades out shortly. The theme continues into the logo for Pixar.

Christopher Robin (2018):

  • The logo starts as usual, but when the camera goes around the castle, the kingdom fades to an aged paper background to blend into the prologue, as the castle & fireworks dissolve into traditional animation (styled after the book series illustrations of E.H. Shepard). The glowing pinpoint makes a different sound. The sparkles around "Disney" (in black) is absent, as the sparkles from above the castle transform into twinkling stars, which disappear after a couple seconds. The logo fades out and is replaced with the in-credit logo as the camera zooms slightly forward. The book pages turn to cover up and the camera pans right to start the prologue sequence of the opening credits.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018):

  • The logo is darkened, with the music rearranged by composer James Newton Howard and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel with pianist Lang Lang on the piano. The "Disney" text is slightly brighter than usual. When the music is finished, Drosselmeyer's owl comes in by swooping down from the sky above the left side of the castle. The "Disney" text with sparkles fades out, and the camera turns left to follow the owl into a snowy setting of Victorian-era London at sunset for the movie, establishing the opening shot.

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018, Closing):

  • The closing logo animates as usual, with the song "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, which was known in the internet as "Rickroll", fading out and Ralph talking over it. At the last second, it very abruptly cuts to the previous installment's closing logo variation as the screen turns off.


Mary Poppins Returns (2018):

  • It starts normal, but is tinted in dark blue (similar to On Stranger Tides and Into the Woods variants). When the camera pans around the castle, various London landmarks can be seen. As the music ends, the camera backs up onto a road with lampposts, and several trees are on the grass.

Aladdin (2019):

  • The logo plays as normal (with "Disney" zooming in). When the last note plays, a light from the star at the left side of the castle brightens up to cover the entire logo, as the text becomes a shadow. When the light fades out, the castle becomes a big ship which has almost the same shape as the castle, and the text's shadow fades out.

The Lion King (2019):

  • Same as the version seen on The Jungle Book (2016), but without "Presents" underneath "Disney", the camera stops at the last notes, and the word "Disney" being still when it fades in. The music is complete without a transitional swerve, and the logo fades out once it's done.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019):

  • The standard castle is used here instead. Once the logo is complete, the camera pans up to the right-top corner, transitioning into the opening scene.

Lady and the Tramp (2019, Disney+):

  • The logo's music is rearranged in the movie's 1950s jazz music style, and the logo starts a few seconds after the music starts. When the glowing pinpoint almost ends, the entire logo becomes sepia-toned.

Noelle (2019, Disney+):

  • The logo starts normally, but is slightly darkened. When the “Disney” text fades in, it starts snowing. Also, the text is slightly transparent. After the music ends, the text and sparkles fade out, then the camera goes in a reverse movement of the original logo, and Santa Claus' sleigh flies past the camera. After the camera moves across the flag on the highest spire, the entire kingdom changes to the North Pole.

The Wonderful World Of Disney: The Little Mermaid Live! (2019)
  • The logo starts normally, but the "Disney" text does not fade in. Instead, Tinkerbell comes onto the screen and taps her wand on the castle, transitioning to the beginning of the special as she flies off.

The One and Only Ivan (2020, Disney+)

  • The logo plays normally, but after the music ends, it fades into a foggy glass window, with the castle as the texture on the window. After the onscreen text "Inspired by a true story" disappears, the window (with the castle's texture still on it) has been cleaned by Ivan, segueing to the beginning of the film.

Mulan (2020):
  • The logo starts normally, but after it pans down from the night sky, we see a drastically different background scenery that look like the farmlands seen in China. The castle has been changed to the one seen at Shanghai Disneyland (the Enchanted Storybook Castle). The "Disney" text is also in a bright gold color. The phoenix seen in the film flies and draws the arc before it fades out. Unlike the regular version, it is solely made by yU + co, who worked with Weta Digital in the regular version.

Once Upon a Snowman (2020, Disney+)

  • The castle and backdrop is covered in snow. Snow slopes are also seen on both sides, the river is now ice and the Disney text is blue and also covered in snow. After a second of the normal logo on screen, Olaf can be seen skiing on the right side, he then jumps up the slope and shouts "SKILL!" whilst forming the arc over the castle. He then lands on the slope on the left side and skis off screen.

Soul (2020, Disney+):

  • The logo plays as normal, but the fanfare is played in an off-key jazz fashion by Joe's band class.

Flora & Ulysses (2021, Disney+)

  • After the logo is complete, it then turns into a comic book design, which then transitions to different comic book pages, segueing into the beginning of the film. Additionally, the logo pre-comic transition uses brighter colors similar to the 2006-2011 variant, but with the Disney text instead.



Us Again (2021 short, Closing)
  • The logo is placed on a neon sign, with the castle being pink, the "Disney" text being yellow and the arc being green. The castle's design is similar to the 1985 logo.



Cruella (2021)
  • The logo is entirely in black-and-white, the sky is replaced with storm clouds with thunder brewing overhead while the London city is seen at the top of the river, and the Disney text is in a crimson red color. When the flag is revealed, Cruella can be heard laughing VERY quietly in the background.



Jungle Cruise (2021)
  • The "Nothing Else Matters" song is playing as the background music on the logo, the clouds in the logo are very dissipated, and the "Disney" text does not fade in while that and the arc are both a little higher than they should be. After a few seconds, the camera zooms down to the river under the water, starting the opening scene.


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