Compiled by Jason Jones and Matt Williams
Logo Pictures by Eric S., V of Doom and naxo-ole
Editions by Bob Fish, Shadeed A. Kelly and Curiousgeorge60
Video captures courtesy by 21stCenturyRumBoon, Eric S. and Bob Fish



Background: This company was founded in 1918 by the Warner brothers; Harry Warner (1881–1958), Albert Warner (1883–1967), Sam Warner (1887–1927) and Jack L. Warner (1892–1978), Polish Jewish brothers who emigrated from Belarus to Ontario, Canada, being the third-oldest American movie studio in continuous operation, after Paramount Pictures, founded in 1912 as Famous Players, and Universal Studios, also founded in 1912. After, this company merged with Seven Arts in 1967, renaming it to Warner Bros.-Seven Arts; then, it was purchased by Kinney National Co. in 1969, which was established as Warner Communications in 1972 when it spun off its non-entertainment assets, due to a financial scandal over its parking operations. Since 1990, it's a subsidiary of Time Warner, formed as a joint venture between the conglomerates Time, Inc. and Warner Communications. AOL merged it in January 2001, renaming the company AOL Time Warner, but in 2003, the conglomerate's name was reverted to TimeWarner (with no space in between the words). Today, with the exceptions of some WB releases, like the WB film Sayonara (currently owned by MGM), the WB film Rope (currently owned by Universal) and the WB film Hondo (currently owned by Paramount), the pre-1948 catalog is held by Turner Entertainment Co., but all are still owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Visit the website at www.warnerbros.com


1st Logo
(1923-1929)

Nickname: "Brain Shield"

Logo: On a black background, a large, bizarrely shaped shield is seen, with a very wide top. The top part of the shield shows a picture of the Warner studio, the bottom having a squashed, stylized "WB". "A WARNER BROTHERS" is above the shield (with "WARNER BROTHERS" in an arc around the shield, ala the first Columbia logo), with "PRODUCTION" or "CLASSIC of the SCREEN" below.

Closing Title: Just the same logo, but in black background, and the words "The End" in both sides of the WB logo and "A WARNER BROTHERS PRODUCTION" below.

FX: None; it's a still logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare; the only evidence of this logo was seen on a Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary Trailer on 1998 Warner videos. However, it has appeared at the start of the film "The Jazz Singer" (1927), and was kept intact on the recently released 75th Anniversary DVD. This is retained on all extant silent-era Warner Bros films shown on Turner Classic Movies.

Scare Factor: Minimal, due to the strange design of the logo.



2nd Logo
(1929-1936)

Nickname: "The Early Shield", "Vitaphone Shield"

Logo: The words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC." appear, and below that "& THE VITAPHONE CORP." appears in a much smaller font, with the "VITAPHONE" using "electric" style letters. Below that is a very small WB shield (using the stylized WB seen in logo 1), and in script, "Present". Behind it there is the drawing of a flag, "waving" so it looks like it is in 3 sections. On the first one, "WARNER BROS." Appears, followed by the electric-letter "VITAPHONE" logo and on section 3, "PICTURES".

Closing Title: The closing variation has "The End" instead of "Present".

Trivia: The First National Company also used this logo, but modified with the words "FIRST NATIONAL" instead of "WARNER BROS. PICTURES". Also, on some features, only a very big banner saying "VITAPHONE", was shown, omitting the First National or the Warner Bros logo.

FX: None; this is a superimposed logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Very rare, preserved on any film from Warner Bros. from the period.

Scare Factor: None.



3rd Logo
(1936-1937)

Nickname: "Zooming Shield"

Logo: Over a cloud setting, a superimposed WB Shield design zooms up to the screen. The words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC. Presents" appear over the shield. For colorized releases, the cloud background is blue and the shield is yellow.

Closing Title: Superimposed in a special background, fades in the words "The End" in the same script on all the movies produced during these years, with various disclaimers.

FX: The shield zoom-in. Could it be that this is what inspired the Looney Tunes "Bullseye" opening titles? It's a possibility.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Extremely rare. Occasionally seen on Turner Classic Movies.

Scare Factor: Medium, on account of the really rough zoom-in and the shield's rather strange, elongated design.



4th Logo
(1937-1948/2006)

Nickname: "WB Shield"

Logo: Inside a shield, a more realistic version of the stylized "WB" as seen in logo3 appears. Over the shield is a banner that reads "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC." Below the logo is the word "Presents" in script. For color releases, this logo was sepia-toned.

Variants:

• For a number of releases, "JACK L. WARNER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER" was seen below the Warner Bros. Pictures banner.
• Starting in 1944 with To Have and Have Not, the later variation was introduced in which "PRESENTS" is now in the same font as the Warner Bros. Pictures banner.
• There is a colorized version of this logo; the background is blue, the shield's border, banner, and "WB" are yellow, and the inside of the shield is goldish red. It appears on brand-new colorized versions of B&W Warner releases including Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon.
• This logo was sometimes superimposed onto the opening credits of color Warner releases of the period like The Adventures of Robin Hood, as well as The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.
• On The Good German, there is a modified version of the 1937 "WB Shield" logo! The banner was now changed to "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" and the word "Presents" was replaced by "A TIMEWARNER COMPANY". This is one of the only WB movies to have the modified version of it.

Closing Title: Superimposed in a special background or sometimes in the last scene of the movie, fades in the huge words "The End" with font variating on the movie, the "WB" shield bug and "A WARNER BROS. PICTURE" in small letters below, but sometimes, due to the deal of WB with First National Pictures, the disclaimer was "A WARNER BROS.-FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE" or sometimes, shortened to "A FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE" with the WB shield bug intact.

FX: None; like most Warner logos, this is a static logo.

Music/Sounds: Usually the beginning of the movie's theme, or a majestic horn sounder.

Availability: Fairly common. Seen on Warner releases of the period, like Casablanca on Turner Classic Movies.

Scare Factor: None.



5th Logo
(1948-1967)

Nickname: "The Classic Shield" "The Golden Shield"

Logo: Same as before, only the design has been cleaned up a bit. The border of the shield,banner, text, and "WB" are now gold, and the inside of the shield is now blue. The banner phrase is now changed to "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" and is now gold. "Presents", in a gold script font, usually appears below. Also, the background is now a cloud skyline (much like the logos of 1984 on). This logo was also usually superimposed onto the titles of Warner features of this period.

Variants:

• On some three-dimensional color Warner releases, like House of Wax, Hondo, Dial M for Murder, The High and the Mighty, Battle Sky, and Rebel Without a Cause, the WB shield is in 3-D.
• There is a color version of an early variant that appeared on color Warner releases like The Big Trees and Rope.
• A sepia-toned variant of an early variant was spotted on the Warner version of Jack and the Beanstalk.
• On Them!, the 1953 3-D variant is in black and white; this version is on the DVD release as well.
• On the Alfred Hitchcock film Under Capricorn, the logo appears as usual and "Presents" is absent.

Closing Titles:

• 1st closing title: Was the same as above, seen only with the "A Warner Bros.-First National Picture" and "A First National Picture" disclaimers.

• 2nd closing title: Superimposed on the last scene of a movie or a special BG, the words "The End" with font variating on that movie fades in with the WB shield bug between two thick lines below. Sometimes, the following disclaimers were used:

1. "Distributed by Warner Bros."
2. "Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures"
3. "Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures"
4. "Produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures."

These disclaimers are seen sandwiched below "The End" and above the WB shield bug.

FX: None; it's a still logo.

Music/Sounds: Again, usually the beginning of the movie's theme music.

Availability: Seen on many Warner movies on AMC and TCM.

Scare Factor: None, as usual.



6th Logo
(1967-1970)

Nicknames: "WB-7", "W7"

Logo: Just a superimposed stylized-shield, with a combination of a W and a 7, representing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. The W7 is traced on-screen, ala the NBC Snake. Below the shield, "WARNER BROS.-SEVEN ARTS" is seen.

Closing title: After the "The End" and the credits, the words "Distributed by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts" are seen in the screen superimposed in the last scene of the movie or a special BG with the W7 shield bug below.

FX: The "trace"; sometimes done over the backdrop of a specific movie.

Music/Sounds: None, or the opening of the movie.

Availability: Rare. Might be seen on Warner Bros. films of the period though WB might replace it with a newer logo. The DVD release of Bullitt has the logo intact, however.

Scare Factor: Minimal. The logo looks weird, but nothing is scary.



7th Logo
(1970-February 1972)

Nicknames: "Shield Stretch", "The Kinney Shield"

Logo: Over a blue screen is an abstract shield (like those seen on WB movie posters in the '60s) in a golden color with a dark brownish color inside. A simple lettering of the WB appears at the upper part and a rectangle of the same colors appear at the lower part of the shield, reading "A KINNEY COMPANY". The word "PRESENTS" appears underneath the logo.

Variations:

• Other byline variants include "A Kinney Services Company", "A Kinney National Company", and "A Kinney Leisure Service".

• At the end of the film, we'd see the byline "Distributed by WARNER BROS." on top of a superimposed rendition of the company logo, reading "A Kinney Leisure Service".

• Some films had a 2-dimensional version of the shield, appearing in white over a black background.
• Others had the regular version superimposed over the opening credits.

FX: None; it's a still logo.

Music/Sounds: Again, the opening/closing theme of the movie's theme or it's silent.

Availability: As we all know, Warner was incredibly shoddy with logo preservation until recently. AMC and TCM showings of Warner movies MAY include this logo, but expect one of the more recent WB shield logos, most likely the Warner Communications and Time Warner (not Time Warner Entertainment) variations. Is seen on the Encore Westerns print of the John Wayne film Chisum! (1970), and on the legendary Visconti movie Death in Venice (1971).

Scare Factor: None; this logo is actually neat to see.



8th Logo
(February-September 1972)

Nickname: "WCI Shield", "Early WCI Shield"

Logo: The standard WB shield logo, without the banner. It is on a blue background with "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" underneath. "Presents", in script, may appear below.

FX: Still nothing, though that would change in a few short months.

Music/Sounds: Silence, or the beginning of the movie's theme.

Availability: Very rare. This was on only a few movies to begin with (notably Deliverance and The Candidate) and has usually been updated with the 1984 shield logo and its later variations, so it's hard to say.

Scare Factor: None.



9th Logo
(September 1972-1984)

Nicknames: The Big "W", "(\\')"

Logo: On a black background, a red abstract W consisting of 2 slanted elongated circles and a shorter elongated circle zooms in towards us. Around halfway through, the words "WARNER BROS" (in white Handel Gothic font) appear below it. The red logo overtakes the screen and a smaller white W zooms in. It stops at the middle of the screen and black square field, whose corners have been rounded and softened, fades in around the logo. "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" in the same font used for "WARNER BROS" fades in below. Most of the time, "PRESENTS" fades in below after that.

Variants:

• On 1975's Let's Do It Again, this logo has the smaller white \\' fading in when the logo is nearly there (not when the red has overtaken the screen), and no "PRESENTS" underneath the Warner Communications disclaimer.
• On the 1976 film All the President's Men, the logo is in black-and-white and "presents" is absent; this variant is on the DVD of the film.
  
• On Superman, a white \\' zooms in on a black background and stops in the middle. The words "RELEASED BY WARNER BROS." fade in below.

Closing Variants:

• The closing "Distributed by Warner Bros." logo has colors inside out, with the "W" in black and the field in white.
• An early version of this logo had different font in the text as well.
• Sometimes at the end of a movie, the word "PRESENTATION" appears below the Warner Communications byline, making the phrase "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY PRESENTATION".

FX: The zooming in of the W.

Cheesy Factor: Rather limited animation.

Music/Sounds: Usually silent, but some movies have the beginning of the movie's theme playing over it.

Availability: Warner Bros.' editing bug in the late 80's and early 90's meant that Warner Communications and Time Warner shield logos were seen over this logo. WB continues to plaster this logo with newer ones, even into the early 2000's, such as on The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, which had it replaced with the 2001 WB Family Entertainment logo. However, a few movies on Encore contain this logo (Oh, God! is one) after the 1993 WB logo. This logo can be seen on the Superman: The Movie DVD with a black background instead of a red background. Since this logo is plastered over with the 1984 WB logo on Twilight Zone: The Movie and The Shining, it is near extinction. The 2007 remastered edition of the Led Zepplin movie The Song Remains the Same (1973) retains this logo, and you can find this logo on early VHS and Betamax releases by WCI/Warner Home Video.

Scare Factor: Minimal; this is a favorite of many.



10th Logo
(1984-1998/1999-)


Nicknames: "The Time Warner Shield", "The Shield Returns", "Shield of Staleness"

Logo: Over a set of clouds, the WB shield appears (including the banner reading "Warner Bros. Pictures"), with the name of the owner at the bottom.

Bylines:

• 1984-1990: "A Warner Communications Company"
• 1990-1992: "A Time Warner Company"
• 1992-1998: "A Time Warner Entertainment Company"

Variant: For some of their earlier films, and for films that had this logo plastered on over older logos, the word "PRESENTS" faded in a couple of seconds afterward, like on \\' films.

Closing Variants:

• 1984-1998: The end logo, seen at the end of most movies features a superimposed WB shield (without a banner), much like the short lived logo from early 1972. The phrase "DISTRUBUTED BY WARNER BROS." appears aboove the shield with the owner byline at the bottom.
• 1992-2000: Another ending variation features the movie logo, but modified with the words "DISTRUBUTED BY WARNER BROS" above the shield..
• 2000-2001: Only the words "DISTRUBUTED BY" appears above the shield; the "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" text is redone. Some releases has the banner reading, "WARNER BROS." Also added is the URL byline, www.warnerbros.com, below the owner disclaimer.

FX: None; this is a still logo, except for the "Presents" fading in.

Music/Sounds: In most cases, silent, or the beginning of the movie's theme is used. For some of their first features, a loud and majestic horn sounder (a classic WB fanfare) is heard.

Availability: This logo is very easy to spot and has been plastered onto older releases of films. WB has eased up on this, however, and hopefully the older logos will be seen more. The "Presents" version can be found on National Lampoon's European Vacation. The one with the Warner Communications byline can be found on the DVD release of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, for example. However, the modified versions are seen on some Clint Eastwood movies like Blood Work and Zodiac.

Scare Factor: None; you'll just be annoyed by how many times you've seen it. :-)



11th Logo
(1998- )

Nickname: "CGI Shield"

Logo: A picture of the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank is seen with a gold tint. The picture "ripples" for a bit and then rotates, revealing that it is the WB shield, redone in CGI and reflecting the studio. The logo rotates towards us and zooms out to its usual position, with the company byline fading in underneath.

Bylines:

• 1998-2001: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
• 2001-2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company"
• 2003-: "A TimeWarner Company" (with "TimeWarner" in it's own logo font)

Variants:

• For this logo's first year, when the logo is zooming out, "75" and "YEARS" appear from behind the shield and move away to surround it. "Entertaining The World" fades in underneath followed by the Time Warner Entertainment disclaimer in white.
• A somewhat enhanced WB shield was spotted on the movies NASCAR on IMAX (2004) and Beowulf (2007).

Closing Variants:

• 1998-2001: The same superimposed variant from the last logo
• 2001-: A cross-modified version of the 1984 and 1998 logos, This closing logo features the 1984 shield with the banner inscrption updated to match that of the current opening logo; the words "Distrubuted by" appears over the shield with the URL disclaimer underneath the byline.

FX: Just VERY good CGI.

Music/Sounds: The original 75th Anniversary version of this logo used a wind-blowing chime fanfare. Starting in 1999, the music is now an 8-note piano tune that builds into a powerful, moving fanfare. The 1999 fanfare is based on the theme from Casablanca, "As Time Goes By".

Availability: You'll find this on most WB films from 1998 onward. Several classic films would have their old logos plastered with this one. Plus as it's normally found on the most recent releases. In most cases, the logo uses music, especially post-2001 when the AOL Time Warner byline version was used. The one with the AOL Time Warner byline can be found on pre-2003 films like Exit Wounds and The Powerpuff Girls Movie among others.

Scare Factor: None; you'll either love it or hate it. It's held up remarkably well over the past ten years it's been used.