Remembering the 20th Century Fox Logo and Fanfare.

star wars

There are very few facts that we know about the new Star Wars movies. With Disney now owning Lucasfilm one thing is certain: for the first time since 1977, a Star Wars movie will open without the 20th Century Fox logo and fanfare. Will they come up with something new and memorable…


I doubt there are any Star Wars fans out there who doesn’t associate the 20th Century Fox logo and fanfare with Lucas’ saga. Unfortunately after Disney bought Lucasfilm, Fox lost the distribution rights and surely we won’t see their logo in front of the new movies.

The 20th Century Fox Fanfare was composed in 1933 by Alfred Newman, longtime head of Fox’s music department. In 1954, an extended version was created for CinemaScope films, and debuted on the film The Robe.

In the middle to late 1970s, the 20th Century Fox logo had all but been phased out. However, Lucas enjoyed the logo and Alfred Newman music so much that he insisted it be used for his Star Wars films. The fanfare and logo have, since then, enjoyed a rebirth in usage.

star wars


When John Williams signed onto the Star Wars project, one of his first moves was to compose the Main Title to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in the same key as the 20th Century Fox Fanfare. He has said before that it was truly meant as another extension of the fanfare, and it has since then been adopted by Star Wars film score buffs as part and parcel of the scores to Star Wars. 

Will Disney and Lucasfilm try and come up with something memorable as an opening for the new movies again scored by John Williams? It would be a fantastic move and I really hope they’ll do that. Let’s see what possibilities we have for a new opening.

The three companies involved with Episode 7 are Lucasfilm and Bad Robot as production companies and Disney as a distribution company.

So can we expect Disney to make a Star Wars themed logo as they did with Tron: Legacy and John Carter? By the way they did pretty good job with them:

 

Well the answer is – no. Disney used custom logo only for movies the company is producing. Tron: Legacy and John Carter are produced by Disney. Movies that are only distributed by Disney don’t get the company’s logo. That was the case with Avengers and the Marvel movies and that probably will be the case with the Star Wars movies too.

So probably we’ll be getting only the Lucasfilm and Bad Robot logos before the Episode 7 title sequence. And you may be certain that the title sequence won’t be changed. They wouldn’t dare.

Bad Robot is producing plenty of different movies and I doubt they’ll do a different logo animation just for Star Wars. They didn’t do it for Star Trek too. 
On the other hand now Lucasfilm has a different owner and I won’t be surprised if they do change their logo appearance (similar to what happened to Marvel).

So hopefully we would get a new Lucasfilm logo scored by John Williams that will define the new era of Star Wars movies. 
Until then here’s something we’ll never forget:
 

Or…. They can always use this 🙂

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

27 thoughts on “Remembering the 20th Century Fox Logo and Fanfare.

  • December 9, 2013 at 2:40 pm
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    It may take some getting used to, but it’s not the end of the world. I’ve always associated the Fox logo/fanfare with the Alien franchise too (for me, it’s not just a Star Wars thing).

  • December 9, 2013 at 2:51 pm
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    It’s kinda sad, I mean I can imagine sitting there, then the theatre goes dark, then that 20th century fox fanfare plays, and then I wet myself in excitement as I realise I’m actually watching episode 7. But now it just won’t quite be the same with the Disney one. But that moment the star wars logo jumps on the screen and the main star wars theme starts, I will then wet myself. Well, as long as they still keep that crawl styled opening in, which I’m 99% they will.

    • December 9, 2013 at 3:10 pm
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      I doubt we’ll see the Disney logo before the title sequence.

    • December 9, 2013 at 6:52 pm
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      Why wouldn’t we see the Disney logo before the title sequence? They didn’t spend billions buying up LFL only to not take a big ol’ corporate whiz on the screen before the movie begins.

      Of course the Disney logo will be there, probably with the usual “When You Wish Upon A Star” instrumental passage. And no, it won’t have anywhere near the same impact as the 20th Century Fox fanfare.

      Not the end of the world, of course, but certainly a little bit of old school joy chipped out of the experience.

    • December 9, 2013 at 7:20 pm
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      Although I agree with you about the inferiority of any logo and fanfare before a Star Wars movie besides 20th Century Fox, but as Viral Hide has said, “Disney used custom logo only for movies the company is producing. Tron: Legacy and John Carter are produced by Disney. Movies that are only distributed by Disney don’t get the company’s logo. That was the case with Avengers and the Marvel movies and that probably will be the case with the Star Wars movies too.” We’ll probably get a brief shot of their logo, but I really don’t think they’ll display their name in flashing lights before the title sequence, or as you so eloquently put it: “a big ol’ corporate whiz on the screen before the movie begins.” hahaha.

    • December 9, 2013 at 7:25 pm
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      Disney spent the same amount of money for Marvel. Have you seen a single Marvel movie with the Disney logo? The answer is no. That’s why I think they won’t use it with Star Wars too.

  • December 9, 2013 at 3:14 pm
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    I 100% agree it will not be the same. It’s a big part of the theater experience, but it’s also not the end of the world, as the Anon above has mentioned. At least there’ll still be that short, anticipation-building pause between “A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away,” and the Star Wars logo/theme. That is something that will never change about the Star Wars films and I’m glad of that.

  • December 9, 2013 at 3:27 pm
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    The author is incorrect… if you consider the 1.5 hour theatrical release of Clone Wars prior to the TV series, then no the 20th Fox logo was not at the beginning if the animated movie… that movie was distributed by Warner Brothers where their logo was at the beginning of the movie…

    • December 9, 2013 at 3:29 pm
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      However yes, the Fox logo will be missed… but not the end of the world……

    • December 9, 2013 at 3:46 pm
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      I don’t know about Warner. DIsney don’t put their logo in front of movies they distribute. Of course this is not set in stone. It’s just an observation.

    • December 9, 2013 at 3:48 pm
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      That movie is not considered, by any legitimate fan of the saga, as canon. Therefore, the author is most certainly correct. You’d really group that piece of garbage in with the six REAL Star Wars films?

    • December 9, 2013 at 4:06 pm
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      You do realize a lot of Star Wars fans don’t consider only the Clone Wars movie as “garbage”? Not that I’m one of them, but really, in some places you can’t bring up Star Wars at all without it resulting in the same old prequel bashing.

    • December 9, 2013 at 4:40 pm
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      And, normally, with very good reason. I’m aware that some fans really enjoy the Clone Wars and the prequels, but this is a different topic. What I’m saying is that the animated movie and TV series should not be considered as a legitimate part of the saga, even GL has said the same thing. Lucasfilm animation studios did not bother to label it as an real episode and therefore, it’s a stand-alone movie; not an installment and not to be categorized as canon with the six parts of the saga. It, essentially, should really be considered as fan fiction.

    • December 9, 2013 at 5:06 pm
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      I see where you’re coming from, though. It is a movie, it was theatrically released and it is under the name “Star Wars,” but there are just lots of other things to consider when making that distinction.

    • December 9, 2013 at 5:20 pm
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      This has been dopeyjoe, Canon Police. He’ll tell you until he’s blue in the face that the only “real” parts of this fictional saga are Episodes I-IV. All you fools who know anything about the EU, you’re losers because in joe’s opinion all of that stuff was fake and you all wasted your lives. Dopey wins!!!

    • December 9, 2013 at 5:21 pm
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      *VI

    • December 9, 2013 at 5:45 pm
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      I have absolutly nothing against the EU whatsoever. It’s full of incredible stories written by fans just like us, expanding on the saga we all love so much. I know the EU; I’ve read several of the novel series, comic series, played lots of the video games and I love what I’ve read and experienced through the hard work of those authors, illustrators, game developers and so on, but I certainly would not consider anything besides the 6 films as part of the legitimate saga, nor would an enormous majority of the Star Wars fanbase, or Lucas himself, for that matter. All of those details are fan-portrayals of implied events that were never shown to us by the films, and so the fans decided they’d continue the story themselves; some for the satisfaction of filling gaps in the story in their own way, some trying to get in on Lucas’ enormous fortune he acquired through the franchise, or both. These new movies will define for us exactly what happens after ROTJ no matter what happens in the EU. I guarantee that most of it will be contradicted by events taking place in episode VII. Sorry I step in to state my opinion, but afterall, that is the purpose of these threads, is it not? Call me out all you want, you’re just making yourself look like a fool. I’m just bored at work and enjoy discussing these topics.

    • December 9, 2013 at 8:25 pm
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      You are entitled to your opinion but that’s all it is. What you consider “legitimate” is 100% subjective. I personally prefer if fans can just enjoy whatever stories they want without feeling the need to delegitimize material that others may prefer. It’s all just fiction really.

    • December 9, 2013 at 8:30 pm
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      You’re certainly right about that. I can’t help but get carried away, especially while trying to pass the time at the office. My wording can certainly be quite condescending at times and that’s really no way to be on a site like this. It’s all about discussing something none of us really know to much about at this point. Who’s right and who’s wrong really doesn’t matter.

    • December 9, 2013 at 8:55 pm
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      Yeah, I agree. I really do hope Episode VII is decent although personally my hopes are pretty low (mostly since I didn’t enjoy the newer Trek movies). It gives me the feeling that this new trilogy might not be for me but I’d love to be pleasently surprised.

    • December 9, 2013 at 9:14 pm
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      I strongly believe that you will be. If you ask me, this trilogy is fool-proof. With Kasdan, who co-wrote ESB and Abrams, who has been an enormous fan of the OT since he first saw them back in ’77 writing the screenplay, we know it’s highly unlikely that it’s going to disappoint. We’ve also seen evidence of Abrams extinguishing potential let-downs and making necessary additions and adjustments to ensure that this trilogy will be nothing short of incredible. So far, we’ve really seen nothing but good signs that Abrams really knows what he’s doing and will do anything his power to not fuck this up. I really don’t think he’d risk ruining the franchise that inspired him to start his career in film making. I mean, he turned the directing job down because he knew he had already made a head-first dive into Trek, but only because he had never dreamed of being asked to direct Star Wars. He considers himself a “late-in-life” Trekky, having been paid a hefty sum to direct those movies. He also knew that if he were to ever botch up Star Wars, he’d never live it down. That alone is enough incentive for a Star Wars fan of his caliber to make the new trilogy satisfactory to his fellow fans. I have nothing but the utmost faith in his vision for these new movies and not a shred of doubt taints that faith. It’ll take something really stupid for him to run this into the ground.

    • December 9, 2013 at 9:50 pm
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      Here’s hoping but talk is cheap. I get that JJ wasn’t really a Trekkie (neither am I) but I thought that blowing away the timeline in one movie and then shoehorning Khan into a second was lazy writing. I mean Spock screaming Khan’s name after Kirk dies in the reactor was cheesy role reversal and Kirk being resurrected by Khan’s blood seemed like BS even for sci-fi. Consider my fingers crossed.

    • December 9, 2013 at 10:12 pm
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      Oh yeah, I honestly wasn’t too keen on those movies, but I’m not too keen on Trek to begin with. I was pissed that we didn’t get to see Kirk ring out his signature “KHAAAAAN.” Keep in mind, though, that the difference here is that Abrams, being a Star Wars fan, didn’t have a say in the material in the screenplay for the new Trek movies, nor do I think he really cared. His duty as director was to focus on the film’s organization. He just had to work with what he was given. As far as the new Star Wars movies are concerned, he has the opportunity to bridge the writer/director gap and hold most of the creative freedom under his belt. I have hope in this. Like I said, he wouldn’t risk botching it up. There’s just too much at stake.

  • December 9, 2013 at 3:39 pm
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    Hey Viral Hide, tomorrow Tue Dec 10th on ABC (owned by Disney) has been advertised that there will be “A Star Wars audition” on the Rachael Ray show. I’m sure this will be anything but substantial but I do feel Disney is using subtle means through its subsidiaries to keep that awareness going. Every time I catch even the slightest of nods to star wars I have noticed wether or not it is a commercial or some other media source you can usually find the link to Disney quickly. Anyway just a heads up. And thanks for what you do happy holidays.

  • December 9, 2013 at 5:49 pm
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    i imagine something like a star destroyer or the death star 2 on the sky and while the camera is getting away we can see the disney castle approching but soon we find out that its a coruscant building or something like the jedi temple or i dont know… and than…”Walt Disney”!

  • December 9, 2013 at 7:05 pm
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    I’ts known some directors and companies have asked to use some music for another company projects.
    I can imagine Bad Robot with 20th music intro. It could be cool.

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