Walt Disney Pictures logo

Disney1990 — Walt Disney Pictures logo, used only from 1990-2006.

The Walt Disney Pictures logo is the production logo appearing at the beginning of films released by Walt Disney Pictures. Though the logo has undergone several changes since its introduction in 1984, it almost always features a fairytale castle directly inspired by Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle.

Though some films feature a variation of the logo to match the film's theme and tone, the main production logo most often features a fanfare based on an arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star" from the 1940 animated feature, Pinocchio.

History

1985 logo

On a dark purple/blue gradient backdrop, a shower of light descends from the top of the screen, forming a stylized, segmented castle which is a white/purple gradient. The segments seem to be spaced farther apart by the time the light reaches the bottom. Through the main gate of the castle, a white ball of light forms then extends out to form the words "WALT DISNEY" in the familiar corporate "Disney" logo font. The word "PICTURES" fades in underneath, and a white semi-circular line is drawn over the castle to the bottom left. This version was used until 1989.

This logo first appeared in 1985 with the film Return to Oz, altough this version was rather incomplete and silent. The full version with sound would later appear that same year in The Black Cauldron. It was also seen on many mid-to-late 1980s and 1990s prints of classic Disney movies before either the RKO logo or the Buena Vista logo. For 2001's The Princess Diaries, the jingle is orchestrated.

1990 logo

From 1990 until 2006, the background is a light blue, and the castle is a lighter blue. The line now stops when it hits the tip of the "W" in "Walt Disney".

1995 logo

In 1995, a CGI-customized version of the 1990 Walt Disney Pictures logo was introduced, appearing with a distinctive fanfare and is often followed by the then-current Pixar Animation Studios logo. This appeared in every Disney/Pixar animated films from Toy Story until Ratatouille, where in 2008 this CGI logo was retired in favor of the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo, beginning with WALL-E.

2000 logo

Walt Disney Pictures Flashlight Version (2000)

In 2000, Disney introduced a different logo, in which the screen was black and a glowing orange beam appeared on the screen and shone light on the words Walt Disney Pictures. The light then shines the glowing arch, revealing the castle and fades out in the end (the closing logo is still). It was seen on Remember the Titans, 102 Dalmatians, and the special edition of The Lion King, as well as the animated Disney films Brother Bear, and Dinosaur.

It was used for mostly live-action films, though it was used in a few animated ones (such as Dinosaur, Brother Bear, and the 2003 DVD re-issue of The Lion King). Though unlike the blue logo, where the castle stays as the screen fade outs, the orange logo wipes away as as the screen fades.

A shorter, modified version of this logo was also used for the Walt Disney Television logo.

2006 logo

In 2006, on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Disney introduced this CGI logo.

This logo began with a glowing star shining in the night sky, a la Pinocchio. The view then heads down to what appears to be the Magic Kingdom, complete with a sailboat on a river and a train going down a railroad track. Then, it heads high over Cinderella's castle, with fireworks going off. Eventually, it settles in front of the castle, in which the glowing arch flies over it, and the title appears at the bottom. They used this opening from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Man's Chest until Winnie the Pooh. However two movies had different openings, most notably Tron: Legacy and Prom.

Very often, the music in this logo is the modified version of "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio; though not the same one from the more popular "segmented castle" logo. However there are some exceptions, most notably in National Treasure: Book of Secrets and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (in the latter the music in the logo is a modified version of Alice's Theme).

Mike Gabriel conceived, storyboarded, did all development pieces, directed, and art directed the opening castle logo sequence of this logo^[1], with animation produced by New Zealand special effects studio Weta Digital.

2011 logo

In 2011, the Walt Disney Pictures branding was shortened simply to "Disney", starting with The Muppets. This logo was rendered by Cameron Smith and Cyrese Parrish. Although the opening of the logo remain the same but some movies used a different castle instead of Cinderella's, most notably Maleficent,Tomorrowland,The BFG,Beauty and the Beast,Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,Incredibles 2 and Aladdin. Also some of them used different backgrounds with Cinderella's castle, most notably Oz the Great and Powerful,Into the Woods, Cinderella,Christopher Robin and Mary Poppins Returns.

In The Jungle Book and The Lion King, Walt Disney pictures used a 2D style opening. This logo opening starts the same way as today's does with a shining star then heads down to what appears to be Disneyland complete with two fireworks going off while a sailboat and a train going down the railroad track. Then it heads high over Sleeping Beauty's castle, with fireworks going off.

Variations

Depending on the film, the logo is altered to fit the film somehow. Here are some examples:

The Black Cauldron: The castle is entirely in white, and the music is slightly different. This was the first movie to use this logo.
Cinderella (1988 video release): The entire logo is tinted in blue. But in 1995 video releases in the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection, this variant was plastered by 1990 variant of this logo.
Both Oliver & Company and The Little Mermaid used the 1985 logo for their theatrical release (and video in the Walt Disney Classics collection for The Little Mermaid released in 1990), however, the 1997 theatrical re-release of The Little Mermaid, as well as video releases in the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection (1996 for Oliver and Company and 1998 for The Little Mermaid) use the 1990 logo instead.
Ducktales the Movie: The logo is shorter and has a chorus.
101 Dalmatians (1992 video releases): The animation of this logo is slow and choppy, and the "shower of light" is not as apparent.
- In the 1996 Spanish video release, this variant was plastered by the 1985 variant of this logo, likely due to a plastering error. But it also appeared at the theatrical re-release of the film in 1985.
The Rescuers (1990 video): The logo is silent as it was formed then thunder was heard. Also, the tape uses the 1985 version of the logo instead of the 1990 version that would have usually been used for the tape. This plasters over the Buena Vista logo.
Inspector Gadget: The logo is altered to look more mechanized, and the white curved line is replaced by a gear.
Tarzan: After the "flash" that forms the Disney logo text, the background fades to that of a jungle.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (longer version): The 1997 laserdisc of this film ends with a short logo, but with a black background. (This is not on the current DVD of the film, which has the short logo at the end with the normal blue background).
Recess: School's Out: After the flash that forms the Walt Disney logo text, T.J., Mikey, Spinelli, Vince, Gus, and Gretchen are shown on each side of the castle, and they play out the rest of the theme with their kazoos.
Lilo & Stitch: The logo appears as normal but has a black background instead of the usual light blue background, and is followed by a 50's style alien abduction.
101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure: After the flash, puppies can be heard barking to the rest of the theme.
Teacher's Pet: The logo appears in the style of the film's creator, Gary Baseman, and utilizes the original recording of "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio, rather than the 1984 fanfare arrangement.
George of the Jungle 2: After the flash, a silhouette of George crashes onto the castle as he vine-swings, and the castle literally falls apart like a cardboard stand.
Some feature films from 1985-2006 such as Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Mulan have their respective films' opening music playing over the Walt Disney Pictures logo in place of the logo's usual theme music.
All movies released by Pixar up to 2007 use a different version of the logo (with the exception of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, which uses the 1990 logo instead). The Pixar version uses a computer-generated facsimile of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle and lacks the beam of light or segmenting, instead zooming out from the castle gates. Instead of "When You Wish Upon a Star", this production logo utilizes an original fanfare composed by Randy Newman.
Incredibles 2: The logo is animated in '60s-style 2D with a red color scheme, with some buildings on the left and a monorail goes by and a light on top of the flag pole blinks then it fades to a lowercase "i" then black.
The Jungle Book (2016): The logo is animated in a 2D style reminiscent to CAPS. The Tinkerbell arch is absent and the Sleeping Beauty castle takes the place of the Cinderella castle (a homage to the '90s logos). The logo then zooms out into the film.
The Lion King (2019): Much like with The Jungle Book, the logo is animated in a 2D that reminicent to CAPS, but this time it does the full logo.