Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production studio of Disney Studios Content, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit, and is based at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Animated films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios are also released under this brand. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the films produced by Walt Disney Pictures.
Meaning and history
The initial versions of the logo were drawn by Walt Disney himself. In his youth, he worked as a designer in an advertising agency, and later became a cartoonist, so he had an excellent artistic experience.
The company logo is part of the credits and adorns the entrances to popular theme parks. But for the first 48 years, Disney had no distinctive sign: viewers only saw “Walt Disney Pictures Presents” or “Walt Disney Presents” on the screen. Sometimes they were complemented by the Mickey Mouse profile, which in the animated version circulated and changed color. In 1937, the phrase “Walt Disney Pictures” began to be used as a logo. It’s still relevant, although the designers have made small changes to it.
In 1985, the castle was featured on the emblem, an integral part of the brand’s visual identity. He first appeared in the credits of The Black Cauldron and even then he seemed very recognizable, because the inspiration for him was the castles of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.
The drawing was constantly transformed. At first it was a two-dimensional image, drawn with white horizontal lines. But technology has evolved, so Walt Disney decided to show his audience that he is staying current and that his graphics meet the highest quality standards. In this, it was aided by a three-dimensional logo, which was commissioned by Pixar. Viewers first saw the modernized design in 2006 when the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was released.
1937 – 1948
The debut logo is one of the personal signatures of the famous cartoonist. The designers stylized it and expanded it to the size of the brand. The inscription is made with combined uppercase and lowercase letters. The capital letters ‘W’ and ‘D’, which are crooked, and the lower case ‘i’ and ‘y’, which visually recall a mouse’s ears and tail, are unique, like a clue to the main cartoon character Mickey Mouse.
1948 – 1979
After 10 years, the artists changed the style of the logo, so the “Walt Disney” inscription, although it looked handwritten, did not have an italic slope.
1972 – 1983
Parallel to the general logo, a study was launched at that time. It was a 1937 version with “Productions” written across the bottom. The additional word is written in a smooth typeface from the Sans Serif category.
1983 – 1985
During this period, there was a variant with the word “Productions” with serifs. The font is close to the classic universal. But the upper inscription has not been modified: it is still in the Waltograph font.
1985 – 2006
In the mid-80s, the graphic part was added to the text part. This is the castle above the phrase “Walt Disney.” The film studio chose it as a fairy tale symbol. The palaces are represented in the form of horizontal stripes and are surrounded by a massive arch. A triangular flag is visible on each tower.
2006 – 2011
In 2006, the developers proposed an emblem with a clear display of magical castles: the stripes disappeared, realistic details appeared, wide-open doors and a shooting star as a hint that the film studio embodies the most fabulous wishes. The word “Productions” has been shortened with a new uppercase font and the letters “Walt Disney” have been shortened slightly.
2011 – Present
The current version is exactly the same as the previous one, except for the inscription. Now, instead of the full version, an abbreviated one is used, just “Disney”, the name of the founder of the cartoon company.
The new emblem is decorated with towers, windows, balconies and flags. The animated star leaves a long arc-shaped line. But the creators did not limit themselves to this alone and over time added even more details. So there were festive fireworks and clouds that expressed the magic of the brand. The castle, in turn, symbolizes romance, love and a fairy tale.
But with the release of Toy Story, there have been changes in the world of cartoons. The animators began to accompany each cartoon with their version of the logo, so that the image corresponded to the plot. For example, in Maleficent it looks a lot like Cliffside Castle, and in Tron it looks like a city of lights.
Color and Fonts
The graphic part of the logo appeared in 1985. It became the image of a fairytale castle, as the animation studio is associated with magic, princes, princesses, kings and queens. At first, the palace seemed scratched, but then another image appeared, more tangible and realistic. As intended by the designers, it still changes depending on the plot of the cartoon or movie.
The colorful image is accompanied by the phrase “Walt Disney Pictures.” The company name is also found on early versions of the emblem, although the style has changed markedly since 1937. There is an opinion that the phrase “Walt Disney” is nothing more than a personal signature of the owner of the brand. But some are willing to argue about this, because on old letters and postcards the famous animator’s autograph looks completely different.
As it turned out, Disney, like many cartoonists, had several signatures at once, including Roman or printed. In addition, he was constantly improving them, in much the same way as changing the Mickey Mouse design. Until the early 1970s. The logo featured one of the earlier versions: with sloppy lines and connecting letters. Later, a few years after Walt Disney’s death, the new leaders decided to use a more original version.
The studio owner left a lot of handwriting samples. On the basis of them, the designers developed a universal, most likely, hyperbolic and stylized verbal sign. And they chose the most memorable signature with the strange letter “D”. The remaining characters are also unusual: “T” looks like “Y”, and the dot above “I” looks like a large circle crossed out diagonally.
The media conglomerate never had an official font, but in 2000 Justin Callaghan’s typographer tried to recreate it based on existing letters. He developed two versions of the Waltograph: bold and regular with lowercase and uppercase letters. The Walt Disney Company noted that if Mickey Mouse were to commit to writing memoirs, he would definitely choose the Waltograph font.