Touchstone Pictures/Summary (2024)

Background: Touchstone Pictures (formerly "Touchstone Films") was established by The Walt Disney Company in 1983 to produce and distribute more adult-oriented films. Operating as merely a brand and not a separate company, Touchstone became a dominant force between its establishment in the 1980s to the early 2000s, counting among its successes Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Three Men and a Baby, Adventures in Babysitting, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Color of Money. However, the company suffered a halt in 2009, when two blows were dealt to the company. First, the new Disney chairman Rich Ross trimmed the number of films Disney released in a year to eight. This business plan resulted in planned sequels for Touchstone hits being cancelled, and many more flops to come for Disney in general (he left after the failures of John Carter and Mars Needs Moms); the last Touchstone film released solo, without distributing for others, was You Again. Meanwhile, Disney released its last attempt at an adult-oriented but family-friendly film, Old Dogs. The film, a box office hit but a massive critical flop, led to Disney getting out of producing such movies in general. After all this, Touchstone began merely distributing films for Lucasfilm, Miramax, and DreamWorks, as well as foreign films and films Disney had no faith in. The critical and commercial failure of Strange Magic spelled the end for Touchstone, as only two films were released since then, Bridge of Spies and The Light Between Oceans. DreamWorks has since gone back to Universal for distribution.

1st Logo (March 9, 1984)[]

Nicknames: "Thunderball", "Thunderball of Boredom", "Touchstone Thunderball"

Trivia: The logo was designed by Jerry Kuyper of Landor Associates.

Logo: On a black/salmon gradient background, we see a blue ball with 2 yellow thunderbolts cut into it diagonally. Underneath it is the dark blue text:

T O U C H S T O N E

F I L M S

Variant: On 4:3 full screen prints of Touchstone's debut release, Splash, the logo is shown in both open matte and 1.37:1 "Academy" ratio, revealing more of a black/salmon gradient background.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. This was only seen on Touchstone's debut release, Splash. Some late-80s to mid-90s VHS prints plaster it with the early version of the 3rd logo.

Editor's Note: This was most likely a placeholder logo, as Disney introduced the Touchstone name and logo less than a month before the release of Splash, which explains its static nature. The pink color scheme for the background screams 1980s.

2nd Logo (September 29, 1984-March 22, 1985)[]

Nicknames: "Thunderball Shattering Light", "Thunderball II", "Touchstone Thunderball II"

Logo: It starts out on a blue background. The blue color shrinks into a ball on a dark background and zooms out into the upper center portion of the screen. After it heads toward the background, it flashes and turns into the typical thunderball, and the whole background lights up with "TOUCHSTONE FILMS" at the bottom in navy blue text. Essentially, it's an animated version of the last logo.

Variant: On fullscreen versions of Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, as that film was shot in 2.35:1, the logo was squeezed vertically to fit the standard TV aspect ratio, so the circle became an vertical oval.

FX/SFX: Early CGI.

Music/Sounds: A "wind-blowing" sound followed by a "chime" during the flash part of the animation. In other cases, it's silent.

Availability:Extremely rare. Only known to appear on 2 films: Country and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. It also appears on their respective DVD and Blu-ray releases.

Editor's Note: A notably wasted logo. It would actually be an effective piece of art, if it didn't show its age.

3rd Logo (August 9, 1985-October 17, 2003)[]

Nicknames: "The Snake", "Thunderball III", "Touchstone Thunderball III", "Thunderball Snake"

Logo: On a black background, a blue oblong moves from the right side of the screen to the left. As it shrinks to the left of the screen, the stacked text "TOUCHSTONE PICTURES" slides next to it. After the oblong morphs into a blue ball, the text shines from right to left before hitting the ball. After the text hits the ball, the usual thunderbolt appears on it.

Variants:

• For the first two years of this logo's use, "FILMS" was seen instead of "PICTURES". The "shining" of the letters is also difficult to see. This version appeared on My Science Project, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Off Beat, Ruthless People, and The Color of Money.
• The positioning of the logo varies. Earlier variants were in the middle; for the rest of the logo's run, it was on the bottom.
• In its later years, the logo was enhanced with a motion blur effect added when the logo slides, and a slightly larger shine. This variant can be seen on movies like Runaway Bride (1999), Unbreakable, Gone in 60 Seconds or Veronica Guerin. However, some films still use the original version.

• At the end of a French television broadcast of Six Days, Seven Nights on the Chérie 25 network, a shortened version was used (most likely as a result of time compression), which starts with the text shining and also cuts to the 2006 Buena Vista International Television logo before it fades out.

FX/SFX: The "flash" and the "electricity", but otherwise pretty good 2D animation, (sometimes 3D during the logo's later years) from Walt Disney Productions (now known as Walt Disney Animation Studios).

Music/Sounds: A tune that begins with synthesized bells, ending in a "twang" when the circle and thunder meet, composed by John Debney.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• The closing logo is normally silent, but sometimes has the closing theme ending over it.
• Sometimes, it has the opening theme starting over it or have it completely silent.
• Other times, it starts off silent, and when the oblong morphs into a blue ball, the opening theme starts over the second half.
• On some movies, like The Color of Money, 3 Ninjas, and The Waterboy, the opening theme starts over it to sync up with the animation.
• On The Sixth Man, the theme ends abruptly as the "twang" is replaced with the start of Doug E. Fresh's version of "Superstition" that continues over the Mandeville Films logo and into the opening credits.
• In later years, the theme was rarely used, at a point that starting in the early 2000s, it was mainly mostly used on Spyglass Entertainment productions.

Availability: Common. Found on many movies produced by the company during this time, and considering its long period of use. Notable films with this logo include Ed Wood, Ernest Scared Stupid, and Double Take, among others. This logo wasn't seen at all on Gangs of New York, released on December 20, 2002 and makes a surprise appearance on Veronica Guerin, released on October 17, 2003. It is unclear if either this logo or Buena Vista International appears on international prints of The Hurricane, though some European DVDs contain the home video variant of this logo. It was also seen on the original version of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, though newer prints have it plastered with the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo starting with the 2006 3D re-release. It can still be found on pre-2006 DVD and VHS releases of said film.

Editor's Note: Since this logo uses cel animation, the logo wasn't that bad when it made its debut back in the mid-1980s, but in the later years of the logo's use, it started to look worn out. This logo however, is a favorite of many, mainly due to the creepish music.

4th Logo (August 2, 2002-September 2, 2016)[]

Nicknames: "Thunderball IV", "CGI Golden-Light Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball IV", "CGI Touchstone Thunderball"

Logo: On a black background, the lightning bolt from the previous logo streaks in. It zooms back onto a 3D sphere. After that, the text

TOUCHSTONE

P I C T U R E S

in the style you see here zooms out, at first a shadow then is lit up.

Trivia: This logo was made by Picture Mill.

Variants:

• Sometimes, the logo is tinted blue.
• Beginning in the late 2000s, the logo has a more orange tint to it.
• On 4:3 prints of films, the logo is shown in open matte.

FX/SFX: Zooming out of the flash. Great CGI from Picture Mill.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo. Usually, it uses the film's music or silence. On some films, such as Under the Tuscan Sun, the synth chord in the background and the final note are removed and a different synth note sustains itself.

Music/Sounds Variant: Composer James Newton Howard, who did the music for Signs, wrote a theme to be specifically used for the logo's first appearance there. Although it wound up unused, it was later featured in its expanded score album. It might have been created as a main theme for the logo in general, but this remains unknown.

Availability: Seen on all Touchstone releases starting with the debut of Signs in 2002. Despite the logo appearing as early as 2002, the previous logo continued to be used until 2003, where this logo's use became more widespread, starting with Bringing Down the House, released on March 7, 2003. Also seen at the start of DreamWorks films starting with I Am Number Four, and at the end of trailers for those films, as well as American prints of The Wind Rises.

Editor's Note: Great CGI. However, it's not as memorable as the previous logo. Also, the previous theme doesn't fit with the logo, which is probably why it was rarely used.