Turner Entertainment Co.

Logo descriptions by Lee Cremeans, Sean Beard, James Fabiano, Matt Williams, Stephen Cezar, and OZ_Paramount87
Logo captures by Eric S., V of Doom, RedheadXilamGuy, LogicSmash, and OZ_Paramount87
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, thehugetvfan, TheMisterFree, and indycar
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, mcydodge919, Peakpasha, and Evan Lechowicz

Background: The Turner Entertainment Company (commonly referred to as "Turner Entertainment Co.") was established on August 4, 1986 by media mogul, Ted Turner, initially being a media distribution subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System to oversee its film and television libraries after its ultra short-lived acquisition of MGM/UA Entertainment Co. (now "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc," and "United Artists Corporation" respectively, which are now owned by MGM Holdings Inc.). The company was formerly responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution, although since TimeWarner (now "WarnerMedia") acquired Turner Broadcasting in 1996, it has since been an in-name only subsidiary and copyright holder of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

1st Logo
(1987-2001)

Nicknames: "The Blue/Green Globe", "The CGI Globe", "Planet Turner"

Logo: On a blue/violet gradient CGI starfield, an oblong blue marquee with gold trim with the word "Turner" in silver, fancy letters and the right arm of the "T" extended over the other letters, and the left arm curled; this is the same as the Turner print logo moves in, close to the screen from the right. The camera turns left to follow it, and it approaches a green globe, like a planet or moon, positioned in the top left and lit from there and behind. As it approaches, it zooms out and turns its left side (the camera's right) in away from the camera, eventually settling in front of the globe as the camera movement stops.

Variants: There are two versions of the graphic; one with a large globe at the top left and smaller (in proportion) marquee that faces us at an angle at the end, and one with a smaller globe at the top right and longer, more expanded marquee that faces us head-on. The former is most commonly used as the short version. And keep these color variations in mind too:

Red/violet starfield, violet/white/gold marquee, blue planet facing the left, marquee sweeps at a moderate speed after about a second, facing the camera at an angle.
Blue starfield, blue/white/gold marquee, bluish-green planet facing the left, marquee sweeps at a moderate speed after about a second, facing the camera at an angle.
Blue starfield, green/white/gold marquee, bluish-green planet facing the left, marquee sweeps quickly as soon as it fades in, facing the camera head-on. A matted widescreen version of this variant also exists.
Blue/violet starfield, green/white marquee, bluish-green planet facing the right, marquee sweeps at a moderate speed after about a second, facing the camera head-on.
Blue/violet starfield, blue/white/gold marquee, bluish-green planet facing the left, marquee sweeps slowly after about 3 seconds, facing the camera at an angle.
Violet/red starfield, violet/yellow marquee, blue planet facing the left, marquee sweeps quickly as soon as it fades in,facing the camera at an angle.
There is an "enhanced"/videotaped version shown in widescreen. It had more stars at the beginning, an expanded marquee, the interior of the "Turner" text has more reflections and appears to be shinier, the shining effects on the lettering aren't as cheesy, and the animation in general is much smoother.
Sometimes, the logo is shown in black & white.
On some occasions, chyroned text is shown beneath the logo; one version says "A Turner Entertainment Co. Presentation", another says "Listed on the American Stock Exchange".

FX/SFX: The starfield, logo and globe, all decent mid-late 1980s CGI.

Music/Sounds:

The standard variant features a triumphant 10-note orchestral fanfare, with a flourish as the logo first appears.
The more common short version of this logo features a 5-note synthesized theme.

Music/Sounds Variants:

A high tone variant of the long version can be found before the short film The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story on TCM.
A low tone variant of the short version on the Top Cat episode "The 1,000,000 Derby" on Boomerang. A low tone version of the long version can be found on the 2002 DVD print of Logan's Run.
On some Turner shows aired on Canada's Teletoon, the logo plays its extended version, but the closing theme plays for half of its length. The other half plays the short logo's music. This was probably done to cover up HB logos. This also happened on some Russian and Arabian airings of The Tom and Jerry Show (1975 version).
A silent version is seen on early 2000's TV Land airings of Gilligan's Island and the VHS of the colorized version of The Philadelphia Story.

Availability: Rare in its original version and common in the warp speed version.

This was once found on many movies and shows from the Turner library, though many of the shows have since passed on to Warner Bros. Television Distribution or Telepictures Distribution, and may or may not be plastered over.
The long version appears before several short films on TCM (usually preceded by a TCM Extras bumper), but is usually replaced with the current TCM logo on feature films. It also appeared on a few DVDs from Warner Home Video.
The print logo itself continued to be used until 2015, when they introduced a new print logo.
The short version can be seen on Boomerang's prints of The Jetsons (even remastered prints retain it), Top Cat, two Jonny Quest episodes: "Arctic Splashdown" and "Curse of Anubis", two episodes of SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, and the end of A Flintstone Christmas and Canada's Teletoon Retro airings of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo. This also is occasionally seen on The Flintstones, when aired on Me-TV, and on Italian overseas prints of Casper & The Angels.
This was seen on episode 3 of Josie & The Pussycats In Outer Space on The Warner Archive DVD release.
The intro logo can be seen on Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, as well as at the end of the 1966 How the Grinch Stole Christmas! special on Cartoon Network.
The enhanced version was recently found on films like Nine 1/2 Weeks and Oxford Blues on the Encore networks, and can be found on the original DVD's of Poltergeist, The Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Story (it was also spotted on a 2001 TNT airing), Logan's Run, How The West Was Won, a 1998 VHS of Gone with the Wind, and a 2000 VHS of Shaft (1971), among other pre-1986 MGM films from MGM/UA Home Video, MGM Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video.
The short version was also sighted at the end of a Huckleberry Hound cartoon on Boomerang in 2001 (which was odd, as it aired in a three-hour block).
The original version is also seen on the Tom & Jerry Kids tapes.
The long version has recently appeared on an airing of Hey There, It's Yogi Bear on the Australian TV channel "GO!" (now known as 9GO!) as well as a 2017 airing of Teahouse of the August Moon followed by "George the Lion".
Also seen on Galli Galli Sim Sim on Cartoon Network and Pogo in India.
The version with the planet on the right side and the green and white marquee was seen on a Taiwanese Video CD release of The Sea Wolf.
It can be seen at the end of all 5 episodes of Scooby-Doo! Where are You? on the DVD release "Original Mysteries", following the "Action" variant of the 1994 Hanna-Barbera logo.
The matted widescreen/green marquee version is only known to have appeared on the 1993 25th Anniversary VHS of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Editor's Note: A fantastic logo due to its CGI and fanfare.

2nd Logo
(January 1, 1988)

Logo: Just a still of the Turner logo on a white background, which is positioned center-left. There are segmented lines behind the logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: A snippet of the Droopy Cartoon "Drag-A-Long Droopy", which is an echoed gunshot after Droopy says the line "Exciting. Isn't it?".

Availability: It's seen only in the documentary Tex Avery: King of Cartoons.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo
(October 1988-December 4, 1993, 2001)

Nicknames: "Filmstrip Star", "Turner Star"

Logo: On a black background, a star fades in. The star is outlined by 5 stylized filmstrips. Then the words "TURNER ENTERTAINMENT CO." in a serif font fades in. Then the Time Warner byline fades in.

FX/SFX: Just the fading.

Music/Sounds: None. On some shows like Tom & Jerry Kids, it's the end title theme.

Availability: Ultra rare. Turner used this logo mainly as a print logo during this era, and any onscreen appearance is quite rare.

The Time Warner variant was seen on the 2001 special edition of the 1970 documentary film Elvis: That's the Way It Is.
The H-B/Turner combo is very rare and can be seen on seasons 2-4 of Tom & Jerry Kids. It is also seen on the documentary The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind.

Editor's Note: None.

Turner Entertainment Co.

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