Universal's Glass Globe

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Universal's Glass Globe; New Universal Logo
Topic Started: Mar 29 2006, 11:47 AM (1,188 Views)
mort bakaprevski	Mar 29 2006, 11:47 AM Post #1
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,433 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Well, this is the third site I've posed this question on. So far I've found one other person who remembers basically what I do... BUT, I want more!! The keys to the answer here are the Walter Lantz cartoons of the early 40's. If you saw any of them in a theatre (& I figure there are enough old fogeys here to fit that bill), you probably have the answer I'm looking for!! In all of the Universal color movies I've seen that were made during the period when they were using the glass globe (with stars) logo, none of these films started out with the logo. These included: "Phantom of the Opera", "Arabian Nights" & "Can't Help Singing" (I think)!! I know that "The Sting" utilized the old logo & it was rendered in something of a sepia tone. However, I seem to remember a Woody Woodpecker cartoon, from years ago, which DID start out with a color version of the subject logo. As I recall, it was kind of an ice blue color. Do any of you remember anything similar OR a full length feature from that era which had a color version of the logo?? Enquiring minds... etc.
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Frank Hale	Mar 29 2006, 12:56 PM Post #2
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	I believe the cartoon you’re thinking of was “Knock Knock” from 1940. You’re right, the logo was blue, but if memory serves, the globe was only about half-way through its spin when there was a jump cut to the main title card. I have this on laserdisc and can research it, if you’re really desperate to know.



mort bakaprevski	Mar 29 2006, 01:27 PM Post #3
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,433 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	The cartoon I seem to remember it from had a walrus who was trying to sleep. The only portion that I can recall had to do with smoke coming thru the four post supports of the bed which produced a calliope sound. Actually, a pretty funny cartoon for Lantz. Nah, it's not necessary to dig thru your stuff. I'm content that you seem to recall the same thing. What I really would like is someone (like me) who actually remembers seeing it in a theatre (preferably in a cartoon or feature OTHER than the one I saw)!!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Frank Hale	Mar 29 2006, 07:21 PM Post #4
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	From HollywoodLostandFound.Net: “The opening logo was in use by 1933 and both logos were subsequently used until 1936 when the Laemmles sold the studio. The new owners originally did not have a logo, opening their pictures with "The New Universal Presents..." Shortly, the plexiglass globe designed and built by future art department head Alexander Golitzen was photographed by John P. Fulton,ASC's special photographic department and Jimmy McHugh wrote his fanfare for it. ”A color version of this logo was never done, though a sepia tone version was used on the Walter Lantz cartoons the studio released prior to 1946. A static painting of the logo was used on the studio's first official three-strip Technicolor film "Arabian Nights" (1942) and no logo was on its subsequent color films.” That appears to be true. I looked at the blue logo on my copy of “Knock Knock” and it's merely the standard version shot through a blue filter. However, since Woody’s antagonists are Andy Panda and Andy’s Dad in this cartoon, and since Wally Walrus doesn’t make an appearance, I know your quest will go on.



mort bakaprevski	Mar 29 2006, 10:51 PM Post #5
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,433 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Quote: The opening logo was in use by 1933 and both logos were subsequently used until 1936 when the Laemmles sold the studio. I'm curious!! What dual logos is this referencing. The only logo I'm aware of between 33 & 36 is the globe with the plane flying around it!! Oh yeah, the Laemmles did NOT sell the studio. They lost it when they got a short-term loan for "Show Boat" which they could not pay back in time. Ironically, "Show Boat" (James Whale directing) went on to be a big hit & something of a permanent classic!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


rodney	Mar 30 2006, 03:02 PM Post #6
Charter Member Posts: 1,304 Group: Members Member #3 Joined: September 2, 2005	It's the same blue logo on both shorts. I know the cartoon you're speaking of, though the title escapes me.
	Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer!


Frank Hale	Mar 30 2006, 03:16 PM Post #7
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	The other logo he (Rick Mitchell) refers to is the ending one: the globe, “It’s a Universal Picture”, and sometimes a beam of light (from Mongo, no doubt). The whole article covers all the studios and is quite interesting, if you’re into this sort of thing.



mort bakaprevski	Apr 7 2006, 05:40 PM Post #8
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,433 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Hey, if you go over to the Serial Squadron (under Universal Serials) a very nice fellow, by the name of J. Theakston has published a scan of the blue globe. Beautiful!!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Frank Hale	Apr 10 2006, 05:03 PM Post #9
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	Noticed this weekend that 1939’s “You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man” featured the New Universal fanfare in a different key and a slower tempo. Was this in an evolutionary phase? An improvement, I think, or maybe I just liked that it was different. And why the hell do I care, since we're going to nuke Iran?



mort bakaprevski	Apr 17 2006, 05:00 PM Post #10
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,433 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Hey, here’s a neat site with lotsa different examples of the blue globe (with different intensities of blue) PLUS a lotta freeze frames from other cartoon companies: www.cartoonresearch.com/
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Ray Faiola	Jun 9 2006, 10:23 AM Post #11
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 48 Group: Members Member #109 Joined: May 30, 2006	I'm curious where the claim regarding Alexander Golitzen building the globe came from. Golitzen was under contract to United Artists from his entry to Hollywood until 1942. I suppose, if Golitzen built the Walter Wanger eagle for U.A. it is possible he might have been hired ad-hoc to build the globe. Still, I'm curious if Golitzen's name came up simply because he was associated with Universal or if there is some documentation for this credit.
	Classic Film Scores on CD http://www.chelsearialtostudios.com


Frank Hale	Jun 9 2006, 04:23 PM Post #12
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	I always figured Wanger’s eagle was borrowed from an old DeMille or Riefenstahl production! No, I just quoted the Mitchell article verbatim. He’s right on a number of other obscure facts that I happen to know about, however, and I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Kidding aside, Ray, I’m sure you know a hell of a lot more about this stuff than I do. Possibly you can communicate with the author through the website I referenced.



Ray Faiola	Jun 16 2006, 05:33 AM Post #13
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 48 Group: Members Member #109 Joined: May 30, 2006	Actually, there are many times I feel like dear old Sgt. Schultz!!!
	Classic Film Scores on CD http://www.chelsearialtostudios.com


mort bakaprevski	Jun 30 2008, 12:38 PM Post #14
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,433 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Hey, look what I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXhPqZg4gzg It's a little darker than I remember it, but I honestly thought I would never see it again. Interesting that the guy got it off a Twentieth Century Fox film instead of a Universal. This was the logo I saw when I first viewed DRACULA & FRANKENSTEIN at the Fox Theatre in Santa Ana, minny, minny years ago!!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Frank Hale	Jun 30 2008, 02:16 PM Post #15
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	Inneresting. I’ve never seen this before. Since they’re calling it “A Realart Picture” rather than a re-release, did this replace the standard Universal / Fox logos in the beginning of the films? Also never understood how Realart got to use a brand name previously used by Paramount in the 20’s. (Should also note that the Woody DVD collections, which have come out subsequent to our earlier discussion, have made it clear that the blue-filtered plexiglass globe was widely used on Universal cartoons of the period, not just on "Knock Knock".)


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