20th Century Fox Cinemas

Background: 20th Century Cinemas is a movie entertainment company acquired by 20th Century Fox in September 16, 1953. In 1987, they acquired IMAX (but the ones shown on this page are the non-IMAX policy trailers. The 20th Century Fox Cinemas/IMAX policy trailers can be seen here). It was bought by News Corporation in 1994, so it was owned by News Corporation at that time. Then it was bought out by Regal Entertainment Group in May 21, 2007, so now the Regal Roller Coaster is used. As of today only a few 20th Century Fox Theaters remain in the United States.

1st Logo:

(September 16, 1953-June 19, 1961)

Nicknames: "Futuristic Tower", "Searchlights", "20th Cinemas Fox", "The Cinemascope Logo", "The TCFTV Ripoff"

Logo: We see the 1953 20th Century Fox movie logo, The word "CINEMAS" fills the screen and plasters itself over "CENTURY" (a la the TCFTV logo from 1960-1992). Then the logo fades to the Cinemascope logo with "FEATURE PRESENTATION" plastering "TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX PRESENTS A CINEMASCOPE PICTURE".

Variants: There were different versions of the logo throughout the years it was used.


 * September 16, 1953-July 31, 1955: The logo would appear in B&W or sepia toned.
 * August 1, 1955-December 26, 1956: The regular "0" was used.
 * August 1, 1955-December 26, 1956: The Cinemascope 55 logo was used.
 * The logo would take place on a day or night sky.FX: The searchlights moving, "CINEMAS" plastering itself over "CENTURY", the logo fading to the Cinemascope logo, but with "FEATURE PRESENTATION" plastering "TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX PRESENTS A CINEMASCOPE PICTURE".

Cheesy Factor: Simple 50s animation.

Music/Sounds: The 1935 Fox fanfare.

Availability: Extinct, seen on TCF films during the period.

Scare Factor: Minimal to medium, the "CINEMAS" immediately filling the screen could catch someone off guard.

2nd Logo:

(June 20, 1961-October 8, 1975)

Nicknames: "Rainbow Sunburst", "20th Century Fox Ticket", "Print Logo"

Logo: We see a black BG, then a large flash occurs. After the flash we see a blue circle growing in the center with a spinning rainbow sunburst BG. The blue circle slowly fills up the screen to be a blue BG. A movie ticket appears with the 20th Century Fox print logo of the era with the word "Cinemas" below the print logo. The phrase, "Escape to the movies!" appears above the movie ticket. Then, "Enjoy the show!" appears below the ticket.

Variants: Here are a couple of versions used during these years.


 * Sometimes the circle would be red, green or purple.
 * June 20, 1961-January 30, 1965: The Cinemascope logo would fade in below "Enjoy the show!"FX: The spinning rainbow sunburst, the growing circle, the movie ticket appearing, "Escape to the movies!" fading in above, and "Enjoy the show!" fading in below.

Music/Sounds: A quiet 10-note piano tune that pauses then repeats again, drums play during the pauses, a 2-note clarinet finish.

Availability: Same as before.

Scare Factor: None.

3rd Logo:

(October 9, 1975-April 3, 1990)

Nicknames: "Box Logo", "Logo in a Box", "Space Candy" (not to be confused with the GCC logo)

Logo: We see the 20th Century Fox logo of the era in a box with "CINEMAS" below the box on a purple BG. Then we see refreshments bought in the lobby floating around (such as popcorn, hot dogs, Raisenets, cotton candy, Milk Duds, Pepsi, Snickers, Bon bons, tamales, Goobers, etc.). Then we see someone throwing away trash. A smoke cigarette appears with a red circle with a slash over it. Then we fade back to the 20th Century Fox logo in the box, but "CINEMAS" isn't there. "Enjoy the show!" fades in below the box.

Variants:


 * October 9, 1975-November 28, 1981: The 1953 movie logo is used at the beginning.
 * November 29, 1981-April 3, 1990: The 1981 movie logo is used at the beginning.FX: The refreshments floating around, the person throwing away trash, smoke coming out of the smoke cigarette, fading back to the 20th Century Fox logo, and "Enjoy the show!" fading in.

Music/Sounds: A 70s jazzy tune, with an announcer saying "Welcome to 20th Century Fox Cinemas! Refreshments are available in the lobby. Please keep our theater clean by disposing of trash or other items left in the theater. Also, no smoking! It's against the law. Enjoy the show!"

Availability: Same as before.

Scare Factor: Same as before.

4th Logo:

(April 4, 1990-Septemeber 30, 2001)

Nicknames: "Virtual Cinema", "Virtual 20th Century Fox Cinema"

Logo: We see an entrance to a 20th Century Fox theater that has "Welcome to 20th Century Fox Cinemas!" above it. We zoom through the entrance to a snack bar with a sign behind it saying "Refreshments are available in the lobby". We walk towards one of the theaters. We pass a trash can with another sign above it saying "Please keep our theater clean by disposing of trash". Then a sign on the roof has a smoke cigarette that changes into the text saying "NO SMOKING". We see another sign on the roof saying "No texting during the movie and silence your cell phones now". Soon we walk into the theater with the 20th Century Fox logo of the era on the screen with "FEATURE PRESENTATION" on top of the logo.

Variants:


 * April 4, 1990-July 14, 1994: The 1981 movie logo was used.
 * July 15, 1994-September 30, 2001: The 1994 movie logo was used and a News Corporation byline was added to the logo.FX:The zooming and walking through the cinema, and the sign on the roof of the cigarette changing to the text saying "NO SMOKING".

Cheesy Factor: None, very good CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A majestic trumpet fanfare.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Availability: Same as last time.
 * From April 4, 1990 to July 14, 1994, when the screen shows the 1981 movie logo, the last 4 notes of the 1980s extended Fox fanfare play.
 * From July 15, 1994 to August 7, 1997, when the screen shows the 1994 movie logo, the last 4 notes of the 1994 Fox fanfare play.
 * From August 8, 1997 to September 30, 2001: When the screen shows the 1994 logo, the last 4 notes of the 1997 Fox fanfare play.

Scare Factor: Same as last time.

5th Logo:

(October 1, 2001-May 21, 2007)

Nickname: "HBO 2000 Ripoff"

Logo: We zoom through a large metropolitan. "Welcome to 20th Century Fox Cinemas!" apears on a large marque. Then we zoom through a bunch of refreshments (such as popcorn, hot dogs, Rasinets, Milk Duds, M&M's, cotton candy, Reeces Pieces, Nerds, Skittles, etc.). After that a sign says "Refreshments are available in the lobby". Then we see a trash can on a marque that changes to the text "Please keep our theater clean by disposing of trash". Next we zoom through a sign with a smoke cigarette on it the changes to the text saying "NO SMOKING". We soon see the final sign saying "Please be courteous to others by not texting during the movie and silencing your cell phones now". Then we go into Hollywood and we see the 1994 20th Century Fox logo with the word "CINEMAS" added to the structure with the News Corporation byline. "FEATURE PRESENTATION" wipes itself in on top of the structure.

Variant: In 2004, the logo was enhanced.

Cheesy Factor/FX: Zooming through the metropolitan, "Welcome to 20th Century Fox Cinemas!" appearing on the large marque, the floating refreshments, the trash can on the marque changing to the text "Please keep our theater clean by disposing of trash", the sign with the smoke cigarette changing into the text saying "NO SMOKING", and "FEATURE PRESENTATION" wiping itself in. Very beautiful CGI animation and is a suitable successor to the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: A majestic rock tune with the last 4 notes of the 20th Century Fox logo at the end.

Availability: Same as last time.

Scare Factor: None, it's a beautiful logo.

Final Note: In May 21, 2007, Regal Entertainment Group bought out 20th Century Fox Cinemas, so now any 20th Century Fox theaters that remain now show the Regal roller coaster.