Editing Columbia Pictures (section)

=== History ===
Originally in 1924, Columbia Pictures used a logo featuring a female Roman soldier holding a shield in her left hand and a stick of wheat in her right hand, which was based on actress [[Doris Doscher]] (known as the model for the statue on the [[Pulitzer Fountain]]) as the [[Standing Liberty quarter]] used from 1916 to 1930, though the studio's version was given longer hair.<ref>{{cite web|title=USA Coin Album: The Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar {{!}} NGC|url=https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/5890/USA-Coin-Album/|access-date=October 4, 2021|website=www.ngccoin.com}}</ref> The logo changed in 1928 with a new woman wearing a draped [[Flag of the United States|flag]] and torch. The woman wore a [[Headgear|headdress]], the [[stola]] and carried the [[palla (garment)|palla]] of [[ancient Rome]]. The illustration was based upon the actress [[Evelyn Venable]], known for providing the voice of the [[Fairy with Turquoise Hair|Blue Fairy]] in [[Walt Disney]]'s ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]''.  Both logos featured the words "A Columbia Production" ("A Columbia Picture" or "Columbia Pictures Corporation"), the latter logo had the words written in an arch above her.

An alternative logo in tandem with the 1924 and 1928 versions that used the slogan "Gems of the Screen"; itself a takeoff on the song "[[Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean]]", later inspired the renaming of the Charles Mintz Studio into [[Screen Gems]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3206549/juvenile_stars_of_these_movies_work_as/| title=Juvenile Stars Of These Movies Work As Long As Asked| date=October 8, 1939| newspaper=[[Independent Record|The Helena Daily Independent]]| access-date=September 17, 2020| via=[[Newspapers.com]]| agency=[[Associated Press]]| page=4}}</ref>

In 1936, the logo was changed into the well known look: the Torch Lady now stood on a pedestal, wore no headdress, and the text "Columbia" appeared in chiseled letters behind her. A new form of animation was used on the logo as well, with a torch that radiates light instead of flickers. [[Pittsburgh]] native Jane Chester Bartholomew, whom [[Harry Cohn]] discovered working as an extra at Columbia, portrayed the Torch Lady in the logo. There were several variations to the logo over the years—significantly, a color version was done in 1943 for ''The Desperadoes''.<ref name="hlaf"/> Two years earlier, the flag became just a drape with no markings.<ref name="reelclassicslogo"/><ref name="logogallery"/> The latter change came after a federal law was passed making it illegal to wear an American flag as clothing. In the 1950s, the woman's robe was redrawn and shaded with a plunging neckline and an exposed slipper-clad foot. 1976's ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' was one of the last films released before the "Torch Lady" was revamped.

From 1955 to 1963, Columbia used the woman from the 1936 logo under the Screen Gems banner, officially billing itself as part of "the Hollywood studios of Columbia Pictures", as spoken at the end of some Screen Gems series.

From 1976 to 1993,<ref name="reelclassicslogo"/> Columbia Pictures used two logos. The first, from 1976 to 1981 (or from 1975 for promotional material until 1982 for international territories) used just a sunburst representing the beams from the torch, although the woman appears briefly in the opening logo. The score accompanying the first logo was composed by [[Suzanne Ciani]]. The studio hired visual effects pioneer [[Robert Abel (animator)|Robert Abel]] to animate the first logo.<ref>{{cite web |title=Columbia Pictures Logo |url=https://www.famouslogos.us/columbia-pictures-logo/ |website=FamousLogos.us |access-date=February 23, 2022 |date=2012 |quote=Robert Abel, the legendary animator and visual effects pioneer was hired to make the animated version of the logo.}}</ref> The image was created with over fifty light exposures that included streak and special filter passes. The woman returned in 1981, but in a much smoother form described as resembling a [[Coca-Cola|Coke bottle]].<ref name="reelclassicslogo"/> During the studio's run with Coca-Cola, a golden version of the Torch Lady was used for the Columbia Pictures Television logo with the byline "A unit of the Coca-Cola Company" from 1982 to 1987 until it was replaced with the 1981 version and the byline was removed after Coke sold Columbia to Sony. The slogans for the 1976 and 1981 logos were "Let us entertain you" and "Movies That Matter", respectively.

From 1982 to 1985, Columbia used the 1981 logo for Triumph Films, with the woman under the [[Arc De Triomphe]] in the logo. The 1981 logo along with the 1936 and 1976 versions would be later used in 21st century Columbia releases, generally to match the year a given film is set in.

In 1992, the longest-running, and perhaps best known, iteration of the logo was created; the television division was the first to use it. Films began to use the new logo the year after, when Scott Mednick and the Mednick Group were hired by Peter Guber to create logos for all the entertainment properties then owned by Sony Pictures.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-08-ca-5890-story.html|title=A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : TOO HIP, GOTTA CHANGE : What We Have Here Is a Woman Ready For the '90s|first=DAVID J.|last=FOX|date=March 8, 1992|via=LA Times}}</ref> Mednick hired New Orleans artist [[Michael J. Deas|Michael Deas]],<ref>Michael Deas, [http://www.michaeldeas.com/Columbia_Pictures_Logo.htm Columbia Pictures Logo, oil on panel, 18 x 32.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225210601/http://michaeldeas.com/Columbia_Pictures_Logo.htm |date=February 25, 2009 }}</ref> to digitally repaint the logo and return the woman to her "classic" look.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neatorama.com/2008/12/03/the-story-behind-hollywood-studio-logos/|title=The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos|author=Alex Santoso|date=December 3, 2008}}</ref> An urban legend is that actress [[Annette Bening]] was the model for the current logo. Bening's face was later superimposed onto the Torch Lady in the opening intro of ''[[What Planet Are You From?]]'' (2000) as an inside joke. 

Michael Deas hired Jennifer Joseph, a 28-year-old graphics artist for ''[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate|The Times-Picayune]]'', as a model for the logo.<ref name="ebert">[[Roger Ebert|Ebert, Roger]] (October 31, 2004). [https://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/hail-columbia-mystery-solved "Hail, Columbia! Mystery solved"]. ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''. Retrieved March 14, 2011.</ref> Due to time constraints, she agreed to help out on her lunch break. It was the first and only time she ever modeled. Joseph had recently discovered she was pregnant at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 29, 2023 |title=She was 28 when she modeled for Columbia Pictures logo in 1992 and never posed again. Now, photographer shares story behind 'iconic' photoshoot. |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/she-28-she-modeled-columbia-140044908.html |access-date=May 31, 2023 |website=Yahoo Entertainment |language=en-US}}</ref> Deas also hired ''The Times-Picayune'' photographer Kathy Anderson to photograph the reference photography.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://petapixel.com/2022/02/20/the-photo-behind-the-iconic-columbia-pictures-torch-lady-logo/|title=The Photo Behind the Iconic Columbia Pictures 'Torch Lady' Logo|date=February 20, 2022|website=PetaPixel}}</ref> The animation was created by Synthespian Studios in 1993 by Jeff Kleiser and [[Diana Walczak]], who used 2D elements from the painting and converted it to 3D.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.synthespianstudios.net/design/columbia/|title=Columbia Pictures Logo|website=Synthespian Studios|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112603/http://www.synthespianstudios.net/design/columbia/ |archive-date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref> The studio being part of Sony would not be referenced on-screen until 1996. VHS promos featured the current logo with a stylized "75" behind the Torch Lady, commemorating the studio's 75th anniversary in 1999 with the slogan, "Lighting Up Screens Around the World". 

In 2012, the current logo was displayed as a painting at the [[Ogden Museum of Southern Art]] in New Orleans. Deas gave an interview to [[WWL-TV]]: "I never thought it would make it to the silver screen and I never thought it would still be up 20 years later, and I certainly never thought it would be in a museum, so it's kind of gratifying."<ref>{{cite web|title=Iconic image by local artist stands test of time |url=http://www.wwltv.com/news/10pm-Hoss-Columbia-Pictures-Logo-Artist-176043361.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028193900/http://www.wwltv.com/news/10pm-Hoss-Columbia-Pictures-Logo-Artist-176043361.html|archive-date=October 28, 2012|date=October 26, 2012|access-date=May 21, 2016}}</ref> On November 14, 2023, Sony unveiled a special centennial logo ahead the studios’ 100th anniversary, consisting of the current Torch Lady within a stylized “100” and later posted an animation that showcases the older logos in the same vein as the ''[[Spider-Man in film#Animated Spider-Verse|Spider-Verse]]'' films on January 10, 2024, the 100th anniversary of the founding of Columbia Pictures. This logo was used on Columbia's 2024 releases.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vlessing |first=Etan |date=2023-11-14 |title=Sony Unveils Columbia Pictures 100th Anniversary Logo |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/columbia-pictures-100th-anniversary-logo-revealed-1235646992/ |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

The current logo was also used for ''[[Screen Gems Network]]'' and ''Columbia Showcase Theatre'', both now defunct programming blocks that featured syndicated airings of Sony Pictures-owned shows and films, respectively.

{{Gallery
| title        = Gallery
| align        = center
| width        =
| height       =
| File:Columbia_Pictures_1924.jpg
 | Logo used in 1924
| File:Columbia_Pictures_logotype.png
 | Logo used in 1926
| File:Columbia_Pictures_1936.jpg
 | Logo used in 1936
| File:Columbia_Pictures_1975.png
 | Logo initially used for promotional material in 1975 and onscreen from 1976 to 1982
| File:Columbia_Pictures_1981.png
 | Logo used in 1981
| File:Columbia_Pictures_1989.png
 | Logo used in 1989
| File:Columbia_Pictures_1992.png
 | Logo used from 1992 to 1993
| 
 | Logo used for the 2024 centennial anniversary
}}