Friday, February 21, 2014

THX

THX
Cimarron
Logo: A small gray box appears in the center of the screen, then a conductor's hand appears in that box and flicks his baton, blasting out a blue "hyperspace". It turns red, and when it fully turns red, we see a 3D THX logo zoom towards us against a black screen with red dots. Then, we see some text saying "The Audience is Listening" in the same font and color used in "Broadway". A few seconds, a subtitle reading "Lucasfilm, Ltd. Sound System" fades in too.
Music/Sounds: An orchestra warms up, then a big descending synth note followed by an orchestra crescendo. When the THX logo appears the descending synth is played again, followed by a rising string note for the THX logo. (Unfortunately it is unknown what is truly playing as the video above is the only audio evidence on the internet).
Availability: Arthur Christmas, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Hotel Transylvania, Hotel TransylvaniaOpen Season, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, The Smurfs, The Smurfs 2, and Surf's Up.
Scare Factor: Low. The Deep Note sounds much calmer in the remix version, but the thunder sound in the Laserdisc variant could up the scare factor a little.
Grand
Logo: On a black background, we see some white text that reads "This auditorium is equipped with a THX sound system." A few seconds later, the background turns into a red-black cloudy background. We see some white text that reads "The Audience Is Listening." After that, the red-black background turns slowly turns blue, somewhat similar to the previous background. Seconds after, a light with lens flares moves upward and a 90° turned THX logo rotates to its front in a blue-black gradient background, with "LUCASFILM LTD" over and "SOUND SYSTEM" below.
FX/SFX: The background changing, the texts fading, and "THX" is completely in silver 3D. The visuals were created by ILM according to The THX Ultimate Demo Disc.
Music/Sounds: Some chimes. When the background opens, wind whistles, then various ascending notes and sounds, until a Star Wars laser-gun sound and a whooshing sound occur as the THX logo appears and ends with a choir-like version of the Deep Note. The sound for this trailer was apparently created at Skywalker Sound and, according to The THX Ultimate Demo Disc, designed by David Slusser and Marco d'Ambrosio.
Availability: Castle in the Sky, From Up on Poppy Hill, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, The Secret World of Arrietty, Spirited AwayTales from Earthsea, Whisper of the Heart, and The Wind Rises.
Scare Factor: Low to medium. It could probably can get to high for those with "THX-phobia".
The Simpsons
Logo: We see the Siskel and Elbert film sign, before the Simpsons sit in their seats. The light dims, and then brightens a bit. Then we cut to the movie screen, then a white screen with "THX" on it (not the same as the other logos) appears, with "SOUND SYSTEM" and "THE AUDIENCE IS LISTENING" under it. The sound shakes the theater/cinema, breaking many people's glasses and teeth, an exit sign, and even a head with blood in a brief amount of time. We cut to the same film screen, with the logo on it. The audience whoops, and the screen fades out. Grandpa finally yells "Turn it up!" twice.
FX/SFX: Light dimming and brightening, which was animated by Film Roman.
Music/Sounds: The atmosphere, dialogue, and the Deep Note.
Availability: Curious GeorgeJonah: A VeggieTales Movie, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: The VeggieTales Movie, The Simpsons Movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
Scare Factor: Medium because of the Deep Note
Tex
Logo: The THX trailer starts as usual, which then breaks down as if due to an electrical failure. A light is switched on as a robot named Tex rolls in from off-camera. Tex opens a panel on the "X", grabs a rocket pack, and flies off screen, pulling out a hammer just before he goes off screen, muttering "Oh, George.".. Tex hammers at something on the right side of the screen, drills at something on the left side and then flies over to the T and moves a large switch. The switch causes the logo to re-activate and complete its usual sequence with the "LUCASFILM LTD." and "SOUND SYSTEM" text. Tex realizes the door in "X" is still open. Tex kicks the logo, which shuts the door, causing a black screen to fall reading "The Audience Is Listening".
FX/SFX: Nice CGI for 1996, which was done at Pixar Animation Studios with pure accuracy!
Music/Sounds: The Deep Note in a lower pitch, Tex's dialogue, and sounds corresponding to the animation. The sound design is by Gary Rydstrom, according to The THX Ultimate Demo Disc. See "Logo" for the rest.
AvailabilityA Bug's Life, Cars, Cinderella, CocoDespicable MeDumbo, Home on the RangeInside Out, Lady and the TrampThe Little Mermaid, Peter PanThe Princess and the Frog & Tinker BellSaludos AmigosThe Sword in the StoneToy Story, Toy Story 2, and Zootopia & Tinker Bell's NeverZootropolis Legend.
Scare Factor: Low to high yet again, though some might consider the subject matter funny.
Tex 2, Moo Can, Cow, Tex Strikes Again
Logo: We see Tex the robot from the previous logo, as he appears out of nowhere right in front of us. He has a can in his hand which has a picture of a cow on a field and says "moo"(which is in a bubble cloud, as if the cow were saying it), and the only way we see it is that Tex zooms it up towards us closer. He takes it back, and turns it upside down, and dips it, realizing the can is empty. After flipping it right side up again, Tex gives us a "one minute" signal, and flies away. In the meantime, while we see nothing but the background, we hear him gathering something as he then returns with the "moo can". This time, however, he also has a plug in his opposite hand, and plugs it into the can. After that, we hear the sound of cows mooing, and, beside that, the THX logo appears sliding up from the middle of the screen to nearly the top. Tex points to the text, but suddenly the THX logo begins to rumble and shake. Tex sees this, and he nervously flies off with the can and the plug. The THX logo jolts to the left side for a moment before going back to it's normal position. And, like the last logo, the black screen with the text "The Audience is Listening" falls to the screen.
FX/SFX: Same as 5th trailer.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo, except the Deep Note is replaced by cows mooing it (if you really listen carefully, a high pitched voice is heard towards the end of the mooing, which sounds like someone yelling "STOP!" before the sound of rumbling and cracking). The sound design is by Gary Rydstrom and Marco d'Ambrosio (who did the cow chord) according to The THX Ultimate Demo Disc. A variant of the Monster THX version uses some electrical sounds from Terminator 2, which Gary Rydstrom also did the sound design of.
Availability: AladdinAlice in Wonderland, Chicken LittleDespicable Me 2Finding Nemo, Hercules, The Jungle Book, Monsters UniversityMonsters, Inc., PlanesRobin Hood, Snow White and the Seven DwarfsTangled & Muppets & Fairies Treasure Autumn, The Three CaballerosThumbelinaUp, and Wreck-It Ralph.
Scare Factor: Low to medium (at least perhaps for those with THX-phobia), although it's meant to be funny.
Broadway 2000
Logo: We see a pitch black screen (ala the 1983 "Broadway" logo), then we see the text "Let's see it in......" appearing in separate words zooming in the center of the screen. Then we see the THX logo with the Lucasfilm Ltd. notice at the top of THX. The logo shines and we fade-out.
FX/SFX: The words zooming-in at the screen.
Music/Sounds: The Deep Note, of course. However, the longer version (and one of the abridged variants of the 1983 logo's theme) is being played (around this time for home video and DVD releases, the logo and music was cut short).
AvailabilityDespicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Hop, Minions, and The Lorax.
Scare Factor: Medium to high because of the dark atmosphere and the Deep Note.
Cavalcade
Logo: In a darkly-lit environment, we zoom in toward a glassy blue sphere, which has clouds rolling and lightning flickering. As the environment illuminates, we see that the sphere is barely hovering over a textured blue floor. Suddenly, the sphere shatters, and the sky is revealed to contain several rolling gray clouds. The glass then liquifies and gathers in the center. Some lightning strikes it and forms a silver THX logo. Then, the environment fades to black as a shimmering blue rectangle is drawn clockwise around it. The logo fades out as the URL www.thx.com fades in.
Variants: The T2 logo appears in a box as it zooms to us. Then, as the usual animation for this logo, the box shatters. Water erodes from the ground, and the THX logo appears as usual, forming from the water. After that, the THX logo fades out, and then it contains a message reading "The Best Sound, The Best Picture. You're Watching a THX Certified Feature" appears one by one as each text fades out before the other. Also, the Deep Note in this variant (the Terminator 2 variant) is the same as Broadway 2000 version.
FX/SFX: Just top-notch CGI.
Music/Sounds: Thunderclaps/electric shocking sounds, followed by glass shattering, then the Deep Note. A laser-like sound is heard as the rectangle is formed. In the T2 variant, music from Terminator 2 fades to the Broadway 2000 Deep Note.
Cavalcade Availability: 101 DalmatiansThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. ToadAtlantis: The Lost EmpireBig Hero 6, The Black Cauldron, BoltCars 2Dinosaur, Frozen Fever w/ Never Muppetational PirateThe Great Mouse DetectiveThe IncrediblesThe LEGO Movie, MulanThe Nightmare Before Christmas, RatatouilleStar Wars Episode I: The Phantom MenaceStar Wars Episode II: Attack of the ClonesStar Wars Episode IV: A New HopeStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Terminator 2 AvailabilityThe AristoCats, BambiBeauty and the BeastBraveFantasia, Fantasia 2000, Frozen 2Lilo & Stitch, The Many Adventures of Winnie the PoohMelody Time, Moana, Olaf's Frozen Adventure w/ Tinker Bell's Enchanted BeyondPocahontas, The Prince of EgyptThe Rescuers, Song of the South, Toy Story 4, and Winnie the Pooh & Tinker Bell's Midsummer Rescue.
Scare Factor: Medium to high, due to the sphere shattering all of a sudden, in addition to the presence of the Deep Note.
Shrek
Logo: The THX logo starts up like any other, but the logo suddenly crashes down revealing Shrek and Donkey creating the deep note with many instruments. The two stare at each other awkwardly, then raise the logo back up. The Deep Note starts again and the logo shimmers in green from left to right. While the Deep Note is playing, Donkey comes out and plays a kazoo over it. Shrek yells "Donkey!" at him, and the two walk off-screen. The screen fades to black as the words "illuminate your senses" fades in on the top, a smaller THX logo in the middle, and copyright info on the bottom.
FX/SFX: The logo itself, and the animation involving Shrek and Donkey.
Music/Sounds: The Deep Note, the instruments, and the dialogue.
Availability: Antz, Bee Movie, Chicken Run, The Croods, Flushed Away, Home, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2, Kung Fu Panda 3Madagascar, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Megamind, Monsters vs. Aliens, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Over the Hedge, The Penguins of MadagascarPuss in Boots, Rise of the Guardians, The Road to El Dorado, Shark Tale, Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek Forever After, Shrek the Third, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, TrollsTurbo, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Scare Factor: High for THXphobics, but others may find this logo amusing.
Bounty
Logo: On a black background we see out-of-focus movie clips on a THX logo. Some of these clips include Star Wars: Episode I, Alien and Jurassic Park. The logo then starts to shine as the blue outline from the Broadway logo appears around the screen and the words "CERTIFIED CINEMA" appear under the THX logo. Everything except the blue outline fades out and is replaced by the THX website URL on the top, copyright notices on the bottom and the phase "20 Years of Making Great Movies Come Alive"
FX/SFX: The clips playing on the THX logo, the shining at the end.
Music/Sounds: In this order, sound clips from the following movies are heard: Apocalypse Now (redux version), Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Jurassic Park (again), Nightmare on Elm Street, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Fight Club, Alien, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (again), Pulp Fiction, Back To The Future trilogy, Lord of The Rings trilogy, The Fast and the Furious, and Speed. After this the THX Deep Note starts playing as the final sound clips play from: Alien (again), Ghost, and The Mask
Availability: Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, CinderellaEnchanted, The Great Muppet Caper, The Jungle BookMaleficent, Mary Poppins, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Muppet Movie, Muppet Treasure Island, Oz the Great and Powerful, Pete's Dragon, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Song of the SouthTRON, TRON: Legacy, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Scare Factor: Medium to high. It can cause THX-phobia.
Tex 3, TEX Action, The Car, Tex Strikes Yet Again
Logo: On a gray background, we see a clapperboard on screen. The clapperboard claps, and then disappears off-screen. The camera then zooms out and turns, revealing the background to be a gray car. Tex flies on screen and stops in front of the car, giving a "stop" signal. Tex then tries to fly away, but ends up getting sucked into the car. He gets flung around the car's engine uncontrollably, and is eventually able to stop and regain his balance. He then looks up, and sees part of the engine spraying. After spraying for a few seconds, it explodes, and Tex gets covered in black ash. Another part of the engine then pushes Tex up, and he gets chased by another explosion. He manages to escape from the car just in time, but then he loses control, and hits the THX logo. He then stands back up, shakes his arms and foot, looks back at the THX logo, and does a pose.
FX/SFX: Same as the 5th and 6th trailers.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 5th and 6th trailers, with the addition of some car sounds, and a guy saying "And...action!" when the clapperboard is on screen.
Availability: A Christmas Carol, Frankenweenie, Gnomeo & Juliet, James and the Giant Peach, and Mars Needs Moms.
Scare Factor: Low to medium. Like the 6th trailer, it's intended to be funny but it can scare those with "THXphobia."
Amazing Life
Logo: We start out with a diamond shape figure rising out of liquid (a la a ripple effect), and forms into another figure, which looks like petals from a flower because we're looking at it from the top. Inside the "flower" is a crown shape figure that has wings on top of it, slowly spinning around as we zoom in on it. Then, the scene changes. We now see another set of wings that also spin around, but faster. A ring is spinning around with it and goes down towards the bottom of the screen. And the scene changes again. The same set of wings from the first scene is shown, once again spinning slowly, with shades seen on the left side of the screen. As the scene changes again, a tulip is seen zooming in towards us as it opens up it's front. Then we zoom in on a mushroom as it bumps up a bit. Then a set of butterflies fly by (with some stopping in front center of the screen), and we see something swing by as it makes a clanging noise. Intact with the drumbeats of the jingle, we see a variety of mushrooms as they "beat" and bump up the the drumbeats, and then the scene changes to swirly-like circles which vibrate as we zoom from one to another. We zoom into another tulip, and suddenly, we fly over all of the above mentioned items. As the camera tilts toward the front and zooms back, we see the plant-covered structure evolve to the THX logo. This version looks slightly (but also noticeably) different than the other logos of the past. The text zooms back.
FX/SFX: TBA.
Music/Sounds: A variety of instruments playing in sync with each plant, performed by Lost in the Sky. This ends with a less noisy/less scary version of the Deep Note. Unlike the previous THX logos, the music comes to a quick end rather than fading out smoothly.
AvailabilityBrother BearCars 3, The Emperor's New GrooveThe Fox and the HoundThe Good Dinosaur, Incredibles 2Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Lion King, The Lorax, Make Mine Music, Muppets Most Wanted, Raiders of the Lost ArkTarzanTreasure Planet, and WALL-E.
Scare Factor: Low to high, once again, although some with THXphobia might even like this one for its wonderful animation and somewhat tame Deep Note.
Horton
Logo: On a black background, we see this odd speck that talks in a familiar voice to Horton (from Horton Hears a Who). It gets closer.... and... closer... OH! It's just the mayor. They talk about if they can hear each other. Then, the mayor says "Kinda losing ya", causing Horton to drop the THX logo, and he shouts "HOW ABOUT THIS?!?! I'VE GOT HIM REAL CLOSE!!! CAN YOU READ ME?!?!" knocking the mayor off-screen, then followed by the infamous THX Deep Note, then the screen transitions to a message reading "THE AUDIENCE IS HEARING" (spoofing the "The Audience is Listening" motto, with "HEAR" in the same font as the movie). On the side of the screen we see the mayor peeking out of the side of the screen, with cloths blowing from the Deep Note.
FX/SFX: The characters moving, and the THX logo dropping.
Music/Sounds: The characters talking, a crash, and the Deep Note.
Cheesy Factor: The fact that the characters' voices are ripped from the movie.
AvailabilityEpic, Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age, Ice Age: Collision CourseIce Age: Continental Drift, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Ice Age: The Meltdown, The Peanuts Movie, Rio, Rio 2, and Robots.
Scare Factor: Medium. The "CRASH!" sound and the Deep Note might startle a few, but it's intended to be funny.
The Science of Sensation
Logo: We first see a pitch black screen, but then we see the words "THE SCIENCE OF SENSATION" (in capital letters) coming at us each two words at a time (like the "Broadway 2000" logo), then suddenly fading out by spreading the words apart. Then, the THX logo appears. With its usual gray color, the logo shines with a "shinemark" coming down on the "T".
FX/SFX: "THE SCIENCE OF SENSATION" text spreading out, the shinemark, and the THX logo shining.
Music/Sounds: The Deep Note and some shining sounds. When the Deep Note grows, it then has a reverb effect (said to use the "Cavalcade" Terminator 2 variant).
Music/Sound Variant: A higher pitched version exists.
Availability: Anastasia, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted ChristmasFinding Dory, Frozen & Muppets & Fairies' Wintry Secret, Fun & Fancy Free, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Meet the Robinsons, Minions, Oliver & Company, Pinocchio, Planes: Fire & Rescue, Ralph Breaks the InternetThe Rescuers Down Under, Sleeping Beauty, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Titanic, Toy Story 3.
Scare Factor: Medium to high because of the dark atmosphere and the Deep Note.
Ziegfeld
Logo: On a black background, we see the metallic outlines of the THX logo fade in. Then the shiny silver color fades inside the THX logo. The THX logo glows and makes a big shine with some sparkles. Then below the THX logo is the disclaimer: "THX and the THX logo are trademarks of THX Ltd., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All Rights Reserved."
Variant: At the beginning of an LG video on THX-certified TVs, the metallic outlines fade in quicker, the shiny silver color fades in slower, and the shine of the THX logo isn't as bright.
FX/SFX: The glowing, sparkling, and shining of the THX logo.
Music/Sounds: The low-pitched Deep Note from Tex and Broadway (DVD variant) trailers.
Availability: Cats & DogsCats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Happy Feet, Happy Feet Two, and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.
Scare Factor: Low to medium.
Broadway 3D
Logo: On a deep cloudy background, we see a light tunnel of many colors as well as a shadow in the distance. The shadow then emerges to reveal a silver and shining THX logo as well as a crystal blue rectangle outline from the Broadway trailers, which zoom slowly at us. A small copyright notice is seen below the THX logo.
FX/SFX: The colorful light tunnel, the emerging of the logo.
Cheesy Factor: The whole logo has way too much shining and color clashes, but it may look better in 3D then it does in 2D.
Music/Sounds: Same as Broadway Classic (Restored).
Availability: Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Arthur Christmas, Beauty and the Beast, Bolt, Brave, A Bug's LifeCars, Cars 2, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of the Kitty Galore, Chicken Little, A Christmas Carol, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Coraline, The Croods, Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Epic, Finding Nemo, Frankenweenie, Frozen & Muppets & Fairies' Wintery Secret, Gnomeo & Juliet, The Good DinosaurHappy Feet Two, Hotel Transylvania, How to Train Your Dragon, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Inside OutKung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, The Lorax, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Mars Needs Moms, Meet the Robinsons, Megamind, Monster House, Monsters University, Monsters, Inc., Monsters vs. AliensThe Nightmare Before Christmas, Open Season, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Planes, The Polar Express, Puss in Boots, Rio, Rise of the Guardians, Secret of the Wings, Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek Forever After, Shrek the Third, The Smurfs, The Smurfs 2Tangled & Muppets & Fairies Treasure Autumn, TitanicToy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, TRON, TRON: Legacy, Turbo, Up, and Wreck-It Ralph
Scare Factor: Medium to high. This logo may cause "THXphobia" which could worsen now that it's in 3D.

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