On October 12, 1994, DreamWorks was established but they didn't make any movies until 1997. So The Peacemaker is the first film produced by DreamWorks Pictures, released on September 26, 1997. The idea of the logo was a concept from the studio's co-founder, Steven Spielberg. Originally, he wanted the logo to be CGI depicting a man fishing standing on the moon, but his collaborator Dennis Muren has instead suggested a hand-painted logo. Artist Robert Hunt was commissioned as a designer for the logo. Spielberg loved Hunt's design of a boy sitting on a crescent moon while fishing, and it was made to a full-motion logo directed by Wes Takahashi, an animation supervisor from Industrial Light & Magic. The music of the logo was composed by John Williams. An early version of this logo without the ™ symbol first debuted in a trailer for The Peacemaker and the fully animated version debuted in the film itself. It made another reappearance in the 2005 DVD for Wallace & Gromit: Three Amazing Adventures by DreamWorks Home Entertainment and BBC Video. It also sometimes appeared in TV spots after this version's retirement.
Availability: It premiered on the studio's first film The Peacemaker (released on September 26, 1997).
It was also seen on pre-2004 DreamWorks Animation films, until that studio introduced an onscreen logo of its own with the release of Shrek 2.
The short version can also be seen on several behind-the-scenes featurettes like The Hatching of Chicken Run, The Tech of Shrek, The Making of TheHaunting, and several others.
This was also used as a de-facto home video logo on some DreamWorks Home Entertainment VHS releases outside North America and some DreamWorks Home Entertainment DVDs around 2001.
The last film to use this logo with the ™ (trademark symbol) was The Ring, released in 2002, albeit as a variant.
However, despite the 2002 version debuting in Catch Me If You Can, it made reappearances in Old School and Anything Else which were both released in 2003.
Even after the retirement of this version of the logo in late 2002, it still appeared as de-facto home video logo on some DreamWorks Home Entertainment releases outside North America until they quit making VHS tapes.
This version of the logo would also sometimes appeared in TV spots after this version's retirement.
Trivia:
Robert Hunt uses his son, William, as the basis for the fishing boy on the moon.
2002–present[]
In 2002, it's the same logo, but this time, the ™ (trademark symbol) was replaced by the ® (registered symbol). It made its debut in Catch Me If You Can, released in Christmas 2002 and last used in The Trial of the Chicago 7, released on Netflix in 2020, although it uses a slightly enhanced version of this logo. However, it made a reappearance in the trailer for the 2022 film Easter Sunday, although the remastered version of this logo seen below is used in the film itself.
2021-present[]
Designer:
Robert Hunt and Dennis Muren (artwork) Technicolor (animation) John Williams (music)
Typography:
Minion Bold
Launched:
July 30, 2021
In 2021, the logo is remastered with more modernly realistic animation of the clouds, water and the letters, and animated from scratch at Technicolor either late 2020 or early 2021. The logo is also in a lighter blue shade, and it is made to accommodate 4K resolutions. It was first seen at the end of HBO's Oslo, then the fully animated version was debuted in Stillwater, distributed by Focus Features. It has been used in films since it debuted in Stillwater.
Availability:
The 2024 film Distant, which only released in Vietnam, which marked the first time this version of the logo had the films opening theme.
