Logo Joke / Warner Bros.

^{Left to right, top to bottom} The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Matrix Resurrections, Blazing Saddles, Daffy Duck, Scooby-Doo (2002), Aquaman (2018)

A trendsetter and practical Trope Codifier when it comes to logo jokes, Warner Bros. has been keeping up such a practice since its formative years.

Since the logo animation simply consists of the unveiling of the studio's iconic, longstanding WB shield and an orchestral snippet of "As Time Goes By", the Warner Bros logo often receives a different tint and a change in audio (generally one that starts the movie).

One additional detail that recurs over the logo's history is a panning shot of the studio's Burbank backlot appearing in the logo. This detail appeared in the logo's early years in the 1920s, with a revival in the 1990s and 2020s.

WB usually produces/distributes films with other production companies (notably Village Roadshow, Legendary Pictures, Dark Castle Entertainment, Alcon Entertainment, Christopher Nolan's studio Syncopy, New Line Cinema and DC Comics) so when the film gets a WB logo variant, so will the other companies that produce the film (although occasionally logo jokes will occur in co-productions that are limited only to Warner Brothers itself.)

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Comic Book Films

DC Comics has been partners with Warner Bros. since 1967 and wholly-owned by them since 1969, so a WB logo will generally get the same treatment as a DC logo. This folder mentions logo jokes that relate only to WB (and Legendary Pictures).

• With some comic-book films (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Superman Returns, Batman Returns, Wonder Woman), the hero's theme plays over the WB logo. In the case of Superman Returns, the opening of John Williams' familliar Superman theme is interpolated into the end of the "As Time Goes By" jingle, as seen here.
• 300: The WB and Legendary Pictures logos are rendered to look like unearthed ancient gold. In addition, the "As Time Goes By" jingle is also done in a Greek-sounding style.
  • 300: Rise of an Empire: The WB and Legendary logos are emblazoned on doors in a Greek temple that literally open to the opening scene.
• Batman Forever and Batman & Robin: The Warner Brothers logo morphs into the shapes of the Bat Emblem. The latter has the logo freezing.
• The Batman: The film and trailer have the logo in neon red against a black background.
• Constantine: The Warner Bros. logo starts out in front of the traditional blue sky with fluffy white clouds. Then the sky and clouds turn red and the logo crumbles and blows away, which is a reference to events later in the movie when Constantine goes to Hell... again.
• The Dark Knight Trilogy
  • The trailer for Batman Begins had the WB shield dissolving into hundreds of bats.
  • In Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises the logo has a dark shading matching Batman and Gotham's feeling - Begins has the logo in grayscale, Dark Knight has it in dark blue, and Rises has it in blue-gray.
• In Green Lantern (2011), the logo as a power ring construct, as well as the DC logo.
• Jonah Hex: The "As Time Goes By" jingle is done in a Western-sounding style.
• In V for Vendetta the WB logo is in black and white. In addition, the opening notes of the 1812 Overture are playing in the background.
• DC Extended Universe:
  • In Man of Steel, the Warner Brothers, Legendary Pictures, DC Comics and Syncopy Inc logos are steel gray and have Kryptonian engraving on them.
  • Aquaman: the Warner Brothers logo is embedded in a sea bed and covered in coral and seaweed.
    • The film's trailers had the WB logo in crystal and water (first trailer) and underwater as the camera pans over Pacific ocean atolls (second trailer).
  • Shazam: The logos are in metallic red on a stormy background.
    • The sequel SHAZAM! Fury of the Gods has Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema, and DC Comics made out of rock on a dark grey cloudy background.
  • Wonder Woman 1984 has the logo zoom out from the screen, being made out of translucent television lines. They briefly flicker before fully changing into the DC logo.
    • In the first trailer, the WB and DC logos are rendered in very 1980s neons.
  • Zack Snyder's Justice League: The trailer has the WB logo is made of grey rock.
  • The Suicide Squad: The Warner Bros logo is colored red and yellow, and is a target painted on Savant's cell. Before that, a tiltrotor copter (the Suicide Squad's transport in the film) is seen flying above the studio.
  • Black Adam (2022): The Warner Bros logo is made out of eternium, the Kahndaq-only metal mined in the film.
• Joker (2019): The shield is replaced by the Saul Bass-designed Warner Communications logo used in the early 80s, fitting with the film's 1981 setting.

Films - Animation

• Looney Tunes:
  • Many of the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons start with Bugs reclining on the shield, and in some cases pulling down the card reading "Looney Tunes" or "Merrie Melodies".
  • One Road Runner cartoon ended with Wile E. Coyote essentially quitting and placing a sign in view advertising for "one gullible coyote" to speak to the movie theater manager, then pulling the closing "That's All Folks" card onto the screen.
  • "Lumberjack-Rabbit", the only Bugs Bunny cartoon in 3D, started with the WB shield zooming toward the audience, nearly filling the screen before bouncing back to its normal size, in an effort to play with the 3D effects.
    • This was also reused for the 2003 Looney Tunes shorts WB made in a short-lived revival attempt (for tying in with Looney Tunes: Back in Action), but the effect was not as convincing. It was also reused on the intro for The Looney Tunes Show.
  • In "Porky in Wackyland" (and the remake "Dough for the Do-Do"), the Dodo rides the WB shield as it emerges from the vanishing point, bops Porky on the head and rides it back out of sight.
  • The Animaniacs movie, Wakko's Wish, featured Bugs coming out as usual, followed by Wakko coming out and taking a huge bite out of the WB shield itself, with Bugs looking unimpressed.
  • The 2022 film King Tweety has Tweety appear in the WB logo and fly around briefly. It can be seen here.
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm: A non-credits variant. The WB logo appears on the side of a building in an abandoned theme park that serves as the Joker's hideout. It can be seen here.
• Teen Titans Go! To the Movies debuted a new WB Animation logo, where Daffy Duck runs wild around the logo, then he knocks himself out and an annoyed Porky Pig pulls him away.
• The Gintama anime film Shinyaku Benizakura-hen had the logo play out three times, the first two times the Yorozuya gang were bickering, so it had to be repeated.
  • This joke was repeated for the live-action film, Gintama 2.
• The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow logos in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole appear after the film starts and are shown in the sky with Noctus flying around them, followed by the film's title, seen here.
• Mortal Kombat Legends:
  • Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge uses the WB Animation with Daffy, only this time it's Scorpion who pulls him into the logo, complete with his Catchphrase "Get over here!". Also of note is that the Warner Studio backlot at the end is replaced by the Netherrealm, implying that Daffy may have been Dragged Off to Hell! Seen here.
  • Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms, puts its own spin on the logo. This time, Scorpion comes out of the logo and does some martial arts, before being pulled in by (not kidding here) Ultra Instinct Shaggy! He and Scooby even pose for the camera, his green aura glowing, before the logo closes! Seen here.
  • Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind has the logo appear through Kenshi the blind warrior's impaired vision, as seen here.
• Osmosis Jones: The logo appears as a single-cell organism floating in a dark background.
• The Warner Animation Group debuted in 2014 with their own version of the WB shield, which they have applied to their films.
  • The LEGO films:
    • The LEGO Movie has the Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow logos built out of LEGO bricks, like everything else in the movie. The Warner Bros. logo spins around to reveal the Warner Animation Group logo on its back, as it would with later movies. Seen here.
    • The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part features only the Warner Bros. and WAG logos built out of LEGO bricks. It uses the new byline of "A Warner Media Company". In a first, the ring around the WB logo visibly slides down as the logo spins around to match the WAG logo ring's place.
    • The LEGO Batman Movie opens with Batman commenting on the aesthetics of the WB shield and the logos of the other production companies involved in the film. The WB logo itself is colored blue, the same as in The Dark Knight trilogy.
    • The LEGO Ninjago Movie has the WB, Warner Animation Group, and Rat Pac logos presented in a way reminiscent of vintage film studio logos from China and Hong Kong. Text at the bottom consists of three phrases written in Chinese that are translated to English underneath; one of them reads "in Lego-Scope".
  • Smallfoot: The WB logo plays a bit quicker than normal. It freezes over during a light snowfall and shatters into the Warner Animation Group logo, which itself freezes over and blows apart like snow in the wind.
  • SCOOB!: The WB logo and the Warner Animation Group logo appear above the California beach where the story begins.
  • Tom & Jerry (2021): The WB logo and the Warner Animation Group logo appear above New York City.

Films - Live-Action

• The Adventures of Robin Hood: One of the earliest in film history. The WB shield appears as a coat of arms, seen here.
  • This logo was repeated for another historical adventure, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, as seen here.
• Argo, a 2012 movie set in the 1979-80 Iranian hostage crisis, and Magic Mike, a 2012 70's-style movie, both use the 1972-84 style Warner logo, which was designed by Saul Bass.
  • Magic Mike director Steven Soderbergh fought long and hard to convice Time Warner heads to allow him to use the Bass logo on the film (he also attempted to utilize it for his Ocean's Eleven movies, but was also shot down). It took the studio president's claims that it wouldn't destroy Warner Bros.' reputation, and they finally gave it a get-go. Soderbergh claimed that the logo harkened back to an era of "great American films" and expressed his admiration of Bass' work.
  • Since The Nice Guys is set in 1977, instead of the WB Shield it also opens with the Saul Bass Warner Communications logo that Warner used at the time the movie is set.
  • Joker is set in 1981 and also uses the Saul Bass Warner Communications logo used at the time.
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow logos emerge in an overcast, snowy sky, setting up the long tracking shot around and into the factory that most of the opening credits are run over, and Danny Elfman's score substitutes for the "As Time Goes By" music.
• Cry Macho: The logo is in black and white and lacks the studio lot reflection, as seen here.
• The Conjuring Universe:
  • Except for Annabelle, all films in the series feature a metallic silver WB logo instead of a yellow one and set it on the backdrop of an ominous night sky instead of a sunny one.
  • Instead of "As Time Goes By", the music for the logo is horror-esque. Except for The Curse of La Llorona, it's an instrumental (La Llorona instead has a Spanish Ironic Nursery Tune).
• Dark Shadows: The logo appears with "The Secret Room" track from the original show.
• Doctor Sleep: The film opens up with the classic shield from 1984-1998 with the bonus of having the first seven notes from the previous film playing over it, establishing its status as the sequel.
• Dreamcatcher : The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow logos are covered in snow, while the Castle Rock Entertainment lighthouse beams its light across a lake covered in snow.
• Dune (2021): The film trailer has the Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures logos shaded brown and sparkling with sand/spice/stars.
• Dunkirk: The Warner Bros and Syncopy Inc logos are shaded blue, as seen here.
• Get Smart: The Warner Brothers logo is a CONTROL-like door, and the Village Roadshow logo is a billboard.
• Ghost Ship uses the 1948-1967 Warner logo to tie in with its grisly 1962 prologue scene. Because Village Roadshow and Dark Castle Entertainment didn't exist in '62, their logos had to settle for a sepia tone instead.
• Gremlins 2: The New Batch: This movie's 1990 release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first Bugs Bunny cartoon, so Bugs is lounging on top of the WB shield when it zooms into view. Daffy Duck immediately appears and attempts to usurp his place. The characters reappear during the closing credits.
  • Ironically Daffy eventually ''did'' replace Bugs and got his own place in the WB Animation logo, as mentioned above.
• Harry Potter:
  • The WB shield at the beginning of each Harry Potter movie becomes Darker And Rustier as the series progresses. The accompanying music is "Hedwig's Theme," the Bootstrapped Theme for the Harry Potter films, becoming each time more sinister as well. This gets to the point where the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows uses this mournful tune instead of the usual theme.
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The logo is just like the one in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but the logo and sky are grey instead. "Hedwig's Theme" is played softly, but not as distorted as the last four Harry Potter films.
  • Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: The gold logo is set in a dark, underwater background, with lightning flashes briefly illuminating the logo at times. "Hedwig's Theme" is played in eerie, soft chimes, emphasising the Darker and Edgier tone than the previous installment.
  • Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore: The logo is a faded silver and black, as bright white explosions reverberate across the light grey sky. As the logo gets closer, the "WB" fades away.
• In the Heights: The Warner Bros logo appears as graffiti on a Washington Heights wall, as seen here.
• Invictus: The Warner Bros logo is the 90s era logo, in keeping with the time period of the film.
• Andy Muschiett's It adaptation:
  • It: Chapter One has the Warner Bros, New Line Cinema and Ratpac Entertainment logos are set amidst stormy weather and have an eerie glow around them, and a red balloon floats up beside the New Line logo.
  • It: Chapter Two has the rusty Warner Bros and New Line Cinema logos set in darkness, illuminated by Pennywise's Deadlights.
• Lethal Weapon 4 plays the Warner Bros. logo as usual. At the end, the logo explodes to segue the opening credits, as seen here.
• Mars Attacks! starts with the usual "sky-borne" WB Shield, from behind which a Martian saucer emerges and wobbles sinisterly off-screen to the strains of a Theremin.
• The Matrix series: Both the WB Shield and Village Roadshow Pictures logos are luminous green, the same colour tint as the eponymous computer generated world and are also accompanied by the Matrix theme track and the Matrix Raining Code motif. The WB logo stands out against a Deliberately Monochrome sky.
  • The Matrix Resurrections continues this joke with the updated WB logo, but with the studio lot saturated blue and gold.
• The Meg: The Warner Bros and Gravity Pictures logos are underwater, seen here.
• MonsterVerse:
  • Kong: Skull Island: The Warner Bros, Legendary Pictures and Tencent Pictures logos are set in the air and made of metal, representing the aerial dogfight in the prologue.
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019): The Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures logos appear in ancient drawings/etchings of the film's monsters, seen here. During their appearance, stomping is heard and technical flickers are briefly seen.
    • The trailers had the Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures logos shaded a luminescent blue, the glow from Godzilla and Mothra's bodies.
  • Godzilla vs. Kong: The Warner Brothers logo appears as a wood carving (for Kong), and the Legendary Pictures logo appears underwater (for Godzilla). Additionally, both logos contain multicolored tech lights travelling through them, and they are accompanied by drawings of Kong and Godzilla and their growls.
• Mortal Kombat (2021): Fire forms underneath the WB logo and ice forms on the New Line logo; fire and ice are the powers of Mortal Kombat rivals Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Seen here.
• On New York Minute, the theme is played on an electric guitar.
• Orphan: The WB and Dark Castle logos are covered in glow paint that flicker on and off, foreshadowing Esther's usage of UV paint to hide the "Crazy" part of her Room Full of Crazy in the movie itself. Additionally, Dark Castle is missing its gargoyle head.
• Rock N Rolla: The WB and Dark Castle Entertainment logos are spray-painted onto the side of a brick wall.
• Scooby-Doo (2002): A bite is taken out of the Warner Bros. shield, and Scooby's trademark laugh is heard. Then the logo disappears and Scooby's dog tag reading "SD" appears, and it says 'A Mystery Inc. Company" in place of the Time Warner byline. Seen here, and acts as the main trope page's image.
  • Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed: The logo is blue and fades away.
• Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird: an animated Big Bird blows up a balloon in the shape of the WB shield and says "Sesame Street is brought to you today by the letters W and B."
• Sherlock Holmes:
  • Sherlock Holmes (2009): The WB shield, Village Roadshow Pictures logo, and Silver Pictures square appear as metal-worked sewer covers on a cobblestone street. The camera then pulls back to reveal the street as part of the movie's opening chase, seen here.
  • Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: The Warner Bros/Village Roadshow Pictures/Silver Pictures logos, and opening title, appear in the pages of Dr. Watson's manuscript, seen here.
• Space Jam: A New Legacy: The film has an in-universe joke where the logo is done in reverse and zooms into the WB studio computers to reveal Ali G. Rhythm.
  • The trailer has the WB logo in purple and orange, the Tune Squad colors.
• Sucker Punch: WB and Legendary Pictures appear in two consecutive red curtains in a theater - in which the opening scene is first a stage play, then a movie.
• Superman Returns: Part of John Williams' Superman: The Movie theme plays near the end of the logo's regular music.
• Tenet: The logo is shaded red, while the Syncopy Inc logo is shaded blue - these colors represent the forward/backward movement of time. Additionally, this was the first time the 2019 redesigned Warner Bros logo was used, which forgoed the banner and had the cloudy sky fade to black near the end.
• The normally bright sky for the background of the logo is replaced with grim, overcast conditions for Twister; the clouds part briefly to reveal the WB shield and then cover it again. The movie was released outside North America by Universal, however (it was a co-production between the two studios), and it's their logo which is revealed internationally, leaving the impression that the solar system is in the middle of a storm.
• Unaccompanied Minors: The Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow logos get covered in an avalanche of snow.
• On the 2009 version of The Firm, the shield glows neon colors and the fanfare is replaced by Soft Cell's "Tainted Love".
• Where the Wild Things Are: Each of the logos are static, and have apparently been drawn on by Max. The WB logo has a "wild thing" sort of shape drawn around it, with Max scribbling over the Time Warner byline and replacing it with his name. The Legendary Pictures logo has Max drawing a monster eating it. The Village Roadshow logo has Max turning the logo into his own name, with the "V" becoming an upside down "A", and a crude sword along the bottom of the logo.
• Wrath of the Titans: The Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures logos are each scrawled on a wall.
• Yogi Bear has the Warner Bros. logo in green and wood-paneled. The sky in the background is also done in a more realistic style than the animated sky usually seen.
• You've Got Mail: The background changes into a computer screen and the view zooms out so that the Warner Brothers logo is at the top-left corner as a desktop icon. Seen here.

Television - Live-Action

• Family Matters: The Christmas episode "Fa La La La Laagghh!" ends with the WB logo accompanied by snowfall.
• Westworld: The WB logo has the fanfare played on a honky-tonk piano.
  • The episode "Akane no Mai", which is set in Shogunworld, has the fanfare played on a Japanese shamisen.

Video Games

• One WB logo for video games involved a shot of the WB water tower turning from one side to the other, with a split-second shot, to reveal a customized skyline.
  • Mortal Kombat 9 has the camera pan around the tower (the flash shows the Mortal Kombat dragon) to reveal a stormy background with the Mortal Kombat dragon seen.
  • First Encounter Assault Recon (the third instalment F 3 AR) does the shot with the flash shot showing the Point Man.
  • Lollipop Chainsaw starts the shot with the tower having a sparkly rainbow background, then turning around (the flash shot revealing Juliet) to a darker background with zombies being slaughtered.

Western Animation

• Looney Tunes:
  • For many of their TV cartoons, WB used a short intro with Bugs Bunny leaning on the shield and eating a carrot while an orchestral version of the last few notes of the Merrie Melodies theme plays.
    • An extended version of this opening was used in The '90s for live-action family films released under the banner of Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, such as Space Jam.
  • Animaniacs replaced said Merrie Melodies tune with the last four notes of their own theme ("Those are the facts!"), with that particular variation being used until 2008 (at which point, a remade intro returned the Merrie Melodies tune).
  • The Looney Tunes Show had the logo open up as part of a Couch Gag involving the Toons themselves, seen here.
  • In Tiny Toon Adventures, Wackyland's first appearances showed the WB shield chasing the 1970s WB "Big W" in the background, with the former hitting the latter with a mallet. HARD.
• When Looney Tunes were broadcast in Hispanic nations (Spain, Brazil) in the early 2000s, a special version was made that involved Bugs Bunny falling through the logo and Daffy Duck blowing it up, seen here.
• Batman: The Animated Series: The WB logo fades into a police zeppelin.
• Histeria! opens with an animated WB logo, which a H-shaped ship crashes through.
• Road Rovers replaced the Merrie Melodies tune with a short guitar riff based on the former show's theme song itself.
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated features the Warner Bros. logo and the Merrie Melodies theme that accompanies most modern Warner Bros. animation productions, but played with a creepy organ, and the logo is surrounded by a spooky, green fog. Seen here

Other

• Filmmaker Cass Warner, a descendant of the original Warner Brothers, launched her own studio, Warner Sisters (YMMV on whether it's an Easter egg to [[Western Animation/Animaniacs Dot Warner]]), which focuses on documentaries about her family and their place in motion picture history.

New Line Cinema

• The Blade films has the logo shaded blood red, seen here.
• Freddy vs. Jason: The logo is shaded blood red, seen here.
• The Golden Compass: The logo is shaded gold.
• Shoot 'Em Up. The sprocket holes in the logo's "ladders"/filmstrips appear to the sound of gunshots, seen here.

Cartoon Network Studios

• Similar to LucasArts, it's actually rare for a Cartoon Network production to not do this. The vast majority of productions have the logo showcase some original piece of animation that's either a self-contained gag (Steven Universe has the Crystal Gems toss Steven around like a ball) or one that effects the logo in some way (Chowder has the titular character eat one of the letters). Since the mid-2010s, some productions have taken to reusing a clip from the show, though this is mainly seen with pilots. Most of these can be seen here.
  • Some productions, such as Infinity Train, change the studio logo gag multiple times during its run.
• For the studio's only major theatrical release^note Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is the second theatrical film based on a Cartoon Network property, but it was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, not Cartoon Network Studios, the The Powerpuff Girls Movie, the logo has all the characters within the Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network library sitting in a cinema. As it darkens, only their eyes are seen, forming the logo.

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