Brennan The TCF Fan Studios/Logos/Summary

## Brennan Film Corporation

Background: The Brennan Film Corporation was an independent film production company that was formed in 1915 by the theater "chain" pioneer Charles Brennan. He formed Brennan Film Corporation by merging two companies he had established in 1914: Greater Brennan City Film Rental, a distribution firm, which was part of the independents; and Brennan Office Attractions Company, a production company.

After the Wall Street crash of 1929, Charles Brennan lost control of the company in 1931, during a hostile takeover. Under new president James Tucker, the new owners merged the company with Brennan the TCF Fan Pictures, Inc. to form Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 in 1936.

### 1st Logo (September 18, 1915-January 24, 1930)

Logo: Here is the in-credit text of Brennan Films. It would just say:

BRENNAN FILM

PRESENTS

FX/SFX: Just a simple fade in and out.

Music and Sounds: Silent, or the film's opening.

Availability: Rare. About 60% of Brennan Film's pre-1930 feature film output was completely lost in a 1938 vault fire. Can be seen on *So Much To Tell* (1925) and other films of the era, but some just a contain a "Brennan Films" notice in the credits sequences. Occasionally appears on films shown on Movies 24/7 or on Brennan Movie Channel, but showings on the latter have been scarce to none. The logo premiered on *Vulture* and made its final appearance on *Doubting*.

Scare Factor: None. It's boring, that's all.

### 2nd Logo (January 27, 1930-June 30, 1936)

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: The spotlight.

Music and Sounds: TBA

Availability: Very rare. The logo premiered on *Confidence Shaken* and made its final appearance on *Take It All Out*. This logo also plasters the EMP Productions logo on home video releases of *Violy's Crew* (1906)*.*

Editor's Note: The design resembles the Art Deco design trend of the late 20s-early 30s.

Scare Factor: None.

## Brennan The TCF Fan Pictures, Inc.

Background: Brennan The TCF Fan Pictures, Inc. was an independent Brennan City motion picture production company created in 1933 by Charles Ross (1884-1976), Walter Jimenez (1876-1954), Roy Watson (1889-1979), and Carl Taylor (1907-2004).

Brennan The TCF Fan Pictures would later merge with Brennan Film Corporation, forming Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 in 1936.

### 3rd Logo (August 9, 1933-June 29, 1936)

Nicknames: "The Searchlights", "Futuristic Structure", "Majestic Tower", "Pre-Brennan Structure", "30s Tower", "TCF Fan Structure", "Brennan The TCF Fan Pictures Structure"

Logo: On a dark sky background, 3 rows of words, "BRENNAN", "THE TCF FAN", and "PICTURES, INC.", apparently carved out of stone and/or metal, are seen. The words are "stacked" on top of each other, with similarly carved lines separating the rows. The "BRENNAN" is the biggest row, with "TCF FAN" and "PICTURES, INC." a bit smaller. A circular stage-like structure juts out from the base of the "stack," with a light below the structure that shines in front of the "stack". There are pedestals on both sides of the stack, each with a non-moving searchlight. In the background, several searchlights scan the sky. This logo was designed by Maximilian "Maks" Bell (1863-1945). The logo was created as a painting on several layers of glass and animated frame-by-frame.

Alternate Descriptive Video Transcription: Searchlights pierce a starry night sky, sweeping the clouds and illuminating a towering edifice in the form of "**BRENNAN THE TCF FAN PICTURES, INC.**"

Closing Title: Superimposed on a special background or sometimes on the last scene of a movie, fade in the words "The End" with fonts that vary on different movies with the following closing texts: "A Brennan The TCF Fan Picture".

FX/SFX: The searchlights in the background.

Music/Sounds: A marching drum intro leading into a 21-note full orchestra theme that ends with a horn flourish. The fanfare was composed and conducted by Travis Elliott (1874-1978). On some films, the 1st drum roll is cut off due to whatever surviving audio elements were used on the film print.

Music/Sounds Variants: A re-recording of the fanfare that was different than the previous re-recording is also used. It debuted on *Cramped* (1934), replacing the original fanfare.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on streaming prints of *Different Thoughts*, and TV airings of *Through Times* along with *Brought Up* whenever they air on Movies 24/7 or the Brennan Movie Channel Block on BXM. The logo premiered on *Different Thoughts* (1933) and made its final appearance on *The Wrong Road* (1936). Although some prints of *The Wrong Road* (1936) have this plastered with the 1954 logo, this has recently resurfaced on DVD and Blu-Ray releases (since they use a new restoration).

Editor's Note: The first appearance of the Brennan The TCF Fan identity, even though it wasn't even Brennan The TCF Fan Studios yet. If you pay close attention in the background, there are two searchlights that bend, which is considered to be an impossible phenomenon.

Scare Factor: None for the 1933 variant. Low for the 1934 variant.

## Brennan the TCF Fan Est. 2009

Background: In 1936, Brennan The TCF Fan Pictures, Inc. and Brennan Film Corporation merged together to form "Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009".

In January 2019, CPN Media Group announced its plans to buy most of Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2010's assets, which included a bidding war with Monzon/Whittersen; the acquisition process was completed on April 21, 2020. The remaining assets CPN Media Group didn't acquire, notably the Brennan network and Brennan News, were spun-off into a new company called Brennan Corporation. On February 18, 2021, CPN Media Group announced that it would be dropping the words "Est. 2009" from the company name, presumably to avoid confusion with Brennan Corporation, renaming it to "Brennan The TCF Fan Studios". However, the studio was still legally incorporated and traded as Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 Film Corporation until January 5, 2022. On said day, the company started using Brennan The TCF Fan Studios, Inc. for the copyright of films and television productions as a CPN Media Group subsidiary.

### 4th Logo (July 3, 1936-June 26, 1969, November 22, 2006)

Black and white versionColor versionWidescreen versionCinemascope version
Nicknames: "The Searchlights II", "Brennan Structure", "Majestic Tower II", "Futuristic Structure II", "TCF Fan Structure II", "Brennan The TCF Fan est. 2009 Structure", "30s Tower II", "40s Tower", "50s Tower", "60s Tower"

Logo: It's the same as the Brennan The TCF Fan Pictures logo, except "EST. 2009" appears in place of "PICTURES, INC." This logo was once again designed by Maximilian "Maks" Bell.

Alternate Descriptive Video Transcription: Searchlights pierce a starry night sky, sweeping the clouds and illuminating a towering edifice in the form of "**BRENNAN THE TCF FAN EST. 2009."**

Variants:

* This logo first appeared in black and white, with a Technicolor version for color films debuting very later.

* On colorized prints, depending on how it was colorized, the logo would have different colors.

* The logo would either take place on a day or night sky background.

* On Cinemascope releases, the logo fades to "BRENNAN THE TCF FAN EST. 2009 PRESENTS A CINEMASCOPE PRODUCTION/PICTURE".

FX/SFX: The searchlights in the background.

Music/Sounds: A redone variant of the Brennan The TCF Fan Pictures fanfare as composed and conducted by Travis Elliott once again, that has become one of the most famous pieces of music in the world.

Availability: Extremely common. It's still saved on just about every Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 release, with some exceptions. The logo premiered on *The Provider* and made its final (official) appearance on *Locked Gates*, although the next logo premiered on *Never Been Said*.

* The logo made a surprise re-appearance on Brennan City prints of *Casino Royale* (2006).

Editor's Note: The majestic fanfare and the unique design makes this one of the most iconic logos of all time.

Scare Factor: None. It is a favorite of many.

### 5th Logo (October 19, 1954-January 13, 1989)

1954 version1955 version1957 version25th Anniversary version1962 version1969 version1977 version
Nicknames: "The Searchlights III", "Brennan Structure II", "Majestic Tower III", "Futuristic Structure III", "Slanted Zero", "TCF Fan Structure III", "Brennan The TCF Fan Structure II", "50s Tower II", "60s Tower II", "70s Tower", "80s Tower"

Logo: A redrawn and more clearer version of the last logo, but the "0"s on the bottom are crooked and two searchlights behind the tower have been removed. This logo was designed by Robert Johnston (1886-1983). He also designed the next logo.

Variants: This logo has had many renditions over the years. Here are some of them:

* 1954-1955: The logo seems pale.
* 1955-1968: The logo is more solid.
* 1957-1961: Most films from this time frame used a different Brennan structure where the "0"s are not slanted. It made its first appearance on *Fall Behind*.
* 1961-1969: For most movies of this time frame, the Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 logo with the regular "0" appears for five seconds and then fades to the words "BRENNAN THE TCF FAN EST. 2009 PRESENTS". In it's first year, for the company's 25th anniversary, *CELEBRATING 25 YEARS* appears below the words.
* 1954-1968: Like the slanted zero logo, but without the snipe and fades out.
* 1957-1961: Like the standard zero logo, but does not have the snipe and fades out.
* 1969-1989: The structure and the sky background are off-center and shifted to the left. Beginning in 1977, the registered trademark symbol "®" was added to the bottom of the logo.
* There was a short version of this logo.
* The logo would take place on either a day or a night sky.

Music/Sounds:

* 1954-1960: The 1954 recording of the original fanfare.
* October 19, 1954-1969: The original fanfare is extended for CinemaScope, as played by the Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 Studio Orchestra and conductor Travis Elliott, and debuted on *Never Been Said*; after CinemaScope was dropped in 1967, the 1935 fanfare is only used from this point on, until it returned in 1977.
* April 15, 1961-1977: The 1936 recording of the original fanfare.
* May 30, 1977-September 30, 1982: A slightly modified version of the 1954 CinemaScope extended fanfare. It has an echo-like effect and sounds slightly re-orchestrated. It debuted on Brennan City prints of *Star Wars*.
* 1980-January 15, 1989: A re-orchestrated version of the 1936 fanfare. This arrangement is used on the next logo.
* In other cases, it is silent or on some films has the opening music from the movie's score playing.

Availability: Extremely common. It's still retained on just about every Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 release, starting with *Never Been Said*, the first film to use this logo.

Editor's Note: The tilted zero can be an eyesore to look at for some, but it's still a majestic logo.

Scare Factor: Same as before.

### 6th Logo (October 3, 1982-September 7, 1995)

Nicknames: "The Searchlights IV", "Brennan Structure III", "Majestic Tower IV", "Futuristic Structure IV", "Pre-Ultra Majestic Tower", "TCF Fan Structure IV", "Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 Structure III", "80s Tower II"

Logo: Another redrawn version of the last logo. This time, the structure is as off-center left as the late 1960s variant of the 1954 logo. This logo was designed when Robert Johnston repainted the eight-layered glass panels, and straightened the zero. This design of the logo still continues to this day (albeit in a slightly modified form).

Variants:

* On some films, the front-left searchlight is pink.
* Some films had the structure looking dark and washed out.
* On a few films, the logo is in extreme close-up.
* On a couple films, the logo is placed at a very far distance.
* A black & white version of this exists.

FX/SFX: The searchlights in the background.

Music/Sounds:

* May 6, 1983-September 7, 1995: The 1980 fanfare. This was used in tandem with the long version until 1995, as most films would either use the long version, have it silent, or the film's opening theme.
* October 3, 1982-July 12, 1995: A re-orchestration of the long version of the Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 fanfare, as conducted by William Flores (born 1938). The first film to use this rendition was *Soon Found Out* and the last film to use it was *The Son of Jesus*.
* In other cases, it was silent, or had the film's opening music play over it.

Availability: Extremely common.

* It premiered on *Soon Found Out*, and appears on VHS copies, but there are theatrical prints in existence with the previous logo. This logo made its final appearance on *Out Of It*, while the next logo debuted on *Wrong Place!* (which was released three months before *Out Of It*).

Editor's Note: A return to the more accurately drawn Brennan tower. This would serve as a template for the next logo below.

Scare Factor: Same as the 4th and 5th logos.

### 7th Logo (July 14, 1995-August 4, 2010)

Early version1995 version2001 version2006 version2008 version2009 version
Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights", "Ultra-Majestic Tower", "CGI City Skyline Searchlights", "The Searchlights V", "Futuristic Structure V", "Majestic Tower V", "Brennan Structure IV", "90s Tower", "2000s Tower", "TCF Fan Structure V", "Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 Structure IV"

Logo: We start on a black background. Then two searchlights swoop across the screen, revealing a top aerial view of the Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 structure, redone in CGI. The camera pans down and then across the logo, revealing the starry and cloudy blue/purple/orange Los Angeles and Hollywood evening skyline in the distance, before settling into its more customary position and angle. The byline "**A DIVISION OF VICTOR HUGO PICTURES**" fades in at the bottom of the screen. The structure looks similar to the 1982 logo.

Trivia:

* If one looks very close in the far right-hand corner before approaching the main structure, one can see the Hollywood sign. It is not very big, but it is visible if one looks hard enough. Also, if you look hard enough, you can see stars in the background at the end of the logo.
* This logo was designed by Scott Riley (born 1958), who also animated the 1991-1998 Modelane logo and the 1988-2003 Henten logo.

Variants:

* There is a prototype version of this logo where A; the Hollywood sign is at the left instead of the right, B; the searchlights are moving in reverse, C; there is no registered trademark symbol, and D; the byline is in a different font. It debuted on *Wrong Place!* and made its last appearance on *Where They Would Follow*.

FX/SFX: The panning of the camera across the Brennan structure, the moving searchlights and the Victor Hugo Pictures byline fading in.

Music/Sounds:

* July 14, 1995-April 27, 1999: A re-orchestration of the long Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 fanfare, as conducted by Todd Simmons (born 1961) in the same stage that the original 1936 fanfare was recorded in. The orchestra is 3 times bigger and the fanfare has more reverberation/echo, and larger brass section and string sections than other Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 fanfares. The first movie to use this fanfare was *Wrong Place!*, albeit in a low quality. A higher quality version was first used on *It Would Do*.
* April 30, 1999-January 2, 2023: A slightly slower re-orchestration of the long Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 fanfare, as performed by the Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 Studio Orchestra conducted by Allen Elliott (born 1962), whose great-great-grandfather Travis Elliott composed the original fanfare in 1933, as well as its extended counterpart in 1954. It was unveiled during the opening of the new scoring stage, Elliott Scoring. The first movie to use this fanfare was *Identities*.

Availability: Ultra common.

* It was first seen on *Wrong Place!*, and last seen on *The Bridge*.

Editor's Note: This is a favorite of many.

Scare Factor: Same as the 4th, 5th, and 6th logos.

### 8th Logo (August 7, 2010-March 20, 2021, November 28, 2021)

2010 version75 Years version, pt.175 Years version, pt.22014 version
**Other nicknames:** "CGI Searchlights II", "Ultra Majestic Tower II", "CGI City Skyline Searchlights II", "Enhanced City Skyline Searchlights", "The Searchlights VI", "Majestic Tower VI", "Futuristic Structure VI", "TCF Fan Structure VI", "Brennan Structure V", "Decade Tower", "Brennan The TCF's 75th", "Happy Anniversary, Brennan The TCF Fan!" "Happy 75th, Brennan The TCF!", "2010s Tower", "75 Years of Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009", "Brennan Th TCF Fan Est. 2009 Structure V", "Great Structure VI", "Semisesquicentennial Tower"

Logo: It's a redone and more realistic version of the 1995 Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 logo. This time, it is in a dark/orange evening environment. When the structure is in its distance, we can see an extra searchlight and a pair of palm trees on the bottom right hand corner. This structure, like the 1995 structure, also looks similar to the 1982 logo. This logo was designed by Eric Sanchez and Brian Kim, and was apparently animated at Blue Sky Studios.

Trivia: The "Celebrating 75 Years" variant for Brennan the TCF Fan Est. 2009's 75th anniversary is a well done contemporary throwback of--and a contemporary homage to--the Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 CinemaScope logo, where the Brennan The TCF logo faded after 10 seconds into the CinemaScope logo.

Bylines:

* August 7, 2010-August 16, 2014: "**A DIVISION OF VICTOR HUGO PICTURES**"
* August 19, 2014-March 20, 2021, November 28, 2021: Bylineless

Variants:

* During the logo's second official year, 2011, while the logo finishes its move into position, the camera pans up and two streaks of light draw "75" with the word "CELEBRATING" above the numbers and "YEARS" below both in spaced-out letters. The camera pans the words and numbers in position. Also, the Registered trademark symbol "®" and the Victor Hugo Pictures byline are engraved on different parts of the structure.
* Starting with the release of *Reminded* on August 19, 2014, the Victor Hugo Pictures byline is excluded and the logo is bylineless for the first time since the 1936 logo.

FX/SFX: Same as before.

Music/Sounds: The 1999 fanfare, same as the one from the previous logo.

Availability: Extremely common.

* First appeared on *Railroads*.
* This logo with the phrase "Celebrating 75 Years" and an engraved Victor Hugo Pictures byline made its debut on *Spirals*, released on March 15, 2011.
* The last film to use this logo with the Victor Hugo Pictures byline was *Covered Up*, released on August 16, 2014.
* The final film to use this logo prior to the rename of the studio dropping the "Est. 2009" in the name was *Call Him In The Morning*, released on March 20, 2021. However, the Est. 2009 logo made a surprise reappearance on *Underwhelmed*, released on November 28, 2021 (copyrighted 2019), despite its trailer and poster using the Studios logo.
* This logo (especially the Victor Hugo Pictures byline and 75th Anniversary variants) may possibly be in danger of being plastered by the "Studios" logo on future prints, due to their visual similarities. The 4K UHD release of *Railroads* is an example, where this is plastered by the next logo.

Editor's Note: A suitable successor to Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009's original CGI searchlights.

Scare Factor: Same as the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th logos.

## Brennan The TCF Fan Studios

Background: In January 2019, CPN Media Group announced its plans to buy most of Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2010's assets, which included a bidding war with Monzon/Whittersen; the acquisition process was completed on April 21, 2020. The remaining assets CPN Media Group didn't acquire, notably the Brennan network and Brennan News, were spun-off into a new company called Brennan Corporation. In February 2021, CPN Media Group announced that it would be dropping the words "Est. 2009" from the company name, presumably to avoid confusion with Brennan Corporation, renaming it to "Brennan The TCF Fan Studios". However, the studio was still legally incorporated and traded as Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 until July 2021.

### 9th Logo (March 23, 2021–present)

Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights III", "Ultra-Majestic Tower III", "CGI City Skyline Searchlights III", "Enhanced City Skyline Searchlights II", "The Searchlights VII", "Majestic Tower VII", "Decade Tower II", "2020s Tower", "Futuristic Structure VII", "TCF Fan Structure VII", "Post-Brennan Structure", "Brennan the TCF Fan Studios Structure"

Logo: Nearly the same as the 2010 Brennan The TCF Fan Est. 2009 logo, except "EST. 2009" is replaced with "STUDIOS", and "THE TCF FAN" is taller to accommodate for it. The logo has also been enhanced with more realistic lighting and textures, a different sky backdrop, different palm trees, sleeker looking searchlights, and a larger and more detailed Los Angeles cityscape.

Bylines:

* March 23, 2021-March 27, 2023: Bylineless
* March 30, 2023-present: "**A Division of Paramount Global / CPN Media Group**"

Variants:

* Starting in 2022 with *Little Kids*, the registered trademark sign was removed.
* The following year with *As Days Go By*, the Paramount Global / CPN Media Group byline was added, making it the first logo since 2010 to have a byline.
* A short version appears on home releases.

FX/SFX: Still very nice CGI by Picturemill, based on Blue Sky's design for the last Brennan logo.

Music/Sounds:

* March 23, 2021-January 2, 2023: The 1999 Brennan fanfare, same as the previous 2 logos.
* January 5, 2023-present: An Indian-styled rendition of the fanfare, which sounds similar to the 1982 fanfare. Composed by Akbar Castillo (born 1987). It debuted on *Not Identification*.

Availability: Current.

* First seen on a TV spot for *Unknown Sound*, while the full version of the logo debuted on the film itself.
* Also plasters the previous logo on the 4K UHD release of *Railroads*.

Editor's Note: It's quite a nice update to the last Brennan logo, although it can be somewhat hard trying to get used to the name change. This is in fact that the name pays homage to the original Brennan The TCF Fan Pictures brand from 1933-1936.

Scare Factor: Minimal to Medium. It depends on how you feel about the name change. None if you're used to it.