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Why the iconic Walt Disney Pictures logo was changed for ‘Tomorrowland'

Posted May 21, 2015 11:00 pm

Jason Guerrasio

The Walt Disney Pictures' logo is one of the most iconic symbols in the world.

Synonymous with most of our childhoods, the silhouette of Sleeping Beauty's castle has shown up before all Disney media properties since its 1985 animated feature "The Black Cauldron" (before then, a "Walt Disney Productions Presents" title card would appear).

But audiences who go to see Disney's latest movie, "Tomorrowland," will be greeted with a surprise.

In a rarity for the Mouse House, the iconic Disney logo was replaced by the skyline of the futuristic Tomorrowland.

The movie, which is an adaptation of the Disney park theme land of the same name, stars George Clooney and Britt Robertson ("The Longest Ride") as imaginative dreamers who have visited the fantasy land and are determined to return.

<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/555de2096da81141102bdb7f-1200-667/tomorrowland4.jpg" border="0" alt="tomorrowland4">The Tomorrowland skyline can be seen in numerous shots in the movie, but according to the co-visual effects supervisor on the film, Eddie Pasquarello, the movie's director, Brad Bird, wanted the audience to get the feel of the world immediately.

"Brad wanted to take you into the thing right away," he told Business Insider. "[Changing the opening logo] actually came up in the middle of production. I remember Brad wanted to do it and we talked about how other films did it. I would argue none has been done this elaborate."

Pasquarello could be right.

Numerous films have done unique tweaks to the Disney logo over the decades. Here are a few examples:

"Inspector Gadget" (1999)

"Prom" (2011)

In the end credits of "Wreck-It-Ralph" (2012) the logo gets taken over by video game code.

<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/555e08f86da811d62d2bdb7f-1200-501/wreck-it-ralph.jpg" border="0" alt="Wreck It Ralph">But very few have strayed from using Sleeping Beauty's castle. In fact, in recent memory, only two films have done it.

2010's "TRON: Legacy" replaced the castle with "The Grid," where the programs reside in the film.

<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/555e08e36bb3f7b10af54e25-1200-572/tron-logo-final.jpg" border="0" alt="Tron logo final">And in 2014's "Maleficent," Snow White's castle got the logo treatment.

<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/555e0854eab8ea285cd948f7-1200-500/maleficent-logo-final.jpg" border="0" alt="Maleficent logo final">Now you can add "Tomorrowland" to this small list.

<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/555e0897ecad04cb69460cea-1200-546/tomorrowland_disney_logo-copy.jpg" border="0" alt="Tomorrowland_Disney_Logo copy">And if you look closely you'll see what looks like the theme land's flagship ride, Space Mountain, illuminated in blue light.

<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/555e08b569beddde4afc9715-1200-572/tomorrowland_disney_opening_final.jpg" border="0" alt="Tomorrowland_Disney_Opening_final">"Tomorrowland" is currently playing in theaters.

NOW WATCH: Disney's new 'Tomorrowland' trailer is awesome  but we're still not sure what it's about

See Also:

<ul><li>It took a team of 200 people to create the dazzling futuristic world in Tomorrowland' </li><li>Peter Dinklage is a Donkey Kong champ in new 'Pixels' trailer</li><li>Zac Efron is starring in a movie that looks like 'The Social Network' for DJing</li></ul>

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