Universal Pictures Celebrates Turning 100 With New Logo and Classic Film Restorations

Universal Pictures celebrated its 100th anniversary today by revealing a very pretty new logo (above) and announcing the studio’s intention to restore 13 of its most iconic films.

Though the birthday celebrations are a tad early (April 30 is the official date), the ambitious Universal isn’t wasting any time getting its projects up and running. The films that the studio is eye-balling for a digital makeover are: All Quiet on the Western Front, The Birds, Abbott & Costello’s Buck Privates, Dracula (1931), the Spanish-language Dracula filmed on the same set at night, Frankenstein, Jaws, Schindler’sList, Out of Africa, Pillow Talk, Bride of Frankenstein, The Sting and To Kill a Mockingbird (which is getting 50th anniversary Blu-ray treatment on Jan. 31).

The restorations will be released all throughout the coming year, took about six months each to brush up, and cost between $250k and $600k per title. On the motivation for the restoration project, Universal Senior VP of technical operations Michael Daruty said:

“This restoration effort was not about marketability and whether we’re gonna sell enough DVDs, […] That is what we do on a daily basis, but this was a commitment by the company to say, ‘We’re gonna devote funding and most probably continue that effort year over year to try to preserve and restore the legacy of the company. We’re here to spend the money on these 13 titles and some others, whether we’re gonna get our money back in that first year or not.’ It’s really refreshing.”

Maybe Daruty didn’t get the memo from Universal Studios president and COO Ron Meyer, who said:

“It is a profit driver, so supporting the DVD/Blu-ray business is of great importance, […] There will be a number of films in collectible book-style packaging with memorabilia. It’s an area for us to frankly show off and give the audience something they’ve never seen before.”

Well, different strokes I guess.

The new logo makes its debut in front of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax which hits theaters on March 2.

“It didn’t change the logo in a way that audiences wouldn’t completely understand, but it brought us up to date,” said Meyer.

Looking forward to grabbing your restored Jaws or To Kill a Mockingbird Blu-ray from Universal this year?