Gracie Films is an American film and television production company, created by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company has produced many award-winning films and television series, some of which include Broadcast News and Jerry Maguire, but most notably, The Simpsons. The company is primarily associated with film studio and distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment, but it still has an office at the 20th Century Fox lot due to the indefinite contract Gracie Films has had with Fox for the last 20 years for The Simpsons.
The Gracie Films production logo depicts noisy movie patrons at a movie theatre hearing a woman in the back row saying, "Shhhhh!", so the title, the company's name, can be projected and that the company's musical signature can be heard.
Gracie Films Distribution is a distribution company formed on New Year's Eve 2012. They formed distribution of classic films originally from movie studios
Some standard/special versions of the company's logo/jingle were made to fit television shows.
Variants
- The Simpsons:
- In Treehouse of Horror episodes, there is a pipe organ playing the jingle minorly and a girl screaming.
- In II and III, the organ played, without the scream.
- In IV and V, the scream was added in.
- In VI, the jingle was played as a Myst/Philip Glass Homage as heard in "Homer³" segment. (First of two episodes to hold the Halloween SFX)
- In VII, VIII (along with XVII, XVIII and XX), XI, XIII, XIV, and XVI the organ played slightly different kinds of logos.
- In IX, the organ played, but the scream was replaced with Regis Philbin screaming, "My eyes, my beautiful eyes!" as heard in the "Terror of Tiny Toon" segment.
- X's version of the logo is a reuse of the original logo from IV.
- In XII, the organ starts and then the scream comes in.
- In XV, the scream was replaced with Homer screaming through this logo and 20th Century Fox Television logo, similar to The Blunder Years. This variant was reused in XXII and XXIII Though in XXII and XXIII Homer only screamed once.
- In XIX, the jingle was played in a 'Peanuts' style heard in It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse which was then reused in Gone Abie Gone. (Second of two episodes to hold the Halloween SFX)
- In XXI, the organ played but the original scream was replaced by a Wilhelm scream.
- In XXIV, the original scream was replaced with people shouting the phrase, "One of Us!".
- In XXV, the original scream reappeared.
- In XXVI, the organ played but the original scream was replaced with Homerzilla roaring.
- Because the episode is canon, Halloween of Horror has the normal logo instead of the halloween variant.
- In some episodes that feature songs during the closing credits, the closing song continues playing over the logo.
- Capital City
- Maybe I'm Amazed
- Can't Buy Me Love (This also ran into the 20th Century Fox TV logo)
- Always Safety First
- America's Back and We're Feeling Patriotic
- Dream Operator
- Ragtime Montage
- Icelandic Rendition
- Simpsons Christmas Theme
- Star Trek Theme
- Acoustic Music
- Numerous other alternate versions of the theme have been used over the years.
- Whistle then Marching Band
- Cricket bat then Baseball Organ and faint applause
- Electric Guitar (containing the 'Shush!')
- Mexican Style then Olé chant (Used on the album Songs in the Key of Springfield)
- Vegas style then slot machine (Used on the album Songs in the Key of Springfield)
- Renaissance [contains the 'Shush'] (Used on the album Songs in the Key of Springfield)
- First Saxophone (contains the 'Shush!')
- Saxophone on the Beach (contains the 'Shush!')
- Third Saxophone
- Christmassy (contains the 'Shush!')
- Similar Renaissance
- A Semitone Lower
- The only time the logo can be seen within the episode was in You Kent Always Say What You Want, where after being interrupted by the 20th Century Fox TV logo when saying 'The truth is-', Homer on a white screen whispers to the fourth wall, "OK. What I was going to say was-," before the 'shush' interruption and the end credits.
- On The Longest Daycare, the background is pitch black. The audience (including the "Shhh!" lady), is on a teal outline. The rest of the logo continues as normal, despite the fact that the jingle was replaced by a drum roll. The finished logo looks like the print logo.
- Some episodes might use a sound bite from the episode, or use a voiceover from a character in that episode that plays alongside the jingle or replacing the jingle.
- These kind of variants are possibly inspired by the 'Deedle-Dee Tag' of Deedle-Dee Productions as heard in nearly every episode of Mike Judge's animated comedy King of the Hill.
- I'm sorry.
- Shut up. (Overtakes the shush)
- Didgeridoo (No shush or music)
- Loud Gunshot!
- Jamming.
- Music first then (Gunshot) You too, Gracie music dude. Gaw!
- Homer, we're out of vodka. (No music)
- Don't tell me to shush, you stupid lady.
- Silence! (Replaces Shush)
- (Gunshot) (Thud) (Three More Gunshots) (No music or shush)
- Ooh, I hear this really sucks.
- Oh, why'd you have to shush, you ruined the whole show.
- You hit her pretty hard there, Rick. (and also used in Latin America version as Homer Simpson)
- Worst episode ever.
- Oh, yeah. (As said in Waiting for Duffman)
- Moochie-moochie.
- Tappa-Tappa-Tappa.
- Devuelvame mi dinero! (actually used in Latin American only)
- Y esta porqueria mirando mi programa de television. (actually used in Latin American only)
- Repeating Tri-tone
- Shut up, Updike!
- Why, you ill-mannered sack of crap.
- Mukluk.
- (Basic laughter) En Français. (French laughter) (No music or shush)
- Raspy Cough
- Pokémon? Pokémon? Where the pokey and the man and the thing with the guy comes out... (overran into the 20th Century Fox TV logo)
- Whassup? (No shush)
- This has been a Gracie Films presentation. (Before the logo proceeds)
- Simpson!
- Oh, shush yourself.
- Badabing, badaboom. And we're done. (No music or shush)
- Plácido Domingo's Soprano Voice (No music or shush)
- Might be some wrong words there, but uh, pretty much nailed it. (No music or shush)
- Folk singers never say, "Take it, Naked Bacon". (No music or shush)
- Penelope vocalising (No music or shush)
- Soon you will be... (Before the logo proceeds)
- L'Chaim (No shush)
- Whale call (No shush)
- Simon Cowell laughing (No shush)
- ...but I did say stop. (No shush)
- Well, why couldn't you've say that a minute ago? Don't take any of my ideas. (No shush, then 5-note jingle)
- Shush me again, and I'll take your head clean off.
- Oh, grow up!
- I'm in hell. (No Shush)
- The Outlands (No shush or music)
- Tribal Drums (No shush or music)
- Brandine and Cletus scatting (No shush or music)
- Not the second, or the... (Before the logo proceeds)
- Marge's shush
- Peter Griffin from Family Guy sings the jingle: And now the show is over now.
- Sammy Hagar laughing (No shush or music)
- I'm out of here
- These kind of variants are possibly inspired by the 'Deedle-Dee Tag' of Deedle-Dee Productions as heard in nearly every episode of Mike Judge's animated comedy King of the Hill.
- Homer has the most dialogue in the variants he has been heard in:
- Ringing bicycle bell then giggling (No shush or music)
- You're cut too, Shushy!
- Larry Flynt is right. You guys stink.
- Don't shush me, you rich bastard! (Also appears on Filp Flap Big Brown House)
- Save me, Jebus!
- Baby made a boom-boom.
- Oh, boy. Buffalo testicles.
- Cobras!
- Screaming (overran into the 20th Century Fox TV logo which was then re-used in Treehouse of Horror XV, XXII and XXIII).
- Do you guys know 'Funkytown'? (No music or shush)
- Hey, shush yourself! (Reruns only)
- Excellent! (No shush)
- Jeez, sorry Dave. (No shush)
- And if I'm dead, avenge my death! (Reruns only) (No shush)
- Are we going to New York, or... (Before the logo proceeds)
- Usher, will you stop that person who's shushing? (No music)
- Waiting on the pants. Oh, Bart. Not culottes. (No shush and music, overran into the 20th Century Fox TV logo)
- The only visual variation of this logo was in Last Tap Dance in Springfield, where after the "Shhh!" we hear Little Miss Vicki saying "Tappa, tappa, tappa" and then the logo's main animation slides up to take up the top half of the screen, while the bottom half has an animated black-and-white scene of a cat rubbing its eyes (with fake prop arms from offscreen) and smiling (this was in an old Miss Vicki movie Lisa was watching) [see right].
- In two episodes, the jingle is played at the start of the logo and then a sound is heard. In All Singing, All Dancing, Snake Jailbird shoots his gun to stop the music as in the credits and says, "You too, Gracie music dude. Gaw!" and in Elementary School Musical, a cow moo is heard at the very end of the jingle.
- In Treehouse of Horror episodes, there is a pipe organ playing the jingle minorly and a girl screaming.
- On Simpsons episodes starting with Season 2, there is a shorter version of the logo without the murmuring. Earlier Season 2 episodes carried the normal logo. The expections of the logo were the episodes "When Flanders Failed", "Stark Raving Dad", "A Star is Burns" and Season 7 episodes (up to The Day the Violence Died) use the normal logo instead.
- From the DVD release of Season 15 onwards, the 2003 logo was plastered over the original logo along with the 2007 logo of 20th Century Fox Television.
- On FXX prints from 2014 to present and local syndication prints from 2015 to present of pre-2009 episodes, the 2003 logo was plastered over the original logo along with the 2013 20th Television logo.
There is a list of variants on this site, but unfortunately, they haven't been updated since the end of Season 21.
- Other Variants:
- An even shorter version is found on the short-lived Phenom, which cuts off the first two notes along with the murmuring and "Shhh!",Also The Background Music Is Slightly High Tone.
- On the webisodes of The Critic, the logo is in the center of the screen, is brighter and blue, and is still. This variant uses the end theme of the show. A silent version also appears on The Simpsons Arcade Game and is downloadable on XBLA and PSN.
It is often speculated that the main chorus of the 1990 song entitled King of Wishful Thinking by the British pop band Go West can be heard in this musical signature. This has been fervently denied by some members of the successful pop band, though others have expressed their displeasure.
The company's production office is located in the Sidney Poitier Building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California.
References in The Simpsons
Animation Production Manager/Coordinator for Gracie Films
- Ken Tsumara (1993-1995)
- Joel Kuwahara (1995-1998)
- Richard K. Chung (1999-2001)
In Charge of Production at Gracie Films
- Peter Schindler (1987-1989)
- Richard Sakai (for feature films only, 1987-1994)
- Michael Stanislavsky (1989-1991)
- Michael P. Schoenbrun (1991-1993)
- Brian A. Miller (1999-2003)
Vice President of Gracie Films
- Denise Sirkot (1993-1997)
- Jason Stiff (1997-1998)
Notable TV series and films
- The Tracey Ullman Show (1987-1990)
- Broadcast News (1987)
- Big (1988)
- Say Anything (1989)
- The Simpsons (1989-present)
- War of the Roses (1989)
- Sibs (1991-1992)
- Phenom (1993-1994)
- The Critic (1994-1995)
- I'll Do Anything (1994)
- Jerry Maguire (1996)
- The Daytrippers (1996)
- Bottle Rocket (1996)
- As Good as It Gets (1997)
- Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
- What About Joan? (2001-2002)
- Spanglish (2004)
- The Upside Down Show (2006)
- The Simpsons Movie (2007)