National Amusements

Background

National Amusements is an American cinema chain founded in 1936 by Michael Redstone. They bought out Viacom in 1986 following the founder's son, Sumner Redstone, arriving in the company. They made big purchases, including Paramount Pictures, and merging into CBS. However, in 2005, due to a stagnating stock price (among other factors, such as the infamous 2004 halftime show), NA decided to split Viacom into two companies. One retaining the Viacom name, owning the bigger companies, while the other part retained its pre-merger name, CBS Corporation, having the lesser companies. Financial troubles in 2008 caused them to sell off lots of stock and closing down locations. They merged Viacom and CBS back together in 2019 to form ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global). Sumner Redstone also died in 2020. The company is still around today, operating around 1,500 locations in different countries, although they focus more on other brands for them.

1st Logo (1980s-1995)

Logo: On a black background, many triangular shapes of different sizes rotate and slide in. The camera pans over them as they settle into a backwards, segmented "N", with the negative space being occupied by corresponding shapes. The camera then pans up to reveal the logo again, but in gold and facing forwards. Below it is "NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS" stacked while "FEATURE PRESENTATION" fades in below.

Variant: One that has "Coming Attractions" exists.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A proud synth fanfare.

Availability: Extinct.

2nd logo (1989)

Bumper: Against the same curtain background as the coming attractions bumper, the same curtain man from said bumper is pleased to introduce the forthcoming film. As we zoom out, objects appear around him including a man's monocle, a woman's lips, a monster, and a hammer that hits the monster. More objects appear as the curtain man says more things about the movies in a fast speed. After such, a bright flash of light makes the objects disappear all at once, leaving the curtain man still there. He tells the viewers to enjoy the show. After, he faints, ending the trailer.

Technique: CGI animation. An electric sound is heard when the flash happens.

Music/Sounds: "Star Parade" by Tony Kinsey (heard on KPM's 1000 LP Series album, Entertainment, later used for KPM's album, That's Showbiz) plays, but stops as the curtain man begins speaking rapid fire. Speaking of speak, the curtain man says, "And now, ladies and gents! It's showtime! Come with me into the world of celluloid magic! Come enjoy the mystery, the romance (kiss sound), the horror (monster roars), and the humor (hammer hits monster as a cuckoo clock sound is heard)!" He begins speeding up as he says more things, followed by a bright flash of light accompanied by the aforementioned electric sound. After the dust settles, the curtain man finishes with "(sigh) Enjoy... the show!" A thud is heard when he faints. If one slows the bumper down, he says during the fast talk, "The stars, the music, the effects, the stunts, the credits, the dancing girls, the magic!"

Availability: Same as the previous bumper.

3rd Logo (1992-1995)

Logo:

Version 1: We fade into a gray background consisting of three "N" logos side by side. A series of rectangular shapes float down to form a video screen which displays "Welcome to the Movies". The screen dissolves and the shapes begin spinning until forming a second screen which reads "Visit Our Refreshment Center". This pattern continues across several screens ("Perfect Together" with popcorn and a Pepsi displayed, "Theater Rentals Available", "Meetings, Birthdays, and Private Screenings", "Please, No Talking", "No Smoking", "Gift Certificates Available") Finally, the shapes fly out to reveal the gray wall, which now reads "Enjoy The Show!" This text flies out and the final text "Coming Attractions" flies in, accompanied by a copyright notice and producer credit (that being Videocraft Inc. of Boston), before the trailer fades out.
Version 2: Against a black background, the word "Attention" (in white) begins flashing. We're then introduced to a theater usher/attendant named Sarah, who begins reciting general theater policies against a background of film clips, all spoken as though she were instead reviewing airline safety procedures.

Technique: CGI animation for Version 1, none for version 2.

Music/Sounds:

Version 1: A dreamy synth theme which transitions into a more bombastic fanfare and returns to the former at the end.
Version 2: Stock airline music, as befitting the theme.

Availability: Both extinct.

4th Logo (1995-2000)

Logo: We fade into a series of neon lights resembling the lobby of a movie theater. The shapes zoom back until a sign reading "Welcome to the Show" flies upward and centers itself. A series of red lights glow from the edges of the sign before we shift to a series of comic bubbles resembling noisy moviegoers. A second sign reading "No Talking Please" flies in from the left and silences the bubbles which then fade away. We then fade-via a ripple effect-to a group of cigarettes. A series of "No" signs appears and begins surrounding the cigarettes, these then pass through a neon-yellow "Smoking" text after which a red "N" is attached to each of them-the last of which floats upward to complete the sign. We pan down to a third sign reading "Visit Our Refreshment Center", underneath which lie a series of Popcorn and Pepsis. The Popcorn bags then float down until reaching a line of trash cans and insert themselves. Across the cans we see the text "Please Deposit Trash". We again pan down to see a group of gift certificates floating across the screen. The word "Available" slides across the scene just underneath the certificates. We pan upwards and then to the right until we see a series of segmented lines forming the familar "N" logo in front of the theater. The "N" slides into place, with the words "National Amusements" forming a ring around the "N". The letters spin around before changing to "Enjoy The Show" and the "N" switches from green to orange. The completed logo holds for several seconds before fading out.

Variants:

One that has "Coming Attractions" exists. This one starts with the "N" logo centered on a dome-like object, before panning up to a circular marquee. Once the marquee is front and center, we see a series of red dots from which the words "Coming Attractions" form. Once formed, the marquee disappears and spotlights surround the text. The trailer again holds for a few seconds before fading out.
There is another variant which features the cast of Nickelodeon's Aaahh!!! Real Monsters discussing cinema policies while in class. This was likely seen and children's and/or family films.

Technique: Top-notch CGI effects for the time.

Music/Sounds: Depends on the variant:

1995-1998: A Seinfeld-esque synth theme with comedic effects. The whole thing ends in a rather epic way at the end of it.
1998-2000: A techno theme that sounds somewhat similar to "Ray of Light" by Madonna.

Availability: Extinct in theaters.

5th Logo (1999-2010)

Logo: On a black background, we see a very bright light shine. The light dims down, revealing a cloudy red/blue swirl background. A dot is seen at the centre of the screen. More dots begin to appear as the camera begins to rotate to the right. The dots illuminate like spotlights and begin to take on the form of a cinema screen-like shape. The screen moves completely offscreen as the lights form the "N" logo from before, this time in a gold colour. "NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS" and "FEATURE PRESENTATION" appear below in the same colour.

Technique: Rather basic CGI effects.

Music/Sounds: Synth effects at the beginning, following a loud, ascending piano score accompanied by the sound of a filmreel, leading to a majestic orchestral finish.

Availability: Extinct in theaters. This logo was also only seen for the longest time from a bootleg camrip of Step Up 2: The Streets.

Final Note: National Amusements still exists, but their theater output is focused on their Showcase brand.