Gracie Films

Gracie Films logo

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, including Broadcast News, Jerry Maguire, and 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 as The Simpsons is still produced there.

Logo & variations

The Gracie production logo (seen at the end of all of their television productions - The Simpsons Movie is the only one of their theatrical efforts to date where the logo appears, at the very end of the film) depicts noisy movie patrons at a movie theatre hearing a woman in the back row shushing them out so the title, the company's name, is projected, and that the company's musical signature (composed by Jeffrey Townsend, associate producer of the first season of Gracie Films' The Tracey Ullman Show) can be heard. Some special versions of the company's jingle were made to fit certain episodes of the Simpsons. For example, after "Treehouse of Horror II", (to the present) episode of the Simpsons, the company's jingle was played by a large organ, in a minor key with a girl screaming in the background starting in Treehouse of Horror IV. A different scream is used in the logo every special, there is one with Homer Simpson screaming from two episodes The Blunder Years and Treehouse of Horror XV, this jingle was the first to be made. Other special kinds of the jingle were a medieval music one (taken from Lisa's Wedding) and a ranchera one with people shouting "Olé!" at the end. In "The Old Man and the Key", The Simpsons cast member Yeardley Smith was heard saying, with a southern accent, "This has been a Gracie Films presentation." parodying the Filmways logo at the end of episodes for The Beverly Hillbillies where Elly May (Donna Douglas) would say "This has been a Filmways presentation." In the episode "Homer the Great", episode 12, season 6, Carl adds to the 'shush' by continuing it with "Shut up...", which is heard by Carl throughout the episode when trying to quiet Lenny talking about the Stonecutters. In the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episodes, the musical stinger is comically followed by a gunshot. Also, in Thursdays with Abie, after continuing his commentary during the closing credits (in which he mentioned he founded Gracie Films), Homer says "Shush yourself", before the music plays. Furthermore, the episode "The Mansion Family" results in Homer complaining through the entire credits and then retaliating to the signature "Shh" in the logo by saying "Don't shush me you rich bastard.". A sign for the company can even be found inside the queue of The Simpsons Ride at Universal Parks. The first variation of the Gracie Films logo on The Simpsons was Dancin' Homer with Capital City overrunning it.

The company's production office is located in the Sidney Poitier Building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California.

Notable TV series and films

• The Tracey Ullman Show (1987–1990)
• Broadcast News (1987)
• Big (1988)
• Say Anything... (1989)
• The War of the Roses (1989)
• The Simpsons (1989–present)
• Sibs (1991–1992)
• Phenom (1993–1994)
• The Critic (1994–1995)
• I'll Do Anything (1994)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Bottle Rocket (1996)
• As Good as It Gets (1997)
• Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
• What About Joan? (2001–2002 co-production with Columbia TriStar Television and 20th Century Fox Television)
• Spanglish (2004)
• Channel Chasers (animated scene) (2004)
• The Simpsons Movie (2007)
• How Do You Know (2010)

External links

• Official website
• Gracie Films at the Internet Movie Database