20th Century Studios facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
20th Century Studios, Inc.

Logo used since 2020
Fox Studio Lot in Century City, Los Angeles
Trade name	20th Century Studios
Formerly	Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1935–1985) Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1985–2020)
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Film
Predecessors	Fox Film Twentieth Century Pictures
Founded	May 31, 1935; 90 years ago (1935-05-31)
Founders	Joseph M. Schenck Darryl F. Zanuck William Fox Spyros Skouras
Headquarters	Fox Studio Lot Building 88, 10201 West Pico Boulevard, Century City, Los Angeles, California , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	David Greenbaum (president) Steve Asbell (president, production)
Products	Motion pictures Television films
Number of employees	2,300 (2018)
Parent	The Walt Disney Studios
Divisions	20th Century Animation 20th Century Family 20th Century Games 20th Century Comics

20th Century Studios, Inc. is a famous American film studio. It is part of The Walt Disney Company through its Walt Disney Studios division. The studio's main office is in Los Angeles, California. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures helps share and promote the movies made by 20th Century Studios.

For over 80 years, 20th Century was one of the biggest film studios in America. It started in 1935 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. This happened when two companies, Fox Film and Twentieth Century Pictures, joined together. It was one of the "Big Five" studios during Hollywood's Golden Age.

In 1985, the studio's name changed to Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. This was after Rupert Murdoch's company, News Corporation, bought it. Later, Disney bought most of 21st Century Fox's businesses, including 20th Century Fox, on March 20, 2019. The studio changed its name again to "20th Century Studios" on January 17, 2020. This was to avoid confusion with Fox Corporation.

Some of the most successful movies from 20th Century Studios include the first six Star Wars films. Other popular series are X-Men, Ice Age, Avatar, and Planet of the Apes. The studio also made famous individual films like Titanic and The Sound of Music. Both of these movies won the Academy Award for Best Picture. They also became the highest-earning films of all time when they first came out.

The Studio's Story

How it All Began (1935-1956)

Carmen Miranda as Dorita in The Gang's All Here. She was a top actress in the 1940s.

Alice Faye, Don Ameche, and Carmen Miranda in That Night in Rio (1941).

A 1939 advertisement showing the 20th Century-Fox logo.

A scene from the 1952 film Viva Zapata!.

Twentieth Century Pictures leaders, Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck, decided to leave United Artists. They started talking about joining with Fox Film. Fox Film was having money problems at the time.

Spyros Skouras, who managed Fox West Coast Theaters, helped make the merger happen. He later became the new company's president. Fox Film had been struggling since its founder, William Fox, lost control in 1930.

Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures officially joined in 1935. The new company, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, started trading on May 31, 1935. Zanuck became the head of film production.

The company even had a special training school for new actors. Young women like Lynn Bari and Anne Nagel got contracts after training there. For many years, 20th Century Fox said it started in 1915, the year Fox Film began. But now, they consider the 1935 merger as their start.

After the merger, Zanuck signed many talented young actors. These included Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Carmen Miranda, and Henry Fonda. Famous stars like Alice Faye and Shirley Temple also made many movies for the studio in the 1930s.

During World War II, more people went to the movies. This helped 20th Century-Fox become the third most profitable film studio. In 1941, Zanuck helped make training films for the U.S. Army.

In 1942, Spyros Skouras became the studio's president. Over the next few years, Zanuck made a name for the studio with thought-provoking films. These included Wilson (1944) and Gentleman's Agreement (1947). The studio also made movies from popular books and Broadway musicals. One example is Leave Her to Heaven (1945), which was their highest-earning film of the 1940s.

After the war, fewer people went to the movies. 20th Century-Fox had to sell its movie theaters in 1953. To attract audiences, the studio tried a new technology called CinemaScope in 1953. This system used a special lens to make movies look wider on a big, curved screen. The first film made with CinemaScope was The Robe.

Zanuck announced that all future 20th Century-Fox movies would use CinemaScope. The studio even helped movie theaters pay for the new equipment. Other studios quickly started using CinemaScope too. 20th Century-Fox made new musicals like Carousel (1956) using this wide-screen process.

CinemaScope helped for a short time, but movie attendance still dropped by 1956. That year, Darryl Zanuck left his role as head of production. He moved to Paris to become an independent producer.

Challenges and Changes (1960s-1980s)

The 20th Century Fox logo used from 1986 to 2020.

After Zanuck left, the studio faced problems. A new version of Cleopatra (1963) started filming in 1959. This movie became very expensive and had many delays. Its costs grew to around $40 million, which was a huge amount at the time.

To raise money, 20th Century-Fox sold its large back lot in 1961. This land is now where Century City stands. The studio also tried to make a quick movie called Something's Got to Give with Marilyn Monroe. But this film also had many delays and problems.

With few movies being made, Spyros Skouras wanted to quickly release Zanuck's war film The Longest Day (1962). This movie was about the Allied invasion of Normandy. Zanuck, who was still a major shareholder, wanted the film to be made carefully.

At a board meeting, Zanuck convinced the directors that Skouras was not managing the company well. Zanuck then became the chairman and made his son, Richard Zanuck, president. They finished Cleopatra and made it a success. They also made many cheaper, popular movies that helped the studio recover. A big success was The Sound of Music (1965). This musical earned a lot of money and won five Academy Awards.

20th Century-Fox also had two successful science fiction films: Fantastic Voyage (1966) and Planet of the Apes (1968). Fantastic Voyage was the last film made using CinemaScope.

Zanuck remained chairman until 1971. But his last years saw some expensive movies that did not do well. After he left, new leaders helped the studio become strong again. They made films that connected with modern audiences.

In 1973, 20th Century-Fox worked with Warner Bros. to make The Towering Inferno (1974). This was a big action movie with many stars. It was a new idea for two major studios to work together, and it was very successful.

The studio's success reached new heights with Star Wars (1977). This film was incredibly popular and earned a huge amount of money. The studio's stock prices went up a lot after Star Wars was released.

New Owners and New Directions (1980s-2019)

Fox Plaza, the Century City headquarters, finished in 1987.

In 1981, 20th Century-Fox was sold for $720 million to investors Marc Rich and Marvin Davis. The company owned other things like the Pebble Beach Golf Links and the Aspen Skiing Company.

In 1982, the company tried to get into the video game business with Fox Video Games. But this division did not do well because of problems in the video game industry in 1983.

By 1984, Marc Rich had left the country due to legal troubles. Marvin Davis bought Rich's share of 20th Century-Fox. In 1985, Davis sold his share to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. The hyphen was removed from the name, making it 20th Century Fox.

To buy television stations, Murdoch had to become a U.S. citizen. He did so in 1985. In 1986, the new Fox Broadcasting Company started broadcasting. This network grew to be very successful. In the 1990s, 20th Century Fox bought the rights to superhero teams like the X-Men and Fantastic Four.

In 1994, 20th Century Fox created new divisions. These included Fox Searchlight Pictures for independent films, Fox Family Films for family movies, and Fox Animation Studios for animated films. Blue Sky Studios, a visual effects company, later joined Fox and created the successful Ice Age franchise.

From 2000 to 2010, 20th Century Fox also helped distribute films for other companies like MGM. In 2008, 20th Century Fox started Fox STAR Studios to make films in Asia, especially for the Bollywood market.

Joining the Disney Family (2019-Present)

On June 28, 2012, Rupert Murdoch announced that News Corporation would split into two companies. One was a new News Corporation, and the other was 21st Century Fox. This new company included 20th Century Fox.

On December 14, 2017, Disney announced plans to buy most of 21st Century Fox, including 20th Century Fox. After some back-and-forth bidding, Disney's offer of $71.3 billion was accepted. The deal was completed on March 20, 2019. 20th Century Fox kept its headquarters in Los Angeles, leasing the space from Fox Corporation.

After the Disney purchase, some films that did not do well at the box office were stopped. However, movies like Free Guy and the Avatar sequels continued production. Disney also announced new movies and shows for its streaming services, Hulu and Disney+. These included projects based on Star Wars, Home Alone, and Ice Age.

On January 17, 2020, Disney officially changed the studio's name to "20th Century Studios." This was to avoid confusion with Fox Corporation. The first movie released under the new name was The Call of the Wild on February 21, 2020.

In February 2021, Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios, the animation studio behind Ice Age, would close. This was due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its work was taken over by 20th Century Animation.

A horizontal version of 20th Century Studios' current logo.

In 2021, Disney also launched a video game studio called 20th Century Games. It works with other game studios to release games based on 20th Century franchises. Its first game was Aliens: Fireteam Elite.

In March 2023, Marvel Comics announced it would create comics based on 20th Century franchises. The first comic under this new label will be a Planet of the Apes comic.

Television Productions

20th Television is the part of 20th Century Studios that makes TV shows. It used to be called 20th Century Fox Television. In the 1950s, 20th Century Fox started releasing its movies to television. This helped them reach more viewers and sponsors.

Music and Sound

Between 1933 and 1937, Fox had its own record label called Fox Movietone. These records featured songs from 20th Century Fox movies. They were sold only in Fox Theaters.

The music part of 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Records, started in 1958. It closed in 1981. Later, Fox Music was created in 1992. It handled music for Fox's TV shows and films. Fox Music closed on January 17, 2020, and joined Hollywood Records.

Radio Shows

The Twentieth Century Fox Presents radio series aired between 1936 and 1942. These shows were like radio previews for new movies. They featured songs and sounds from the latest films. This was done to encourage people to go see the movies in theaters. The radio shows often featured the original movie stars.

Film Processing

From its early days, Fox Film Corporation had its own labs to process movie film. In 1932, Alan E. Freedman bought these labs from Fox. He renamed them "DeLuxe Laboratories." Later, in the 1940s, Fox bought the labs back. Under Freedman's leadership, DeLuxe processed films for other studios too.

Parts of the Studio

Current Divisions

• 20th Century Family makes family-friendly movies. This includes animated films and movies that mix live-action with animation. They also create holiday TV specials based on movies.
• 20th Century Animation is an animation studio that makes full-length animated films. Some of its successful films include Anastasia and the Ice Age series.
• 20th Century Games is a company that licenses video games. It started in 2021. It works with other game studios to create games based on 20th Century movies and shows.
• 20th Century Comics is a comic book company. It started in March 2023 with Marvel Comics. It will release comics based on 20th Century franchises.

Former Divisions

• Fox 2000 Pictures made independent films for specific audiences. It closed in May 2021 after Disney bought Fox.
• 20th Digital Studio made web series and web films. This division closed in April 2023.
• Fox Studios was a group of three major movie studios. These included studios in Australia, Baja California, and Los Angeles. Disney now owns the Australian studio. The Century City studio is leased by Disney from Fox Corporation.
• Fox VFX Lab was a visual effects company. It was bought in 2017 and later merged into Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic in 2020.
• Fox Atomic was a film production company focused on younger audiences. It operated from 2006 to 2009.
• Fox Faith was a film company that made Christian-based, family-friendly movies. It operated from 2006 to 2010.
• 20th Century Fox Consumer Products handled merchandise for Fox movies and TV shows. It was folded into Disney Consumer Products in 2019.
• Fox Stage Productions created Broadway-style music shows. It closed in 2019 after the Disney acquisition.
• Fox International Productions was in charge of making local films in different countries. It operated from 2008 to 2017.

Studio Logo and Music

The 20th Century Fox production logo and its famous music started with Twentieth Century Pictures in 1933. It shows a tall, block-letter sign with "20th Century Fox" on it. The sign is lit up by searchlights. The music that plays with the logo is called a fanfare. It was first created in 1933 by Alfred Newman.

In 1953, the logo was changed for the new CinemaScope movie process. This made the logo look wider on the big screen. Alfred Newman also made the fanfare longer for CinemaScope. Even after CinemaScope was not used as much, director George Lucas asked for this longer fanfare for Star Wars (1977). The main music for Star Wars, composed by John Williams, even starts in the same key as the fanfare.

In 1994, a new version of the logo was made using computer-generated imagery (CGI). This added more details and animation. The music was also updated. In 2009, an even newer logo was created by Blue Sky Studios.

On January 17, 2020, Disney changed the studio's name to 20th Century Studios. The famous searchlights, the tall sign, and the fanfare music are still used. The first film to use the new "20th Century Studios" name was The Call of the Wild.

The current 20th Century Studios logo was animated by Picturemill. It has a slightly different sky and more detailed buildings. The lighting looks more realistic.

Movies Made by the Studio

Movie Series

Top-Earning Films

     Indicates films playing in theatres in the week commencing 20 June 2025.

Highest-grossing films in North America

Rank	Title	Year	Box office gross
1	Avatar	2009	$785,221,649
2	Avatar: The Way of Water	2022	$684,075,767
3	Titanic	1997	$674,292,608
4	Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	1999	$474,544,677
5	Star Wars	1977	$460,998,007
6	Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith	2005	$380,270,577
7	Deadpool	2016	$363,070,709
8	Deadpool 2	2018	$324,535,803
9	Return of the Jedi	1983	$315,476,701
10	Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones	2002	$310,676,740
11	Independence Day	1996	$306,169,268
12	The Empire Strikes Back	1980	$290,475,067
13	Home Alone	1990	$285,761,243
14	Night at the Museum	2006	$250,863,268
15	X-Men: The Last Stand		$234,362,462
16	X-Men: Days of Future Past	2014	$233,921,534
17	Cast Away	2000	$233,632,142
18	The Martian	2015	$228,433,663
19	Logan	2017	$226,277,068
20	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel	2009	$219,614,612
21	Mrs. Doubtfire	1993	$219,195,243
22	Alvin and the Chipmunks	2007	$217,326,974
23	Bohemian Rhapsody	2018	$216,428,042
24	X2	2003	$214,949,694
25	Dawn of the Planet of the Apes	2014	$208,545,589

Highest-grossing films worldwide

Rank	Title	Year	Box office gross
1	Avatar	2009	$2,922,917,914
2	Avatar: The Way of Water	2022	$2,320,250,281
3	Titanic	1997	$2,256,003,352
4	Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	1999	$1,027,044,677
5	Bohemian Rhapsody	2018	$903,655,259
6	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	2009	$886,686,817
7	Ice Age: Continental Drift	2012	$877,244,782
8	Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith	2005	$848,754,768
9	Independence Day	1996	$817,400,891
10	Deadpool 2	2018	$785,046,920
11	Deadpool	2016	$783,112,979
12	Star Wars	1977	$775,398,007
13	X-Men: Days of Future Past	2014	$747,862,775
14	Dawn of the Planet of the Apes		$710,644,566
15	Ice Age: The Meltdown	2006	$660,940,780
16	Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones	2002	$649,398,328
17	The Martian	2015	$630,161,890
18	How to Train Your Dragon 2	2014	$621,537,519
19	Logan	2017	$616,225,934
20	Life of Pi	2012	$609,016,565
21	The Croods	2013	$587,204,668
22	Night at the Museum	2006	$574,480,841
23	The Empire Strikes Back	1980	$547,969,004
24	The Day After Tomorrow	2004	$544,272,402
25	X-Men: Apocalypse	2016	$543,934,787

— Includes theatrical reissue(s)

See also

In Spanish: 20th Century Studios para niños

• 20th Century Animation
• 20th Century Family
• 20th Century Games
• Searchlight Pictures
• Star Studios
• 20th Television
• 20th Television Animation

Archival sources

• Finding aid to the Earl I. Sponable papers, 1928-1968, at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.