Johnson Studios (Johnsonverse)

Johnson Studios is an American film studio. The studio, owned by Johnson Industries, was founded on January 1, 1912, making it America's oldest major film studio. Since its inception, the studio has been run by the Johnson Family, except for a period from 1981 to 1991 when infamous CEO Phil Stacker assumed control. Following his resignation, Johnson Studios climbed back to the top, releasing many successful movies. Its television arm, Johnson Television, was founded in 1955.

Beginnings (1911-1914)
In late 1911, Jeffrey P. Johnson wanted to chronicle Continental Shipping Lines, and decided to start work on making a movie studio. The resulting Johnson Studios was founded on January 1, 1912. Many acres of land in San Jose, California were acquired, and the preexisting headquarters building was moved to the new lot, which still houses the company's core operations today.

The Dark Times (1981-1991)
After Phil Stacker bought Johnson Industries on June 1, 1981, Johnson Studios suffered greatly, with new blood brought in.

1910s

 * Continental News (1912-1962)

1920s

 * Ludicrous Limericks (1926-present)
 * Chocodile (1937-present)

1930s

 * King Kong (1933; co-produced with Universal Pictures)
 * Little Orphan Annie (1934-1940)

1960s

 * The Jungle (1963)
 * Hot Cuba (1968)
 * 1957: Civil War (1969)



1970s

 * Invasion of the Empire (1970)
 * 1984 (1971)
 * Richie Rich (1977; co-production with Harvey Comics)

1980s

 * Richie Rich Again (1980; co-production with Harvey Comics)
 * Animal Farm (1980)
 * Chocodile's Cool Movie (1983)
 * The Wizards of Elderitch (1984)
 * Future War 198X (1985; co-produced with Toei)
 * American Eagles (1986)
 * Star Pirates (1987)
 * Kingdom of the Dragons (1987)
 * Dinosaur Rising (1988)



1990s

 * Mother (1991; co-produced with the BBC)
 * Desert Storm (1991; made-for-television docudrama)
 * American Eagles II (1992)
 * Blood Judgment (1993)
 * Rambling Row (1994)
 * Bimmy the Clown (1995)
 * Colt's Crushin' (1995)
 * Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996; distribution, produced by Best Brains, Inc.)
 * The Chocolate Touch (1996)
 * EarthBound (1997)
 * Detective Jenny: The Movie (1997)
 * Buccaneers of a Betrayal (1998)
 * Blood Judgment II (1998)
 * Detective Jenny: The Second Movie (1999)
 * Colt's Crushin' II (1999)

2000s

 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)
 * Blood Judgment III (2000)
 * Detective Jenny: The Third Movie (2001)
 * Revenge of the Sontarans (2002)
 * Detective Jenny: The Fourth Movie (2003)
 * Colt's Crushin' III (2003)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog: Armageddon (2004)
 * Detective Jenny: The Fifth Movie (2005)
 * Star Wars: Alternity (2005; co-produced with Lucasfilm Ltd.)
 * Blood Judgment IV (2006)
 * The Revenge of Cthulhu (2006)
 * Detective Jenny: The Sixth Movie (2007)
 * Colt's Crushin' IV (2007)
 * Mother 3 (2008)
 * French Trafalgar, British Waterloo (2008)
 * Detective Jenny: The Seventh Movie (2009)
 * Private Williams (2009)

2010s

 * MacArthur (2010)
 * Colt's Crushin' V (2010)
 * Grand Theft Auto (2010)
 * EarthBound 2: Invasion (2011)
 * Detective Jenny: The Eighth Movie (2011)
 * Blood Judgment V (2011)
 * Karen Burns Rubber (2011)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla (2012)
 * Colt's Crushin' VI (2012)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla II (2012)
 * Mega Man: The Movie (2012)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla III (2013)
 * Richie Rich in New York (2013; co-production with Harvey Comics)
 * Detective Jenny: The Ninth Movie (2013)
 * Blood Judgment VI (2014)
 * The Action Game Master (2014)
 * Sgt. Frog: The Great Rescue (2014)
 * Nemesis (2015)
 * Monster World (2015)
 * Detective Jenny: The Tenth Movie (2015)
 * Great Middle East War (2016)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla IV (2016)
 * Colt's Crushin' VII (2016)
 * Eyes Turned Skyward (2016)
 * Shin Godzilla (2016)
 * The Ultra Kaiju (2017)
 * Blood Judgment VII (2017)
 * My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)
 * The Dollars Trilogy: 50th Anniversary Restoration (2017; re-release of the Dollars Trilogy)
 * Detective Jenny: The Eleventh Movie (2017)
 * Gorgo Strikes Back (a.k.a. K-On! The Movie) (2018)
 * Godzilla: Civil War (2018)
 * Katie (2018)
 * Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs (2018; US distribution rights, co-distributed with Next Entertainment World)
 * Invadors: Wave 2 (2019)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla V (2019)
 * The Silent Stranger (2019)
 * Detective Jenny: The Twelfth Movie (2019)
 * Colt's Crushin' VIII (2019)
 * Able Archer (2019)
 * The Thief and the Cobbler: The Director's Cut (2019)
 * Foodfight!: Special Edition (2019)

2020s

 * Blood Judgment VIII (2020)
 * Dragon’s Lair: The Movie (2020, co-production with Don Bluth)
 * SCOOB! (2020; co-production with Hanna-Barbera Cartoons)
 * A Place Only Mary Knows (2020; upcoming)
 * Fraggle Rock: The Movie (2020; upcoming)
 * The Good, the Bad and the Muppets (2020; upcoming, co-production with Jim Henson Pictures)
 * Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2020; upcoming)
 * Detective Jenny: The Thirteenth Movie (2021; upcoming, co-production with Bakshi Productions)
 * Untitled My Little Pony: The Movie sequel (2021; upcoming)
 * Tom & Jerry (2021; upcoming, co-production with Hanna-Barbera Cartoons)
 * The BFG (2021; upcoming)
 * Fairly Odd Movie (2021; upcoming)
 * Danny Phantom: The Movie (2021; upcoming)
 * My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - One Last Adventure (2021; upcoming, co-production with Boulder Media and Allspark Pictures)
 * Untitled My Little Pony G5 movie (2021; upcoming, co-production with Boulder Media and Allspark Pictures)
 * Harvey Street Movie (2022; co-production with Harvey Comics)
 * Spaceballs II: The Search for More Money (2022; upcoming, co-distributed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
 * Super Mario Bros. (2022; upcoming)
 * Matilda (2022; upcoming)
 * Delgo: Special Edition (2023; upcoming)
 * Detective Jenny: The Fourteenth Movie (2023; upcoming)
 * Boy: Tales of Childhood (2023; upcoming)
 * Blood Judgment IX (2023; upcoming)
 * Colt's Crushin' IX (2024; upcoming)
 * Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (2024; upcoming)
 * The Magic Finger (2025; upcoming)

Logo
From the studio's inception until 1968, its logo was an illustration of a film reel. Movies began with an animation of the reel unwinding to its position, accomplished with traditional animation. After parent company Johnson Industries decided to use its logo, introduced the previous year, for all its subsidiaries, Johnson Studios followed suit. Movies starting with Hot Cuba begin with the film reel unwinding until the camera zooms in on the horizontally-rotating J, which is still used today. The J is a wood model coated in resin and spray-painted blue, and is on display at the Johnson Studios museum; the film reel was accomplished with traditional, hand-drawn animation provided by animator Richard Williams, which was described as "Disney-like". This opening logo has remained unchanged since its 1968 introduction.