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.

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)

1930s

 * King Kong (1933; co-produced with Universal Pictures)
 * Little Orphan Annie (1934-1940)
 * Chocodile (1937-present)

1960s

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



1970s

 * Invasion of the Empire (1970)
 * 1984 (1971)
 * Richie Rich (1977)

1980s

 * Richie Rich Again (1980)
 * 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)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World (1995)
 * 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)

2000s

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

2010s

 * Grand Theft Auto (2010)
 * EarthBound 2: Invasion (2011)
 * Detective Jenny: The Eighth Movie (2011)
 * Blood Judgment V (2011)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla (2012)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla II (2012)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla III (2013)
 * Detective Jenny: The Ninth Movie (2013)
 * Blood Judgment VI (2014)
 * Sgt. Frog: The Great Rescue (2014)
 * Nemesis (2015)
 * Monster World (2015)
 * Detective Jenny: The Tenth Movie (2015)
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015; co-distributed with 20th Century Fox)
 * Great Middle East War (2016)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla IV (2016)
 * Eyes Turned Skyward (2016)
 * Shin Godzilla (2016)
 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016; co-distributed with 20th Century Fox)
 * The Ultra Kaiju (2017)
 * Blood Judgment VII (2017)
 * The Dollars Trilogy: 50th Anniversary Restoration (2017; re-release of the Dollars Trilogy, co-distributed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
 * Detective Jenny: The Eleventh Movie (2017)
 * Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017; co-distributed with 20th Century Fox)
 * Gorgo Strikes Back (a.k.a. K-On! The Movie) (2018)
 * Godzilla: Civil War (2018)
 * Katie (2018)
 * Fett: A Star Wars Story (2018; co-distributed with 20th Century Fox)
 * Invadors: Wave 2 (2019)
 * Vocaloid & Godzilla V (2019)
 * The Silent Stranger (2019)
 * Detective Jenny: The Twelfth Movie (2019)
 * Able Archer (2019)
 * Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019; co-distributed with 20th Century Fox)
 * The Thief and the Cobbler: The Director's Cut (2019)
 * Foodfight!: Special Edition (2019)

2020s

 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad: Director's Cut (2020)
 * Blood Judgment VIII (2020)
 * Dragon’s Lair: The Movie (2020)
 * Scoob! (2020; upcoming)
 * A Place Only Mary Knows (2020; upcoming)
 * Space Jam 2 (2021; upcoming, co-distributed with Warner Bros. Pictures)
 * Detective Jenny: The Thirteenth Movie (2021; upcoming)
 * Untitled Indiana Jones movie (2021; upcoming)
 * Super Mario Bros. (2022; upcoming)
 * Blood Judgment IX (2023; 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 now 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 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.