(December 12, 1986-February 4, 2003)[]
Nicknames: "CGI Mountain", "'80s Mountain", "Perumont III"
Logo: We see a model of a mountain, with a CGI lake in front of it and a light blue/yellow gradient sky with a yellow sunset behind it. As the sky darkens,the camera begins to zoom closer to the mountain, as 22 silver stars (also CGI) come from the bottom left and encircle the mountain, forming the familiar logo. the word "Paramount", in its familiar script logo font and redone in a shiny silver color, fades in on the peak of the mountain, along with the registered trademark "®" symbol. Seconds later, one of the three bylines (as seen below; depending on the year(s) seen below) fades in below the logo (not the international version).
Byline:
- December 12, 1986-1989: "A Gulf+Western Company" (it fades in together with the script.)
- 1989-1995: "A Paramount Communications Company" (fades in below in white. On the byline's first year, it faded in together with the script, just like the Gulf+Western variant and is in gold.)
- 1994-1995: (bylineless)
- 1995-February 4, 2003: "/\ VI/\CO/\/\ CO/\/\P/\NY" (in the 1990 Wigga-Wigga font.)
Variants:
- December 12, 1986-December 1987: For the logo's first official year (1987, even though the logo actually debuted in 1986), "75th Anniversary" appeared above the Gulf+Western byline. The Golden Child used a more placeholder-like 75th anniversary logo with a thicker font for the Gulf+Western byline. Also, a "TM" symbol is in place of the registered symbol in this variation.
- January 1988-1989: The anniversary indicator is removed and the Gulf+Western byline is shifted slightly up.
- A telecined version existed, as evidenced with the general fade-ins and fade-outs. It starts with an almost fully static logo (only the clouds move). A few seconds later, the animation starts normally.
- On the international trailer for Mission: Impossible II, there is a fully CGI logo where it animated differently. There is no byline in this variation. The sky looks a little similar to the 2002 logo.
- 1999-February 4, 2003: Paramount slightly redid their logo. The logo is reanimated to look nicer, with thicker stars with gold sides, their reflection is now seen on the lake, the registered symbol fades in with the Viacom byline and the script and Viacom byline now shine. One film had the Viacom byline fading in with the script at the same time, just like the Gulf+Western variant.
FX/SFX: The stars circling the mountain, the zoom in, and the text fading in, all in beautiful CGI that has held up remarkably for over 30 years.
Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening theme of the movie, although a few films, such as Hot Pursuit, Fatal Attraction, Crocodile Dundee II, Pet Sematary, Black Rain, Wayne's World, the 1995 VHS of The Big Bus and post-1998 prints of Grease have synthesized chimes segueing into the 1979 fanfare.
Availability: Very common. The prototype 75th anniversary variant is preserved on most 1986 to 1987 films, such as The Golden Child and Hot Pursuit. The standard 75th anniversary variant is preserved on most 1987 films, such as Fatal Attraction. The Gulf+Western variant is preserved on most 1988 to 1989 films, such as Crocodile Dundee II and Pet Sematary. The gold Paramount Communications variant is preserved on most 1989 films, such as Black Rain. The white Paramount Communications variant is preserved on most 1990 to 1995 films, such as both Wayne's World films. The bylineless variant is preserved only on the international trailer for Mission: Impossible II. The standard Viacom variant is preserved on most 1995 to 2003 films, such as Harriet the Spy, Good Burger and The Rugrats Movie. The enhanced variant is preserved on most 1999 to 2003 films, such as Snow Day, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Speaking of Jimmy Neutron, this logo appeared on original prints, but on the original 2002 VHS release, it has been plastered by the 90th anniversary variant of the 2002 logo. This logo also appeared at the end of split-screen airings of Barnyard. It is probably because of an error that used the closing logos from Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which was also an O/Paramount movie.
Scare Factor: None for the standard variant. The one with the fanfare is low.