THX - Grand (1993)

Background
THX is a motion picture quality certification system (despite being branded as a "sound system" until 1997) founded by Tomlinson Holman and George Lucas in 1982 (in turn was then-owned by Lucasfilm Ltd. until June 2002, when spun-off in its present-day company - THX Ltd.), named after the first film Lucas directed, THX 1138. The first THX film was 1983's hit movie Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. THX officially stands for "Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment". THX certifies fine-tuned home theater equipment, TiVo DVRs, and some PCs. They have previously certified physical media such as VHS, LaserDisc, DVD and Blu-ray (and HD-DVD; Brave Story in Japan and Pan's Labyrinth in France only) until around late 2012, as well as video games until 2010. In 2006, THX ran a contest for fans of the logos to create their own. You can see the winners of that contest here. Previously owned by sound card manufacturer Creative Technology, THX was acquired by gaming peripheral manufacturer Razer on October 17, 2016.

(June 11, 1993-1997, July 30, 2002)
Nickname: "Grand"

Trailer: On a black background, we see some white text that reads "This auditorium is equipped with a THX sound system." A few seconds later, the background turns into a dark red cloudy background. We see some white text that reads "The Audience Is Listening." After that, the red-black background slowly turns dark blue, somewhat similar to the previous background. Seconds after, a light with lens flares moves upward and a 90° turned THX logo rotates to its front in a gradient background, with "LUCASFILM LTD" over and "SOUND SYSTEM" below.

Variants: FX/SFX: The background changing, the texts fading, and "THX" moving. The visuals were created by Industrial Light and Magic using Alias Research (like the previous logo) according to The THX Ultimate Demo Disc.
 * The 2002 Fox Five-Star Collection DVD of Speed replaces "The Audience Is Listening" text with "Best Picture. Best Sound. You're watching a THX Certified Feature." and "SOUND SYSTEM" with "BEST PICTURE. BEST SOUND." appearing below the logo at the end.
 * The Dell PC DVD version replaces "The Audience Is Listening" with "Your Dell PC is THX Certified." and "SOUND SYSTEM" with "BEST PICTURE. BEST SOUND." "Dell" is in its usual font and the www.thx.com URL appears at the end with a copyright notice.
 * On The THX Ultimate Demo Disc (the THX Ultra 2 and THX Story featurettes), a digital 4:3 version of this trailer can be spotted.
 * A prototype version exists, in which the text is set in a different font written in all capital letters. "The Audience is Listening" is also punctuated with an ellipsis, unlike the final version. The cloudy background appears very choppy and incomplete and the THX logo at the end appears to be the print version of the time in silver, likely a placeholder until the CGI animation of the logo was complete. This version can also be briefly glimpsed in the THX Story featurette seen on the aforementioned demo disc.
 * The logo exists in scope and flat variants.
 * A DTS end variant exists where the text "Recorded in DTS Digital Sound" appears, with the "Digital Experience" print logo below. This was seen primarily in theaters with DTS systems (including the aforementioned Jurassic Park) for a short time.

Music/Sounds: Some chimes and wind howling. When the background opens, wind whistles, then various ascending notes and sounds, until a Star Wars laser-gun sound and a whooshing sound occurs as the THX logo appears and ends with a choir-like version of the Deep Note. The sound for this trailer was apparently created at Skywalker Sound and, according to The THX Ultimate Demo Disc, designed by David Slusser and Marco d'Ambrosio.

Availability: Rare. Alongside DTS's first trailer, this debuted on the original theatrical release of Jurassic Park (according to the 1998 Lucasfilm THX "The Audience is Listening on DVD" disc and the THX Ultimate Demo Disc), and then it was seen in all THX theaters from 1993 until 1997, as well as online, on the DVDs that came with second-edition and third-edition copies of the book DVD Demystified by Jim Taylor and on the 2002 Fox Five-Star Collection DVD release of Speed. The "DELL PC" version is exclusive to the THX Picture and Sound Optimizer disc. The DTS version is all but extinct, only being used on early DTS films such as the aforementioned Jurassic Park; and it took until May 2022 for this variant to be discovered.

Legacy: The cloudy red background looks quite dated for the time, which is in sharp contrast to the beautiful silver CGI of the THX logo's grand appearance.