A boy casts his fishing line from a crescent moon. A jittery zoom through a haunted house. A berobed woman holds a torch. A lighthouse’s lamp swirls next to the sea.
Such images last only seconds, but owing to the attention they’ve commanded for nearly 100 years, they’re among the most commonly seen works of art in history. More than mere logos announcing the company behind a movie, studio title cards signal to the viewer that it’s time for reality to fade away and fantasy to begin—whether we’re in the multiplex or looking at our own screens.
This article appears in Issue 30 of Alta Journal.
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Title cards are masterpieces of semiotics, able to communicate the history, aesthetics, and missions of a given studio or production company in the time it usually takes you to sneeze. When the sepia-toned images of the Warner Bros. lot turn into a shot of the WB shield while “As Time Goes By” tinkles in the background, you know you’re about to watch a populist production, whether a musical by Busby Berkeley or a sorta-kinda musical like Joker: Folie à Deux. The sight of the Sleeping Beauty Castle set to the strings of “When You Wish upon a Star” signals another grandiose, sappy, but irresistible Disney film. Pixar’s animated desk lamp (a.k.a. Luxo Jr.) stomping on an I heralds one of Hollywood’s ultimate disrupters.
We know them by heart. These images connect the newest entertainments to all of film history. They’re the stamps on the invitation to visit the magic of California for a few hours.•
Gustavo Arellano is the author of Orange County: A Personal History and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. In 2025, Arellano was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work as a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He was formerly editor of OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Orange County, California, and penned the award-winning ¡Ask a Mexican!, a nationally syndicated column in which he answered any and all questions about America’s spiciest and largest minority. Arellano is the recipient of awards ranging from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Best Columnist to the Los Angeles Press Club President’s Award to an Impact Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and he was recognized by the California Latino Legislative Caucus with a 2008 Spirit Award for his “exceptional vision, creativity, and work ethic.” Arellano is a lifelong resident of Orange County and is the proud son of two Mexican immigrants, one of whom came to this country in the trunk of a Chevy.
