Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...

in 1986. The company is primarily responsible for producing its long-running flagship animated series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'', as well as the films ''

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

'', '' Broadcast News'', and ''

Jerry Maguire ''Jerry Maguire'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama sports film written, produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe; it stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, and Regina King. Produced in part by James L. Brooks, it was ins ...

''.

Overview

, who had previously founded John Charles Walters Company, founded Gracie Films at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

in 1986, with

Polly Platt Polly is a given name, most often feminine, which originated as a variant of Molly (a diminutive of Mary). Polly may also be a short form of names such as Polina, Polona, Paula or Paulina. People named or nicknamed Polly Female *Caresse Cros ...

as executive vice president. Named for comedian

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ...

, the company was established to "provide real writers with a vehicle to get their movies made". Its primary distributor is currently Sony Pictures Entertainment, though it continues to produce ''

'' at Fox's studio in Century City,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. According to ''Simpsons Confidential'', Brooks gave ''The Simpsons writing staff free rein, as he firmly believed they were the most important part of the process, and "in the legal battles over ''The Simpsons'', it was Fox that was being sued, not Gracie Films". The company also coordinates international distribution and dubbing for ''The Simpsons'', "in Italy, in particular... indingvoices for dubbing that would match those of the original American actors as closely as possible." Gracie Films'

production logo A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a television show or film ...

depicts noisy patrons in a movie theater (which were the voices of then-CEO of

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

Garth Ancier Garth Ancier (born September 3, 1957, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey) is an American television producer and media executive. Early life Ancier graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1975 and Princeton University in 1979. He began his broadca ...

and music composer Jeffrey Townsend double-tracked to sound like there were more people) being shushed by a woman in the back row (with the shush sound being done by

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...

. The company's name appears on the screen, accompanied by a brief passage played on keyboard. Audio variations exist on ''The Simpsons'', often with dialogue from the episode or characters such as

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

responding to the shush. The most common audio variation is on the Treehouse of Horror episodes excluding

Treehouse of Horror (The Simpsons episode) "Treehouse of Horror" is the third episode of the second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 25, 1990. The episode was inspired by 1950s horror ...

which used the original logo audio and

Treehouse of Horror II "Treehouse of Horror II" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 31, 1991. It is the second annual ''Treehouse of Hor ...

and

Treehouse of Horror III "Treehouse of Horror III" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 29, 1992. The third annual ''Treehouse of Horro ...

which has the organ theme only, where the shushing sound was replaced by a woman screaming and the logo's music is played in a minor key on a synth-emulated pipe organ. Originally, the

Roland D-50 The Roland D-50 is a synthesizer produced by Roland and released in April 1987. Its features include subtractive synthesis, on-board effects, a joystick for data manipulation, and an analogue synthesis-styled layout design. The external Roland P ...

PN-D50-01 Pipe Organ preset was used for that particular variant. The music was composed by Jeffrey Townsend and Alf Clausen on a tiny KORG synth rack using a custom programmed preset. Gracie Films’ main production office is at the Sidney Poitier building on the

Sony Pictures Studios The Sony Pictures Studios is an American television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard (south), Washington Boulevard (north), Overland Avenue (west) and ...

lot in Culver City, California. In 1989, Gracie Films had struck a deal with ABC.

Filmography

Television

Films

Theme park

Shorts

References

{{Authority control American companies established in 1986 Film production companies of the United States Television production companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1986 Companies based in Culver City, California 1986 establishments in California