Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts and Entertainment

The Princess Bride is 20 and still Enchanting

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today. 

()

As Josh mentioned earlier, today's DVD re-release of the classic Rob Reiner fairy tale "The Princess Bride" is happening now to celebrate and coincide with the film's 20th anniversary.

The problem for the MGM marketing team was how do you repackage a movie that everyone has seen and everyone loves, and everyone loves it so much they have probably memorized most of it?

One way to do it is to create a title logo that's so excellent that you can build a whole box cover out of it. Yes, the answer was an ambigram!

Support for LAist comes from

After the jump check out the trippy logo as it appears on the "As You Wish" box cover as well as some other forms of this style where upside-down-is-the-same-as-right-side-up.

Princess Bride made a box cover that rewards you when you pick it up and turn it around, because then you see the ambigram in full effect.

()

The so-called inventors of glam rock, Angel, used an ambigram as their logo in the '70s and '80s

()

Paul McCartney used an ambigram on Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

()

Support for LAist comes from

Aerosmith probably has pulled off the ambigram the best

()

Although Kelly Ripa's is pretty hot

()

Management company Blacksmith represents

()

Not only an ambigram, but people used to say that they could see the word "devil" in Dio's logo - if you turned it upside-down, of course.

Support for LAist comes from
()

Reporting for LAist,

()

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist