Saban Productions/Entertainment
Written and Compiled by Matt Williams
Saban Productions
(1984-1988)
Nickname: "Rings of Saturn"
Logo: A static shot of a purple Saturn-like planet, with a ring. In the middle of the planet and the ring, the word "SABAN" is seen in a very weird font. Below it is the word "PRODUCTIONS". On the bottom half of the planet to the left, there are five lines.
FX: No animation for this logo.
Music: An '80s synth-rocklike theme.
Availability: Rare, as it was only seen on "I'm Telling!", "Kidd Video", and "Adventures of the Little Koala". But still remains on reruns of "The New Archies" on Toon Disney.
Scare Factor: Minimal, The logo looks like crap but it's harmless.
Saban Entertainment
1st Logo
(1988-1996)
Nickname: "Gold Circle", "Gold Plate"
Logo: On a background with stars, a silver rectangle with a circle-shaped hole in the middle moves slowly from the left-hand side of the screen towards the middle of the screen, growing as it does so. In the hole, "glowing" but in black lettering is the word "SABAN" and below the circle-shaped hole is the word "ENTERTAINMENT". On the right side of the screen, a gold "plate" twirls towards the middle of the screen as well. As the plate gets closer to the rectangle and the middle of the screen, it starts twirling faster and faster until it is affixed firmly in the hole in the center of the rectangle. Three white lines are seen on the bottom-left of the circle.
Cheesy Factor/FX: Early computer animation for this logo, but it outdid the effects on the first season of Power Rangers, ;)
Music: A synthesized theme ending in what sounds like a jail door slamming shut. For most of the 90s shows, the end of the show's theme played on it.
Availability: Rare, can be seen on pre-96 episodes of Power Rangers (specifically Mighty Morphin') when they're rerun on ABC Family.
Scare Factor: Low, the "jail door slamming shut" may unnerve some people but the logo is otherwise tame.
2nd Logo
(1996-2002)
Nickname: "The Saban Twirly-Doo"
Logo: A group of kids, ethnically diverse and wearing extremely weird clothing, take a piece of cloth with a globe pattern imprinted on it and then run to opposite ends of a small "orb". They then raise their hands up as they fade out and the orb "transforms" into the Saban logo, which resembles a gold crescent moon on the right with 3 "swishing" lines on the left. The word "SABAN" is below the logo. This is done on a cloud background that seems to "shoot" from the center.
Variants: There are 3 variations on this logo.
FX: Nothing cheesy, professional graphics used here.
Music: A flute-like jingle that eventually coalesces into a trumpet.
Music Trivia: This music was actually used on a Saban show, "Masked Rider" (made before the "twirly-doo" was introduced), as the theme for one of the supporting cast members, the alien Ferbus.
Availability: Still preserved on pre-2002 episodes of Power Rangers and Digimon, as well on most series from Saban's library, including some of the 1980s Marvel Productions shows it owns ("Dungeons and Dragons"). However, the company itself does not exist anymore, having been acquired by Disney and dissolved into the Disney corporate structure. Current episodes of Power Rangers and Digimon have no logo and a copyright credit to "BVS Entertainment", with BVS standing for Buena Vista Studios.
Scare Factor: Low, the music and the kids may catch someone off-guard (and as one Power Ranger fan noted, he screamed when this logo was first used on that show), but it quickly becomes simply annoying (as it is the Columbia TriStar of the kids' TV logo business).