Various Children's Companies
By Argus Sventon, James Fabiano, Matt Williams, Nicholas Aczel, Kris Starring, and Cameron McCaffrey
Best Film & Video Corp
(1980s?)
Logo: A blue star flies up to the middle of the screen and the words "BEST FILM & VIDEO CORP.", in gold, appears across it. In the background are sped-up "action" scenes such as fireworks, a sunrise, and a highway.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The star utilizes '80s "shadow"-like effects. Also, the sped up footage for the background.
Music: None
Availability: Can be found on many earlier releases of Marvel Comics-based cartoon videos.
Scare Factor: Low.
Big Feats! Entertainment
(1995-1998)
Nicknames: "B/F", "The Big Feats Tightrope Walker"
Logo: On a black background, we see two blue 3D letters (B and F stacked on top of each other) fade into view and turn to face us in a spotlight. Sandwiched in between the B and F is a red balance pole (the kind tight-rope walkers have). The B/F structure sways around and moves back and forth, eventually coming to a stop, the B/F leaning to the left, and the B swaying. "BIG FEATS! ENTERTAINMENT" is chyroned at the bottom of the screen in a yellow Art Deco font.
FX: The CGI used in the logo.
Cheesy Factor: The fast paced animation and the primitive 3D computer graphics just screams 90's! The squeaking sounds in the logo (see below) can be annoying to some.
Music: A drumroll combined with a couple of squeaking sounds, followed by a voice saying "Whoa!" when the logo stops, and a humorous "tada!" trumpet sounder at the end that sounds similar to the end of the 1966-1981 Rankin Bass theme.
Availability: Extinct, this logo only surfaced on one show (and I mean ONE show), which was the 1995-1998 PBS kids series, Wishbone.
Scare Factor: Median, this logo jumps out all of the sudden and can be startling as a result.
Billionfold
(2004-)
Note: This is the vanity card of Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom creator Butch Hartman.
Nicknames: "Butch the Superhero," "The Extending Cape" Logo: On a plain white background, we see a drawing of Butch Hartman as a superhero, looking somewhat similar to Superman, but with a few differences:
1. The drawing isn't as detailed.
2. Butch is smaller in size than Superman.
2. The cape is yellow instead of red.
3. Instead of an "S" embedded in a backwards triangle,
it is a "B" embedded in a circle. Butch's
cape extends out to reveal the words
BILLIONFOLD
inc.
written on it.
The logo remains on-screen for a few more seconds and then cuts to a black screen with the Nicktoons logo and a copyright disclaimer.
FX: The cape waving, the cape extending out to reveal "BILLIONFOLD INC." Very excellent animation.
Cheesy Factor: This logo seems a little strange coming after a show like Danny Phantom. I mean, come on. DP is a hard-core action show, not some campy comic-like superhero show.
Music: A loud "heroic" fanfare accompanied by a voice shouting "BILLIONFOLD!" At the end, there is a weird sound which sounds like a duck.
Availability: Can currently be seen on Danny Phantom on Nickelodeon.
Scare Factor: Low to Median, the weird look of the drawing, the dramatic fanfare, the weird sound and the voiceover could catch you off guard, especially if you've never seen it before. Also, this logo jarringly cuts right into a dark-mooded Nicktoons logo/copyright disclaimer screen, with makes it even more scary.
BRB Productions
(1980s)
Logo: On a gray background, a logo materializes from the top down, as if being "drawn" in. It is a series of segmented lines in the form of two "B's" with an "R" as a kind of "hole" between them. The lines are (from top to bottom) shades of red, purple, and blue. Diagonal white lines appear above and below the logo, and below the lower line is the word "PRODUCTIONS."
FX: The logo being "drawn."
Music: A synthesized, six-note, kiddie-like jingle.
Availability: At the end of "Zoobilee Zoo" and some "Pee Wee's Playhouse" repeats.
Scare Factor: Low
Educational Pictures or
Educational Film Exchanges
(Late 20's to Mid 30's)
Nicknames: "The Spice of the Program", "Aladdin's Lamp"
Logo: We see the words "Educational Film Exchanges presents", "Educational Pictures presents", or "E.W. Hammons presents" at the top of the screen followed by the name of the short. At the bottom of the screen, is a drawing of a genie's lamp, and written above it in cursive are the words "Educational Pictures". At the bottom of the lamp, the words "The Spice of the Program" are below the lamp.
Then the logo appears full screen with a real photo of a lamp and above the lamp, "Educational Pictures" is written out, and below it are the words, "The Spice of the Program".
FX: The logo quickly fading in from top to bottom after the first opening credits.
Music: Whatever short or cartoon was playing.
History: Educational Pictures was an early film company that produced and distributed short subject materials in the 1920's. Some of the Felix the Cat silent cartoons were distributed by Educational Pictures.
Around the start of the sound era, Educational Pictures began handling all of the short subjects for Fox Film Corporation, including the early Paul Terry "Terrytoons". This continued until at least 1938.
Availability: Probably rare, considering the age of the company, and the possibility that TV or home movie distributors may have retitled the shorts and cartoons. Can be seen occasionally on PBS's "Matinee At the Bijou".
Scare Factor: The live action lamp appearing in the middle of the opening credits may startle some people.
Golden Book Video
(1980s)
Logo: On a shady lavender background, a white book turned on its vertical side zooms from the center of the screen to the right. It opens and the pages turn as a gold sun rises from behind the center of the book. Several pages from each side of the book rise with the pie-shaped sun and render as two gold triangles on each side. A square with rounded corners zooms out and plasters itself around the logo. A gold ray of light wipes the gold text "GOLDEN" under the logo. "GOLDEN" shrinks and zooms to the left as the ray of light wipes the text "BOOK" next to it and the text "VIDEO," about 3 times the size of the other text, zooms out with a shadow trail and plasters itself underneath the logo. The logo "shines."
FX: The zooming, the pages rendering, the ray of light wiping on the text, the logo shining.
Music: A majestic synth fanfare.
Availability: Seen on Golden Book Video releases of the time including "Five Sesame Street Stories" and "Campfire Thrillers."
Scare Factor: Low, this logo has very cool animation.
Kartes Video Communications
(Dates Unknown)
Logo: We start out with a field of stars coming toward us (all of them, some going diagonally), and at the same time, 9 K's, all of which are the company's logo come toward us forming part 1 of the background of the closing sequence, which appears to be a field of diagonal lines. Another set of 9 K's, all of which are the outlines of the first 9 K's, come into the picture the opposite direction of the first 9 K's. Then the real logo along with the company name with a lighthouse next to it and the words "A Scripps Howard Company" under it all fall onto the background. The lighthouse light next to "A Scripps Howard Company" turns on, and the word "Presents" falls into the background.
FX/Cheesy Factor: TBA
Music: A synthesizer that starts out on a high note of the scale in the key of F Major, and then gets lower, and then as the company name falls in, a repeating glissandi of notes, and as "Presents" falls in, a high glissandi plays.
Availability: In certain Charlie Brown videos
Scare Factor: TBA
KROMOCOLOR (Modern Film Sales Corporation)
Logo: Several sunbursts are seen stacked on a dark blue background, which has the words "the end" on it in white lettering. The sunbursts are pinkish in nature, with the smaller sunburst dark pink, while the biggest is nearly white.
This is stacked atop a pinkish background with the word "KROMOCOLOR" in black Art-Deco type The rest of the logo has been cut off.
Possibly this may not actually be a logo, but something else. Kromocolor could have been the film process used. Modern Film Sales bought some of the old Mutt and Jeff cartoons, and added soundtracks, and re-drew them in color.
FX: TBA
Music: The ending music of a Mutt and Jeff cartoon.
Availability: The only known cartoon that this logo has been seen on is Mutt and Jeff in "Westward Whoa!"
Scare Factor: Minimal
Lightkeeper Productions
1st Logo
(1984-1988)
Logo: A still, cheaply drawn picture of a sea scene, with the blue water making a wave against a brown piece of land on which a white lighthouse is standing. To the left a starlight shines in the black sky, and from it come, in fat red letters, the words:
PRODUCED BY
LIGHTKEEPER
PRODUCTIONS
IN ASSOCIATION WITH (the NBC Productions logo would follow)
The starlight continues to spin in the sky.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The quality of the drawing, the star/word animations.
Music: Just the sound of a foghorn.
Availability: Seen on Punky Brewster
Scare Factor: Low
2nd Logo
(1988-1996)
Logo: A video of a lighthouse on a reef is twirling its light, with the sunset behind it. On the bottom left hand corner of the screen, the text wipes in:
LIGHTKEEPER
PRODUCTIONS
in association with
and then would cut to whatever logo was at the end.
FX: The video, the text wipe
Music: Closing theme to any respective TV show
Availability: Seen on the last 22 episodes of Punky Brewster when anyone ever shows it. Also seen on the TV sitcom "On Our Own" from 1994-1996.
Scare Factor: None. This logo is much blander than the first one.
National Telefilm Associates
(Mid 50's)
Nickname: "The Reel Of Film"
History: Used in the 50's and 60's on Paramount cartoons.
Logo: Three frames of film are in a row, with the letters "NTA" individually placed inside the frames. Behind the frames is a reel of film, with a portion of the film out of the reel and curling down the screen.
Also there are wavy lines as a background. The words "National Telefilm Associates, Inc" are in all capital letters, with the N, T, and A, in larger letters.
This logo appeared at the start and end of Paramount cartoons distributed to television in the 1950's. At the end, the same logo described above would appear, except this time, there was a COPYRIGHT followed by the year that the cartoon was made, and the words "BY U.M.&M. TV CORP."
FX: None, this is a still logo
Availability: Most of the Paramount non Popeye cartoons have this logo present. A bit more common than U.M.&M., this logo is on numerous public domain cartoon videos. However, if Paramount, which owns these cartoons, starts restoring the titles, look for these two logos to disappear.
Music: The same as the U.M.&M. logo.
Scare Factor: Low, the scratchy prints may bother some people.
Random House Home Video
(1987-)
Nickname: "Cheesy House"
Logo: On a blue/black gradient background, six rainbow-colored lines are drawn onto the screen by light rays, in different directions. The lines sharply angle around 45 degrees near the edge of the screen. As the lines begin to finish drawing, the parts of a stylized house begin to slide onto the screen at the area where the lines suddenly slope. The rainbow and the house zoom out as the rainbow begins to retract. The sloped section disappears completely, and a diagonal beam of light draws a sharp black outline around the house and the rainbow. The word "RANDOM HOUSE" fades in underneath the rainbow/house combo, and the words "HOME VIDEO" zoom in from the center.
FX: The rainbow effects, the sliding houses, the formation of the company name.
Cheesy Factor: ...Where do I start...? First, the rainbow lines are cheaply done. They're not even of the same width! Second, the sliding on of the house like construction paper blows. Third, the zooming out of "HOME VIDEO" brings back bad memories of the "A Viacom Presentation" text on the "Killer V"/"V of Doom".
Music: A synthesized piece of music.
Availability: Seen mostly on educational videos based on Random House properties. It can still be seen on videos of "Arthur" and "The Berenstain Bears"
Scare Factor: Median, the cheapness of the logo will scare many people off.
SFM
(Dates unknown - circa mid-1970s)
Logo: On a black background are white outlines to the letters "sfm" (though the "M" is a capital one despite being shorter than the "f") Each letter is then filled with a rainbow pattern of colors. All but the "M" are filled from the top. The "M" is filled starting at its left.
Variants:
FX: The letters being filled.
Music: A series of morse code-like beeps. Sometimes, an announcer will say, "Distributed by the SFM Entertainment Division of SFM Media Corporation."
Availability: Uncommon. Currently seen on reruns of "Care Bears" on Toon Disney and "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" on Trio.
Scare Factor: Some people were creeped out by the "spooky" announcer. Some might also be spooked out by the dark nature and lack of "real" text.
U.M.&M. T.V. Corporation
(Mid 50's)
Nickname: "The Blue U.M.&M. Shield"
Logo: A large blue shield is on a reddish-orange background. The words "U.M.&M. T.V. Corp. presents" are on separate lines arranged inside the blue shield in yellow block lettering. The phrase "U.M.&M." is the largest lettering on the logo. The logo only appears once at the start of the film. At the end of the film, the words "THE END, A U.M.&M. T.V. CORP. Presentation" appear, with the word "Presentation" written in cursive lettering. If in black and white, the shield was black on a white background with white lettering.
History: Appeared in the 1950's on television prints distributed by U.M.&M.T.V. before their merger with National Telefilm Associates, see below. The letters U.M.&M. stood for United Film Service, Minot T.V., and MTA-TV.
FX/Cheesy Factor: In the color versions, there was a whitish "glow" around the shield.
Music: Usually the first lines of the cartoon theme, but on some Little Lulu prints, the logo is silent, with a unusually scratchy sound, like a old record playing.
Availability: Seen on certain AMC "Short Cuts". Also on numerous public domain cartoon videos, especially Little Lulu. If you really want to see it, you can buy a $5.00 cartoon video with Paramount cartoons.
Scare Factor: Median, some people might not like a large blue shield. Also the scratchy prints and soundtrack may scare people as well.
United Plankton Pictures
(1999-)
Note: This is the vanity card of SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg.
Nickname: "Friends of the Sea," "Holding Hands," "The Underwater Logo"
Logo: On a moving ocean background with a reflection of light in the background, we see some crudely drawn sea creatures holding hands. The words
United Plankton
are above, and the words
Pictures inc.
are below.
FX: The ocean background moving.
Cheesy Factor: The ocean background is low-budget, the sea creature drawings are very cheap, and the logo itself looks very unprofessional.
Music: Usually, the SpongeBob SquarePants end theme finishes over it. On episodes with split-screen credits, there is a foghorn sounder. On SpongeBob video releases, there is no music at ALL.
Availability: Can currently be seen on episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants on Nickelodeon.
Scare Factor: Low, a well-known and very cute logo, but the bad drawings, the low-budget ocean background, and the cheap look of the logo itself could put some people off.
World Events Productions
(Mid/Late 1980s)
Nickname: "The Voltron Logo"
Logo: Against a globe, and in a white "Arabian"/"I Dream of Jeannie" font, are the words "World Events Productions Ltd." with a copyright underneath.
FX: A still logo, so nothing.
Music: An ominous tune plays as you can hear what sounds like a monster screeching. Could be a soundbite from Voltron.
Availability: If Cartoon Network is still showing episodes of the original "Voltron," you may still see the logo there.
Scare Factor: Could make some people nervous with the relatively dark and still logo combined with the ominous background sounds.