Given the previous posts centered on logo content, I may as well keep things a little consistent. This is in connection to SCMediaWorks' Logo Mysteries series, dedicated to, at the time anomalies that were either lost or confirmed to not be real. It came out in the mid-2010s, and since then there've been a number of updates that confirmed or denied the existence of many of the logos featured.
SoraThePanFloof made a video discussing updates to the searches for each logo, and I did one as well to compile new discoveries since, but I also came across new details that should be accounted for, and as this is a written space it could be edited as new details come out. So cards on the table, the logos, details on them, my opinion and if they exist, could exist or if they're fake.
PolyGram Television PGTV
The first logo mystery in the first episode. This was an open case when it was discussed, and unfortunately attached to a snafu caused by a prominent member. But when we get to it. At the time, discussions of PolyGram Television were messy, messy in that there were two different incarnations. Back then each iteration were lumped into the same page. I remember frequenting the PolyGram TV page when this and two fakes occupied the page. A so-called rare find courtesy of SuperMarty-O, and a supposed variation of an old PolyGram Video logo that was so elusive nobody could determine a concrete source.
Since then, the two separate PolyGrams were confirmed to be so, and regarding the TV divisions this one was fairly short lived. Now, where am I going with this? The original PolyGram Television lasted for about four years, three regarding on-screen appearances. If a company doesn't last that long, why would they waste resources on making multiple logos?
The PGTV logo by the sounds of it is way too elaborate to be a placeholder logo. PolyGram typically stuck to one logo when it came to their productions, save for a variant that appeared on The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, possibly to tie into the decade that film is set in. Not to say placeholders never existed but that only applied to PolyGram Pictures. The closest to an ideal placeholder was SuperFakey-O's PolyGram logo.
So I'd say the case on that is closed due to a lack of evidence that would suggest a short-lived division would go through two different fully animated logos in the span of 3 years.
I'm aware the next Reconstruction Zone is going to do a video dedicated to the logo, but as far as I know they understand it may not exist and are just doing it for the fun of it. Wanna point that out.
CINAR Grid
This logo was immediately determined to be fake, simple as that. While looking into it I do have some stuff to add to it. In episode 3, Stephen alludes to false memories, and I think a similar case happened here. Hockey Night was said to be the earliest possible CINAR production, and through an upload of the movie on YouTube the logo for Feature Films for Families appears at the beginning. Part of the logo takes place on a grid, a grid was a central point to the CINAR logo. But who knows, could just be one big fat coincidence.
Before I move on I wanna talk about another CINAR logo, one that was briefly addressed in the video too. Remember David the Gnome? Remember the CINAR logo that appeared at the start of it. For a long time I thought it was just a variant made for the show, but there was people who believed there was a standalone version of it. I remember when I discovered Greeny Phatom, remember that hot mess? How the creator would put the CINAR logo at the start, and slow it down so the animation is in time with the music? Imagine my shock when it turned out that, yes, there is a standalone version. Since no source was confirmed for it I'm taking it with a grain of salt.
Ironically, another early CINAR production, a dub of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz anime series was mentioned in this exact video. I want to confirm what CINAR logo appeared at the end, but, as mentioned multiple times, it's a CINAR production, and you know what that means?
Yeah. If there was ever an ongoing search it's gonna be a full rip of an original airing of any episode of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Taft-HB Programs
Though there are cases to why it could exist, there are cases to why it doesn't as well. I think what's throwing people off is the fact that there were sales prints of shows that had logos at the start, Viacom and Paramount withstanding. However, these were established companies in their own right, being around for years, television and beyond, so they could've included a logo just to signify their involvement. Also you have ad sales divisions like Camelot Entertainment Sales and Teletrib.
For Taft-HB however there is one other factor to consider. How long was this division around? I get Taft owned Hanna-Barbera at the time, and Taft would go on to acquire Worldvision and use them to distribute HB programs, but does that mean an onscreen logo would exist? Probably not. Taft owned Hanna-Barbera, so aside from a division being used to single out HB catalog titles and soon to be made programs, I imagine a standard Taft logo would be used instead, or a Hanna Barbera logo, or both.
For print logos it's more likely than not they just wanted a quick signifier of a brand on press kits. Hanna-Barbera speaks more for itself as a brand, hence Taft putting their name alongside it.
Screen Gems
SoraThePanFloof makes a good point here, in that magazine ads tend to produce odd results when it comes to print logos. Just as well there was no reason for a Screen Gems to appear anywhere in the 80s, lest it was due to legal circumstances or whatever have you. On the possibility of companies reviving old divisions or incarnations, along with Sora bringing up the revival of Hanna-Barbera to usurp Cartoon Network's European division. Oh even better, Paramount would revive Republic Pictures as an acquisitions label, MGM/Amazon would bring back Orion and American International Pictures.
What I'm trying to say is that as long as they have a use for a name, it's down to time and the right opportunity to bring back an old company name for whatever reason.
TMS Distribution
A reincorporation of Australian cinema chain Hoyts' entertainment assets. But to make a long story short the logo actually exists. While an on-screen logo didn't appear on the source highlighted in the video, it did appear on a different one, a YouTube capture exists, case closed.
Greater Union Film Distributors
Theatrical logos are a special case in this situation, especially for distributor credits. As they only have the rights to theatrical releases, they won't turn up anywhere else unless someone does a millimeter rip. For all this, there is no proof or denial of a theater logo existing. This is referring to the second Greater Union Film Distributors logo. While the first has been documented and preserved on old VHS releases, this was a lot more elusive.
Since the release of the video, a lot of discoveries have been made for Greater Union, including logos for older incarnations... until the logo everyone was looking for was finally made public. Previously a cel from the logo was posted, which more or less confirmed it to be the actual one.
Roadshow Films
Speculation of an old Roadshow Films logo was mentioned in this episode of Logo Mysteries. Every detail of similar Roadshow logos were scrutinized, from the stability variance to the size of the gap between the text and the giant V. All of this wasn't for not though, because time after, the Roadshow Films logo was uploaded. If I may explain the size of the text, this was used in theaters, so naturally you need to make the important aspects really pop.
British Empire Films
Similar situation to Greater Union. It was a much older label owned by Greater Union that existed throughout the 30s and 70s. As far as finding it, I'm not holding my breath. Given the age of the prints that house these films, whose to say they haven't degraded thus making this logo permanently lost? There is an account on what the animation was like, but that's to be taken with a grain of salt. I don't want it to be gone forever, but at the same time I'm anticipating it to be so.
Claster Television Prototype
Confirmed to not exist, mixed up with the logo for Crawleys. Moving on.
Evergreen Programs
There is some possibility an on-screen logo exists. Most of the factors applying to Taft-HB do not necessarily apply here. However against the idea, it could just be a catalog label, and the Worldvision logo would very likely appear at the end of show prints covered under Evergreen. Why have two different labels that have a similar function? Purely superfluous.
Hollywood Pictures Television
Ha yeah, no. As far as theories to where it could've turned up, the Buena Vista Television logo would appear at the end, and that goes for films across Disney's line-up of divisions at the time. Even more this kind of division is unnecessary since Disney would produce adult-oriented programs under Touchstone.
Universal International Television
Referring to Sora again and possibilities with appearances, it's unlikely it was seen on television prints of old films, but a pilot is very likely. As with Destination Space, as that was addressed in the video, a movie studio could finance a television pilot for a network, though there is little evidence regarding Universal's early TV history. Current leads suggest Universal International Television was made to produce commercials, with no programs tied to it. So it's not likely an onscreen logo actually exists.
MGM Television Cold Cream Jar
The very idea of this logo existing, let alone only on an old animated special, and the fact that there is so much detail to it, this was a hell of an enigma. An enigma that had managed to turn back up after so long, go figure.
King World Productions Color
This one is still up for debate. The first King World Productions logo appeared on then current prints of The Little Rascals, and as a result the logo was presented in black and white to keep with the theme. Two other programs that came out at the time this logo was in use were identified, but no footage exists of either. One of them is is a 90 second series, and I would question why most of the time should be taken up by a company logo, but then again TV Land hosted 60 second sitcoms and had a logo at the end, so anything's possible. For the other, it sounds like a full series that could have it, but worst case it's just an in-credit notice.
If anything it may've just been a custom logo made specifically for The Little Rascals, it looks like something of that era.
Closing
This page will be updated to account for any new info on the logos shown here.
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