Roadshow Films (Australia)

Background: Roadshow Films was created by the owners of Village Cinemas in 1970 and has become a leading distributor in Australia. They are most notable for distributing classic Australian films in the 90s including The Dish, Muriel's Wedding and the Australian classic The Castle. Today, they distribute a number of films from different Hollywood studios as well as Australian productions.

1st Logo (1971-1979)

Logo: We diagonally zoom into a still satellite shot of Australia. Once we finish the zoom, "A film from" zooms out in a white serif font. Then "Roadshow", in a very strange white font, zooms out below, followed by "The Australian Company" in the same white serif font below that.

Closing Variant: It only plays the last half of the logo. This would also be used for their television prints.

FX/SFX: The camera zoom. The words zooming out.

Music/Sounds: A rising electronic piano theme, or else the opening theme of the film. For the television version it is usually the closing theme of the film.

Availability: Extremely rare, considering that Roadshow rarely preserved its pre-1992 theatrical logos on home video. Turns up on the Umbrella Entertainment DVD of The Love Epidemic (part of an Ozplotation double feature with High Rollin'). It was also probably seen on the earliest prints of Mad Max and The Wanderers and also showed up on a 1985 Australian television broadcast of the latter. Other films where this might have appeared include Beyond the Living Dead (also known by such names as Return of the Zombies, Terror of the Living Dead, and The Hanging Woman elsewhere) and Stone.

2nd Logo (1979-1986)

Nicknames: "Australian Outline", "Aussie Light Trails"

Logo: On a space background, a blue outline of Australia with the Tasmania island below zooms out from the bottom of the screen to the center with a "light trail" effect. Then, "Roadshow", in a very strange yellow font (the same font, in fact, as in the previous logo, but with more bold), appears via "scanning" effect in pieces shooting out from the Australia and "Roadshow" flashes, (a la the 1977 WGBH/Summary logo). The completed Roadshow logo shines and reverses onto Australia and "The Australian Company" appears in yellow via a flashing effect below "Roadshow." We fade out.

Trivia: This logo was designed by Prologue.

Cheesy Factor: None

FX/SFX: The scanning, flashing, and zooming.

Music/Sounds: Begins with a calm synthesized horn and piano fanfare. Composed by Jerry Goldsmith, who also conducted the 1985 Carolco Pictures/Summary fanfare.

Music Sounds/Variant: On Scanners, the 1985 Carolco Pictures fanfare plays over the 1979 Roadshow Films logo.

Availability: Extremely rare. Was seen in Australian cinemas during this time period. Has turned up on early Roadshow Home Video tapes of Mad Max and Megaforce, though most titles edited this logo out and went straight to the movie. Other films that had this logo in theatrical release include First Blood, Scanners, and Gallipoli.

Editor's Note: The logo's effects are really nice for 1979, and its probably a favorite among Australian logo fans.

Scare Factor: The music, the Australian outline, the text, and the flash could get to some children.

3rd Logo (1985-1992)

Nicknames: "The Australian V of Doom", "Australian V from Hell", "Roadshow V's Dark Side", "Viacom's Australian Cousin"

Logo: On a black background, three stylized, separate, golden "V"s are formed by yellow flashing effects from the right side. Three more are formed, filling the gaps. The result is a giant "V", or a triangle comprised of six progressively smaller "V"s. The giant "V" zooms out a little, and the big glowing text "ROADSHOW", in a white ITC Avant Garde Gothic font, slides in below the "V" and loses the glow. The "V" shines, and yellow "lasers" appear from the top-left and top-right corners of the screen and move below the text, forming "VILLAGE ROADSHOW CORPORATION" when they connect and disappear.

FX/SFX: The lasers drawing the "V", the glowing text moving and darkening, and the lasers moving and forming the text.

Music/Sounds: A very loud, dramatic synth stinger accompanied by a synthesized phasing sound and a laser sound.

Availability: Extremely rare. Was only ever seen in Australian cinemas during this time period as VHS tapes cut the logo out and TV channels used the Roadshow Television logo. However, it did appear on TV airings of The Miami Connection as late as 1997.

Editor's Note: This is considered to be the rarest Australian logo on the wiki. The Home Video variant is much easier to come across.

4th Logo (1992-)

Logo: A chrome curve comes from the right of screen. The curve then moves down, turning out to be the large "V", and several more segments appear. They all zoom back to reveal the logo same as before, but chrome. Underneath the word "ROADSHOW" along with a line separating the byline "A VILLAGE ROADSHOW COMPANY"

Variant: Around 2009, the text changed to just "ROADSHOW FILMS." No byline is present. There's also a more-realistic variant of this version.

FX/SFX: The curve and segments moving and zooming back. "Roadshow" fading below.

Music/Sounds: A nice calm tune with an echoing 12-note electronic piano tune.

Availability: Common outside of America and Europe, as this is mainly seen in Australian and New Zealand cinemas. The first version is preserved on Fox Classics airings of Muriel's Wedding, the original theatrical trailer of The Castle, some prints of The Dish and strangely is found in place of the Roadshow Entertainment logo at the end of the 2002 Australian VHS release of Cats & Dogs. The second version is easier to find and can be found on recent Roadshow productions like I Love You Too, The Cup and most notably Red Dog.