Alliance Atlantis/Summary

Background : Alliance Atlantis was founded in 1998 as a merger of Alliance Entertainment Corporation and Atlantis Communications, both which were founded in 1985. Alliance Atlantis was acquired by Camwest Media and an affiliate of Goldman Sachs in 2007. The television distribution arm of the company was transferred to Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, while the movie business was relaunched as Alliance Films. Eventually, Alliance Films was acquired by Entertainment One.

1st Logo (1998-1999)
Nickname : "Chyron"

Logo : It's just the same as the final Atlantis logo, except "ALLIANCE" and a red line appear above "ATLANTIS", The text is format: ALLIANCE ATLANTIS which also appears lower.

Variants :
 * On eXistenZ, the logo and music are in slow-motion. It is also shot on film instead of video.
 * Sometimes the URL website addresses “www.atlantis.ca”, “www.allianceatlantis.ca”, or “www.allianceatlantis.com” may appear under the logo.
 * Widescreen and fullscreen versions exist.

FX/SFX/Music/Sounds : Same as the final logo of Atlantis.

Music/Sound Variant: In some cases, the ending theme is played or generic theme.

Availability : Rare. It appeared on The Famous Jett Jackson and NightMan, Joan of Arc on CBS, among other shows. Still survives on middle seasons of The New Outer Limits on local syndication and the 1999 film, eXistenZ.

Editor’s Note : This is most likely a placeholder for Alliance Atlantis, since the official logo was not revealed yet.

2nd Logo (1999-2000)


Nicknames : "The Metallic A", "The Frontier of the Australian Logo II", "The Alliance Atlantis A", “The Alliance Atlantis Boomerang”

Logo : Same the 1991 Alliance logo, but with the word "ATLANTIS" appearing below "ALLIANCE" and everything becoming still as soon as the spark animation ends.

Variant : On French-language theatrical films, "VIVAFILM" appears under the rest of the text.

FX/SFX/Music/Sounds : Same as the 1991 Alliance logo.

Availability : Extremely rare. The logo can be seen the 1999 Canadian VHS of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the 2000 Canadian VHS releases of Animal Farm and Thomas and the Magic Railroad, and is also said to have been found on the 1999 Canadian VHS release of The Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland. It also appears on some early Alliance Atlantis distributed DVDs such as Robocop 1 & 3, Friday, and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Editor’s Note : Despite sharing the same animation and music as the 1991 Alliance logo, it looks like this logo was sourced from a filmed copy of the aforementioned logo with "ATLANTIS" being cheaply inserted below "ALLIANCE" off center.

3rd Logo (1999-2005)
Nicknames : "Gold-Black A", "Alliance Atlantis A II", "The Alliance Atlantis Boomerang II"

Logo : We see a cloudy gray sky with snow-capped mountains of metallic gemstones below. Two of the gemstones streak into the air, positioning themselves to the shape of a long isosceles triangle, in a nod to the 1991 and 2007 Alliance logos. The image fades into the boomerang-shaped Alliance "Metallic A" but with the bottom left gold and the top right black. The text "ALLIANCE ATLANTIS" is seen below. A spark flies from the bottom to the top.

Variants :
 * A shorter version exists where the logo is in its completed state and appears much closer. The spark is also larger than in the long version.
 * The company's URL website address “www.allianceatlantis.com” sometimes appears below the name in the short version.
 * On French-language theatrical films, the word "VIVAFILM" appears under the rest of the text; it is worth noting that Vivafilm Ltée. is now called Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm and is their French-Canadian division.
 * Like the 1997 HIT Entertainment PLC "Fireworks & Psychedelic Ribbons" logo, a middle-length version exists, which starts in the middle of the logo.
 * Beginning in late 2003, copyright info appears below the text.
 * On Canadian airings of Bad Santa, Ella Enchanted, and The Butterfly Effect, the above variant is used, except the logo appears vertically squished and the spark appears much larger. Bad Santa and Ella Enchanted use the long version of the logo without or with the standard music, while The Butterfly Effect uses the short version with the jingle used for the aforementioned version.
 * Widescreen and fullscreen versions exist.
 * On some theatrical films and widescreen direct-to-TV films and miniseries, the logo appears filmed.
 * On the prototype version, use the small-spark when the blue dark cloudy background, the logo was fading out.
 * In some cases, the words is Distributed by above.

FX/SFX : The flying spark and the CGI. Nice CGI, basically an update of the 1991 Alliance logo.

Music/Sounds : An orchestral heroic fanfare which sounds like a tamer, rearranged version of the 1996 Tyne Tees Television Channel 3 North East logo jingle, sampling the final four notes of the Dick De Benedictis stock score "Film Orchestra FX (1)".

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On some theatrical films co-produced with MGM and Screen Gems, some of the music is replaced with a few reverbrating notes, in different pitches.
 * On the short versions, the standard fanfare is shortened and sounds more audibly combined with the powerful climax from the 1996 TTTV Channel 3 North East logo unlike the longer versions.
 * On the middle-length version and in some occasions, it's silent.
 * Sometimes, the ending of the show may be played.
 * At the end of a trailer for The Man Who Saved Christmas, a male announcer (Jim Cutler) says "from Alliance Atlantis."
 * Sometimes, generic theme is played.
 * On a Canadian DVD of PSI Factor, the music here was heard over the Atlantis logo.

Availability : Common. Can be seen on season three of Degrassi: The Next Generation on DVD, among other shows like The (New) Outer Limits, PSI Factor, Earth: Final Conflict, some made for TV-movies on CBS, and 2000-04 episodes of the CSI franchise. Also seen on a few Canadian VHS tapes and DVDs from the era including Little Bear: "Dreams & Make Believe", Scream 3, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Next Friday, Friday After Next, Austin Powers in Goldmember, All About the Benjamins, Red Scorpion 2, Pokémon 4Ever, Pokémon Heroes, and the Spy Kids and Scary Movie trilogies. Also seen on video games such as the video game adaptations of the CSI franchise and the 2004-05 American VHS and DVD releases of Connie the Cow from Our Time Family Entertainment. Currently seen on 2002-04 episodes of CSI: Miami. The middle-length version is seen on Lunar Jim kiddie rides with video screens from Jolly Roger. It was also seen on the 2003 Canadian VHS of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie [its DVD counterpart is distributed by Chordent].

Editor’s Note : This logo contains an amazing scenery and great CGI. The soundtrack is also nice to listen to, despite it sounding similar to the 1996 TTTV Channel 3 North East logo; many people confirmed that both logos sampled Dick De Benedictis’ "Film Orchestra FX (1)" for their jingles, much like the logos for Mondo Home Entertainment and Ramu Enterprises.

4th Logo (2004-2008)
Nicknames : "Golden A", "Alliance Atlantis A III", "The Alliance Atlantis Boomerang III", "A of Steel"

Logo : On a dark cloudy background with a yellow light (a la NBCUniversal) with a couple yellow lines, we see the "A" logo from before, in various close-ups. We see part of the text "ALLIANCE ATLANTIS" (or for French-Canadian releases, "ALLIANCE ATLANTIS VIVAFILM") in Wide Latin, rotating, and finally we zoom out as the logo and text rotate into place, and then turn to face the screen. A spark appears on the bottom-left, and moves to the top and brightens. Copyright info fades in below.

Variants :
 * The short version has the logo in place and shining.
 * Widescreen and fullscreen versions exist.
 * Sometimes, the words is DISTRIBUTED BY above.

FX/SFX : The closeups of the logo, the logo and text rotating into place. This was done by Canadian design agency ZINK.

Music/Sounds : The normal version either uses an orchestral fanfare that begins with a 5-note tune played by a horn or a calmer version of the fanfare; the short version either uses an orchestral 3-note fanfare or the first 5 notes of the fanfare; and the medium version either uses the 7-note orchestral theme based on the fanfare or the first 5 notes of the fanfare with the 5th note held out longer.

Music/Sounds Trivia : All versions of the fanfare have been composed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and its then-conductor Peter Oundjian. This fanfare would later be carried over to the first Alliance Films logo.

Music/Sounds Variant : Sometimes, the ending of the show may play.

Availability : Uncommon. Still seen on episodes of the CSI franchise from 2004-07 (including the first nine episodes of the 2007-08 season) on local syndication and A&E and all episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation from 2004-08 on the Pluto TV streaming service. Also seen on Alliance Atlantis VHS and DVD releases of the period such as Canadian issues of New Line and Weinstein Company DVDs, the Trailer Park Boys DVD box sets, and Scream as well as video games such as CSI: Hard Evidence. A sped-up PAL version can be found on the Echo Bridge Home Entertainment DVD release of Prom Night (1980), as the print used appears to be sourced from a PAL master converted into NTSC. Currently seen on 2004-07 episodes of CSI: Miami.

Editor’s Note : Much like the previous logo, this one contains amazing CGI and a nice soundtrack.