HiT Entertainment/Summary

Background
HiT Entertainment was a British-American children's television company established in 1982 originally as the international distribution arm of Jim Henson Productions called "Henson International Television" (later reincorporated as "HiT Communications plc."). However, following the death of Jim Henson in 1990, the business was sold to several members of the company's management, led by Peter Orton, and reincorporated to its current name to prevent any future confusion between the two companies. Today, HiT Entertainment is owned by Fisher-Price, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.

1st Logo (1983-89)
Logo: Same as the Henson Associates in credit logo, only the "ha!" text is replaced with "hit!" and the lower text is replaced with "HENSON INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION" sandwiched between two lines. Copyright information is Henson International Television listed below.

FX/SFX: Same as the Henson Associates in credit logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Henson Associates logo.

Availability: Rare. Seen on international prints of The Muppet Show.

2nd Logo (1989-96)
Logo: On a gray marble-like background, a silver disc rotates into place. Then four blue lasers strike it from different directions. Then, the camera pans to an aerial view as the word "HiT", in a tall silver font, zooms out from the center from an angle, then rotates to face the viewers. As it does so, the four lasers rotate clockwise and "COMMUNICATIONS PLC" types itself in in blue.

FX/SFX: The disc, the lasers, and the word "HiT" coming into place, which are solid CGI effects.

Music/Sounds: An eerie gong sound leading into a catchy synth theme with bells.

Music/Sounds Variant: A silent version exists.

Availability: Ultra rare. Can be seen on old Where's Waldo/Wally?: The Animated Series tapes from the era. It can also be spotted on the English dub of D'Ocon Films' TV series, Basket Fever, and the cartoon Captain Zed and the Zee Zone, among others.

Editor's Note : This logo is a huge favorite, thanks to the music.

3rd Logo (1994?-95)


Logo: On a black background, the bluish-grey letters of "HiT" fly outwards to the center to form a result similar to the previous logo, but with thinner letters and no dot. Below it all is "Distributed by HIT Entertainment PLC." in white, sometimes replaced with a black bar and the text changed to match the country's language.

FX/SFX: The letters appearing. Nothing much.

Music/Sounds: None at all.

Availability: Extremely rare. This was possibly a prototype logo, and so far, it has only been known to appear on some international prints of season 1 episodes of ReBoot.

4th Logo (1996-2001)
Nicknames: "HiT Globe", "'90s HiT Globe"

Logo: On a shady gray  background, we see the word "HiT " in the same font as last two logos in blue, with "ENTERTAINMENT PLC" written vertically next to the T in white. A hole is cut out in between the letters above the I, which contains a spinning globe. Under that reads "www.hitentertainment.com" and "DISTRIBUTED WORLDWIDE BY HIT ENTERTAINMENT PLC". There is a spotlight from the top left of the screen, casting a shadow of the logo on the floor.

Variants:
 * There is a version where the URL and byline swap places, such as retail episodes of  Bob the Builder.
 * There are instances where the logo is just seen with the byline, such as Scandinavian versions of Bob the Builder.
 * A still version of this is seen on VHS releases.
 * An in-credit variant was seen on Archibald the Koala.
 * On some prints of Basket Fever, the background is replaced with that of a background of the world with "ENTERTAINMENT PLC" in black instead of white and the below text is omitted.

FX/SFX: The globe spinning. Fine CGI for it's time and it has aged pretty well.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds/Variants: In other cases, the end theme of the show would be used.

Availability: Rare. The logo is seen on Brambly Hedge, Kipper, Archibald the Koala, Ted Sieger's Wildlife, Sheeep, and GoodTimes VHS releases of The Wind in the Willows and The Willows in Winter. Pablo, the Little Red Fox also had this logo, especially when it was shown on Playhouse Disney in the early 2000s in America. It was also used for at least seasons 1-3 of Bob the Builder in the UK. Also spotted on later prints of Basket Fever. Despite being a co-production with the BBC, don't expect this to pop up on the TV movie The Phoenix & the Carpet.

5th Logo (1997-2001)
Nickname: "HiT Globe II", "'90s HiT Globe II", "Spinning HiT", "The Fireworks", "Psychedelic Ribbons"

Logo: On a striped-shiny-blue background we see a yellow /orange gradient ribbon flying around from the right edge of the screen. Then the ribbon makes its way to form the spring (or tunnel) and an explosion occurs. After that we see more colorful ribbons but smaller and some fireworks. Later, the camera moves into the center of tunnel, then the tunnel disappears and from its place comes the globe which is zooming into hole in the HiT logo from the last logo in light blue, which fades in the same time as the globe comes. As it does so, the globe spins. The word "ENTERTAINMENT PLC" is written vertically next to the "T" in white, just like the 2nd and 4th logos until it is over.

Variants:
 * There is a short version which shows only the last part of logo.
 * There is also a middle-length version, which starts in the middle of the logo.
 * Throughout 2003 on DVDs (with the exception of Thomas & Friends DVDs), the same logo is used but a fire can be seen when the explosion occurs, and the white text "ENTERTAINMENT PLC" is replaced with "ENTERTAINMENT", and the globe spins a little faster than normal. The music and sounds in the logo remains unchanged.

FX/SFX: The globe, fireworks, the ribbon, and the small ribbons. CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: For the long version at the beginning is a big whoosh, then a variety of cartoon sound effects are heard whilst the items come out of the ribbon tunnel, then a grand fanfare.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The music was composed by David Lowe, who is best known for producing and arranging the theme tune to BBC News from 1999.

Availability: Pretty common. The long version of the logo is available on most VHS and DVDs by HiT Entertainment, but only in the UK. The short version of the logo was used only on the television series Anthony Ant, while the middle-length version is seen on Bob the Builder kiddie rides with video screens from Jolly Roger. Inexplicably, later 2Entertain-distributed Thomas & Friends DVDs continued to use this logo until their distribution rights expired in 2008, despite the next logo being used all over the packaging. However, the reissues of those releases from HiT themselves plastered that and 2Entertain's logo with the next logo.

Editor's Note : The explosion, slightly jarring appearance, and audio cacophony might have caused a few scares, but this logo is very well done and is a favorite of many.

===6th Logo (January 6, 2001-2007)===