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Lyrick Studios/Summary

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Logo descriptions by McDonald's1 & TubaMan2015

Background[]

Lyrick Studios was a children's video production and distributing company, best known for their production and distribution of Wishbone and Barney & Friends. Originally formed in 1988 as The Lyons Group to produce Barney & the Backyard Gang, the company renamed itself to Lyrick Studios in 1994, continuing to produce Barney & Friends as well as Wishbone for PBS Kids in 1995 and striking distribution deals to release VeggieTales and The Wiggles episodes on home video. On Feburary 9, 2001, HiT Entertainment acquired Lyrick Studios for $275 million, and folded the company later that year on August 24. The Lyrick name would continue to be used in-name only as the official IP holder of Barney & Friends until 2010.

HiT kept Lyrick's Allen office in Texas open for production of Barney & Friends, but after arguments from PolyGram over Barney's Great Adventure being released theatrically instead of direct-to-video (and thus PolyGram claiming the film to not be part of their picture deal), they released nothing for the rest of their existence. Today, most of Lyrick Studios' properties belong to Mattel Television via their acquisition of HiT Entertainment in 2012. VeggieTales is now distributed by NBCUniversal on behalf of DreamWorks Animation.

1st Logo (1996-1998; 2000)[]

Logo: On a white background, six letters zoom out to the center of the screen, in 30 degrees. The letters then separate themselves, revealing the word "Lyrick" in a font with colors at the overlapping parts (blue, yellow, red, green, purple, and orange). After the letters have settled, a light blue dot flies out and dots the "I", and the word "S T U D I O S", with a line above it, wipes itself in on the bottom right of it. The trademark symbol also fades in at the top right of the finished product.

Variants:

  • On some tapes, "Distributed by" wipes in above the logo as the letters zoom out.
    • There's also a still version.
  • There is a rare early variant where the logo is taller and skinnier, it doesn't have the shadow effect, "Studios" is in a different font, the words "Distributed by" are yellow and there is a bigger space between "Distributed by" and "Lyrick Studios". It is also still.
    • There is also a version without "Distributed by", which is seen at the end of tapes. This can be seen on Joe Scruggs: "Live from Deep in the Jungle" and "Joe TV", the first two Francesco's Friendly World tapes, "Barney's Musical Scrapbook", and some others.
    • There is another early variant where the logo is zoomed closer to the screen and "Distributed by" is yellow. This can only be seen on The Faithful Revolution: Vatican II. Again, the version without "Distributed by" can be seen at the end of the tape.

FX/SFX: The zoom-out of the six letters, the "dot-the-I" sequence, the wipe-in of "S T U D I O S" and it's line, and then the fade-in of the trademark symbol. The "Distributed by" version consists of a barn door wipe-in of the text above the logo. None for the still variants.

Music/Sounds: An arpeggiating electronic keyboard is heard throughout the logo, with three low-toned synth violin notes as the "dot-the-I" sequence plays, followed by a twinkling sound and synthesized violin stinger. This theme was composed in C major by Bob Singleton.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • The normal "Distributed by" variant features only 2 low toned notes for the "dot-the-I" sequence. Also, sparkling chimes can be heard when the "Distributed by" and "STUDIOS" text appear and during the "dot-the-I" sequence. The tune ends on 2 piano notes and a slightly different stinger. In few cases, like the screener VHS of Barney: It's Time for Counting!, it uses the standard music.
  • On the 1998 VHS release of Barney & Friends: Down on Barney's Farm, the "Distributed by" music is used on the normal version of the logo, but the sparkling chimes are only heard once, since the words "Distributed by" aren't there.
  • For the still variants, none at all.

Availability: Rare.

  • This logo was only used for a few years, and was limited to tapes of Barney & Friends, VeggieTales, Wishbone, Kids for Character, Francesco's Friendly World, and Joe Scruggs. Most of these videos from this time period are long out of print and hard to find; the latter three properties are quite obscure, for all of their Lyrick releases were released throughout 1997. However, Barney & Friends titles are the least scarce of the the bunch, so they're your best bet to find this logo.
  • It is also found on Lyrick's only non-children's release, The Faithful Revolution: Vatican II, which uses one of the early variants.
  • The later still version made surprise reappearances on the 2000 releases of the first five VeggieTales shows, which were reprints.

Editor's Note: It has its fans, though it's not as popular or memorable as the next one below...

2nd Logo (March 27, 1998-August 24, 2001)[]

Logo: On a lake in the middle of a forest at twilight, a silhouette of a duck is seen swimming from right to left on the bottom of the screen. Once it is far enough to the left, the camera begins to pan upward into the starry night sky. A child's hand touches the sky with their index finger, causing ripples to appear. As the ripples fade away, the logo (in the same font as before, but with bolder letters) slowly zooms in and settles in the middle of the screen. The logo shines as "S T U D I O S" alongside a trademark symbol fade in.

Variants:

  • A prototype filmed variant exists on Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie. Here, there are fewer stars in the night sky, a redder sunset, the forest design is different, there is a longer pan up into the night sky, and the logo is slightly offset to the left. The aspect ratio of the film cuts off the red sleeve on the child's arm from view, though it still appears on full screen DVD prints.
  • Some VeggieTales tapes have the words "Distributed by" in a white and bold Arial Black font on a black background before the logo fades in. This is regularly seen on the openings and closings to the tapes.
    • A rare subvariant instead has the camera panning slightly upward to make room for "Distributed by" in italics, which fade in above the logo while it is finishing its animation.
    • An extremely rare subvariant exists that has the "Distributed by" text in a smaller Arial font on the black background. This appeared on an alternate print of The Wiggles: "Yummy Yummy" and "Wiggle Time", and the Blockbuster Exclusive VHS of "Meet The Wiggles". Proof can be seen here.
  • A shortened version, which starts at the child's hand entering the screen. This only appeared on the screener VHS of The Wiggles: Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas.
    • A still version also exists.

FX/SFX: The duck swimming, the panning, the child's arm touching the sky, the ripples creating the logo. A live-action and CGI animation hybrid.

Music/Sounds: A beautiful dramatic tune, which is accompanied by the sounds of the duck crowing. It is calm as the silhouette of the duckling swims by, but then gets louder as the camera starts panning upward. A crash cymbal is heard when the child's hand touches the sky. After that, the rest of the logo is fixed at the loudest volume that is reached.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • On some releases, the sound of the duck crowing is replaced with that of a dog barking.
  • On Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie, the cymbal crash comes a little late due to the timing of the finger touching the sky being different.
  • Like the previous logo, there is no music at all for the still variant.
  • The short version has the fanfare shortened to the point when the child's hand touches the sky.

Availability: More common than the previous logo. Seen on most of the company's releases.

  • It debuted on Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie (its only theatrical appearance) and ended with The Wiggles: Wiggly Play Time.
  • It can be found on most VeggieTales and Barney & Friends tapes released during the period, as well as most of their releases of The Wiggles, Bob the Builder, and Kipper.
  • Also seen on all post-1997 Wishbone titles, when Lyrick Studios took over distribution from PolyGram Video.
  • The logo also appears on some early DVDs as well such as More Barney Songs and the Mexican Spanish dub of Barney's Good Day Good Night.
  • The still version would begin to make more appearances on VHS around 2000 until the company's closure.
  • It is still preserved on current prints of Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie alongside the PolyGram logo, with both usually being preceded by the 1997 Universal logo.

Editor's Note: Its beautiful soundtrack and scenery make this a very well-liked logo (even more than the previous logo) to people who grew up with their shows.

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