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Universal Animation Studios/Summary

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Background: Universal Animation Studios is the animation production arm of Universal Studios established on May 27, 1991 as "Universal Cartoon Studios" and as a division of Universal Family Entertainment. In 2006, it was renamed to its current moniker.

Universal Cartoon Studios[]

1st Logo (September 14, 1991-March 21, 2006)[]

Nicknames: "Jetty the Weak Jet Plane", "90's Globe", "MCA Globe"

Logo: We see the modified version of the 1990-1997 Universal Pictures logo playing as normal, but without "UNIVERSAL" coming from behind and encircling the globe. While the globe zooms out and moves into its center position, Jetty "The Weak Jet Plane" (a yellow orange airplane with red face and light blue wheels) appears from behind the globe and flies around it and turning through with his tongue sticking out, leaving a trail of smoke which turns into "UNIVERSAL", in its similar corporate font from the normal 1990-1997 Universal logo with its gradient texture on it and is stretched up vertically (with the "R" backwards, reading "UNIVEЯSAL"). Then the plane enters the bottom of the globe and flies through it, but doesn't turn this time leaving another trail of smoke, which also turns into "CARTOON STUDIOS" in rainbow colors and in an Ashley Crawford (Mickey Mouse-like) font. As the globe and the words are in position, the plane comes into the middle of the globe and shockingly stops. Then he takes a few steps back and realizes the "R" in "UNIVERSAL" is backwards, and giggles for a bit (The first "S" in "STUDIOS" turn purple as he does), and flips it around, causing it to spin briefly and making it in the correct way. Then he floats and looks at the audience and happily looks at the "R" before he floats down, then he looks at us again.

Trivia: The print artwork logo (seen on Opus 'n Bill in A Wish for Wings That Work and on covers of VHS and DVD releases) was designed & illustrated by Eric Semones and the animation of the biplane & the company's name (used over the footage of the globe from the 1990 Universal logo) were done by Spaff Animation Incorporated. The part where Jetty flies through the globe making the trail of smoke, which turns into the words was the throwback to the 1923 & 1927 Universal logos.

Variants:

  • There is a variant where the animation of the plane and the text are shifted up a little and has the white emboss sharp-like effect on it.
    • On direct-to-video movies including The Land Before Time sequels (with the exception of The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock, which uses the 2nd logo instead (although the print version of the logo is used on the cover) and The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water, which uses the standard version of the logo and cuts to black), it fades out early when Jetty looks at the "R" before he floats down.
    • That variant was also used on a few shows like Wing Commander Academy, The New Woody Woodpecker Show (some episodes use the standard version), and season 2 of Savage Dragon.
  • There is a prototype variant of the first variant where the globe and the starfield are a bit darker. That variant was seen on Back to the Future - The Animated Series and Fievel's American Tails.
    • Sometimes on the latter, "CARTOON STUDIOS" are stretched horizontally a little.
  • There is a videotaped version of the first variant where the logo has a better quality look and is a bit darker. That was seen on HBO prints and currently seen on iTunes & Netflix prints of The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island. It's also currently seen on Netflix prints of The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure and The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving as well.
  • There is a short version of the logo that begins with Jetty realizing the "R" in "UNIVERSAL" is backwards.
    • Sometimes, it begins with Jetty coming in the center and stops or Jetty is giggling.
      • On Vor-Tech: Undercover Conversion Squad, it is extremely shortened which it only shows Jetty flipping the "R".
  • On DVD versions of its movies, when Jetty giggles the first "S" in "STUDIOS" doesn't turn purple.
  • On The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, The Land Before Time XI: The Invasion of the Tinysauruses, and The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, the first variant of the logo looks a bit darker. Also, it's a bit enhanced.
  • On Back to the Future - The Animated Series, the prototype variant of the logo is shown in the top left corner along with the 1991 Amblin Television logo on the top right, the Zaloom/Mayfield Productions logo on the bottom left, and BIG Pictures logo on the bottom right and it begins with the part where Jetty flies around the globe on the bottom and ends at the part where Jetty giggles.
  • On Fievel's American Tails, the prototype variant of the logo is shown in the bottom middle corner along with the 1991 Amblin Television logo on the top left and the 1985 long version of Nelvana Limited logo on the top right and it starts and ends at the same points as the BTTF variant.
    • On later episodes starting with "The Legend of Mouse Hollow", the animation stops when Jetty is taking a few steps back as he's about to look at the "R", leaving the animations for Amblin Television & Nelvana logos to finish.
  • There is a still version of the standard logo that appears on Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories and the first four episodes of Monster Force.
  • On the sixth episode of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, the standard version of the logo was seen on the right while The Harvey Entertainment Company logo was on the left.
    • This variant was plastered by the HarveyToons logo with the said company's disclaimer underneath on the DVD release.
  • There is a still artwork version of the logo that appears on the right along with the print Amblin Television logo on Opus 'n Bill in A Wish for Wings That Work. The word "UNIVERSAL" is stretched a bit farther and "CARTOON STUDIOS" is straight and all have a yellow gradient color and there's a bit of smoke behind Jetty. It was also a print logo that was used on covers of VHS and DVD releases.
  • Usually, on Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein it has the first variant playing. But, on TV airings it was speed-up.

FX/SFX: The animation of the biplane and the text over the rotating model globe.

Music/Sounds: A classic orchestrated-type, whimsical fanfare which sounds almost similar to the main title theme from E.T. that later takes a comical tone when the plane appears. While it first appeared on We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, this wasn't officially heard on this logo until December 1994 with the release of The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The logo theme was composed by Michael Tavera, who also composed the music for direct-to-video sequels to The Land Before Time. The logo music was also used in the Kids' WB! series ¡Mucha Lucha! episode "All Creatures Masked and Small", where Rikochet explains the truth about fleas. Coincidentally, the first two seasons of ¡Mucha Lucha! featured music made by Michael Tavera, who also created music for the aforementioned direct-to-video sequels to The Land Before Time. Tavera had also created music for shows like Time Squad and The Secret Saturdays on Cartoon Network, as well as various Disney cartoons, such as House of Mouse, Lilo & Stitch: the Series, The Emperor's New School, and Yin Yang Yo!.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • An alternate version where the music was re-orchestrated and the sound effects were added (the buzzing when Jetty flies around the globe, the tires squealing when Jetty stops, a chipmunk laugh when he giggles, and the higher wobbly sound when the "R" spins). This version was debuted in December 1995 with The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving.
  • On the DVD version of The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists, the alternate fanfare is remixed with the sounds intact.
  • On Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein and The Land Before Time: More Sing-Along Songs, the alternate music is a bit out-of-sync.
    • On the speed-up version (Former only on TV airings), it has the closing credits song playing over it before fading out early.
  • Sometimes, the show's ending theme plays over or ends over it.
  • On sixth episode of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, The Harvey Entertainment Company logo's music variant is used.

Availability: Common.

  • It appears on most sequels of The Land Before Time franchise starting with The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure and ending with The Land Before Time XI: The Invasion of the Tinysauruses.
  • After the 1997 Universal logo was introduced, the logo then appeared at the end of the movies starting with The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island. The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock has the 2nd logo instead (see below).
  • It also appears at the end of the Balto sequels (Wolf Quest and Wings of Change), Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein, and Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman, among others.
  • From 1998-99 and 2003-04, it was used in tandem with the 2nd logo.
  • The short version appeared at the end of animated shows like Problem Child, Exosquad, The New Woody Woodpecker Show (where it appeared before the credits to fit in with Fox Kids' credit squeezing), Wing Commander Academy, Earthworm Jim (TV series), Beethoven: The Animated Series, Monster Force, Savage Dragon, and the first six episodes of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper. However, it is intact on the first episode on the VHS and DVD releases of said show.
  • It also appears on international releases of Charlotte's Web 2 - Wilbur's Great Adventure. DVD releases and digital video prints of some shows, like Exosquad, have the logo intact.
  • The last movie to use the logo was The Adventures of Brer Rabbit (although it has the print version of the Universal Animation Studios logo on the cover).

2nd Logo (January 6, 1997-December 9, 1999, June 4, 2003-August 6, 2004)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Globe", "2000s Globe"

Logo: Same as the 1997 Universal Television logo, but the text "UNIVERSAL CARTOON STUDIOS" fades in below.

Variants:

  • Sometimes, the logo doesn't feature the text underneath the globe. Plus, the logo fades in and out.
  • Like in the movie and TV logos, a small copyright appears at the bottom-right until 1999.
  • On the Fractured Fairy Tales short, "The Phox, The Box, and the Lox" and Boo!, it's the last few seconds of the theatrical logo.

FX/SFX/Music/Sounds: Same as the 1997 Universal Television logo.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the theatrical variant, it is silent.

Availability: Rare. Appears on The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock, An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island, and Hercules and Xena: The Battle For Mount Olympus (although the print version of the previous logo was on the cover art except for the DVD of An American Tail - The Treasure of Manhattan Island). The version without the text appears on An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. The version with the website URL also appeared on the first 26 episodes of the American version of Boo! on Qubo and The Mummy: The Animated Series after the Studios USA logo.


Universal Animation Studios[]

(February 10, 2006- )

Nicknames: "Cartoon Globe", "CGI Globe II", "CGI Cartoon Globe", "CGI Morphing Globe", "2000s Globe II", "UAS Globe"

Logo: We first see a more animated version of the "UNIVERSAL" text revolving around the earth as it appears from the blackness to view from the left side (unlike the right side in the movie counterpart's logo) causing the globe to shine and the glow to appear behind it. The text shines once while it revolves. However, it continues to revolve after the fanfare is over, and the globe and the text gets squeezed so tight, that the glow behind the globe disappears and the "UNIVERSAL" text spins around the earth really, really fast. When it stops spinning, the globe is animated and colored even more vividly and the "UNIVERSAL" text is now white with an orange border. Then, "ANIMATION STUDIOS", in orange, appears traveling from behind the globe letter-by-letter, making a stop under the logo and then a comet appears from the top-right side, and flies around the earth causing the glow to appear again behind the globe. The globe shines.

Trivia: This logo was made by Riverstreet Productions and animated by Blur Studio.

Variants:

  • When the logo debuted at the end of the "Flip, Flap and Fly" music video for The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, as well as The Land Before Time, it is shortened beginning with the comet FX.
  • On the Curious George TV series, it is the still colored print logo on the black background.

FX/SFX: Flash/CG animation.

Music/Sounds: At the start, it has the second half of the 1997 Universal Pictures logo theme, then some squeezing sounds, when the globe becomes animated, there are an off-key trumpet note, a 4-note synth tune (with "wah" effect), and a majestic bell tune with a big whoosh noise as a comet flies by.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • The short version have the following:
    • The shortened version of the logo's music.
    • The closing theme ending over it accompanied by the custom sound effect.
  • On Curious George, we hear George chattering at the end after the music finishes.
  • The still print version have the coding theme ending over it, or in some cases the ending of the instrumental version of the show's theme song plays over it.
  • On The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, it has the instrumental version of "Flip, Flap and Fly" ending over it accompanied by the sound effects.

Availability: Common. It first appeared at the end of Curious George. It also appears at the end of The Land Before Time sequels since 2006 starting with The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers. It has also appeared on the Curious George movie sequels.

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