StudioCanal (France)

Logo descriptions by Yomoneyboat and Livin'

Editions by carlosgamingboy
Logo captures by grf450, WizardDuck, AllisonSNLKid, VerticalHold09, LogosForTheWin, SomerHimpson, and Ryan Holman

Background: StudioCanal is one of the largest movie distributors in the world. They own the third largest film library in the world behind Warner Bros. and MGM.

1st Logo
(March 20, 1992-March 9, 1994)

Logo: Inserted into the end credits of a film (instituating that it's a print logo), we see "LE STUDIO" in a large font. Inside it is the Canal+ logo, which is basically the name of the network in an italic form. The plus sign is inside the "O" of "STUDIO".

Variants:

The logo is often seen inside a white rectangle with "LE STUDIO" in grey and "CANAL+" in black. An animated variant starts with the rectangle fading in, then 3 copies of "LE STUDIO" in pink, blue, and yellow flying into the rectangle, then combining and turning grey. "CANAL+" then fades in. Then the logo fades out and "PRESENTE" in white fades in.
On Chaplin, the logo is seen with the Carolco logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Appears on Basic Instinct, The City of Fear, and Chaplin.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo

(1996-1999)

Logo: Same as the Canal+ Video logo (which is based off the Canal+ feature presentation ident of the time), but the Canal+ logo is replaced with a black bar. At the end, the words "LE STUDIO" and "CANAL+" are seen in the center, with "LE STUDIO" moved to the left. The square is to the left of "CANAL+".

FX/SFX: Same as the Canal+ Video logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Canal+ Video logo.

Availability: Extremely rare. Was spotted on a 1999 French VHS of Scream 2.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo
(April 21, 2000)

Nickname: "Sliding Doors"

Logo: On a black background, we see two connected rectangles, one gray, the other light blue, both sliding from the center of the screen like a mirror image.The gray rectangle reads "STUDIO" and the blue reads "CANAL", both texts are in white. The logo and font look similar to the one used for its parent company Canal+.

FX/SFX: The rectangles sliding in; very simple animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Was only seen on U-571.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo
(September 28, 2000-September 10, 2002)

Warning: Do not watch the video if you are prone to epilepsy.

Nicknames: "Tribal Visions", "Acid Trip", "HYYYYD-BA!!!"

Logo: A comet flies across a very dark blue sky, with a few intermittent stars. As the comet passes over the screen, small stars start to flash and random numbers begin to appear at the place of the flashes. A lightning bolt strikes from the right side of the screen into the middle of the screen. The numbers disappear and a circular burst of "rain" appears. Large white circles of varying sizes pop up over the screen and disappear almost instantaneously. Another lightning bolt hits. The source of the "rain" switches to the right side of the screen. The rain stops and white lines begin to appear all over the screen (once again disappearing instantly) as the letters for "STUDIO CANAL" appear haphazardly across the screen. A shooting star and a lightning bolt appear at the same time. Rain starts coming from all sides of the screen, as well as small white circles floating upwards. Sparkles of light encompass the screen, culminating in a white flash. The same logo from the previous logo, only the box for "STUDIO" is black, appears, surrounded by light streaks. Finally the text "A CANAL+ COMPANY" appears on the bottom right of "CANAL".

FX/SFX: The whole logo seems like it's trying too hard, but it's otherwise a feast for the eyes. Also, most of the logo has nothing to do with the formation of the logo, and can cause seizures.

Music/Sounds: First, a zap sound is heard when the comet flies by, then a tribal hymn heavy on thunderous percussion, with a singing lady marking the appearance of the company name, and a strange primal scream at the white flash. A brief bongo tap is also heard to mark the appearance of "A CANAL+ COMPANY".

Music/Sounds Variant: The 2002 Anchor Bay DVD ofHighlanderuses this logo, but on the audio commentary track, you can faintly hear the jingle of Lumiere Pictures' 2nd logo as this logo plays. This is because the commentary was taken fromthe 1996 Republic LaserDisc of the movie.

Availability: Uncommon. Not many films used this logo, but it's still not too hard to find. Appears on films like Billy Elliot (US release), Stargate, Bridget Jones's Diary and 40 Days and 40 Nights. Also appears on most international television and DVD prints of Avco Embassy (except the TV rights belongs to Sony), Lumiere, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Thorn-EMI Screen Entertainment, Carolco, De Laurentiis, Zoetrope Studios (or to be more obvious, Francis Ford Coppola-produced), Touchstone Pictures, and Nelson Entertainment films, such as HDNet Movies' prints of Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Claw. Basically, it appears on DVD prints of the company library from this era through licensed distributors (such as Anchor Bay Entertainment), such as The Criterion Collection's Day of the Dolphin. Was also seen on the 2001 French VHS of Traffic as a de-facto home video logo. This also appears on Paramount/Trifecta syndicated prints of Narrow Margin, before the Tristar and Carolco logos.

Editor's Note: Thanks to the unexpected sound effects, startling visuals, and the very bizarre nature of this logo overall, this logo can make some uncomfortable, but it's a logo that grows on you. It might also annoy some people due to it plastering old logos. If you are new to StudioCanal, you wouldn't be expecting this logo, despite the title.

5th Logo
(March 27, 2003-July 1, 2011)

Nicknames: "The Flight", "StudioCanal in the Clouds"

Logo: A VHS-sized rectangle with an image of clouds inside appears in the center of a black background, and grows so that it takes up the whole screen. The camera flies through the clouds, and, after a few seconds, the StudioCanal logo appears, and the surrounding area fades to black.

Variants:

There is a black and white version to fit with such films of this type. Found on recent prints of The Farmer's Wife and The Elephant Man (sans Encore's prints), as well as other old black-and-white films (most commonly in French New Wave films).

The shorter version starts in the clouds. Found on Inland Empire and the Canadian & US releases ofFranklin and the Turtle Lake Adventure.

FX/SFX: The CGI clouds. Not as busy as its predecessor.

Music/Sounds: Faint unintelligible whispers, followed by a whimsical-sounding fanfare, the widgets cranking, accompanied by various sound effects (e.g. a camera lens adjusting, wooden creaks and bird chirps). Sometimes it's silent, or the opening theme of the film plays.

Availability: Common, given its longevity of eight whole years. Appears on films like Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Babies, Thunderbirds, and Genesis, among others. Like the previous logo, it also appears on television and DVD prints of films from the previously mentioned companies' libraries. It plasters the TriStar and Carolco logos on the Blu-ray release of Angel Heart.

Editor's Note: It's not as strange as the last logo, but the odd fanfare may get to some. Like the previous logo, it plastering old logos may annoy some.

6th Logo
(September 5, 2011- )

Nickname: "The Glass"

Logo: In a live-action black environment, we see several revolving rectangular glass panels, with brightly-colored lights shining through it. There are reflections of StudioCanal's new logo ("STUDIOCANAL" in Futura MD BT, all upright and with the "O" and "C" connected together, inside a black rectangle with the top-left and bottom-right corners rounded off; it is also rendered with the rectangle being white and the name being the same colors as the glass). They rotate like a revolving door to form the studio's name, upon the formation of which the rectangle fades in behind it and the lights continue to appear behind it.

Trivia: The logo was done by <a class="external" href="http://www.devilfishcreative.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Devilfish</a>, the glass is all live-action and was installed specially for the logo.

Variants:

A print version of the logo exists.
A B&W version exists.
A short version exists for TV shows.

FX/SFX: The glass and studio logo forming, a very unique and excellent design.

Music/Sounds: A strings, woodwind, and mallets-laden composition by Alexandre Desplat, somewhat reminiscent of his score from Girl with a Pearl Earring. On The Fives it's silent.

Music/Sounds Variants:

A Portuguese print of Total Recall has the music from the previous logo due to sloppy plastering.
On the recent releases of Jean-Luc Goddard's A Woman is a Woman as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club, there is the addition of a guitar being played in the composition.

Availability: Current. Seen on new releases from the studio such as Cockneys vs. Zombies and Rust and Bone. It is also used as a de-facto home video logo, and appears on many current prints of older titles, for instance, streaming copies of Escape from New York and Carnal Knowledge on Vudu. Can be seen on TV in America on some shows. Also, It could be seen on movies like The Wild Life, and Thunder and the House of Magic. It's on the beginning of every episode of both Wanted: Dead or Alive and The Big Valley on Starz Encore Westerns, but does not appear on Me-TV's airings of the aforementioned show. It also appears at the start of the 3D version of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and also new prints of First Blood since 2018, when a 4K restoration from the original negative was released on Blu-ray and 4K UHD.

Editor's Note: This is a very neat logo, possibly one of the best logos ever made.

StudioCanal (France)

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