Mainframe Studios

Background
Mainframe Studios (formerly known as Rainmaker Entertainment from 2007-2020) is a Canadian computer animation and design company founded in 1991, with headquarters in Vancouver and Los Angeles. They are best known for producing the first ever half-hour CGI animated TV series ReBoot, as well as the acclaimed Transformers spin-off Beast Wars. Since 2001, they have also produced most of the Barbie film series for Mattel. In September 2003, Digital Program Solutions (DPS), a division of IDT Corporation, acquired a stake in Mainframe Entertainment, which made the studio a subsidiary of IDT Entertainment. On August 31, 2006, IDT Corp. sold IDT Entertainment to Liberty Media and it was renamed to Starz Media (now Starz Distribution). On July 31, 2006, RNK Capital Limited Partnership, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rainmaker Income Fund, acquired 62% of Mainframe from Starz with Rainmaker acquiring 38%. A month later, RNK and Rainmaker Income Fund announced a merger, with RNK acquiring the remaining 38% of Mainframe, and by February 2007 they were renamed to Rainmaker Entertainment. The Mainframe label was later revived in 2014 as Rainmaker's television division. On October 26, 2016, Rainmaker acquired Burbank-based animation studio Frederator Studios, with both companies becoming part of their new holding company, known as WOW! Unlimited Media Inc. In March 2020, the Mainframe name was fully reinstated, replacing Rainmaker in the process.

1st Logo (September 16, 1996-March 13, 1998)
Nickname: "The Cursive M"

Logo: On a black background, with a yellow ball of light at the top-right corner, we see a brown board and a silver plate (which is tilted on its side) turning clockwise to face us. Just as it begins to turn, the light ball swoops down from the top-right corner, carving the board with a cursive black "M", while the word "MAINFRAME" softly lands letter-by-letter on the board, followed by the small words "ENTERTAINMENT INC. ©" in the same fashion. The result reads "MAINFRAME ENTERTAINMENT INC. ©", with "MAIN" and "FRAME" forming a 90 degree angle right with each other, and "ENTERTAINMENT INC. ©" below a silver line. The light ball swoops to the right, causing the logo to shine slowly.

Variant: Sometimes, the logo is still.

FX/SFX: All CGI which was quite ahead of its time and still holds up today.

Music/Sounds: An intense synth percussion tune composed by Robert "Bob" Buckley, which is accompanied by whooshes.

Availability: Rare. Seen on the first two seasons of Beast Wars: Transformers and season 3 of ReBoot on Teletoon Retro and on DVD.

Editor's Note: Despite having really great effects, the whole thing looks like it was done using Softimage in 30 minutes.

2nd Logo (September 16, 1998-May 9, 2006)
Nickname: "Mainframe in Space"

Logo: On a space background that slowly pans to the left, we see the words "MAINFRAME ENTERTAINMENT INC.".

Bylines:
 * 2003-2006: "AN IDT ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
 * 1998-2003, 2006: Bylineless. This was also used under the Starz Media era for a short time.

Variants:
 * On Scary Godmother, ghosts swipe in to form the title of the film.
 * Sometimes, there is no text at all.
 * An opening variant exists where the text "A MAINFRAME ENTERTAINMENT INC. PRODUCTION" is seen in the background. This variant appears at the beginning of Mainframe's movies.
 * Sometimes, the website address (www.mainframe.ca) is seen below the text.
 * A longer version also exists. We start off with a white screen fading in, which quickly fades to the logo, with a translucent shadow of the name zooming out.
 * A medium-length variant also exists where we start off with the name's shadow zooming out as we fade to the logo.
 * Sometimes, the background is just plain black. This variant can be found on season 2 episodes of Beast Wars: Transformers.

FX/SFX: The background panning, the company name fading in.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening/closing theme.

Availability: Common. Seen on the two Scary Godmother TV movies, Shadow Raiders, Weird-Oh's, season 4 of ReBoot, season 2 of Max Steel, Action Man, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, Hot Wheels World Race, the final season of Beast Wars: Transformers, and some of the Barbie films.

3rd Logo (September 1, 2015-September 7, 2017)
Logo: On a white background, we see the word "MAINFRAME" in a similar font to the previous logo in black. Under that, we see "A DIVISION OF RAINMAKER ENTERTAINMENT INC." in black.

Variant: Sometimes, the logo is in-credit.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: It was only seen on Bob the Builder (2015 reboot).

4th Logo (March 30, 2018-)
Nickname: "The Return of Mainframe" Logo: Same as the 3rd Rainmaker logo, except "MAINFRAME" replaces "RAinmAkER" and their swirly hand logo (both in their respective fonts).

FX/SFX: Same as the 3rd Rainmaker logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 3rd Rainmaker logo.

Availability: Brand new. Debuted on ReBoot: The Guardian Code, and is expected to be seen on future shows from Mainframe.

1st Logo (March 13, 2007-March 16, 2020)
Nicknames: "Swirly", "Swirly Hand"

Logo: On a black background, a shining gold swirl is drawn by itself before zooming out. As it does, a border is formed in the same color, revealing it to be an outline of a hand. Then a huge flash occurs, causing the swirl to change into teal and the hand into white, while also creating a background at the bottom of the hand in the same color as the swirl. "RAinmAkER" in a crunchy scope font appears below in white. After the flash ceases, the byline "WHERE WORLDS ARE CREATED" flashes in matching the color of the swirl and background.

Variant: On some Barbie films, the logo is in-credit, still, and sometimes a different color. The byline "WHERE WORLDS ARE CREATED" is also sometimes absent.

FX/SFX: The swirl and hand forming, the zooming out, the full logo flashing in, and the byline appearing.

Music/Sounds: A synth note the swirl makes when being formed, a flute piece accompanied with sticks, a quiet flash, and a drum piece when the byline appears.

Availability: Seen on post-2007 DVD releases from Rainmaker, such as ReBoot. The in-credit version appears on a number of Barbie movies.

2nd Logo (February 15, 2013-January 31, 2017)
Nicknames: "Swirly II", "Swirly Hand II", "Ting"

Logo: On a space background, there is a twinkling star that starts to fly, which actually turns out to be Ting (the mascot of Rainmaker), who projects the glowing logo from his body. He then pops out behind the logo, waves and flies away to the left.

Variant: On Barbie and the Secret Door, the logo is still.

FX/SFX: Really nice and fluid CGI animation done in-house.

Music/Sounds: Some twinkling and buzzing sounds.

Availability: This logo is seen on Rainmaker's feature-length films, such as Escape from Planet Earth, Ratchet & Clank, and Barbie and the Secret Door.

3rd Logo (September 17, 2017-March 16, 2020)
Nicknames: "Swirly III", Swirly Hand III"

Logo: On a white-aquamarine gradient floor, we pan as the 3-D swirly hand logo and the company name "RAinmAkER" (with "STUDIOS" below) push up releasing their shadows. After moving up with everything right-side up, we zoom away from it. The byline "A DIVISION OF WOW! UNLIMITED MEDIA" is seen below the logo.

FX/SFX: A 3D pushup from the gradient background with a little bit of teal on the bottom of the screen shading at the end.

Music/Sounds: Heavy echoing clings. Sometimes, it's the closing theme, or silence.

Availability: No longer current. It was used in tandem with the 4th Mainframe logo. Also seen on Barbie: Dolphin Magic.