Renaissance Pictures

Background
Renaissance Pictures is the production company founded by film director, Sam Raimi (creator of the controversial Evil Dead series, Darkman, and the first three Spider-Man films). Although the company started up in 1982, Raimi didn't use an animated logo until 1994. Renaissance Pictures' offices have been housed on the Universal Studios backlot since 1987, and most of their productions beginning with Darkman, have been released by Universal.

1st Logo (August 26, 1994)


Nicknames: "The Earth and the Sun", "WHOOOSH!", "1994: A Renaissance Odyssey"

Logo: In space, the words "RENAISSANCE PICTURES" (stacked on top of each other with "PICTURES" in spaced-out letters, in blue) are suspended above the Earth. The sun rises behind the name, as it rotates upwards to face the viewers (like the 1968 MGM film, 2001: A Space Odyssey).

FX/SFX: The sun rising.

Music/Sounds: A high whoosh.

Availability: Very rare. Originally seen on the pilot episode of the M.A.N.T.I.S. series.

Editor's Note: A decent first animated logo, and is less infamous and - fortunately - tamer than the next logo.

2nd Logo (September 2, 1994-April 29, 2018)


Nicknames: "Thunder from Hell", "Bad Weather in the Louvre", "The Hercules and Xena Logo", "The Evil Portrait", "The Personification of Evil", "Ah-Woo-Tee", "Monks of Intimidation"

Logo: We zoom-out on an engraving-like portrait (on what appears to be a piece of aging parchment at first glance) of a man in 16th century dress (though the head is about all that's seen, and it bears a striking resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa). A crack appears on the bottom right, and then the portrait then zooms in toward the viewer, ripping into two pieces in the process. As the ripped portrait's two pieces pull away, some lightning flashes are seen with crashing thunder. When the portrait's sections clear the screen, one more lightning flash occurs--this time revealing the the words "Renaissance" in a strange script typeface known as Pepita, and "PICTURES" below it in spaced-out letters, in the Friz Quadrata typeface (best known for being used in the logos of the original six Fox stations and the Law & Order logo).

Variants:


 * There's an early version of the logo where the crack appears early as the portrait finishes zooming out before it rips into two pieces. This variant only appears on the first two TV movies of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
 * There exists a short version starting with the company name appearing, glowing, and then dimming. This version is only known to exist on one show, American Gothic. Only the sound of thunder is heard.
 * There is another short version that begins with the portrait already still before the crack appears.
 * There is an abridged warp-speed version of the logo that appears on Legend of the Seeker and Ash vs. the Evil Dead. Also, it's enhanced.
 * A still version of this logo exists. The text only appears in this variation.

FX/SFX: The zoom-out, the picture tearing, the striking thunderbolt.

Music/Sounds: A sound bite of a Tibetan chant (described by one of the logo nicknames), a loud ripping noise, and the thunder. Tibetan monks are known for singing in a very low vocal register, which makes this logo very ominous.

Music/Sounds Variants:


 * On M.A.N.T.I.S. and season 2 episodes of Cleopatra 2525, it's the finishing of the closing theme.
 * On Ash vs Evil Dead, only a loud whoosh is heard; it is silent on the portrait zooming out.

Availability: The long version appears on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (including the TV movies) and Xena: Warrior Princess (the former is seen on H&I) while the latter was last seen when the show reran on Oxygen) and also appeared on Darkman II: The Return of Durant, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die, and Hercules and Xena: The Battle for Mount Olympus. The short version with only the text appeared on Chiller's reruns of American Gothic (that show no longer airs on Chiller). The still version appeared on episodes of M.A.N.T.I.S. excluding the pilot episode, which has the previous logo. The short version with the portrait intact has appeared on the short-lived series Jack of All Trades and Cleopatra 2525, as well as Young Hercules (which was last seen when Encore WAM, now Starz Encore Family, reran it). Most recently seen on Ash vs Evil Dead on Starz.

Editor's Note: This logo is pretty intense with the choice of graphics, zooming effects, thunder and lightning and the music choice. It's known to have scared many viewers since it began, especially children. But then again, seeing as this is Sam Raimi's company, it seems to make sense.