Madman Entertainment

Background
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company which specializes in distributing films (primarily anime, manga, and Australian productions) as well as distributing Cartoon Network material around Australia and New Zealand. It's one of the biggest distribution companies in the region.

1st Logo (1996-2000)
Nickname: "Madman Shield"

Logo: A silver shield with the letters "MM" on it appears and flickers slightly. Then a bolt of lightning flies in from the left of screen, colliding with the shield. This leads to a bright flash, after which the interior of the shield has become red and the lightning bolt has become part of the shield. The words "Madman Entertainment" fade in below.

FX/SFX: The shield flickering, the lightning bold flying in and the bright flash, relatively simple 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: Electricity sounds as the shield flickers at the start, then a bang sound as the bolt of lightning collides with the shield.

Availability: Presumably seen on Madman releases from the time period.

2nd Logo (2000-2006)
Nickname: "That Guy in the Straitjacket"

Logo: On a black background, a red circle with a thin black border and a thick white border, depicts depicts an evil-looking man in a straitjacket with the buckle undone. "MADMAN" in a shaky font is shown below with "ENTERTAINMENT" underneath.

Variants:
 * Releases of some movies, would have a variant with a blue circle and "FILMS" replacing "ENTERTAINMENT".
 * Another variant, has CINEMA instead. This can be found at the start of the DVD release of Bowling for Columbine.

FX/SFX: None, except for the fading in and out.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Can be seen on Australian DVD releases of Tintin (1990s cartoon). Presumably seen on other Madman releases from the time, with the European and Australian 2006 DVD of Street Fighter II: Movie being one example with this logo. The blue circle variant, can be found on theatre screenings and airings of some distributed movies on SBS, and the DVD release of Ten Canoes.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (2006-)
Nicknames: "Magic Act", "That Guy in the Straitjacket II"

Logo: On a black background, a hand smashes a pie plate against it, leaving behind frosting forming part of the Madman logo, which depicts a person grinning evilly in a straitjacket. A red cape is then thrown over the frosting, and it gets pulled away to reveal flames that form the straitjacket logo. Then, a hand comes in and snaps, turning the logo solid white on a shiny red circle. "MADMAN" appears below in a jagged Arial font before the entire thing disappears in a puff of purple/pink smoke.

Variants:
 * The logo can be still on some trailers, with the name written to the right.
 * The short version has the logo formed and the last seconds playing.

FX/SFX: Various effects combined with live-action.

Music/Sounds: A drumroll is heard before an audience laughs. The audience is heard screaming as the Madman logo is formed in the flames. Finally, we hear the hand's fingers click as we hear applause, then a smoke sound.

Availability: Almost no chance outside the corresponding market, but appears on many DVDs in Australia. Some DVD releases that have the long version of the logo are Tales of the Riverbank, and Tamagotchi: The Movie. The short version appears on some DVDs such as on the Australian 2014 DVD of Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife: Series 1. The still version is used on Australian trailers. A notable release with this logo is Animal Kingdom. This logo makes a surprising appearance on the British Blu-Ray Disc of Ponyo if you select the “Australia/New Zealand” button on the menu. It could possibly be the fact that Optimum Releasing use the Australian masters for most Studio Ghibli films. This also makes a surprise appearance on US Netflix prints of Ouran High School Host Club and Fairy Tail.

Editor's Note: None.