Mongolkino

Background
Mongolkino (Mongolian: Монголкино) is the national film production studio in the landlocked country Mongolia, located in its capital city Ulaanbaatar. It was founded in 1935 as the Ulaanbaatar Film Studio to produce its documentaries and newsreels, but its current name is adopted in the early 1950's. Until early 2000's, it was one of the most active film production companies of Mongolia, but the production declined when the Mongolian People's Republic is collapsed in 1992, with new film studios (Khangard and Batkhaan) started producing its own films. Mongolkino's best known feature films are Sukhbaatar, Tsogt Taij, the Magnai trilogy, two-part epics Khatanbaatar and Queen Mandukhai the Wise, and finally the three-part epic Eternal Power of the Sky. In 2010's, Mongolkino started archiving its own films until 2000's The Final Empress of the King ("Хааны сүүлчийн хатан"), which was the last Mongolian film to utilitize its black and white film print.

1st Logo (December 29, 1954?-May 11, 1957?)


Logo: On a sepia moving stripes background, we see the painting of Damdin Sükhbaatar and his horse with the flag reading the Mongolian Cyrillic text "МОНГОЛ". Below the painting, we see the banner with the Cyrillic "КИНО" on it.

Technique: The background moving.

Music/Sounds: A Mongolian orchestral fanfare made with trumpets and drumrolls, which segues to the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Rare. It was appeared on Who's Gonna Stop Us? ("Бидэнд юу саад болж байна?"). It may have been appeared on older prints of The New Year ("Шинэ жил") and Awakening ("Сэрэлт").

2nd Logo (November 4, 1960)


Logo: On a lotus-shaped moving sunray background, we see a statue representing Damdin Sükhbaatar with his horse on the rocks and a traditional Mongolian text within the statue. Below the statue, we see the Mongolian Cyrillic text "Монголкино".

Trivia: The statue, illustrated in the logo, is one of the important statues in Mongolia, located at Sukhbaatar Square, Ulaanbaatar.

Technique: Same as its previous logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was seen only on Abundant Coat of Arms ("Элбэг дээл").

3rd Logo (August 13, 1981-March 19, 2000)
Logo: On a plain green background, we see a golden Mongolia symbol (Soyombo). Below the symbol, we see the Mongolian Cyrillic red text "МОНГОЛКИНО" in a trailed arch-shaped bold transparent font. The text wipes into blue, then it reverts back into red.

Variants:
 * Depending on the film, the logo may be tinted or darker.
 * A prototype version has blue sunburst background and the trailing is omitted.
 * Sometimes the logo is entirely black and white.
 * Sometimes the logo is still.
 * Starting in 1993, the logo is slightly modified.
 * Restored prints have the blue background instead of green.
 * On the first part of Queen Mandukhai the Wise, the logo is boxed and positioned near top left, and the red English Serif text "MONGOLKINO PRESENTS" fading in.
 * On Tsets Magnai (the third film on the Magnai trilogy), when "МОНГОЛКИНО" wipes from red into blue, the Mongolian Cyrillic serif text "1995 он" fades in.

Technique: The color wiping.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Uncommon in Mongolia. Seen on its movies from the time period, starting with Khatanbaatar and ending with The Final Empress of the King. Some films may have a in-credit notice.

Legacy: A well-known Mongolkino logo that lasted for almost two decades.

4th Logo (2010s)


Logo: A light shines over a black background,, where various lines rise up from the bottom. The lines expand outward and the light forms a triangular prism and cylinder with a yin-yang symbol, causing the light to disappear. The cylinder and triangle both spin and zoom in with the lines and two rectangles appear from either side of the shapes and merge towards the shapes, causing them all to shine brightly. Another rectangular and triangular prism appears atop the cylinder as the camera passes through it and the lines behind before rotating on top of the almost complete Soyombo. There, the rest of the Soyombo is fully formed and the camera zooms out to reveal the full logo with "МОНГОЛ КИНО" below and smole at the bottom with a light shining. The logo dims down.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A majastic Mongolian fanfare.

Availability: Uncommon.

5th Logo (2020-)
Logo: TBA

Technique: Pretty good CGI animation!

Music/Sounds: Same as its previous logo.

Availability: Current.