Budapest Film

Background
Budapest Film was an independent DVD/Blu-ray distributor based in Budapest, Hungary. In 2010, German theatrical distributor A Company Consulting & Licensing AG bought a majority stake in the company; three years later, it was renamed to "A Company Hungary".

(2000?-2013?)
Logo: On an old film footage of Budapest, we see eight black lines from the sides and a circle from the center come into view, and form a countdown from 9 to 1. The 9 zooms in-and-out, the 8 is wiped in circurally, then in a triangular transition, appears as a 7, which flips to its backside as a 6, which disappears in the same transition. Then, the next five numbers appear in the same order of transitions. After the 1 appears, the screen turns white and the 1 morphs into a black rectangle, on which a white circle and cross appear. The rectangle tilts to its side and becomes a rotating circle, while the inner circle disappears. One side of the cross morphs into the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, while the circle gets filled with (representing the River Danube). The bridge and circle then disappear into a checkered floor, as we see a black leopard running through. Then, three rods with a ring on each of them emerge from the floor, which then morph into a hand drawing a spiral with a pencil. The hand backs away as a human face appears around the spiral, which takes the eyes' place. The face tilts to its side, lowers and exhales a speech bubble with "Impact" written in it. The speech bubble morphs into a lake, on which a swan is swimming. It merges with its reflection as the lake overrides the screen and waves emerge from its center. The last wave becomes an eye, which shuts and makes a "pupil" with four  corner cuts slightly misaligned around it zoom in to the top. Below it are the texts "A BUDAPEST FILM" and "BEMUTATJA" in a classical font.

Trivia: The footage presented at the beginning was filmed by employees of the Lumiére company in 1896. Filming took place in Budapest, Hungary, on the Buda side of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge.

FX/SFX: Breathtaking and fast-paced traditional animation by István Orosz.

Music/Sounds: A musical arrangement composed by Károly Cserepes. It features a jazzy piano segment and a harmonic violin segment, with a film projector heard at the beginning and a picture being taken heard at the end.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen mostly on DVDs and some Blu-rays distributed by Budapest Film, which are still quite easy to find in online auction stores.

Editor's Note: None.