Owl Communications

Background
Owl Communications was founded in 1985 as the television production arm of the Canadian children's magazine Owl. In 1997, Owl Communications was purchased by Conscient Group, Quebec’s largest television production company and rebranded into Owl/SDA Productions.

1st Logo (1985-1992)
Nicknames: "The Owl", "The Early Owl"

Logo: On a black background, we see a large red "O" in a Times New Roman-like font with a owl sitting in its centre. An animated owl from OWL/TV then appears on the right and starts clapping. A copyright below reads "© OWL(/)TV INC. (year).

Trivia: This logo was based on the Owl Magazine logo of the mid to late 80’s. The owl’s design was first used on the October 1985 issue.

Variants:


 * On some occasions, the logo would appear in the background before the credits stopped rolling.
 * There is a variant where the cartoon owl stops his clapping animation and remains on screen for a few seconds longer.

FX/SFX: The animated owl clapping.

Music/Sounds: The final notes of the show's intro with the owl clapping

Music/Sounds Variants: On later episodes of OWL/TV a voiceover of a girl says "If you've enjoyed OWL/TV, be sure to read OWL magazine".

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on earlier episodes of OWL/TV.

Editor’s Note: Although the owl in the "O" may have looked a bit intimidating to some, this logo is a favourite of many who grew up watching OWL/TV.

2nd Logo (March 2, 1992-1993)
Nicknames: "The Owl II", "The Simple Owl", "The Stoned Owl", "The Intoxicated/High Owl"

Logo: On a black background, we see a large "O" in a Times New Roman-like font with a white border and a white owl acting as the hole in the "O". The "O" is in the center of a square with diagonal midnight blue and yellow stripes and a yellow border. Below the square is the white text "OWL TELEVISION" in a Mrs. Eaves font.

Variant: On Spirit Rider, the logo is brighter and the word "OWL" appears below the logo.

Trivia: This logo was based off of the Owl Magazine logo of the 70’s, with the owl's design being used on Owl Magazine's first issue in January 1976.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None, but on Spirit Rider, is is the ending theme of the movie.

Availability: Seen on the first two seasons of The Big Comfy Couch, as well as on the TV movie on Spirit Rider.

Editor’s Note: None.

3rd Logo (1994-1995)
Nicknames: "The Owl III", "The Red Owl"

Logo: On a white background, we see a red owl inside a box, with the large word "Owl" underneath the owl, and below it, the word "Communications" all in Goudy Old Style is seen. It appears like this:

Owl

Communications

Everything is surrounded by a red border, a copyright stamp is seen below the logo on Owl TV.

Variant: On later episodes of Owl/TV, the same animation of the cartoon owl clapping occurs overtop this logo.

Trivia: This logo was based off the Owl magazine company’s logo featured in the bottom corner of all their magazines starting in the mid 90’s (Owl, Chickadee, Chirp)

FX/SFX: None, except on the Owl/TV variant.

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds Variants: On Owl/TV, a voice over says "If you enjoyed Owl TV, Be sure to read Owl Magazine"

Availability: Seen on season 3 and 4 episodes of The Big Comfy Couch, also seen on later episodes of Owl/TV.

Editor’s Note: None.

4th Logo (March 5, 1996-July 12, 1999)
Nicknames: “The Owl IV”, “CGI Owl”

Logo: On a cloudy background, we briefly see the owl from the last logo outlined in a light purple color move in from the left as the word “Owl”, the letters having a green outline, slides in from the right and turns the outlined owl completely blank, leaving only its shape behind. Then a CGI version of the owl from OWL/TV flies downward into the logo and rests inside the O, making it bounce and he poses.

Variant: Later on in the logo's life, "OWL/SDA Productions Inc. A Coscient Group Company." is seen below once the owl almost finishes and the logo fades out before the owl can land and make the pose.

FX/SFX: The light purple outlined owl fading away, the word "Owl" sliding in and the CGI owl flying into place.

Music/Sounds: Some children saying "Goodbye, Mrs. Cherrywinkle!", continued from Hello, Mrs. Cherrywinkle 's credits, then silence.

Availability: Rare. It was discovered on the obscure show Hello, Mrs. Cherrywinkle and was known to only appear on the first 3 seasons of it lasting from 1996-1999. It was also seen on tapes of the show released by TVA International.

Editor’s Note: The CGI looks dated today, but was okay for its time. Nevertheless, this is an interesting discovery.