Atlas International

Background
Not to be confused with the American film production company, Atlas Entertainment, Atlas International Film GmbH was founded in February of 1967 by Dieter Menz. Today, Atlas International is headed by his sons, Philipp and Stefan Menz, both seasoned movie executives with professional careers spanning close to 30 years.

1st Logo (1979-1988)


Logo: On a map of the entire world with the landmasses colored green and the water colored in cyan, we see the Atlas Film logo forming. After it's formed, the text "atlas international" fades in beneath the logo, and then they zoom in. "presents" fades in later.

Trivia: The music, and map was later used for the North American Releasing logo, which also used a similar animation.

Technique: 2D animation

Music/Sounds: A sampled synthesized piece from the track "Friedmann Bach" from Klaus Schulze's 1978 album X, which was also used for the 2nd logo. Sometimes it is silent.

Availability: Extremely rare. Appears on old UK VHS's of Don't Go In The House, Bloodshot, and possibly others, though current prints of the former two have it removed or replaced with the next logo. The only place where this logo appears in any form is on the Anchor Bay R1 DVD of Mad Mission Part II: Aces Go Places (AKA, Aces Go Places II). It is said to be intact (although not fully confirmed) on the German Laser Paradise DVD of BMX Bandits, but some sources indicate the 2nd Atlas Film logo appears instead. It does however, appear on the Canadian Seville Pictures DVD of the former.

2nd Logo (1988-2005)
Logo: On a purple/black (or blue/black) gradient background, a striped silver model of the earth zooms out and spins. Then the parts of the Atlas Film logo start forming in front of the globe as the background then turns into a gray/white (or sky blue/white) gradient background. The words "atlas international" zoom out below, and then "presents" fades in.

Variants:


 * There exists two versions: A filmed variant and a videotaped one.
 * Sometimes, a ® stamp with roman numerals appear on the bottom right.
 * There is a variant that lacks "Presents".
 * A variant exists where the 4:3 videotape version is stretched into 16:9  widescreen. This was seen on an Australian TV airing of 666: In Bed With  the Devil, before the 2000 Constantin Film logo.
 * When shown in widescreen, the bottom text with the ®, the numerals, and "@" touch  the borders or are cut of completely. In 2.35:1 Scope, only "Atlas  International" with the "@" is shown (due to cropping).

Technique: All the 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1st logo.

Music/Sounds Variants: On the French print of A Chinese Ghost Story I, it uses the last half of the current Media Asia fanfare.

Availability: Uncommon in European territories where they distribute material, but rare in the U.S. The filmed version can be seen on the R1 Anchor Bay DVD of A Better Tomorrow, and the Tartan UK Ultimate Edition and U.S Dragon Dynasty 2 Disc edition of Hard Boiled. The videotaped version is seen on the Hen's Tooth Video DVD of the 1974 Jack and the Beanstalk anime and the Shrek Show release of Don't Go in the House. This appears on some Hong Kong films released under the Hong Kong Legends label in the UK, like Once a Thief, The Killer, and Treasure Hunt. The Scope version is seen on the UK Entertainment In Video DVD of Aces Go Places 5, plastering the Cinema City Co. logo.

3rd Logo (2005?- )


Logo: On a black background, we see a metallic ribbon-like thing waving. It fades out and a glass version of the planet Earth gets revealed by a light. It spins, and a glass version of the A from the Atlas logo zooms out while spinning, revealing to contain the planet inside. The words "atlas international" are also revealed and the logo places itself at the left of them. The lights on the logo move and the text shines.

Technique: Just breathtaking CGI.

Music/Sounds: A calming bell tune which then evolves into a majestic fanfare.

Availability: Currently seen on new Atlas International releases, as well as Pissanos' releases of older animated films from Atlas' library.