Huayi Brothers

Background
Huayi Brothers Media Corporation was started in 1994 by brothers Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei, and overtime became one of the biggest studios in China. In 2011, it attempted to launch a joint venture with Legendary Pictures called Legendary East, but it fell through the following year (Legendary ended up partnering with China Film Group in 2013 instead, and would be acquired by Wanda Group in 2016). Huayi Brothers would partner with then new STX Entertainment in 2015.

1st Logo (1994-2000)
Nicknames: "HTF", "Glowing HTF"

Logo: On a dark blue/blue graident background, we see a glowing, white "H" with it being sliced in half horizontal down the middle zooming out and rotating into place. It is followed by a "T" and a "F" in the same style, making "HTF". It stops glowing and then 2 big red stars and 8 smaller red stars appears on top and bottom, forming a ring that then makes a red rectangle behind the text. A line of sparkles flies across the bottom of the screen, revealing "Huayi Brothers & Taihe Film" and the Chinese characters above it. The logo and text shine repeatably.

FX/SFX: The text rotating, the ring of stars, the shining. The quality of the CGI is good for the time.

Music/Sounds: A rising drone ending with 2 orchestral hits.

Availability: Seen on their movies during the era.

2nd Logo (2000-2005)
Nicknames: "The Dragon", "Clear Huayi Brothers", "H. Brothers"

Logo: On a sun lit sky at the ocean with wave slowly moving, we see a white dragon flying around. As it arches over the sun, it creates a ring of stars and in between the stars, a rectangle with the words "H. Brothers" cutted out and "Beijing" and "Circa 1994" are seen above and below the rectangle. The sky is also reflected in the rectangle. The dragon flies off and Chinese characters appear below. The logo fades out except for the Chinese characters, which fade out later.

FX/SFX: The dragon. Everything else was made in amazing CGI.

Music/Sounds: A calming music piece.

Availability: Rare.

3rd Logo (2005-2010)
Nicknames: "The Flood", "Blood River"

Logo: In a white city, a drop of red liquid splashes into a river of it. We then fade a pan shot of the river flooding the city, which then rotates and goes into a screen-shaped space of it, which then glows. We pan out to see the full glowing text of "HY. BROTHERS" and it rises from the spaces. The city disappears and Chinese characters wipe in as the "O" gains a shadow.

FX/SFX: The river flooding the city and forming the logo.

Music/Sounds: The sound of fluid running ending with a Chinese flute tune.

Availability: Seen on their movies during the era.

4th Logo (2010-2014)
Nicknames: "The Sky", "Orange Clouds"

Logo: In the sky, we glide across a field of clouds. Then, a tower of clouds rises up and the top starts to turn orange. The top then separates and then blows away to reveal the Huayi Brothers logo, though in silver and now styled as "H. BROTHERS". and Chinese characters.

FX/SFX: The clouds.

Music/Sounds: A calming Chinese music piece.

Availability: Rare.

5th Logo (2014- )
Nicknames: "The H Gate"

Logo: We pan up from a bunch of golden gears and silver parts. The silver part rotates to reveal a bunch more gears and a "H"-shaped gate, covered in many symbols and has a lion head in the middle. It then becomes more solid by moving parts and moves closer. The lion head moves up and then some more parts move before finally opening up. When the gate opens, it reveals Chinese characters and the text "H. BROTHERS" spreading a bit and shining. The gate fades out, leaving the text.

Variant: A short version exists starting with the gate opening. This was seen on Rock Dog, and some STX films.

FX/SFX: The gears and gate opening.

Music/Sounds: The sound of gears turning and things moving and opening. Sometimes the opening theme is used.

Availability: Current.

Editor's Note: A very nicely animated logo.