Mokran Video

Background
Mokran Video is a state-owned home entertainment company from North Korea, founded in December 1992. Mokran Video retains the distribution rights of every single audiovisual works from the country, such as films, documentaries, TV shows, music and stage compilations; as well of foreign productions.

1st Logo (December 1992?-Mid 1990's)


Nicknames: "Blooming Magnolia I"

Logo: On a space background, we see a magnolia flower with its petals folded. Then the petals unfurl as a golden TV screen border fades in. Green, blue and red stripes appear from the magnolia, and the Korean company name in moving rainbow letters appears letter-by-letter.

Trivia: The magnolia flower shown is the Magnolia sieboldii, North Korea's national flower.

Technique: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on early Mokran Video releases, which are virtually impossible to find outside the country, in the country, it's most likely not much easier. Your best bet to find this logo is by sheer luck.

2nd Logo (Mid 1990's-)
Nickname: "Star Magnolia"

Logo: On a blue background, we see a globe rotating on the bottom of the screen. Above it is a star emitting sparks (similar to how the radio tower on the RKO logo emit signals). Then, the globe stops rotating with the Korean peninsula highlighted in pink, and a pink light comes out of it and illuminates the star, which morphs into a magnolia. The light disappears, and two pink outlines split from the magnolia into Korean characters in circles. The characters give out small multicolored dots to the magnolia, and after that they morph into a black tube with rainbow streaks behind the magnolia. After all of that, 5 multicolored lines with white squares come out from the magnolia. We zoom in to the magnolia, and when we do, the background changes into a black background with pink stars and lines. 5 circles zoom out from the lines, which disappear, and the company name in Korean in red zooms out to underneath the magnolia, then another set of lines and circles appear and does the same way, but with the same Korean company name, but with a rainbow effect within the words, zooms out and overlays the red company name. Finally, "MOKRAN VIDEO" zoom in with a trail effect, then dissolves into pink petals, causing the flashing grid road below and some bubbles around it to appear.

Trivia: The magnolia flower shown is the Magnolia sieboldii, North Korea's national flower.

Variant: There is a early version, where the land in the Earth is colored tan. The star is not in the variant, and the pink light are dots. The background never changes.

Technique: Pure cel animation.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy synth theme with futuristic noises thrown in to it.

Availability: Scarce. Seen on all Mokran Video releases since the mid 1990's, likely the same case as above when looking for it.

3rd Logo (Late 1990's-)
Nicknames: "Blooming Magnolia II"

Logo: We fade in to see a computerized shot of the ocean at sunset. A closed magnolia is seen spinning by fading in and slowly opens, as the ocean background turns pink. Two Korean letters then appear from the sides and place below the spinning magnolia. An arc of text then drops down from the magnolia and spreads to reveal "Mokran Video", and the ocean background turns green, before going normal again. Sparkles appear on the text and magnolia.

Technique: 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: A piano/string piece.

Availability: Scarce, likely the same case as above when looking for it, although it can be easily found on DVD releases of music videos, karaoke and state compilations of live performances.