CinéGroupe

Background
CinéGroupe is a Canadian animation studio founded in 1974 by Jacques Pettigrew and Michel Lemire. No logo was used until 1987.

CinéGroupe’s creative team was responsible for the production of over 1,000 half-hours of animation and live action family entertainment programs and has received over 40 international awards including a Daytime Emmy and several Geminis.

CinéGroupe has access to artists and technicians able to create in a variety of styles including classical, cartoon, 3D, contemporary, futuristic and cinematographic, and puts technology at the service of creativity through seamless integration of 3D backgrounds with live action for TV, special effects, 2D and 3D-XSI and MAYA animation, 3D Max, enhanced 2D, and 2 1/2 D. Creatively, CinéGroupe approaches every project differently but from a business point of view, our objectives remain the same: to turn the creator’s vision into magic, on time and on budget.

CinéGroupe was based in Quebec, Canada.

1st Logo (March 12, 1987-December 25, 1997)


Nicknames: "The Bird", "Cheapo Bird", "Polka-dots and Purple Clouds", "Aesthetic Bird"

Logo: On a background consisting of a cloudy purplish sky and multi-colored dots covering the ground, we zoom out from 2 silver reels, with purple film rolling in them, like a projector. As we zoom out, we see a one-legged blue bird with a reel in his mouth, being projected on a floating screen. The bird comes out of the screen in a cheap 3D effect. The canisters flip around with a flash of light, while the bird flies to the left of new text:

CINÉ GROUPE

The text is in a Gotkitch font with the U/P and the N/E connected.

FX/SFX: The projector, and the bird emerging and flying.

Music/Sounds: A somewhat relaxing synth tune, mostly consisting of warbling. There's also a low-tone version and a high-tone version.

Availability: Might be seen on British VHS releases of Sharky & George. It was also seen on The Little Flying Bears and Just For Kids Video releases of Ovide and the Gang.

Editor's Note: This is a soothing logo.

2nd Logo (November 27, 1997-October 22, 2000)


Nicknames: "The CGI Bird", "The Badlands Bird", "The Sunset Bird", "Cheapo Bird 2.0"

Logo: On a black background, we see the bird from the previous logo, with a white dot in the near center of the viewer's right. The bird pulls on the dot which causes an orange cloudy cloth-like background to spring up like a piece of cloth (which looks like a sunset, or the background of the "Badlands" star system in Star Trek). The bird then leans upwards and opens it's beak to catch a film canister. The text "CINÉGROUPE", in the same style as before but in a slightly different font, "bounces" into place next to the bird. The bird slightly leans over the logo, and blinks with the film in its beak.

Variant: Sometimes, there's an English version which has "CINE GROUP" instead of "CINÉGROUPE". Here, the U and P are not connected.

FX/SFX: Very fast animation. The design is essentially an upgraded version of the 1st logo.

Music/Sounds: An electric guitar tune with a "ding" when the bird blinks.

Availability: Seen on some shows during this period, such as the the first season of The Kids From Room 402, and Mega Babies.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (September 26, 2000-October 5, 2002)
Nicknames: "Rolling Filmstrips", "The Letter", "Giant C", "The Electricity", "The Simple Bird"

Logo: On a dark bluish-black background, we see various filmstrips with the new logo on them. Letters are swirling around. We then see a big "C" come from the left, swiveling to the center. It zooms forward as the filmstrips disappear, leaving it on a black background with a spotlight lighting up a portion of the ground. The "C" moves up into the spotlight as various letters become "CinéGroupe" underneath it. The "C" now has a simplified version of the bird minus wings and film canister, in the center. The words then flash in the center as blue electricity moves to the left and right, turning the words blue.

Variants:
 * The short version starts with the big "C" coming into view
 * A shorter version exists, just showing the word turning blue.
 * A prototype variant exists where the same animation happens in the beginning, ending with a different finished product. The background has more light (which resembles a dark, cloudy night sky), and the words are a much darker blue color, which doesn't produce electricity.

FX/SFX: The filmstrips rolling, "C" and letters swiveling, and letters crackling and turning blue. Very impressive CGI.

Music/Sounds: A majestic synth theme with a swoosh for the C swiveling, and electricity sounds for when the letters turn blue.

Music/Sounds Variant: The shorter version has a 3-note version of the music, and the electricity sounds.

Availability: Rare. It was seen on Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, The Kids from Room 402, the first season of What's with Andy?, and other shows. Should be preserved on DVDs of shows during this period.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (April 16, 2002-March 25, 2008)
Nicknames: "The Simple Bird 2.0", "The Abstract Bird"

Logo: On a black background, we see a teal blue sphere quickly fly past the camera, and the rest of the CinéGroupe logo "wavers" into existence. The word "CINÉ" is now a shade of teal blue, with a block for the little thing on the E, while "GROUPE" is white and the bird is now even more simple, without legs and the "C" surrounding it. The logo tilts up as the sphere makes contact with the rest of the logo and creates a lens flare, and the sphere becomes the "eye" of the bird.

Variants:
 * The logo simply shines on most shows.
 * On Bratz: The Video - Starrin' & Stylin', the logo is still and in-credit.

FX/SFX: The sliding of the logo and words.

Music/Sounds: A waving electronic tune (the variant uses a zip-esque note instead).

Availability: Seen on shows such as Tripping the Rift and later seasons of What's with Andy?. It also appears at the beginning of Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat video tapes from the period and on Pinocchio 3000.

Editor's Note: None.

Background
CinéGroupe Star was a joint-venture between Star Records and CinéGroupe to release episodes of shows on videocassette and DVD. The partnership ended in January 2004.

(August 2002-January 2004)
Nickname: "Glitters"

Logo: On a black background, we see the words "CiNEGROUPE" and "STAR" in their respective font sliding in top and bottom respectively with a pixel like effect (the former word also flashes as this happens). Then the bird from the previous logo appears by zooming out on the side and then sliding to the right towards the words. The bird gets up close and goes to the right and disappears via the same pixel effect, as the words just fade out.

FX/SFX: The words sliding in, the pixel like effect, the bird appearing and disappearing.

Music/Sounds: A wavy, cosy tune followed by a bird chirping when the bird goes away.

Availability: Very rare. It appears on Canadian VHS and DVD volumes of Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat. It also appears on all three of the Double Trouble VHS volumes (which consist of an episode of What's With Andy?, The Kids from Room 402 and a song from the Pig City soundtrack), as well as the VHS and DVD release of Pig City - Volume 1. All of these releases are very hard to find. so it's difficult to try and track down this logo.

Editor's Note: None.