Knowledge Adventure

Background
JumpStart Games, formerly known as Knowledge Adventure, is a well-known edutainment game company formed in 1989, most known for making JumpStart. In the late 1990s, it was later merged with another large education software firm, Davidson & Associates, which was best known for the Math Blaster series and other related games in the popular Blaster Learning System line-up.

Since then, the company was owned by various firms, including CUC Interactive in 1997, Cendant Corporation in 1998, and Vivendi in the same year (later known as "Vivendi Universal" in 2000). During the Vivendi ownership, Knowledge Adventure was part of the Vivendi Universal Games division. In late 2004, Vivendi Universal sold Knowledge Adventure to a group of investors interested in taking a more active management strategy, and in developing new educational software. The company has since released new products under both the JumpStart and Math Blaster brands.

In 2012, Knowledge Adventure was renamed to JumpStart Games. In 2017, JumpStart Games was acquired by NetDragon Websoft. On June 13, 2023, JumpStart Games announced the closure of the company and the end of support of all games, and on July 1, 2023, the company was officially closed, with the servers and website also shutting down, likely as a result of the lawsuit that arose as a result of the Neopets data breach in 2022 (a property JumpStart acquired from Nickelodeon in 2014).

1st Logo (1993)
Visuals: On a purple cloud background is a emblem consisting of three wings on each side, a -tinted cardinal direction signal inside a  circle with a black outline in the center, and a fleur-de-lis on top of "Serif " within an arced  bar. "Adventure" is seen in a cursive font and beveled effect and placed over the logo.

Technique: None.

Audio: After a dramatic synth sting, a whimsical fanfare plays while an announcer says "Knowledge Adventure, have fun, get smart!".

Audio Variant: On the demo catalog, there is no music and extra lines of dialogue are added to the narration: "...more knowledge per square kilobyte than any other multimedia product and no CD-ROM required".

Availability: It was only seen on the demo catalog of the company's games from 1993 with a Packard Bell Windows 3.1/MS-DOS 6.22. The actual games would use the next logo.

2nd Logo (December 13, 1993-August 26, 1998)
Visuals: On a starry black background, a large slab suddenly appears in a darkened state featuring a and purple section cut by a large curve. In the bottom right corner of it, the golden letters "Copperplate Gothic" appear via a light yellow shine and it splits into two smaller lights: one that traces across the curve on the slab, and another that reveals the rest of the text reading "Copperplate Gothic". The curve light then illuminates the slab brightly as a large flash appears in the middle of it, forming a five-pointed flash that transforms into a human figure lifting its arms up, which also has a moon-like face, and the slab to glow brightly along the edges. A /white planet is also seen above the man with a revolving purple moon around it, and a 8-pointed white star rises from beyond the white curve like a sunrise, spinning as it emerges from beyond the box and becomes and keeps spinning for a bit longer before it and the moon stop revolving. All while this is happening, the entire logo is pointed at a downwards angle at the beginning before tilting into an upright position.

Variants:
 * Prior to 1994, the logo was still and in 2D, as well as the border of the logo being wavy.
 * On their earliest games with the animated logo (such as Aviation Adventure and My First Encyclopedia), the animation is slightly faster. At the end, the logo zooms out into the background and a starburst appears, leading to the title screen with the print version of the rectangle logo being shown on the bottom.
 * In the title screen in the earliest Jumpstart games (like the original Jumpstart 1st Grade and both the original and the 1997 remake version of Jumpstart Kindergarden for example), the rectangle logo (as shown above) with the text is shown, while the starry black background is used. Some Jumpstart games (like Jumpstart Pre-K for example) use the print logo in a black background instead. The starry black background is also used in the installer of pre-Jumpstart titles, with "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE" in a different font on the logo shown in the top left in the retail version.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A dramatic-sounding orchestral, piano, and choir fanfare that mellows out at the end. An "explosion" plays when the star flashes.

Audio Variant: The early variant has the fanfare composed in a MIDI format and a loud whoosh is added when the logo zooms out.

Availability: It appeared on the company's early games. This logo makes an appearance on some JumpStart titles, the last of them being JumpStart Baby (1998).

3rd Logo (October 19, 1998-March 25, 2011)
Visuals: On a white background, a square fades in on the left of the screen. Then, the words "DISCOVER.", "LEARN." and "EXCEL." slide in, one-by-one, at the bottom right corner of the square, each forming a set of stairs each time. An star then appears at the top right corner of the square, and a  person then comes near the square, walks up the steps (becoming white in the process), and touches the star, causing it to flash and freeze the logo. "Knowledge Adventure" fades in at the top of the text.

Variants:
 * There is a version with the company name in two rows and no slogan.
 * Another rare version has a black background and the name below the picture. It can mainly be found in the installer for some KA games.
 * An in-credit version was used on the US release of Play with the Teletubbies.
 * Some international versions of Jumpstart games (like the UK version of the 1997 remake version of Jumpstart Kindergarden (as Jump Ahead Starting School), the white background and the print logo is used on the title screen. Other times, the black background is used instead.
 * There is a version where the slogan is in different languages. Some languages use the English version before changing it its localized language.
 * French (main): "DECOUVRIR. APPRENDRE. EXCELLER.
 * French (alt): "DECOUVRIR. APPERENDRE. RESSUIR.
 * Finnish: "LÖDYÄ. OPI. TAIDA.
 * A 30fps version can be found in some games.
 * Blaster's Universe, the website "www.blasternaut.com" was shown at the end of the aforementioned show. It was also sped up near the end of the logo.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A mellow synth-piano/orchestral theme.

Audio Variant(s): In Blaster's Universe, the closing theme is used. In JumpStart Preschool: Who Left the Juice in the Caboose?, Frankie says "...helping children everywhere! Discover, Learn and Excel!" during the logo. In JumpStart Kindergarten: Why Did the Bus Stop?, Frankie only says the company's tagline. In the Jumpstart VHS promo video, Frankie only says "...everywhere!" before saying the company's tagline (the audio is from the former VHS video).

Availability: Seen on post-1998 JumpStart games like JumpStart 1st Grade as well as post-1999 Math Blaster/Reading Blaster games. It also can be seen on other games like Play with the Teletubbies and Little People: Discovery Airport for example. The alternate French version can be found on Franklin Après l'école, a Franklin video game from France. It is also found at the end of Blaster's Universe, as well as JumpStart Preschool: Who Left the Juice in the Caboose? and JumpStart Kindergarten: Why Did the Bus Stop? on VHS.