Bel-Air Productions
Supermarty-o and Eric S.
Video captures courtesy of
Peakpasha
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Background
Bel-Air Productions was a joint venture between 20th Century Fox's producer and director Howard W. Koch, and the independent producer Aubrey Schenck, which was active through the 1950s with various genres, all distributed through United Artists.
1st Logo (May 1954-1955)
Visuals: There is an angle of a big bridge, then a shield saying "A BEL-AIR PRODUCTION", on stylized lettering, zooms up.
Technique: 2D animation.
Audio: Just the opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Seen on Bel-Air produced movies from the time. [Examples?]
2nd Logo (October 4, 1955-1956)
Visuals: On a blue tiled background, there is the 3D text "A BEL-AIR PRODUCTION" with a red extension from behind.
Technique: A still, printed image.
Audio: An arousing fanfare.
Availability: It's seen on films like Fort Yuma.
3rd Logo (June 7, 1956-March 21, 1957)
Visuals: Over a cloudy sky background (ala the Warner Bros. logo), there is the letter "A" zooming in from the top, then "Bel Air" in fancy script and "PRODUCTION" all zoom out at once.
Variant: A black-and-white version exists.
Technique: Early computer animation.
Audio: A fanfare that sounds like the bass horn intro (ala the classic Warner Bros fanfare) that changes into a uprising bombastic tune. Later on, it used a different arrangement of this theme. The fanfare was composed by Paul Dunlap.
Availability: Seen on films of the era such as War Drums, usually preceded by an MGM or United Artists logo.
