Brøderbund Software

Background

Brøderbund Software was a software company formed in 1980 to create educational titles. It created many successful gaming franchises such as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, Zoombinis, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. In 1997, it opened Red Orb Entertainment for non-educational game titles. In 1998, Brøderbund became a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Learning Company, which itself was purchased by Mattel the year after and absorbed into Mattel Interactive. After Mattel experienced financial difficulties, it sold Broderbund to Gores Technology Group. Ubisoft purchased Brøderbund's entertainment division in March 2001, while Riverdeep Interactive acquired its education division in September that year. Then in August 2002, all Brøderbund assets became part of Riverdeep. In the early 2000s, budget software publisher Encore, Inc. acquired the trademark of Brøderbund; it currently publishes software titles from the company under said name.

1st Logo (1982-1997)

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Visuals: On a black background, there's the blue word "Broderbund" in a font resembling tubes with the first "o" having two noches incaved inside. On the top, there's an outline of three crowns with crosses on top of them. The logo is generally placed on a background that changes in each game.

Variants:

• Most of the time, the logo is still.
• On some of their earliest Apple II titles, the logo has the crowns separate with full detail and color (the colors differ on which game it was on) and the full name written out in a slightly different font than the later versions. "PRESENTS" is also seen below it as well as the title screen. Serpentine was the first title to have the updated design.
• The 1991 MS-DOS release of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? has the crowns fully detailed and in gold, shining once each, and the text reading "Broderbund Software Presents" in one line.
• On the Active Minds Series, the logo has smaller crowns and a bar reading "ACTIVE - MIND - SERIES" below it. The colors and actions of these differ greatly from game to game, but they all end with the "o" flashing.

Technique: A still graphic that sometimes, contains different animation.

Audio: Early games may have the opening theme of the game. However, the logo could be also silent or have custom sounds.

Availability: Seen on a lot of educational games. ^[Examples?]

2nd Logo (1990-1996)

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Visuals: On a black background, a white circle with another purple circle in it appears. In the ring is the text "BRøDERBUND SOFTWARE" and on the circle we see the crowns, shining in sync to the music. "p-r-e-s-e-n-t-s" then wipes in below in either black or red on a gold banner.

Variant: On Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe, the logo fades out except for the banner and circle, which change into the logo. Here, the "p-r-e-s-e-n-t-s" text just appears.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Three ascending synth notes, followed by a synth xylophone tune.

Availability: Seen on some DOS releases, as well as the re-releases for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe and The Playroom.

3rd Logo (August 31, 1995-1996)

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Visuals: On a black background, a bunch of teal blue shapes thicken out and rotate forward, revealing "Broderbund" in a font resembling tubes. An outline of three orange crowns with crosses on top of them rotates towards the screen above the text. A diagonal light slash emerges on the "o", cutting two notches into it as a registered trademark symbol appears in the top right corner of the text.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Two sets of dialing sounds before a synth medieval tune plays. A low synth note then plays, followed by a longer and higher one which is accomplished by a synth.

Availability: The animated version appears on In The 1st Degree and the 1996 version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?.

4th Logo (February 7-April 16, 1997)

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Visuals: On a rock wall lit by a spotlight, there's logo with its full name in a stakced format and the three crowns next to "Broderbond", all colored in lavender. The word "ENTERTAINMENT" in a grey Copperplate Gothic then zooms out to the logo, making "Software" become "Studio" and going down. The crowns then enlarge and, after the text slid a bit to the right, the "o" of "Broderbund" is cut into as usual.

Technique: CGI

Audio: A deep "THUD!" sound followed by a mysterious orchestral fanfare that also contains a harp sound. The music ends with a metallic slash sound.

Availability: Seen on Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge and The Last Express.

5th Logo (1998-2001)

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Visuals: On a black background, a navy blue rectangle is seen below with "Brøderbund" in a much more sans-like font. Above it, a portion of a crown sketch draws in above it. A spiral and an another line then draw in to finish the drawing as navy blue, sea green, yellow, and grape purple squares then emerge from all corners of the screen and close in onto the logo.

Variant: On Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Version 10, the squares are removed.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A held synth note with sketching sounds, ending with a 4-note xylophone tune.

Availability: It was seen on several educational titles from TLC, such as Dr. Seuss Preschool.

6th Logo (2001-2006)

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Visuals: On a sky background, several blue rectangles swirl around, all before combining into a bigger rectangle. On that rectangle appears the crown and the "Broderbund" text. Below it is the slogan "solutions for your home & family".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A MIDI synth theme.

Availability: It appears on later software titles such as version 15 of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.