Cineplex Odeon Films

Background

This was the theatrical production/distribution unit of the Canadian theater chain Cineplex Odeon. In 1998, Cineplex Odeon sold controlling interest in the company to Alliance Communications, who subsequently rebranded it Odeon Films.

(1986?/March 13, 1987-1998)

Nickname: "The Cineplex Odeon Ribbon"

Logo: On a black background, the Cineplex Odeon logo fades in, though in a lighter purple than usual, closer to an orchid color. The logo then turns into 2 C-shaped ribbons, spreading apart and rotating around as they shine. The ribbons then unfold and bend into a far more standard "C", in which the ribbons (which now changed to lavender and hot pink respectively and they also appear to be in different sizes now. They're also not as shiny) appear to cross over each other. "CINEPLEX ODEON FILMS" fades in next to it in orchid.

Variants:

• A still variant exists.
• There is also a short variant that cuts to the ribbon already morphing. This particular variant was spotted on a Canadian trailer for the political documentary The War Room (1993), which can be found, in turn, on the Canadian VHS of All the Mornings of the World.
• A prototype variant exists as seen in the video above, where the animation appears to be quicker, less fluid, and darker. The ending result is quite different in coloration, though, with the ribbons being purple and white, and the text in red. The Cineplex Odeon logo in the beginning is also in its normal colors.

FX/SFX: The logo unfolding. Simplistic animation, but pretty effective.

Music/Sounds: An low synth drone, followed by a eight-note piano and horn fanfare, composed by Brad MacDonald Music Ltd. of Toronto. Sometimes it is silent, or has the film's opening theme over it.

Availability: Uncommon.

• The silent variant can easily be found on Talk Radio and The Glass Menagerie.
• The variant with music can be found on Canadian VHS copies of Talons of the Eagle, A Brief History of Time, Still Life, Dance Me Outside, The Hanging Garden, Wedding Bell Blues, Mille Bolle Blu, Salmonberries, Rude, Floating Life, All the Mornings of the World (Canadian screener VHS only), Ponette, Red Scorpion, the trailer for Highway 61, Hired to Kill, and Slam Dance.
• The logo with music also appeared on the Canadian VHS, as well as the Alliance Atlantis reprint from 1999 along with the original U.S. MCA Home Video release and 1995 Goodtimes Home Video release of The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland.
• It also makes an appearance on the Universal Vault Series DVD-R of Madame Sousatzka, while streaming prints oddly enough plaster it with the 2010 variant of the 1997 Universal logo.
• The still variant can be found on two TV spots for Highway 61 on that film's Canadian DVD release.
• A high-pitched version was recently spotted on an AT&T U-Verse Screen Pack print of Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe and the British VHS release of Sign 'o' the Times.
• This also appears on the Pacific Arts VHS and Strand Releasing/filmswelike Blu-Ray of Comic Book Confidential.
• For later 1997/1998 VHS tapes from Cineplex Odeon Video, such as The Hanging Garden and Floating Life, this makes strange appearances in place of the COV logo.
• It was also spotted on a Canadian trailer for Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, which can be found on Canadian VHS releases of Defenseless and Deadly Currents.
• It is believed this was seen on Canadian theatrical prints of The Last Temptation of Christ in place of the 1963 Universal logo, as it was a co-production with them. However, don't expect it on the Canadian Cineplex Odeon VHS or the Canadian Alliance Atlantis DVD, strangely.

Editor's Note: A nice logo that has some notable flaws, like the overlay on the ribbons to form the Cineplex Odeon logo appearing a bit later on fade-in.