Cosgrove Hall Films

Background

Cosgrove Hall Films (also known as Cosgrove Hall Productions) was a British animation studio founded in 1976 by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, with headquarters in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Once a major producer of children's TV shows and others in Britain, it was mainly known for its series Danger Mouse, The Wind in the Willows and Count Duckula.

The company's origins trace back to "Stop Frame Productions", founded by Hall in 1969, which Cosgrove joined shortly after, both leaving their jobs at Granada Television. After production was halted at Stop Frame, London-based ITV station Thames Television (producer of Rainbow, one of their shows) created a subsidiary of itself specifically for the two producers. Danger Mouse and its spin-off Count Duckula were the studio's biggest international successes, largely thanks to their presence in Nickelodeon's late 80's lineup in the US.

In 1993, Cosgrove Hall's parent company, Thames was succeeded by Carlton Television; subsequently, the studio was passed over to Anglia Television (later Granada plc). By 2009, a lack of funding from Granada meant the studio was no longer viable; it was dissolved by Granada's owner ITV plc in October and its catalogue was sold to Boat Rocker Media and other companies, as a result. Three years later, Cosgrove Hall's headquarters was demolished to make way for retirement flats. The studio was eventually reformed in 2011 as "Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick Entertainment" (or CHF Entertainment), with the original founders and Murdaidh! creator Adrian Fitzpatrick.

Hall died of cancer on November 18, 2011, leaving his role in CHF Entertainment to his son Simon.

Up until 1984, the company had no real logo and mostly used in-credit notices before then.

Contents

1st Logo (February 20, 1984-January 5, 1994)	2nd Logo (September 6, 1991-June 28, 1994)	3rd Logo (September 16, 1994-October 2009)

1st Logo (February 20, 1984-January 5, 1994)

Standard logo
Alias the Jester
Danger Mouse (Season 6)
Avenger Penguins (Season 1)

Visuals: The text "COSGROVE HALL PRODUCTIONS" is shown in a stylized font with a tiny copyright symbol to its left and a copyright date in Roman numerals below.

Variants:

On Alias the Jester, the logo is displayed in a medieval-style border, which features six pictures of its main protagonists. Alias is seen both in his original futuristic guise on the left side, and in his medieval guise on the right.
In the fifth season (1985) of Danger Mouse, the logo is shown below the Danger Mouse badge (a red circle with the letters "DM" on it) with a copyright date underneath.
- In the sixth season of said show, the copyright date has been enlarged slightly, and is displayed in a serif font.
On Creepy Crawlies, Count Duckula, and the fifth season (1988) of The Wind in the Willows (also known as Oh! Mr. Toad!), the logo appears on a black background in alternating blue, red, and yellow letters. The copyright symbol has also been enlarged and placed above the logo, while the copyright date is displayed in a serif font.
- This version appears on a dark blue background, with all the text on a single line, in the first season (1993) of Avenger Penguins, with clips of the show playing in a rectangle up above it. A copyright disclaimer for Granada Television is seen below in a Dom Casual font.
- On Nickelodeon airings of Count Duckula, under the logo is "in association with" and a bat-shaped Nickelodeon logo. Below those are the following names:

Debby Beece
Geoffrey Darby
Linda Khan
Geraldine Laybourne
Anne Sweeney
Scott Webb

Technique: A still, printed image.

Audio: The ending theme of the show.

Audio Variant: On Count Duckula, an extended version of the thunderclap from the end of the show's opening theme is heard and continues into a downpour of rain once it has faded into the 1969 Thames Colour Production endcap (or the 2001 FremantleMedia logo in case of current prints of the show's first season). On current prints of the show's third season, the rain is heard over the Cosgrove Hall logo instead.

Availability: Appears on all episodes of Alias the Jester, Creepy Crawlies and Count Duckula, the fifth and sixth seasons (1985 and 1990) of Danger Mouse, the fifth season (1988) of The Wind in the Willows, and the first season (1993) of Avenger Penguins.

2nd Logo (September 6, 1991-June 28, 1994)

Standard logo
Noddy's Toyland Adventures (Season 1)
Noddy's Toyland Adventures (Season 2)

Visuals: There is a down-facing triangle colored in a blue-yellow-red gradient on a white background, with the text "COSGROVE HALL" on it in alternating blue, yellow, and red letters, much like the colored variant of the previous logo. Towards the bottom of the triangle, the text "© Cosgrove Hall Productions Ltd. MCMXCI/MCMXCII" is displayed in a black serif font.

Trivia: This logo is based on the branding Thames Television used at the time; it was rather short-lived too, due to Thames losing their franchise at the end of 1992.

Variants:

An animated version appears on some episodes of the first season of Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime, entitled "Spacial Event" and "Water Boobies". The screen is white until the "COSGROVE HALL" text is wiped in from the left. The triangle itself then wipes in from above behind the text, and a spotlight shines over the logo from left to right before the copyright text "© Cosgrove Hall Productions Ltd. MCMXCI" (1991) fades in towards the bottom of it.
On the first two seasons (1992-94) of Noddy's Toyland Adventures, the logo is displayed on a black background, with either the text "PRODUCED FOR BBC ENTERPRISES" ("BBC" being the corporation's 1988 underlined logo) above it for the first season, or the text "PRODUCED FOR BBC CHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL" ("BBC CHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL" being the logo for that division) above it in the second season, with the three texts "COSGROVE HALL PRODUCTIONS LIMITED", "Based on the 'NODDY' books by Enid Blyton" (in a Dom Casual font and with "Enid Blyton" being her famous signature) and "© BBC ENTERPRISES 1992/1993/1994" ("BBC", for a third time, being the corporation's 1988 logo) displayed under it.

Technique: None. 2D effects on the animated variant.

Audio: None or the closing theme of the show.

Availability:

Appears on all episodes of Truckers and Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime on ITV, and the first two seasons (1992-94) of Noddy's Toyland Adventures on Children's BBC and UK VHS releases, respectively.
Neither of the VHS releases of the first two shows feature this logo at the end of them, as it is plastered with the still version of the 1991 Thames Video logo instead.

3rd Logo (September 16, 1994-October 2009)

Avenger Penguins (Season 2)
Fantomcat
Oakie Doke
Sooty's Amazing Adventures
Rocky and the Dodos
The Animal Shelf
Noddy's Toyland Adventures (Season 3)
Noddy's Toyland Adventures (Season 4)
The Foxbusters
Vampires, Pirates and Aliens
Engie Benjy
Doctor Who (The Invasion Animated)
Postman Pat (Seasons 3-5)
Fifi and the Flowertots (Seasons 1-2)
Roary the Racing Car (Season 1)
The Likeaballs

Visuals: There is a conglomeration of a purple square, a red down-facing triangle, a yellow circle with the word "FILMS" upon it, a purple down-facing trapezoid, a light blue curved rectangle with the word "COSGROVE" on it and a light orange trapezoid with the word "HALL" on it below.

Trivia: This logo was introduced after Cosgrove Hall had signed a new deal with Anglia Television, and it reflects the network's then-current "heraldic flag" logo, introduced in 1988.

Variants:

On the second and final season (1994) of Avenger Penguins, the logo is displayed on a backdrop of clips from the show, with "© Cosgrove Hall Films MCMXCIV" below.
On Fantomcat, the logo is displayed on the vortex background from the intro, and the text "© Cosgrove Hall Films (year in Roman numerals)" is displayed at the bottom of the screen (with a grammatical error, as the first "C" in the Roman numerals is replaced with an "X").
On Oakie Doke, the logo is displayed on a green background with "A" and "PRODUCTION" above and below it, and "© Cosgrove Hall Films Limited (year in Arabic numerals)" is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Original releases had it with the words "for" and the BBC Children's International logo below them.
On Sooty's Amazing Adventures, the logo is displayed above the Sooty International logo, which is Sooty (the orange bear puppet of Harry Corbett, who later passed him onto his son Matthew) peeping out from behind his own name.
On Rocky and the Dodos, the logo is displayed on an orange-light blue gradient background with "A Cosgrove Hall Films Production" below it, and "© 1997/1998" is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
On The Animal Shelf, the logo is displayed on an orange background with "A Cosgrove Hall Films Production" below it, and "© Cosgrove Hall Films Limited (year in Arabic numerals)" is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
On the final two seasons (1994 and 1999) of Noddy's Toyland Adventures, the logo is displayed in the same way the third one was for the first two seasons. Also, due to the fact that BBC Enterprises became BBC Worldwide in 1995, and a new logo was introduced for the corporation in 1997, the "produced for" and copyright texts that are displayed above and below the logo were changed to "A", "Production for", "BBC Worldwide", "Enid Blyton" and "Blyton Toyland", and "© BBC Worldwide and Enid Blyton Limited 1999" for the fourth and final season ("BBC", in both cases, being the corporation's then-current logo, with "Worldwide" being in the same font. "Enid Blyton" is also, again, her famous signature, as is the "Blyton" in "Blyton Toyland").
- On the French dub of season 4 of said show, the endboard is translated.
On The Foxbusters, the logo is displayed on a black-blue background above the text "Distributed by ITEL". A fox from the show then appears on the right side of the screen, looks up and screams as a barrage of eggs land upon him.
On Vampires, Pirates and Aliens (based on the book of the same name by Colin McNaughton), the logo is displayed alongside the Millimages and France Animation logos.
On Engie Benjy, the show's three main protagonists (Engie Benjy, Jollop the Dog, and Dan the Van) are standing above the logo dancing to the show's closing theme.
On the animated recreated version of part 1 and part 4 of the Doctor Who episode "The Invasion", the logo is displayed in black-and-white above the BBC's 1971 (not underlined, but slanted with round edges) logo.
On the remakes of Postman Pat (both the initial one for the third through fifth seasons, and the "Special Delivery Service" one for the sixth season), and Rupert Bear: Follow the Magic..., the logo is displayed above that of Entertainment Rights' own logo.
On both the first and second seasons of Fifi and the Flowertots and the first season of Roary the Racing Car, the logo is displayed below a decorated oval with clips of the show playing in it, with the text "A Cosgrove Hall Films Ltd." above it and "Production for Chapman Entertainment" below it.
On The Likeaballs, the logo is displayed to the left of that of "Animated Adventures and Pictures", another animation studio, which comprised of the three letters "A", "A" and "P" on a theatre-style marquee with the text "An Animated Adventures and Pictures Production" below them.

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Appears on the second and final season (1994) of Avenger Penguins, the final two seasons (1994 and 1999) of Noddy's Toyland Adventures, and most other Cosgrove Hall shows from the time period until the company's demise in 2009.

It also appears on the covers of DVD and (presumably) VHS releases of their shows, but does not appear on the actual releases themselves.
It also appears at the end of the Noddy's Toyland Adventures episode "Noddy and Father Christmas", included on the 1999 UK VHS release of Toybox Christmas Video from BBC Video.