FilmFair

Background

FilmFair was an animation studio founded by Gus Jekel in 1968 in Los Angeles, California. Jekel had asked Graham Clutterbuck to open an office in Europe, so he opened one in Paris and later moved the office to London. The company's productions over the years include Paddington Bear, Astro Farm, The Legend of White Fang, and The Wombles. In 1987, the company was acquired by Central Independent Television. Central sold FilmFair to the Storm Group in 1991, and FilmFair's American branch was acquired by AGC (which was purchased by Discovery Communications (now WBD) in 2003). In 1996, Storm Group sold FilmFair London to the Canada-based CINAR. CINAR later got into a financial scandal in 2000, and CINAR was sold to an investor group who changed the name to Cookie Jar Entertainment in 2004. Currently, the FilmFair London library is now owned by WildBrain.

1st Logo (February 12, 1968-1976)

Logo: On a yellow square, we see a carousel horse and either next to the square or below the square, we see the words "Produced by FilmFair, London" in black. Sometimes, the copyright will be below.

Variants:

The Wombles used different variants for every episode. See this page this page for more information.

Technique: Varies depending on the show - either stop-motion animation, cel-animation, or none.

Music/Sounds: None or the ending theme of the show.

Availability:

It can be found on most shows from FilmFair produced during this time period.
They also remain intact on VHS and DVD, as it's an in-credit logo.

2nd Logo (1996-May 1, 1999, September 3-December 17, 2001)

Logo: We see a black background with "Digital restoration by INTERNATIONAL IMAGE and CINAR STUDIOS". Then a carousel with blue windows, yellow flags and a red top is seen. "FilmFair" in dark blue letters with sparks around it, appears. "ANIMATION" is under it in a red, green, and blue pattern. It either cuts or fades to the CINAR or Cookie Jar logos.

Variants:

On the remastered version of Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings, a variant featuring a cloud background is used, while the carousel is seen spinning.
The text at the beginning may be superimposed in the remastered version of season 1 of Paddington Bear.
On the 1996 revival of The Wombles, the logo appears in-credit, without the text.
On The Upstairs Downstairs Bears, the logo is shown below the Imagination Production logo.
On some shows, "Digital restoration by INTERNATIONAL IMAGE and CINAR STUDIOS" doesn't appear.

Technique: Simple fade transitions, or for the animated variant, simple animation.

Music/Sounds: None or the ending theme of the show.

Availability:

Appears affixed to the end of remastered versions of the company's shows such as Paddington Bear, The Wombles, The Adventures of Portland Bill, Nellie the Elephant, Bangers and Mash, and Huxley Pig, respectively.
It also later appeared on CINAR's revival of The Wombles and The Upstairs Downstairs Bears on the former Teletoon and TBN's digital subchannel Smile, respectively as well.