Harvey Entertainment

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

Harvey Comics was established in 1939, but didn't use a logo until the comic book publisher entered the animation arena (by purchasing the rights to many of the characters Paramount featured in its cartoon shorts) in 1959. Today, Harvey Entertainment currently remains as an in-name-only unit of DreamWorks Classics, a division of NBCUniversal. The Netflix original Harvey Girls Forever! (known as Harvey Street Kids in its first season), which ran from June 29, 2018 to January 10, 2020, was a homage to Harvey Entertainment.



1st Logo (1959-1962, September 17, 1994-2001)


Visuals: There is a white background, with the letter "H" on it. Then, the screen zooms out to reveal a TV tube (ala the first Screen Gems logo) and some Harvey characters (including Casper, Little Audrey, Baby Huey, Buzzy the Crow, Herman and Katnip and Tommy Tortoise and Moe Hare) and then it pops goes a tube, Harvey the clown appears at the top. "HARVEY FILMS" in a birthday party lettering is revealed. The logo is on a pink background. Sometimes, "HARVEY FILMS" turns into "HARVEYTOON". The closing variant has the logo playing in reverse.

Variants:

  • Originally, the 1950-1959 Paramount cartoons were aired on ABC as part of Matty's Funday Funnies. As part of that program, the described logo was originally shown in black and white and it featured the show's logo instead of the letter "H". After Beany and Cecil replaced Casper and the other Harveytoons on the second season in 1962, the shorts were reran in syndication and used the color variant of the logo with the "H" on the TV tube.
  • Another variant of this logo was used for The Harveytoons Show starting in 1998. Instead of "Harvey Films", the "Harveytoon" text is always presented. The logo is on an orange background and the characters, along with the clown, are drawn in a more "modern" version, plus marking the first appearance of Wendy and Spooky in this logo. This variant was last used in 2001.
    • This is also incorporated into the show's intro, where's also confetti falling off of it.

Technique: Hand-drawn animation by Paramount Cartoon Studios.

Audio: The opening/ending theme of the cartoon.

Audio Variant: On one Greek DVD release of Herman and Katnip cartoons, a modern-sounding abridged rarrangement of the 1955-1965 Noveltoons theme is heard.

Availability: It appears on TV prints of post-October 1950 and pre-November 1959 Paramount cartoons, replacing the original Paramount logo (the rest of the 1959-1962 cartoons, while also under Harvey, were instead included on The New Casper Cartoon Show where they got opening logos as part of that series).

  • The closing variant is followed by the 1979 Worldvision Enterprises logo on early 1980s syndicated prints.
  • The 1998 Harveytoons Show variant can be seen on a number of shorts featured in Casper and Company on MeTV Toons, while occasionally a Harvey Films version may also pop up.
  • "Boo Hoo Baby" (1951) and "Fishing Tackler" (1957) ended up on MeTV Toons airing in an old B&W master with the Matty's Funday Funnies version of the logo.

2nd Logo (October 5, 1963-1969)

Visuals: Over a black (1963-1966) or blue (1966-1969) background, there is a TV tube with the letter "H" on it. Then Harvey the Clown from the Harvey Films logo appears at the top of the TV tube to reveal "Harvey Funnies" in a similar lettering as the Harvey Films logo.

Variant: On the blue background variant (which was made for color), the color of Harvey the clown and the "H" TV tube is the same used for the Harvey Films logo.

Technique: Hand-drawn animation by Paramount Cartoon Studios.

Audio: A 8-note comedy tune.

Availability: It was originally seen on The New Casper Cartoon Show in black & white (1963-1966) and in color (1966-1969) on ABC.

3rd Logo (1990-1994)


Visuals: On a purple-pink gradient background, there is the TV tube with the letter "H" on it and Harvey the Clown appearing from it (which is reused animation from the Harvey Films logo). Then it zooms out on the left and the "ARVEY" appears letter-by-letter on turquoise squares. After this, "COMICS ENTERTAINMENT © [YEAR]" appears below it.

Technique: Hand-drawn animation (recycled from the Harvey Films logo) by Paramount Cartoon Studios.

Audio: None, or the ending of the show.

Availability:

  • It's seen at the end of Harveytoon tapes released by MCA/Universal Home Video around this time period.
  • It was also seen on a syndicated package of Harveytoons titled Casper and Friends, a DVD of which was released in the United Kingdom by Right Entertainment/Universal in January 2005, in which this logo is preserved.

4th Logo (September 17, 1994-1995)


Visuals: On a blue background, there is the face of Harvey the Clown, overlapping a yellow-orange seal at the top of the screen. Over the clown are the words "The Harvey Entertainment Company", with "Est. 1939" above "Entertainment Company". Below it is the copyright disclaimer for Harvey Comics.

Technique: A still, hand-drawn graphic.

Audio: The final bars of the abridged re-arrangement of the 1955-1965 Noveltoons theme (heard in the Greek Harveytoons DVD)

Availability: It only made appearances on two shows - the first season of The Baby Huey Show, and a syndicated web series of classic Casper cartoons called Casper Classics, on which this logo is intact on Universal/Classic Media's Spooky Collection and Spooky Collection 2 DVDs from the UK.

5th Logo (May 26, 1995-October 31, 2000)


Visuals: On a black background, there is the same Harvey seal logo from before, but with a white outline around it and shifted to the left. To the right of the seal, the following text, in red, appears via a wipe effect:

The Harvey
Entertainment
Company

Finally, Harvey winks.

Variants:

  • On the video game of said movie, the logo is still.
  • On season 1 and early season 2 episodes of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, the words "A UNIVERSAL CARTOON STUDIOS PRODUCTION", in Universal's corporate logo font, fade in underneath the logo as the company name wipes in.
  • On one episode of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, the logo was shown on the left while the Universal Cartoon Studios logo was shown on the right. Plus, the company name is already there.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The closing theme of the show or movie.

Audio Variants:

  • On the video game of said movie, the opening theme of the game is heard.
  • On Casper's Haunted Christmas, the logo is silent.
  • On The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, a one second harp interlude, followed by a circus show-like sounding fanfare in 7 notes with jingle bells at the end, plays.
  • Season 2 episodes of The Baby Huey Show and early season one episodes of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper use the 1955-1965 Noveltoons re-arrangement from the previous logo.

Availability:

  • The standard version was originally seen on the 1995 film adaptation of Casper (the still version can also be seen on the video game of said movie for PlayStation, Saturn, and 3DO), early season 1 episodes of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper and season 2 of The Baby Huey Show.
  • The variant with the UCS text originally appeared on the first season (since episode 7) and early season 2 episodes of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper and is intact on VHS releases.
  • However, it is plastered by the variant of the next logo on the DVD releases of said show.
  • The standard version can also be seen on Casper's Haunted Christmas. The UK DVD release from Carlton Video doesn't have it on the film itself, however it appears at the end of a making-of featurette and a trailer for the film, where it is intact on said DVD.

6th Logo (1995-2001)


Visuals: There is a blue curtain background, which then opens to reveal the face of Harvey the Clown on a yellow background, and he winks his eye. Then he zooms out to reveal the yellow seal with "Est. 1939" on it with the words "HARVEY TOONS" underneath it. The word "TOONS" takes on the bottom-right of the seal, and it is in sky blue while "HARVEY", in red, is on the bottom-left of the seal. After the logo forms, at the top of the company name, the URL "harvey.com" appears. Harvey the clown shakes his right bell on the jester hat. There is a yellow light surrounding the logo.

Variants:

  • An almost still version of the logo can be seen at the beginning of the 1996 version of Richie Rich, before the intro, where Harvey the clown just winks his eye.
  • On The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, it's also a still logo and the website URL is not there, while the Harvey face winks his eye but also shakes his right bell of the hat. Plus, the logo is smaller to make room for the words "& A UNIVERSAL CARTOON STUDIOS PRODUCTION", again in Universal's corporate logo font, in stacked words and in red underneath.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio:

  • The circus show fanfare as heard on most of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper is also used on this logo. A winking sound is also used when the Harvey face first pops out from the curtain and winks his eye.
  • No music is heard on the 1996 Richie Rich series, just Harvey's eye winking.

Availability:

  • It was originally seen at the end of The Harveytoons Show and the 1996 version of Richie Rich.
  • The variant with the UCS text was seen on S2-4 episodes of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper on syndication.
  • Volume 1 and 2 DVD releases (which plasters the previous logo), as well as the VHS releases of said show also have the variant intact.

7th Logo (September 9, 1997-2001)


Visuals: On a black background, the words "THE HARVEY ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY", in sky blue and red respectively, scroll from the right to the left of the screen. The Harvey Clown trademark is revealed, winking. He then takes his place on a yellow seal with "Est. 1939" in a small script. Below it, the now-stacked words

THE
HARVEY
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY

reappear. The word "HARVEY" shines brightly twice.

Variants:

  • On Casper: Spirit Dimensions, it was a still logo and the text is shifted up a bit. Plus, the yellow seal is plain yellow and "Est. 1939" is not there.
  • On Casper: Friends Around the World, the logo is still and on a white background with a copyright notice underneath the text.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A horn-driven orchestral fanfare. None for the still version.

Audio Variant: On Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure, the logo is silent.

Availability: It debuted on Casper: A Spirited Beginning and also appears on Casper Meets Wendy, Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure and Richie Rich's Christmas Wish. The still version appears on Casper: Spirited Dimensions for GameCube and PlayStation 2.

8th Logo (Europe only) (2006)

Visuals: On a white background is the usual Harvey-in-the-seal logo on the left of the screen and to the right of it is the text "HARVEY". Copyright information is seen at the bottom of the screen.

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: It appeared on the video game Casper and the Ghostly Trio, released only in Europe.

Paramount Cartoons (1950-1962)
Harvey Entertainment
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