King Features Syndicate (1960-1981)

Credits

Descriptions by
James Fabiano, Nicholas Aczel, Jess Williams, Argus Sventon, Stephen Cezar and Henrynguye5

Captures by
Eric S., Bob Fish, snelfu, V of Doom, Mr. Logo Lord, GrischaDJ TWO (Grig2007) and others

Editions by
V of Doom, Eric S., Bob Fish, Kramden II, Henrynguye5, TheRealMarcel2000 and Michael Kenchington

Video captures courtesy of
Phasicblu, Eric S., Stephen Cezar, KeenRich, Guy Who Knows Too Much, Broken Saw and LogicSmash

Background

After licensing films to other studios prompted King Features Syndicate to destroy the negatives within ten years, King Features Syndicate branched out on its own, setting up its own film and television subsidiary in 1960 with Al Brodax as head of the studio. His first projects were Popeye the Sailor, with 200 new shorts, as well as a contract with Paramount Cartoon Studios and other studios. Brodax quit in 1969, and shut down its film and TV division for good, and licensing products to other studios.

1st Logo (June 10, 1960-1963)

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Visuals: In the center of a blue background is an image reminiscent of the mythical Bellorophon riding Pegasus or a man riding some winged beast. He is holding a quill pen. On both sides of the image are ribbons with the company's name. "KING FEATURES" is on the left ribbon and "SYNDICATE" is on the right. Below the Pegasus is a monitor-shaped box that says "TV". The word "Presents" appears under the opening logo in white script. Then, a star spins towards the screen from the center of the logo as it fades out. When it stops, Popeye appears in it and toots his pipe, followed by the title screen and credits.

Variant: On reruns of The All-New Popeye Hour on the Family Channel, the logo was sped-up for time compressing.

Closing Title: At the end, the white quill pen writes out "The End" in script, then the script slides to the left as the quill flips to the right to rejoin the logo as it fades in.

Technique: Traditional animation.

Audio:

• Opening: An abridged version of the generic cartoon sailor song "The Sailor's Hornpipe" (played on what sounds like a flute), leading into an abridged version of Popeye the Sailor Man which plays over the credits. On Barbecue for Two and Hits and Missels (the first two cartoons of the 60's series), however, the Famous Studios version of the theme song is heard.
• Closing: The end to "The Sailor's Hornpipe". Some Rembrahndt Films Popeye cartoons replaces it with a peppy version of the end of the Popeye the Sailor Man theme song.

Availability:

• This logo may be preserved on the DVD release of the made-for TV KFS Popeye cartoons of the 1960s.
• The logo also made a surprise return at the end of some reruns of some 1st season episodes of The All-New Popeye Hour, following the 1974 H-B "Rainbow" logo, as well as an opening logo for syndicated prints of seasons 2-4 of The All-New Popeye Hour as seen on Tubi (excluding the Valentine's day special).

2nd Logo (October 6, 1963-1964)

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Visuals: On a specific color background (grey, teal, lavender, pistachio, light grey, or sky blue), a small yellow or gold rectangle in the center of the screen zooms in in a spinning manner. The three spikes in the crown pop up one by one from left to right. The word “King” appears on the crown in an old-world font, with the “K” being colored a bold red. The “King” spins and settles on the below left of the screen, and the words “Features” and “Syndicate” (the first letter in each also colored bold red) appear to the right of it and “PRESENTS” (in either black or red) below. This logo leads into the title screen and opening credits for the cartoon that follows.

Closing Titles:

• A different color background (blue, lavender, grey, light grey, or pistachio) background, but the crown is in the upper left corner, and below it are written the stacked words “A KING FEATURES SYNDICATE PRODUCTION”, with the bold grey/white word “TV” written behind it to hence "A KING FEATURES SYNDICATE TV PRODUCTION". This can be seen on cartoons that are animated at Jack Kinney Productions, Rembrahndt Films, Artransa Park Film Studios, Joseph Oriolo Animation (G&H Films, Inc.), among others.
• A crown-less version of the aforementioned closing title is seen on some Krazy Kat cartoons.
• Cartoons produced at Paramount Pictures Cartoon Studios will have the “Produced by Paramount Pictures Corporation” credit written in it's signature font on the bottom right, with the "KING FEATURES SYNDICATE TV PRODUCTION" words moved on the top left, above and next to the crown.

Technique: Traditional cel animation. None for the closing variant.

Audio:

• Opening: A horn and xylophone fanfare that syncs with the animation, leading into the cartoon short theme music.
• Closing: A horn and percussion fanfare, which varies depending on the cartoon.

Availability:

• It first appeared on the 1963 Beetle Bailey cartoon Labor Shortage. In addition to Beetle Bailey, the Barney Google and Snuffy Smith and Krazy Kat cartoons on syndicated TV in the 1960s (sometimes referred to as the "King Features Trilogy") all used this logo.
• Some cartoon shorts that originally appeared in the series were released on three VHS volumes of Rhino Home Video’s “Sunday Morning Funnies”: Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, Beetle Bailey, and Krazy Kat.
• DVD and streaming site releases (like Tubi) of these cartoons may preserve the logos (the logo has also been retained on the Krazy Kat Kartoon Kollection DVD box set released by Koch Vision in 2003).
• Air Music and Media Group plc's DVD releases of Beetle Bailey also have the closing logo intact, followed by the 1985 King Features Entertainment logo, but the opening logo is removed.

3rd Logo (1963-1970)

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The Beatles title card variant

Visuals: Against a white (grey in B&W) background, there is a rectangle with a equilateral triangle in the center, along with two triangles on either side with one curved on the each side. On the lower left hand corner and upper right hand corner of the rectangle, there are two dots. The dot on the lower left drops and explodes into 8 small dots and 5 larger dots. The triangle on the left side drops along with the other dot. The triangle blossoms like a fan into a flower shape, while the other two triangles drop and form an hexagon shaped by six triangles, except the upper triangle is missing. Then at one point is the four "pieces" of the KFS logo on the screen, before they suddenly "multiply" and jump all over the screen, finally forming the KFS crown logo (which is either fully black in B&W, or the tips are orange when in color), which shrinks and moves to the upper left of the screen above the words "KING FEATURES PRESENTS" (It is ID'ed as "A KING FEATURES PRESENTATION" at the end of some TV shows).

Variant: A short variant exists where the logo starts with the crown formed. The music is also shortened and rearranged to include an alternate take of the big band portion.

Technique: Traditional animation. Each piece of animation is synced with the music.

Audio: The theme begins with simple horn notes during the dropping phase. Then, big band music is heard while all of the shapes jump all over the screen and during the formation of the KFS crown.

Audio Variant: Other times, the opening or end theme may play over the logo.

Audio Trivia: This music was eventually adapted into the title card music for The Beatles cartoon.

Availability:

• This logo appeared on the animated cartoon series The Beatles and Cool McCool on network TV.
• It was also seen on television prints of Columbia Pictures' Blondie movies; they're retained on Movies! prints (followed by the 1981 King Features Entertainment logo), as well as on VHS releases from NPS Home Video.
• This logo can be found on the DVD release of Cool McCool from BCI/Eclipse, and may also turn up on a few public domain DVD releases of Blondie and Beetle Bailey.
• Tubi prints of Cool McCool also retain this logo.

4th Logo (October 7, 1972)

Visuals: Over a blue background is on the right a crudely-drawn crown encapsulated inside a Worldvision-like radar globe, with a large quill behind it. Below, there are the words “King Features” in a bold font aligned to the left.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: The only known record of its existence is on the original broadcast of the 1972 ABC Saturday Superstar Movie Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter.

5th logo (September 10, 1979-1981)

Visuals: On a blue background, there is a text: "A King Features Syndicate Presentation" in white.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: A groovy tune, which is stock music ("Good Times" by Keith Mansfield).

Availability: It was seen on the 1979-80 Filmation series of Flash Gordon, seasons 2-4 of The All-New Popeye Hour, and syndicated reruns of the 1960s KFS cartoons.

King Features Syndicate (1960-1981)

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