Marathon Media

Background

Marathon Media was a French animation studio, originally founded by Olivier Brémond and Pascal Breton in February 1990. Vincent Chalvon-Demersay joined the team in 1999 to develop Marathon's animation programming, along with David Michel. Before 2001, it was known as "Marathon Productions". The studio was acquired by Zodiak Media Group in 2007 and was folded (with a couple of other studios) into Zodiak Kids Studios in April 2015. After the merger of Zodiak and Banijay Group, the studio was not renamed, the only one to retain the Zodiak brand name.

Contents

1st Logo (September 23, 1995-2001)	2nd Logo (November 3, 2001-March 8, 2007)	3rd Logo (August 26, 2006-October 30, 2015)	4th Logo (July 22, 2009)

1st Logo (September 23, 1995-2001)

Visuals: On a faded white background, a bunch of 3D stylized "A" letters without the bars in the middle float towards the wordmark " R THO " to complete it as "MΛRΛTHON". The letters form the "M", the two "Λ"'s and the "N" respectively. The wordmark is enclosed between two blue lines, and below it is the word "P R O D U C T I O N S" in a regular font.

Variants:

There is a still version with a black background.
On The Secret World of Santa Claus, the logo rotates from the left on a black background, and is placed in a box above the CinéGroupe logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: It was seen on various cartoon series, such as Mythic Warriors and The Secret World of Santa Claus. The still version appeared on the 1995 series Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys.

2nd Logo (November 3, 2001-March 8, 2007)

Visuals: Over a black background, various white shadows merge together to form the Marathon logo (a bordered rectangle with "M A R A T H O N" inside in the Eagle Bold font). After a red light comes through, the background turns white, and the logo turns red.

Variants:

At the end of their shows, the logo forms superimposed in-credit.
A still variant exists.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An airy synth theme.

Availability: Seen at the start (and sometimes before and/or after the end credits) of some episodes of Totally Spies! on Universal Kids and previously on Cartoon Network, and Martin Mystery, which was last seen on Nicktoons in the United States. Also seen on Italian Disney Channel prints of LazyTown.

3rd Logo (August 26, 2006-October 30, 2015)

Visuals: A red oblong rectangle flips from the screen on an off-white background. The letters, which are in the same font as the previous logo, flip towards the rectangle. The letters shine, the oblong rectangle develops a white border, and the logo fades to white.

Variants:

Starting in 2010, the Zodiak Media Group byline is used with "MEDIA" slanted under the logo.
As before, the logo forms superimposed in-credit at the end of their shows.
On video games, the logo appears still.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Same as before, but with more whooshes.

Availability: Seen on Marathon-produced shows and several games based on them, including Team Galaxy, Monster Buster Club, Gormiti, and The Amazing Spiez. It also appears on current prints of pre-2007 episodes of Totally Spies!.

4th Logo (July 22, 2009)

Visuals: On a black background, there are gray silhouettes of the main Totally Spies! characters running to the right side of the screen. As they reach the center, a white line draws the same rectangle from the previous logo. When the line finally forms the rectangle, the company name and "MEDIA" fades in, and the Zodiak byline follows a few seconds later. After a few more seconds, the silhouettes return going to the left instead and much larger, obscuring the logo. When the final person comes in, the logo completely disappears.

Technique: 2D digital animation.

Audio: A dreamy theme with twinkles and a violin.

Availability: Only seen on Totally Spies! The Movie.

Marathon Media

Zodiak Kids

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