NCircle Entertainment

Background

NCircle Entertainment is an American DVD distributor focused on children's programming that was founded in 2006. It is a division of Alliance Entertainment (unrelated to the Canadian company of the same name) and is based in Irvine, California. The company is known for their issues of Cookie Jar Entertainment properties.

Contents

1st Logo (2006-2007)	2nd Logo (2007-2013)	3rd Logo (2013-)

1st Logo (2006-2007)

Visuals: Just the NCircle Entertainment print logo, with "NCiRCLE" in a paintbrush-like font in a yellow ring, on a white background.

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Appears on early NCircle releases including the DVD release of Mario's Movie Madness.

2nd Logo (2007-2013)

Visuals: Over a gray/light blue striped background, there is the orange "N" from the previous logo moving and turning around, before the camera cuts to a yellow ring bouncing from the left. The "N" then runs away from the yellow ring. It comes to the left and briefly stops in place, before continuing to run away from the ring. It comes to the front of the screen. The yellow ring comes to the back of the "N", and drops like a coin as "CiRCLE" appears from the right letter by letter, then the word "entertainment" slides from the right.

Variant: There is a Stay Tuned bumper variant (that usually comes after the logo) where there’s a bubbly background. It shows the NCircle Entertainment print logo shifted down a little, and the words "STAY AROUND AFTER THE PROGRAM TO SEE PREVIEWS OF MORE GREAT SHOWS FROM" are shown above the logo. At least two variants of this exist.

Technique: CGI by motion designer Ryan Hartsell, using Cinema4D and Adobe After Effects for compositing.

Audio: A soft pop tune with a handclap beat and a synth-piano section, ending with chimes on the final piano section. A car horn is heard as the "N" stops in place, as well as a child's laugh near the end, and after the music ends another child says, "NCircle".

Audio Variants:

During the logo's early days, both the child's laugh and the dialogue are absent.
On some releases from 2007 to 2008, both the aforementioned laugh and aforementioned dialogue are slightly delayed.

Availability:

Appears on many DIC Entertainment and Cookie Jar releases, including several DVD releases of the Super Mario Bros. cartoons including these: Box Office Mario, Air Koopa, Mario Spellbound, Once Upon a Koopa, and Mario Bros. Mix (limited edition only).
It also appears on DVD releases of The Legend of Zelda, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Underground, Horseland, and Heathcliff.
It also appears on DVD releases of other programs, including The Wiggles, Pocoyo, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Sid the Science Kid, Dive Olly Dive!, Dino Dan, Animal Atlas, WordWorld, Chloe's Closet, and The Gruffalo, among others, all in the USA and Canada.

3rd Logo (2013-)

Visuals: On a white background, an orange N, in a bold font instead of a child-like font, appears with a yellow firework while the word "Circle" appears letter-by-letter. The color of the fireworks are: blue and yellow, yellow and white, blue and red, pink, sky blue, and transparent. When the logo finishes the word "entertainment" appears, and many of the 2D fireworks randomly appear, the yellow ring appears via a bouncing effect, and a lime green firework appears.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A drumroll to start off, followed by a 7-note happy tune. Then, a twinkling noise and the child from the previous logo once again saying "NCircle" (which, for some strange reason, includes the tail end of the piano chord) are heard.

Availability:

Appears on current NCircle Entertainment releases, such as Llama Llama Red Pajama.
It is also seen on their YouTube channel.
It also appears on the Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go DVD releases in the USA and Canada, respectively, starting with "Time for Teamwork!"