Nukufilm

Background

Nukufilm is an Estonian animation studio established in 1957 in Tallinn. Considered one of the oldest "still-running" stop-motion companies, their releases mostly consist of animated shorts appealing to a variety of demographics.

Contents

1st Logo (June 19, 1992-March 31, 1994, August 21, 2021)	2nd Logo (September 28, 1993)	3rd Logo (September 15, 1995)	4th Logo (April 28, 1997-February 28, 2002)	5th Logo (February 28, 2002-May 1, 2017)	6th Logo (April 20, 2006-)	7th Logo (June 5, 2018-)

1st Logo (June 19, 1992-March 31, 1994, August 21, 2021)

Original
A Most Exquisite Man

Visuals: On a white background is a "N" made up of two quadrilaterals with a wide-angled slant. The right copy has a half triangle, with a sphere overlapping most of its centre, stacked on top of it. The logo's shadow is facing the bottom left and the company name does not appear.

Variant: On A Most Exquisite Man, the logo was not only remade in high-definition but the shadow was animated where it moves towards the bottom left.

Technique:

None for the original variant.
CGI for the 2021 variant.

Audio: None.

Availability: It was seen on The Smoked Sprat Baking in the Sun and Elutuba. It later made a re-appearance on A Most Exquisite Man.

2nd Logo (September 28, 1993)

Visuals: On a blue background, the logo from before is in light blue with its sphere in white. It leaps in from the left and lands in the centre of the screen. It wiggles its "tail" before staying still and blinking. Then, the company name in Arial, capitalization, and white fades in below.

Technique: Traditional animation.

Audio: A cartoony xylophone sting plays for the first half, followed by a soft string fanfare accompanied by a ding when the logo blinks and two church bells ringing.

Availability: Seen on Kapsapea.

3rd Logo (September 15, 1995)

Visuals: It is essentially a white outlined version of the previous logo on a black background.

Technique: A still, printed image.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on Humachinoid.

4th Logo (April 28, 1997-February 28, 2002)

Normal
Põrandaalune

Normal
Põrandaalune

Visuals: Inside a tube box is a timelapse sequence of the symbol from before in a rocky field with partly cloudy skies. The clouds can be seen floating away in the background of the sequence. Underneath the footage is the company name in capitalization, light blue, and a spaced out format.

Variants:

On Põrandaalune, the logo is in black and white.
On Primavera, the audio is delayed a few seconds early from the visual sequence.

Technique: Stop-motion.

Audio: A suspenseful deep note is held throughout the logo. In the middle of the sequence, a set of sound effects such as a rising drone, three voiced blubbering-like sounds, and an echoed shush are heard.

Availability: It first appeared on Somebody Else and can be seen on Põrandaalune, Back to Europe, among other short films from this period. Its last appearance was on The Stories of Jippos Happy the Hippo.

5th Logo (February 28, 2002-May 1, 2017)

Animated variant
Still variant
Small variant
Miriam's Gnome

Visuals: Two rings rotate within each other and briefly spin while gradually zooming out. The inner ring reveals itself to be a flat version of the logo from before and both rings' colours are shown to be light blue. They flatten while

Nukufilm
puppetfilm studio
Established 1957

fades in below. The zoom-out at this point is faster than before. It would then return to its normal speed before the sequence ends.

Variants:

There is a still version of this logo. It is either shown in black or white depending on the colour of the background.
Sometimes, the logo is scaled down to a small size.
On Miriam's Gnome, the logo has a white outline around it and the symbol is coloured grey.

Technique:

None for the still variant.
CGI for the animated variant.

Audio: None or the opening theme of the film.

Availability: The still version appeared on Having Soul and early Miriam shorts such as Miriam mängib peitust. The animated version made its debut on Brothers Bear Heart and was later seen on The Pearlman and the remaining Miriam shorts.

6th Logo (April 20, 2006-)

Normal
50th anniversary
No stamp
Body Memory
Early variant

Normal version
50th anniversary variant
Closing Session
Early variant

Visuals: Similar in concept to the 3rd logo, the timelapse sequence is within a square box and consists of the sun rising from the horizon. Underneath it, the letters from before flash in individually before an orange stamp, consisting of an outlined tube box with the text "Films made by hand since 1957" inside, fades in and pastes itself indirectly on the bottom right corner of the footage. When the logo fades out, the stamp's disappearance is delayed.

Variants:

The fade-out of the stamp may be delayed.
For the company's 50th anniversary, large text containing said numerals in an orange gradient draw in behind the last few letters of the company name. There is also a black and white rectangular box containing the word "year" in Estonian and English respectively.
- On Closing Session, said elements fade in.
There exists an early variant where the logo is in a sepia tone. Additionally, the logo zooms in quickly at the beginning, and the text is already formed.
On Body Memory, the logo is desaturated.

Technique: Live-action and 2D computer animation.

Audio: None.

Audio Variant: On Oracle is Born, a brief sting consisting of a rising high note is heard until the stamp appears.

Availability: It debuted on The Institute of the Dream and can be found on their newer films from the late 2000's and onwards. The 20th anniversary variant appeared on Closing Session, Inherent Obligations, Dragon of the North, and The Kings of the Time.

7th Logo (June 5, 2018-)

Visuals: This logo is similar to the one from the 4th's design but with some differences: the outer ring is thicker and coloured orange and the "Established 1957" byline is removed.

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on Captain Morten and the Spider Queen.

External Links

Official Website for Nukufilm