Woodland Animations Ltd

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

Woodland Animations was founded in 1973 by Ivor Wood, who had previously directed several programs from Filmfair Animation. During the 1980s it produced several stop-motion animated cartoon series for the BBC, such as Postman Pat (1981-2017), Gran (1983), Bertha (1985-86) and Charlie Chalk (1988-89). The company closed in 2001 after being bought out by Entertainment Rights.



1st Logo (November 4, 1981-September 27, 1982, 1990)


Visuals: There is the Woodland Animations symbol - a circle with a hilly woodland scene covering the upper half and a handwritten "WA" on the lower half - superimposed over the credits scene with "Produced by" above the logo and "Woodland Animations Ltd" below the logo. The writing is rendered in Bauhaus.

Trivia: This logo accompanied a revised set of opening and closing titles to Postman Pat, which were introduced after Royal Mail granted Woodland Animations permission to use their logo on Pat's van.

Variant: On Postman Pat's ABC and Postman Pat's 123, the production year is added below "Woodland Animations Ltd".

Technique: A fade effect overlaid onto either stop motion animation or cel animation.

Audio: The ending theme of the show.

Availability:

  • Originally aired during the final six episodes of Postman Pat's first season, but also later went on to plaster an in-credit notice on later releases.
  • The variant appears on Postman Pat's ABC and Postman Pat's 123.
  • This logo also appears on Spanish DVD releases of Postman Pat (season 1), which is then followed by the 2000 HIT Entertainment logo.

2nd Logo (April 1, 1985-June 18, 1986)

Visuals: In a warehouse, the camera pans to a specific series of crates. A small red one in the background has a colourised version of the symbol from the previous logo printed onto it, whereas a larger brown crate in the foreground has two labels; a green one with "Produced by WOODLAND ANIMATIONS LTD" written on it in white, and a smaller white label with "© WOODLAND ANIMATIONS LTD./MCMLXXXV"

Technique: Stop motion animation.

Audio: The end theme of Bertha.

Availability:

  • Was only seen at the end of Bertha.
  • The logo is retained on the episodes that have been given a DVD release.
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