Hyperion Pictures

Background
Hyperion Pictures (also known as Hyperion Films or Hyperion Studios or Hyperion Animation) is an American film production company founded by Thomas L. Wilhite, who had previously been the head of motion picture and television produced for and owned by The Walt Disney Company, and writer/director Willard Carroll. The company produces both live-action and animated productions such as The Brave Little Toaster and The Runestone.

A subsidiary of the company is its animation division, Hyperion Animation Company, Inc. which has produced animated feature films and television series, including its three most successful media franchises The Brave Little Toaster, The Itsy Bitsy Spider and The Oz Kids. In 1998, the company produced the film Playing by Heart for Miramax. Also, on December 9, 1998, it signed a deal with Showtime in order to develop a telemovie based on the hit book series Bad News Ballet.

On October 5, 1999, Hyperion, along with toon designer Bruce Smith, launched a joint venture Jambalaya Studio to produce shows aimed at a black audience. On September 22, 2002, Hyperion Pictures decided to expand into a memoir and a series of pulp novels into feature film production.

The studio has been dormant since 2007 but their website was recently updated in 2019 in where it was under construction. It then returned in 2020.

The company's mascot was Leslie McGroarty from Itsy Bitsy Spider, who appears in its production logo.

(December 18, 1994-August 6, 2002)
Logo: On a black/gray gradient background, we see a red rectangle with the word "HYPERION" in gold, and with a dot inside the "O". Sometimes, it has a plain black background.

Variant:


 * On the 1998 movie, Playing By Heart, the logo is on a black/blue gradient background, the rectangle is in dark red, and the text is in silver.
 * On The Oz Kids, the logo has the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" in white.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None, or the closing theme of the show/movie.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen at the end of all three The Brave Little Toaster movies, but only on VHS releases. The DVD and early VHS versions of The Brave Little Toaster doesn't have the logo at all at the end since the logo didn't exist at the time it's release. Also seen on the 2002 direct-to-video animated film The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. Some TV series, such as Bone Chillers, Life With Louie (without background light) and Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child, also have this logo. Surprisingly, this was seen at the end of the 1998 movie Playing By Heart.

Editor's Note: None.