Capella Films

Credits

Descriptions by
EnormousRat and Livin

Captures by
filmbaza.net, EnormousRat, Sagan Blob and Supermarty-o

Video captures courtesy of
Sagan Blob, Kevin Cunard, Logo Archive and Mr. Gann

Background

Capella Films was a company specialized in dealing for financing and producing films from their partners, such as Universal. They often bought either international rights, or selective territorial rights for the films. Capella International, which is related to the main division, specialized in distributing foreign films. Them, with a few partners, attempted to get a $1.3 billion bid for MGM/UA, which failed. They then shut down afterwards.

1st Logo (1991-1995?)

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Logo: On a white or gray marble background, we see a drawing of a chariot drawn by four horses, with a charioteer holding the roses back with a rope. Underneath it is a line, and the orange or golden text "CAPELLA" in a Roman-looking font.

Technique: None, just the logo fading in and out from black.

Music/Sounds: Silent.

Availability: Extremely rare. Appeared on various international prints of movies such as My Life as a Dog, My Life, Nobody's Fool, Exquisite Tenderness, and Bit Trip, most of which nowadays remove this logo or either use domestic prints with other distributors' tags on them. Can also be seen on the GoodTimes DVD of The Polar Bear King and foreign prints of The Real McCoy.

2nd Logo (1995?-early 2000s?)

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Logo: On a black background, we see a dark blue sky with water reflecting below, and a silhouette of a chariot. As the chariot zooms in, rays of light zoom from behind the view to behind of the chariot to reveal it, and the word "CAPELLA" fades in as the chariot zooms into place.

Variant: On German prints of The Peacemaker, the logo (after it's formed to place) is still.

Technique: The flashing, the sky, and logo forming to go into place.

Music/Sounds: Mostly silence, but on the international prints of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, a dramatic orchestral fanfare with drums is heard.

Availability: Rare. Expect to see this logo on German prints of The Peacemaker and international prints of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery as they are of the uncut international version. A few other examples are The Peacemaker, Music of the Heart, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Music Of The Heart. This was most recently seen on streaming prints of After the Rain and Pete's Meteor. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear on international prints of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000), and its Austin Powers sequels: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember. It is unknown if films it released such as Chamamé and Stronger than Blood have this logo, but a print logo appears on the packaging.

3rd Logo (September 25, 2003)

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Logo: We see a sunset-hued sky with water reflecting below. From a distance, we see the same chariot as before charging towards us with a trail of light below it. Once the chariot reaches a comfortable distance, it stops and the horses begin to stand on their hind legs with the sun shining behind them. The word "CAPELLA" slowly rises from below the screen and positions itself below the chariot.

Variant: There is another version with improved CGI.

Technique: The chariot riding in, rays beaming, horses moving, and the word fading in.

Music/Sounds: A majestic, but complex, orchestral fanfare, consists of stock orchestral fanfares (from Peter Siedlaczek's Orchestral Colours sample CD by Best Service), that ascends as the chariot moves forward and climaxes when it stops. There is also a version with sound effects of horses galloping and whinnying.

Availability: Rare. This logo was only known to show up on Jester Till. Plasters the MGM logo on current international prints of Shattered (1991), and the older Capella logo on the German and UK Blu-Rays of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.