Davidson & Associates: Difference between revisions

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Background

Davidson & Associates (or simply Davidson) was an educational software company founded in 1982 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan Davidson and headquartered in Torrance, California. During the mid-90's, the company acquired several smaller game developers, such as Blizzard Entertainment, Funnybone Interactive and Animation Magic.

In July 1996, Davidson, alongside Sierra On-Line, was acquired by CUC International for $1.8 billion and was the base of the subsequently formed CUC Software (later Cendant Software and Havas Interactive). In October 1998, Davidson was merged with fellow studio Knowledge Adventure, and in the process divested Blizzard Entertainment, which later became a division of Vivendi Universal Games.

1st Logo (1994-1996)

Visuals: On a black background, a red scribble is drawn in. "Davidson" is written first in a childish font, then morphs into a serif-type "Davidson" and the scribble morphs into a red "D" shape.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Sketching sounds followed by a synth orchestra.

Availability: Generally seen on Davidson's product previews, which were bundled with their games.

2nd Logo (1996-1997)

Visuals: On a white background, all the letters of "Davidson" walk and bounce in from the right side of the screen, all scattered in a crowd. Then, the red "D" shape from the previous logo slams down and sends all the letters flying, before they all fall down one-by-one in their normal positions.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A bunch of high-pitched chattering from the letters. A voice says "Here we go.", and there is a boing sound as the "D" falls down and a "Whee!" from all the letters as they fly away, followed by a synthesized tune as they re-appear, a "Ta-da!" and then them laughing.

Availability: It was seen on games such as Mega Math Blaster.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{PageCredits|capture=Camenati|edits=TrademarkMagic04‎|video=Guyus the Raptor}}
 ===Background===
-'''Davidson & Associates''' (or simply '''Davidson''') was an educational software company headquartered in Torrance, California. It was merged with [[Knowledge Adventure]] in 1999.
+'''Davidson & Associates''' (or simply '''Davidson''') was an educational software company founded in 1982 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan '''Davidson''' and headquartered in Torrance, California. During the mid-90's, the company acquired several smaller game developers, such as [[Blizzard Entertainment]], [[Funnybone Interactive]] and [[Animation Magic]].
+In July 1996, Davidson, alongside [[Sierra Entertainment|Sierra On-Line]], was acquired by CUC International for $1.8 billion and was the base of the subsequently formed CUC Software (later Cendant Software and Havas Interactive). In October 1998, Davidson was merged with fellow studio [[Knowledge Adventure]], and in the process divested Blizzard Entertainment, which later became a division of [[Vivendi Games|Vivendi Universal Games]].
-===1st Logo (Early 1990s?-1999?)===
+===1st Logo (1994-1996)===
-'''Logo:''' On a black background, a {{color|red}} scribble is drawn in. "Davidson" is written first in a childish font, in which it then morphs into "Davidson" and the scribble morphs into a {{color|red}} "D" shape.
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
+Davidson and Associates (1995) (From - Davidson and Associates CD-Rom Previews).png
+</gallery>
+'''Visuals:''' On a black background, a red scribble is drawn in. "Davidson" is written first in a childish font, then morphs into a serif-type "Davidson" and the scribble morphs into a red "D" shape.
-'''FX/SFX:''' The logo drawing and morphing.
+'''Technique:''' 2D animation.
-'''Music/Sounds:''' Sketching sounds followed by a cheesy synth orchestra.
+'''Audio:''' Sketching sounds followed by a synth orchestra.
-'''Availability:''' Rare. Generally seen on Davidson's product previews which were bundled with their games.
+'''Availability:'''  Generally seen on Davidson's product previews, which were bundled with their games.
-===2nd Logo (Mid 1990s?-1999?)===
+===2nd Logo (1996-1997)===
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
+Davidson and Associates (1996) (From - Mega Math Blaster).png
+</gallery>
 {{YouTube|id=xEmKPOzzqXM}}
-'''Logo:''' On a white background, all the letters of "Davidson" walk and bounce in from the right side of the screen, all scattered in a crowd. Then, the {{color|red}} "D" shape from the previous logo slams down and sends all the letters flying, before they all fall down one-by-one in their normal positions.
+'''Visuals:''' On a white background, all the letters of "Davidson" walk and bounce in from the right side of the screen, all scattered in a crowd. Then, the red "D" shape from the previous logo slams down and sends all the letters flying, before they all fall down one-by-one in their normal positions.
-'''FX/SFX:''' The letters and shapes moving.
-'''Music/Sounds:''' A bunch of high-pitched chattering from the letters. A voice says "Yoo-hoo!", and there is a boing sound as the "D" falls down and a "Whee!" from all the letters as they fly away, followed by a synthesized tune as they re-appear, a "Ta-da!" and then them laughing.
-'''Availability:''' Was seen on games such as ''Mega Math Blaster''.
-===3rd Logo (1990's?)===
-'''Logo:''' On a {{color|darkblue|dark blue}} background, a black or {{color|purple}} rectangle with the Simon & Schuster logo flies up spinning as a crooked {{color|yellow}} rectangle with the Davidson logo does the same thing. The rectangles then come towards the screen, soon going onto their own tracks and stop spinning, with the corner of the {{color|yellow}} rectangle overlapping the black rectangle. The logo then flashes.
-'''FX/SFX:''' The rectangles spinning.
+'''Technique:''' 2D animation.
+'''Audio:''' A bunch of high-pitched chattering from the letters. A voice says "Here we go.", and there is a boing sound as the "D" falls down and a "Whee!" from all the letters as they fly away, followed by a synthesized tune as they re-appear, a "Ta-da!" and then them laughing.
-'''Music/Sounds:''' A rising synth theme followed by a bang.
-'''Availability:''' Very rare. This was seen on [[Simon & Schuster Interactive|Simon & Schuster]] collaborations. Products with this include ''Chicka Chicka Boom Boom''. A cleaner version appeared on a demo.
+'''Availability:''' It was seen on games such as ''Mega Math Blaster''.
 [[Category:American video game logos]]
-[[Category:American logos]]
+[[Category:United States]]
 [[Category:Video game logos]]
-[[Category:Activision Blizzard]]
+[[Category:American education logos]]
+[[Category:Education logos]]
+[[Category:Knowledge Adventure]]