Fries Distribution Company

Background

Fries Distribution Company was the distribution division of Fries Entertainment, Inc. It was originally formed in 1984 to handle syndication of third-party content, such as Tisch/Avnet, Alan Landsburg and Fries productions, such as the Fries Frame package.

1st Logo (1985-1987)

Visuals: On a black background, several beige stripes wipe across the screen left to right, right to left, and so on. These stripes shrink in height the further they go down, and they stop about two-thirds of the way down. A white Fries logo then swoops in from the left, facing the right before it folds out and rests in the middle of the bars, with a notable drop shadow around it. "FRIES DISTRIBUTION COMPANY" in a red Avant Garde font appears below, followed by a byline reading "a subsidiary of Fries Entertainment Inc." in a smaller print appearing below it.

Variants:

A filmed version of this logo exists.
On Heated Vengeance, the logo is placed on a blue/black gradient background, and "FRIES DISTRIBUTION COMPANY presents" appears in a different red font with a black drop shadow.

Technique: Analog computer animation.

Audio: A 17-note synth horn fanfare in this sequence: one held-out note, four notes played at the same pitch, the same notes played at a slightly higher pitch, and then a series of four notes played twice. All of this is played in sync with the animation.

Audio Variant: Other times, the logo is silent.

Availability: Seen on the TV movie Bill, Blue Monkey/Insect!, Heated Vengeance, and Nightstick (AKA Police Force).

2nd Logo (1986-1993)

Visuals: On a black background, a gray bar drops down which rotates to the left. Another bar drops on it, which is slightly taller and has a gap in it. More bars drop down, each getting bigger and forming a hole shaped like the Fries diamond symbol, as they slow down to face the screen head on. As the diamond-shaped hole is finished, the Fries logo, this time in 3D and colored fuchsia, comes in from the right and rotates around to fit the hole, as the last bar drops down. Below it, the white text "FRIES DISTRIBUTION COMPANY" flips in below, followed by the same Fries Entertainment byline from before in a similar style, as the bars shine.

Variants:

A short version and a warp-speed version exists.
A filmed version also exists, where the bars and logo have a metallic sheen.
A short, alternate version also exists, which is seen on Absolute Strangers (1991), where the logo forms like the Fries Entertainment logo, but the text flips in one piece.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A synth whoosh (which is usually omitted) that transitions into a triumphant synth-brass fanfare that sounds like a superhero's theme.

Audio Variants:

Otherwise, the logo is silent or has the ending theme playing over it.
On Off the Wall, it uses the second half of the 1986 Gaylord Production Company music.

Availability: Seen on syndication prints of TV movies such as Intimate Betrayal (1987), K9000, Diplomatic Immunity, Silence of the Heart, Night Angel, and more.

It was also seen on a July 29, 1995 UK airing of the 1991 TV movie Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis on BBC1.