ITC Film Distributors Ltd.

Credits

Descriptions by
Matt Williams and Supermarty-o

Captures by
Eric. S, and Supermarty-o

Editions by
mr3urious, indycar and Henrynguye5

Video captures courtesy of
LogicSmash and luke2505

Background

ITC Film Distributors Ltd. was the film distribution division of ITC Entertainment. The studio only distributed films in their native United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. Most of the studio's films are currently owned by ITV. It was closed down in 1987.

1st Logo (March 27, 1978-1982)

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Nicknames: "The Tri-Pinwheels", "ITC Pinwheels"

Logo: On a black background, three pinwheels come up and move around randomly. The three then converge, and for each of them one of the opposite pairs of sails merge into one, leaving three stacked diamonds, or the ITC logo without the letters (the first set from the left is brown, the second green, and the third light brown). The second and third slide left into the first set, and become a three-dimensional version of the design, with "I" in the top diamond, "T" in the middle and "C" in the bottom diamond. The words "FILM DISTRIBUTORS LIMITED" appear to the right immediately after the flash.

Variants:

• On the Vestron Video VHS release of The Norsemen, the logo is blacked out but the theme can still be heard due to sloppy editing. This is seen before the 1973 American International Pictures logo.
• A shortened version exists that has the ITC "diamond" and text already formed. This primarily appears on trailers of films.
• There is also a version where the entire logo has a light blue tint. The ITC logo is also larger in this version.

FX/SFX: The pinwheels spinning, moving, and morphing into the diamonds. Probably cel animation, which actually looks pretty neat for it's time.

Music/Sounds: An orchestral flute piece that switches to a bombastic orchestral fanfare. Sometimes it's silent or out of sync with the animation.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The music was sourced from two separate tracks from the Bruton Music library, "Destiny" (composed by Keith Mansfield) and "Endeavour" (composed by John A. Coleman). "Destiny" was also used for the MGM/UA Home Video coming attractions bumper, and "Endeavour" appears in the 1980 Gold Key Entertainment logo.

Availability: Near extinction until recently.

• This logo was only seen on UK 35mm release prints of ITC productions and titles they only distributed. Used in conjunction with the next logo below until at least mid-1982. Films that originally had this include Porridge: The Film, The Big Sleep, The Muppet Movie, Saturn 3, Hawk the Slayer, and the Space: 1999 films Destination: Moonbase Alpha (where this logo debuted), later 35mm UK theatrical prints of Invasion UFO (1976 compilation movie), as well as early theatrical prints of Cosmic Princess and Journey Through the Black Sun.
• This logo may have been seen on pre-certification VHS releases by ITC Home Video.
• It remains intact on the current UK digital/HDTV airings, as well as the Second Sight UK BD, of Gregory's Girl, (which had the next logo below on UK 35mm release prints and the original pre-cert Hokushin Audio Visual VHS release), and the theatrical trailer for The Evictors on the US Shout Factory Blu-Ray of said film. It is allegedly intact on the Network UK BDs of the Space: 1999 films Destination: Moonbase Alpha and the 1976 Invasion UFO compilation movie.

Editor's Note: A favourite among many thanks to the animation and music, though some may be dizzy due to the spinning pinwheels.

2nd Logo (1981-1987)

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Nickname: "ITC Rainbow"

Logo: We start off on a black screen with a red star engulfing the screen. The star zooms out and changes to yellow, then blue, then pink, light blue, and then green. The star then reappears with a rapidly spinning pattern inside it. A light gray bar of light with rainbow coloured rays fades in and the star disappears. The light bar moves slowly like it's scanning before drawing, as more stars sparkle in the background. As the light bar moves to the bottom, a star flashes in the middle and a light gray box with a rainbow is wiped in from the top, replicating the light bar's pattern. The rays disappear one by one in a random fashion and the ITC logo and "FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD." fade in below the box and the box has finished drawing, revealing it has different sized lines at the end of the rainbow.

FX/SFX: The star zooming, the bar moving and the rainbow forming are all early CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A beautiful orchestral fanfare composed by John Barry, which was originally used as the theme for Raise the Titanic. Sometimes, it is silent or out of sync with the animation.

Availability: Until just recently, this logo was near extinction and was thought to be lost to elusive UK theatrical prints and VHS copies.

• Like the previous logo, this one was only seen on UK 35mm release prints of ITC productions and titles they only distributed from 1982-1987. Films that had logo include The Great Muppet Caper, The Salamander, The Evil that Men Do, Green Ice, Where the Boys Are '84, etc. It may have been seen on UK theatrical prints of the 1984 Little Nemo pilot film (which was billed as a short feature at some screenings of the Canadian movie Running Brave, also distributed by ITC). Appeared on the 1983 pre-cert Guild Home Video VHS release of Cujo, the original pre-cert Hokushin Audio Visual VHS releases of Gregory's Girl, Q: The Winged Serpent, and the Videospace UK VHS of La Traviata (1982).
• Like the previous logo, it may have been seen on other pre-certification VHS releases by ITC Home Video.
• This logo has most recently surfaced on the UK Network Blu-ray of Whoops Apocalypse (1986). It is also reportedly present on the Network UK BDs of the Space: 1999 movies Cosmic Princess and Journey Through the Black Sun (which had the previous logo on some early UK theatrical copies).

Editor's Note: Though it's not as well-known as the previous logo, the animation is still pretty good for its time.