Lisberger Studios

Background

Lisberger Studios was founded by Steven Lisberger in 1977 to make Tron. As a cautious measure and to fund their ambitious project, their first production was the 90-minute animated TV special Animalympics. Lisberger intended to release the film independently with the help of Information International (a computer animation studio), a private backer and a distributor (Warner Bros., MGM or Columbia), but it fell through. Lisberger took the idea to Disney, who produced it in-house. Tron was ultimately released in 1982.

Logo (1977-February 1, 1980)

Visuals: Three glowing satellites are zooming in on a space background and is done twice. We then cut to the three satellites in another view, as two of them close and the one in the middle not closing. The satellite powers up and eventually shoots a beam of energy. The beam of energy is shot onto another dark background, which is where it eventually aims onto the ground of the foreground where it is shot and explodes. The energy dust from the explosion eventually morphs into Tron, which looks different from the actual film Tron (he glows yellow and has a beard and resembles a Cylon Centurion from Battlestar Galactica). He is armed with two discs and throws them into view. After a while, he eventually retrieves the discs and they turn into orbs of light. Tron crashes the orbs of light together and they explode, making them (and him as well) disappear. The logo of the company eventually appears, which is a neon reddish-pink circle and the words "LISBERGER STUDIOS INC." on top of the circle.

Trivia:

This logo was created to promote rock radio stations in the 1970's, and that respective station's logo would appear after the animation, not Lisberger's. It had also served the basis for the 1982 film Tron.
The design of the character Rinzler in Tron Legacy is a homage to this ident.

Technique: Backlit cel animation produced by the Harold Friedman Consortium.

Audio: Various whoosh and electronic sounds accompanied by an ominous choir. After Tron appears, a hard rock tune is heard.

Availability: This logo was first seen on radio station promos that used the animation to promote themselves. The regular version only appeared on Animalympics. The logo is seen as a special feature on the Tron 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition DVD and the 2010 re-release on DVD & Blu-Ray.