Living Books: Difference between revisions

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Background

Living Books was a series of interactive multimedia CD-ROMs consisting of both adaptations and original stories from several popular children's books, including the Arthur series by Marc Brown, and The Berenstain Bears series from Stan and Jan Berenstain. The series was formed out of a joint venture between Brøderbund Software and Random House, as well as Mark Schlichting in 1992, with the final release being D.W. The Picky Eater in 1998. The Living Books series was later re-released as mobile apps in 2010.

1st Logo (February 7, 1992-July 15, 1996)

Visuals: On a granite background, there is a yellow square. Then, the word "Brøderbund's" appear at the top right corner of the square. The words "Living" and "Books", which have green outlines, jump into the square. Between the words, a book with a smiling face appears, which winks. A red line then appears and splits into two, with the words "PRESENTS" between the lines. The lines merge back into one.

Later Variants:

Beginning in 1993, the "Brøderbund's" text is removed, and the byline "A Random House/Brøderbund Company" bounces up after the book winks. The book then looks down at the byline for a second before looking back at us.
Beginning in 1995, the "A Random House/Brøderbund Company" byline is in a different font, and the logo is contained within a custom border. It was used on Dr. Seuss' ABC, Sheila Rae, the Brave, and The Berenstain Bears in the Dark.

Variant: On Green Eggs and Ham, the background is red instead and when the logo is complete, the book looks up and gets hit by a plate when the logo jumbles.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio:

The original variant has six electric piano notes, followed by a short keyboard tune. Composed by musician/sound designer/voice actor Joey Edelman.
The 1993 variant has the same short keyboard tune, but with the first six notes omitted and a new "boing" sound effect when the byline appears.
The 1995 variant adds back the first six notes.
On Green Eggs and Ham, the tune is played on orchestral instruments.

Availability:

The original variant is only seen on the original 1992 prints of the Living Books: Just Grandma & Me and Living Books: Arthur's Teacher Trouble CD-ROMs. Newer prints were plastered with the later variants.
The later variant is rare, as the Living Books games are no longer in print; check auction sites or thrift stores like eBay for games with this logo.

2nd Logo (July 12, 1996-September 14, 1998)

Visuals: On an orange background, a white square is painted. The square gains a black outline, then the words "Living" and "Books" jump from either side of the screen and wiggle around for a bit. The book from before unfolds above them and winks as a registered trademark symbol appears next to the name. The byline moves in below, and the book looks down at it and back at us. The same "PRESENTS" animation from before plays.

Technique: Same as the last logo.

Audio: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Can be seen on Stellaluna, Just Grandma and Me, Arthur's Birthday and Arthur's Reading Race.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{PageCredits|capture=SubparMario63}}
-Background: This was a series of multimedia CD-ROM interactive stories created as a joint venture between Random House and Broderbund.
+===Background===
-<br />
+'''Living Books''' was a series of interactive multimedia CD-ROMs consisting of both adaptations and original stories from several popular children's books, including the ''Arthur'' series by Marc Brown, and ''The Berenstain Bears'' series from Stan and Jan Berenstain. The series was formed out of a joint venture between [[Brøderbund Software]] and Random House, as well as Mark Schlichting in 1992, with the final release being ''D.W. The Picky Eater'' in 1998. The Living Books series was later re-released as mobile apps in 2010.
+===1st Logo (February 7, 1992-July 15, 1996)===
-st Logo
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
+File:Living Books (1992).png
+File:Living Books (1992) 2.png
+File:Living Books (1993).png
+File:Living Books (1995).png
+File:Living Books (1996).png
+</gallery>
+'''Visuals:''' On a granite background, there is a yellow square. Then, the word "'''Brøderbund's'''" appear at the top right corner of the square. The words "'''Living'''" and "'''Books'''", which have green outlines, jump into the square. Between the words, a book with a smiling face appears, which winks. A red line then appears and splits into two, with the words "'''PRESENTS'''" between the lines. The lines merge back into one.
-(February 7, 1992)
+'''Later Variants:'''
-Nickname: "The Happy Book"
+* Beginning in <u>1993</u>, the "'''Brøderbund's'''" text is removed, and the byline "A Random House/Brøderbund Company" bounces up after the book winks. The book then looks down at the byline for a second before looking back at us.
+* Beginning in <u>1995</u>, the "A Random House/Brøderbund Company" byline is in a different font, and the logo is contained within a custom border. It was used on ''Dr. Seuss' ABC'', ''Sheila Rae, the Brave'', and ''The Berenstain Bears in the Dark.''
+'''Variant:''' On <u>''Green Eggs and Ham''</u>, the background is red instead and when the logo is complete, the book looks up and gets hit by a plate when the logo jumbles.
-Logo: On a granite background, we see a yellow square. Then, the word "'''Brøderbund’s'''" appear at the top right corner of the square. The words "'''Living'''" and "'''Books'''", which have green outlines, jump into the square. Between the words, a book with a smiling face appears, which winks. A red line then appears and splits into two, with the words "'''PRESENTS'''" between the lines. The lines split back into one.
+'''Technique:''' 2D animation.
-FX/SFX: The logo forming.
+'''Audio:'''
-Music/Sounds: Six electric piano notes, followed by a short keyboard tune. Composed by musician/sound designer/voice actor Joey Edelman.
+* The original variant has six electric piano notes, followed by a short keyboard tune. Composed by musician/sound designer/voice actor Joey Edelman.
+* The <u>1993 variant</u> has the same short keyboard tune, but with the first six notes omitted and a new "boing" sound effect when the byline appears.
+* The <u>1995 variant</u> adds back the first six notes.
+* On <u>''Green Eggs and Ham''</u>, the tune is played on orchestral instruments.
+'''Availability:'''
-Availability: Extremely rare; only seen on 1992 prints of the ''Living Books: Just Grandma & Me'' and ''Living Books: Arthur's Teacher Trouble'' CD-ROMs. Newer prints of the CD-ROMs have the next logo instead.
+* The original variant is only seen on the original 1992 prints of the ''Living Books: Just Grandma & Me'' and ''Living Books: Arthur's Teacher Trouble'' CD-ROMs. Newer prints were plastered with the later variants.
+* The later variant is rare, as the Living Books games are no longer in print; check auction sites or thrift stores like eBay for games with this logo.
+===2nd Logo (July 12, 1996-September 14, 1998)===
-Editor's Note: TBA
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
+File:Living Books (1996) 2.png
+File:Living Books (1996) 3.png
+</gallery>
+'''Visuals:''' On an orange background, a white square is painted. The square gains a black outline, then the words "'''Living'''" and "'''Books'''" jump from either side of the screen and wiggle around for a bit. The book from before unfolds above them and winks as a registered trademark symbol appears next to the name. The byline moves in below, and the book looks down at it and back at us. The same "'''PRESENTS'''" animation from before plays.
+'''Technique:''' Same as the last logo.
-nd Logo
+'''Audio:''' Same as the last logo.
-(March 23, 1993-July 15, 1996)
+'''Availability:'''  Can be seen on ''Stellaluna'', ''Just Grandma and Me'', ''Arthur's Birthday'' and ''Arthur's Reading Race''.
-Nickname: "The Happy Book II"
+[[Category:American video game logos]]
-Logo: Same as the previous logo, but with a few differences; the word "'''Brøderbund’s'''" is removed, and the byline "A Random House/Broderbund Company" is added after the book winks.
+[[Category:United States]]
+[[Category:Video game logos]]
-Variants:
+[[Category:Penguin Random House]]
+[[Category:Bertelsmann]]
-* 1993-1995: The six notes are removed.
+[[Category:Logos that vary depending on the source]]
-* 1995-1996: The same first six notes from when the word "'''Brøderbund’s'''" appears in the original 1992 prints of the first two titles are retained, before the logo itself plays. In addition, the "A Random House/Broderbund Company" byline is in a different font. It was used on ''Dr. Seuss' ABC'', ''Sheila Rae, the Brave'', and ''The Berenstain Bears in the Dark.''
-* On ''Green Eggs and Ham'', the background is red instead and when the logo is complete, the book looks up and gets hit by the plate when the logo jumbles.FX/SFX: Same as the first logo.
-Music/Sounds: The same short keyboard tune from the previous logo, but with a new "boing" sound effect when the byline appears. On ''Green Eggs and Ham'', the tune was played on orchestral instruments.
-Availability: Rare; check for this on ''Living Books'' games on eBay.
-Editor's Note: TBA
-rd Logo
-(July 12, 1996-September 14, 1998)
-Nickname: "The Happy Book III"
-Logo: On an orange background, a white square is painted. Then, the same logo from the second logo plays on the square, but the byline is replaced with the words "Broderbund Software, Inc."
-FX/SFX: Same as the second logo.
-Music/Sounds: Same as the second logo.
-Availability: Rare. Can be seen on ''Stellaluna, Just Grandma and Me'', ''Arthur's Birthday'' and ''Arthur's Reading Race''.
-Editor's Note: TBA