Living Books

Credits

Captures by
SubparMario63

Background

Living Books was a series of interactive multimedia CD-ROMs conceived by Mark Schlichting and developed by Brøderbund Software, 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 became a joint venture between Brøderbund and Random House in 1993, 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)

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Visuals: Over a granite background is a yellow square. 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 Futura 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 at a faster tempo, with the first six notes omitted and a stock "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)

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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 1995 logo.

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