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 Jay Berenstain. The series was formed out of a joint venture between Broderbund 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)

Nickname: "The Happy Book"

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.

Variants:

Beginning in 1993, the "Brøderbund’s" text was removed, and the byline "A Random House/Broderbund Company" bounces up after the book winks, which then looks down at the byline for a second before looking back at us.
Beginning in 1995, 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: The logo forming.

Music/Sounds:

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 from the previous logo, 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 was played on orchestral instruments.

Availability:

The original variant is extremely rare; it was 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.

Editor's Note: TBA

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

Nickname: "The Happy Book III"

Logo: On an orange background, a white square is painted. The animation from before plays out on the square, but the byline is replaced with the words "Broderbund Software, Inc."

FX/SFX: Same as the last logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

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

Editor's Note: TBA

@@ 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 Jay Berenstain. The series was formed out of a joint venture between Broderbund 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="150">
+File:Living Books (1992).png
+File:Living Books (1992) 2.png
+File:Living Books (1993).png
+</gallery>'''Nickname''': "The Happy Book"
+'''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.
-(February 7, 1992)
+'''Variants:'''
-Nickname: "The Happy Book"
-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.
+* Beginning in 1993, the "'''Brøderbund’s'''" text was removed, and the byline "A Random House/Broderbund Company" bounces up after the book winks, which then looks down at the byline for a second before looking back at us.
+* Beginning in 1995, 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: The logo forming.
+'''FX/SFX:''' The logo forming.
+'''Music/Sounds:'''
-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.
-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 1993 variant has the same short keyboard tune from the previous logo, 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 was played on orchestral instruments.
+'''Availability:'''
-Editor's Note: TBA
+* The original variant is extremely rare; it was 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.
+'''Editor's Note:''' TBA
-nd Logo
-(March 23, 1993-July 15, 1996)
+=== 2nd Logo (July 12, 1996-September 14, 1998) ===
-Nickname: "The Happy Book II"
+'''Nickname:''' "The Happy Book III"
+'''Logo:''' On an orange background, a white square is painted. The animation from before plays out on the square, but the byline is replaced with the words "Broderbund Software, Inc."
-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.
+'''FX/SFX:''' Same as the last logo.
-Variants:
+'''Music/Sounds:''' Same as the last logo.
-* 1993-1995: The six notes are removed.
-* 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.
+'''Availability:''' Rare. Can be seen on ''Stellaluna, Just Grandma and Me'', ''Arthur's Birthday'' and ''Arthur's Reading Race''.
-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.
+'''Editor's Note:''' TBA
-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