Living Books

Background: This was a series of multimedia CD-ROM interactive stories created as a joint venture between Random House and Broderbund.

1st Logo

(1992)

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.

FX/SFX: The logo forming.

Music/Sounds: 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.

Editor's Note: TBA

2nd Logo

(1993-1996)

Nickname: "The Happy Book II"

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.

Variants:

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.

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

3rd Logo

(1996-1998)

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