Marvel Productions

This article is about Marvel's original animation division. For the current film and television division, see Marvel Studios.

Credits

Descriptions by
DisneyInternationalFan, Logoarto, James Fabiano, Jess Williams, ExclaimEntertainment and Adam P.

Captures by
Eric S., snelfu, Shadeed A. Kelly, TrickyMario7654, EnormousRat, V of Doom, mr3urious, Giblitz112, Pygmalion X, and TheEriccorpinc

Editions by
Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, Sanicspeed1, Michael Kenchington and Blue2000

Video captures courtesy of
TheLogosGuy201, mcydodge919, and zyber9

Background

In the late 1970s, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises had produced two shows for Marvel Comics: The New Fantastic Four and Spider-Woman. By 1980, co-founder Friz Freleng left the studio for the reopening of the animation department for Warner Bros. Marvel Comics Group bought out DFE on June 19, 1980, and it was renamed to Marvel Productions. Co-founder David H. DePatie continued working for the company as studio head until his retirement in 1985.

In 1983, Marvel Productions joined forces with Sunbow Entertainment, who ended their venture in 1987.

In 1986, Cadence Industries was liquidated and sold Marvel Entertainment Group to New World Pictures, both of which later became part of New World Entertainment. Although MEG was later sold, New World kept hold of Marvel Productions, and in 1992, the studio became part of a new division of New World, called New World Family Filmworks. A year later, the studio was renamed as New World Animation.

1st Logo (February 14, 1981-1988)

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Visuals:

• Long version: On a blue background, several large sets of thin lines rotate in different directions. Over the lines, a "star" traces out a stylized "MP", with another "M" cut out of the "M" part of the logo. When the logo is fully traced and the lines are in position (with horizontal lines for the "M" part and vertical lines for the "P"), the logo flashes as all lines fade out, and the "M" cut out turns white while the rest turns yellow. After the logo shrinks to the top-left corner, the gold text "MARVEL PRODUCTIONS LTD." (in Bauhaus 93) is "wiped in" by a star. Another star forms the byline "A CADENCE COMPANY" in the same fashion below the logo.
• Short version: On a blue background, white grids rapidly converge together to form the logo in blue at the top of the screen with the usual text forming below (the byline is closer to the company name this time). The "O" shines with a "ping".

Variants:

• The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat has a still variant of the logo with a DePatie-Freleng byline. The logo's BG is also much lighter than the normal logo.
• On the cartoon series Meatballs and Spaghetti, the InterMedia Entertainment Company logo is seen above the Marvel Productions logo. The Marvel logo also has a shining light effect directly behind it.
• Another cartoon series, Pandamonium, has the InterMedia logo below the Marvel Productions logo. The "MP" also shines the same way as in the Meatballs and Spaghetti variant.
• On The Pink Panther in: Pink at First Sight, the logo lacks the "MP" altogether, and simply says "A MARVEL PRODUCTION" in the same font as the logo. On the bottom is a Mirisch-Geoffrey/DePatie-Freleng and United Artists byline. The normal logo's music is intact.
• On the test pilot of the cartoon Defenders of the Earth, the still logo and byline are seen in white with "PRODUCED BY" above it.
• On the Little People Video series of direct-to-video releases, the logo has a darker blue background, is still, and has the byline "A NEW WORLD COMPANY".
• Still variants exist with the logo superimposed into the background. A mid-'80s airing of an episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends also had this with the Cadence byline in a white rectangle.
• A short version exists, which was seen on Margo the Mouse, though it uses the same credits music as My Little Pony and its descendants.

Technique: Camera-controlled 2D animation.

Audio: A dramatic and heroic orchestral fanfare composed by Rob Walsh.

Audio Variant: The end theme of the show may finish over it, especially the short and still variants.

Availability:

• Most Marvel shows of this time (The Incredible Hulk, Dungeons and Dragons, the 1981 solo Spider-Man series, Defenders of the Earth) have been updated with either a newer Marvel logo and/or the 1996 Saban logo.
• However, you may still see this logo on some videos of Marvel shows of this time.
• It also turned up when Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends was rerun on Toon Disney and Disney XD (the logo is also still present on the Disney+ prints).
• The still variant with the DFE byline is rare, and it was seen only on The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat, the last Dr. Seuss/DFE animated special.
• The short version was also seen on the failed Solarman pilot, made in 1986 but released on VHS in 1989, then aired only once on Fox Kids in 1992.
• The still version with the New World byline is only seen on the Little People Video series of direct-to-video releases, released in 1988 by New World Video, consisting of Favorite Songs, 3 Favorite Stories, A Visit to the Farm, Jokes Riddles and Rhymes, Christmas Fun, and Fun With Words.
  • The C&G Video/Starmaker Entertainment reissues also keep this logo, as do international releases.
• The version without the "MP" is only seen on the Pink Panther special Pink at First Sight.
• The first episode of the 1981 solo Spider-Man series on Disney+ also retains this logo and the ARP Films logo (as it appears to have been transferred from an aged film print); the rest of that series plasters this logo with the 4th one (and is taken from videotape masters).

2nd Logo (Sunbow Productions television co-production variant) (1983-1987)

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Visuals: On a dark blue background, the "MP" from the long version of the first logo, now in blue and white, quickly zooms backwards, placing itself on the bottom half of the screen. When the "MP" is in place, a flash of light reveals the words "MARVEL PRODUCTIONS LTD." in a rounded white font, along with the byline "A CADENCE COMPANY" underneath in a smaller font. At the same time, a spark forms an orange ball of light on the top half of the screen, which fades to reveal the 1984 Sunbow Productions logo. When both logos are in place, a very bright sparkle shines on the edge of the "P" in the Marvel Productions logo.

Variant: On late season 3 episodes and season 4 of The Transformers, the Marvel Productions logo is bylineless.

Technique: Cel animation.

Audio: A five-note piano tune (ending in a three-note bass sounder).

Availability: This logo is seen on G.I. Joe (later episodes use the short version of the next logo), The Transformers (except for most early season 3 episodes, which use the short version of the next logo), Jem and the Holograms, the 1980s incarnation of My Little Pony, Moon Dreamers, Potato Head Kids, and Inhumanoids.

3rd Logo (Sunbow Productions film co-production variant) (June 20, 1986-April 20, 1987)

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Visuals: Zooming out from an orange planet, there is a detailed space background with a nebula, as well as a white and orange light. The white and orange light reaches behind the planet and causes the planet to burst into light, turning it into the Sunbow logo, while the screen zooms out from some silver bars that close up to form the Marvel Productions logo, this time in silver and with the "M" cut-out, not filled in. The lights on the Sunbow logo die down, and the Marvel logo rotates straight upwards as the trail for the text recedes. Both logo shine, a simple wipe on the "MP" and a circular wipe on the Sunbow text, as stars flash in the background.

Trivia: The space background looks very similar to the opening shot of The Transformers: The Movie.

Variant:

• A short version is used on television shows.
  • On most early season 3 episodes of The Transformers and later G.I. Joe episodes, either the version is sped-up or it has the last half of the version.

Technique: A mix of cel animation and CGI. Done by Toei Animation.

Audio: A bombastic synth fanfare with a chorus and explosion, as well as lightsaber-esque sounds for the shining. For the short version, the closing theme of the TV show plays.

Availability: This was used mainly for films.

• The full version is seen at the start of My Little Pony: The Movie, The Transformers: The Movie and G.I. Joe: The Movie, all of which were co-produced with Sunbow Productions.
• The short version is seen on late season 3 episodes of The Transformers and later G.I. Joe episodes.

4th Logo (September 13, 1986-December 12, 1993)

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Visuals: In space, the screen pans out through a series of orange glowing CGI bars. As the bars rotate up towards the camera, they are revealed to be part of the "MP" logo, done in glorious 3D (and with the "M" cut-out, not filled in). In the background, Spider-Man (also in CGI) flies up from below, and the logo is "absorbed" into his body, turning him silver and causing his eyes to disappear. The space background turns into a "time warp mode" into a silver-black gradient background, as the words "MARVEL PRODUCTIONS LTD." rise up from the bottom-right with a trail behind them. The "MP" logo returns to the screen, as the silver Spider-Man somersaults to the top of it and takes a prowler-like stance above it as the logo takes its place on the center of the screen (Spider-Man's eyes reappear shortly after). The text takes its place below the logo.

Trivia:

• The reason for the "MP" logo being absorbed and then mysteriously reappearing is to provide a place to cut the logo so that it is not as long. In most cases, however, the logo is shortened so that only the tail-end of the animation is seen.
• This logo was designed and animated by Gary Demos and John Whitney at Digital Productions (known for The Last Starfighter, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, and Labyrinth).

Variants:

• From 1987 to 1991, the byline "A NEW WORLD COMPANY" fades in below the logo.
• A still variant exists.
• On late '80s Henson co-produced shows, a copyright stamp for Jim Henson Productions fades in below.
• Sunbow-Marvel Combo Variant: See Sunbow Entertainment for description.
• On Robocop: The Animated Series, the logo fades into the 1988 New World International logo.

Technique: CGI, rendered on the Cray X-MP/48 supercomputer and a DEC VAX-11/780 mainframe. The modeling was done on an Evans and Sutherland PS-300 terminal. The animation was done on an IMI 500 display monitor. The texturing and lighting was done on a Ramtek 9460 framebuffer. The logo was recorded to 35mm film on a III PFR-80 (the company Gary and John worked at before they founded DP).

Audio: It begins with an ascending THX-like "chord" sound, that culminates in a sonorous synth note that gets deeper toward the end. A futuristic descending "whoosh" noise accompanies Spider-Man's entrance.

Audio Variants:

• At other times, the ending theme plays over it.
• On the 1989 pilot Pryde of the X-Men, as well as later episodes of Robocop: The Animated Series, the music from the Metrolight Studios logo continues into this logo, as well as that of New World International.
• The 1990 educational videos Spider-Man: Don't Hide Abuse and Spider-Man: What To Do About Drugs feature an extended version of the theme. Here, it begins with a "clang", followed by a "whoosh" as the "MP" is revealed. When the logo is "absorbed", a brief synthesized "whoosh" is heard. When the text appears, an ascending chime sounder is heard, before the theme culminates into the normal music (albeit with a shortened ending).

Availability:

• The short version was seen on many shows, including the late 1980's Marvel Action Universe block (Dino Riders, RoboCop, and the Pryde of the X-Men pilot), the first season of Biker Mice from Mars (New World Animation took over from the second season onwards), the animated Blondie & Dagwood special (and its sequel, Second Wedding Workout), Rude Dog & The Dweebs, Spacecats, and the animated adaptation of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
  • It was most notably seen on Jim Henson co-produced shows like Muppet Babies (from season 3 onward; the first two seasons use the first logo) and Fraggle Rock (the animated version).
• The long version was normally used to plaster the original logos on later prints of pre-1986 Marvel shows such as Spider-Woman, the 1978 cartoon The New Fantastic Four, the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon and even the 1966 series The Marvel Super Heroes; it also appeared on early '90s video releases of Marvel material.
  • It also plasters the previous logo on some later prints of Dungeons & Dragons (albeit on the Contender DVD releases of the series, the logo doesn't always appear) and is also seen on RoboCop: The Animated Series (and remains intact on DVD releases, normally paired up with the 1988 New World International logo).
• The extended music variant was found on Spider-Man: Don't Hide Abuse and Spider-Man: What To Do About Drugs, two in a series of four educational Spider-Man VHS releases titled Spider-Man Safety Series that were distributed to schools; since the remaining two remain lost, it is unknown if those VHS releases have this variant as well.

◄ DePatie-Freleng Enterprises Marvel Comics Animation

Marvel Productions

New World Animation ►