Pony Canyon

Background

Pony Canyon is a division of Fujisankei Communications that primarily focuses on music and anime releases. Until 1987, when Pony Records merged with Canyon, the home video division was known as Pony Video.

Pony Video

Contents

1st Logo (1979-1983)	2nd Logo (1980-1983)	3rd Logo (1983-1987)	4th Logo (1986-1988)

Pony Canyon

Contents

1st Logo (1987)	2nd Logo (1988-1992)	3rd Logo (March 21, 1992-2007)	4th Logo (1993-1995)	5th Logo (2004-June 21, 2017)	6th Logo (2016-)

Pony Video

1st Logo (1979-1983)

Visuals:: On a blue background, a white TV tube is shown with the word "PONY" inside and below that is the word "VIDEO", with the "V" connected by a line and a TV tube. On the bottom left is the word "株式会社ポニー" with a outlined rectangle.

Technique: A still computer graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on early Pony Video releases from the era.^[Examples?]

2nd Logo (1980-1983)

Visuals:: On a blue background, the abstract shapes of P and C are shown. Below them is the word "PONY VIDEO" in white.

Technique: A still computer graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Same as before.^[Examples?]

3rd Logo (1983-1987)

Visuals: On a blue gradient background, a white spotlight zooms from the bottom towards the horizon and flashes before vanishing. Two golden circles zoom from the horizon as the camera angle changes slightly. The circle on the left has a rectangular edge on the lower-left corner, and the circle on the right has a line from the middle of the circle to the right side. A thin yellow flash of light appears below the shapes and reveals "PONY VIDEO", which is briefly seen before it fades out. The shapes flip over and turn into two identical circles, which flash and merge together to form one circle. The circle flips up and the camera zooms into it to reveal a black background where a series of glowing lines, stars and circles move around, like a light show. After that, the Pony Video "shapes" and the text, now all red, zoom out from the top and bottom respectively before meeting in the center of the screen. The background then turns white.

Technique: CGI and computer animation.

Audio: A calm, dreamy synth tune with synthesized percussion during the light show, a shine sound effect when the print logo zooms out, and a looped synth whistling sound effect when the background turns white. Electronic beeps are heard at the beginning when the spotlight moves.

Availability: It can be found on early releases from the company.^[Examples?]

Because Fuji TV did not have the "eye" until 1986, a VHS cover without the Fuji eye may be a good clue that it has this.
This logo was probably spotted on a Japanese VHS tape release of the movie Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and the original Japanese VHS/Beta of Project A-ko.

4th Logo (1986-1988)

Visuals: On an indigo/white gradient background, a golden blob moves from the right side of the screen and stops in the center where it draws out the Fuji TV "Eye" logo (without the red dot). The words "PONY VIDEO" in a different font than in the previous logo, sweep from the left of the screen and move through the eye. As they leave the eye, the red dot fades in, completing the Fuji logo. "PONY VIDEO" then zooms out from the screen, with a 3D trail that shrinks as it settles below the eye.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An odd dreamy synth ditty that starts off with what sounds like a tune on cowbells, angklung sounds that changes pitch after one set, and the same tune from before with bongos added.

Availability: It was found on the original VHS release of The Adventures of Milo and Otis (in Japan known as Koneko Monogatari), and it also appears on AnimEigo's subtitled releases of MADOX-01.

Pony Canyon

1st Logo (1987)

Visuals: Essentially just the Pony Canyon print logo in red on a white background.

Technique: A still computer image.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on the promotional music video of "STAR LIGHT" by Hikaru Genji.

2nd Logo (1988-1992)

Visuals: On a sky blue/white gradient background with a gray floor, a living eyeball with an eyebrow zooms up from the bottom of the screen, pauses in mid-air and blinks twice. Then it zooms into the screen so the sclera (white part of the eye) takes up the entire screen, which cuts to a mostly gray background with a "sun"-like light shining in the upper-left corner of the screen and some multicolor changing on the other side. In the scene, a CGI-generated face (only eyes, mouth and eyebrows) is laughing. Then, as a field of somewhat odd shapes goes through the screen behind the face, the mouth and eyes suddenly change shape as it appears to be crying and move up the screen as the background becomes completely psychedelic. Then, a slew of somewhat odd living shapes appear from various parts of the screen, including an odd looking triangular creature with what looks like a plant or green hair on top with a bucktooth that jumps from the left, then appears to be gasping in shock as another shape from the right of the screen passes through the right and the bucktoothed shape turns around to look at it. Then, it cuts to a scene where a rod with eyes on two more rods with two triangles on top and bottom zooms out and flies to the left. Two chess piece-like shapes come from both sides of the screen and the one on the left bobs up and down, seemingly tapping on something. Then, a CGI mask (looking like Andross from the Star Fox series) comes from the left and zooms far out as it goes to the right of the screen, then a triangle with two eyes comes out from behind the chess shapes and goes into the screen very fast. After all this happens, it quickly cuts to a gray background where all the other shapes (except the eye), including the crying face, the buck-toothed triangle and a couple of others, zoom out revealing themselves to be inside a transparent circle with white confetti floating down inside it, which zooms into the center and fades out as the Fuji eye fades in with "PONY CANYON" underneath. Then, another odd-looking creature, basically a long line with three eyes and one pink shoe, bounces from the left towards the right.

Technique: CGI graphics using TDI Explore.

Audio: A dreamy calypso tune played on synths and drums, accompanied by the following sounds:

The eyeball making a descending noise as it zooms up and pauses, then a whoosh as it zooms in.
Some distorted alien-like laughing as the face laughs, then even weirder crying when the face cries.
A trumpet note when the buck-toothed triangle gasps.
A sliding-up whistle sound as the triangle-rod-two eyed shape appears and moves up.
A "plinking" noise when the chess-like object tapes.
A sliding-down whistle as the two-eyed triangle appears, then a quick whoosh as it moves into the screen.
A weird fading out noise, probably the face crying.
Two chiming ditties as the three-eyed object with a shoe bounces to the right.

Availability: Seen on some tapes and LaserDiscs of anime and other Japanese content distributed by the company, such as The Abashiri Family (released in 1991).

Legacy: This is a popular logo in the community and a favorite to many. However, many people also find this logo to be scary and has been synonymous with being one.

3rd Logo (March 21, 1992-2007)

Visuals: On a gray and rippling background, the words "PONY CANYON" zoom by. Then, a beige ring and sphere move. The sphere and the ring go through each other in alternating directions several times. The sphere settles in the ring and the ring rotates a bit. The ring spins, and it grows three protrusions that become the "eyebrows" of the now-finished Fuji eye logo. "PONY CANYON" suddenly flies beneath the "eye", causing the whole thing to jiggle a bit.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Assorted metallic sounds and a "cling" when "PONY CANYON" flies beneath the "eye".

Availability: Can easily be found on Japanese prints of anime released by the company, such as the anime adaption of Air. It is also known to have appeared on various Scitron Laserdiscs like the Virtual Drug Series. This can also be seen on a few American anime releases, such as the Viz VHS of Key the Metal Idol.

4th Logo (1993-1995)

With "PRESENTS"
Later variant

Visuals: Over a black background, there is the Fuji eye logo with the red dot. Below is the text "PONY CANYON" and "PRESENTS" in a golden gradient.

Later Variant: The Fuji eye logo is in plain 2D, the text is white and reads "PONY CANYON, INC." and the Japanese name is seen below.

Technique: A still computer image.

Audio: None.

Availability: The Super Famicom variant was spotted on Jungle Wars 2, while the later variant was spotted on F1GP for the 3DO.

5th Logo (2004-June 21, 2017)

Visuals: On a gray/white gradient background, several thin black, gray, and red lines trace all about as 3 thick lines, also in that order, draw in. As they rotate to become flattened, "PONY CANYON" also appears below, flipping out as all the thin lines disappear.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Simple synth notes, followed by three ringing sounds, which sounds similar to the 3rd Pony Video logo. Sometimes, a female voiceover says "Pony Canyon".

Availability: It can be seen on a lot of releases during the time frame, such as Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean, Check It Out, Yo!! (after the Fuji Television DVD logo), with the last (known) releases being the seven volumes of Sound! Euphonium 2, spanning from Dec. 21, 2016 to June 21, 2017.

6th Logo (2016-)

Visuals: On a white background, a red drop falls down, turning black while the rest of the background turns red via an iris effect. The drop then shakes to change the background back to white and reveal 2 more drops, the left gray and the right red. The black drop then hops a little bit, and rushes to the gray drop, causing it to roll and reveal "ony" in a black Bauhaus 93-like font. The black drop hops and becomes a "p", forming "pony", the gray drop hops and turns into a "c", and the black letters "anyo" appear one by one, with the red drop becoming an "n". All of this forms the word "pony canyon". The wordmark then zooms out and moves down to leave room for larger versions of the "p" and "c" to fade and draw in.

Variants:

A short version has a single drop coming in, forming the wordmark as the letters draw in. This version is silent.
A still version of the logo exists.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: An echoing drop sound is first heard, followed by a mellow guitar and chime tune, ending with piano notes mixed in.

Availability: Found on Pony Canyon's official YouTube channel. Still, it can be seen on all of Pony Canyon's current releases in Japan, such as the Sound! Euphonium series, Asgao to Kase-san and others.