Rainbow S.p.A.

Background

Rainbow S.p.A., formerly known as Rainbow s.r.l., is an Italian animation studio best known for the Nickelodeon co-production Winx Club. It was founded in 1995 by Iginio Straffi and is based in Loreto, Italy. In February 2011, Viacom International Media Networks purchased 30% of the company, leaving the remaining 70% to Straffi; as a result, Nickelodeon became the worldwide distributor of Rainbow's shows, while Rainbow acts as a licensor for Nickelodeon's shows in Italy. In February 2015, Rainbow purchased Canadian animation studio Bardel Entertainment. In January 2023, Paramount sold their stake in the studio back to Straffi.

1st Logo (January 28, 2004-July 14, 2005)

Logo: On a black background, we see a rainbow sparkle effect form a blue box with a static rainbow, an "R" next to it, and the vertical blue text "RAINBOW" to the left of the box. Copyright information is below.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme.

Availability: Seen on the first 2 seasons of Winx Club.

2nd Logo (The Rainbow Maker) (December 3, 2010, October 18, 2012, September 4, 2014)

The Rainbow Maker
The final result
Early variant

Logo: We see a grassy field, with a branch that a frog is sitting on. We pan over to a hill where a gear is turning in a river, and a wooden mechanical being (officially known as The Rainbow Maker) is sitting down. It gets up on its many legs, pulls a lever on itself, and its eye turns into a rainbow colored wheel, which begins to spin. We zoom in to another grassy area, where a wooden light, presumably from part of The Rainbow Maker, shines a blue beam. It is reflected off of two wooden mirrors, and hits a glowing green gem held by The Rainbow Maker's hands. The gem swells, and rainbow bands fly out of it. The rainbow moves across the landscape, and touches a wooden letter "R", turning it white. The background turns to a sky background and a blue square forms around the "R". The rainbow stripes move behind the R, and the text "RAINBOW" appears on the side. The logo's reflection can be seen underneath.

Variant: There is an early variant where after the logo is formed, the word “CGI” appears on the bottom right of the logo. The colors are also more saturated.

Trivia:

This logo was designed by Dadomani s.r.l.; Ivan Citelli is director of photography.
A behind-the-scenes look at the logo's stop motion set getting built can be found here.

Technique: Very impressive and unique stop motion animation throughout, likely enhanced with CGI.

Music/Sounds: A gentle orchestral theme that builds near the end. Mechanical noises and the croaking of the frog at the beginning accompany.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the "Rainbow CGI" variant, an acoustic piece with faster paced flute during the light reflecting sequence is used, with the croaking and mechanical noises intact. Composed by Andrea Ponzano for Taboo Studio.

Availability: The early "CGI" variant and its behind the scenes footage was uploaded to Dadomani's Vimeo and the YouTube channel docsoundd on December 3, 2010. The final version appeared on Gladiators of Rome and Winx Club: The Mystery of the Abyss.

Legacy: A fantastic logo that should have been used on more than just two films (at least based on what has been discovered).

3rd Logo (2016-)

Logo: On a black background, the white text "RAINBOW" flips up. It turns on it's side, and a black "R" appears next to it in the same font as the last logo. Rainbow stripes wipe in behind the "R" and a blue square appears behind it, forming the same logo as before.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A few sound effects for the action in the logo.

Availability: Current.