The Britt Allcroft Company

Credits

Descriptions by
bigrene2 and mimitchi33

Captures by
SuperMuppet, TrickyMario7654, CrazySpruiker2001 and others

Editions by
mr3urious, Jonathan Hendricks, mimitchi33, SuperMuppet, TrickyMario7654, DaVinci101 and Henrynguye5

Video captures courtesy of
SantaBob

Background

The Britt Allcroft Company (known initially in the UK as "Britt Allcroft Railway Productions") was a British production and licensing company established in 1983 by Britt Allcroft and Angus Wright. They immediately bought the rights to The Railway Series of children's books and in 1984, created Thomas the Tank Engine, recognized as one of the longest-running children's series (with new episodes being produced until January 2021). Other notable productions were Shining Time Station and The Magic Adventures of Mumfie. In September 2000, after the cinematic failure of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Britt Allcroft stepped down as the company's CEO and soon, it was reformed as Gullane Entertainment.

1st Logo (October 9, 1984-December 17, 1986)

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Logo: On a blue background, the original logo for Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends can be seen. The logo consists of a picture of Thomas with a puff of smoke that displays the show's name, in front of an oval that resembles a railway number plate. On the oval we see the text "Britt Allcroft Limited 1983". Above the symbol we see the text "for Britt Allcroft Ltd" (this logo was always preceded by the Clearwater Features logo, so that the complete text reads "A Clearwater Features Production for Britt Allcroft Ltd") in Bevan.

Variants:

• On season 2 of Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends, a copyright notice now appears on the bottom half of the screen reading "(C) Britt Allcroft Limited 1986" with the Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends logo shifted up a bit, the text above the logo now reads "For Britt Allcroft Limited" instead of "for Britt Allcroft Ltd".
• On the original ITV broadcasts of the first two seasons of Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends, this logo fades into the 1983 Central logo of the time.
• On 1991 reruns of season 2 of Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends, this logo fades into the 1989 A Central Programme for ITV endboard.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the show.

Availability: Extremely rare.

• It was used alongside the Clearwater Features logo on TV broadcasts of the first two seasons of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends during the '80s and can be found on Guild Home Video, Screen Legends, ABC Video, Pickwick Video, CEL video and early Video Collection VHS releases of the show.
• All VHS and DVD releases (with the exception of the Australian DVD release of Truck Loads of Fun where it is kept intact after Trouble in the Shed and Off The Rails) of these seasons of the show have used the second logo since 1991, with early re-releases removing the Clearwater Features logo and this logo with a shot of Thomas from the episode "Saved From Scrap", which listed the show's producers.
• This was not seen on US prints of the show.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (January 29, 1989-July 14, 2000, February 7, 2006-September 15, 2007)

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Nicknames: "The Cursive Britt", "The Thomas The Tank Engine Logo"

Logo: On a periwinkle gradient background, a light apricot-piggy pink gradient line forms the word "Britt" in an odd cursive font. The text “BRITT ALLCROFT PRESENTS” in a white Gill Sans font fades in below the name (just touching the bottom), and it shines.

Variants:

• When used at the end of the most of the company's shows, “A BRITT ALLCROFT PRODUCTION” replaces the previous text. Most of the time, a copyright reading "(C) Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Limited (year) appears below in a smaller italicized font that shines after the logo after the main text shines.
• On the original UK broadcasts for the third series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (1991-1992), the notice "A Britt Allcroft production in association with Fuji Television Network, Inc." is shown on the logo's regular background, written in the then-corporate Thomas & Friends typeface (Rockwell Condensed Bold). After this message is displayed, it cuts to the 3rd variant. Sometimes the first bunch of text (Not the copyright screen) is set over the background of the episode. This variant has also been seen on Thomas Gets Bumped and 17 Other Stories and Thomas' Christmas Party and 17 More Stories with an extended copyright date copyrighting all the years the episodes first aired.
• One variant replaces "PRESENTS" with "PRESENTATION". This appeared on a VCI trailer for Thomas the Tank Engine.
• On some of the later UK VHS prints of 1st and 2nd series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, as well as early Series 3 tapes, the copyright takes up the center of the screen, and appears bolder. The logo animation still plays in the lower right of the screen, but the "Britt" text is white and the smaller text reads " A BRITT ALLCROFT COMPANY".
• On Rusty to the Rescue, Thomas and the Special Letter, Thomas and his Friends Help Out, Gallant Old Engine, Sing-Along and Stories and Thomas Meets the Queen, the copyright is extended to feature both "Films" and "Soundtracks" underlined. Under "Films" is a copyright for 1986 and 1995, while "Soundtracks" are credited for 1991 and 1995, as well as for Shining Time Station. The text is also non-italicized and doesn't shine.
• On 1996 reprints of Percy's Ghostly Trick, the copyright text reads "A Britt Allcroft Production in association with Fuji Television Network Inc." and has an extended copyright to feature both films and soundtracks. Under "Films" is a copyright for 1986 and 1995, while "Soundtracks" are credited for 1991 and 1995, as well as for Shining Time Station. Like the fourth variant, the text is also non-italicized and doesn't shine. The logo itself misreads "Britt Allcroft Presents" instead of "A Britt Allcroft Production".
• On Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Your Favourite Story Collection, the logo is silent, and the copyright is smaller, in capitals, and also includes a "Music Composed By" credit. It fades in after the logo is finished.
• On Sing Along With Thomas, the copyright date on the bottom of the logo appears through the copyright spreading into place one-by-one.
• On later tapes, the copyright info is eliminated in favor of the slogan, "ENTERTAINMENT TO GROW UP WITH" in a white font fading in below, either in Helvetica, Gill Sans, or Times New Roman. It appears on some American Season 5 tapes of Thomas and Friends and can be seen on the North American VHS tape Ten Years of Thomas which includes the copyright date and the logo's music.
• Series 6 episodes also may sometimes have the copyright fades out to the text "Please Visit Our Web Site at" and the URL at the time below. It then fades out to the slogan.
• On Thomas' Train and 17 Other Stories, the copyright date is in a different font, is larger, is static throughout the logo, and does not shine.
• On the Thomas The Tank Engine: Playtime VHS, a silent, still version is used.
• On earlier airings and VHS tapes of Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie, the logo is on a black background, with a copyright date displaying the company name "Quality Family Entertainment Ltd". The Britt Allcroft logo animates in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, similar to how it plays in the third variant. The logo's music is intact.
• On Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie, the copyright is altered to have in all capitals, "(Thomas)" is replaced with "(MUMFIE)", and the year is in Roman numerals. The film has it fade out early, while the show has it sped-up.
• On Captain Pugwash, the logo is accompanied by the logo of John Cary Films (the co-producer of said show). The John Cary Films logo is sandwiched between "A" and "Production for", with the Britt Allcroft logo beneath. The text under "Britt" reads "THE BRITT ALLCROFT COMPANY", and "Britt" is a golden-yellow colour. Copyright info is underneath the logos, which are on a teal background.
• On the restored editions of the first five seasons of Thomas & Friends, the logo is placed on an embossed white box on a white background. "Britt" is much smaller and placed behind "BRITT ALLCROFT" in the caption, which now reads "A BRITT ALLCROFT COMPANY PRODUCTION" in blue. The HiT Entertainment logo is beneath, with "for" inbetween the two logos. As usual, copyright info is underneath.

FX/SFX: The writing of “Britt”, the text shining.

Music/Sounds: A happy-sounding flageolet/glockenspiel/synthesizer solo, which would later serve as the opening notes for the “Island Song”. Chimes are also heard sparkling when the words shine. The ending version from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and the second season of Magic Adventures of Mumfie usually has the end theme of the show playing over it. For music videos from the show as well as some later Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends VHS releases, the logo is silent.

Availability: Quite common.

• It can be seen on seasons 3-5 of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, as well as current prints and home media releases of the first two seasons. The "Classic Collection" releases of the show also use this logo.
• It also showed up on Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales on PBS, as well as Fox Family episodes of Mister Moose's Fun Time (during the Thomas segments), Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie and Storytime with Thomas.
• Seasons 1-5 episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends on PBS Kids Sprout (now Universal Kids) also have this as well.
• The Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and DVD prints of Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie (excluding the 2012 release of Mumfie's Quest, which uses a still of the Britt Allcroft Productions logo on a black background without the bird), plaster this logo with the third one at the beginning of episodes, but is retained at the end of episodes. Also can be found on all VHS releases of Shining Time Station and Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie.
• Strangely, this makes a surprise appearance on the Thomas & Friends DVDs Thomas and the Really Brave Engines, On Site with Thomas, and Thomas' Trusty Friends, most likely an editing mistake made by HiT Entertainment.

Editor's Note: This is a favorite among Thomas the Tank Engine fans.