The Curiosity Company

Background

The Curiosity Company was founded on April 21, 1997 by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, known for producing the animated series Futurama and the Christmas special Olive the Other Reindeer. The company didn't use a logo until 1999. In 2018, it changed its name to The Ululu Company.

(March 28, 1999-September 4, 2013, July 24, 2023-)

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  "Hell is Other Robots"
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Logo: Against a black background, we see the silvery flickering words "THE CURIOSITY COMPANY" (set in Copperplate Gothic) arranged in three lines underneath a square. Above it is a distorted image which differs depending on the episode. The "O" in "CURIOSITY" has a dot in it (a la the HBO logo).

Distorted Images: There are various distorted images that appear within the logo. These include:

• Wavy lines
• Waves washing ashore
• A "C" shape made from a distorted surfboard reflection. There are two versions of this distorted image: the first version has the "C" shape be fully red, while the second has the shape in red with a white copy on it.
• An alternate version of the above distorted image in which the surfboard "C" shape appears to move down, with copies connecting them

Trivia: The water rippling footage (and the accompanying audio) is taken from a short film named A Study in Wet, made by Homer Groening, Matt Groening's father.

Variants:

• On the first three episodes, all the direct-to-video movies, and every episode of Futurama starting with "Rebirth", the words "in association with" are shown below the logo.
• Starting with the episode "The Impossible Stream", the water footage appears to be remastered and has a more bluish tint.
• There's also a still and credit-compressed version of airings of Futurama on Comedy Central.

Technique: Live-action footage from A Study in Wet.

Music/Sounds: A heavily distorted rippling sound or a heavily distorted sound of waves washing ashore, depending on the episode. These sounds are also from A Study in Wet.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On the Futurama episode "A Taste of Freedom", Bender (voiced by John DiMaggio) is heard saying "Freedom!" after the final rippling sound.
• On the Futurama episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on T.V.", Hypnotoad's signature noise is heard instead.
• On digital prints of the first two episodes of Season 1 of Futurama, it's silent.
• Fox airings of Season 5 of Futurama (starting in 2002) used a generic theme.

Availability: Common. Seen on Futurama and Olive the Other Reindeer, both of which are found on DVDs and VHS tapes. Despite the company renaming, this logo was revived for the former when it came back in 2023.

Legacy: A well-known logo among fans of Futurama.

The Curiosity Company

The Ululu Company ►