YTV Originals

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

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Background

Launched on September 1, 1988 (sharing with Family Channel, VisionTV, and The Weather Network), YTV was the successor to two prior special programming services operated by various Ontario cable companies beginning in the late 1970s. However they didn't use a logo until 1989. The two largest shareholders in YTV were two cable companies: Rogers Cable and CUC Broadcasting (which would later be acquired by Shaw Communications).

By 1995, through various acquisitions and trades, Shaw had secured full control of YTV; it was spun off as part of Corus Entertainment in 1999. YTV has become a sister channel to Treehouse TV, the youngest of the Corus Kids subdivisions, along with Teletoon (now Cartoon Network Canada as of March 27, 2023) being in the middle, until the launches of Canadian versions of Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD in 2015, as the new youngest ones. The network is primarily aimed at preadolescents and young adolescents aged 8-15.



1st Logo (1989-1991)


Visuals: On a black background, a slanted window painted in with blue borders is shown. Inside the window is a very fuzzy gray/black TV screen with the red words "YTV" in it. The YTV letters receive a black shadow.

Trivia: This was also used at the end of YTV commercials from 1989-1991.

Variant: An in-credit version exists.

Technique: Cel animation.

Audio: None or the closing theme.

Availability:

  • It is seen on DVD sets of The Adventures of the Black Stallion (Canadian prints), as well as other YTV shows from the era such as Maniac Mansion, Deke Wilson's Mini Mysteries and Dog House.
  • When Family Channel (now Freeform) began running The Adventures of the Black Stallion in the 1990s, this logo was absent, as the Alliance & Atlantique logos were sped up. Instead, Family Channel's logo appeared, even though that logo played over the closing credits; When Canada's Showcase channel reran the show in the mid-2000s, they seemingly used Family Channel's prints, as this variant appears at the end.

2nd Logo (September 1, 1991-1993)


Visuals: On a black background, several neon rainbow rectangles fly in different directions in trails. The YTV logo is seen in black, but when the trails pass by, the YTV letters disappear, blending in with the background and showing five rainbow trails: the first one is yellow with orange; the second is orange with light blue; the third is magenta with yellow; the fourth is green with light purple; and the last trail is in blue with light yellow, forming the YTV letters in red.

Variant: In most cases, only the last part of the animation is seen. (On Are You Afraid of the Dark?, "PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH" is shown above the YTV logo.)

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio:

  • 1991-92: A synthesized three-note piano tune with bells played over it (also used for YTV's Coming Up Next bumpers from 1991-93).
  • 1991-93: A female choir singing with dreamy music (also used when the channel is on air).
  • Otherwise, none or the end theme of the series.

Availability:

  • Seen on early episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? in the Amazon DVD-on-demand release; they used to show this in Canada as one of YTV's bumpers. Also seen on the Canadian DVD releases of The Adventures of the Black Stallion episodes from 1991-93.
  • The versions with music were seen on Canadian prints of Shining Time Station and Lamb Chop's Play-Along.
  • It appeared on some Kids and Teens TV airings of Lamb Chop's Play-Along, including the episodes "The Ring" and "Have I Got A Girl For You". The shortened version was also seen on season 1 of The Big Comfy Couch.
  • Post-1993 shows replace this logo with the 1993 logo.

3rd Logo (March 1, 1993-1995)


Visuals: On a black background, there is a purple CGI television set with green buttons on the right side of it. Inside the TV screen is an orange background with the white letters "YTV", with "T" and "V" on the left, and arranged on top of each other which is in fact the text from the second logo. The YTV text then rumbles out of the screen to cover up most of the TV set.

Variant: On Are You Afraid of the Dark? and The Big Comfy Couch, the text "Produced in association with" is seen above in white.

Technique: CGI, animated by YTV in-house and designed by Corey McPherson Nash.

Audio: A click and a James Brown-esque scream from a group of female singers (taken from Best Service's Hallelujah and Voice Spectral Vol. 1 sample libraries), followed by a girl saying "No problem." Like the last logo, it's sometimes the end theme of the series or silence.

Audio Variants:

  • Sometimes, a click with the scream and a girl's voice are replaced by a boing sound.
  • On season 2 of The Big Comfy Couch, a different boing is used with children laughing.

Availability:

  • It appears on Are You Afraid of the Dark? on the CreateSpace DVD release and occasional airings on TeenNick's NickSplat.
  • In Canada, it can be found on the YTV print of the Christmas special Christopher the Christmas Tree and post-1995 shows usually replace this logo with the Corus-byline version of the 4th logo.
  • Toonami's airings of ReBoot from the era also retained this logo.

4th Logo (March 6, 1995-November 12, 2007)

Visuals: On a black background, the same television set as before is shown, except the design of the set looks slightly different. The text "YTV", arranged the same way as before but looking a little different font-wise, rapidly zooms out from the right and smashes into the TV set, making the TV set "lean back". The TV then comes into place, now with the YTV text in the screen of the set.

Trivia: This was actually the 1995-2000 YTV logo. A new logo between 2000-05 (later it was slightly modified in September 2003) was used as the channel's official logo. However, this logo remained to be used as a closing logo through 2007.

Bylines:

  • 1997-1999: "A SHAW COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY"
  • 1997-1999: "A SHAW) Company" with "SHAW)" being the 1997-2012 Shaw logo and the rest being in Garamond font. It either cuts or fades in.
  • 1999-2002: The Corus logo with "A CORUS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" next to it in two lines. This byline slides up from the bottom.
  • 2000-2007: "A COrUs Entertainment Company", with "COrUs" in its corporate font. This byline blurs in.
  • 2006?-2007: "A COrUs ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY", with "COrUs" in its corporate font. The byline blurs in a different way.
  • The logo is bylineless on some shows mostly from the Shaw era. When this variant was used in the Corus era, the Corus Entertainment logo follows this logo.

Variants:

  • Three versions exist: one has the TV slightly tilting back when the words zoom out (1995-2002); another version has the TV jump in the air when hit (1998-2007) and the final version has the TV zoom back further and rushes back quickly (2006?-2007).
  • On season 1 of Beast Wars, later episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Urban Vermin, The Anti-Gravity Room, Viva Piñata and Edgar and Ellen, "PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH" appears above the TV set.
  • A variant exists where the logo is up against an orange background with various shapes in the background along with the Shaw byline.
  • Same as as the last one, but on a black background. Seen on Shadow Raiders, season 3 of Beast Wars, and early episodes of Beast Machines: Transformers (plastered by the Sony Pictures Television logo on the DVD release).
  • On Mission Genesis (known as Deepwater Black in the UK and Canada), the "Produced in association with" variant plays as usual, but afterward, it cuts to the still logo with the 1995 Shaw byline on a black background.
  • A weird version exists on Being Ian where the aspect ratio is distorted. The logo starts out stretched, then when the TV jumps in the air, the aspect ratio zooms back and straightens itself (it's really hard to describe).
  • Still versions exist; examples appear on Girlstuff/Boystuff, early episodes of Erky Perky and 2030 CE.
  • The logo can appear in-credit on shows such as Mystery Hunters, Martin Mystery, Xcalibur, Monster Warriors, Dumb Bunnies, Guinevere Jones, Team Galaxy, Moville Mysteries, and The Saddle Club, amongst others.
  • A short version starts off with the TV beginning to land on the ground; spotted on Dark Oracle and Jane and the Dragon.
  • On Chip N’ Orbit, a copyright below reads either "© YTV Productions Inc. MM" or "©MMI YTV Productions Inc.".
  • 16:9 widescreen HD versions exist.
    • One used from 1999-2002, used on season 4 of ReBoot;
    • one where the logo is stretched, used on episodes 1-19 of Grossology;
    • one where the logo is squished and shortened, used on Ruby Gloom and Funpak (the latter was made in 4:3);
    • one where the logo is remastered for widescreen TVs, used on Urban Vermin;
    • and one where the logo is kept as is, used on season 2 of Zixx, season 1 of Viva Pinata, etc.
  • On some shows and specials (such as Uh Oh!, System Crash and the 9th annual YTV Achievement Awards) before Corus' acquisition of YTV in 1999, there is a variant which featured live-action footage of a boy (wearing a white shirt of the YTV robot logo) in an unknown Canadian street, holding a blue shirt as he sees the viewer. Then, the 1997 Shaw byline version of the logo (however it was plastered by the YTV/Corus logo combo on post-1999 prints of Uh Oh!) plays. This was intended as an ident that plays after a show rather than a closing logo.

Technique: CGI, animated in-house and designed by Big Blue Dot (a division of Corey McPherson Nash).

Audio: None or the closing theme.

Audio Variants:

  • On The Big Comfy Couch and seasons 1-2 of ReBoot, the first audio from the previous logo plays.
  • Season 3 of Reboot used a short hip-hop tune with a thud. This was also used on some episodes of Mission Genesis (known as Deepwater Black in the UK and Canada).
  • On Prank Patrol, a cartoonish whack sound is heard when the text hits the screen followed by a thump when the TV hits the ground.
  • On Radio Active, a quiet whistle is heard playing over the end theme.
  • The live-action variant had a different hip-hop tune, followed by the stamp sound with children laughing, similar to the previous logo's audio from earlier episodes of The Big Comfy Couch.
  • On Uh Oh!, a splat sound is heard.
  • On some episodes of Uh Oh! and Ani-Mayhem: The Zone Special, a different whack sound is heard.
  • On System Crash, the music from the Corus Entertainment logo is heard.

Availability:

  • In the U.S., it was seen on shows such as Jane and the Dragon on Qubo and earlier episodes of The Big Comfy Couch.
  • In Canada, it was seen on almost all pre-2007 YTV original programming including later episodes of ReBoot, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, Stickin' Around, the third season of Beast Wars (and all of its follow-up Beast Machines).
  • Also seen on Monster By Mistake, Uh Oh!, Incredible Story Studio, Freaky Stories, Radio Active, Shadow Raiders, The Worst Witch, Anthony Ant, Anatole, I Was a Sixth Grade Alien, System Crash, Mona the Vampire, Watership Down, The Zack Files, Yvon of the Yukon, Seriously Weird, Fries With That?, Timeblazers, Mental Block, Jacob Two-Two, 15/Love, Dark Oracle, earlier episodes of Zixx and Being Ian, Mischief City, Funpak, Brady's Beasts, the first two seasons of Prank Patrol and Captain Flamingo, Jane and the Dragon, Codename: The Boy, Weird Years, the first seasons of both Grossology and Viva Piñata and earlier episodes of Ruby Gloom, among others; it also plastered older YTV logos.
  • The ReBoot variant was last seen when aired on Toonami in the US and Teletoon Retro in Canada and on DVD.
  • This logo made its final appearance on Urban Vermin.
  • This logo is also seen if YTV was having issues and unable to show any programming.

5th Logo (May 12, 2007-March 16, 2013)

Visuals: On a blue and cyan gradient background with revolving white and yellow lines, lots of white and blue lines come together to form a cyan and white circle with "YTV" on it, similarly compared to the previous logos.

Trivia: This new YTV logo was first debuted on September 5, 2005 and used as a secondary logo for the 2000 logo (which was used during primetime), while it became the channel's sole logo on January 22, 2006 (although the 2000-2005 logo was still used in daytime until 2007, when the 2005-2009 logo was adopted full-time by the channel), and until August 30, 2009.

Bylines:

  • 2007: "A COrUs ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" with "COrUs" in its corporate font and in color.
  • 2007-2008: The byline from the previous logo with the black background is superimposed below the logo. Seen on 2007-2008 episodes of Viva Piñata and also on Nicktoons Network split-screen credits airings of Edgar and Ellen.
  • 2007-2013: "A CORUS Entertainment Company" with "CORUS" in its corporate font and in white.

Variants:

  • Starting in 2007, the YTV logo has a glowing effect and the YTV's logo animation was slightly altered to be longer and also as being center-aligned. Also, the byline (as well as the URL) is shaking when the logo forms.
  • Sometimes, "PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH" is shown above the logo.
    • On the aforementioned Edgar and Ellen episode "Scam Artist Shuffle / Bob's Limbs / The Secret Life of Pet: Trip to Atlantis", "PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH" fades in one second after the byline fades in.
  • An extended version without a byline was used as a station ID. Also, different color variants exist (such as a version with a green background - with an orange YTV logo - and one with an orange background - with a green YTV logo).
  • A variant of the extended version with the Corus byline exists on some shows such as RollBots.
  • A still version exists on original airings of Grossology.
  • An in-credit version exists, sometimes in different colors.
    • A still version on a black/white background also exists on some shows (such as Three Delivery and later episodes of Erky Perky).
    • A version with the proper logo's background exists on episodes 9-12 of Edgar and Ellen, which is right before the logo's full animation.
  • On Willa's Wild Life and the first ten episodes of Babar and the Adventures of Badou, the "Produced in association with" is shown above the logo.
  • On some shows (such as Scaredy Squirrel, Pearlie and How to Be Indie), "www.ytv.com" is below the byline.
    • On a few international (for example, a Disney Channel UK) prints of season 1 episodes of the aforementioned How to Be Indie, it's the same as the URL version. This and the Decode Entertainment logos are sped-up at the same time. These prints use a variant of the URL version where "Distributed by" (in the same font as the aforementioned "Produced in association with" text but without italics) is shown above the logo.

Technique: CGI by Troika Design Group.

Audio: None or the closing theme.

Audio Variant: On Edgar and Ellen and Zeke's Pad, a fast drum tune is heard, covered by laser sounds, and when the logo forms, another laser sound with a note, with a "woo-woo-woo" like sound heard at the end of the logo.

Availability: Most cartoons and shows that air on Canada usually carry this logo at the end of most of YTV's post-2007 programming.

  • First seen on the Grossology episode "Silent but Deadly Part 1" and was last seen on Storm Hawks and League of Super Evil on Cartoon Network, Kid vs. Kat on Disney XD and Edgar and Ellen on Nicktoons Network (now Nicktoons) in the United States.
  • The early byline variants were seen only on 2007-2008 episodes of Viva Piñata and Edgar and Ellen. The common version also appears on later episodes of Zixx, Grossology and Being Ian, the final two seasons of Prank Patrol, the final season of Captain Flamingo, later episodes of Ruby Gloom, Jibber Jabber, Storm Hawks, Clang Invasion, Will and Dewitt, Monster Buster Club, the first seasons of Kid vs. Kat and League of Super Evil, Willa's Wild Life, RollBots, Family Biz, Pearlie and Zeke's Pad, among others.
  • When the next logo was introduced, this logo was kept on the first two seasons of Scaredy Squirrel. It also appeared on the first ten episodes of Babar and the Adventures of Badou before being replaced by the next logo.
  • It also appears on the Rupert UK DVD release "Adventures with Rupert", plastering the second logo.

6th Logo (September 3, 2010-February 1, 2016)

Visuals:

  • 2010-2014: In a blue environment, random yellow shapes move around the screen. As the space is being surrounded by the shapes, many flying shapes in blue and white are shown. The shapes then collide and form the YTV logo, now fully blue and white, as the text spreads out on it and the screen shakes as it forms with the spikes rotating. The logo rotates as a Corus byline appears below.
  • 2012-2013: Same as before, this time the animation is different: the shapes come in as the YTV logo comes in and makes a U-turn like an boomerang, as a rectangle comes in and places itself below. (Its design is the same as the later version, but the logo has no white bumpers, lacks the Corus byline, the shapes and lighting are different, now at a different angle.) "ORIGINAL" in a generic font is seen under the rectangle it was on that was darker.
  • 2013-2016: In a differently lit blue environment, there is a blue hemisphere with white lines. It zooms out and spins as the yellow shapes, this time different, move into place. The hemisphere then stops spinning, the logo being fully revealed, and "ORIGINAL" appears on a light blue rectangle going under it, as white borders surrounding it move positions. Underneath it is the newer Corus byline.

Trivia: This logo was made to fit the new rebranding on August 31, 2009, making this coincidentally occur with this rebranding.

Bylines:

  • 2010-2014: The full Corus Entertainment logo (in white) with the text "A Corus Entertainment Inc. Company" next to it.
  • 2012-2013: Bylineless.
  • 2013-2016: "A Corus ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" with "Corus" being the 1999-2016 logo and "ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" spaced out.

Variants:

  • A longer version existed with a white piece with 8 different colors in it, and the yellow shapes and blue/white pieces surrounding the colors in the piece. In this version, the environment has a blue floor and white wall. The camera zooms out as the white piece breaks apart and the yellow shapes place themselves around the team. The rest continues as normal. A version without a byline was used as a station ID, which also had some variations like the characters and the Christmas ones, as well as the logo's finished product is differently changed.
    • On Almost Naked Animals, the first half of the logo is sped-up.
  • On some shows, the URL (all in uppercase) fades in next to the byline.
  • An in-credit version can be found on many shows.
  • There was a still version with the logo on a black background.
  • On Babar and the Adventures of Badou, the "Produced in Association with" text is above the logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Same as before.

Audio Variant: On Pet Peeves and the second season of Cache Craze, some whooshing sounds are heard.

Availability: Seen on all YTV programming from this era (examples include Babar and the Adventures of Badou [starting with episode 11], Sidekick, Mr. Young, Almost Naked Animals, Redekai, Life with Boys, the second season of Kid vs. Kat, the final season of Scaredy Squirrel, Rated "A" for Awesome, Beyblade: Metal Masters [and its spin-off BeyWheelz], Cache Craze, Extreme Babysitting, Japanizi: Going, Going, Gong! and the first seasons of Numb Chucks, Some Assembly Required, Oh No... It's an Alien Invasion! and Nerds and Monsters).

  • It was originally thought the logo debuted on the How to Be Indie episode "How to Keep Your Cool", though it seemed that the logo was plastered.

7th Logo (January 5, 2015-April 7, 2017)

Visuals: It starts with an extreme closeup of the 2013 version of the same logo as before but it's now aquamarine. It zooms back while spinning around until it positions itself in the middle of the screen. An aqua-green banner with the word "ORIGINAL" in white appears below it and the logo zooms in a bit, all on an entirely white background. The Corus byline fades in below. The logo hovers in mid-air as if it was floating.

Trivia: This logo was made to fit the new rebranding on October 6, 2014, making this coincidentally occur with this rebranding.

Bylines:

  • 2015-2016: "A Corus ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" (same as the previous one, but it's black this time)
  • 2016-2017: The byline was updated to contain an updated Corus logo and byline. However, unlike most Corus properties (like the ones mentioned below), YTV went ahead and used "Produced in association with Corus." (in black color) instead. On most shows since the Corus byline was updated, the all-black byline "A Corus. COMPANY" (with "Corus." being its current logo) is used.

Variant: An in-credit version is used on some shows.

Technique: CGI by Eloisa.

Audio: The ending theme of the show or whooshing sounds.

Availability:

  • Seen on all of YTV's programming from the time, such as Make It Pop (though Nickelodeon airings replace this logo with their logo), The Stanley Dynamic and the second seasons of Numb Chucks, Nerds and Monsters and Some Assembly Required. Also seen on Driving Me Crazy, Ride and Tricked.
  • This doesn't appear on season 2 of Oh No! It's an Alien Invasion, because it moved to Teletoon by the time this logo debuted.
  • The one with the newer Corus byline can be seen on newer episodes of the aforementioned The Stanley Dynamic.

Final Note

Starting on April 7, 2017, the current Corus logo is now used due to the removal of this logo, as well as the Treehouse, Teletoon, Global, ABC Spark, CMT, HGTV, Food Network and W Network logos.

YTV Originals
Corus Entertainment (logo)
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