Nelvana Limited (Canada)

Nicknames : "Nelvana Polar Bear II", "Neon Polar Bear"



Logo : On a black background, a blue square with a red outline and a white star in the center flies from the top right of the screen, gradually enlarging and turning counterclockwise to fit the screen as the star multiplies into a seven star semicircle outline. The text "NELVANA" appears below the semicircle in red. The star outline shines from left to right, and the pinnacle star sends a shower of light down the center of the semicircle. "NELVANA" lights up in orange, and the shower of light unfolds to the left, turning into a neon blue polar bear looking up.

Variants :


 * There are filmed and videotaped versions.
 * The short version, which is more common, starts off with the stars shining and the "shower of light" animation. This plays in warp speed on Eek! the Cat before the compressed or split-screen credits. This is slowed down on Beetlejuice.
 * On the 1989 film Babar: The Movie, there is a special, rare variant of this logo where the polar bear stands on its hind legs for a second before assuming its normal position. A "WHOOSH" sound plays, followed by some dreamy "chime" sounds, then a second "WHOOSH". The "whoosh" and chimes are not present on the DVD release of the movie.
 * On Care Bears: Adventure in Wonderland, there is a rare variant with a dark background and creepy music (some whooshing sounds with wind chimes and dramatic synth music), and has the same polar bear animation as the Babar variant.
 * The 1988 TV special Clifford the Big Red Dog has a rare gradient background variant with the logo turning, accompanied by a mystical twinkling sound with a thunderclap. Shows distributed outside Canada and the U.S. also used this variant, although the original broadcasts of My Pet Monster had this version's music playing over the standard logo.
 * On Fievel's American Tails, a long version of the logo is shown on the top right corner along with the 1991 Amblin Television logo on the top left and the short 1991-2006 Universal Cartoon Studios logo on the bottom center.
 * On Family Dog, this logo was shown on the left alongside with the 1991 Amblin Television logo on the right (without the switch-off part).
 * On some episodes of Blazing Dragons, this logo was shown on the left alongside with the Ellipse Programme logo on the right.
 * On Season 4 episodes of Eek! Stravaganza (episodes with Klutter), this logo is shown in split screen on the left alongside with the 1989-1998 Film Roman logo on the right.

FX/SFX : The light effects.

Music/Sounds : A dramatic rising synth tune as the logo flies up, followed by a thunderclap as "NELVANA" lights up. For most of Nelvana's '90s shows, the end theme played over it or it was silent.

Availability : Rare. The short version can still be seen on 1995-2000 episodes of Little Bear and early episodes of Franklin on Nick Jr., ''Eek! Stravaganza (whenever reran), VHS releases of The Magic School Bus, and on VHS and DVD Releases of the Nelvana version of the Care Bears''. The long version can be seen on the recent DVD release of Babar: The Movie. Also found on all episodes of Beetlejuice, and the pilot episode of Donkey Kong Country called "I Spy With My Hairy Eye".

Scare Factor : Minimal. Pretty much depends on the ending theme shown.

Final Note : Most shows had this logo until 1997 (after being used in tandem with the 4th logo below) when they then switched to the next logo. However, even though the logo retired in 1996, Little Bear continued to use the logo until its end in 2000, and earlier episodes of Franklin used this logo from its debut in 1997, until sometime in 1999.