1st Logo (1916-1921)
Nicknames: "The Cairo Certificate", "The Cairo Banknote"
Logo: On a white background with an ornate black border, we see the text "This motion picture has been distributed by the" in dark grey and in a cursive font. Below the "This motion picture..." text is the text "Cairo Pictures Corporation" in black, with the capital letters in a fancy Blackletter font and the lowercase letters in a typeface that looks like a simplified Blackletter font. Below the 'Cairo Pictures Corporation" text is the signature of the founder of the studio, William Marshall, in black.
FX/SFX: The logo fading in and out.
Cheesy Factor: It looks more like a stock certificate or a banknote than an opening logo.
Music/Sounds: A bombastic fanfare with drums and trumpets.
Availability: Extremely rare, as Cairo released very few films during this period, and most home video releases have this plastered with later logos.
Scare Factor: Medium. You may be surprised to see such a rare logo.
2nd Logo (1920-1951)
Nicknames: "Cairo Pyramid I", "B&W Pyramid", "Early Pyramid'
Logo: We see an Egyptian-style pyramid in a desert during the daytime in black-and-white. Halfway through the logo, the text:
CAIRO
PICTURE
in a Futura Bold-like font and in white with a black shadow fades in.
Variant: On early color films by Cairo, the pyramid is colourized and the text is in yellow.
FX/SFX: The text fading in.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 1st logo.
Availability: Semi-rare, bordering on common. Sometimes, this is plastered; sometimes, it isn't.
Scare Factor: None to minimal because of the music. However, this is a favorite of many.
3rd Logo (1951-1981)
Nicknames: "Cairo Pyramid II", "Pyramid in a Box", "50s/60s/70s Pyramid"
Logo: On a black background, we see a painting of an Egyptian-style pyramid in a desert during the daytime inside a rounded rectangle. Below it is the text "Cairo Pictures" in yellow Georgia Bold font.
Variants: There is a black-and-white version.
FX/SFX: None. This is a still logo.
Music/Sounds:
- 1951-1956: Same as the 1st and 2nd logos.
- 1956-1974 (primary), 1974-1981 (secondary): A portion of Georg Frederic Handel's Water Music.
- 1974-1981 (primary): A loud trumpet fanfare, which probably came from a track library since it's used in some other logos (like Jia's and Cinema City).
Availability: Common; however, it is sometimes plastered with later logos.
Scare Factor: None to minimal for the 1951 music variant. Minimal for the 1956 music variant. Medium for the 1974 music variant.
4th Logo (1981-1986)
Nicknames: "Cairo Pyramid III", "2D Pyramid", "Red/White Pyramid", "The Blue Laser", "Early 80s Pyramid"
Logo: On a black background, a blue laser slowly travels upward from the bottom-center of the screen in a straight line up to the top. Multiple blue lines start appearing, with some coming from the left of the laser and some coming from the right, which eventually reveal a red and white 2D rendition of the pyramid. "CAIRO PICTURES" appears below in white Helvetica Bold font.
FX/SFX: The laser drawing, the lines moving, and "CAIRO PICTURES" appearing.
Cheesy Factor: Well, the logo itself is fine, but "CAIRO PICTURES" suddenly appearing is pretty much cheesy. 1980s effects, by the way.
Music/Sounds: A synthesized "wah" sound rising up slowly in pitch and a 6-note trumpet tune and a synthesized drumbeat, followed by some synthesized ding notes and another trumpet, and a longer horn tune with 4 timpani beats.
Availability: Common.
Scare Factor: Low; the darkness of the logo, text appearing below suddenly, and sudden change of the music may spook some, but the logo is a favorite of many.
5th Logo (1986-1995)
Nicknames: "Cairo Pyramid IV", "Late 80s/Early 90s Pyramid", "CGI Pyramid", "Early CGI Pyramid", "Cheesy CGI Pyramid", "Cheesy Pyramid", "WordArt Pyramid"
Logo: We see a black background, with a brown bar at the bottom. The black part of the background quickly fades to a sky blue/white gradient, then a grey CGI pyramid flies in, before resting on top of the brown bar. A flash of light appears at the bottom, revealing the text "CAIRO PICTURES" in Georgia Bold font with a metallic gold texture. Below the company name, a byline fades in below in white Georgia Regular font.
Bylines:
- 1986-1989: "A Division of Cairo Pictures International"
- 1989-1993: "A Division of TVS Entertainment Inc."
- 1993-1995: "An International Family Entertainment Company"
FX/SFX: The fading background, the pyramid flying in, the flash of light revealing the company name, and the byline fading in.
Cheesy Factor: It looks like WordArt, and the flying of the pyramid is very choppy.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 4th logo.
Availability: Semi-common. However, it's plastered by the "Late 90s/2000s Pyramid" on most DVD and Blu-Ray releases.
Scare Factor: Medium, due to the choppiness.
6th Logo (1995-2015)
Nicknames: "Cairo Pyramid V", "Majestic Pyramid", "CGI Pyramid II", "Late 90s/2000s Pyramid", "Late 90s/2000s/Early 2010s Pyramid", "Happy 80th, Cairo!"
Logo: We zoom out from the top of the pyramid, which is in a style (and has a background) similar to the color variant of the 2nd logo. The text "CAIRO" in gold-textured, heavily-spaced Copperplate Gothic Bold font fades in below. The pyramid flashes (in a non-seizure-causing way) a few times.
Variants:
- For most of 1996 (this logo's first official year), the text "80TH ANNIVERSARY" in white Copperplate Gothic Bold font faded in below "CAIRO" while the pyramid was flashing.
- Starting in 2006, the logo was remade with better CGI.
FX/SFX: The zooming, the text fading, the pyramid flashing.
Music/Sounds:
- 1995-1996 (Primary), 1996-2006 (Secondary): Same as the 5th logo.
- 1996-2015 (Primary): An original fanfare with strings which ascend, followed by a 4-note trumpet, and two dings when the pyramid flashes.
Availability: Extremely common.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
7th Logo (2015-)
Nicknames: "Cairo Pyramid VI", "Majestic Pyramid II", "Ultra-Majestic Pyramid", "CGI Pyramid III", "Pyramid at Dusk", "Happy 100th, Cairo!"
Logo: We see the pyramid from multiple close-up angles, followed by a shot of the pyramid a la the previous logo, but slightly farther away and darker. The sky now has a cloudy sunset pattern, instead of the generic blue sky with white clouds. A bunch of dark gray particles fly in below the pyramid, forming the "CAIRO" text (in the same font as before, but with a black/dark gray gradient texture). Below the "CAIRO" text, the byline "A Division of Argosy Media" (in white Gill Sans Light font) fades in.
Trivia: Argosy acquired Cairo indirectly; both were acquired by TVS in 1989. In 1993, TVS was sold to International Family Entertainment, which sold Argosy and Cairo to Shaw Communications in 1995. In 1996, Cairo was merged into Argosy Pictures, creating a new subsidiary of Argosy Media with the Cairo name (however, it used both the Cairo and Argosy Pictures names on screen). In 1999, Shaw spun off its media holdings (including Argosy and Cairo) into Corus Entertainment; Corus sold Argosy (including Cairo) to Blake Media in 2008, who sold it to Creativity Media in 2010. In 2013, Blake Media brought back 50% of Argosy from Creativity.
Variant: On most films released in 2016 (this logo's first official year), a black screen saying "CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF GREAT ENTERTAINMENT" in white Palatino Regular font appeared before the logo started.
FX/SFX: The close-ups of the pyramid, the particle effects forming the "CAIRO" text, and the byline fading in.
Music/Sounds: An ascending triumphant fanfare. Sometimes, it's the opening/closing theme of the movie.
Availability: Current.
Scare Factor: Minimal.