Logo descriptions by Nicholas Aczel, Sean Beard, and WillWill45
Logo captures by Eric S., EnormousRat, and Juniorfan88
Editions by WizardDuck, LJVborgSuperSet, and mr3urious
Video captures courtesy of Eric S.,'' M249M4A1, CrazyBrandondorf, and NinJutsuDude1997
Background: Founded in 1976, Cinar (pronounced "seh-NAR") was originally a film distribution company which distributed international/foreign films from the 1970s to the early 1980s from offices in New York City. The company was owned by the married couple Ronald Weinberg and Micheline Charest. In 1984, things were changing for Cinar as the couple moved the company to Montreal, Quebec and began to focus on children's TV programming. Between 1985 and 2004, Cinar produced a number of successful shows such as Arthur, Caillou, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, The Adventures of David the Gnome, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, and Zaboomafoo, among others. In March 2004, after a financial scandal which brought down the company's founders several years earlier, the company was bought out by Michael Hirsh and the company was renamed and rebranded as "Cookie Jar Entertainment", its current name.
1nd Logo (1985-1993)
Nickname: "Rotating Blue Bars"
Logo: On a primitive computerized dark blue background, we pan-out to the right through many bright blue 3D bars interlocking with each other. The bars rotate up and zoom-out, revealing the text:
CINAR glittering with stars. The word "CINAR" is thick and full of segmented lines, with the letter "I" dotted red and the letters "N", "A", and "R" connected together.
Variants:
- Sometimes, "A" and "PRODUCTION" (or "PRESENTATION") are shown above and below the logo, respectively.
- On the first season of Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1992-93), the Cinar logo is in-credit on a black BG, bypassing this logo.
- A still of this logo with "A" above and "PRODUCTION" below was seen on David the Gnome, Adventures of the Little Koala, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? (some 1993-94 season episodes, before the 2nd logo was introduced). Sometimes, "CINAR" turns upward.
- Animated versions of this logo were tied into the opening credits of David the Gnome and The Busy World of Richard Scarry.
FX/SFX: The bars interlocking, the glittering stars.
Cheesy Factor: Rather poor quality early computer graphics and cheesy "glittering" effect for its time, although the animation itself is pretty cool (kinda resembling Marvel Productions3rd logo "CGI Spidey").
Music/Sounds: A six-note twinkling synthesizer theme. On most shows, it plays over the ending theme.
Availability: Extremely rare. Last seen in the U.S. when Boomerang reran Young Robin Hood. Recent re-airings of The Busy World of Richard Scarry on Cookie Jar Kids Network kept the Paramount logo, but replaced "A CINAR Presentation" on the in-credit logo with "A COOKIE JAR Presentation". Can be seen on Cinar shows of the period on VHS releases by Golden Book Video, such as Madeline, although the musical version is considered extinct as it was last seen when Canada's YTV channel reran Maya The Bee back in the 1990s.
Scare Factor: Minimal; pretty much depends on the ending theme shown.
2rd Logo (1993-2004)
Nickname: "Cinar in Space"
Logo: On a space background, various glowing line blocks zoom-out from the bottom of the screen, forming a redesigned Cinar logo. Most of the differences are subtle, but the most obvious is that the letters "N", "A", and "R" are separate. The logo flashes and the disclaimer "CINAR is a registered trademark of CINAR Corporation" appears below. Starting in 1998, the URL www.cinar.com appears below that (this variant may plaster the URL-less logos on new prints of Cinar’s classics).
Variants:
- Sometimes, there is no byline.
- Most of the time, the byline is used in different forms (On Arthur, it's using their own text form).
- Sometimes, the disclaimer would say: "CINAR is a registered trademark of CINAR Films Inc.".
- On the first season of Zoboomafoo, the logo is a still picture of the finished product, with Cinar's disclaimer.
- A still of this logo with "A" above and "PRODUCTION" below was seen on the second season of Are You Afraid of the Dark?.
- A still version of this logo exists on Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Wimzie's House, The Adventures of Paddington Bear and Zoboomafoo.
- A similar still logo was on the season 1 of the revival of Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings. This was on a black BG.
- A variant is zooming in to a film and the logo gets in and the disclaimer is on it.
FX/SFX: The zooming line blocks, the flash.
Music/Sounds: A whooshing sound with a calm new age synth tune, which is rarely heard. It most commonly used the ending theme of the show. On some shows, like Night Hood and The Busy World of Richard Scarry, it is silent.
Availability: Was common back in the '90s. It survives on many pre-2004 Arthur episodes on PBS and on VHS/DVD. Some PBS affiliates have already replaced it with a Cookie Jar Entertainment logo. On the internet, the logo survives on Flight Squad. Also on some earlier Caillou episodes on Netflix; the full version with music was seen at the beginning of the first episode Big Brother Caillou.
Scare Factor: Low; the darkness and quick pace may get to some, but the CGI is much improved over the previous logo.
3th Logo (2003-2004)
Nickname: "Bland CGI"
Logo: Superimposed on the screen, we see the Cinar logo zooming-in into a blue oval, with the same copyright stamp and URL from the previous logo fading-in. ending with a bat flying into the logo (possibly behind it and mysteriously disappear)
Variant: On Zoboomafoo: Playtime and Zobooland game for GBC, the logo is white.
FX/SFX: The CGI logo zooming in.
Music/Sounds: A whooshing sound followed by baby laughing, which is rarely heard. At most times, the closing theme of the show, or none.
Availability: Extremely rare. After Michael Hirsh acquired Cinar because of their 1999 scandal (as well as debts and losing worth) in 2004, Cinar became kaput. Expect this logo to be replaced with a Cookie Jar logo these days. This logo was seen on the last season of Mona The Vampire and Simon In The Land of Chalk Drawings (Season 2). Ironically, neither Arthur, Caillou, or evenZoboomafoo for that matter used this logo as those shows used the 2nd logo. The musical version can still be found at the beginning of Sony Wonder releases of Cinar shows from the period.
Scare Factor: None to minimal; the dark skies may or may not get to some people, besides the terrible CGI animation compared to the 2rd logo.