Background: Founded in 1980, Spinning Symbol Distribution Pty Ltd was a joint-venture between Australian television production company Hammer Productions and Worldvision Enterprises (owned by Taft Broadcasting at that time, and later Great American Broadcasting in 1987). The company was known for distributing Hammer Productions’ shows internationally. On January 1988, Hammer acquired Great American’s stake in Spinning Symbol, becoming Hammer’s wholly-owned subsidiary. After Hammer was closed in 1994, so does Spinning Symbol.
1st Logo
(1981-1987)
Nicknames: “The Spinning Symbol I”, “The Symbol of Doom”, “The Symbol of Seizures”, “The Symbol of Tinnitus”, “The Scary Symbol”, “Air Programs International’s Younger Brother”, “MY EARS!!!”
Logo: On a white background, we see a dark-red fidget spinner-like symbol zooming in slowly and rapidly spinning. After a few seconds, the camera zooms away to reveal that under the spinning symbol is the text arranged as:
SPINNING SYMBOL
DISTRIBUTION
After the camera zooms away, the byline “A HAMMER PRODUCTIONS/TAFT COMPANY” appears below the text. All text are in black.
FX/SFX: The symbol zooming in slowly and rapidly spinning, the camera zooming away, the byline appearing. 2D animation.
Music/Sounds: A loud whirring noise followed by a loud 8-bit synth tune.
Availability: Seen on international prints of Hammer Productions’ shows at that time.
Legacy: The spinning symbol have caused many people seizures, and the loud noises have scared many viewers away. This is also an ego to Air Programs International.
2nd Logo
(1988-1994)
Nicknames: “The Spinning Symbol II”, “The Not So Scary Symbol”
Logo: On a dark-blue blurry background, we see the symbol from before, but in green, zooms out and spins slowly, and then zooms out again to make way for the text, which is arranged as:
SPINNING SYMBOL
DISTRIBUTION
The text zooms in below the symbol, and the byline "A Hammer Productions Company" fade in below the text. The symbol, text and byline shine. All text are in white.
FX/SFX: The symbol zooming out, spinning and zooming out again, the text zooming in, the byline fading in, the symbol, text and byline shining. Computer animation.
Music/Sounds: A calm synth pad followed by a synth chime tune.
Availability: Same as the previous logo.
Legacy: This is much less-scary than the previous logo.