Kirby Films, Inc.

Background: Kirby Films, Inc. (Japanese: カービー映画株式会社, Hepburn: Kābī eiga kabushikigaisha) is an American and Japanese film production and distribution company founded in June 9, 1965. On April 27, 1992, after the release of Kirby's Dream Land, they started producing some of movies based on Nintendo's Kirby franchise. The company was later transferred to Kirby Studios and is the distribution arm for Fox Benedict Pictures, Fox Benedict Animation, and Sprixie Studios.

1st Logo

(1965-1992)

TBA

2nd Logo

(April 27, 1992-)

The audio file of this logo can be heard here.

Nicknames: "Kirby", "Hey, It's Kirby!", "Poyo!", "The Cutest PolyGram Video Rip-Off", "Avoid The Indian And Filipino Stuff", "The Cutest Logo Ever Of 1992"

Logo: On a black background, yellow dust begins to form the "K". Unlike a roller-coaster (and the 1980s RKO logo), it zooms backward, dipping right, then "irby Films, Inc." with a line with red stars underneath it slides in from right to left to form the Kirby Films, Inc. logo as we can see Kirby pushing the logo in the right. When Kirby finishes pushing the logo, he stands next to the logo. "A Nintendo and HAL Laboratory Company” flies in from the right one-by-one, and a white bar of light passes through the logo. Then, Kirby winks his left eye.

Bylines:

1992-1997: "A Nintendo and HALKEN Company"

1997-present: "A Nintendo and HAL Laboratory Company”

Variant: On some international releases, the byline reads "Presents" instead.

FX/SFX: The Scanimation, Kirby pushing the logo, the white bar of light passing through the logo, and Kirby winking his left eye. All in nice 2D Japanese animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1982-1992 PolyGram Video logo, but the deep "THUD!" sound is heard as the Kirby Films, Inc. logo is fully formed.

Availability: Current. Can be seen on some Kirby animated movies produced by a company. It was in tandem with the next logos.

Scare Factor: None. Kirby looks cute.

3rd Logo

(March 21, 1996-)

Nicknames: "Kirby in Space", "Kirby With A Warp Star", "The Kirby Super Star Logo", "...But In Space", "The Cutest Silver Bird Films Ltd. Rip-Off"

Logo: Same as the 1985-1989 Silver Bird Films Ltd. logo, but Kirby with the Warp Star is in place of the eagle. When the white glow flashes out, Kirby stands on "K" in short and in dark red. The name of the company in white is in place of the Chinese text. "A Nintendo and HAL Laboratory Company" in Noto Serif Bold font is in place of "Silver Bird Films Ltd.". Once the trail disappears, Kirby winks his right eye.

Bylines:

1996-1997: "A Nintendo and HALKEN Company"

1997-2015: "A Nintendo and HAL Laboratory Company”

2015-: " A Kirby Studios Company"

Variant: On some international releases, it reads "Presents" instead.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1985-1989 Silver Bird Films Ltd. logo, but Kirby flying with the Warp Star and Kirby winking his left eye instead.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1985-1989 Silver Bird Films Ltd. logo. The ding is heard as Kirby winks his left eye.

Availability: Very common. First seen on Kirby Super Star: The Movie. The variant is also seen on some international releases. It was in tandem with the previous logo.

Scare Factor: None to low. Like the last logo, Kirby looks cute.

4th Logo

(April 15, 2004-)

Nicknames:"Kirby II", "Hey, It's Kirby! II", "Poyo! II", "Avoid The Indian And Filipino Stuff II", "The Cutest TF1 Ripoff"

Logo: On a dark blue background, several 5-pointed stars are seen. In sync to the music, they grow and arrange into a pattern similar to the current USA flag. They then turn to "K" shapes, which flips to the same letter shapes while they zoom in and change color. When they get closer to the screen, the background turns pink and the shapes turn multicolored and flash at random times. A green "K" appears and copies and flips in sync with the theme as the background becomes dark blue again. It then slips into 3 "K" shapes before one the same letter remains and flips around to form the "K", interlocking with the same letter as the first letter of the 2002-present Kirby logo. "irby" (with the yellow star inside the "b") zooms in and lock in with the logo and zooms towards the screen with the dark red shadow and in pink (the same color as Kirby's skin) respectively. "FILMS, INC." appears below also in sync with the music. The camera then zooms into the circle of the "i" as the background becomes red. The camera reveals a light pink background with Kirby's red feet. The camera zooms out and moves up as we can see Kirby smiling and looking at us. Kirby blinks his eyes twice. Two stars appear below his hands. He claps his hands, following and exploding the two stars. The camera moves up as the logo appears below respectively. The logo zooms into the camera as Kirby jumps, zooms out and sits on the "b" and cuts back to the logo fully forming, but this time Kirby sits on the "b", and he waves his left hand before fading to black.

FX/SFX: All very nice and acceptable 2D Japanese animation.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant trumpet fanfare with violins, bells and a glockenspiel.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The music in this logo is heard from the 1975-1976 TF1 logo.

Availability: Supreme common. Two examples are Kirby & The Amazing Mirror: The Movie and Kirby And The Rainbow Curse. It was in tandem with the previous logos.

Scare Factor: None to low. Again, Kirby looks cute.