Tawaka Lion, Inc.

Background: Shigeru Tawaka founded Tawaka Lion, Inc. back in 1966 in Tokyo, Japan. In 1974, Tawaka Lion, Inc. sued Kidz Kompany for plagarizing their works. Shigeru Tawaka originally was going to make Tawaka Lion an adult film company, but decided to switch to a more kid-friendly matter. Shigeru's son, Aneki, took over when Shigeru died of lung cancer in 1981.

1st Logo

(1966-1971)

Nicknames: "Cute Little Roar", "Growl!"

Logo: We see a black screen with a cute yellow lion on it. The lion growls ferociously, but then does a little smile going "Roar?". The body fades off the lion. The lion's head moves to the middle of the screen. Then "Tawaka Lion, Inc." fades in below.

Variant: Sometimes, the text appears in Japanese.

FX/SFX: The animated lion.

Music/Sounds: Just the lion.

Cheesy Factor: CHEESE ME! Considering this was a company that was new, and that the company started at a tight budget, it makes sense for it to be cheesy.

Avalibility: Rare. Extinct for the variant. You can find a remastered version on the DVD entitled Kiro Kitty.

Scare Factor: Low. The early version of the logo does not have a fade in, and the growling seems pretty instant.

2nd Logo

(1971-1972)

Nickname: "The Lion and the Ice Cream"

Logo: We see the lion on a black screen, licking vanilla ice cream. The words "TAWAKA LION" fades in under the lion's head. He stops licking now and smiles at the screen.

FX/SFX: The lion.

Music/Sounds: The lion licking ice cream.

Avalibility: Rare. It's hard to find, but if you want to see a good copy of it, you can see it on a DVD entitled Korra The Lion Collection.

Scare Factor: None.

3rd Logo

(1972-1989)

Nickname: "Funny Lion"

Logo: We see the Lion laughing for 2 seconds on a cloud background. Then he looks at the screen. "TAWAKA LION, INC." fades in under him. Then the logo ends.

Variants:

In Japan, the text appears in japanese, and above it "Tawka Lion" in small text appears.

Sometimes the cloud background is static.

FX/SFX: The lion.

Music/Sounds: The lion laughing.

Avalibility: Common.

Scare Factor: Low for lion laughing.

4th Logo

(1988-)

Logo: We see a white background, with the golden lion (from the 1st logo) in the middle. "TAWAKA LION" in gold is under the lion, too.

Variant: The background is black sometimes.

FX/SFX: The fading.

Music/Sounds: None.

Avalibility: Very common today. It is shown on Hoshi no Kiro Kitty.

Scare Factor: None.