STO Studios

Background:In 1943, cartoonist Brian Barbera (father of Joseph Barbera) created the famous cartoon characters that STO Studios has used since 1943. They invented the digital-animation process in 1982 and using that system (and ironically enough) STO Studios participated in many Hanna-Barbera works in the mid-to-late 1980's using the new process, cooperating on some episodes of The Snorks, many later episodes of The Smurfs, most episodes of the mid-1980's revival of The Jetsons and more. Starting around 1999, STO Studios have experienced financial problems and numerous layoffs. Finally, in 2009, STO Studios became a low-budget unit of Warner Bros. after shutting down as a Time Warner-ownedindependentstudio. Both the Pokemon Black and White game and series used STO's character designs as starters. Apparently, STO approved use of their character's designs. "STO" is a combination of the first letters of the character's names: Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott.

1st Logo

(1943-1946)

Nickname: “Looney Tunes Rip-Off"

Logo:On a cloudy background, we seeconcentric circles similar to the Looney Tunes logos of the era. Then the center fades to black and the company name and Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott fade in.

Variants:

Some releases before 1945 had an extended version. In this version, everything fades out, then the disclaimer "BUY WAR BONDS AND HELP US WIN WORLD WAR II!" appears.

In 1995, Turner Entertainment created the infamous "dubbed version" re-releases of the pre-1948 STO Studios releases with copyright text chyroned in near the bottom of the logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie or a fanfare that sounds like a messed up version of theParamount on Paradetheme.

Availability: Rare.

Scare Factor: Low.

2nd Logo

(1946-1953)

Logo: On a light blue-yellow gradient background with indigo lines, we seeSnivy, Tepig and Oshawottzoom out. The company's name in indigo appears above and the word "PRESENTS" appears below.

Variants:

Some movies don't have the company's name above the characters and the word "PRESENTS" is replaced by "STO PRESENTS".

In 1995, Turner Entertainment created the infamous "dubbed version" re-releases of the pre-1948 STO Studios releases with copyright text chyroned in near the bottom of the logo.

FX/SFX: The zooming.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Rare.

Scare Factor: Low.

3rd Logo

(1953-1967)

Logo: On a red background, we seeSnivy, Tepig and Oshawottinside a blue box. Below them are the words "STOFEATURES PRESENTS".

Variant: On CinemaScope films, the text below the company's name reads "PRESENTS IN CINEMASCOPE".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None for the regular variant, but the second half of the 20th Century Fox fanfare for the CinemaScope variant.

Availability: Common.

Scare Factor: None.

4th Logo

(1967-1972)

Logo: On a green background, we seeSnivy, Tepig and Oshawottand a black shape with the company's name below them.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Common.

Scare Factor: None.

5th Logo

(1972-1984)

Logo: On a blue-purple gradient background, we seeSnivy, Tepig and Oshawottzoom out. Below them are the company's name and the Warner Communications byline.

FX/SFX: the zooming.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Common.

Scare Factor: Minimal.

6th Logo

(1984-1999)

Logo: On a purple-green gradient background, we seeSnivy, Tepig and Oshawottabove the company's name and the byline.

Bylines:

"A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" (1984-1990)

"A TIME WARNER COMPANY" (1990-1992)

"A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" (1992-1999)

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Common.

Scare Factor: None.

7th Logo

(1999-2009)

Logo: On a light blue background with indigo lines, we seeSnivy, Tepig and Oshawotton the left and the company's name on the right. Below them is a byline.

Bylines:

"A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" (1999-2001)

"An AOL Time Warner Company" (2001-2003)

"A TimeWarner Company" (2003-2009)

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Common.

Scare Factor: None.

8th Logo

(2009-)

Logo: On a cloudy background, we see the familiar WB shield with the TimeWarner byline appearing as always. Suddenly, the shield and byline break into pieces and the pieces turn into liquid and morph into Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott, and the company's name from the previous logo. The TimeWarner byline zooms out below and the text shines.

Trivia: STO Studios is a division of Warner Bros. since the year 2009, thus explaining the Warner Bros. shield at the beginning of this logo.

FX/SFX: The shattering and morphing.

Music/Sounds: A majestic orchestral fanfare.

Availability: Current, appearing on all STO Studios movies since 2009. It was also seen on the original releases of the Nanaimo Bar Studios films the company distributed from 2014-17, but is plastered with the Loud Pictures logo on current prints.

Scare Factor: Low.