Drawing Triangle Films (Australia/New Zealand)

Background: Drawing Triangle was established by Liam Rodner and Jacob Drolt in Australia in 1968. The company made well-known films in the 70's, mainly animated ones, making it expand to New Zealand in 1980. Currently the company is adquired by the PSN Entertainment Group since 2002.

1st Logo

(1969-1978)

Nicknames: "Traveling Throughout Hair", "Random Triangle Of Doom I"

Logo: The camera pans down to reveal a place made of hair, and it zooms to enter the place. As we zoom on it, we see creatures walking, tiny cars moving and weird things falling. It still zooms until we see an upside-down triangle. A flash suddenly occurs, bringing a black background with the same triangle, with squiggles inside. Lightning occurs above, then it dissapears. The words "DRAWING TRIANGLE" suddenly appear.

Closing Variant: This closing logo was used from 1969 to 1991, before the company changed their logo. There, we see the print version of the logo. Sometimes, "A" and "PRESENTATION" are seen above & below the logo.

FX/SFX: All 2D animation. It's well-made.

Music/Sounds: An 8-note timpani tune, followed by a loud orchestral note with lightning. A few films have the opening theme.

Availability: Rare. The company's earliest films are still known in Australia but not worldwide. An example of a film containing it is Maxie and it's pre-1978 sequels. Also appears on Why Throw Tomatoes?, Little Cube Adventures and Eryim. Also appears on collaborations with the defunct American New York Film Company.

Scare Factor: Medium to high. This logo is weird and the part after the flash, including the result, may surprise some people. None for those who are used to it.

2nd Logo

(1978-1991)

Nicknames: "Random Triangle of Doom II", "The Drawing Line (Before PolyGram)"

Logo: We see the result from the previous logo, and an underline draws in below the text.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Less entertaining animation than the 1st logo. They should have done better.

Music/Sounds: None, or the opening theme.

Availability: More common than the previous logo. Appears on New Zealandese Vampire in Hawaii, Black Knight Castle and Missiles Down. This was recently spotted on a 1st Leader Blu-ray release of The Queen Is At Home from 2013.

Scare Factor: Minimal. The triangle will still scare some, but the lack of dramatic stuff makes it more situable than it's predecessor.

3rd Logo

(1991-1998)

Nicknames: "Red Triangle", "The Less Random Triangle"

Logo: On a black background, the side of a 3D rectangle draws in while the camera rotates slightly and zooms out. The drawing fills in color and rotates to face us, while the background turns black/grey. The metallic letters of "DRAWING" and "TRIANGLE" emerge and rotate to reveal the words. Both shimmer.

Variant: The teaser trailer for Because of Maxie had a black/blue gradient background.

Closing Variant: This variant was used on with the logo's lifespan and contains a triangle with the texts above and below.

FX/SFX: The drawing, camera, rotating, changing background, emerging and shimmering. Acceptable CGI and it's better than the previous one.

Music/Sounds: A descending bell tune with a swoosh, then some deep synth notes.

Availability: Uncommon. All of the company's films which were made during the time are distributed in HV by 1st Leader and rarely TeleNative. First appeared in Norwegians Call It Nord. Later appeared on Anestesia (not to be confused with Anastasia), Back to White and other films, concluding with Hollow Babies (both original & unrated versions). Strangely plasters the 1968 logo on a 2006 DVD of Hurry: A Story Of Unlucky People, where the animation of this logo is still there but the music from the 1968 one is heard.

Scare Factor: Minimal to low. The fast pace at the 1st half might not sit well with a few viewers.

4th Logo

(1998-2004)

Nicknames: "Australian AMC Rip-Off", "The Triangular Planet And Filmstrip Character", "Surfing Filmstrip"

Logo: We see a city filled with skyscrapers, filmstrips and yellow lights. A blue/red filmstrip creature (kinda looking like the AMC mascot, Clip) riding a triangle-shaped board. The camera cuts into a triangular planet on a black/cyan starfield, then back to the filmstrip's action. The buildings are showing scenes from various Drawing Triangle films. It starts flying away the city, and then we cut to the planet (heavily implying that the city is part of the planet), then starts to fly around it, leaving a blue/red trail that looks like a Saturn ring. When it finishes it exits the screen and the company's name wipes in at the center of the planet.

Variants:

Due to PSN's acquisition in 2002, the PSN byline fades in below the planet and logo.

For the logo's first year, the words "30TH ANNIVERSARY" are seen below the company name. This variant made it's final appearance in Turn The Sax On.

Closing Variant: Used in the logo's lifespan just like the previous one. We see the red triangle with the comapny name in front of it.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Great CGI. The logo kinda rip-offs AMC however.

Music/Sounds: A lush theme with sounds that accompany the action.

Availability: Uncommon. First appeared on Midnight Journal, and later appeared on films during the time. This logo made a strange thing on it's debut, that being the plastering of the previous logo in 1998 HV releases of the company's last films including it. An example is the first VHS/Laserdisc of Driving In My Way: How John Does It?. Don't expect to make this appear on the 2005 promotional New Zealandese DVD of You Love What You Want, since it uses the next logo instead.

Scare Factor: None to minimal. Nothing extremely scary; this logo is just meant to be entertaining.

5th Logo

(2004-2013)

Nicknames: "Triangular Letters", "dtf"

Logo: On a blue bokeh background, we see green/line lines coming out of the screen. Lights suddenly appear and form more lines, and later follow the other ones. We cut to a blurry figure, which suddenly comes to focus, revealing that it's the text "dtf" on a triangular font at the center of the screen. A transparent triangle appears from behind, and the words "drawing triangle" & byline fade in below.

Variant: A rare short version is also used. It starts on the part where the words come to focus.

Closing Variants: These are both currently used.

We see the "dtf" and transparent rectangle in print style, with the words "drawing triangle" after it. This appears on high-budget films.

Lower-budget films have just the logo without company name. However, the words "A" and "PRODUCTION" are seen between it.

FX/SFX: Again, great CGI that has the quality from future logos.

Music/Sounds: First the sounds of birds followed by a lush tribal tune.

Availability: No longer current, but still common. Appears on films made by the company from 2005 to 2013, beggining with Father Truck and ending with Living In The 80's I. This was also used as a television logo. Also appears on some 1st Leader direct-to-video releases made by the company, including Venecia and Snowpants: The 12th Symphony after their logo.

Scare Factor: Minimal to low; it may surprise a few but it shouldn't scare a lot.

6th Logo

(2013-)

Nicknames: "Dissolving Triangle", "Screen Australia Rip-Off"

Logo: A spotlight reveals a blue triangle on a black room. The triangle dissolves into random cubes, lights, and dust which move around the center of the screen as the spotlight dims. These things later form the same triangle, but more darker. The "dtf" fades in on the triangle, and "Drawing Triangle Films" fades in below it. The PSN byline fades in later.

FX/SFX: Everything. Great animation.

Cheesy Factor: The only cheesy thing about it it's that this looks a lot like the current Screen Australia logo!

Music/Sounds: A tribal theme not like before, accompained by the sounds of nature.

Availability: Brand new. Debuted on the film Because Of Maxie II which was released in December of 2013. It later appeared on upcoming movies by Drawing Triangle such as Zappa and Shh! Donkeys. Might also appear on future 1L direct-to-video releases which are made by the company.

Scare Factor: None, unless the rapid motion gets you.