Stoner-Ruegger Productions Inc.

Background: In 1983, director Sherri Stoner and then-Hanna-Barbera employee Tom Ruegger co-founded their own production company, using their surnames as the company name, and leased a previously-vacant office building in Studio City, California for their headquarters. The same year, SRP struck a deal with H-B (ironically), Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation to produce syndicated television cartoons (including animated shorts) for 49 years and co-produced several cartoons with the latter throughout the 1990's and became a division of Warner Bros. Animation outright in 1987. During The Weekday Cartoon Extravaganza Show (1985-1991) days, SRP produced the animated Tiny Toon Adventures shorts, before Tiny Toon Adventures became a full half-hour series in 1990 and also co-produced the animated Jetsons shorts after 1987 and the animated Flintstones shorts with Hanna-Barbera on the same show. After those original TTA skits, SRP worked with Warner Bros. Animation and Steven Spielberg to produce the half-hour series, which ran from 1990-92. In 1986, SRP and WBA co-acquired the Hap Shaughnessy founded-and-owned Bilsonessy Cartoons (with WB also acquiring distribution rights to Bilsonessy titles from Viacom Enterprises); followed in 1991 by the acquisition, solely by SRP, of South Detroit Production Warehouse, in both acquisitions SRP also acquired the rights to their characters. Also in 1991, SRP relocated their headquarters to nearby Burbank and co-produced the animated The Warners, Pinky and the Brain, Slappy Squirrel and Goodfeathers shorts with Warner Bros. Animation and Spielberg for the first two seasons of The Allen Alan Show until the characters of those four segments all were incorporated into the half-hour Animaniacs series (September 13, 1993-November 14, 1998), another SRP-WBA-Spielberg tri-production which also included other characters SRP acquired from SDPW. In addition to those two shows, SRP, along with Warner Bros. Animation and Spielberg, also produced the 1992 animated revival of Gilligan's Island, Frekazoid and Pinky and the Brain (later re-spunoff into Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain), among others. Following it's crippling semi-bankruptcy in 2000, SRP was folded into Warner Bros. Animation. Today, Stoner-Ruegger still survives as an in-name-only unit of Warner Bros. Animation for distribution and marketing of properties and productions associated with Stoner-Ruegger's and SDPW's works. However, not all cartoons co-produced by S-R are owned by Time Warner such as the following: Night in the Woods (first and second seasons co-produced by SRP and the third and fourth seasons were co-produced by Klasky-Csupo, DNA Productions and CBS Television Studios/CBS Television Distribution) the 1995 animated adaption of Hogan's Heroes (also currently owned (in this case solely) by CBS Television Studios/CBS Television Distribution). Warner Bros. has no kind of rights to any of these series listed.

1st Logo

(September 16-November 4, 1985)

Early SRP

Nicknames: "The Text", "The Text of Boredom", "The World's Most Generic Logo", "Hey, this reminds me of PBS' very first year!", "Stoner-Ruegger Boredom"

Logo: Just a black background with the words:

STONER

RUEGGER

PRODUCTIONS

stacked on top of each other.

FX/SFX: None.

Cheesy Factor: The logo is too plain. It was probably a placeholder for the next logo. Not to mention the quality is also pretty bad for a logo that debuted in 1985.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of The Weekday Cartoon Extravaganza Show.

Availability: Extremely rare. This logo was used on the first eight episodes of The Weekday Cartoon Extravaganza Show (as a placeholder logo) and then quickly replaced with the next logo starting with episode nine, but pre-1995 VHS releases plaster it with the next logo, while modern prints plaster it with the All-Stars "Comedy" logo.

Scare Factor: Low. Though not widely seen, the darkness might get to some. Otherwise may cause possible boredom.

2nd Logo

(November 11, 1985-May 19, 1986, 1992)

Nickname: "SRP's Version of Hanna-Barbera's Swirling Star", "Swirling Star", "Twisting Star", "Purple Twist", "SRP Swirling Star"

Logo: On a dark blue gradient background, a rainbow star swirls down from the top, leaving behind a purple trail. It then settles into the center of the screen as it twirls, occasionally shrinking and twisting, forming a circular trail. It then twists into the middle of the circle and comes to a stop. The words "STONER-RUEGGER PRODUCTIONS" in Courier font appear below.

FX/SFX: The star and residue trail. Scanimate effects.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Hanna-Barbera "Swirling Star" logo, but mostly remixed.

Availability: Uncommon. Appears on the remainder of the first season of The Weekday Cartoon Extravaganza Show and plasters the previous logo on pre-1995 VHS releases of the first eight episodes of said show. This logo also made a surprise appearance at the end of Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation.

Scare Factor: Low. The animation, combined with the music can startle some, but this logo is still a favorite of many and is very popular even though it was only used for six months, excluding it's surprise use on Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation.

3rd Logo

(September 6, 1986-1993, November 11, 1995)

Nicknames: "SRP's Version of Hanna-Barbera's Swirling Star II", "CGI SRP Swirling Star", "Swirling Star II", "Twisting Star II", "Shining Star Twist", "SRP Swirling Star II"

Logo: An updated version of the previous logo, but now done in CGI. The trail is now metallic, and the star now realistically twists and turns and has a nice shine effect. The text is in the same font as the previous logo (before 1988) or in the Century Gothic font (starting in 1988) and is slightly smaller.

Trivia: Airings of the Animaniacs episode "The Presidents Song/Don't Tread on Us/The Flame Returns" on Kid's WB used the 1988-1993 version of this logo instead of the standard "Character Portrait II" logo.

FX/SFX: Same as above; nice CGI, a good achievement for 1986 and brighter colors, but…

Cheesy Factor: ...it doesn’t work as well as it's predecessor for some reason. The path has been changed to look “looser” and it simply doesn’t look as visually appealing.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo or the closing theme of the show.

Availability: Uncommon. The original version was last seen on seasons 2 and 3 of The Weekday Cartoon Extravaganza Show and mid-80's prints of Bilsonessy titles, following the 1984 Warner Bros. Television Distribution "Shield of Staleness" logo with Warner Communications byline, which plastered the Viacom filmed "V of Doom" or "Pinball" logos. The 1988 version can be seen on the remainder of The Weekday Cartoon Extravaganza Show (starting with season 4) on DVD releases of the show, Tiny Toon Adventures (on DVD releases and formerly on The Hub, now Discovery Family) and the first season (1992) of it's first spinoff The Plucky Duck Show and the first season of the 1992 animated revival of Gilligan's Island. Can be spotted at the end of Taz-Mania as well, but that show hasn't been seen since the late 90's. Don't expect this on The Allen Alan Show, as SRP only produced the animation for four animated segments of that show and nothing else (Steam Train Productions and Warner Bros. Television logos typically appear at the end of that show).

Scare Factor: Same as the previous logo, but it is not as popular as the previous one.

4th Logo

(September 13, 1993-December 24, 1994)

Stoner-Ruegger "TTA" Furrball Variant (1993)

Nicknames: "Stoner-Ruegger's Version of the H-B Character Portrait", "H-B All-Star Prototype Rip-Off", "Character Portrait", "All-Star Prototype", "SRP All-Stars", "Is SRP taking a Walmart approach to the text in their logo?"

Logo: On a colored background, we see a partial picture of an SRP star inside a geometric shape. Somewhere inside that logo is the text "STONER*RUEGGER" in the Dom Casual font (created in 1991).

Trivia: First seen on the first episode of Animaniacs and the first episode of season 2 of Gilligan's Island (both of which premiered on the same day), last seen on the final SRP-produced episode of Night In The Woods before Klasky-Csupo replaced SRP's production slot for the third season onward.

Custom Variants: This was customized for each show produced by SRP during this era and is available only that specified show or TV movie:

Animaniacs: There are two variants for this show: the opening had Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner in a red vertical rectangle, with the "STONER*RUEGGER" text yellow and angled vertically on the right side (at 90-degrees clockwise) and "PRESENTS" is below the logo (all of this zooms in). This logo later zooms in to the show's opening. The closing however, has the rectangle tilted so that it puts the "STONER*RUEGGER" text at a angle, the "PRESENTS" is gone and the rectangle is raspberry-colored. Both variants use a white background. On several episodes of this show, the end logo was completely vertical, headshots of Pinky and the Brain appeared in the rectangle instead and applause was heard. Headshots of other characters have appeared in the rectangle instead as well: one with Slappy and Skippy Squirrel was spotted on at least four episodes, one with Buttons and Mindy on at least one episode and one with Rita and Runt was also seen on at least one other episode. All of these also used a white background.

Night In The Woods: A grinning picture of one of the main characters inside a light blue oval (Mae, opening variant; for the first season, it cross-fades into the intro; in the second season it flashes with energy, then fades into a shot of Angus working on a guitar using a blow torch) or vertical rectangle (Bea, closing variant). A yellow-green “STONER*RUEGGER” is seen, slanted and near the top. The background is either a dark blue-black gradient on the opening variant, or a dark blue-light blue gradient on the closing variant. The closing variant was followed by the second "in association with" variant of the 1989 DNA Productions logo.

Gilligan's Island: A headshot of Gilligan in a vertical magenta rectangle. A green “STONER*RUEGGER”, on an angle, is somewhere near the top. The background is dark turquoise.

Tiny Toon Adventures (Variant 1): Headshots of Buster and Babs Bunny (both with huge smiles) inside of a pistachio-colored rectangle with a pink "STONER*RUEGGER" on it's side. The background is hot pink.

Tiny Toon Adventures (Variant 2): A headshot of a grinning Plucky Duck inside a rose bonbon rectangle. A tangerine-yellow "STONER*RUEGGER" is on the side. This is on a solid blue background.

Tiny Toon Adventures (Variant 3): A headshot of Hamton J. Pig inside a solid blue rectangle. A yellow "STONER*RUEGGER" is on the side. This is on a black-blue gradient background.

Tiny Toon Adventures (Variant 4): A headshot of a grinning Furrball in a light blue rectangle. A yellow "STONER*RUEGGER" is on the side. The background is dark blue.

FX/SFX: Depends. The closing variants are still, but for the opening variants, it's the zooming in for the opening Animaniacs logo.

Music/Sounds: A random cartoon sound effect. It’s different for each logo. Sometimes the opening and closing themes of the show play over the logo instead. On Animaniacs, a zooming sound is heard which crescents into the opening theme.

Music/Sounds Variant: On mid-1990's Romanian dubbing prints of Tiny Toon Adventures, the logo is silent. The same situation occurs with a Polish dubbing print of one first-season Animaniacs episode.

Availability: The availability is different for each variant, but overall, uncommon bordering on rare:

Animaniacs: Rare, as Animaniacs was removed from The Hub's schedule upon it's rebranding to Discovery Family. Intact on the Volumes 1-3 DVDs.

Night In The Woods: Uncommon. It was last seen on reruns of said show on Nicktoons, along with the VHS tapes and the DVDs from CBS Home Entertainment.

Gilligan's Island: Uncommon. It was only seen on said show, which is currently not airing on Teletoon in Canada or on any American network along with the VHS tapes and the DVDs from Warner Archive.

Tiny Toon Adventures (Variant 1): Extremely rare. Originally used to plaster the previous logo on reruns of said show between 1993-very early January 1995, when the next logo was used instead. It was also seen on the Tiny Toon Adventures special The Tiny Toon Spring Break Special.

Tiny Toon Adventures (other variants): Extinct for all three other variants. Similar to Variant 1, they were all used to plaster the previous logo on reruns in that era.

Scare Factor: None to medium, depending on the variant. It depends on what you think about the sound effects.

5th Logo

(September 5, 1994-April 10, 1999)

Nicknames: “All-Stars”, "SRP (Comedy/Action) Stars", "SRP All-Stars II," "Kabong!"

Logo: On a blurry white background with several colorful abstract shapes flying about, we see a clear square/oval that provides a “clear” view of the flying shapes; the square/oval has the text "STONER*RUEGGER" in the Dom Casual font embossed in it at the top. Suddenly, we see several of SRP's characters (mostly from Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures) running through the logo, as the square/oval begins to rotate. At the end, one of the characters ends up coming towards the logo, ending in a very extreme close-up of the character. A very small byline reading "A SUBSIDIARY OF WARNER BROS. ANIMATION" appears in the lower right. Depending on the show genre, one of these two similar but very distinct variants of this logo is used; one for SRP comedy shows and the other for SRP action shows. The characters, “music” and logo shape differed depending on the logo. Here are the stars for each version of the logo, in the order that they appear:

Comedy: The "STONER*RUEGGER" logo is yellow and in a blue rectangle:

Wakko Warner (as if running or sliding or something)

Slappy Squirrel

Gogo Dodo

Furrball (sniffing a flower, similar to one scene in the Tiny Toon Adventures intro, you have to look close to see the flower, though)

Plucky Duck (with a very classic “what?” expression)

Skippy Squirrel

Dot Warner (very hidden, you have to look close to find her)

Babs Bunny

Buster Bunny

Yakko Warner (zooms towards the logo; extreme close-up of his face)

Action: The "STONER*RUEGGER" logo is sky blue and in a gray oval:

Brain

Batduck (Plucky’s Batman-esque alter-ego)

Pinky

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

Pinky (another zoom, another extreme close-up of his face)

Trivia: This logo was designed and animated by Charlex Studios. First seen on the first episode of season 2 of Animaniacs, last seen on Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain.

Variants:

A still variant of the "Comedy" logo was also shown on the 1995 cartoon incarnation of Hogan's Heroes, with a small "In association with" text below; the 1995 network variant of the 1987 Paramount Television logo would follow.

The pilot episode of Skippy & Slappy had this logo bylineless.

FX/SFX: Nifty combination of 2D animation (the characters) with cool 3D elements (the SRP shape). This was done by Charlex Studios.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Hanna-Barbera Comedy and Action logos.

Music/Sounds Variants:

There is a low toned variant of the "Comedy" logo that appeared on mid-90's prints of one episode each of The Slappy Squirrel Show and The Rita & Runt Show (the original series).

On a few shows, the closing theme was used.

On one episode of The Rita & Runt Show (the original series), the music of the 1979 South Detroit Production Warehouse logo was used. This is due to an editing mistake.

On some Romanian dubbing prints of the 1960's Pinky and the Brain series, the "V of Doom" filmed variant music in PAL speed along with the 1994 horn theme from the 2003 Warner Bros. Television Distribution logo plays over the whole "Action" logo. Likely due to an extremely poor plaster job. The "V of Doom" music would jarringly cut after the logo fades out.

Availability: Common due to being the chief means of plastering, though not as bad as you might think; it was typically on “new” post-1994 prints of SRP-produced shows. In most cases, they match the right logo with the right show; the exception is one episode of Pinky and the Brain, which uses the "Comedy" logo due to a poor plastering job, as well as the second Tiny Toon Adventures special Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery, which uses the "Action" variant. Warner Bros. still uses this logo today to plaster older SRP logos on certain newer prints, excluding Bilsonessy shows (though it was used on the 1960's Pinky and the Brain due to it being a Bilsonessy-Stevens Film Works (the predecessor to SDPW) co-production), which in most cases only have the WBTD logo or no logo on DVD prints. The "Comedy" variant also appeared on Pan-European prints of the the 1992 animated revival of Gilligan's Island preceded by the previous logo. The "Comedy" variant was also seen on Animaniacs (season 2) and is intact on said show's Volume 3 DVD, at the ends of cartoons produced by SRP between 1995-97, airing on World of Toons (later known as The World of Toons Show). The "Comedy" variant also appeared on The Hub (now Discovery Family) airings of Tiny Toon Adventures, plastering the previous two logos, and also plasters the first two logos on Russian dubbing prints of The Weekday Cartoon Extravaganza Show.

Scare Factor: Depending on the variant:

Comedy: None to low. The weird horn effect might get to you, but it’s neat to see all the characters.

Action: Low to medium. The music combined with the creepy sound effects can scare more than a few, medium to nightmare for the Romanian 1960's Pinky and the Brain variant due the "V of Doom" and 1994 WBTV themes playing simultaneously at full volume, especially scary for those who weren't expecting it.

6th Logo

(February 20, 1995-December 31, 2001)

Nicknames: "Character Portrait II", "SRP All-Stars III", "SRP/WB All-Stars"

Logo: Like the 4th logo, a still of an SRP star in a shape, usually an oval. The star is always the one that has been featured in the show that has just ended, so there are quite a number of variations (some variations have 2 or more stars). The background is almost always white. Below the logo, there is a Time Warner byline.

Trivia: First seen as an in-credit logo on That's Warner Bros.! and World of Toons, the standalone version was first seen on the short Furrball in Taken from Space/X-Ray Survival and first seen regularly on the premieres of Pinky and the Brain and season 3 of Animaniacs.

Bylines:

1995-2001: "A Time Warner Company"

2001: "An AOL Time Warner Company"

Variants:

As noted above, each Stoner-Ruegger-produced original series for the WB network from September 1995 onward had this logo, always with the cartoon’s star(s), except for Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain, which strangely reverted to the previous logo. This not only included the regular half-hour series but one-shorts, previously called World of Toons, that now fell under the WB Animation Presents... banner (which are now no longer rerun on TV). Thus, there is a large number of variations.

Some of the very early logos had a different style byline. Appearing in an arc-like fashion below the logo are the words “Stoner-Ruegger Productions Inc. A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Animation". This was dropped in 1997. It was mostly used on Animaniacs (sometimes with the other byline), but also appeared on a few Skippy & Slappy episodes.

Some SRP cartoons from this period had some animation to include Warner Bros. Animation's logo; the SRP logo would iris-out (1997-1998) or zoom out (1998-2001), and then a "shiny" version of the Warner Bros. Animation logo (complete with the banner and the company name) would zoom in. Additional sound effects were used for this. Again, quickly dropped, as Warner Bros. Animation was putting a specially-created production logo. In some cases, there would be a quick fade out before the WB Animation logo would appear! This was only used during mid 1998-early 1999; it was retained on The Hub (now Discovery Family) repeats of Animaniacs, usually with the byline variant (also appeared on a few Skippy & Slappy episodes and at least one The Rita & Runt Show (the 1997 revival) episode).

List of series or shorts with characters:

Pinky and the Brain (Pilot): On a sky blue background, there is a headshot of Yakko Warner inside an orange oval with the SRP text in blue. Under the logo is a byline with a copyright. The logo itself was replaced by the 1994 "Comedy All-Stars" logo.

Furrball Follies (Pilot): The end of the World of Toons episode "Furrball in Taken from Space/X-Ray Survival" has Buster and Babs Bunny inside of a purple oval on a black background, with the SRP text in bright turquoise. This was later replaced by the 1994 "Comedy All-Stars" logo.

Pinky and the Brain: Pinky on the left giving a shy look and the Brain giving an annoyed/suspicious look on the right inside a jungle green oval. The SRP text is shocking pink.

Skippy & Slappy: Slappy Squirrel on the left and Skippy Squirrel on the right inside a pale turquoise oval. The SRP text is pumpkin orange.

Animaniacs (Seasons 3-5): A side profile of Yakko Warner in a navy blue oval. The SRP text is medium red-violet.

The Rita & Runt Show (1997 revival): Two variants: seasons 1 and 3 has Rita at the left and Runt at the right in an aqua oval with yellow SRP text (formerly common on The Hub prior to it's rebranding to Discovery Family); season 2 has Runt holding Rita by his neck with apricot-colored text. The oval is also aqua.

The Plucky Duck Show (Seasons 2-3): Again, two variants: season one has Plucky Duck in a purple oval with yellow SRP text; another features a close-up of Plucky Duck in a sky blue oval w/ lime green SRP text. The first one debuted at the end of the third episode of the second season on July 21, 1997. The later one only appeared on two episodes of the third season.

Frekazoid: Frekazoid appears in a pink oval. The SRP text is dark turquoise.

Banjo-Kazooie: The Animated Show: Banjo in the center and Kazooie behind him, inside a grasshopper green rectangle. The SRP text is leyden blue.

FX/SFX: None. This was done by Hatmaker Films in Boston, MA.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1995-2002 Hanna-Barbera logo.

Availability: Depending on the variant.

Animaniacs: Uncommon. Only appears on the last three seasons (1995-1998 episodes) of the mentioned show when formerly reran on The Hub (now Discovery Family) and on the Volumes 3 and 4 DVD sets.

Pinky and the Brain: Uncommon. Intact on DVD releases.

Skippy & Slappy: Extremely rare. Appears on DVD releases of the show.

The Rita & Runt Show (1997 revival): Extremely rare. Both variants appear on said show which is available on DVD.

The Plucky Duck Show: Uncommon. The first variation is intact on the Season 1 DVD.

Frekazoid: Extremely rare.

Banjo-Kazooie: The Animated Show: Ultra rare.

Rest of the variants: Extinct. The rest of them were all one-shorts that aired on World of Toons. They will most likely never appear again after World of Toons ended in 2001.

Scare Factor: Minimal to low. The laugh could get to some people. None for the silent variant.

7th Logo

(June 27, 2017-)

Nicknames: "The Rising SR Star", "The Return of SR," "Stoner-Ruegger Strikes Back!," "Welcome Back, Stoner-Ruegger", "The Rising T.A.T. Star Ripoff"

Logo: Up against a dark blue (and almost black) gradient background, we see the text "SR" inside a rounded black box. The rainbow star from the 2nd logo (except the colors are more vivid) rises from the background and places itself between the S and the R. "STONER-RUEGGER" wipes in below. This product is similar to the alleged 1980 T.A.T. Communications Company logo.

FX/SFX: Good animation and the star is a nice throwback to the 1985 logo.

Cheesy Factor: The star reeks of cheesiness.

Music/Sounds: The opening or closing theme of the film.

Availability: It was first seen on the direct-to-video movie Animaniacs and WWE: WrestleZanyMania!. It also appears at the end of the new Animaniacs reboot to debut by the end of 2017 on Netflix.

Scare Factor: Low to high. The text is extremely big and in your face, but at least the star adds a nostalgic touch.