Federalwood

Background: Federalwood was founded in Hollywood, Florida in 1969 after several Stevens Film Works employees, led by Lindsay Turner (a relative of Ted Turner), who were upset by the company's reorganization actions, quit to start their own company. The original programs the company produced (from 1971 until 1982) were distributed by Viacom Enterprises. Until 1979, the company did not have an animated logo separate from the credits at the end of their shows, instead using an in-credit version of its logo. A Canadian office in Montreal, Quebec, known as Federalwood Montreal, opened in 1975 and was later sold in 1984 to Cinar. Arlene Klasky worked at the company from 1976 until 1981 when she relocated to Los Angeles to start Klasky-Csupo with Hungarian-born animator Gábor Csupó. Bruce Helford would work at the company from 1977 to 1983. In 1981, John A. Davis and Keith Alcorn joined the company and moved the headquarters to nearby Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In 1987, this company was shut down and replaced by DNA Productions.

Background Trivia: The company's name was formed by combining the name of the town where it was originally based, Hollywood, Florida; and a street in Hollywood, Florida; Federal Way.

1st Logo

(1971-1987)

Logo: It's only an in-credit text that reads: "A Federalwood Production". For co-produced shows and TV specials, the name of the company is seen below the Federalwood text.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Common. Seen on Federalwood shows and specials. This was first seen on the unsold first Andre Alligator's Friends pilot from 1971.

Scare Factor: None, but it may rise if seen at the end of a Federalwood title followed by the Viacom "V of Doom" logo, but that may decrease if the Viacom "Pinball" follows this instead.

2nd Logo

(October 15, 1978-1987)

Nicknames: "Helix, the Purple Cat Scientist", "Boring Helix", "Early Helix"

Logo: On a black background, we see an in-credit version of the Helix the Cat logo, as seen on Federalwood shows from 1978-1987 and later DNA shows from 1987-2002. "FEDERALWOOD", "FEDERALWOOD PRODUCTIONS", or "A FEDERALWOOD PRODUCTION" is seen below, sometimes with copyright info below.

Trivia:

Helix was created by Bruce Helford, and later became the original mascot of DNA Productions.

One idea that the people in the company had was to use something with bald eagles, but wanted something more outlandish. Helford would later use this same strategy to create the Mohawk Productions logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Either the beginning or the ending theme of the special, probably silence, or probably the ending theme of the show.

Availability: Appeared at the beginning or end of Federalwood-produced specials and pilots, beginning with Swamp Halloween, which was the first televised appearance of the Andre Alligator's Friends characters, one year before the show began. This was used in tandem with the next two logos from 1979 until the 1987 rebranding.

Scare Factor: None to low, depending on the logo variant, but generally it's boring, but the scare factor still can rise if seen at the end of a Federalwood title followed by the Viacom "V of Doom" logo.

3rd Logo

(September 22, 1979-May 11, 1985)

Nicknames: "Typewriter", “Federalwood Typewriter”, "Helix, the Purple Cat Scientist II", "Early 80's Helix"

Logo: The word "FEDERALWOOD" is typed out one letter at a time on a yellow background. After the entire word is typed out, the camera quickly pans outward and, over a blue background, a purple cat (nicknamed Helix) with two tails looking like DNA and a big pink human-like nose, wearing a white lab coat with a purple bowtie on it, appears above the text. He simply raises his finger in the air, at which point "PRODUCTIONS" in a smaller font fades in.

Variants:

One version of the logo has Helix's nose and one of his tails black instead of pink. Could possibly be because of film quality, however.

Other sources would have this logo completely out of sync with the sound effects.

There is a rare dark (not B&W) variant (possibly) due to the film deterioration.

Titles produced at the Montreal office have "PRODUCED IN CANADA" chyroned below "Productions".

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The "Federalwood" letters appearing one by one, and the zoom out and appearance of Helix raising his finger and "Productions". Pretty simple all around, and the typing is rather rough. The chyron for the

"PRODUCED IN CANADA" text on Montreal-produced Federalwood shows is extremely cheap while we're at it.

Music/Sounds: Varying synthesized chimes intended to mimic typewriter sounds. The last, which plays over the zoom-out, has a a loud, echoing (SPROING) sound that blends in with the last chime, combined with a synth chord.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Sometimes, the logo is silent.

Sometimes, especially on PAL prints, the music is of a slightly higher pitch.

Sometimes, it's distorted.

Availability: Ultra rare, due to excessive plastering with the next logo or the 1987, 1989 or 1994-2001 DNA logos. Originally seen on S1-S6 episodes of Andre Alligator's Friends and all episodes of Revere's Life and Times in original airings on New Line Network and early Media Home Entertainment and RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video releases. The Montreal variant originally appeared on S1-S5 episodes of Vampire Mice (DNA and Cinar co-produced the sixth and final season which aired in the summer of 1990) in original airings on CBC. Post-1994 prints of both shows remove this logo. Consider yourself very lucky if you see this logo on any medium other than online video-sharing services like Youtube.

Scare Factor: Depending on the variant:

Original variant: Low to medium. Some may be startled by Helix, its choppy animation, fast pace, "zoom-out", and the somewhat weird music, especially the distorted variant and especially to those who were expecting any DNA Productions logo.

Silent variant: Low.

4th Logo

(September 14, 1985-May 2, 1987)

Nicknames: "The Cheesy Shield, Cinar and Beach Boys Rip-Off", "Cheesy Surfing", "Bombastic Federalwood", "Helix, the Purple Cat Scientist III", "Mid-80's Helix", "Surfer Helix", "FEDERA_WOD", "Early Interlocked Bars"

Logo: Over an ocean background, the camera zooms out behind a gold surfboard and Helix the Cat. The camera then zooms out and Helix turns towards us, at which point "FEDERALWOOD", thick and full of segmented lines, with the letters "F", "E", "A", "L", "W", and both "O"s connected together, with two lines above it and two lines below it, fades in. It then zooms out to the top of the screen. "Sparkles" appear and white "reflections" appear on the logo.

Variant: There exists a rare still version of the logo.

FX/SFX: The ocean, and Helix surfing into place.

Cheesy Factor: Relatively primitive CGI (looking like it was designed on an Amiga computer, which it more than likely was), along with the way the ocean water was animated and cheap synth theme. The freeze frame on the still version looks cheap, too. It is also somewhat hard to make out on the text with the huge connection of the "A" and the "L" and both "O"s which makes it look like it says "FEDERA_WOD" instead. As a matter of fact, the text kinda resembles the 1985 Cinar logo and the animation as a whole is too similar to the 1986 Warner Home Video logo.

Music/Sounds: A proud, bombastic synthesized tune sounding very similar to the first few notes "Surfing Safari" by The Beach Boys.

Music/Sounds Variant: On a 1986 Andre Alligator's Friends Laserdisc released by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, the logo is silent.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was first seen on S7-S8 episodes of Andre Alligator's Friends including original airings on New Line Network, but most have all fallen victim of being plastered with the 1987, 1989 or 1994-2001 DNA logos after the company's restructuring.

Scare Factor: Depending on the variant:

Low to medium. The bombastic music and primitive CGI may scare some, especially those who were expecting the previous logo or any DNA Productions logo.

Minimal for the silent variant.

None for the still version.