Logo descriptions by mr3urious
Logo captures and videos courtesy of CannonFilms


Background: The Cannon GroupGroup, Inc. is a film company that has produced low- to medium-budget films from 1967 to 1993. The group refers to Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who had produced a few Israeli films such as "Operation Thunderbolt" (Mivtsa Yonatan, lit. "Operation Jonathan") and the hit teen comedy "Lemon Popsicle" (Eis am Steil) before coming to the United States in 1979. During that year, they bought controlling interest in Cannon Films and forged a business model of buying bottom-barrel"bottom-barrel" scripts and putting them into production. Today, the entire library of the American arm of Cannon Films, with some exceptions (the Breakin' saga is currently held by MGM), is held mainly by Paramount Motion Pictures Group, a division of Viacom and subsidiary of National Amusements, Inc.


1st Logo
(1975-1984)

Logo: Against a black BG, a white multi-lined hexagon consisting of a C and an arrow pointing to the right is wiped in. Then, the C turns blue and the arrow turns purple, and the hexagon becomed solid, as well. It zooms out to the right, and the arrow splits off to the opposite side and leaves the text "THE CANNON GROUP, INCORPORATED" behind. Then, the C quickly meets up with the arrow and wipes the text away.

Variant: Sometimes, the arrow would remain white.

FX: Just simple 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: A very majestic and bombastic brass fanfare. Otherwise, it's silent.

Availability: Uncommon; seen on Cannon films from the era.

Scare Factor: Low to medium for the version with the fanfare, and none for the silent version.



2nd Logo
(1984-1985)

Logo: Against a black BG, the C and arrow from before, in blue, come together in the center of the screen. As this happens, "THE CANNON GROUP, INC.", in white, appears below. The hexagon shines brightly, and after a while, a bright flash occurs, and the hexagon turns white and quickly zooms out.

FX/Cheesy Factor: The lighting effects.

Music/Sounds: An eerie wailing sound, followed by a "whoosh" as the hexagon zooms back.

Availability: Seen on Exterminator 2 and other releases of the era.

Scare Factor: Medium to high due to the darkness, music, lighting effects, and sudden zoom-out.



3rd Logo
(1985-1993)

Logo: Just like before, the C and arrow, which now look more metallic, appear and meet in the center of the screen. "CANNON", in a bronzish color, fades in below, and the hexagon shines. Then, the segments of the hexagon fly toward the screen one by one.

Variants:

• The "short" version doesn't show the flying segments.
• There is a version with a voice-over saying "The Cannon Group presents a Golan-Globus production.". The VOvoice is none other than Don LaFontaine.LaFontaine, who has provided the VO for many movie trailers in the U.S. since the '70s.
• One version had the "flying segment" animation playing in reverse, and the text "THE CANNON GROUP presents",presents" (or "presenteert" in original Dutch), in light blue, would appear below. This appeared at the beginning of "Thethe Dutch Assault".film The Assault.
• I believe there exists a version with a silver hexagon.
• On films released in France, after the usual animation, the words "CANNON France présente", with "France" in script, zoom in upside down, then flip over. "Cannon" is in blue, "France" is in red, and "présente" is in white. The music cuts in a couple of seconds later in this variant.

FX: The CGI used in the logo.

Cheesy Factor: The lighting effects still look cheesy.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic synth tune with a flourish produced by a string instrument of some sort. Other times, it's silent, or has the opening theme of the movie playing over it.

Availability: Can be seen on several Cannon films from the time.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; some might get a little jumpy with the music and hexagon segments flying at them, but this is a favorite of many.