Written and Compiled by Nicholas Aczel, Sean Beard, and WillWill45
Logo pictures and videos by Eric S. and Juniorfan88
Editions by WizardDuck and mr3urious


Background: Founded in 1976, Cinar (pronounced "seh-NAR") was originally a film distribution company which distributed international/foreign films from the 1970's to the early 1980's from offices in New York City. The company was owned by the married couple Ronald Weinberg and Micheline Charest. In 1984, things were changing for Cinar as the couple moved the company to Montreal, Quebec and began to focus on children's TV programming. Between 1985 and 2004 Cinar produced a number of successful shows such as Arthur, Caillou, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, The Adventures of David the Gnome, Busy World of Richard Scarry, and Zaboomafoo among others. In March 2004, after a financial scandal which brought down the company's founders several years earlier, the company would be bought out by Michael Hirsh, being renamed Cookie Jar Entertainment, its actual name.


Cinar

1st Logo
(1985-1994)

Nickname: "Rotating Blue Bars"

Logo: On a primitive computerized dark blue background, we pan-out to the right through many bright blue 3-D bars interlocking with each other. The bars rotate up and zoom out, revealing the text:


glittering with stars. The word "CINAR" is in a block lined font, with the "I" dotted red and the "N" and "A" rather connected.

Variants:

• On the first season of Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1992-93), the Cinar logo is an in-credit on a black BG, bypassing this logo.
• A still of this logo with "A" above and "PRODUCTION" below was seen on David the Gnome, Adventures of the Little Koala, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1993-94 season, before the 2nd logo was introduced). Sometimes, "CINAR" turns upward.
• Animated versions of this logo were tied into the opening credits of David the Gnome and The Busy World of Richard Scarry.
  

FX: The bars interlocking, the glittering stars.

Cheesy Factor: Rather poor quality early computer graphics and cheesy "glittering" effect for its time, although the animation itself is pretty cool (kinda resembling Marvel Productions 2nd logo "CGI Spidey").

Music/Sounds: Plays over the ending theme.

Availability: Last seen in the US when Boomerang reran Young Robin Hood. Appears on shows airing on Canada’s Teletoon Network on occasion, and recently spotted on White Fang on Canada’s YTV Network.

Scare Factor: Minimal, pretty much depends on the ending theme shown.



2nd Logo
(1994-2004)

Nickname: "Cinar in Space"

Logo: On a space background, various glowing line blocks zoom out from the bottom of the screen, forming the blue text


in the same font as the previous logo with a red dot on the "I," but this time the "N" and "A" do not appear connected together. The logo flashes and the disclaimer "CINAR is a registered trademark of CINAR corporation" appears below. Starting in 1998, the URL www.cinar.com appears below that (this variant may plaster the URL-less logos on new prints of Cinar’s classics).

FX: The zooming line blocks, the flash.

Music/Sounds: A whooshing sound with a calm new age synth tune, which is rarely heard. It most commonly used the ending theme of the show. On some shows, like The Busy World of Richard Scarry, it is silent.

Availability: Was common back in the 90's, but is practically gone now. It survives on all pre-2004 Arthur episodes on PBS and on VHS/DVD.

Scare Factor: Low; the darkness and quick pace may get to some, but the CGI is much improved over the previous logo.
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Cookie Jar Entertainment

(2004- )

Nicknames: "The Cookie Jar", "The Exploding Jar"

Logo: On a black background, we see Cookie JAR (stacked) resting on a yellow oval and a lid on top with a byline saying "Cookie Jar is a trademark of Cookie Jar Entertainment". Suddenly, the lid rockets off and two bright lights emerge out of the jar. The lid falls back down, tilted.

Variants:

• On Gerald McBoingBoing, the logo is superimposed over the credits.
• Sometimes, the logo simply zooms in, like on certain episodes of Arthur.
• There may also be a www.thecookiejarcompany.com URL below.

FX: The lid flying.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme finishes over it. However, on (at least) The Doodlebops, a "pop" sound, followed by a playful synth-disco tune and a child giggling can be heard.

Availability: Appears on current episodes of Arthur, The Doodlebops, and Johnny Test. Also seen on Boomerang's reruns of the 2005 Teletoon/Cookie Jar/Classic Media remake of Gerald McBoingBoing.

Scare Factor: Minimal; the sudden rocketing lid may catch a few off guard, but this logo is mostly cute.