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Motown Productions
Logo descriptions by Bob Fish and Eric S.
Logo captures by Eric S. and V of Doom
Background: Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jr. decided to expand his very successful record company into film and TV production in 1967 (the first production was the TCB: Takin' Care of Business television special starring Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations broadcast with great rating success on NBC). There is a Motown logo on this special but the footage is currently unavailable to us. Motown also co-produced movies with Paramount (Lady Sings the Blues) and Universal (The Wiz, Bingo Long and the Travelling All-Stars) in the '70s, but its logo does not appear in feature films (only in-credit mentions). This page describes the best-known logos from Motown Productions.
1st Logo
(1971-1978)
Nicknames: "M of Doom", "Flashing M"
Logo: Against a black background, An abstract, trapezoid-shaped white M from the Motown logo flashes in the center of the screen, while multicolored lines and polygons gradually converge on the M. As the colored lines fill the M, the M turns sky blue and zooms in the reveal a blue background. Finally, the the Motown M reappears in center with the words "MOTOWN Productions Inc." with Motown in a larger font.
Variant: On Jackson 5ive (the Jackson Five's 1971-73 Saturday morning cartoon series), a blue version of the logo was seen, with a Rankin/Bass script logo and co-production/IAW credit.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The flashing M, the multicolored lines, the zooming M. All are typical effects of the Scanimate era.
Music/Sounds: A somewhat dramatic fanfare, accompanied by "beeps" for each time the M flashes.
Availability: Extinct; will probably never be seen again.
Scare Factor: Medium to high; while the fanfare is fairly tame, the flashing M and beeps are an unpleasant combo, and the zoom at the end resembles an inverse Viacom "V of Doom".
2nd Logo
(1983)
Nickname: "CGI M25"
Logo: TBA
FX/SFX: TBA
Music/Sounds: TBA
Availability: Extinct; only seen on the Motown 25 TV special.
Scare Factor: TBA
3rd Logo
(1983?-1989)
Nickname: "Flying Parallelograms"
Logo: On a black background, we see nine neon parallelograms-- three red, three blue, and three green-- zoom out toward the screen to form the Motown logo, which turns a golden color. A glowing blue square surrounds it, and "MOTOWN PRODUCTIONS" appears below in white.
FX/SFX: The parallelograms flying to form the logo; nice '80s computer effects.
Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.
Availability: Extinct; was seen on the Lonesome Dove miniseries.
Scare Factor: None.
4th Logo
(1992)
Nickname: "Marble M"
Logo: On a black background, we see a large, gray marble brick with the same abstract M as before with "MOTOWN Productions inc." underneath it. The marble brick simultaneously turns away from us while light is being emitted from the abstract M.
FX/SFX: The marble brick turning, the light coming from the M.
Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.
Availability: Uncommon; only appeared on the TV special, The Jacksons: An American Dream, which is reran on VH1, TV One, and TV Land.
Scare Factor: None.
Final Note: Motown Productions became De Passe Entertainment.
Logo captures by Eric S. and V of Doom
Background: Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jr. decided to expand his very successful record company into film and TV production in 1967 (the first production was the TCB: Takin' Care of Business television special starring Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations broadcast with great rating success on NBC). There is a Motown logo on this special but the footage is currently unavailable to us. Motown also co-produced movies with Paramount (Lady Sings the Blues) and Universal (The Wiz, Bingo Long and the Travelling All-Stars) in the '70s, but its logo does not appear in feature films (only in-credit mentions). This page describes the best-known logos from Motown Productions.
1st Logo
(1971-1978)
Nicknames: "M of Doom", "Flashing M"
Logo: Against a black background, An abstract, trapezoid-shaped white M from the Motown logo flashes in the center of the screen, while multicolored lines and polygons gradually converge on the M. As the colored lines fill the M, the M turns sky blue and zooms in the reveal a blue background. Finally, the the Motown M reappears in center with the words "MOTOWN Productions Inc." with Motown in a larger font.
Variant: On Jackson 5ive (the Jackson Five's 1971-73 Saturday morning cartoon series), a blue version of the logo was seen, with a Rankin/Bass script logo and co-production/IAW credit.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The flashing M, the multicolored lines, the zooming M. All are typical effects of the Scanimate era.
Music/Sounds: A somewhat dramatic fanfare, accompanied by "beeps" for each time the M flashes.
Availability: Extinct; will probably never be seen again.
Scare Factor: Medium to high; while the fanfare is fairly tame, the flashing M and beeps are an unpleasant combo, and the zoom at the end resembles an inverse Viacom "V of Doom".
2nd Logo
(1983)
Nickname: "CGI M25"
Logo: TBA
FX/SFX: TBA
Music/Sounds: TBA
Availability: Extinct; only seen on the Motown 25 TV special.
Scare Factor: TBA
3rd Logo
(1983?-1989)
Logo: On a black background, we see nine neon parallelograms-- three red, three blue, and three green-- zoom out toward the screen to form the Motown logo, which turns a golden color. A glowing blue square surrounds it, and "MOTOWN PRODUCTIONS" appears below in white.
FX/SFX: The parallelograms flying to form the logo; nice '80s computer effects.
Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.
Availability: Extinct; was seen on the Lonesome Dove miniseries.
Scare Factor: None.
4th Logo
(1992)
Nickname: "Marble M"
Logo: On a black background, we see a large, gray marble brick with the same abstract M as before with "MOTOWN Productions inc." underneath it. The marble brick simultaneously turns away from us while light is being emitted from the abstract M.
FX/SFX: The marble brick turning, the light coming from the M.
Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.
Availability: Uncommon; only appeared on the TV special, The Jacksons: An American Dream, which is reran on VH1, TV One, and TV Land.
Scare Factor: None.
Final Note: Motown Productions became De Passe Entertainment.
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Latest page update: made by Newave
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