Alan Enterprises

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Logo description by Leonardo “lenhill” Garcia and bigrene2
Logo captures by Supermarty-o, and TrickyMario7654
Editions by Lee Cremeans and Eric S.
Video capture courtesy of Eric S.


Background: Alan Enterprises, Inc. was a TV syndicator founded in 1970 by distributor Alan Gleitsman. Its film and TV library was acquired from the now-defunct television division of Trans-Lux. In 1986, Gleitsman sold Alan Enterprises to Color Systems Technology, and used the proceeds from that sale to launch his philanthropy work.


(1975-1982)

Nicknames: “70s
ae”, "ae Filmstrip"

Logo: In a blue background, the words “
A PRESENTATION OF” are seen in the center of the screen in yellow Helvetica lettering, then, 3 seconds later, it fades out completely as the “ae” (all together like a Denmark/Norway letter) appears/shimmers in abstract lettering. Then, it zooms out, revealing “alan enterprises” in Verdana-like font of the same color as the “ae”. Finally, appears via a flash, a filmstrip going from the bottom to the top (except the two lines above and underneath the logo).

Variant: There is also a black & white version.

FX/SFX: The “ae” fading in, the flash effect, the running filmstrip. This one was done on a Scanimate or a similar analog effects system; the keying noise around the graphics' edges and the "poofy" flash (which looks a lot like Scanimate's motion blur effect) are the giveaway.

Music/Sounds: A '70s disco stinger during the "ae" forming and zooming. This is actually a piece of (as of this writing, unknown) stock music, as it was also heard near the end of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FozCXYf2RHg" target="_self">this 1981 Image West reel</a> for Veronica Broadcasting.

Availability: Rare,
though it has been more common as of recently.
  • This logo had replaced the MCA-TV “Filmreel” logo on the Abbott and Costello Show, and it can be seen on airings of the show on Me-TV, as well as the Entertainment One DVD sets of Abbott and Costello.
  • This is also on the VHS/Laserdisc prints of Toho's The Wizard of Oz.
  • They also distributed some Godzilla films, so it might be on some copies.
  • Recently, it was spotted on old AMC prints, as well as Starz Encore Westerns' copy of The Shooting (1967), at the beginning, and on a Teletoon Retro airing of The Mighty Hercules.
  • It can also be found on the Video Late Show VHS releases of Miss Annie Rooney and Joe Palooka.

Editor's Note: An interesting logo for its time that puts Scanimation to good use.