This is the page of the Aardman logos throughout the history
1989-1998
Aardman Animations (1989)
Logo: On a sunny sky blue background, we see the top of a clay planet with a river running through it, trees, and a portrait. The planet turns right and a red/yellow polkadot bow-tie shaped butterfly places itself on a patch of blue and white, which appears to be a suit. As this is happening, the letters
A (White Scaffolds hanging from a pole)
A (An Brown Structure)
R (An brownish yellow Bridge and two strips)
D (An Yellowish pink D)
M (A yellow folded paper)
A (A Blue blob with an "A" engraved)
N (Three brown pipes)
in various shapes, arrange themselves to the right so they are in separate wooden boxes. Then, different types of wood form a frame. A smiling clay face drops from the top frame to where we can't see the eyes. Then two clouds drop into place in the sky, as
Aardman Animations
presents
(in white)
fades in below. All of this takes place inside a small white box against a black background.
Variants:
- There was a alternative variant where the smiling clay face is altered and the third "A" in "AARDMAN" is changed to a brown color.
- Sometimes, the logo can have a full open matte.
FX/SFX: The river, the butterfly flying, the face dropping down, the clouds dropping, and the whole scene turning. Very impressive animation that has aged really well over the years.
Music/Sounds: Two ominous violin notes, followed by a bird cry, and two more short bass violin notes.
Music/Sounds Variant: A slightly higher pitched version was found when Cartoon Network aired The Wrong Trousers on 21 April 2012.
Availability: Seen on many Aardman shorts, most notably the Wallace & Gromit shorts A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave; it was removed on the 2001 DVD containing all three shorts (from BBC/Warner Home Video, a still version with copyright information was seen at the end of TWT and ACS) but was put back in for one W&G short on Wallace and Gromit in Three Grand Adventures when it was released by Dreamworks. The logo is intact on the CBS-Fox VHS prints of those shorts, so check eBay, Amazon, or a local thrift store for those tapes. Also seen on Netflix's prints of those three shorts.
Scare Factor: Low, mostly due to the music. The scare factor might rise if you find it paired with the "Ominous Choir" BBC logo. Some people may also get creeped out by the clay face.
1998-
Nickname: A Clockwork Aardman
Logo: On a blue background with a blue gear surrounded by clouds, planes, on blue and yellow gears, on both bottom sides are trees on brown gears as We slowly zoom toward a blue square with a red star (though was see some gears inside it) on it. It has little arms, legs, and a head, and is running on a green gear that has the letters of "Aardman" printed on it in red and some are spinning around in different directions. Surrounding the square are the teal and green gears at the bottom and on both sides are dark blue houses and buildings, greenish cars and limos, brown buildings and factories, people, and green hands rotating around on gears. A human hand then reaches out from the right, grabs the square, and presses its head like a stopwatch, freezing the scenery. "Aardman" is shown below.
FX/SFX: All the animation used, which is done in a strange, sketchbook-like style.
Music/Sounds: A sly jazz tune with ticking that stops when the logo does.
Music/Souds Variant: Some Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions episodes have a bouncy tune instead of the normal music.
Availability: Seen on Rex the Runt, Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions, Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Flushed Away video game, Wallace and Gromit: Project Zoo and the UK Pathé print of Chicken Run, though it was absent on the USA DreamWorks print. It did, however, appear on the Chicken Run video game for Playstation, Dreamcast, and PC.
Scare Factor: None.
1998-(print logo)
Logo: On a black BG, we see the word "Aardman" similar to the previous logo, but in a grungy red font, with a red star drawn in the same style shown on the top left.
2003-
Logo: On a black BG, we see the current Aardman logo peeling up out of the blackness, while a reflection is seen at an angle below. When the logo fully appears, the reflection fades out, leaving just the logo.
Variants:
- On Aardman-produced TV shows since 2003, the logo is a brighter shade of red and is a still image. On Shaun the Sheep, this logo is shown at the top, with the CBBC logo in the center. Copyright info is shown below.
- On Flushed Away the word "Aardman" slides from the bottom and the star appears.
- There is a cinematic version where the word "Aardman" is embossed on a black printing machine, Then the star in the same style is placed in the matching shape hole by a pair of tweezers, then we zoom out to reveal the printing machine we pan to the right as the machine starts up we pan to the other side that the logo is printed on a black conveyor belt.
FX/SFX: The computer-generated peeling animation. For the variant, none.
Music/Sounds: A quiet grinding noise plays as the logo peels, then silience; or the opening music of the film. For the variant, just the end theme of the show.
Availability: Current; the variant is seen on Aardman-produced TV shows. The alternative logo is seen only on Flushed Away. The regular logo can be seen on Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! Band of Misfits.
Scare Factor: None.