Editions Atlas

Background

Editions Atlas is a French company specialized in collections and mail order. It was founded in 1954, but got their current name in 1975. They were purchased by Italian multi-national company De Agostini. They released magazines about various subjects, such as cinema, travelling, model construction, history, geography, photography, and many others. Their first video release was in 1990.

1st Logo (1990-1998)

Logo:

1st version (1990-1995) : On a blue background, we see "EDITIONS" zooming in, and flipping horizontally, and "ATLAS" zooming out. A gray thick line appears from the top of the screen. A flash occurs, then a CGI book appears from the top of the screen, opens and places itself next to "EDITIONS ATLAS". The whole logo shrinks down to the bottom of the screen, and, in most cases, we see the title of the collection appearing.
2nd version (1995-1998) : More or less the same logo, except without the flash and the logo shrinking. Instead, the text "Et le savoir devient plaisir" (literally "And knowledge becomes pleasure" in French) appears below the Editions Atlas logo. After a few seconds, the logo fades out, and we see the text "présente".

FX/SFX: The whole logo forming, all in good CGI for the era.

Music/Sounds:

1st version: A synthetized fanfare, most likely made with the E-mu Emax keyboard, with a thunderclap as the flash appears.
2nd version: A nice violin/cello quartet tune.

Availability: Common. Seen on video releases from the company at the time.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1998-2004)

Logo: We see the Earth from the Atlas book quickly flashing and forming in 3D, and the line drawing below the Editions Atlas logo.

FX/SFX: The Earth forming, and the line drawing.

Music/Sounds: None for the video version. However, when you see this logo on TV commercials, you hear a male or female voice-over saying : "Une collection des éditions Atlas." (literally "An Editions Atlas collection").

Availability: Seen on video releases from the company at the time. It was also stopped in their TV commercials.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo

3rd logo (2004-)

Logo: We see a flash coming from a ball, with "EDITION ATLAS" written next to it, and a blue line under it.

Trivia: This logo is among the shortest ones ever made, lasting only a second.

FX/SFX: The flash.

Music/Sounds: Just a whoosh on video releases. Again, the same voice-over is heard on TV commercials.

Availability: Current. Seen on all releases and commercials from the company since 2004.

Editor's Note: None.