Kids Like Us

Credits

Descriptions by
Hb1290, heart1994, and ScottonCLG

Captures by
ScottonCLG

Editions by
heart1994, The_Username_15, Hb1290, and edunk5

Video captures courtesy of
Jose Atienza, and ABC The Lissajous Curve Thingy

Background

Kids Like Us is an Australian children's independent television brand and production company founded in 1998 by Helena Harris and Posie-Graeme Evans, who are best known for producing Hi-5 and Cushion Kids for the Nine Network.

1st Logo (April 12, 1999-October 6, 2006)

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Logo: On a yellow background, two objects (one orange with purple eyes and a mouth while the other vice versa) leap into each other, spin around fast briefly, eventually resulting in two teardrop shaped faces with "Kids Like Us" shown below in a black Hobo font.

Trivia: The music for this logo can be heard on a promo for Hi-5 as seen as an example here.

Variant: Starting in 2005 with season 7 and the Hi-5 DVDs, the faces are updated and the purple Australian Hi-5 URL appears below in a purple Comic Sans font.

Technique: 2-D animation, provided by Fudge Puppy Productions, who did all of the animation for Snout and seasons 1-6 of Hi-5.

Music/Sounds: A rising synth chord with laughing sounds. The music was composed by Chris Harriott, Harris and Graeme Evans' collaborator.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On the US version of Hi-5, the laughing sounds are played once over the closing theme.
• On the Latin Spanish version of Hi-5, the laughing sounds are slightly different.
• On Wonderful Week on Hi-5, the closing theme plays over the logo.

Availability: Common; Only seen on season 1-7 episodes of Hi-5, along with Cushion Kids before the Nine Network Productions logo throughout the era. The 2006 Hi-5 DVD Mix It Up plastered it with the next logo. It also appears on a few foreign airings of Hi-5 as well.

2nd Logo (June 12, 2006-June 19, 2008)

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Logo: On a light blue background made of different shapes (like flowers), we see the the brighter and glossier teardrop faces from the previous logo bounce up and down and ripple on a trampoline-like object before forming the logo. We then see the final logo with the company name and the Australian Hi-5 URL below all in purple.

Variants:

• On US prints of the show throughout American markets, the Australian Hi-5 URL was replaced with "www.hi5usa.com".
• The logo is shifted up to make room as the text "Visit Website for Info on the Hi-5 Circus Stageshow" zooms in below the Australian Hi-5 URL. Then the logo freezes for 8 seconds and slowly fades out. This was seen on the Hi-5 promotional DVD given away with an issue from either The Sun-Herald or The Age on November 18, 2007 to promote the Hi-5 Circus Stageshow.
• On Channel 5 "Milkshake!" airings of Hi-5, the Australian Hi-5 URL is absent.

Technique: 3-D animation and ripple effects which are much smoother and sleeker than the previous logo. The animation was provided by ZSpace, who also did all of the animation for seasons 8-10 of Hi-5.

Music/Sounds: We hear laughing and bouncing sounds followed by a sped-up and redone version of the synth chord from the last logo as laughing sounds play over twice.

Availability: It was used at the end of seasons 8 and 9 of Hi-5. The logo surprisingly plastered the previous logo on the 2006 Hi-5 DVD Mix It Up. The last Hi-5 DVD to use this logo was the 2008 Hi-5 DVD Go Wild!, which was the last DVD to feature original member Tim Harding, as he departed from the group earlier due to a motorcycle accident.

Final Note

Starting in 2008, the last four seasons of Hi-5 had Superdudes creator Stevie Nicholson and the Southern Star Entertainment logo replacing Harding and this logo respectively. In 2012, the brand and production company were sold to Asiasons, marking the beginning of Hi-5 House, which also featured Nicholson and used the Hi-5 Operations Pty Ltd logo.