Some of the Most Unintentionally Disturbing Production Logos (In My Opinion)

Welcome to The Chronicles of Trevor, where you will find a complete list of all my gifts tomorrow.

So wait patiently, like this little cat!

But let me just get to the subject. Imagine you were done watching the 1st episode of SpongeBob ("Help Wanted / Reef Blower / Tea at the Treedome"), after you see the credits, there's these two sights back to back.

Those are called production logos. They show the companies responsible for your favorite movies or TV shows. So, in the case of SpongeBob, United Plankton Pictures, Inc. is the producer, in association with Nickelodeon (credited in the logo as "Nicktoons").

But sometimes, these production logos can be downright off-putting, even though they weren't intended to be. Today, I'm showcasing what I think are the most unintentionally disturbing production logos.

First off, we have the Nickelodeon Productions "Lightbulb" logo from 1996-2008.

This logo may not seem all that bad visually. It looks like your ordinary Nickelodeon logo from the time. But what makes it unintentionally scary is its soundtrack. This logo just fades in without warning, and it's soundtrack consists of loud electrical surges. When 4-year-old me experienced this thing at the end of Drake & Josh, I felt shocked. Did they WANT to scare kids?

Their other Lightbulb logo, which came out the year this retired, is similar. The logo's animation consists of the 2006 Splat logo...

 turning into a glowing orange CG lightbulb.

While again this is a cool logo design (with great CG to boot), the sound again falls flat on its face. Most shows ended with the sound of laughing kids (complete with a scream), amplified to 400%. This sound bite was originally only used on split-screen airings of Klasky-Csupo's Nicktoons (e.g. Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power). Nick decided to use that sound bite for almost all of their shows starting with this logo. Some shows were exempt from this. Split-screen airings of SpongeBob for example had the sounds of waves crashing and squawking seagulls, a relaxing sound if I say so myself. But when watching the Paramount+ print of "Whatever Happened to SpongeBob?" the closing theme played during the credits and the United Plankton logo, but was cut off at Nickelodeon Productions logo (this same one) to play the laughing audio. If I were editing the credits, I'd have the credits theme play all the way through, because it's just a lively, dopey theme that just fits the show like a glove from Glove World.

Next, we're going to look at a logo that used to freak me out while waiting for the Fox 25 News at 5, back when Fox owned the station. It's the 2007-present logo of the company of the late television producer Jim Paratore, ParaMedia. 

I have MANY things to say about this logo. That thing is supposed to be a comet flying through space, but in my opinion, it looks more like a virus-sized PARAsite inside someone's bloodstream, and that the trails were the cause of the parasite's existance. It's mostly because the space background is red. if I were to have designed the logo, I would've made the comet white, the trails blue, and the space background ACTUALLY look like space. Also, the music YET AGAIN adds to the creepy factor. It consists of a menacing synth drone, and 2 guitar notes with feedback fading in. It added to the already creepy visuals.

For the next logo, pack your bags, because we're heading for Singapore! Yes, Singapore, the place that Chinese-owned companies house holding companies to hide their actual ownership.

But I digress. The next logo I'm discussing is the 2001-2015 logo for the country's mega-broadcaster, Mediacorp. They own 6 TV stations in Singapore, and all of their shows ended with this at the time.

The logo looks fine visually, it just consists of 3d objects flying together to form the logo. But once again, the sound, but also the black background, fails to bring it together. The sound consists of various whooshes, and ends with a 3-note synth jingle. It is just the 3 notes played with a sine wave. No backing chords. It's somewhat off-putting and can give you a sudden spooky jolt.

And finally, we're flying to Canada, specifically Quebec, where we're gonna get schooled!

Below is one of the most unintentionally disturbing logos I have ever seen. Be warned.

Please DON'T call that phone number! It may not work anymore, but who knows?

This, dear readers, is the first logo (1970s-1990s) for a Telecourse service called the Télé-université (Now known as the Université TÉLUQ), ran by the Université du Québec, a French-Canadian university based in Quebec, exactly what it says on the tin. This logo features the first breaths and movements of a baby chick, who is still wet with embryonic fluid and has its umbilical cord still attatched. All while discordant flute music that sounds like "1, 2, Freddy's Coming For You" plays.

When I first seen this logo I thought that someone behind the scenes hatched the egg prematurely, like 2 hours before it was supposed to hatch, and that the umbilical cord was flesh hanging off the chick. If I were there at the time, I'd make a logo of a cartoon chick hatching and shaking the fluid off of him, then cutting to a card with the phone numbers featured on the bottom of the screen.

All of that set to a bubbly synthesized fanfare that corresponds to the animation, and swells up  and climaxes when he fully hatches.

And I'm part French-Canadian, so I must apologize on behalf of my older brethren for this logo.

And as we go back to the US I just want to say that I will be showcasing the gifts I got tomorrow!