Alliance Atlantis/Salter Street Films
Written and Compiled by Nicholas Aczel and Sean Beard

Alliance
1st Logo
(1985-1991)

Nickname: "Alliance Entertainment Corporation"

Logo: On a shady blue gridlined BG, the metallic stylized text

ALLIANCE

appears in the center of the screen, and the underlined text "ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION" uncovers below it. The "ALLIANCE" shines.

During 1985-86, this logo had the joint byline "An RSL • ICC Company" written below "ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION." Dropped in 1986 as the merger between two of producer Robert Lantos’ movie companies, RSL • ICC and French-Canadian film distributor Vivafilm Ltée., was completed.

SFX/Cheesy Factor: The graphics look quite ugly, and the light effects look cheesy.

Music: None, played over the ending theme of a show.

Availability: Uncommon, at least in America. Seen on a daily basis on reruns of "Night Heat" on Canada’s Showcase (an Alliance Atlantis-owned cable network), and should be intact on all other Alliance shows of the period whenever rerun on Canada’s many cable networks.

Scare Factor: Median, the terrible look of the logo may turn off some.

2nd Logo
(1991-1998)

Nickname: "The Metallic A"

Logo: We see a dark night sky with mountains of metallic silver gemstones below, one of which streaks brightly. The screen cuts to a bird’s eye view of the gemstones. One of the pyramid-shaped gemstones rises into the air. We cut to a side view of the gemstone turning in the sky, then a facing view of the gemstone turning up on its side until it shapes a long isoceles triangle. A spark flies from the bottom left of the triangle. When the spark nears the top, it brightens and the triangle turns into a boomerang-shaped metallic A with the text "ALLIANCE" written below. The spark reaches the top and streaks again.

On French-language theatrical films, the text "VIVAFILM" appears under the Alliance logo.

SFX: It’s all CGI.

Music: Lush synthesizer music, with a ding when the spark brightens.

Availability: The short TV version appeared on "Beast Wars: Transformers", "Due South", "Once a Thief", "ReBoot", and lots of other shows. The long version sometimes pops up on made-for-TV movies.

Scare Factor: Not all that scary.

Atlantis
1st Logo
(1985-1989)

Nickname: "Sunburst"

Logo: The screen is divided with the top half black and the bottom half blue. A golden sun rises from under the blue. When it is halfway up the screen, the text "ATLANTIS" zooms out and flashes. The blue disappears and we are left with a black background with a sunburst in the middle and the "ATLANTIS" below it shining.

SFX: The light effects.

Cheesy Factor: Early animation.

Music: A six-note bell tune, followed by a horn fanfare.

Availability: Uncommon. Currently found on 1985-1989 episodes of HBO’s "Ray Bradbury Theatre" on Sci-Fi Channel. The second half was also seen on first-run episodes of "Airwolf".

Scare Factor: Median, the somber music may bother more than a few.

2nd Logo
(1989-1992)

Logo: On a CGI sky above, sea below background, the familiar sunburst, now in CGI, rises from the sea. The text "ATLANTIS" zooms out and settles itself below the sunburst.

SFX: The sunrise, the zooming "ATLANTIS."

Cheesy Factor: Somewhat primitive CGI, which would improve by the 3rd logo.

Music: Plays over the ending theme.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on 1989-1992 episodes of "Ray Bradbury Theatre", as well as Nickelodeon’s "Wildside" series.

Scare Factor: Coming after the previous logo, this is pretty harmless.

3nd Logo
(1992-1997)

Nickname: "CGI Sunburst"

Logo: On a black background, two parallel golden laserlights draw a round curve across the screen. As we zoom out and turn up on their side, we notice at the focal points of the lower curve 5 laserlights, about an inch apart, draw lines connecting with the upper curve. There is a flash of light and we see the CGI sunburst with the text "ATLANTIS" below it on a dark marble background.

SFX: The sketching laserlights, the light flash. Awesome CGI abound.

Music: Digitally synthesized whoosh sounds amongst a dreamy choir, ending with a 5-note electric piano tune.

Availability: Seen on reruns of "Earth: Final Conflict," "The (New) Outer Limits", "Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal", and other shows produced during the period. Also appears on some made-for-TV movies.

Scare Factor: None, just great CGI animation.

Alliance Atlantis
1st Logo
(1997-1999)

Nickname: "Flipping Letters"

Logo: On a black background, the silver text stack "ALLIANCE ATLANTIS" folds onto the screen. A red horizontal line draws between the "ALLIANCE" and the "ATLANTIS."

SFX: The letters folding, the line drawing.

Cheesy Factor: The folding letters look cheesy.

Music: The ending theme of a show.

Availability: Quite rare, this was a placeholder logo that can still be seen episodes of shows (such as "The Famous Jett Jackson" on The Disney Channel) produced during the 1997-99 seasons. By the following season it was succeeded by the 2nd logo.

Scare Factor: None, it’s only BORING.

2nd Logo
(1999-)

Nickname: "Gold-Black A"

Logo: We see a cloudy gray sky with snow-capped mountains of gold-black metallic gemstones below. Two of the gemstones streak into the air, positioning themselves to the shape of a long isoceles triangle. The image fades into the boomerang-shaped Alliance "Metallic A" but with the bottom left gold and the top right black. The text "ALLIANCE ATLANTIS" is seen below. A spark flies from the bottom to the top.

SFX: The flying spark, the CGI.

Music: A majestic symphony fanfare.

Availability: Common, it’s the logo currently in use.

Scare Factor: Not all that scary.

AAC Kids
(1999-)

Nickname: "The AAC Rocket"

Logo: We see a paper-cutout space background filled with stars, meteors, the moon to the east and the sun to the south. We also see a black rocket, with the Alliance A logo on top in yellow, and the text stack "AAC KIDS" written below in light blue with the "I" dotted with a yellow star. The rocket lands on the sun and sits there as stars and meteors pass by.

SFX: The star and rocket animations...

Cheesy Factor: ...which looks tacky and choppy.

Music: Assorted sci-fi sound effects accompanied by a child giggling.

Availability: Seen on "The Famous Jett Jackson" and "In a Heartbeat" on The Disney Channel.

Scare Factor: Low, the cheap animation might get to some.

Salter Street Films
(1987-)

Salter Street Films was acquired in 2001 by Alliance Atlantis, which maintains it as a wholly-owned subsidiary with its own distribution unit.

Nickname: "Bald Head on TV Screen"

Logo: In the end credits of a show, we see a silver image of a head in a bust-like pose in front of a TV-tube-like outline. To the right of the logo is the silver text

SALTER
STREET
FILMS

in a stocky font. The logo "shines."

In recent years the URL www.salter.com or one connected with a particular SSF series appeared under the logo.

The CBC series "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" has an enhanced version of this logo in the end credits, which also serves as the logo of the show itself. This end credit-variant reads "Produced by Salter Street Films Ltd. in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation" with a post-1993 CBC network ID displayed below.

SFX: None, this is a still logo.

Music: The ending theme of a show.

Availability: Seen on "LEXX" on Sci-Fi Channel, as well as syndicated reruns of "The Odyssey."

Scare Factor: Low