Argosy Media/Logos/Summary

1953-1963
Logo: On a black background, we see the screen flash white, causing the words "Argosy Media" to appear in a cursive font.

FX/SFX: The flash effect, which could cause seizures. There's a reason this logo is often plastered.

Music/Sounds: None.

1963-1970
Logo: On a black background, we see the Argosy corporate logo (a stylized letter A, made out of two triangles and a circle) fade up in white. The text "Argosy Media Inc." fades in below the A.

FX/SFX: The A and the text fading in.

Music/Sounds: None.

1970-1975
Logo: Same as the previous logo, but colorized (the black parts are blue).

FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

1975-1978
Logo: On a space background, we see the outlined Argosy "A" logo zoom up to the screen. "argosy media", underlined, flashes in below.

Variants:
 * On British ITV programs co-distributed by Argosy and ITC, "and" fades in below.
 * On programs co-produced with MTM Enterprises, "In Association With..." fades in below.

FX/SFX: Early Scanimate animation.

Music/Sounds: An eight-note piano fanfare.

1978-1980
Logo: Same as the previous logo, but the "A" is filled in and in red. The underline on the text is also red.

Variants:
 * An alternative version exists where the A and underline are blue instead of red. This appeared on the 1978 pilot of Camp Daisy.
 * Long and High has the A and underline coloured fuchsia.

FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

1980-1983
Logo: On a dark green/black gradient background, the word "Argosy" flips in, in an underlined Times New Roman font, letter by letter. "Media" fades in below, in a Rockwell font, and it gets surrounded by a white box, with a solid white box that contains the Argosy "A" logo in red to the left of it. The whole thing sparkles. An Argosy Media Affiliates byline appears below in lime green.

Variants:
 * On Always Angry, the background is a red/black gradient, and the byline is cyan.
 * On Feelin' Blue, the background is a blue/black gradient, and the byline is yellow.
 * There is a bylineless variant.
 * Some shows have a different byline, where “Division” is replaced by “Service Mark”.

FX/SFX: Yet again, Scanimate effects.

Music/Sounds: A 3-note glockenspiel theme that sounds similar to the NBC Chimes, followed by a drumbeat sound.

1983-1988
Logo: On a white background, we see Aaron (a grey cartoon cat with green eyes and an open mouth). Attached to his tail is a flag saying "Argosy". "Media", in a purple serif font, is below Aaron. At the bottom of the screen is an Argosy Entertainment byline.

Variants:
 * There is a bylineless variant.
 * There is also an alternative variant of the bylineless variant, where the background is light blue and the word “Media” is dark yellowish-olive green.
 * On Medical Challenge, Aaron wears a doctor's suit. On the final episode, he is hooked on life support on a hospital bed throughout the last credit roll. The credits run as usual over a picture of Aaron, with life support equipment attached on either side. You can hear the beeps of the heart monitor over the end theme, too. After the credits complete, the company name fades in and Aaron flatlines and dies, with a long, high-pitched beep heard. This variation is especially rare, as reruns of the finale plastered it over with the typical credits.

FX/SFX: None. This is a still logo.

Music/Sounds: Ending theme or a cute little ditty (a.k.a. Aaron's Ditty).

1988-1993
Logo: We see Aaron floating in the water, holding a sign reading "Argosy Media". A crab grabs Aaron's tail. As he says "Hey! That's my tail!", a TVS Entertainment byline fades in below.

Variants:
 * There is a bylineless variant.

FX/SFX: Typical late-80s cel animation.

Music/Sounds: Seagulls chirping, as a tropical version of Aaron's Ditty plays.

1993-1996
Logo: We see Aaron roller skating along a highway. He passes three cars and then crashes into a tree. A white box fades in at the bottom of the screen, containing the text "Argosy Media Entertainment" (in dark yellow with a magenta underline) and an International Family Entertainment byline. A copyright stamp appears afterward.

FX/SFX: Yet again, cel animation.

Music/Sounds: A flute tune, three honks, someone saying "WATCH OUT!", Aaron saying "What?" and then a cartoon-style CRASH as the he hits the tree. We then hear the cute little ditty while Aaron moans.

1996-1999
Logo: We see Aaron in a bowling alley against a pale blue background. Aaron shouts "Come on, give me a strike, baby!" When the bowling ball hits the pins, the pins and Aaron disappear, and the background turns navy blue. The words "Argosy Media" pop up in a cartoony style wiggling around, while Aaron says "YES!" and the ball changes to the Argosy A logo in red. A Shaw Communications byline and copyright stamp appear below.

Variants:
 * California Design had the bowling ball and Big A coloured pink.

FX/SFX: Yet again, cel animation, though this is the last Argosy logo to use traditional animation, as all subsequent logos are made in computer software.

Music/Sounds: Aaron talking, the sound of a bowling ball hitting bowling pins, and after that, the ditty.

1998, 1999-2003
Logo: Inside a red, white, yellow and blue circle on a black BG, we see Aaron (now with a design closer to the TV show) pop out of it, arms outstretched. Suddenly, confetti falls from the top of the screen, and "Argosy Media" fades in in a cursive font. Aaron then says his famous line, "Best known for it's purr-fect TV shows, TV movies, high quality, and me, Aaron, it's the one and only, Argosy Media!" A Corus byline fades in below everything else.

Variants:
 * A prototype version was used for the 45th anniversary of Argosy Media in 1998. The Corus byline is replaced by a Shaw byline, there is additional text above the Argosy Media text saying “CELEBRATING 45 YEARS OF”, and Aaron says “Celebrating 45 years, of the one and only, Argosy Media!”
 * A still version exists where Aaron is silent. This was shown on licensed games made by MTM Interactive before the Argosy Interactive unit was formed.
 * For international distribution, there is no confetti, "Distributed By" is chyroned in above Aaron, and "INTERNATIONAL" is in between the “Argosy Media” text and the Corus byline.
 * On shows marketed towards a female audience, like Revenge of Sarah, the white bits of the circle are light pink.
 * Sometimes, like in sister company MTM’s logo, Aaron wears an outfit related to the theme of the show, or is replaced by another character entirely.
 * Sometimes, between 2001 and 2003, the URL www.argosymedia.com would be chyroned in below the logo.

FX/SFX: Early pre-Flash CGI, made using an Unix box. This technique “Rotanimation” was also used for several Argosy TV shows in the 90s, and was invented by Argosy alumni animator Robert Stainton.

Music/Sounds: A snap when Aaron pops out, tons of party blowers blowing when the confetti starts to fall out, and at the end, a piano version of the cute little ditty plays while Aaron is talking.

2003-2006
Logo: Inside a huge red 50 on a white background, with the inside of the 0 in cyan, we see Aaron lounging inside the 0. His tail, which is dangling down from the 0, is carrying a flag reading "Years of." The Argosy Media text is seen below in blue, shining, with the Corus byline in pink below. Aaron then says "Argosy Media, celebrating 50 years of perfect entertainment!"

Variants:
 * On productions with Granada Australia, which normally edits out Argosy Media logos, Young Rich keeps this logo intact, except they inserted a "Produced in association with" line below the Corus byline.
 * On seasons 3-6 of My Bedroom is Freaking Out, there are rainbow swirls inside the zero, and Aaron speaks "Huh?" instead of his usual lines.
 * "Celebrating Over" was seen above the "50" in 2004-2005. Two versions exist, the filmed version has the text in New Courier font, the videotaped version has the text stretched and in orange.
 * Starting in 2005, the “5” and “Years of” flag were removed.

FX/SFX: Basic Flash animation.

Music/Sounds: Two triumphant notes followed by the cute little ditty.

2006-2008
Logo: On a sky blue/white background, we see two triangles and a circle merge together to form the Argosy A logo in red. It shines, then "argosy media" swoops down from the top of the screen. An Argosy Communications byline appears below the "argosy media" text.

Variants:


 * On reruns of Revenge of Sarah of the era, Aaron comes in and says to the logo, "Screw you, big A! Screw You! I'm the mascot here, for god's sake!", then kicks it, however, Aaron stubs his toe in the process. He jumps off-screen holding his foot while howling in pain. The music is the cute little ditty due to Aaron's appearance. Look for this variant on Argosy Teenz.
 * On the TV movie, Revenge of Sarah: The Movie, Aaron comes in and says to the logo, "Screw you, big A! Screw You! I'm the mascot here, for god's sake!", then, Aaron pushes the Big A logo off screen and stands on the Argosy text.

FX/SFX: Extremely basic animation that looks like it was done in PowerPoint.

Music: A short 3-note fanfare.

2008-2011
Logo: On a white background, we see an orange flag wave with the letter "a" on it. Then we see a similar flag wave with the letter "r" on it. The entire thing keeps going until we zoom out from the last flag to reveal the flags have spelled "argosy". Then the text "media" in red fades in below the flags. A live-action cat (meant to represent Aaron) walks in. He looks around and sits on an imaginary line between him and the flags, then meows once. After he meows, the flags stop waving. A byline which says "an argosy communciations company" appears.

Variants:
 * For Argosy Media’s 55th anniversary in 2008, the text “CELEBRATING 55 YEARS OF” in gold appears above the rest of the logo.

FX/SFX: Extremely expensive live-action and CGI effects.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant fanfare, then a couple of drum beats, the MTM meow sound effect, and then a brass-and-string version of the infamous ditty.

2011-2013
Logo: On a plain white BG, Aaron walks in, now animated instead of live-action, and takes a large, orange toolbox in. He opens it, digs through, and holds up the Argosy A in red, with "Argosy Media" under it. The ArgosyMTM Group byline fades in below, and Aaron winks and says "Argosy!".

FX/SFX: Yet again, basic Flash animation.

Music/Sounds: An 8-bit rendition of the ditty, followed by Aaron's line.

2013-present
Logo: On a sky background, we see Aaron run up onto grass, with a flag containing the Argosy A logo in red on his tail. Then Aaron looks at the screen. The text "argosy media" fades in below, followed by the ArgosyMTM byline.

Variants:
 * In 2013, a 60th Anniversary variant was used. As Aaron runs up, the words "60th Anniversary" in red and in a script font appear above the logo.
 * Some shows have Aaron on a white background. This variant is mainly used for plastering older logos.
 * On Tales Of Orange Gus, Aaron gets hit with a guitar, and the classic "KABONG!!!" sound comes in.

FX/SFX: Excellent animation, with shading far beyond that capable in Adobe Flash. This was made around the time they switched to ToonBoom, and they seem to have pushed their brand-new software to its limits.

Music/Sounds: A nice classical guitar version of Aaron's Ditty.