Southern Star Entertainment

Southern Star Entertainment began in 1972 as an Australian subsidiary of Hanna-Barbera, aptly named "Hanna-Barbera Pty. Ltd." In 1974, half of Hanna-Barbera Australia was purchased by the Hamlyn Group, which in turn was purchased by James Hardie Industries. Hanna-Barbera Pty. Ltd. was reorganised in 1983 as "Taft-Hardie Group Pty. Ltd.", and an American division was eventually established in 1984, known as Southern Star Productions. Programs produced by Southern Star Productions would be animated by the Hanna-Barbera Studios in Sydney, which gave the subsidiary the d/b/a name of Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia. Southern Star produced shows mainly for CBS such as The Berenstain Bears, Teen Wolf, and the CBS Storybreak.

In 1988, Taft-Hardie was acquired by then-managing director Neil Balnaves and consequently reorganized as the Southern Star Group. Subsequently, the Sydney animation studio was sold to The Walt Disney Company and became Walt Disney Animation Australia. Southern Star kept the rights to most of its properties and would eventually be acquired by Southern Cross Broadcasting in 2004, Fairfax Media in 2007, and Dutch-based company Endemol in 2009 (with whom it previously owned a joint venture). On December 11, 2013, Endemol announced that Southern Star Entertainment would be renamed to Endemol Australia, thus ending Southern Star's 30-year legacy.

1st Logo (September 14, 1985-March 10, 1989)

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Visuals: On a blue space background, a magenta star quickly zooms out. It plasters itself firmly at the center of the screen, while a yellow lightning bolt slides in from the top-left behind the star, landing so that the star is in the middle of the lightning bolt. The star rotates a little as the bolt moves to the middle. The screen flashes white a few times at high speed, changing the star to blue and the bolt to grey, and two rectangles slide in from the top and bottom of the screen behind the star and lightning bolt, the top one yellow, the bottom one magenta. When they connect with each other, the colours suddenly swap so that the top one is magenta and the bottom one is yellow. In the magenta rectangle, to the right of the star/bolt shape is "A SOUTHERN STAR" (usually in Futura Italic), and in the yellow bottom rectangle is "Hanna-Barbera Australia Production" in a Souvenir font.

Variants:

• On The Berenstain Bears, a copyright stamp for the Taft-Hardie Group appears under the logo. It sometimes appears in black or pink, depending on the episode, although in 1985, a chyroned-in version lasting the entire duration of the logo appears instead (usually in magenta, or in white or yellow lettering with a black border).
• On Teen Wolf and CBS Storybreak, the star zooming out is cut, so that it starts on the bolt sliding into shape.
  • On early 2010s prints of episodes of the former, the logo is noticeably darker, along with the rest of the credits.
• Late in this logo's life, a variant was seen omitting all mentions of Hanna-Barbera and the copyright, and had "SOUTHERN STAR PRODUCTIONS" in place of the original name. Also, the yellow and magenta colors do not switch positions at the end. This variant was introduced in 1988, when Southern Star became a separate company from Hanna-Barbera.

Technique: 2D computer effects.

Audio: The ending of the show's theme, but with a thunderclap sound effect (a BBC/Cinesound effect that is also heard in the Ismail Production, Regal Films, and Lightning Video logos, among others) edited in with the flash, nearly drowning out the music.

Audio Variants:

• On most first season episodes of Teen Wolf and at least two Berenstain Bears episodes, there is no thunder crashing.
• The thunderclap sound was sped up beginning in 1986. This version can be heard on the second season of The Berenstain Bears and on later episodes of Teen Wolf and CBS Storybreak, although The Berenstain Bears second season premiere "The Messy Room"/"The Terrible Termite" had the thunderclap played at normal speed like in the 1985 version.
• The Berenstain Bears episode "Get Stage Fright"/"Go Bonkers Over Honkers" had a very different thunder sound effect.
• On The Berenstain Bears episode "Forget Their Manners"/"The Wicked Weasel Spell", the thunder effect briefly fades in and out, and a brief snippet of the show's end theme also plays before stopping, and letting the already-playing ending theme continue as normal. This is due to sloppy editing.

Availability:

• The logo was seen on the original Berenstain Bears cartoon, as well as the animated Teen Wolf (a few VHS releases of this series have no logos) and later episodes of CBS Storybreak (earlier episodes only had a credit for Hanna-Barbera Australia, followed by the CBS Entertainment Productions logo).

Availability Notes:

• Some, but not all, Feature Films for Families VHS re-releases (sub-licensed from Random House Home Video) of The Berenstain Bears omit the logo as well as the closing credits.
• On reruns of The Berenstain Bears in DIC's syndicated programming package from 2003 to 2006, it was plastered by the 2001 "The Incredible World of DiC" logo (even though they did not produce the show) and the 1994 Southern Star logo.

2nd Logo (Mid 1989-September 6, 1994)

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Visuals: On a starfield background, two sets of numerous lines move to the upper center of the screen to merge and form a turquoise star. The text "SOUTHERN STAR" appears below, with an underline in the same colour as the star.

Variants:

• A variant exists, where after the logo forms, "SULLIVAN" zooms in underneath the line.
• On early episodes of A*mazing, the logo is on a box, and the word "CONCEPT" fades in below the line. A contestant stands next to the logo, announcing "This has been a Southern Star Concept production for the Seven Network", and the Seven Network logo appears when the spiel finishes.
• Another variant exists, where the text "SOUTHERN STAR FILM SALES" appears under the star.

Technique: 2D computer effects.

Audio: Silence, the ending theme to the program, or a chime, then a space-like robotic noise.

Audio Variant: On a few occasions, such as some later prints of Dinky Dog and Drak Pack, due to this logo plastering over the 1988 Worldvision Enterprises logo, that logo's audio can be faintly heard over this logo.

Availability: The logo was seen on the first 34 episodes of Blue Heelers, as well as early episodes of A*mazing and later prints of former Hanna-Barbera co-productions such as Dinky Dog and Drak Pack.

3rd Logo (September 13, 1994-March 19, 2007)

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Visuals: On a black background, two sets of blue lines (9 on the left and 10 on the right) curve towards the center of the screen to form one set. As this happens, a light appears and a 7-pointed segmented royal blue star is formed by the lines. Below it are the words "SOUTHERN STAR" (in the same alignment as the previous logo) appearing below, along with a blue line below "STAR" fading in.

Variants:

• A shortened version exists.
• International airings of Southern Star shows that have this logo have "SALES" appearing below.
• An early variant exists, where the lines are more metallic. The underline fades in after the logo is formed rather than simultaneously done with the star and text. This version was also filmed.
• On early seasons of Water Rats, in addition to the logo, there is a byline which reads "WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION" appearing at the bottom and "SOUTHERN STAR SALES" underneath.
• An in-credit version of the "SALES" variant also exists, which was seen on some shows such as Outriders, Don't Blame Me, and Blue Water High where the star and line are either in silver or white. A yellow version also exists, which was seen on Pig's Breakfast.
• On game shows such as A*mazing, Burgo's Catch Phrase, Time Masters, and Wipeout, "CONCEPT" appears below as well as the copyright.
• On some shows that aired on the Seven Network from 1994 to 1999, it is spliced with the network's production logo used at the time.
• On most episodes of A*mazing, the logo is on a frame, while a contestant is shown next to the logo, who announces the spiel, just like the previous logo.
• On To Have and to Hold, the logo is filmed and "FILM SALES" appears below.
• On Faireez, the logo is placed against a white background with "Worldwide Sales & Distribution" above it and the company name is now black. Additionally, it also lacks the underline.
• On season 1 of Love My Way, the logo fades in with the texts "Worldwide Sales and Distribution" and "Southern Star Sales" all placed above the logo.
  • Starting with season 2, the text "Worldwide Sales and Distribution" is placed above the logo, while "Southern Star International" is positioned below it.
• On the first season of The Sleepover Club, the Southern Star Sales version of the logo is used with a blue star and white text, and also has a drop shadow effect. The company name is also in a Times New Roman typeface. It also shares the screen with the Wark Clements and the Burberry Productions logos.
  • Starting with the second season, the logo is also superimposed on the end credits, with the star in a different shade of blue, the "SOUTHERN STAR" reverting to its original typeface and the line in coloured white.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A deep synth drone (not unlike the one heard in the previous logo) followed by a four-note light, airy synth sounder with chimes as the star forms.

Audio Variants:

• In the logo's early years, the synth drone has a high pitched sound and the airy synth plays slightly later.
• On the game shows using the "CONCEPT" variant, the announcer would say "This has been a Southern Star Production for [name of network]."
• On Snobs as well as Channel 5 "Shake!" airings of Don't Blame the Koalas, the ending theme plays over it.

Availability:

• The logo was seen on 1990s prints of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, post-1994 episodes of Blue Heelers, The Secret Life of Us, episodes of McLeod's Daughters until "The Big Commitment", as well as Tracey McBean and early seasons of Hi-5.
• It was also seen on Snobs, Pig's Breakfast, Foreign Exchange, High Flyers, Don't Blame Me, Outriders, the first season of The Sleepover Club, The Adventures of Sam, Kangaroo Creek Gang, Ketchup: Cats Who Cook, Faireez, Water Rats, and Bad Cop, Bad Cop along with game shows like A*mazing, Burgo's Catch Phrase, Flashback, Time Masters, and Wipeout.
• It is also seen at the end of the Spanish VHS release of the 1977 adaptation of Gulliver's Travels by GoodTimes.
• The short variant was also seen on reruns of the 1985 The Berenstain Bears cartoon when it aired on the DIC Kids Network, following the 2001 DIC logo.

4th Logo (January 2, 2006-May 7, 2014)

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Visuals: Against a dark blue starry sky with mountains below, there are shooting stars forming several hoop shapes, known as star trails. As the camera moves to the right, the Southern Star logo fades in via a blurring effect. The logo first appears in a cornflower blue colour, then the star turns sky blue/white gradient, while the company name and the line below "S T A R" turn white. When the animation is completed, the sky darkens around the logo.

Variants:

• Until 2008, the byline "A DIVISION OF SOUTHERN CROSS BROADCASTING (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED" appears below in a stacked format.
• On Meerkat Manor, an additional byline "Widewide Sales and Distribution Southern Star International" can be seen underneath. Also, "Worldwide" is misspelled as "Widewide".
• Like the last logo, a print version of the logo exists.

Technique: Live-action combined with 2D and 3D computer effects.

Audio: This is a list of audio variants primarily used:

• 2006-2011: A three-note booming orchestral fanfare resembling the last notes of the previous logo's theme with some whooshes.
• 2008-2013: A gentle synth string sounder with some "whooshes", ending with a three-note synthesized-like orchestral tune with the last note being played two more times.

Audio Variants:

• Sometimes, it's the ending theme of the show.
• On Meerkat Manor, the audio from the previous logo is heard.

Availability: The logo was seen on Southern Star shows from the era, such as RAGGS Kids Club Band, Undercover Boss Australia, the second season of both Meerkat Manor and The Sleepover Club, the last four seasons of Hi-5 and episodes of McLeod's Daughters from "Biting the Bullet", among others.

5th Logo (July 29-November 6, 2013)

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Visuals: On a navy blue background, light blue lines emerge from the bottom right corner to form the Southern Star logo, similar to the last logo. The Endemol logo appears by spinning directly below it with "an endemol company" underneath.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A whoosh sound, followed by the audio from the 2008 Endemol logo.

Availability

Edit Table

Media Title	Date(s) of Release	Additional Note(s)
Big Brother Australia	July 29–November 6, 2013	Only appearance