Paramount Animation

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Paramount Animation is the feature animation division of American film studio Paramount Pictures. It was founded in 2011 after the box office success of Nickelodeon Movies' CGI film Rango.


Logo (September 19, 2019-)

Visuals:

  • 2019–2024: A rock (which is skipped across a valley's lake and thrown by a young girl named Star Skipper, who bears a striking resemblance to June from Wonder Park, wearing a yellow shirt and purple pants and standing on some rocks next to the lake) transforms into a golden star. As the camera tracks the star to reveal a wider landscape, the star flies through the forest and up the hills. In the background is a colorful version of the Paramountain in an orange morning environment surrounded by clouds. The other 21 stars, also in gold, appear and encircle the mountain as the "Paramount" script, in blue, zooms out and takes its normal position. The final star thrown by the girl swoops by, forming the bluish-purple word "Animation" in a handwritten script font on the bottom as the star takes its place.
  • 2025–: The logo began to serve as a transition from the standard 2011 Paramount Pictures logo a la Paramount Players via a lens flare effect, with the Star Skipper portion being cut entirely. The animation is also slightly modified to make the animation and alignment of the stars and the "Paramount" script closer to the 2011 Paramount Pictures logo.

Alternate Descriptive Video Transcription: A girl skips a stone across a blue lake in front of a pyramid like mountain with a snow covered peak. The stone becomes a star and it zooms up the wooded slope of a mountain. It turns into a row of stars which form an arch over the mountain: Paramount Animation.

Trivia:

  • The logo and Star Skipper were designed by Christopher Zibach, who worked on DreamWorks Animation's Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie as a lead visual development artist and art director. According to president Mireille Soria, the studio chose Star Skipper as their mascot because she "captured the magic" of the division. Zibach's work can be seen here.
  • This is very loosely based on the unused logo (the animation and concept of which were done by Matt Hartle).
  • This logo first appeared in an article published by Variety.
  • On Smurfs (the first film with the 2025 variant), the logo has some noticeable artifacts. One of the stars disappears for a single frame, the left side of the Paramountain has a subtle crossfade and warp effect when the last star flies in, and the last star briefly stops in front of the "Animation" script before taking its position.

Byline(s):

  • September 19, 2019; November 7, 2023–July 18, 2025: Bylineless
  • November 14, 2019: "A VIACOM COMPANY" in blue, set in the 2006 Viacom font.
  • January 29, 2020–December 15, 2021: "A ViacomCBS Company" in white, set in Gotham Bold.
  • November 26, 2021: "A ViacomCBS Company" set in ViacomCBS Raisonné.
  • December 19, 2025–: "A SKYDANCE CORPORATION" (set in Minion 3 Medium).

Variants:

  • An open-matte 4:3 version exists.
  • A faster, abridged version also exists, which is seen on international Netflix prints of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.
  • Starting in 2020, the background's shading is different, grass was added next to the tree on the right, the star now leaves a sparkling trail as it flies through the forest and up the hills to the mountain, the word "Animation" is in a lighter blue color, and it also has a more noticeable shine effect. This means that the original version that was published in the Variety article may have been a prototype.
  • A blue ViacomCBS byline also exists, which can be seen on the home page of Paramount Animation's official website, and can also still be seen on the website as of August 2025, despite ViacomCBS being renamed as Paramount Global in February of 2022 (although it was briefly removed on August 2, 2023, before getting added back two days later).

Technique: CGI from Reel FX and ATK PLN. The later variant is done by Devastudios under supervision from Reel FX and ATK PLN, using Autodesk Maya and Terragen from Planetside Software.

Audio: Birds chirping and nature sounds, followed by water sounds, and some whooshes. Sparkling sounds are heard when the stone transforms into a star and when "Animation" appears. The 2011 Paramount Pictures fanfare by Michael Giacchino plays throughout. The later variant cuts out the sound effects entirely, with the logo now only using the standard fanfare.

Audio Variants:

  • The ViacomCBS variant features different nature sounds. Wind is also audible and more sparkling and whoosh sounds are heard as the star flies through the forest. Then as the other 21 stars encircle the mountain, whooshes are heard. Also, the 2011 fanfare's last note has a longer echo. This can be heard on ATK PLN's Vimeo account and Rumble (2021), respectively.
  • On international Netflix prints of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, the 2011 fanfare is out of sync.
Availability

Edit Table

Media Title Date of Release Additional Notes
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
OSCA
August 14, 2020
Debut appearance
Rumble
OSCA
December 15, 2021
 
Under the Boardwalk
OSCA
October 27, 2023
Digital release only
The Tiger's Apprentice
OSCA
February 2, 2024
 
Smurfs
OSCA
July 18, 2025
Debut of later variant
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
OSCA
December 19, 2025
Custom variant


Magic (2018)

Visuals: A violet petal lying in a grassy meadow glows, and a star appears from it and soars into the sky. The camera tracks the star to reveal a wider grassy landscape and a nighttime sky with the Paramount mountain in the background. Other stars appear and circle the mountain.

Technique: CGI animation by Matt Hartle.

Audio: Unknown, as all that is available are style frames.

Availability: Can only be seen in the form of style frames on Matt Hartle's website.

Paramount Cartoons (post-1962 and main predecessor)
Terrytoons
Paramount Animation
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