Logos[]
1st logo (1975-1981)[]
In an orange box with red borders with a white line in between is a jack-in-the-box (a la the Harveytoons logos, but named "Happy Jack") with a similarly-colored clown suit and a red derby. He bounces around, then bends towards the front of the box to place, in Romper Room font, the words "A BERT CLASTER PRODUCTION".
Variants[]
- The animation of Happy Jack is the same as used in the intro, but with "A BERT CLASTER PRODUCTION" replacing "ROMPER ROOM."
- The "A Bert Claster Television Production" (note the wording) ID was present on the various local editions as well (Claster licensed the format to 250+ stations over the years on top of producing and distributing the national show).
2nd logo (1981-1986)[]
Just in-credit text that was used in this format:
Distributed by: CLASTER TV PRODUCTIONS A Division of Hasbro Industries
3rd logo (1985-1999)[]
We start with a shot of this stylized text on a blue background:
Distributed by (the Claster logo) Claster TELEVISION INCORPORATED
The Claster logo is in red with the text in a strange, bold, italic font. There is a small line going above "laster" to represent an extended "t." To the left of "Claster" is a red parallelogram with the extremely-thin 8-pointed star inside. Now, to the animation. A white star moves in a horizontal direction from right-to-left and spins over all the letters in "Claster" until it reaches the parallelogram symbol and stays in place to spin there.
Variants[]
- An early in-credit variant with the Claster logo was used until 1987, and it was referred to as "TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS", with the texts "Distributed By" above and "A Division of Hasbro, Inc." below. This one was seen on some shows like G.I. Joe and Transformers.
- Locally produced versions of Romper Room tend to have unique variations of the logo. For instance, the KTVU version had the logo's animation superimposed over the end credit's background (which stays onscreen for 30 seconds).
- The main animated Claster logo debuted in 1987, and initially had the byline "A Subsidiary of Hasbro Inc." underneath (often with a copyright for Hasbro underneath) and the star spinning really fast.
- In 1993, the logo was updated with no bylines, the "Claster" logo and text appearing more shiny and metallic, and the star animation a bit slower and more refined. Many early variations had the entire logo flipping into view before the animation plays.
- On James Bond Jr., the star spins already in the parallelogram. Another variant which features a black background can be seen on a few episodes of James Bond Jr.
Music/Sounds[]
1st logo[]
The opening/ending theme of Romper Room (a synthesized version of "Pop Goes The Weasel", sounding almost like video game music) accompanied by an announcer spiel. E.g., Mrs."Unknown" says, "Pop Goes The Weasel, and the Jack-In-The-Box jumps out of his house and that means it's time for Romper Room school."
2nd logo[]
The closing theme of the show.
3rd logo[]
3 different themes were used:
- 1987-1989: Two synth notes, then an odd, rapid synth tune that sounds similar to cliche cartoon outer-space music.
- 1989-1999: An 8-note synthesized fanfare ending with an ascending flourish.
- 1997-1999: A dreamy electric piano bridge with a synth orchestral backing.
Music/Sounds Variants[]
- The earlier in-credit variants used only the closing theme of the show.
- Another version cut off the logo before the second theme's flourish. This was seen on James Bond, Jr. In All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series and The Lionhearts, the 1989 theme is in mono sound.
- On The Pink Panther (1993 series), the theme is high pitched (due to possibly being sourced from a PAL print).
Scare Factor[]
1st logo[]
- Low to high for the 1-2-3 variant. The jack may be frightening, but the animation shouldn't be too horrifying.
- Medium to high for the zooming variant, as the jack is still visible, and the zooming may put some people off.
- Medium to nightmare for the still variant, as the lack of animation and creepiness of the jack will unsettle many, especially that it's visible for the whole time.
2nd logo[]
None, it's tamer than the last logo(s) we looked at.
3rd logo[]
Depends
- Low to medium for the original versions, mainly due to the music.
- Minimal to low for the later variant, as the music is a lot tamer than before.
- None for the in-credit variant.