Dear alina1-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. I chose to explain this in chronological order so if you’d
like to read the entire answer and then go back and examine the links
at your leisure I believe you would see that I have covered every
aspect of your question.
“MTV's first logo was the 1969 moon landing with neon and the
astronaut with the American flag (which had MTV on the flag).”
i80’s.COM
http://www.i80s.com/80s_culture/1981.html
In today’s tremendously complex computer age where you can easily get
an overdose of technically superior art and animation, this logo
doesn’t seem all too impressive. But back in the day when this logo
was created, most of us who can recall it well probably thought that
it was “very” cool (yes, I admit I was one of them).
MTV’s first “Moonman” logo -
http://www.i80s.com/80s_culture/culture_images/1981_images/mtv_1981.jpg
“When MTV launched in the early 1980s, it's launch began with a rocket
launching and an astronaut putting a flag with the MTV logo on the
moon. To this day, that symbol is still used as the trophy given out
by the network for the best music videos of the year”
FUTURAMA CAPSULE
http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/Capsules/1ACV02.txt
In July 1981, Candy Kugel created the original man on the moon
animation that would be introduced a month later and eventually become
MTV’s world recognized signature. At that time Kugel was working for
Perpetual Motion Pictures, which split in 1982 to become Perpetual
Animation and Buzzco Productions, Inc. (when Buzz Potamkin stepped off
in 1984 Buzzco Productions then became Buzzco Associates).
BUZZCO
http://www.buzzzco.com/candyoth.html
According to this cached version of FREE THE FUTURE, MTV launched its
“Moonman”, prepared only one month in advance, on August 1, 1981.
FREE THE FUTURE
http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=mtv+create+moonman&ei=UTF-8&vm=i&n=20&fl=0&url=cA_oOP9QBSQJ:www.freethefuture.com/MT/archives/000002.html
It has been suggested that MTV simply chose a logo without any real
foresight or explanation, but as luck would have it the channel not
only succeeded, it (unintentionally perhaps) created it’s own
explanation for the logo as time went by:
“The image of the astronaut touching down on the moon may have been a
knee-jerk logo choice by MTV executives, but it suits the channel
rather well. It reflects an undiscovered realm of possibilities and a
horizon that would forever be altered. It's a wonderful way to sum up
the impact MTV has made since its birth exactly 20 years ago.”
THE DAILY TEXAN
http://tspweb02.tsp.utexas.edu/webarchive/08-01-01/SectionENT.html
Now, of course there would have been no way for MTV to “know” it was
going to “change the world” so the statement sort of seems to fill the
void where reason is available and provides an suitable explanation
well after the fact.
If you want to take a quick trip back in time, assuming you are old
enough to remember this, here’s the image most of us probably remember
most:
http://tspweb02.tsp.utexas.edu/webarchive/08-01-01/Images/mtvtv.jpg
The award got its start (on a much grander scale) when a giant version
of the award the MTV astronaut was created in honor of the release of
Michael Jackson’s hit album “Thriller”.
RSI
http://www.rsi-design.com/mtvaward.htm
The award we’ve come to know and love as “The Moonman” is manufactured
by R. S. Owens, Inc. located in Chicago’s Jefferson Park, (Illinois) –
and if you haven’t already guessed it, these are the same guys who
make good old “Oscar” for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.
R S OWENS INC.
http://www.rsowens.com/
The trophy’s dimensions are: Height: 11 3/4 in. Weight: 7.12 lbs.
“During the first few VMAs, the "moon men" were reportedly made of
plastic.”
INC.COM
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20030301/25189.html
So, now that I believe I have covered everything you inquired about
(and perhaps more than you really wanted to know), that’s the whole
story behind MTV and the “Moonman”.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
DEFINED ABOVE
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
MTV MOONMAN
DESIGNED MOONMAN
MANUFACTURER MOONMAN
HISTORY MOONMAN
FIRST MOONMAN
CREATED MOONMAN
ORIGINAL MOONMAN
“R S OWENS INC”
Alternatively replaced the search term “moon man” with “moonman” |
