Gallop Films (Australia)

Background
Gallop Films is a production company based in Whyalla, Australia, formed by Mandy York and Ruth Dodd in 1983, York previously served on the board of directors at Communications and Entertainment Limited and even had served for CEL's Starscreen label, while Dodd worked under Greater Union's film distribution label. The company was created to produce films which would be sold exclusively to distributors linked to cinemas with the intent of enticing movie goers to visit that cinema. After the failure of the first and only film released in this incarnation, though owed more to the folding of Starscreen, the company changed its focus to distributing cartoon shows internationally. The company changed focus again to genre films and international co-productions soon after. In 2003, Entropy Films acquired Gallop and consolidated their Australian operations. York would leave the company in 2010 to pursue work in aviation as Entropy would lay dormant. In 2021, Dodd revived Gallop and opened up offices in Austin, Texas and London. Gallop was acquired by Disruptive Influence and Jason Piette became a partner in the company, serving as the operator of the company's London office. In 2022, Dodd announced she and Piette would launch a film production partnership with producers Elie Samaha and Donald Kushner, this is still in development.

1st Logo (1984)
Logo: On a black background, we see a horse on its hindlegs next to the text "gallop films"

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: It only appeared on the film Where Balloons Fly, which is hard to find due to the nature of the film's distribution; it was released exclusively at key cinemas (i.e., Cineplex through Pan-Canadian and Greater Union through Greater Union Film Distributors and Starscreen), and owed to Starscreen closing due to a scandal over Starscreen's parent company CEL wanting to release sell-through tapes of their films, which led to protests from Australia's largest cinemas, the film never saw any home media release in Australia. It was released on video in Canada by Cineplex Odeon Video, but it's long out of print.

2nd Logo (1987-1990)
Logo: Against a purple starry space background, we see a constellation that forms a horse. "Distributed by GALLOP Films" is to the right of it.

Variant: "Distributed by" is removed on programs that were co-distributed by other companies.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant fanfare.

Availability: Was seen on syndicated and international prints of various cartoons from the 80s, The Halloween Gang being the most notable. The variant is near extinction, only appearing on non-US prints of shows they distributed and used to reflect co-distribution with International Broadcast Systems. However, it can be seen on at least one episode of The Halloween Gang, "Bad Medicine", which was used to replace a heavily edited version of an episode that aired on ABC. This print also appeared on the VHS release by Family Home Entertainment.

2nd Logo (1994-1995)
Logo: We see a film cell with footage of a horse silhouette running. "Gallop films" is below the logo in white. The image cuts out before the rest of the logo does.

FX/SFX: The horse running.

Music/Sounds: An excerpt of "You'll Never Walk Alone", sourced from a live recording done at Liverpool's Kop. This is notable for being part of the interlude to the Pink Floyd song "Fearless"

Availability: Appeared on the films Doll House and Bark of the Wolf Woman.

2nd Logo (1999-2002)
Logo: We see a film strip running down as the image flickers, revealing a horse running. The horse goes onto its hindlegs as the footage freezes and zooms back, leaving behind the horse in a red box. "gallop films" is below.

FX/SFX: The film strip.

Music/Sounds: The sound of a projector and card flipping sounds, ending with a shrill synth note and an echoing clap.

Availability: Appeared on Fisherman's Den, Eye of the Pharaoh and The Hunchback.

3rd Logo (2022-)
Logo: On a black background we see a white box containing a sword-wielding knight atop a horse on its hindlegs. "Gallop Films" is below it with a byline reading "A Disruptive Influence Company"

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: A sword slashing sound, along with a horse's neigh and Dodd saying "Awesome..."

Availability: Can be seen on Grandma 2.0.