Braniff Productions

Background

Named after the defunct airline company of the same name, Braniff was the name of the production company that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone used to produce the show. In 1992, Parker and Stone made the short film that would later become South Park, The Spirit of Christmas (aka Jesus vs. Frosty) while they were students at the University of Colorado under the "Avenging Conscience Films" moniker, while the second Spirit of Christmas short, Jesus vs. Santa, was produced under a different moniker, Krankin/Blass, which parodies Rankin-Bass'. The production name was dropped in 2006 and is now simply known as "Parker-Stone Studios" and "South Park Studios".

Avenging Conscience Films

(December 8, 1992)

Logo: On a crumpled paper background with giant paper-cut snowflakes falling, we see the text "AVENGING CONSCIENCE PRESENTS", with the "C" connecting to the "A". We then fade to another crumpled paper background, with the text now saying "AN AVENGING CONSCIENCE FILM".

Trivia: The company's name is derived from the 1914 film The Avenging Conscience.

Technique: Paper-cut animation.

Music/Sounds: "Jesus Is a Love Song" by the Clark Sisters.

Availability: Seen only on Jesus vs. Frosty.

Krankin/Blass

(December 1, 1995)

Logo: On a white background with a Christmas tree and a red ornament, we see the in-credit text:

A Krankin-Blass Production

This entire logo scrolls from the previous screen and scrolls again to the title card.

Trivia: The name "Krankin-Blass" parodies Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment.

Technique: Scrolling effects.

Music/Sounds: "It Happened In Sun Valley" from the film Sun Valley Serenade.

Availability: Seen only on Jesus vs. Santa.

Braniff Productions

1st Logo (November 1996)

Logo: Shot in black and white, we see a group of six men (L-R: Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Dian Bachar, Matt Stone, Mike Judge, and Trey Parker) with their pants down and a long black line covering all their private areas (Stone is naked and holding some balloons, and Parker is dressed up as a clown). The men are dancing in a chorus line. The line displays the text "BRANIFF AIRLINES". It then fades out, and "IN CONJUNCTION WITH..." then appears in place of the company name.

Trivia: The men are part of Le Petit Package, a lost short film Matt Stone and Trey Parker developed during the making of the first episode of South Park.

Technique: Live-action.

Music/Sounds: Just Stone and Parker singing "Braniff Airliiiines!" off-key.

Availability: Ultra rare. Only seen on the unaired pilot episode of South Park, which can be found on Best Buy editions of the Season 2 DVD boxset.

2nd Logo (August 13, 1997-March 29, 2006)

4:3 variant
16:9 variant
Letterboxed variant

Logo: On a sky background, we see a rather fake-looking Boeing 727 airplane zooming in from the left, film footage from a Braniff Airlines commercial (evident by its graininess, even on HD prints). On the plane is the text "BRANIFF" with a white line drawn through it. Then, said logo zooms in from below, gets stretched across to the right as the line is drawn through it, then snaps back to its original position. The text "BELIEVE IT!" appears underneath.

Technique: Model work for the airplane and computer effects for the text, which is derived from some TV commercials that Braniff Airlines aired back in 1985 to promote its airline service and low fares. These can be seen here and here. Wilford Brimley appeared on both commercials and says "(Today's) Braniff. The Best Low Fare in the Air. Believe It!" when the logo is shown.

Variants:

On HD remastered prints of South Park, the logo is cropped to widescreen.
On the 2007 HD DVD release of the South Park episode "Good Times with Weapons", the logo is letterboxed. Current HD prints of this episode use the cropped widescreen version.

Music/Sounds:

August 13, 1997-April 12, 2000: A happy twelve-note synthesized xylophone/horn ditty based on the song "Shpadoinkle Day" from Trey Parker and Matt Stone's film Cannibal! The Musical.
April 7, 1999-March 29, 2006: The ending theme of the show.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On the episode "Chickenpox", the theme is played in a style similar to The Monkees' song "I'm a Believer" (which played over the end credits).
On the episode "Chickenlover", chickens clucking can be heard.
On the episode "Child Abduction is Not Funny", Lu Kim is heard saying "I'm gonna get you! F*ckin' Mongolians!"
On the episode "The Death Camp of Tolerance", Mr. Slave is heard saying "Ohh, Jesus! Jesus Christ, Oh!"
On the episode "The Return of Chef," the logo is silent.
On Pluto TV Brazil prints of Season 5 of South Park, the music from the 3rd MTV Productions (International) logo is used instead.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The pre-season 3 jingle plays at the end of episode previews of the Cantonese dub of South Park shown on Hong Kong cable TV during the late 90s and early 2000s.

Availability: Uncommon.

Seen on the first nine seasons of South Park, as well as the first two episodes of the tenth season.
It is still intact on the South Park DVD and Blu-ray box sets, with the exception of the first season (barring "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut").
The version with the fanfare is much harder to find, as all early season Comedy Central reruns split-screen the credits with commercials, but prints of episodes on the DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, HBO Max, Paramount+ overseas and a Thanksgiving 2017 airing of the episode "Starvin' Marvin" still have it.
This does not appear on South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Team America: World Police.