Abril Vídeo/Production Logos

Credits

Descriptions by
DisneyInternationalFan, Henrynguye5, Thisisanswer

Video captures courtesy of
Ry's Classic Commercial Hut, nico su, TokNime

Background

Abril Vídeo was the home video division of Grupo Abril, one of the biggest publishers in Brazil, founded in 1983 as a major VHS distributor of mainly Disney videos. The company did actually have ties with Disney as far back as 1950, being the official distributor of their comics in Brazil, and later on, would become the official publisher of 20th Century Fox and Playboy Home Video tapes for years. The company, however, would be dissolved in 1999 due to Disney and Fox now publishing their titles domestically, as well as the slow decline of VHS as a leading format.

1st Logo (1986?-1990)

Logo: Over a live-action shot of fireworks bursting at night, the Abril Video logo fades in with a white color and a barely-visible black drop shadow. The logo consists of a stylized tree with many outlined leaves, which is sandwiched between the text "abril vídeo" in a boxy font that's also segmented. The spaced-out text "apresenta" in a more generic font, quickly appears below after the logo fades in. After a few seconds, the logo and text fade out at different speeds, leaving the fireworks before they cut to black.

Trivia: The footage shown was filmed in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) during New Year's Eve.

FX/SFX: The background, the logo fading in.

Music/Sounds: Either the 2nd half of the Walt Disney Home Video logo's music, or a loud, dissonant synth fanfare.

Availability: Very rare. It can be found on several Disney tapes from the time period, like Dumbo, Mary Poppins, More Tales of Pluto, and more. The 2nd music variant was spotted on Pato Donald no Oeste. It may have also possibly appeared on Fox and Playboy tapes.

Editor's Note: A very cheap logo for the time, but its something common to say to most of these early Brazilian VHS logos.

2nd Logo (1988-1994)

Logo: On a black background, the camera zooms out from a multi-colored metallic tunnel, changing colors as it reveals itself to be the Abril logo, now in green. As it zooms out, the insides change to blue, then to silver, as several stripes retract back into themselves. As the logo settles into place, the stripes reveal themselves to be the same "abril vídeo" text from before, of which the stripes also change to green once they retracted. The tree then turns 2D (though it still keeps an bevel effect) and the background fades to a dark grey background with barely visible Abril trees.

FX/SFX: The tree and stripes zooming out, the background changing.

Music/Sounds: A descending synth "wah" sound, with laser sounds for the stripes, and then ending with a "bong". An variant had an announcer and the beginning of the 2nd international Walt Disney Home Video logo.

Availability: Rare, but more common. It debuted on a tape of Mickey's Christmas Carol before fully debuting 2 years later. It can be seen on all tapes from 1990-1994, like The Little Mermaid, as well as more Fox and Playboy tapes.

Editor's Note: Better animation, but the music is rather loud.

3rd Logo (1994-1999)

Logo: On a rotating and zooming space background, 2 large stone filmstrips fly across the top and bottom of the screen, each embossed with an white background with a filmstrip going up at an angle, as well as having an translucent green Abril logo on them. As we reach the end of the filmstrips, an additional one comes down from the top and shows a 3D Abril logo, colored in silver with green faces, coming up from the bottom of the screen and flying up. As it zooms into the screen, 2 additional silver/green monoliths come in from behind the camera and rotate down to reveal themselves as the same "abril vídeo" from before, but without any stripes in them. The tree then rotates a full turn before everything settles into place, the filmstrip background taking up the whole screen.

Variants:

• A short variant exists, with just the animation shown on the filmstrip playing. The logo is also a bit smaller.
• Starting in 1998, the company would be referred to Videos Abril. The name would be updated to be reflected as such, and the text is now placed above the Abril logo in a stacked formation. The text also comes in from the left and right sides of the screen as well.

FX/SFX: The stars and filmstrip, the logo forming.

Music/Sounds: An upbeat synth pop tune, with a guitar playing in the middle of the logo. The short version has it abridged.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on a Brazilian VHS release of Demon in the Bottle, among other Disney, Fox, and Playboy tapes.

Editor's Note: Some of the finest CGI for an home video logo at the time, and a favorite of many Brazilians.