Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Background

Buena Vista Home Entertainment (formerly Buena Vista Home Video) was created in 1984 to release non-Disney-related videos not covered by the other Disney units, primarily third-party product licensed to them for home release, including concerts, documentaries, Jay Ward (Rocky & Bullwinkle) and Bagdasarian (Alvin and the Chipmunks) cartoons, and English-dubbed anime, as well as programming from the likes of U.S. Television Office, Weiss Global Enterprises, and Dargaud Films. It became the incorporated name for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in 1987. Also, they covered the Jim Henson Video brand starting in 1990 after the Muppet Video brand and its US distributor, Playhouse Video, were shut down. Disney semi-retired the brand in 2009. However, the name is still being used since it is the incorporated name for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, and it was still used in some international countries, such as for French Studio Ghibli releases, until 2020.

Contents

1st Logo (1984-1988)	2nd Logo (1988-1995)	3rd Logo (August 15, 1990-2003)	4th Logo (1991-1996)	5th Logo (September 1, 1998; April 30-October 29, 2002; 2005-2006)	6th Logo (1998-2007)	7th Logo (2002-2010's)

1st Logo (1984-1988)

Visuals: On a white background, the following text is seen in a blue Futura font, centered:

BUENA VISTA
HOME VIDEO

Technique: A still image.

Audio: None.

Availability: It appeared on the small range of non-Disney content released at the time.

Seen on tapes of Steve Allen's Music Hall, early Hopalong Cassidy tapes such as Silent Conflict and The Marauder, and classic films issued by the company under the "50s THEATRE" banner.
This was also seen on the 1985 VHS release of the film Midnight Madness (produced by Disney, but without their name) and early compilations of The Ray Bradbury Theater (later releases of that show came from HBO Video and were reprinted in turn by Congress Video).
These early Buena Vista releases were packaged in the same white clamshells as tapes from Walt Disney Home Video.

2nd Logo (1988-1995)

Visuals: On a black background, the following text is shown centered in the middle of the screen:

BUENA VISTA
HOME VIDEO

The text has a shiny beveled look to its borders, and a light bar passes through them twice.

Variants:

Sometimes, the text "PRESENTS" fades in below.
Before trailers, the text "COMING SOON FROM" is seen above the company name, which is pushed to the bottom of the screen.
An earlier variant has the logo in its regular position and the "COMING SOON FROM" text is not transparent.
- An even earlier variant has the text placed in the same way, as the later variant, but with the logo in it's regular position. Also, the "COMING SOON FROM" text is in a different font. In addition, in this variant the logo shines only once instead of the usual three times.
  - A similiar variant has the same text placement, but the font is now different and bolder. The text "COMNG SOON FROM" is also stacked, with "FROM" being at the bottom.
One French variant of this logo has the word "présente" in a different blue font with a white outline.
At the end of Australian releases distributed by Roadshow Home Video, "DISTRIBUTED BY" appears below the text, before it cuts to the Roadshow logo.
On Greek releases, "ΠΡΟΣΕΧΩΣ" fades in above the logo, with the logo also at the bottom of the screen.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A synthesizer tune consisting of a whoosh and an echoing staccato synth chord. Sometimes, the logo is silent.

Availability: It was mostly used outside North America.

It appeared on an Australian VHS release of Earth Star Voyager.
Also appeared on a UK VHS release of Gargoyles the Movie: The Heroes Awaken.
The "PRESENTS" variant appears on a few UK releases, mainly rental releases such as White Fang and The Maid.
- It usually appeared before trailers for Europudding films from The Movie Group.
In the US, this exclusively appeared on a few 1992 VHS releases, including select printings of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Rockin' with the Chipmunks, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Funny, We Shrunk The Adults, and The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show.

3rd Logo (August 15, 1990-2003)

Normal logo
Version with "HOME ENTERTAINMENT"
"HOME ENTERTAINMENT" version with URL
Superimposed variant
Showcase '91 version

Visuals: On a black background, the Sleeping Beauty Castle symbol (from the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo), colored in a blue gradient and with beveled edges, is seen sitting at a large size. Below, the text from the 1st logo is seen, but with "HOME VIDEO" in the same font as the 2nd logo's text and matching the same style as the castle. A light beam wipes over the logo from left to right.

Variants:

A variant exists with the "HOME VIDEO" text replaced by "HOME ENTERTAINMENT", matching the font of "BUENA VISTA". This variant was used on a few European VHS releases.
- A variant with a URL exists, with the logo smaller and shifted up.
On an early 90s Touchstone trailer tape from the UK, the logo is seen forming out of cubes.
There is another trailer tape variant, where we see "Showcase 91" alongside the Disney Home Video, Touchstone Home Video and Hollywood Pictures logos. At the end of the trailer tape, there is the logos again, but this time the text "Showcase 91" is gone and is replaced with a diamond. The other logos and the diamond fade out, leaving the Buena Vista Home Video logo on the top. The text lines, "The No.1 Box Office Success Story of 1990..." and "Will be the Video Success Story of 1991" fade in.
On Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Let's Go to Disneyland Paris, the logo is superimposed onto a grayish blue gradient background.
On the 1992 screener VHS releases of Deceived and Billy Bathgate, the logo is seen at the start of the "The Video Event of April" promo with the audio from the promo replacing the normal music.
This version of the logo also appears on the "Winter Action Blitz" promo on the 1995 screener VHS release of Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A five-note synth horn/chime tune composed by John Scott. This is actually a track from the Bruton Music library titled "Trademark".

Audio Variants:

A silent version exists.
On the 1992 VHS releases of Father of the Bride (original printings only), A Classic Christmas From the Ed Sullivan Show, and reprints of Mr. Destiny, an unknown deep-voiced announcer says "Now, from Buena Vista Home Video." over the logo. This precedes a preview for The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show.
On the DVD releases of Timon and Pumbaa, the end credits theme plays over the logo.
On the DVD/Blu-Ray/4K Ultra HD trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a different synth theme is used, and the announcer of the trailer is heard saying "The following is a paid advertisement from Walt Disney Home Entertainment."
The Touchstone trailer tape variant has the end of the song "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard (which accompanied the final montage of the tape), and the announcer of the tape saying "Buena Vista Home Video" in an American accent.
The "Showcase '91" variant has an ambient synth soundtrack over the entire logo.
The variants seen before screener promos use the audio from the promo.

Availability: Seen on releases from the company from the time-period, although it was not used much in North America.

In North America, this logo wasn't used much.
- The first releases to use this logo are the 1990 VHS reissues of Paddington Bear, Max Fleischer's Cartoon Capers and Lucky Luke releases, all of which were previously released in the Mid-1980s under the Walt Disney Home Video banner. Another early release to use it was the original VHS release of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead from 1990.
- Other releases that have this include Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, the 1995 VHS release of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, all 4 volumes of The Johnny Carson Collection: His Favorite Moments From the Tonight Show, Oprah: Make the Connection, How the Toys Saved Christmas, and Andrew Solt-directed compilations like the first two volumes of Elvis: The Great Performances.
- Some Alvin and the Chipmunks and Rocky and Bullwinkle releases also use this logo, but they mostly use the 4th logo instead.
- The trailer tape variants come from promotional/trailer tapes.
- This logo was also seen on a trailer for the VHS release of Kiki's Delivery Service, which can be seen on 1998 prints of Masterpiece Collection titles like Dumbo and The Sword in the Stone. Later prints of the trailer (and the VHS release itself) use the 5th logo instead.
- The logo made its last regular appearance on the 1998 VHS release of Mummies Alive!: The Legend Begins, preceding the 1994 DIC Toon-Time Video logo.
- In August 2002, the logo made an appearance on the DVD releases of The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina (paired up with the 1999 Miramax Home Entertainment logo) and the Schoolhouse Rock 30th Anniversary set (the VHS counterparts of both used the 6th logo). Other DVD releases released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 2002 would use the 5th logo.
- On July 21, 2017, the Home Video logo also appeared at the beginning of an online trailer for the home video release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, advertising the 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray/DVD release of the film, filmed as a tongue-in-cheek 1980's infomercial.
Internationally, the logo was used far more, especially in the UK, where this logo remained in use until 2003.
- It appears on a few releases from DIC Entertainment outside North America, like European Spanish, French, and Dutch VHS releases of the company's Action Man series, and might have appeared on the Australian VHS release of Jingle Bell Rock as well.
- This can be seen at the start of the 1995 UK demo VHS release of The Air Up There (a Hollywood Pictures film).
- International DVD versions of the Timon and Pumbaa series compilation releases, such as Around the World with Timon and Pumbaa and On Holiday with Timon and Pumbaa also leave this logo intact after the closing credits.
- The "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" variant was exclusively used in European territories from 1995-2002; it usually appeared on re-releases of ex-Fox Kids/Saban programmes (in some cases, replacing the 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo), like Digimon, Power Rangers, the 1994 Spider-Man animated series and the CGI Action Man series.
  - It also showed up on the UK VHS of The Legend of Tarzan (although the packaging uses the Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo), and a Spanish Art Attack release.
  - It appeared on two out of four British Baby Einstein VHS releases from 2000: Baby Einstein (i.e. Language Nursery) and Baby Mozart. Baby Shakespeare uses the Disney Videos logo, and Baby Bach has no logos at all.

4th Logo (1991-1996)

Visuals: On a swirly turquoise background, a dark blue castle is seen with a single flapping yellow flag, which resembles a more cartoonish, non-segmented version of the Disney logo at the time. In front of the castle is the yellow and pink text "BUENA VISTA Home Video".

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The "Trademark" theme.

Audio Variants:

On A Chipmunk Celebration, the first note of the logo was cut.
On some Australian tapes, the logo is high-pitched, due to them being in the PAL format.

Availability: It mainly appeared on animated releases from the company at the time.

It appears on several VHS tapes of The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and Alvin and the Chipmunks.
It also appears on the 1992 tape Dance! Workout with Barbie as well, despite it being a live-action release.

5th Logo (September 1, 1998; April 30-October 29, 2002; 2005-2006)

Visuals: On a sea blue CGI background, a silver serif "V" zooms out from a right angle, which turns out to be part of the text "Buena Vista Home Video". The logo settles on the background and shimmers.

Variant: Sometimes, the background is a darker blue.

Technique: CGI by WunderFilm.

Audio: A remix of the "Trademark" tune used in the 3rd and 4th logos, with an added bass/string backing and opening with several chime notes.

Availability: This logo was used both sparsely and inconsistently.

It originally debuted and initially only appeared on the original 1998 US VHS (and subsequent international releases handled by BVHV, such as Latin American, Spanish and Dutch VHS releases) release of Kiki's Delivery Service before and after the opening previews (the NTSC 2003 VHS uses the 2001 Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo and that release's PAL version (released in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Italy) uses the 11th Buena Vista Home Entertainment logo), and was set to appear on the (eventually scrapped) 1999 VHS release of Castle in the Sky, as seen through the trailer of it.
It made a return on the 2002 North American DVD releases of Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown, Spider-Man: The Return of the Green Goblin, and David Blaine Fearless, all of which used the next logo on their VHS releases.
- The PAL Region 2 release of the former also retains this logo, but The Return of the Green Goblin replaces it with the seventh logo. The VHS releases of both releases use the third logo.
It made an appearance on the 2005 DVD set of Home Improvement: The Complete Third Season; the other DVD sets of Home Improvement use the 2002 logo.
It also showed up on the 2006 CAV Thakral Home Entertainment Region 6 Chinese DVD release of Howl's Moving Castle, preceding the Ghibli ga Ippai Collection logo.

6th Logo (1998-2007)

Visuals: On a shady dark blue gradient background, a blue 3D Sleeping Beauty Castle is shown at an angle shining and emitting rays of light. The castle then zooms out and turns to face the camera. As this happens, the text "Buena Vista Home Video" in Times New Roman font appears in silver aligned with the castle, and thus also flies in. An arch flies in and places itself over the castle, with the light rays dissipating afterwards, and the text stops at the bottom of the screen, with the words shining a bit.

Variants:

There is a still variant.
Starting in 2002, the text "Buena Vista Home Video" is replaced by "Buena Vista Home Entertainment", and the shine is dimmer.
On the trailer for the "Gene Autry Collection", which was spotted on the 1999 VHS release of Gene Autry: Back in the Saddle, the logo is animated like the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo.
On the home video trailer for Spider-Man and the Return of the Green Goblin, a version of the logo appears, where a light shines through the semi-transparent castle and slowly starts to fade away.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A ten-note choir/orchestral tune ending with a harp glissando. Composed by Walter Werzowa at Musikvergnuegen (who also created the Intel "bong" jingle and the music for the "filmreel" bumpers used by Disney at the time).

Availability:

This can be seen on releases from the company at that time. It was used in tandem with the next logo until 2007.
- The "Home Video" variant appears on various non-Disney releases, beginning with The Little Twins releases "Tales of Enchantment" and "The Magic of Giving", as well as Gene Autry Collection - Volume 1, Go Fatima, The Bear, Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets, The Duke, and the 2001 TV remake of South Pacific.
- The "Home Entertainment" variant appears on The Animal Train. It also appeared on later Power Rangers Time Force and Digimon VHS releases, and VHS releases of Power Rangers Wild Force, among other Fox Kids/Saban re-releases.
Internationally, only the "Home Entertainment" variant has been used.
- In terms of UK releases, it has been spotted on the VHS releases of Power Rangers: Time Force: The End Of Time and Power Rangers Wild Force: Lionheart, the 2003 DVD release of Pokémon 4Ever (unusually, instead of the Miramax Home Entertainment logo, and is also retained on the 2011 StudioCanal UK reissue), and also can be seen on the UK VHS release of Kim Possible: The Secret Files (while its US counterpart and the DVD version use the Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo instead).

7th Logo (2002-2010's)

Visuals: On the same background as the 6th logo, the chromed words "Buena Vista Home Entertainment" (in the same font as the 6th logo) fly and rotate into place while emitting rays of light, before stopping in the middle of the screen and a bar of light sweeps across it from left to right.

Variants:

A widescreen version exists.
Starting with later Blu-Ray releases, the text is rendered in proper 3D and in a different font. The lighting is also different and the logo shines again at the end.

Technique: 2D computer animation, CGI for the later version.

Audio: Same as the 6th logo.

Audio Variant: Sometimes, the logo is silent.

Availability: It was seen on releases under the Buena Vista Home Entertainment label post-2002. It was used in tandem with the 6th logo until 2007.

It appears on VHS and DVD releases of shows from ABC/Touchstone Television until August 2008, including the first six seasons of Scrubs, Ugly Betty, Lost, and many others. Starting in August 2008, ABC releases began to use the ABC Studios logo as a de-facto home entertainment logo.
The Blu-ray version is only known to appear on Lost: The Complete Third Season in North America, but it is more common internationally (detailed below).
This logo also does not appear on post-2008 DVD releases of ABC Family shows, as Gaiam distributed their releases at the time, and they use the ABC Family logo as a de-facto logo instead.
It also appears on box sets of The Muppet Show, the US VHS release of Bionicle: Mask of Light (the UK version uses the 1994 Miramax Home Entertainment logo and the DVD release uses the 1999 Miramax Home Entertainment logo), MXP: Most Xtreme Primate, and all four Felicity DVD box sets.
It is also used on a few BVS Entertainment-owned shows and properties, like various Marvel animated shows, the first season of Sweet Valley High, the first two seasons of The Tick (US only), and various Power Rangers DVD releases in the UK and US such as The Best of Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers.
It also appears on Roger Corman movies released by the label in the United States from 2005-2008, including Grand Theft Auto and Rock N Roll High School.
It also appears on certain Norwegian NRK DVD releases paired with the NRK logo, Such as the 2017 DVD release of Snøfall. However, In most NRK DVD releases, the NRK logo replaces the Buena Vista Home Entertainment logo Entirely.
On VHS, it wasn't used much, debuting late in the format's life, but it can be found on several VHS releases of Power Rangers Dino Thunder, as well as the Australian VHS release of Daredevil vs. Spider-Man.
Outside North America, it can be found on many releases such as the 2005 PAL DVD release of Pokémon Heroes and the 2007 UK and Spanish DVD releases of Goal II: Living the Dream.
- On Studio Ghibli releases, it appears on the 2003 UK/Spanish/Italian DVD and VHS releases of Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky. It appears on many pre-Wild Side Video Studio Ghibli DVD releases in France such as the 2002 DVD release of Spirited Away (which is likely one of the first releases to use this logo). In general, French Blu-ray releases are likely not to feature this logo.
  - It also showed up on some Chinese Studio Ghibli VCDs released by the China Audio & Video Publishing House (Disney's then-Chinese home video distributor) such as Kiki's Delivery Service, although some use the 2001 Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo, and some have none at all.
- The logo is still used as a print logo internationally (examples: the UK DVD release of Patrick, the 2015 European French version of When Marnie Was There, non-North American copies of Glass, and the 2019 European French Studio Ghibli Futurepaks), but is no longer used as a full logo; instead, these releases go straight to the main menu or, in Glass' case, use the Buena Vista International logo for de-facto purposes.
On Thai VCD releases, this can also be seen at the start of many Disney/Touchstone/Hollywood titles, and was used up until the early 2010s on releases like Space Buddies.

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