Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Logo descriptions by Nicholas Aczel, Sean Beard, Kris Starring, Dan DeCosta, thestudioghiblifan, KyleJaker1988, and others
Logo captures by Eric S., wisp2007, Curiousgeorge60, VPJHuk and ENunn
Editions by wisp2007, iheartparamount, Bob Fish, V of Doom, DreamMechanic, Nathan B., Optimus Prime 2000, ENunn, Frozen Hater, Unnepad, WetPaintLogo1993, whatacuck and VPJHuk
Video captures courtesy of Matthew Baylis, BrerJake90, bigvoice313, EnormousRat, - VPJLogo - and ENunn

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, such as concerts, documentaries, Jay Ward (Rocky & Bullwinkle) and Bagdasarian (Alvin and the Chipmunks) cartoons, and English-dubbed anime. 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 is still being used in some countries, such as for French Studio Ghibli releases.

1st Logo (1984-1988)

Buena Vista Home Video (1984)

Logo: On a white background, we see the following text in a blue font:

BUENA VISTA

HOME VIDEO

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare, seen on early Hopalong Cassidy tapes such as Silent Conflict and The Marauder. These tapes were packaged in the same white clamshells as tapes from Walt Disney Home Video. It can also be found on some classic films issued by the company under the "50s THEATRE" banner.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1988-1998)

Normal logo
Showcase '91 version

Nicknames: "The Castle", "Magic Kingdom", "Buena Vista Castle"

Logo: On a black background, we see a blue stylized, segmented Sleeping Beauty Castle (from the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo) with a circular line drawn over the castle. The text "BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO" is seen below in blue. The logo "shines".

Variants:

A variant also exists with the "HOME VIDEO" text replaced by "HOME ENTERTAINMENT".
A version with the castle forming out of cubes exist on trailer tapes.
There is another trailer tape variant, wher we see "Showcase 91" alongside the Disney Home Video, Touchstone Home Video and Hollywood Pictures logos. In the end of the trailer tape, we see 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 texts "The No.1 Box Office Success Story of 1990..." and "Will be the Video Success Story of 1991" fade in.
A variant ' has a different dark blue cartoony castle on a swirly turquoise background, and the yellow and pink text "BUENA VISTA Home Video" in front of the castle. The flag on the top tower is also waving.

FX/SFX: The logo "shining".

Music/Sounds: A slightly loud 5-note synth horn/chime theme that sounds similar to the birthday song.

Music/Sounds Variants:

A silent version exists.
On the Timon and Pumbaa DVDs, the end theme plays over the logo.
On the DVD/Blu-Ray/4K Ultra HD trailer of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it has a different synth theme and an announcer saying "The following is the paid advertisement from Walt Disney Home Entertainment."
The trailer tape variant has a guitar and a piano playing and an announcer saying "Buena Vista Home Video". The piano music stops and we hear a singer sing for a couple seconds.
The "Showcase '91" variant has a synth-like sound coupled with fairy sounds.

Availability: Common.

Releases that have this include tapes of Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, Mummies Alive! The Legend Begins, the original VHS releases of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Andrew Solt-directed compilations like the first two volumes of Elvis: The Great Performances. Also appears on all 4 volumes of The Johnny Carson Collection: His Favorite Moments From the Tonight Show.
This also appears on British VHS reissues of ex-Fox Kids shows, like Digimon and the CGI Action Man series. On an ironic note, some international VHS releases of DiC's Action Man series also use this logo.
Oddly enough, it can also seen at the end of Disney's Doug and Quack Pack video releases released in 1997. An even odder case is that this was used on the Schoolhouse Rock Special 30th Anniversary Edition DVD set, which was released in August 2002. In another odd case, this logo can also be found on DVD compilations of the Timon and Pumbaa TV series, such as On Holiday With Timon & Pumbaa and Around the World With Timon & Pumbaa, at the end of the credits in place of the Walt Disney Television logo with the end of the closing theme playing over it. This is most likely because the DVDs are re-releases of compilations previously released on VHS and as such recycle prints from those releases.
The "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" variants appeared on some PAL VHS releases like the Legend of Tarzan TV series and some Power Rangers releases.
In July 21, 2017, the Home Video logo made a surprise appearance at the beginning of the faux-'80s parody online commercial 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.
The "cartoony" variant is extremely rare and appears on several VHS tapes of The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and Alvin and the Chipmunks'
The trailer tape variants come from promotional tapes/trailer tapes on YouTube.
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. Other prints of the trailer (and the VHS release itself) use the 5th logo instead.

Editor's Note: None. Simple animation.

3rd Logo (1988-1992)

Logo: On a black background, we see the blue text "BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO" in the same font as the 3rd logo. The logo "shines" twice.

Variants:

Sometimes, the text "PRESENTS" in blue fades in.
One French variant of this logo has the word "présente" in a cheesy blue/white font.

FX/SFX: The logo "shining".

Music/Sounds: A synthesizer tune consisting of a whoosh and an echoing staccato synth chord. Sometimes silent.

Availability: Extremely rare. One VHS that used this logo was Alvin and the Chipmunks: Rockin' with the Chipmunks. However, some copies of that VHS use the "Cartoon" version of the 2nd logo instead. It appears to have been more common in international territories, including Australia, where it appeared on Earth*Star Voyager. The "PRESENTS" variant was recently spotted on the UK rental VHS of White Fang.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (International Variant) (1989-1999)

Nickname: "Buena Vista Castle II"

Logo: On a lavender gradient background, we see the Disney castle forming (like in the movie logo, but going reverse instead of normal). The arc is drawn reverse over the castle, and the words "Buena Vista Home Video" zoom in from the castle, one by one. The logo then shifts to the top of the screen to make room for the scrolling copyright warning.

Variants:

Starting in the late '90s, the background is now a sky blue gradient and instead of reading "Buena Vista Home Video", it reads "Buena Vista Home Entertainment" in a slightly different serif font.
In 1999 (in Australia), the logo was black on the background is white with a copyright notice.

FX/SFX: Standard late '80s-early '90s computer effects.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rarer than its American counterpart. Seen on non-Disney and non-Touchstone tapes of the time. Also seen on the 1999 Australian VHS of Monica's Trip to the Moon.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1998-2002, 2005)

Logo: On a sea blue CGI background, a silver stylized "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 "shines".

FX/SFX: The shining, the words revealing, the animated background. Nice but somewhat basic CGI.

Music/Sounds: A remix of the tune used in the 3rd logo that begins with a chime.

Availability: Seen on the original 1998 VHS of Kiki's Delivery Service (the NTSC 2003 VHS uses the 2001 Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo and that release's PAL version uses the 7th Buena Vista Home Entertainment logo). It was also spotted on the 2002 DVD of Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown, despite using the sixth logo on the VHS release. It also made a surprise appearance on the 2005 DVD set of Home Improvement: The Complete Third Season.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1998-2006)

Nicknames: "The Restored Castle", "Magic Kingdom 1998", "3-D Castle", "Buena Vista Kingdom", "Buena Vista Castle III"

Logo: On a black/dark blue gradient background, we see a blue 3D segmented Sleeping Beauty Castle at an angle shining, and emitting rays of light. The castle zooms out and turns to face us. As this happens, the text "Buena Vista Home Video" (later modified as "Home Entertainment" around 2002) appears in silver aligned with the castle, and thus also zooms out. An arch zooms out and places itself over the castle and the text stops at the bottom of the screen. The words shine.

Variant: There is a still variant.

FX/SFX: The castle, the text and the arch zooming out, the shining.

Music/Sounds: The cymbal crash, and a 10-note choir and orchestral tune.

Availability: Common. It appears on non-Disney or non-Touchstone videos from the parent company such as The Bear, Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets, The Duke, the 2003 UK DVD of Pokémon 4Ever, and some early Disney-era Power Rangers DVD and VHS releases. DVD and VHS releases of ABC shows also use this logo. It was used in tandem with the previous logo until 2002, and with the next logo until 2006.

Editor's Note: This logo boasts some impressive animation and music.

7th Logo (2003-2010's)

Logo: On a blue/black gradient background, the words "Buena Vista Home Entertainment" (in the same font as the previous one) zoom out while emitting rays of light, before stopping in the middle of the screen.

Variant: A widescreen version exists. A shinier, more 3D variant appears on some Blu-ray releases.

FX/SFX: The text zooming out and shining. Nice CGI as before.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Common. Was seen on non-Disney and non-Touchstone releases post-2003. It was used in tandem with the previous logo until 2006.

Any ABC show released on DVD until 2008 would use this logo, like Scrubs: The Complete First Season, Ugly Betty, Lost and many others.
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 versions use the 1999 Miramax Home Entertainment logo), all four Felicity DVD box sets as well as various Marvel animated shows and Power Rangers releases.
Outside North America, it can be found on many releases such as the 2005 UK DVD release of Pokémon Heroes. The 2003 PAL DVD and VHS releases of Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky also use this logo, as well as other French Studio Ghibli DVD releases. The Blu-Rays likely don't feature this logo.
On VHS, it's extremely rare and it can be found on several VHS releases of Power Rangers Dino Thunder, as well as the Australian VHS of Daredevil vs. Spider-Man.
The logo is still used as a print logo internationally (examples: the UK DVD release of Patrick and the European French version of When Marnie was There), but is no longer used as a full logo; instead, these releases go straight to the main menu.

Editor's Note: None.