Buena Vista Television

Background: Buena Vista Television was the production/distribution arm of Walt Disney Television, established in 1985. Originally, it distributed Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television shows and the Buena Vista film library (such as Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood, Miramax and Dimension titles) on TV. Later, it also took on the libraries of ABC (in 1996) and Saban (in 2002). It also distributed other Disney-owned libraries. When Disney retired the "Buena Vista" brand in 2007, BVTV was re-branded as "Disney-ABC Domestic Television", with the logo making its debut in September.

1st Logo (September 14, 1985-2006)

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Nicknames: "(Classic) Disney Castle", "Abstract Castle", "Blue BG & Rainbow Castle", "Multicolored Kingdom", "Disney Castle", "Rainbow Disney Castle"

Logo: It's basically the same as the 1985 Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista International Television logos, except the text below fades to "Distributed By Buena Vista Television".

Trivia:

This logo was shown until 2006 at the end of local-Disney produced shows, for example in 2003, Club Disney was produced in association with Telecinco.
One Winnie the Pooh tape strangely had full animation (it was probably the 2001 release of Frankenpooh), although it was supposed to use the still version. It might have been a mistake in production.

Variants:

On shows produced by Buena Vista, only the "Buena Vista Television" text is shown. The spark goes from left to right in this variant.
International releases and most DVD prints of shows would say "Distributed by Buena Vista International, Inc." instead of "Distributed By Buena Vista Television".
There is also a chyroned in copyright date that appears underneath the logo.
A variant of the "standalone" logo has the text set horizontally rather than vertically.
One variant had a dark purple background instead of the indigo-blue background. This variant can be found on the VHS of Winnie the Pooh: Detective Tigger.

FX/SFX: The "spark" flying, and the text fades. In other cases, it's completely still.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Walt Disney Television logo themes both from 1985, the closing theme of the show, or none.

Availability: Rare.

This was shown before every Disney movie shown on TV outside the U.S.
This logo was found on most season 1 episodes of DuckTales on its DVD release, as well as on The Golden Girls: The Complete Sixth Season DVD set.
The non-animated version of this logo was found on Winnie the Pooh videos (excluding the last 2 videos because the long 5th logo was used).
The standalone version was seen on early episodes of The Challengers, Win, Lose or Draw when last seen in reruns on GSN (both syndicated and NBC versions), Teen Win, Lose or Draw when that show was last seen on Disney Channel in the early '90s, and pre-September 1995 episodes of Siskel & Ebert at the Movies.
It made a surprise appearance on the Goof Troop episode "Rally Round the Goof" on the Goof Troop: Volume 2 DVD set.
This was also seen on Seven Network airings of Brand New Life (after the 1986 NBC Productions logo) and a VHS release and Disney+ prints of Mr. Boogedy. It was also seen on Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears when shown on the Family Channel in Canada and in the mid 90's on The Disney Channel (before they were updated with the 2nd Walt Disney Television logo) and on one episode of TaleSpin on Toon Disney. It also appeared on the Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers episodes "The Last Leprechaun", "Shell Shocked", and "Love is a Many Splintered Thing" on the Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers: Volume 2 DVD set.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (September 13, 1988-October 27, 1995)

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Nicknames: "Abstract Castle II", "Black BG & Rainbow Castle", "Multicolored Kingdom II", "Disney Castle II", "Rainbow Disney Castle II"

Logo: It's only the same as the 1990 Walt Disney Television logo, except the text below fades to "Distributed by Buena Vista Television".

Trivia: This logo was designed by Studio Productions in Hollywood.

Variants:

Network TV Variant: See the 1st logo.
There is a longer version of this logo. The BVTV text flies up from the bottom of the screen with a chyron trail (like the Telepictures "Rollercoaster" logo), then zooms out from inside the castle and centers itself under the castle. The normal animation then plays.
There can also be a copyright date under the BVTV text. This could usually be seen on Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Reprints of Witt/Thomas/Harris-Touchstone shows, such as early '90s syndicated reruns of The Golden Girls, had this logo with a "Touchstone Pictures and Television" copyright stamp, plastering the original Touchstone TV logo.
Sometimes, this logo is completely still.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1990 Walt Disney Television logo. This was done by Flip Your Lid Animation.

Music/Sounds: Bell music, but in most cases, it's silent or the finishing of the end title theme from any show plays over the logo. But on reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy from this era that were rerun after the 4th logo debuted, the music from that logo was used.

Availability: Extremely rare.

This was seen on Bill Nye the Science Guy (the last episode to have this was "Animal Locomotion", broadcast on October 27, 1995, but DVDs plaster it on that episode with the 5th logo using the Touchstone copyright stamp), and may be spotted on some VHS tapes of said show (mainly from Disney Educational Productions).
This was last seen on Unsolved Mysteries on Lifetime with the BVTV logo.
The 1990 quiz series The Challengers utilized the long version starting mid-way into the series; it was seen as part of a joke-filled wrap video made by the crew of the show. Oddly, many of the stations that carried the show tended to cut the BVTV logo off.
The long version is extinct and was last seen on early '90s episodes of Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, as well as syndicated reruns of The Golden Girls.
This was first seen on Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town on CBS in 1988 and also appeared on the 1991 TV special Rocketeer: Excitement in the Air.
It was also spotted on some episodes of Bonkers! (including the Christmas episode, "Miracle at the 34th Precinct"), the original version of the TaleSpin pilot, "Plunder and Lightning", and surprisingly appears on the Goof Troop episode "Calling All Goofs" on the Goof Troop: Volume 2 DVD set.
It was also on syndie prints of Tron and White Fang.

Editor's Note: This logo is fondly remembered by people who grew up watching shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy on PBS.

3rd Logo (September 6, 1991-September 4, 1992)

Buena Vista Television (1991)

Nickname: "Goofy Filmstrip"

Logo: It's only the same as the 1991 Walt Disney Television logo, except after a few seconds it changes to "Distributed By Buena Vista Television".

FX/SFX: Same as the 1991 Walt Disney Television logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extinct, originally seen on the 1991-1992 season of The Disney Afternoon.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (September 1995-August 31, 2001)

Nicknames: "The Comets", "The Buena Vista Comets", "The Blades", "The Globestreaks", "The Burning Comets"

Logo: We start at a zoomed in angle of a dark blue Earth globe on a black space background filled with stars (possibly the Milky Way) which can be seen within a borderless background boxed-in against a black background. As we zoom out from the point like the medium variant of the next logo, the earth gradually rotates with a comet moving upward while the background orbits, then three comets can be seen streaking past the globe in an diagonal direction from the bottom left corner toward the upper right corner, and gradually zoom away into the black background. The comets fly past the globe, burning dark blade-cut imprints in the process throughout the entire box, as the following text:

B U E N A V I S T A
T-E-L-E-V-I-S-I-O-N

is wiped in from left to right by way of a fancy gradual dissolve. The comet blade imprint is light-colored from inside the globe portion and dark-colored from outside the globe. As the comets fly past the globe, the space background fades from a black color to a gradient yellow-purple color that can be more visibly defined from the background, with a yellow dot that appears to be the sun appearing on the surface of the globe. The gradient color also appears within the "BUENA VISTA TELEVISION" text.

Trivia: This logo appeared most commonly from 1995 to 1997, when the more common 5th logo (below) debuted, although Live with Regis & Kathie Lee/Kelly continued to use the original version in subsequent seasons until 2001.

Variants:

Like the last logo, it would sometimes have copyright info underneath.
Like with the previous logo, reprints of Witt/Thomas/Harris-Touchstone shows, such as Lifetime's airings of Nurses, had this logo with a "Touchstone Pictures and Television" copyright stamp, plastering the original Touchstone TV logo.
On the demo reel of Pittard Sullivan's creations, a brief clip of this logo starts at the point where the three comets fly around the rotating globe when gradually zooming away like the medium version of the 1997 logo. Although the extended music exists, this was going to have the long version (like the 1997 and 2005 logos) which were used, but instead it was scrapped and never used.

FX/SFX: Zooming from the earth, the comets "streaking," the light effects, the trailing colors of the comet blade-cut are light on the side of the dark globe and dark outside of the remaining portion outside of the globe. This was done by Pittard Sullivan.

Music/Sounds: A 7-note horn fanfare, which sounds almost like a "space-age" remix of fanfares that were used to close out old Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Usually, the music was played at warp-speed.
The closing theme of the show was sometimes used.
Sometimes, the theme is accompanied by whooshes and sparkling sounds.
Original airings of Disney's Scott Hamilton Upside Down had the generic CBS theme.
Quack Pack VHS releases have the 1990 Buena Vista Home Video theme play over this logo.
On the season 4 Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Volcanoes", Bill screams into the logo while an explosion is heard with the logo's standard music.
Some episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy play the theme for the long version on the standard logo and the other half in the BVTV international logo.

Availability: Extremely rare.

This was found on a DVD print of Bill Nye the Science Guy, and was seen on PBS airings. This logo can be found on VHS tapes from Disney Educational Productions of said show.
On broadcast TV, it was last seen in all its glory mostly until 2008 on Univision reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy, preceding the previous 1995 BVTV International "Rainbow Castle" logo.
It was also on Live with Regis (and Kathie Lee/Kelly) episodes of this era.
A version using the closing music appears on international prints of most S3 episodes of Timon & Pumbaa, cross-fading to the 1995 Buena Vista International logo; a similar variant appeared on Quack Pack (though both shows plastered this logo with the 1986 Walt Disney Television logo on Toon Disney (now Disney XD)).
One of the earliest appearances of the logo was on Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, which had the logo by September 1995.
It appeared on season 8 of Unsolved Mysteries, which premiered on October 20, 1995, one week before the 2nd logo ended.
It was also seen on the first season of the game show Debt when it was last seen on Lifetime in the late '90s.
It was also seen on reruns and on Disney+ prints of The Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series, where it was followed by the 1995 International version of 1st logo (both were plastered with the 1986 Walt Disney Television logo on Toon Disney (now Disney XD) airings), the 1995-97 seasons of The Disney Afternoon, Dinosaurs, where it plastered the 1986 Walt Disney Television logo, and Home Improvement, where it appeared after the Touchstone Television logo but later airings plaster it with the next logo.

Editor's Note: The "comets" are a very significant change from the previous "castle" logos, which clearly identified the division with Disney. Viewers more acquainted with the later BVTV logos might be a little put off at first because of the slightly faster version of the fanfare commonly found on this logo.

5th Logo (September 13, 1997-June 20, 2005, May 23, 2006)

Nicknames: "The Comets II", "The Buena Vista Comets II"

Logo: We start at a closer overhead view purple Earth globe gradually rotating and zooming away. A rectangular box fades in and creates an enclosure around the globe and space background with the surrounding area fading to black. The comets fly past the globe and while it trails off, they leave a frozen motion mark behind just barely past the border of the globe and in the center of the logo (the middle comet is the shortest, the top comet is longer, and the bottom comet is the furthest out) as the following text:

B U E N A V I S T A
T-E-L-E-V-I-S-I-O-N

is faded in from left to right by way of a fancy gradual dissolve. The end result is basically the same as the previous logo, but the comets are now displayed instead.

Variants:

The short version of this rendition follows the same exact formula as the previous rendition, only now with the frozen comets intact.
On one version of this logo even the long version, three comets cross each other's paths at the overhead view of the earth globe, one by one, as they circle the globe and then appear from underneath streaking past the globe diagonally in unison from the bottom left to the upper right direction and gradually zoom away. Also, the frozen comets on this version have yellow highlight and the gradient has more yellow tinting.
On Winnie the Pooh: Three Cheers for Eeyore and Rabbit, the long version of the logo fades out at the end. Any other videos that show the long variant cuts to black at the end.
Like with the previous two logos, reprints of Witt/Thomas/Harris-Touchstone shows, such as Lifetime's airings of The Golden Girls, had this logo with a "Touchstone Pictures and Television" copyright stamp, plastering the original Touchstone TV logo with copyright stamp.
Some prints of this logo have a copyright stamp such as "© [YEAR]" at the bottom, most notably on shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy. On the long version of this logo, the text "© [YEAR]" faded in midway through the duration.
On Hercules: The Animated Series (both programs mentioned below), the logo fades to the 1995 Buena Vista International logo. Believe it or not, they didn't even use the 1986 Walt Disney Television logo!
The versions (longer than the short version, but shorter than the longer version) without the first three comets used in the beginning of the logo exists.
Although the logo is designed for 4:3 display, the logo that appeared at the end of Stephen King's Desperation was stretched to 16:9.

FX/SFX: Zooming from the earth, the comets "streaking," the light effects, and the fades.

Music/Sounds: Same as above, but this time never at warp-speed.

Music/Sound Variants:

An extended variant of the music has some chimes before the horns come in.
In some cases, the last note is incomplete.
A medium-length version was sometimes used, which takes the first note of the long version then goes straight to the fourth note, and it is redone as the chimes have a short delay before each chimes (unlike the flourish chime in the long version), the fourth and fifth notes are shortened, and the flourish does not play until the last two final horns play.
On the Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Comets and Meteors", the flame breath sound effects are played during the jingle of the entire logo while footage of the previous logo and the BVTV International logo are in use.
On Bill Nye the Science Guy, one half of the short music plays through the standard logo, the other half plays over the 1995 BVTV International logo. On a couple of episodes, this occurred with the long version of the music.
On Winnie the Pooh: Three Cheers for Eeyore and Rabbit, the dinging noise that is heard at the beginning of the long version is absent.
On a 2006 AMC airing of When a Man Loves a Woman, a low-toned version was used.
During Lifetime airings of The Golden Girls, the logo's music would sometimes be slightly off-sync.
Sometimes, it just used the closing theme of the show.
Some original airings of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire used a generic ABC theme.
On the Gene Siskel tribute episode of Siskel & Ebert, the logo is silent out of respect for the late Mr. Siskel.

Availability: Common.

It was seen on cable reruns of America's Funniest Home Videos, as well as 1997-2005 episodes of Siskel & Ebert/Ebert & Roeper, and 1999-2005 episodes of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, among others, as well as the last season of Debt when it was last seen of Lifetime in the late '90s and Win Ben Stein's Money when it was last seen on GSN. It also can be found on Winnie the Pooh: Three Cheers for Eeyore and Rabbit.
The logo was also seen on episodes of Digimon Frontier when it was on UPN, but Jetix (on ABC Family and Toon Disney) and YTV Canada airings doesn't use this logo at all.
The "Touchstone Pictures and Television" variant surprisingly plasters the 2nd logo on a DVD of the Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Animal Locomotion".
The long version with the "© 1997" was spotted on the Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Do it Yourself Science". On the DVD containing the episode, Inventions & Do It Yourself Science, the complete version of this logo appears on the English title, the Spanish one uses the previous logo and the 1995 Buena Vista International logo. It would be continued to be in use until the show ended in 1998.
The medium version was surprisingly seen on Stephen King's Desperation, although this logo officially ended at the time, but the PAL DVD release had the next logo stretched. It was also seen on Toon Disney (now Disney XD) airings of Hercules: The Animated Series, syndie and older TBS airings of Home Improvement, a syndie airing of The Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Day 2000, several TV movies on Lifetime, Hallmark Channel and LMN (sometimes plastering over older ABC/Saban/Libra or Disney logos), and on Disney shows that aired on UPN during Disney's One Too.

Editor's Note: Great animation and a great theme combine to make this logo a winner. This is a favorite of many.

6th Logo (June 21, 2005-September 2, 2007)

Nicknames: "The Comets III", "The Buena Vista Comets III", "2000s Comets"

Logo: The same concept as before, except that the planet "Neptune" is in place of the Earth globe on a spiffier Milky Way, and we start from a different position than last time. On a black space background, we see three comets appear at the same time. We pan up to Neptune and pan to its upper right, where the comets fly to the back. Three comets streak from the left and freeze, and the screen turns white with the logo of the comets and globe in space in a box at the top, and the "BUENA VISTA TELEVISION" text, in gray, fades in and zooms out to take its place under the logo.

Trivia: Unlike the last two logos, this one was animated at 60fps.

Variants:

A more common short version starts with the last three comets streaking past first appeared in 2005, while the longer variant appeared in 2006.
There is a rare variation that is longer than the short version, yet shorter than the extended version, where the logo starts when the comets pass Neptune instead of circling around it.
A stretched version of the 4:3 logo exists. That was used for the PAL DVD release of Stephen King's Desperation.

FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: A re-orchestrated version of the last logo theme. Again, there were long, short and medium-length versions.

Music/Sounds Variant: On The Tony Danza Show, it used the last logo theme.

Availability: Uncommon, as it was only used for 3 years.

This logo first appeared on Moonlighting in 2005 when Nick@Nite celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2005.
This appeared on episodes of Buena Vista-produced/distributed shows such as Live with Regis and Kelly, The Tony Danza Show, Ebert & Roeper, and the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire from 2005 to 2007.
It also appeared on reruns of other shows including The Golden Palace when it aired on Lifetime. The long version appeared on syndie reruns of My Wife & Kids, Scrubs and America's Funniest Home Videos, among others.
Makes a surprise appearance on a Charge! airing of Cop Land and a ThisTV airing of The Crow: Salvation, and might possibly appeared on other previously Disney-owned Miramax titles on Charge!, ThisTV and Comet (most likely because of the use of 2000s Disney syndie prints).

Editor's Note: The lighter background will seem odd to those viewers familiar with the previous "comet" logos, but it's nothing too out of the ordinary. This is a nice logo.