CIC Video

Production Logos Home Video Bumpers Warning Screens Anti-Piracy Notices

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Credits

Captures by
Eric S. and others

Editions by
mr3urious, TrickyMario7654, V of Doom, Martin V.B. and TheLogoFan2004

Video captures courtesy of
DigitaliseMe, Jordan Rios, Zampakid, RtC Extra, CNRArcade, MemoriesOfNostalgia2006 and Ann-Maree Tetley

Background

CIC Video was a home video distributor owned by Cinema International Corporation (CIC) and its successor United International Pictures (UIP), and operated in some countries by local operators. Outside of the United States and Canada, it distributed films by Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, UIP's partners. DreamWorks films were added to the company output in 1998 (which were distributed under DreamWorks' home video branch), as the fledgling studio had a worldwide video distribution deal with Universal.

In 1999, CIC Video was dissolved when Universal purchased PolyGram and reorganized its video division under the Universal name. Paramount Home Entertainment became CIC Video's successor after acquiring full ownership and merging it into Paramount's video division. That same year, Columbia TriStar Home Video signed an international video distribution deal with Universal to release movies and TV shows on DVD internationally.

1st Logo (January 1981-1986)

• 
  Prototype version
• 
  Standard logo
• 
  Purple background version

Visuals: The text "CIC" is seen in a fat abstract font, with the "S"-patterned chain link from the film logo cote-out on the bottom of the "I", and the word "VIDEO" shown below in an Aero Extended font. The logo is entirely white and fades in over a cloudy blue (or purple) background.

Variants:

• On early releases, the logo is thinner and lacks the chain.
• The logo's size and the position of the chain seems to differ.
• A variant exists where the logo is on a printed card and the chain is in the colors of its film counterpart.

Technique: Fading effects.

Audio: None.

Availability:

• Seen on (at least) PAL VHS releases in the UK and Germany and PAL LaserDisc releases in the UK, such as Airplane!, Beverly Hills Cop, Rough Cut, Raiders of The Lost Ark, and Airwolf.
• The prototype variant is usually found on tapes that have the print CIC Video logo without the chain on the packaging (usually the very first releases on the label), such as the UK pre-cert releases of Jaws, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), The Thing, and also on the 1984 UK pre-cert VHS releases of Woody Woodpecker and His Friends Vol. II and Flashdance (1983), respectively.

2nd Logo (1983)

• 

Visuals:

• Opening: A glaring light in a bright pink hue is seen twitching slightly in the middle of the screen, briefly flashing a blue ring of light around it after a few seconds. Then, 2 candy-striped trails emerge from the light as it fades out, swooping forwards and filling with the same glaring light as the CIC Video logo, which is lacking the chain. The logo remains still for a few seconds before it flashes, causing a pink and a orange outline of the "CIC" text to fly upwards. Afterwards, the print logos for Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures swoop down to the center of the screen as the logo fades out, remain still for a few seconds, and then zoom out as the trail section of the animation plays again. It then cuts to the beginning of the trailer reel.
• Closing: The logo forms again starting with the trails, but the outlined text "HOLLYWOOD AT HOME" is seen in the center of the screen briefly before it fades out.

Technique: A mix of camera-controlled cel animation and computer effects.

Audio: The main theme of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, albeit with the pitch raised slightly. A male announcer can also be heard talking over it.

Availability: This logo is only known to have been used at the begin and end of a trailer tape.

3rd Logo (1986-1994, 1999 in Malaysia)

• 
  Standard logo
• 
  Common variant
• 
  Great Films variant
• 
  Rare Spanish variant
• 
  Italian promo variant

Visuals: On a black-blue gradient background with stars dotted around it, the three pieces of the chain (the outer two in light blue and the center one in white) fly from the edges of the screen and form at the bottom center of the screen. A silver bar then flies in from the top of the screen, stopping were the chain is, and the two "C"s draw themselves in, starting from the bottom up to the top. All three letters are made of metal. "VIDEO" then flies in below, stopping under the CIC logo.

Variants:

• On UK, German, Australian, Brazilian and Argentine VHS releases, just before the logo settles in place, a bright flash engulfs the screen and dies down to reveal the print logo set against a light blue background.
  • Some releases have the logo zooming out to the top as a light blue marquee with white lines fades in below reading "GREAT FILMS", along with "from the Hollywood studios of PARAMOUNT & UNIVERSAL", which would lead into sneak previews of upcoming movies.
    • Another background variant of the above has the logo zooming out to the top, but then cuts to black; this can be found on the 1986 UK VHS re-release of Woody Woodpecker and His Friends.
• A still variant simply consisting of the logo in white on a light blue background is known to have been seen on some Japanese VHS, VCD and LaserDisc releases, as well as VHD releases (basically the country's version of CED).
• One variant has the CIC Video logo (blue background version) "morph" into the 1986 Paramount logo (with a smaller Paramount Communications byline), which then morphs into the 1971 version of the 1963 Universal logo. This can only be seen on some Brazilian VHS releases as the beginning of a promotional music video, celebrating 1,000,000 copies of CIC videotapes sold in Brazil.
  • A 1991 trailer tape had the common blue background variant flash into this particular variant. The 1986 Paramount logo also does not morph into the Universal logo.
• At the end of the Spanish VHS release of Earthquake, an extended variant appears, where titles of movies scroll from bottom to top. After that, the logo starts playing, while the last piece of the text starts scrolling up. Once the logo finishes playing, the text "PARAMOUNT Y UNIVERSAL" stops scrolling and appears on top of the logo.
• On an Italian promo, the logo is cropped, only leaving the CIC part of the logo playing.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: An ascending synth-choir note, ending with four synth notes that rise in pitch (sounding like "doo-doo-doo-doo") and a loud hit containing two more notes.

Availability: The best place to check are places like Europe, Australia, Japan, or South America. VHS releases in Asia and Africa may also have this logo, too.

• Examples include the original UK issues of The Naked Gun and Back to the Future Part II.
• One VHS release that has the blue background variation is Police Squad: Volume One.
• This logo may also come after a home video logo from that country (such as AVH in Argentina, HVH in Greece, and ITI in Poland).
• The blue background variant with the marquee can be found on some VHS releases from the era, such as the original UK retail releases of Saturday Night Fever and Back to the Future, among others.
  • It can also be found on the Japanese LaserDisc releases of Back to the Future, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Ghost Dad. although the "Great Films" byline hasn't been translated through subtitles.
• Other releases to have this include Back to the Future Part III, Ghost, Kindergarten Cop, Top Gun, Twins, The Naked Gun 2 1/2, Coming To America, The Godfather Part III, Beverly Hills Cop II, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Hunt for Red October, and Stepping Out, among others.
• It was also spotted at the end on a late 1990s TNT airing of American Graffiti with the movie's end theme playing over.
• It was also spotted at the beginning of a 1994 Brazilian VHS release of Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994), a Full Moon film released by Paramount, with the 6th logo appearing afterwards.
• The blue background variant is also seen on the 1988 UK VHS release of U2: Rattle and Hum.
• This logo is also seen on the 1991 UK VHS release of Jetsons: The Movie (1990).
• This logo continued to be used in Iceland as late as 1997, having appeared on a VHS from that nation of the 1996 remake of The Nutty Professor.
• The version without the white flash is also seen on Malaysian VCD releasess of Universal and Paramount titles released before 2000, such as The Blues Brothers, Kindergarten Cop, and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West!.

4th Logo (1986-1992)

• 

Visuals:

• Opening: Starting out with the end of the previous logo's print logo variant, it zooms out onto a scrolling chrome filmstrip and settles into its respective space, slowly fading away as it scrolls off-screen. The filmstrip has three boxes in it. The left has the Paramount print logo (with the Gulf+Western byline) engraved in it, the middle box has the CIC Video logo in it, and the box on the right has the Universal print logo of the time (a wireframe globe inside a stylized U with "UNIVERSAL" below) in it. The filmstrip shines, followed by the golden word "PREVIEW" scrolling in from the right. The word shines as the filmstrip begins to shine brightly, eventually engulfing the word and screen with white.
• Closing: The white flash then recedes back into the filmstrip, revealing "PREVIEW" on a plain chrome filmstrip. The filmstrip then flips around to reveal the 3 logo boxes, as the CIC Video logo fades back to its original colors and then zooms in, engulfing the screen.

Technique: CGI.

Audio:

• Opening: The music from the 3rd logo, then a deep bass sounder with a laser-like zap noise, and finally the "doo-doo-doo-doo" noise and the loud hit.
  • On Chilean tapes released by Video Chile, a voiceover is used.
• Closing: The laser-like zap noise, with the deep bass sounder playing in the background, followed by an abridged version of the "doo-doo-doo-doo" noise and loud hit.

Availability: Seen on rental VHS releases (mainly in the UK) from CIC Video, used in tandem with the third.

• Examples include the 1987 UK VHS release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), among others.
• It can also be found on plenty of South American VHS releases as well, particularly NTSC-formatted ones from Blancic Video in Venezuela, Kyron Home Video in Colombia, and Video Chile in, of course, Chile.
• It can also be found on Aussie releases as well, such as Stepping Out.

5th Logo (1990's)

• 

Visuals: On a blue/white gradient background, a lavender filmstrip with blinking sprocket holes scrolls across the screen at an angle. In the final 2 cells are the "'CIC" and "VIDEO" portions of the logo, both in dark blue, and they fly off of the filmstrip once they pass by the camera, rising up and settling at the upper center of the screen. The chain, which is shiny and more realistic, flies forth and wipes in the Portuguese words "qualidade de quem é original", before rolling into the "I" of ""CIC".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The opening variant of the previous logo.

Availability: Seen on Brazilian NTSC-formatted VHS releases from the time. ^[Examples?]

6th Logo (1991-1998)

• 
  Standard logo (Part 1)
• 
  Standard logo (Part 2) Seen on Paramount tapes
• 
  Standard logo (Part 2) Seen on Universal tapes
• 
  Standard logo (Part 2) Seen on Australian tapes
• 
  "Video News" variant from a promo tape for The Naked Gun 2 1/2

Visuals: On a black-blue gradient background, cyan lights form up the "CIC" text, with the "C"s formed by wrapping in a spiral 4 times, while the "I" is formed by 4 lights dropping down one by one. Once the text is finished, "VIDEO" flips in via each letter individually flipping in and then a ping brings forth a white chain link, followed by a light blue one fading in, it splitting and arranging itself into the CIC chain link, and finally 2 pings quickly turning it into a proper link. Then one of the following things happens:

• On Paramount movies, the logo zooms out to the left in a box against the same type of background. Then, in another box to the right, Paramount's 1986 logo animates.
• On Universal movies, the logo zooms out to the right in a box against the same type of background. Then, in another box to the left, Universal's 1990 logo animates.
• On Aussie releases, the logo zooms up to the top, and two boxes play the Paramount and Universal logos below it, and then the animation essentially reverses.
  • The tail end of this variant (starting where the boxes with the logos fade out while the CIC Video logo sits on the center of the camera) was also seen on another Brazilian music video from 1991, this time celebrating 2,000,000 tapes sold.

Variants:

• On some Czech VHS releases, the logo lacks the end animations, making it shorter
• One variant seen on a promo tape for The Naked Gun 2 1/2 has the word "NEWS" also appears below "VIDEO". This variant uses a generic uplifting orchestral piece, which is part of the promo's soundtrack.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A peaceful synth-orchestra tune.

Audio Variant: On some VHS releases including Star Trek: The Next Generation: Volume 22, the tune is higher in tone.

Availability: Seen on many PAL VHS releases in the UK and Australia.

• Titles include The Nutty Professor, True Lies (Universal had the rights to the film internationally at that time), The Naked Gun 33 1/3, Forrest Gump, Clueless and Jurassic Park, among others.
• The Universal/Paramount variant can also be found on the Australian VHS release of Tom & Jerry: The Movie, despite being licensed from Turner Pictures Worldwide (whose titles are currently owned by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment).
• This logo also makes an appearance on the Chinese VCD release of The Jackal instead of the next logo.
• CIC tapes released in the UK between 1993 and 1997 do not have any logo.

7th Logo (1997-1999)

• 

Visuals: On a blue-purple aurora background, the CIC logo, now colored in light blue and lacking the chain, flips in and zooms towards the camera. The logo also starts off transparent, but glows more opaque and then shines once, revealing the chain engraved onto it. As it straightens out, the chain flashes and 2 beams of light wipe in "WELCOME" below, starting off white before fading to blue. The logo zooms in slightly before the "I" glows white and the entire thing rotates 90 degrees towards the camera, engulfing the screen with white.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A peaceful chord-like tune, followed by a whoosh sound.

Availability: Seen on Paramount, Universal and DreamWorks releases at the time, mainly in both the UK and Australia from 1997 until 1999.

• Examples include most Rugrats VHS releases and Mission: Impossible (1996), among many others.
• The UK VHS release of Beavis and Butt-head Do America might have this logo as well.
• It is also preserved on the 1997 UK VHS releases of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper: Volume 1 and The War of the Worlds (1953, 1997 re-release), among others.