Legal Video

Credits

Descriptions by
Guillermo A. Martínez

Captures by
Camenati

Editions by
Guillermo A. Martínez, naxo-olé, CooleyBoy10, MegaAveron25, SuperMuppet, and Unnepad

Video captures courtesy of
Raro VHS, andreshjngrsa, Guillermo A. Martínez

Background

This was a children's division of Gativideo (then called Legal Video), which distributed cartoons from Hanna-Barbera from early 1986 to 1988. The description is also applicable to the "movies" variation with no frog, obviously.

1st Logo (Fall 1985-Spring 1986)

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Logo: On a pink background, we see the Legal Video logo wiping in. It consists of a white box with the words "LV" cote-out in pink on top, and "LEGAL VIDEO" in a futuristic pink code-out font on the left, and standing on the right, we see a pink cote-out box with the word "SA" on it.

Technique: The wiping of the logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on earlier Legal Video releases from the era.

2nd Logo (1986-1988?)

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  Normal version
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  Video Niño variant

Logo: On a black background, a very pixelated Chinese dragon inteal/green/yellow/orange scrolls downwards. As it scrolls, a metallic rectangle flips in, zooming in as well. There is the text "LEGAL VIDEO S.A." in a very "futuristic" font, along with a large cutout in the lower right corner, as well as the large letters "LV" taken out of the top right. After the dragon leaves the screen, the logo glitches out for a second, causing streaks from the bottom edges to streak across the screen. The streaks would later fade at the end.

Variants: On children's releases, a lime green circle with the text "Video Niño" (or "Video Child" in English) fades in. At the top of this circle are icons representing two smiling faces.

Technique: Early mixer effects, with the computerized scrolling of the dragon, the model of the logo turning in, and the Video Feedback trails. Very cheap animation, even for its time.

Music/Sounds: A futuristic synth theme with zaps and xylophone notes.

Availability: Extremely rare. This was found on a Argentine video of Secret Squirrel. The original version was found on Futureworld and the 1st edition of Predator. The "Video Niño"" variant was seen on Yogi's First Christmas.

Legacy: The logo isn't really pleasant for children with the strange animation, pixelated dragon, synth music, and even the symbol (which just looks more like a strange frog), possibly because this wasn't really designed with children in mind.

3rd Logo (1988-1992)

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Logo: On a black background we see a pair of woman's eyes. After at least four seconds a yellow grid moving upwards and a light-bulb with a faint flame both fade in. As the logo progresses sparks move through the light-bulb then numerous animated flames appear to form a silhouette of a conveyor belt carrying some boxes and vanish after a yellow flash with a white solid 8-point star in the middle appears. The Legal Video text from before in white flips up zooms out and settles beneath the eyes and the grid/light-bulb fade out. The prototypical Gativideo logo in yellow fades in on top and stays on for ten seconds before finally fading to black.

Technique: The flames (which were done in traditional cels), the grid, the text. Similar techniques to the 1st logo, but it looks like an improvement from before. Then again, it still looks cheap.

Music/Sounds: An excerpt of "Generando" by Pastoral, combined with a thunderclap and an explosion sound.

Availability: Seen on later releases from the company. It appeared on Spanish prints of My Science Project with the Touchstone Home Video logo of the era following suit. This also appeared on some Walt Disney Home Video releases such as Rock n' Roll Mom.

Legacy: It's definitely apparent that this was not created with children in mind. With the very weird and in-your-face nature, ideas that aren't suited for a logo, and incredibly cheap and strange effects (including the fact that the woman's eyes get smaller when the grid fades in, and come back at the end), it can certainly give a child nightmares.