Legal Video

Background

Legal Video S.A. was a home video distributor that was founded on August 2, 1985 by Hector Emilio Olivera and Fernando Ayala, who also founded Videoman Internacional a month earlier, to release home video titles, and the company was responsible for the titles that Aries Cinematografia handled in theaters. In 1986, Legal Video decided to expand by setting up a children's arm "Video Niño" to handle children's titles, and it was expanded to distribute titles by CBS/Fox Video. In 1987, due to Aries' financial problems, both Legal Video and Videoman Internacional became part of a new company Gativideo, which the Legal Video brand became the main brand and the Videoman brand was used for MGM/UA titles, and it was dissolved in 1989 in favor of the Gativideo brand.

1st Logo (Fall 1985-Spring 1986)

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: 2D computer effects.

Music/Sounds: None.

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

2nd Logo (1986-1987)

Normal version
Video Niño variant

Logo: On a black background, a very pixelated Chinese dragon in teal/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.

Variant: 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: Primitive computer graphics.

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.

3rd Logo (1987-1989)

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: CGI animation, with traditional cel animation for the flames.

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.

Legal Video

Gativideo

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