Liberty Home Video (Australia)

This page is about the Australian/New Zealand home video company. For the home video division of Liberty Records, click on the aforementioned page.

Background

Liberty Home Video was a home video company in Australia and New Zealand that released public domain works such as old films and cartoons on video.

(1983-198?)

Logo: It begins with time-lapse footage of an evening sky with clouds scrolling by with a ground seen below. After a moment, it zooms in, revealing the footage to be part of a background inside a square (representing a TV). The background is a specialized metallic yellow and green background with

LIBERTY HOME

VIDEO

etched in above the TV. Below the TV is a slot (representing a VCR). As the background scrolls back, a stilted animated hand (wearing stars and stripes USA colors) with a VHS tape moves forward and puts the tape in the VCR. Then an drawing of the Statue of Liberty in front of a space background appears as the hand retreats back. The Statue of Liberty zooms in towards the screen as the TV background disappears. The Statue of Liberty itself has a banner reading "LHV" on the pedestal. The lady herself is holding a VHS cassette (in her torch hand) with the tape wrapped around her and in the other hand (where the July 4, 1776 Tablet normally is) is a small TV. The Lady zooms in towards the left of the screen until only her top half is seen. Then the words

LIBERTY

HOME VIDEO

scrolls towards from the cassette and rests right of the Statue. After a moment, the logo fades out and fades into a copyright screen reading "PRODUCED UNDER LICENSE ©HOME ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS P/L 1983".

Variants:

A shortened version has it start where the company name flies in.
Another shortened version of this was adapted for preview bumpers. It has the word "PREVIEW" in the same font as the company name for a brief moment before it disappears and the company name appears as normal.

FX/SFX: Live-action time lapse footage of the clouds, scrolling back in to reveal the TV background, the animated hand, the scrolling of the Statue of Liberty and the appearance of the company name.

Music/Sounds: Part of the "Main Theme" that's taken from Star Wars: A New Hope, specifically the opening scene with the Imperials pursuing the Rebel Alliance.

Availability: Appears on public domain VHS tapes of cartoons and old movies in Australia. One such tape that has it is Bugs Bunny & Friends.

Legacy: An ambitious (for the time) logo from a public domain home video company, although some might find the stolen Star Wars music jarring.