Paramount Home Entertainment/Home Video Bumpers

Embassy Home Entertainment/Nelson Entertainment

1st Bumper (1984-1985)

Visuals: On a blue background is the white words "AVAILABLE ON VIDEOCASSETTE IN AUGUST" in a Helvetica font.

Variants:

A more specific variant that says "COMING TO YOU ON VIDEO CASSETTE. AUGUST 1985" exists.
Before the previews, on Special Effects, the text reads "COMING ATTRACTION".

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: The 1984 variant appears on Children of the Corn while the 1985 variant appears on Special Effects.

2nd Bumper (1985)

Visuals: On a blue background is a black bar sandwiched by four red lines, with the words "COMING ATTRACTION" inside.

Variant: There is an end-of-preview variant of this bumper, in which the red lines are spaced further apart, the middle section is blue, and the release date for the film advertised is mentioned.

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: It is only known to appear on the 1985 Embassy Home Entertainment reprint of The Graduate.

3rd Bumper (1985)

Visuals: On a gray-blue gradient background is the text "AVAILABLE NOW AT A THEATER NEAR YOU DECEMBER 1984".

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: This appears on the 1985 VHS of Phantasm, after a trailer for The Cotton Club.

4th Bumper (1985-1986)

Visuals: On a black background is the text "COMING ATTRACTION FROM EMBASSY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" in a blocky chyroned font, and below it is "AVAILABLE ON VIDEOCASSETTE NOVEMBER, 1985".

Variant: On some tapes like The Dirt Bike Kid, the movie's title appears instead, and below it is "AVAILABLE FROM EMBASSY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" or "AVAILABLE FROM CHARTER ENTERTAINMENT".

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on Embassy and Charter releases from 1985 to 1986, though most do not show the screen at all. For example, it appears at the end of The Emerald Forest, before a trailer for Marvin & Tige, and an alternate print of The Dirt Bike Kid, after a trailer for Rad.

5th Bumper (1987-1988?)

Visuals: On a blue marble background, we see the text "COMING ATTRACTIONS" in red.

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on Charter Entertainment pressings with previews such as Keeping Track. It also appears on certain Embassy Home Entertainment pressings with previews, such as Winners Take All. It also appears on early Nelson releases like a copy of The Princess Bride, as well as Hope and Glory.

New Line Home Video/Entertainment

1st Bumper (1992-January 17, 1995)

Visuals: On a black background is one of the following bumpers:

Coming Soon To A (Motion Picture) Theatre Near You
Now Playing At A (Motion Picture) Theatre Near You
Coming Soon From New Line Home Video/Entertainment
Now Available From New Line Home Video/Entertainment

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on New Line Home Video/Columbia TriStar (as well as early Turner) VHS releases from its inception in 1992 to 1995. It was last seen on The Mask.

2nd Bumper (1994-February 14, 2006)

Visuals: Same as the previous bumpers, except the announcements now appear over the New Line Home Video filmbox. There also exists a variant with "Feature Presentation".

Variant: Starting in 2001, the text is in a slightly different font.

Technique: None, but on the "Coming Soon To A Motion Picture Theatre Near You" variant, the ID suddenly cuts either to the MPAA rating screen or a trailer from the era (Wendell Craig is finished by the time the ID is completely faded away).

Audio: Wendell Craig (who was also an announcer for Nickelodeon, Viewer's Choice, and American Movie Classics) reading the on-screen text.

Audio Variants:

On the "Feature Presentation" bumper, Wendell says "And now, our feature presentation".
Starting in 2001, the ID is silent. It was also like this on the earliest tapes with this bumper, such as the 1995 VHS of Corrina, Corrina (the first release with the bumper).
A rare early variant of the 2001 version features Wendell saying just "Coming Soon" or "Now Available." This can be seen on the 2001 VHS of State and Main.

Availability: Seen on New Line Home Video/Entertainment VHS releases from the era. The last tape to use this was A History of Violence, widely regarded as the last VHS ever released (though some titles would be released on analog tape as far as a 2007 pressing of Eragon, albeit in smaller runs).