The Video Collection

Credits

Descriptions by
Dealydugan1995, Kody-The-Fox and wisp2007

Captures by
rememberedhills, zampakid and Jordan6379

Editions by
mr3urious, ZoDanma, Michael Kenchington, Jonathan Hendricks and Lizz T. Hendricks and Henrynguye5

Background

The Video Collection was a UK-based video company formed in 1984 and established in 1985. Originally part of the Prestwich Group, based in New Southgate, London, it was subject to a management buyout headed by Steve Ayres as CEO and Paddy Toomey (ex-Woolworths) as MD. The vision of "Sell Through Video" was born with the strong Woolworths association driving the retail sales. After becoming a standalone company the following year, The Video Collection would go on to become the largest home video distributor in the United Kingdom. They also operated two European divisions - Vídeo Colección, S.A. in Spain, Vidéo Collection France in France, as well as Strand VCI Entertainment/Strand Home Video in North America.

The Video Collection was commonly allied with ITV and Channel 4, and distributed many of their titles from their franchises; they also operated the Cinema Club budget label.

The company was renamed to Video Collection International in 1994 due to financial difficulties (although The Video Collection name would remain in place until the following year).

Contents
1st Logo (April 1985-1989)	2nd Logo (October 6, 1986-September 4, 1995)

1st Logo (April 1985-1989)

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Visuals: On a grey background, several white lines wipe in from the right. A black rectangle with "COLLECTION" in a tall white font at the bottom flips up from the bottom of the screen and "the" awkwardly flies and pastes itself at the top at a rather sharp diagonal angle. Then "Video" in a red rectangle, written with "V" in a black serif font and "ideo" in a skinnier, white italicized serif font, swoops from behind the "COLLECTION" box and plasters itself on it, positioned into the same angle as "the". Shadows also appear behind the logo when the pieces get into position.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A 13-note synth theme, accompanied by four deeper synths and three synthesized chords when "Video" appears.

Audio Trivia: The fanfare is actually from the Bruton Music library titled "Video Fanfare" composed by Brian Bennett. It was also used as a weather jingle by TVS at the time, as well as the 2nd Scand Video logo. If one listens really closely, the very beginning of the jingle is slightly warped in comparison to its original source.

Availability: Seen on releases from the company from the time-period, even after the second logo's introduction in 1986 until this logo was retired in 1989.

• Seen on releases of cartoons (mostly Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears) in the UK from the time-period.
• Even though the next logo was introduced in 1986 a year after this one, this logo was used in tandem with it until three years later.
• This logo also does not appear on the 1986 UK VHS release of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends for unknown reasons.
• It is also seen on the 1986 UK VHS releases of M.A.S.K.: Volume 1: The Threat of Venom, M.A.S.K.: Volume 2: The Power of Venom, Care Bears To The Rescue, Moschops, GoBots, SilverHawks, and Jane Fonda's New Workout, respectively.

2nd Logo (October 6, 1986-September 4, 1995)

• 
• 

Visuals: Cutting in from black, a grey floor with light and dark grey "marble" scratches and a light grey grid is seen slowly shifting towards the upper right, as a red triangle zooms out from the top left edge and moves towards bottom centre with a shadow effect. An angled grey rectangle with a black front face then "opens" up and several more pieces appear around it, forming up a strange TV-like monitor with a satellite dish on top. The device rotates around a full 360 degrees as several pieces fly off it, then reattach, and then zooms in while tilting violently until the black screen takes up the whole area for a brief moment. It then cuts back to the floor, although its now stationary, and a red rectangle takes up the middle via a "blinds" effect before retracting on the sides. The rectangle then flips around once and rotates up, as a black "V" spins in as well and the background fades to black. It then plasters itself onto the red rectangle as the rest of the white text "the ideo" fade in and white lines drop down from the rectangle. A grey background fades in, with a tall black rectangle remaining with a shadow effect, and the white lines contort into the tall white text "COLLECTION". The end result resembles the 1st logo.

Variants:

• A variant of which this logo fades in from black instead of cutting in from black also exists, which is seen at the end of both the 1992 UK VHS release of The Shape Challenge and the 1995 UK VHS release of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Thomas' Train and 17 Other Stories, respectively.
• On Gladiators: Countdown, the logo is still and has a 3D-glass like effect added to it. The logo is also on the right side of the screen with the Silver Vision logo on the left and with the word "PRESENT" below. This variant takes place on a blue background with light blue-colored light rays.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A quiet beeping sound, followed by a synthesised swoosh and some metallic clunks when parts forming the television, then a little synthesised organ-like tune. It ends with a sparkling chime and two timpani drum beats.

Audio Variant: On both the "New Catalogue" and "A Galaxy of Entertainment" promos from 1986 and 1987, respectively, an announcer can be heard.

Availability: Seen on releases by the company from the time-period until September 1995.

• It can be spotted on many UK VHS releases of ITV programmes, mostly ones under the Central Video label.
• It is also seen on earlier Thames Video Collection releases such as a rare 1986 UK VHS re-release of Rainbow, but does not appear on later releases.
• Its most famous appearance are on the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends releases in the UK from 1986 to 1995, although this logo does not appear on the 1986 UK VHS releases of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Troublesome Trucks and Other Stories and Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends: Coal and Other Stories, respectively, for unknown reasons, which is likely due to the fact that Screen Legends (and later Pickwick Video) were distributing the second season of the show on video separately at the time until the 1990s.
• It is also seen on several UK VHS releases of Ragdoll shows such as Playbox, Rosie & Jim, Brum, and Tots TV, respectively.
• It is also seen on the Sesame Street UK VHS releases such as Sesame Street: Sing Yourself Silly!/Monster Hits and Sesame Street: Ernie's Big Mess and Other Stories, among others.
• This logo debuted in 1986, on She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949).
• This logo is also seen on the original 1994 UK VHS release of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Rock 'n' Roll and Other Stories.
• This logo is also seen on the 1991 UK VHS release of Learn with Sooty: Have Fun with Numbers 2 Multiplication before and after the 1991 Thames Video logo.
• This logo is also seen on the mid-to-late 1980s UK VHS releases of Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears cartoons (also plastering the previous logo on the 1986 reissues).
• This logo is also seen on UK VHS releases of The Dreamstone.
• This logo is also seen on the 1986 UK VHS release of the colourized version of It's a Wonderful Life (1946), the 1987 UK VHS releases of Inspector Gadget: Volume 1, The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, ThunderCats Ho! The Movie, Lazer Tag Academy: The Beginning and Skugg Duggery, Asterix the Gaul, The Video Hits Collection Vol. 3, and Jack Nicklaus: Golf My Way: Volume 1, the 1988 UK VHS releases of Dogtanian and the 3 Muskehounds, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo: Double Trouble and Chicken, The Flintstone Kids, A Flintstone Christmas (1977), ALF: For Your Eyes Only and Looking for Lucky, and ALF: Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, the 1989 UK VHS releases of ALF: He Ain't Seafood, He's My Brother, Around the World with Willy Fog: Volume 2, Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, Bedtime Stories: Fairy Tales, and The Smurfs: Once In A Blue Moon, the 1990 UK VHS releases of Terrytoons' Cartoon Heroes, The Smurfs: Papa's Worrywarts/Lazy's Slumber Party, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Alice's Family, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland: Vol 2, Vicky the Viking: The Contest/The Trap, The Adventures of Black Beauty: The Viking Helmet, Torvill and Dean: Fire and Ice, Nursery Play Rhymes, Bobobobs, and ALF Tales: Robin Hood/Sleeping Beauty, the 1991 UK VHS releases of Oliver Twist (1987), A Tale of Two Cities (Burbank version), and Lizzie & Joggy Bear, the 1992 UK VHS releases of Wish Kid, Widget: Great Whale Adventure/Gorilla My Dreams, Children's Choice, Lizzie and The Adventures of Joggy Bear, and The Shape Challenge, the 1993 UK VHS releases of Super Mario World: The Wheel Thing, Super Mario World: Born to Ride, Strictly Ballroom, Birds of a Feather: Poetic Justice, and Have I Got News for You: Volume 1, the 1994 UK VHS release of Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie: Part One: The Beginning of Things, and the 1995 UK VHS releases of Fourways Farm: Ups and Downs and Other Stories, Fourways Farm: Moonstruck and Other Stories, Fourways Farm: Buried Treasure and Other Stories, Fourways Farm: Paws For Thought and Other Stories, Teddy Bear Sing-Along: 123 Numbers, Goodnight Sweetheart, and Rosemary Conley's All New Hip and Thigh Workout, respectively.
• This logo, along with the 1991 Central Video logo is also intact on the Carlton UK VHS re-release of Rosie and Jim: Sailing and Other Stories as well, due to it being a direct reissue of the original release.
• This logo is also seen at the start of the 1988 UK VHS release of Original Sylvanian Families, but strangely not at the end of it for unknown reasons.
  • The same case also happens on the 1994 UK VHS release of Children's Preschool Compilation which has the logo at the start, but strangely not at the end of it for unknown reasons as well.
• The last VHS release to feature this logo was released on September 4, 1995.
• Some reissues of VHS releases during the VCI-era will either keep this intact, or (in the case of the 1995 UK VHS re-release of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Rock 'n' Roll and Other Stories, the 1998 UK VHS re-releases of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Percy and the Signal and Other Stories and Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: The Runaway and Other Stories, and the 2002 Marks and Spencer UK re-release of Thomas & Friends: Thomas Goes Fishing and Other Stories) use modified masters using the 1995 VCI logo instead.

The Video Collection

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