Turner Home Entertainment

Background

Turner Home Entertainment, Inc. was founded on July 29, 1986 by Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System to distribute the RKO Radio Pictures library on videocassette and, from 1987 to 1999, license the pre-1986 MGM and pre-1950 Warner Bros. libraries to MGM/UA Home Video. In 1994, when Turner bought out the New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment studios, Columbia TriStar Home Video sold the distribution rights of New Line Home Video releases to Turner Home Entertainment, though it would distribute Turner's Castle Rock tapes for the first couple of years or so afterwards. Turner Home Entertainment also handled the rights to shows by Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network, as well as PBS Home Video releases from 1994-1997. In 1997, a year after Turner merged with Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery), Turner Home Entertainment was dissolved into Warner Home Video, although it remained in a limited fashion until 1999.

Contents

1st Logo (1986)	2nd Logo (1987-1991)	3rd Logo (1991-1993)	4th Logo (1993-1999)

1st Logo (1986)

Visuals: On a black background, the Turner logo zooms in with the part of the "T" longer. Below "urner" there is the text "HOME ENTERTAINMENT".

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on the 1986 U.S. VHS release of The Great American Bash.

2nd Logo (1987-1991)

Visuals: On a dark red/black gradient background, the words "TURNER HOME ENTERTAINMENT", in a serif font, fly from the top of the screen, stopping in the middle. The logo has a blue/white gradient effect inside it, as well as a large fancy line curving around itself and forming the bridge in the "A". "NTERTAINMEN" are also underlined.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A harsh, droning synth sound, similar to the U.S.A. Home Video logo theme (done on a Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer and a Moog Taurus bass pedalboard).

Availability:

This logo can be seen on reprints of some RKO Home Video tapes and the original home video release of Laser Mission.
This logo is also seen without music during the documentary portion of Starrcade: The Essential Collection, a DVD set from World Wrestling Entertainment.

3rd Logo (1991-1993)

Normal
Half-superimposed version
International version

Visuals: On a space background, a blue filmstrip flies and becomes a blue light. Then the words "TURNER", "HOME" and "ENTERTAINMENT", in the same font used in the previous logo, but in sky blue and in CGI, fly out one by one from the center of the screen and stop in the middle as a rocky background appears.

Variants:

The logo plays normally, but it is half-superimposed onto a background with two men riding on horses at dusk.
An international version exists, which has the logo start halfway in, forming on a black background before a purple reflective sphere appears below it. "INTERNATIONAL" in spaced out plain white letters fades in, also having a reflection.
- A still version of the international variant of the above, albeit on a black background also exists, which is seen on the preview for Tom and Jerry Kids included on the 1992 UK VHS release of The Banana Splits and Friends Show, the 1993 UK VHS releases of Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992), and Fun With the Flintstones, and the 1994 UK VHS release of Scooby-Doo: What A Night For A Knight, among others.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A chorus tune and a drumbeat, followed by four chorus notes when the words fly out one by one.

Audio Variant: Sometimes, the logo is silent, which is mostly on the international variant.

Availability:

Seen on Turner video releases from the time-period until 1993, such as Reflections on Citizen Kane: Fifty Years and Tom & Jerry Kids VHS releases.
The half-superimposed variant comes from a John Wayne promo on the VHS release of Montana.
The "INTERNATIONAL" variant of this logo is seen on UK VHS releases such as the 1992 UK VHS release of The Banana Splits and Friends Show, the 1994 UK VHS releases of Top Cat: The Golden Fleecing, Yakky Doodle: Out of Luck, Duck, A Flintstone Family Christmas (1993), Dastardly and Muttley: Home Sweet Homing Pigeon, and Scooby-Doo: What A Night For A Knight, the 1995 UK VHS release of Yogi the Easter Bear (1994), and The Flintstones: Dino's Two Tales, the 1996 UK VHS release of Wacky Races: Bumper Edition, and the 1997 UK VHS release of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop: Bumper Edition from First Independent, respectively.

4th Logo (1993-1999)

Normal
Still version
Oval version, yellow text
Kindervision message version

Visuals: A white outlined representation of a mansion stands on a black background. Underneath, in white are the words "TURNER HOME ENTERTAINMENT". The shadows against the house shift from right to left.

Variants:

There is a still version of the logo that appeared on some early releases. A different font is used as well.
Some promos would have the mansion in an oval, just like the print logo.
Another promo variant exists where it has the mansion in the oval but after the animation ends, the Turner Home Entertainment text turns brown just like the Turner Pictures logo. This can be found on the 1996 VHS of Jonny Quest Vs The Cyber Insects.
There is another promo variant where it has the regular logo but it's still and has has "Also from" above it. It can be found on the 1996 VHS of Classic Jonny Quest.
A variant exists where "Coming Soon To Home Video From..." in yellow appears in a black background, then it fades to the Turner Home Entertainment logo.
A variant where the logo is next to the Hanna-Barbera logo exists.
Another variant exists where the logo is small during a promo.
Yet another promo variant exists where in a yellow-blue gradient background, we see "And now an important message from KINDERVISION AND TURNER HOME ENTERTAINMENT", along with the mansion animating like usual.

Technique: Traditional animation. Produced by Jerry Lieberman Productions.

Audio: A single, somber tone with birds chirping. When the shadow shifts to the left, a bell tolls.

Audio Variants:

The still version is silent.
The version with the oval and the text turning brown has a "rattling" noise, followed by a cartoony "plunk" sound effect.
The "Coming Soon To Home Video From..." variant has an announcer but no background music.

Availability:

It can be seen on several early-mid '90s Cartoon Network Video tapes, which are your best bet as several were released in the channel's early years (with some remaining in print after the Time Warner merger).
New Line Home Video releases from this period have this logo too, such as Mortal Kombat, Safe Passage, Seven, Barcelona, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Friday, Embrace of the Vampire, and The Adventures of Pinocchio. This also appears on The Swan Princess, which was theatrically released by New Line Cinema; the video release never used any of New Line's logos or even credited that company.
Also seen on 1994-1997 PBS Home Video releases such as Adventures from the Book of Virtues and the Ken Burns documentary Baseball.
The still version is seen on most RKO Video Collection releases from this period, as well as some Flintstones tapes, In Search of Dr. Seuss, and the two-tape VHS release of Gettysburg.
The "Coming Soon To Home Video from..." variant is seen on the VHS release of Timeless Tales: The Emperor's New Clothes.
The variants with the Hanna-Barbera logo are seen on promos for Hanna-Barbera releases.
The Kindervision variant can be seen on a promo on the VHS release of A Flintstones Christmas Carol.
It appears on the packaging of the 1994 VHS release of Top Cat: The Golden Fleecing (and presumably others), but they have the previous logo on the actual tapes.