VidAmerica

Background

Initially a subsidiary of Video Corporation of America, VidAmerica was purchased in 1986 by a consortium controlled by billionaire investor Ronald O. Perelman (his holdings also included Revlon, Four Star, and New World Entertainment).

1st Logo (1979-1980)

Nickname: "VidAmerica, the Videocassette Rental Club"

Logo: On a black background, different boxes appear in different parts of the screen, those being:

MOVIES (people underneath a marquee reading "CINEMA," on an orange background in the upper left) SPORTS (a man playing golf, on a green background in the lower right) FAMILY (a clown juggling, on a light blue background in the lower left) ADULT FILMS (two people's heads, on a dark blue background in the upper right) SPECIALS (two masks, one smiling and one frowning, on a darker orange background in the bottom middle) The star-like symbol of the VidAmerica logo (in brown, on a white background in the upper middle) After the symbol is shown, it spins toward the camera until it covers the entire screen, then it crossfades to white, with a white version of the logo spinning and zooming back. From underneath it, the logo zooms out piece-by-piece, and "The Videocassette Rental Club" cuts in underneath "VidAmerica" just as it stops spinning. "PRESENTS" soon fades in underneath.

Variant: At the end of the tapes, "a Presentation from" zooms toward the screen, and crossfades to the logo.

FX/SFX: The boxes appearing, and the logo zooming.

Music/Sounds: A bombastic disco fanfare, with prominent horns.

Availability: Extremely rare, to the point that it was only discovered in January of 2022. This was found on a Betamax of Hair.

2nd Logo (1980-1985)

Nicknames: "Rainbow Trail", "Rainbow VidAmerica Trail"

Logo: On a black background, the VidAmerica logo (in white) flies toward us with a "rainbow trail" effect. On the left side of the VidAmerica logo is a star-like symbol, also in white. The words ''Special Interest Video Software'' in smaller lettering appears below, in white.

FX/SFX: The ''trail''.

Music/Sounds: A disco-style fanfare.

Availability: Very rare. Can be seen on some videotapes and CEDs from the time, such as Hey Abbott!, The Unseen (which had the 1976 Viacom "V of Doom" at the end of its respective tape) and Baseball: Fun and Games. It may be on a 1980 VHS release of Casablanca produced under their deal with United Artists, but it is unknown at the present time.

Editor's Note: Between the rainbow Scanimation graphics and the disco music, this is very much a late '70s period piece. This is, however, a favorite of many, probably for that very reason.

3rd Logo (1985-1992)

Nickname: "CGI VidAmerica"

Logo: On a violet background setting, we see lots of VidAmerica logos moving past us. One turns to gold and turns to face the screen. The logo shines.

FX/SFX: The turning of the logo.

Music/Sounds: A synth tinkling sound, along with an orchestral note held out for the appearance of the gold VidAmerica logo.

Music/Sound Variant: A closing variant was used for early releases that feature this logo. This time, the jingle ends with one last twinkle.

Availability: Seen on any VidAmerica release from the time. Most releases of cartoons from VidAmerica (e.g.: Speed Racer, Felix the Cat) had this logo.

Editor's Note: This logo uses top notch computer graphics for the time that hold up quite well today.