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Background
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the home entertainment division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Warner Bros. Discovery (formerly "Time Warner" and later "WarnerMedia"), first started off in 1980 as Warner Home Video (initially as "WCI Home Video"; "WCI" stood for "Warner Communications, Inc.") to distribute on video the film and television library of Warner Bros. Studios, and when Time Warner acquired them, programs from other Time Warner companies. In Australia, it was one of the Magnificent Seven home video distributors. Currently, they also serve distribution for television and/or movie products released by BBC (w/ 2 Entertain), Lifetime, Cartoon Network, Turner Entertainment Co., Viz Media, TruTV, TNT, National Geographic Society, and MGM in the United States, as well as sports products from the NBA, NFL, and NHL. It was one of the last major studios to offer new releases on the Betamax format, doing so until well into the mid-'90s. In 2005, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment was founded to bring together all of its parent company's businesses involved in the delivery of home entertainment content to consumers. The company structure includes subsidiaries such as Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Digital and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In 2017, the Warner Home Video brand was made its in-name-only division. In January 2020, it was announced Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment would be partnering to form a 10-year joint venture, which will see new and library titles from both companies being released on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD under one entity; the venture launched in early 2021 under the name Studio Distribution Services.
June 1980-October 15, 1981: We start out with a very big \\' logo (that is white with a blue "tube") that fills the entire screen. It then zooms back slightly. Then above the logo, the words "WCI HOME VIDEO" between two horizontal lines appear, followed by a much smaller \\' logo beside the byline "A Warner Communications Company". The logo fades from black after the standard FBI Warning Screen and has a more-grainy film-like quality to it. The \\' logo is slightly bigger than it is on the later version of the logo.
July 1981-January 1986: Same as before, but now the logo is redone with "WARNER" replacing "WCI" (in a smaller font to accompany the lengthier text), and the FBI Warning Screen now cuts directly to this logo. The \\' is a bit smaller as well, and the film scratches are gone.
Trivia: The logo is derived from Warner Cable's logo, which was used as early as 1975-76. A still version exists at the end of all of the pilots of the Warner Cable game show How Do You Like Your Eggs? from 1977, which can be viewed here.
Variants:
A variation exists in which the now-white logo is placed on a blue-purple background. The byline is in an alternate typeface as well.
On Australian Warner Home Video releases of United Artists films, the \\' is even smaller and is shifted to the top half of the screen, and on the bottom half is the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text. The logo is completely still this time.
A Spanish version of this logo has the blue circle zoom away from the screen and each section of the "\\'" animates, larger than normal. An asterisk and the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" line appears (there is no fade-in). The asterisk then refers to the phase: "Marca Registrada de Warner Communications Inc." (Registered Trademark of Warner Communications Inc.).
A French version of the logo has the original animation intact, but the text "WARNER HOME VIDEO" is much smaller than normal and the byline (all in capital letters) is a bit larger. Also, both the text and byline are in an alternate font.
On some rental-only copies of Rollover, the logo and preceding FBI warning screen are slightly shifted upwards.
The logo can appear with a trademark symbol next to the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text.
Some Australian VHS tapes have a variant, where the warning screen fades into a smaller \\' logo, with the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text not having the horizontal lines between them. The byline is not present in this version.
Warner's now defunct music division used a special variant of this logo for their 1st logo, which can be viewed here.
Warner Video News tapes from 1985 have the \\' in a white/blue gradient background, along with a black/blue gradient ground under it. This would wrap to the top right, showing the same frame again, with the text "WARNER HOME VIDEO PRÄSENTIERT" flying in with a trail.
A trailer tape from June 1985 has a version that exists where in an evening sky background, a white cube with titles and the \\' logo zooms towards us, spinning. After a while, it stops at the logo, and the background turns white. The "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text with the two lines zooms out to its position. The logo would break into a cyan background with the text "Coming Soon".
Another variant exists in the same tape as the previous variant, where on a white background, the \\' emblem and the text quickly zoom to us, apart from each other.
Technique: Cel animation.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:
On the 1985 VHS of The Exorcist, the film's opening music starts to play as the logo fades out.
A Canadian VHS of Casablanca has the second half of the United Artists "Turning UA" music playing over the logo.
On some UK tapes with previews, the logo has music and a stoic, oddly American-accented male voiceover. Before the first trailer, the announcer says "Some other great titles from the small screen. From Warner Home Video." After the last one, he says "The titles you have just seen are available on VHS and Betamax. Ask your local stockists for details. Warner...Home Video.".
On a German Warner Video News VHS release, we can hear a wavy synth sound, accompanied by an announcer saying "Warner Home Video präsentiert!"
Availability: Used on VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, and CED releases at the time.
Early releases (from 1979-80) went straight from the warning screen to the movie with the Warner Bros., Orion, or First Artists logo in use at the time, and tapes that actually have this logo are long out of print. It first appeared on Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen, and would appear on all WCI releases beginning in the fall of 1980, including Every Which Way But Loose and Gilda Live.
The first WCI releases included Blazing Saddles, The Green Berets, The Wild Bunch, and Dirty Harry. Some WCI releases are also packaged in WHV packaging, with WHV labels during a short 1980 transitional period. Caddyshack, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Just Tell Me What You Want, Magnum Force, and The Great Santini are a few videos known to have this variation. Its last appearance was on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
The 1981-1985 variant first appeared on Die Laughing and is available on Deal of the Century, The Road Warrior (a.k.a. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior), Death Race 2000, THX-1138, The Amityville Horror, Any Which Way You Can, The Great Race, The Man With Two Brains, Gremlins, National Lampoon's Vacation, Fandango, Vision Quest, A Fistful of Dollars (original rental-only UK release), the James Bond franchise up to Octopussy (international home media releases), the first two Police Academy movies, and the Kung Fu pilot movie. The last tape to use this logo officially was the 1986 reprint of Just Tell Me What You Want, though the logo later made a surprise appearance on the 1987 Canadian VHS of Them!, a 1988 VHS reprint of Rio Bravo, a 1991 VHS reprint of Ensign Pulver, and a 1987 reissue of Call of the Wild (1972) from MPI Home Video. It also made a surprise appearance on both the 2000 and 2002 prints of The Gumball Rally as well as a 1998 print of Night Shift.
The variant with music and the announcer was seen on the original UK VHS of Risky Business. The small text variant of the logo is seen on a 1985 French VHS release of National Lampoon's Vacation.
Some tapes have the next print logo on the cover but have this logo on the tape, such as Gremlins, Vision Quest, Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, early prints of Lost in America, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, The Omega Man, Ladyhawke, and Pale Rider. Oddly enough, it and the preceding warning scroll plaster the United Artists logo but keep its original music on a Canadian VHS release of Casablanca.
German Warner Video News releases from early 1985 include this logo, with or without the German voiceover.
Legacy: Considered to be a favorite to many VHS collectors, especially to those who collect \\' clamshell tapes.
2nd Logo (December 1985-March 1999 (2007 in Argentina))
Bylineless version
Bylineless version with a TV bug
Warner Communications byline version
Time Warner byline version
Time Warner Entertainment byline version
Alternate Time Warner Entertainment byline version
Rare extended version
Extended version with Warner Communications byline
Extended version with Time Warner byline
Extended version with Time Warner Entertainment byline
Logo: On a time-lapsed animation of clouds, the camera zooms out between the tops of some gold-colored letters and the bottom of a gold plank. The camera then zooms out and the logo turns towards us, revealing that it is the words "WARNER HOME VIDEO", with two lines above it and two lines below it. It then zooms out to the bottom of the screen, followed by a giant WB shield logo (in the style of the 1953 movie print logo) appearing from the top of the screen, slightly tilted to the bottom, then rotating to face us. The Warner byline fades in at the bottom of the screen. "Sparkles" appear and white "reflections" appear on the logo.
Bylines:
December 1985-1990: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc. A Warner Communications Company" (in two lines, with "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc." on top of "A Warner Communications Company")
December 27, 1990-March 31, 1993: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc. A Time Warner Company" (same vein as the Warner Communications byline, except that the byline "A Time Warner Company" is in place of the old byline "A Warner Communications Company")
April 14, 1993-February 1997: "A Time Warner Entertainment Company" (This byline is in an alternate typeface.)
A version of the Time Warner Entertainment variant sometimes has the byline slightly smaller, using a font similar to the first two bylines. This was used from 1993-1997.
The Time Warner Entertainment byline faded in at the last note of the theme. The Warner Communications and Time Warner bylines faded in as the shield rotated to its final position.
Most releases outside of the United States, including United Artists films such as A Fistful of Dollars, some very early releases, and some domestic releases during the Time Warner merger, including Lorimar-Telepictures releases such as The Sacketts, didn't have a byline.
Variants:
There exists a rare still version of the logo, which can be found on certain Kidsongs videos and Batman Returns (though the UK release of Batman Returns used the normal bylineless logo).
There is an extended version of the logo in which the shield remains in place for a few seconds longer before swinging towards the camera and tilting forwards as it does so. A slightly longer version of this variant exists on German Warner Video News tapes. Stills of this extended version would later appear on Warner Bros. trailers, plastering the Warner Bros. Pictures logo.
A black-and-white version can be found on B&W releases, such as VHS tapes of the TV series Maverick.
On Mexican Spanish-dubbed tapes of The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter and Space Jam, we see the finished logo (with the Time Warner byline, strange for the last film), except the shield animates like the reversed promo variant.
A CGI demo reel from 1997 shows a shiny version of the shield on a dark marble background. The words flip into place from the sides and center, and then the lines slide in from the sides.
Technique: A mix of live-action and CGI.
Music/Sounds: A proud, bombastic synthesized rendition of the 1937 Warner Bros. fanfare, which really fits the logo. Also, there is a brief gust of wind when the camera zooms out from the logo as the logo turns towards us. Silent for the still version.
Music/Sounds Variant:
On the 1990 LaserDisc of S.O.B., the logo is silent.
Availability: Common. Seen on every Warner Home Video release from the era, beginning with the 1985 clamshell release of Cheyenne Autumn.
Notice that the current print logo is seen on 1996-1997 tapes, but still uses this logo, however, it also still uses the commonly seen "DIGITALLY PROCESSED" text on the side of the packaging, so this logo is an easy find. However, certain tapes with this logo on the box and the current print logo on the label may still have the next logo.
Another easy way to find this logo is to look for the WB shield on the front of the tape.
1985 variant: The Warner Communications byline variant is seen on Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Goonies, Spies Like Us, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, The Color Purple, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Beetlejuice, The Lost Boys, Innerspace, Vision Quest, Under the Cherry Moon, Heartbreak Ridge, The Witches of Eastwick, Empire of the Sun, the first two Lethal Weapon movies, and Batman. Despite the Time Warner byline appearing on the packaging, this variant still appeared on the 1990 VHS releases of Driving Miss Daisy, Joe Versus the Volcano, Tango & Cash, Next of Kin, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Camelot, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, plus the 1991 VHS of The Incredible Mr. Limpet (it's also intact on the 1994 reprint).
1990 variant: The Time Warner byline variant is a tough find, but it appeared on My Blue Heaven, Presumed Innocent, Memphis Belle, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Rookie, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, GoodFellas, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, Defending Your Life, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Out for Justice, Rover Dangerfield, Curly Sue, Batman Returns, Lethal Weapon 3, Stay Tuned, Under Siege, and Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (only the Japanese-subtitled VHS; the American release uses the Time Warner Entertainment byline). This variant is surprisingly retained on the 1997 reissues of Curly Sue and My Blue Heaven, as well as on the 1998 Warner Bros. Hits reissue of Taste the Blood of Dracula (all of which have the next logo on the packaging and labels). This can also be found on the German-dubbed release of Akira and later copies of the 1985 VHS of Gremlins and reissues of Risky Business, The Man With Two Brains and National Lampoon's Vacation (all of which come in the 1986 packaging).
1993 variant: The Time Warner Entertainment byline appeared during the waning days of the logo, and appeared on Demolition Man, The Fugitive, Dennis the Menace, It Takes Two (1995 film), The Bodyguard, Batman Forever, both Ace Ventura movies, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Animaniacs Sing-Along: Yakko's World among others. Among the last tapes to use this logo were Eraser (pan-and-scan VHS only; the letterboxed VHS uses the next logo), Twister (both pan and scan and letterboxed VHS releases), Joe's Apartment, Tin Cup, Carpool, and the demo VHS of Bogus. This also replaces the Warner Communications variant on later copies of the 1991 VHS reissues of Beetlejuice, Caddyshack and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This was also retained on a 1998 Warner Bros HITS reissue of Disclosure. This variant makes a surprise appearance at the beginning of Tubi's print of "The Reindeer Hunter", the pilot episode of the Ace Ventura animated series.
Extended variant: This is a very rare variant, and it can be seen on a demo VHS of The Best of John Belushi and German Warner Video News VHS releases from 1987.
Warner Home Video handled worldwide distribution of MGM product from 1991-2000; however, this logo does not appear on most MGM/UA videos from the time period. One exception is the international VHS prints of Thelma and Louise, which used the bylineless version. Warner movies, however, did get previewed on MGM/UA tapes (and vice versa) on a surprisingly frequent basis, and there are plenty of previews that included this logo.
This makes a very strange appearance on the Hong Kong Tai Seng/Megastar DVD of The Protector, after the 1st Media Asia logo and before the 1984 Warner Bros. logo of the time (this is likely because it uses the American version of the film, which appears to be taken from a LaserDisc source, being it has this logo on it). The logo later appeared on the Blu-Ray release of the first episode of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (the animated series).
From 1996-1997, this logo was used concurrently with the next. In the United States, WHV stopped using this logo in 1997 with the sell-through release of Eraser in 1997, while some countries (mainly in Asia) continued until 1999. It made a strange appearance on a 2004 Telemundo broadcast of Razorback, as well as the 2009 VCD of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, likely due in both cases to using old video masters. It also appeared on a TNT Film (Germany) broadcast of Hearts of Fire (1987) and a Czech television broadcast of Dennis the Menace as well.
Strangely, VHS releases in Argentina continued to use the 1992 byline version until 2007.
The bylineless version oddly shows up on an early 1990s American VHS of Journey Back to Oz from UAV Corporation (perhaps it was taken from a foreign master), which strangely enough, didn't even feature UAV's logo.
The logo makes a surprise appearance in its bylineless form in a 1995 Israel Channel 4 airing of Batman.
Legacy: This is a home video logo both fondly remembered and noted by many for its bombastic music, animation, and cheesiness.
"iti PROPONUJE" version
German "AUSBLICK 1986" version
German "BLOCKBUSTER und PREMIEREN" version
German "BLOCKBUSTER: Filme, und Rekorde brechen" version
German "VIDEOPREMIEREN" version
German "Schlag auf Schlag" version
Hebrew "Coming Soon" version
"THIS YEAR WE MEAN BUSINESS" version
Off-centered, shiny shield version
"PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" version
German promo version
Zooming shield version
Spinning shield version
Spinning shield version on a static background.
Honda variant
German "Warner Video News" 1988 version
Argentinian "PROXIMOS VIDEO ESTRENOS A.V.H" version
Scrolling print logo version
"The Shape of Video in the 90's" version
Rare Greek version
Disappearing shield version
Disappearing shield version with a German copyright stamp
Variants:
On some UK rental tapes, when the logo animation is finished, the logo splits in two horizontally down the middle, then the two sides compress up and down, respectively, revealing a blue background with the yellow words "COMING SOON".
On Australian videos from the 1980s, the logo fades away to a different cloud background. It has "At Home With The Hits" in cursive and arched, with the words "PREVIEW ATTRACTION" squeezed between sets of two lines. All are gold and the cloud background eases back. On one occasion, this variant faded off before the words could fade in.
One trailer variant featured the white text "Cinecom Pictures Video Presentation" chyroned-in below the shield.
Sometimes, on trailers, the finished logo and the cloud footage start where they ended on the regular logo. This cloud background is, in fact, additional footage from the regular version.
There is a very rare promo variant where the giant WB shield rises up from the top and rotates to face forward, then zooms out slightly. In this version, there is no company name or byline. A version of this exists where the shield zooms out and disappears into the clouds. Warner Video News tapes have a copyright stamp placed over the latter version of this.
Sometimes, in Warner Video News VHS releases, footage of movies appear in front of the WB shield, or promotional text in gold appears over the logo.
A Warner Video News VHS release has the logo flying in a city, whilst turning and swerving.
A rare trailer tape variant exists, where a blue and white shield, which coincidentally makes it look similar to the future 2019 shield, spins around in a black background. Another version of this has it spinning in a static background.
A trailer tape has the last few seconds of the animation with the text "NEXT YEAR WE MEAN BUSINESS" in red appearing under the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text.
Some Polish releases distributed by ITI have a variant with the text "iti proponuje" flashing throughout the logo.
Some Polish promos have the WB Shield in orange zoom towards us on a black background.
Polish tapes have a print logo slowly moving above the screen.
Argentinian tapes have a variant where in a grey and blue gradient background, we see the WB shield in blue zooming out and four searchlights and the text "PROXIMOS VIDEO ESTRENOS A.V.H" in yellow.
On French promos, the bylineless logo is off-center, and as soon as the logo finishes animating, the shield turns shinier than normal. In very rare cases, at the end of the promo, the variant is reversed.
Sometimes, before promos, on French releases, we see the logo do a trail effect around the screen, while the words "PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" move from right to left. Eventually, the logo returns back to normal, with the text.
A Hebrew "Coming Soon" text variant exists.
On the Greek VHS release of Little Giants, Greek text is seen while the logo is playing.
Technique:
2D computer software was used For the UK "COMING SOON" and the Australian "At Home With The Hits" variants.
For the spinning shield variants, the disappearing shield variant, the Warner Video News city variant as well as the Polish orange shield variant, CGI.
For most of the text variants, analog computer effects were used.
Scanimate was used for the French "PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" variant.
Music/Sounds Variants:
On German Warner Video News releases, there is different background music, accompanied by an announcer saying "Warner Home Video präsentiert.", and sometimes "Warner Video News."
The French promo variant has a French announcer saying "Warner Home Video vous présente, ses collections prestigiuses plus de 200 films, pour tous." (Roughly translated to "Warner Home Video presents, its prestigious collections more than 200 films, for everyone.")
The "PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" variant has a French announcer, that says "Warner Home Video vous presenté, une seléction de ses prochaines sorties location." (roughly translated to "Warner Home Video presents a selection of its upcoming rental releases."), while the logo is silent.
Availability:
The extended variant is very rare, and it can be seen on a demo VHS of The Best of John Belushi and German Warner Video News VHS releases from 1987.
The French promotional variants can be found on various French VHS releases. The reversed version has been spotted in the French VHS of Looney Tunes, fin années 80 (Collection "Les Grands Dessins Animés Warner Bros.").
The disappearing shield variant be found in multiple promotional VHS tapes, such as a June 1989 dealer preview tape, a promotional feature on Batman Forever for its upcoming VHS release in October 1995, a promo for Clint Eastwood movies on the original VHS release of The Dead Pool, and on a promotional trailer for Black Beauty (1994) on the demo tape of said film.
An example of the UK rental "COMING SOON" variant can be seen on rental tapes of Lost in America and Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment.
The Cinecom Video Presentation variant showed up on a trailer for Miles from Home, which appeared on a VHS of Stealing Home.
The "logo floating in a city" variant can be found in Warner Video News releases from July to September 1988.
3rd Logo (1995, December 20, 1996-November 6, 2018, February 12, 2019)
1995 prototype
Regular version
16:9 regular version
75th anniversary version
75th anniversary version with trademark
Prototype AOL Time Warner version
AOL Time Warner byline version
Fullscreen version
Widescreen version
Open-matte version
2006 Blu-ray version
4:3 2010 version
16:9 2010 version
TV airing
Rare 1992 WB-styled version
Alternate 1992 WB-styled version
"PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" version
Rare "Paid Advertisment" version
French clapperboard version
Very rare 3D model variant from 2001.
Extremely rare "plaster" variant from 2007.
Logo: Against a backdrop of clouds, a clear WB shield with a wordless banner slowly fades into view. Then the words "WARNER HOME VIDEO" are wiped onto the banner as the colors slowly appear on the shield.
Bylines:
The 1992 WB-styled version (described below) used the Time Warner Entertainment byline.
There's another byline from 2002-2004, where the byline "An AOL Time Warner Company" was seen below the logo. The shield is a lot smaller in this version. Some DVD releases, such as Scooby-Doo, A Walk to Remember, Ocean's Eleven, Feardotcom, and The Powerpuff Girls Movie use the regular variant, even though their VHS releases use this variant. A prototype version had the shield exactly the same size as the original bylineless version.
Variants:
In 1998, like other Warner labels, a 75th Anniversary version was made. This used a smaller shield with the banner reading "WARNER BROS", and featured a giant "75" behind it. "YEARS ENTERTAINING THE WORLD" is seen below with "YEARS" a bit bigger and in spaced-out letters. This logo is seen during the year at the beginning of home video releases before the trailers, such as Lethal Weapon 4, The Outsiders, Trojan War, and some trailers. At the end of the trailers on VHS releases, the normal variant can be seen.
A rare version had a still logo in the style of the 1992 theatrical logo with the Warner Home Video banner replacing the Warner Bros. Pictures banner and the Time Warner Entertainment byline below that.
A silent version with a previously-formed shield appears at the start of the featurette Bruce Lee: In His Own Words on the 1998 VHS of Enter the Dragon.
On a French 1999 VHS of The Iron Giant, a darker/high contrast version of the logo is seen.
Some early tapes with the AOL Time Warner byline have the byline sloppily chyroned in over the standard variant; the byline's fade-out is also out-of-sync with that of the video behind it in this version. This can be seen on Uprising.
There is a 4:3 version of the AOL Time Warner byline variant that is rendered with wide angle lens. It is also videotaped without the byline in place. This has also appeared without the byline on several Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo DVDs.
On all Blu-ray, HD-DVD, and the 2010-2018 DVD releases, the sky background is zoomed in by 20%. For Blu-ray, HD-DVD, as well as 2010- fullscreen DVDs, the Warner Home Video shield is zoomed out 10%, and the full-screen open matte version of the logo (the one used on the AOL Time Warner years but without the byline) has not appeared on any of the 2010-2018 DVD releases. Some Blu-ray releases from 2006-2009 have the aspect ratio in 2:35.1.
French VHS tapes from the early 2000s have a weird variant, where it starts on a messy view of the logo. Eventually, the camera pans to the center of the messy part and zooms out, revealing a still version with the text "PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" (roughly translating to "UPCOMING RENTAL RELEASES") in grey. Another variant, also seen on tapes, has a CGI clapperboard superimposed over the logo, stating "APRÈS CE FILM, DECOUVREZ D'AUTRES BANDES ANNONCES LOCATION WARNER HOME VIDEO" (roughly translating to "After the film, check out other Warner Home Video rental trailers") in a white Clarendon font, with a Warner Home Video logo under the text.
On some promos and TV spots, the logo is superimposed.
An extremely rare version of this logo, used as an error, appeared on a TV spot for the DVD release of Nancy Drew in which the Warner Home Video banner from the print logo is chryoned onto the then-current logo's shield, and portions of the "W" and "B" can be seen above it. The TimeWarner byline can be seen below.
Technique: Simple, effective CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: A quiet piano tune with two ending types:
A calm string theme; used since 1996, this is used for all VHS, LaserDisc and UMD Video releases and Stereo and Mono DVD releases. A few 5.1 DVD releases from 1999-2005 as well as some prints of the 1999 UK DVD release of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and earlier prints of both the 2005 UK DVD releases of The Polar Express (2004) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the 2007 UK DVD release of Happy Feet (2006) also use this tune.
A synthesized version of the tune, introduced in 1997. All 5.1 DVDs and Blu-ray releases use this variant. The piano section pans from the left channel to the right. On NTSC releases, it is dual, though this does not occur on 4:3 DVDs (DVDs that have the "This film has been modified..." notice after the logo).
Music/Sounds Trivia: The music was originally written by Mad Bus Music.
Music/Sounds Variants:
Sometimes on the NTSC AOL Time Warner version, the regular string theme is in a lower pitch. This can be found on the VHS and DVD releases of Scooby-Doo, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, LeapFrog: The Talking Words Factory, Caillou: It's a Party!, Uprising, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Analyze That, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, A Mighty Wind, Insomnia, White Oleander, Ghost Ship, Tom and Jerry: Whiskers Away!, Kangaroo Jack, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, the official release of the unaired South Park pilot, The Majestic, Queen of the Damned, The Animatrix, Death to Smoochy, Dreamcatcher, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as well as Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Volume One, the third to sixth seasons of Friends, and the first Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD sets.
On the screener VHS of The Replacements and Mickey Blue Eyes, several DVDs of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo which feature it in open matte, and the 1997 WarnerVision Entertainment release of The Chain (1996), which WHV distributed, the regular WHV logo is used with this same pitch.
On a 2006 TV Land airing of Night Court, the beginning of the logo uses the closing theme to the show (plastering the 1984 WBTV logo, while omitting the Starry Night Productions logo), while the rest is silent.
A silent variation can be seen on the DVD copy of The Big Red One.
Strangely, on the Bugs Bunny's Wildlife Series including the 1998 VHS of Bugs Bunny's Silly Seals, the widescreen variant is used despite being squeezed in 4:3.
On the 2003 Special Edition DVD of Dennis the Menace and Caillou's Holiday Movie, the NTSC AOL Time Warner byline version has the regular tone acoustic strings.
On the 2003 European PAL DVD of Friday After Next (2002), the AOL Time Warner byline version is used as always, but the synthesized strings are used instead.
The messy French variant has the same announcer from the 2nd logo's "PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" variant, with an added whoosh-like sound. The clapperboard variant also has the announcer saying what's on the clapperboard.
A PAL-pitched version of the acoustic strings variant was spotted on the Hong Kong VHS of Space Jam.
Availability: Very common.
The print version of this logo was introduced on April 23, 1996; however, the logo appeared earlier on an extremely rare promotional video in 1995.
This was used concurrently with the previous logo on 1996-1997 WHV tapes. Tapes that are marked as "DIGITALLY PROCESSED" carry the previous logo.
This logo is used, ala the 1998 MGM DVD logo, on certain Warner Archive DVD releases that are simply repackaged versions of previous WHV releases that became out of print.
This logo was still used in conjunction with the next logo until Late 2018.
The first products to have this logo were in Japan, with Warner's first four Japanese DVD releases in the country on December 20, 1996. In the U.S., the 1996 rental VHS release of A Time to Kill was the first to include the logo, released ten days later on December 30, 1996, as well the VHS of Bogus, released on February 4, 1997, and the first DVDs from Warner Bros. (one of which was A Time to Kill), released on March 24, 1997.
Some of the last films to use this logo on VHS were the 2005 releases of The Aviator, Racing Stripes, and The Polar Express, with Must Love Dogs being the last retail VHS tape to use this logo released on December 20, 2005 and Harry Potter and the Goblet Fire being the last DVS VHS tape to use this logo released on March 7, 2006.
Surprisingly, this logo was seen at the end of some episodes of Whose Line is It Anyway? on ABC Family (now Freeform), a 1990 episode of Night Court on TV Land, certain broadcasts of the 1983 movie The Outsiders on A&E, a Czech Nova TV airing of What a Girl Wants, an episode of Veronica Mars on Hulu, and a 2006 Cartoon Network CEE airing of Tom & Jerry: Blast Off to Mars. It is possible that the episodes were ripped from DVD sources/masters, and they forgot to edit the logo out for broadcast.
The version with the regular string theme is very common. It can be found on VHS releases and DVD releases in stereo or mono from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, but they have put out more Blu-Ray and 5.1 DVD releases than either of those over the years.
The version with the AOL Time Warner byline can be found on most tapes and DVDs from 2002-2004, including The Great Dictator and the 2003 Special Edition release of Dennis the Menace. This can be found at the end of the home video release of Caillou's Holiday Movie after the Cinar logo, but on TV airings of the movie, this and the Cinar logo are plastered by the either the Cookie Jar Group logo or the DHX Media logo.
As for the wide angle full-screen version of the byline variant on DVD, it has been spotted on the two Leapfrog DVD releases of Math Circus and Talking Words Factory 2: Code Word Caper, and The NBA's 100 Greatest Plays released by Warner. It was also included on the Warner screener DVD Grow With Us.
It can also be seen on international home video releases of Warner Bros. films that are distributed internationally, such as South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Beowulf, and Interstellar, which are all distributed domestically by Paramount Pictures.
The AOL Time Warner variant was also spotted in the 2006 PlayArte DVD of Caillou's Holiday Movie, but in lower quality due to being sourced from a poor video master. It earlier appeared, in open matte, with the same quality on the VCD release of Two Weeks Notice.
It does not appear on releases from BBC Video/2 Entertain releases beginning from 2007 to 2017 (the logo is still shown on BBC titles from 2000-2006 both on screen and on print and on Charlie and Lola DVDs containing only the print logo), Viz Media, Lightyear Video, Warner Archive DVD releases, or the Paramount DVDs that were reprinted by Warner Home Video (which contained the print logo on the back cover and sometimes, especially in the case of Paramount, the spine). This also goes for Sesame Street DVDs that were released by the company (It does however, appear in Plaza Sésamo DVDs released in Mexico). The same applies for most MGM video releases from 1996-2000. Some later reprints of MGM/UA Home Video releases from the early '90s used the Warner Home Video print logo on the tape label or the packaging, but all were of the Turner library and used either this logo or an MGM/UA logo (examples which used this logo include a 2000 tape of the colorized version of Arsenic and Old Lace, which had a Warner label and used the 1992 MGM/UA box, and a 1999 tape of Casablanca, which used the 1994 MGM/UA box and had a later MGM label).It does not appear on early Australian MGM/UA DVD releases they distributed, as the standard byline-less 1986 MGM logo is used instead. Also, it doesn't appear on Walt Disney Home Video/Touchstone Home Video/Hollywood Pictures Home Video DVDs they distributed in Australia and Europe even though the logo can be seen on the back cover, but they would use the 1995 Disney Videos logo, 1987 Touchstone Home Video logo and 1991 Hollywood Pictures Home Video logos respectively (although earlier Disney/Buena Vista DVDs only credit Warner Home Video in text).
It also does not appear on the DVD and Blu-ray release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars as it has been plastered over by the THX "Amazing Life" trailer.
The still logo with the Time Warner Entertainment byline is extremely rare and was only seen on a few trailers from 1996-1997. Examples include the "Reel Rentals" trailer seen on the demo VHS of Kingpin, an ad for Cats Don't Dance, on the VHS releases of Shiloh, The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain, and trailers for The Spitfire Grill and Lone Star on a 1997 VHS of Extreme Measures from, ironically, Columbia TriStar Home Video (the latter three titles are from Castle Rock Entertainment, and it is possible that Warner handled sales and marketing for these titles).
PBS Home Video DVD and VHS releases from 1997 to 2004 had this logo. The 1997 PBS Home Video release of Barney: Families are Special had this logo (despite using Turner packaging).
On their Big Idea releases, the only time it appeared was on VeggieTales: The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's; if not, look hard for a DVD/VHS with this logo.
This is also seen at the beginning of the direct-to-video movie A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits. Surprisingly, it was also seen on Disney Channel airings of said film.
This was also seen on 2016 and early 2017 UHD 4K Blu-rays that Warner released.
The messy French variant can be seen in French VHS releases from the time.
This logo was surprisingly spotted on a TV spot for the VHS release of Batman Forever.
Strangely, this logo appears at the end of Season 4, Episode 13 of The Parent 'Hood on HBO Max.
The last (known) release to use this logo is the Tom and Jerry: Cute & Cuddly DVD which was released in 2018, however it makes a surprise appearance on Ben 10: Out to Launch, released on February 12, 2019.
On NTSC releases of Ben 10: Alien Force, volumes 1-3 use the regular fullscreen version, while the latter six volumes use the regular widescreen version.
Legacy: This is another fondly remembered logo for its great CGI and music.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
(March 14, 2017-)
Logo: Same as the 3rd Warner Home Video logo, except the sky footage is different, and the logo seems to be in a more 3D look with the colors looking more solid along with the text on the banner being replaced with "HOME ENTERTAINMENT".
Variant: An open matte version exists. In this version, the shield is smaller.
Technique: Simple computer animation.
Music/Sounds: Same as the NTSC AOL Time Warner variant of the last WHV logo, with a little more reverb. PAL releases use the regular pitch.
Availability: Current.
It was first spotted on the DVD release of The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! and the Blu-ray release of Collateral Beauty, both of which were released on the same date, and appears on newer home media releases from the company.
Again, this doesn't appear on any Viz Media and Sesame Workshop releases.
This logo is still being used (one recent example being Black Adam, released on January 3, 2023), despite Warner Bros. updating its logo in 2021.
Strangely, it doesn’t appear on any Pathé releases in the UK, instead just featuring their logo as a de-facto home video logo. This also applies when Fox distributed their releases.
This doesn't show up on any newer DVD and Blu-ray releases of recent MGM films, which go straight to the menu when the disc starts.
Legacy: Many consider this logo's animation to be of lower quality than the previous logo; in fact, it was initially unknown whether this logo was real or a fan project.
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