Written and Compiled by SonicRacer, wisp2007


1st Warning
(1976-1979)

Warning: We see on a dark blue background the warning text in white. The 1976 Paramount Home Video logo precedes this.

FX: The fade-in transformation from the logo to the Warning.

Music: None.

Availability: Seen on Betamax releases and a few VHS releases with the 1976 Paramount Home Video logo.

Scare Factor: None











2nd Warning
(1979-1989)

Nickname: "Acid Trip"

Warning: On a background of changing colors (Green, Yellow, Red, Pink, Purple, Blue, and green again) appears the warning text in white in large lettering.

Early Variant: There is an early variation where the text is smaller and in a different font (notably Bauhaus 93), and in yellow instead of white. This was used until 1984.

FX: The changing colors.

Music: None.

Availability: Seen on all releases from this era.

Scare Factor: Low.








3rd Warning
(1987-2005)

Warning: Transforming from the zooming-in of "FEATURE PRESENTATION" from the then-current Paramount Home Video logo of the era, we see a wallpaper with the Paramount logo all over it. We see the standard Warning in a different font than the previous ones, similar to one used on Jeopardy.

Variant: In 1995, the font became somewhat more modern looking.

Color Backgrounds:

• 1987-1989: Bright purple/white gradient.
• 1989-2002: Dark blue gradient.

Bylines:

• 1987-1989: A Gulf+Western Company
• 1989-1995: A Paramount Communications Company
• 1995-2005: A Viacom Company (in the Viacom Wigga-Wigga font)
• 
  

Variants:

• One variant had the background in violet and had more text as well. Seen on the DVD release of Black Sheep, as well as the 2001 DVD of Wayne's World.
• There is an extremely rare variant on demo tapes that asked the viewer to call a certain telephone number.

FX: The transformation from the "FEATURE PRESENTATION" zoom-in to the Warning.

Music: None.

Availability: Seen on all videos from this period.

Scare Factor: None, unless you want to count the transformation from the "Feature Presentation" to the Warning.








4th Warning
(2002-)


Warning: On a dark blue background, we see the Warning text, in English on the first screen, and Espanol on the second screen.

Variant: Sometimes, the background is violet.

FX: None, unless you want to count the tranformation from English to Spanish.

Music: None.

Availability: Current on all Paramount releases from 2002-present and DreamWorks releases from 2005-present.

Scare Factor: None.