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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 11 2008, 4:05 PM EDT | wisp2007 | 4 words deleted |
| Jul 12 2008, 8:45 PM EDT | Green_lantern40 | 1 widget added, 1 widget deleted |
Changes
Key: Additions Deletions
Written and Compiled by Matt Williams, James Fabiano and Kris Starring
Logo Pictures by Eric S. and others
Editions by V of Doom and Ryan Froula
Background: Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Video and Paramount Video) is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video and was founded in 1976. PHE distributes films by Paramount (under its own label) and DreamWorks (under the DreamWorks Home Entertainment label), shows from MTV Networks (under the MTV DVD, Nickelodeon DVD, Nickelodeon Movies DVD, Comedy Central DVD and Spike DVD labels), PBS (under the PBS Home Video label), Showtime (under its own label), and CBS-owned programs (under the CBS DVD label) on DVD.
Paramount Home Video/Entertainment
1st Logo
(1976-1979)
Nicknames: "Still Mountain", "Boring Mountain", "Blue Mountain"
Logo: On a dark blue background, we see "Paramount" in the famous script, and "HOME VIDEO" below that in a wide bolded Eurostyle font in between two lines, one above and one below. To the right of that, we see the 1975 Paramount print logo to the right, complete with Gulf+Western byline. Sometimes, a warning screen comes up after this.
Trivia: It might be interesting to note that this was the first ever home video logo, predating Magnetic Video Corp. by a year.
FX: Absolutely none, it's a still logo.
Cheesy Factor: What more can be said about a still logo without music? Try a little harder.
Music/Sounds: None. It's totally silent.
Availability: This logo appeared primarily on Betamax releases, meaning this is a very difficult find. Should appear on a few VHS titles from 1978-1979 (including the first two Godfather films, the first VHS release of Grease, and the original release of The Bad News Bears), but keep in mind that the format was in its infancy at the time.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1979-1982, 1984)
Nicknames: "Mountain Silhouette", "Black Mountain", "Rising Mountain", "Cheesy Mountain".
Logo: On a dark blue background, we zoom out on a silhouette of a mountain. After we zoom out to a comfortable distance, there is a bright flash behind the mountain, and white "stars" (they look like circles or lens flares) appear, as well as "Paramount" (in script, but closer to the pre-1975 logo). A yellow trapezoidal trail zooms out from the base, and "HOME VIDEO" zooms out soon after, crappily chyroned in. The end result looks like the pre-1967 print logo.
Variant: After the logo was finished, the stars rolled and flew away.
Trivia: The second half of the logo was once used as a very short-lived Paramount Television logo. "PARAMOUNT TELEVISION SERVICE" was featured at the bottom, which explains the chyron for "HOME VIDEO."
FX: The flash, the effects.
Cheesy Factor: Off the scale. The stars look cheesy, the "Paramount" font doesn't look right, and the chyron for "HOME VIDEO".
Music/Sounds: A pounding backbeat as the mountain zooms out, then a synth chord.
Availability: EXTREMELY rare. Seen on Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back), Death Wish, Friday the 13th, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture VHS tapes of the era, which are not that easy to find, especially since the logo was usually taken off of post-1981 prints. Also seen on a few Hi-Fi re-releases of Paramount's 1979-mid 1980 catalog (including Downhill Racer) from 1984, and Death Wish, as confirmed by YouTube user nesfan1111, is not one of them.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; the chord and flash might not sit well with most people.
3rd Logo
(1982-1988)
Nickname: "Growing Mountain", "Cheesy Growing Mountain", "Cheesy Animation but Nice Music"
Logo: On a black background, we see the abstract mountain logo, with "Paramount" in black script in the light blue circle like the other Paramount logos, and the "A Gulf + Western Company" byline at the bottom in light blue. It begins to zoom up on us, as the stars (which are followed by light trail-streaks) and byline zoom past, and both the mountain and circle grow bigger until we are literally right on top of the peak of the mountain, with "Paramount" centering in, filling the middle of the screen. When the peak hits the bottom and "Paramount" fits the center, "Paramount" begins to shine, then there is a VERY bright flash, and it dies down to reveal the Paramount script logo (in blue) and a small "VIDEO" (shining a bit) between two blue lines.
FX: The growing mountain, the flash
Cheesy Factor: Flash seems cheesy, but the rest is okay.
Music/Sounds: A new-age type tune.
Availability: A pretty tough find. Most Paramount films went for the logo used at the time, but Television shows (such as Star Trek) and non-Paramount films (such as The Adventures of the American Rabbit) have this. It was also found on a 1990 VHS release of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," which was most likely a reissue from when this logo was originally in use.
Scare Factor: Low; the flash and growing mountain may get to some, but the music is very quiet and nice.
4th Logo
(1988-2006)
Viacom (1995-2006)
Nickname: "Abstract Mountain"
Logo: On a background filled with blue/purple squares, we see a blue square with the Paramount abstract mountain logo in gold. It shines, then moves and zooms away as the squares behind it move away, revealing "FEATURE PRESENTATION" on a tannish background. After a few moments, it zooms towards us. It cuts to the warning post, which has a pattern of Paramount mountains in the background.
Bylines: This used whatever byline Paramount was using at the time:
Variant: There was a special bumper used for trailers from 1988 to roughly 1998-99. Over the tannish background were the words "COMING ATTRACTIONS" and the announcer says "Here are some exciting coming attractions from Paramount."
FX: The squares moving away, the animation on the Paramount square.
Cheesy Factor: The zooming effect on "FEATURE PRESENTATION" looks like cheap computer effects.
Music/Sounds: Abridged version of the Paramount fanfare. An announcer says "And now, we're pleased to bring you our Feature Presentation."
Music/Sound Variant: A variation exists where the announcer says "Paramount is pleased to bring you our Feature Presentation". This was used with all three byline variants, and can be found on video titles which have no previews before the film (such as the first four Star Trek motion pictures as released on VHS in 1989 and A Separate Peace as released on VHS in 1998).
Availability: Appears on most Paramount video releases. The Gulf + Western variation is the toughest find, but can be found on releases such as the first four Star Trek motion pictures, Coming to America, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, and Pet Sematary among others.
Scare Factor: None, although the transition from the zoomed-in logo to the Paramount warning screen is very jarring.
5th Logo
(2002)
Nickname: "CGI Mountain"
Logo: An enhanced version of the home video logo that was seen from 1988 up to now. A full color version of the Ultra Majestic Mountain (90th Anniversary version) appears in a square that overlaps a background of four purple squares. A line of light passes over it, and then the logo flies off and the squares peel off, pretty much like before. They reveal "FEATURE PRESENTATION" in a gold-yellow font flying into place, each word from a different end. The words now float against a dark cloud background, eventually zooming out towards the screen in a trail of gold light. The warning post appears as always, but with a turquoise background in place of the usual logo wallpaper.
FX: Separating squares, the words' movements, and the moving cloud background.
Music/Sounds: Same as it has been since 1988; announcer says, "And now we're pleased to bring you our feature presentation" as always.
Availability: Appears on Paramount releases of the era. For one it is on the video of Changing Lanes.
Scare Factor: Low, complements the new movie logo very nicely.
_______________________________________________________________
Paramount DVD
(2002-)
Nicknames: "CGI Disc Mountain", "Dark Mountain of Steel"
Logo: Starts off with the 2002 Ultra Majestic Mountain animation with the stars flying through the clouds, the zoom out of the "Paramount" script, and the stars coming in and circling around the mountain. When we are at a comfortable distance, a DVD flies in from the bottom, glides and settles behind the summit and the Paramount script. Then, a bright flash underneath the peak brings forth "DVD" with a line below it, and "A VI/\CO/\/\ CO/\/\P/\NY" below that. The background fades to black, and a white laser scans the disc in a downward motion, turning the entire DVD Paramountain silver. The finished product resembles the Paramount print logo.
FX: It's all great CGI.
Cheesy Factor: The larger-than-life DVD flying in like a frisbee behind the mountain looks a little bit ridiculous.
Music/Sounds: Some whooshing sounds, culminating in a synth "explosion" effect with a thunderclap.
Availability: Common; appears on recent DVDs of Paramount movies and TV shows.
Scare Factor: Medium to high; the DVD flying in and the sudden flash and thunderclap and change to black is pretty jarring, especially if you are used to the movie logo and wind up with this.
_______________________________________________________________
Paramount High Definition DVD/Blu-ray
(2006- )
Nicknames: "Digital Mountain", "From SD to HD"
Logo: We first see the effect of a TV getting switched on, zooming out from one of the stars and transitioning to the middle of the Paramount logo. Then, two white lines move across the picture vertically from the center, sharpening the picture and forming the silver text:
which zooms out into place. The usual Viacom byline fades in below, and the HD text shines.
FX: Nice CGI, and nice HD transfer!
Music/Sounds: Some "static" sound effects and a few loud whooshes and shining sounds.
Availability: Was seen on Paramount Blu-ray and HD-DVD releases from 2006, until Paramount switched from being multi-HD to HD-DVD only. However, when Toshiba announced they would discontinue HD-DVD, Paramount, like all other movie studios, became Blu-ray only. Their first film on Blu-ray since HD-DVD's collapse is The Spiderwick Chronicles. This logo can be found on releases with the print version of this logo on the box art.
Scare Factor: Low. If you hate giant DVD's, you'll most likely feel nauseous with this one.
Logo Pictures by Eric S. and others
Editions by V of Doom and Ryan Froula
Background: Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Video and Paramount Video) is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video and was founded in 1976. PHE distributes films by Paramount (under its own label) and DreamWorks (under the DreamWorks Home Entertainment label), shows from MTV Networks (under the MTV DVD, Nickelodeon DVD, Nickelodeon Movies DVD, Comedy Central DVD and Spike DVD labels), PBS (under the PBS Home Video label), Showtime (under its own label), and CBS-owned programs (under the CBS DVD label) on DVD.
Paramount Home Video/Entertainment
1st Logo
(1976-1979)
Nicknames: "Still Mountain", "Boring Mountain", "Blue Mountain"
Logo: On a dark blue background, we see "Paramount" in the famous script, and "HOME VIDEO" below that in a wide bolded Eurostyle font in between two lines, one above and one below. To the right of that, we see the 1975 Paramount print logo to the right, complete with Gulf+Western byline. Sometimes, a warning screen comes up after this.
Trivia: It might be interesting to note that this was the first ever home video logo, predating Magnetic Video Corp. by a year.
FX: Absolutely none, it's a still logo.
Cheesy Factor: What more can be said about a still logo without music? Try a little harder.
Music/Sounds: None. It's totally silent.
Availability: This logo appeared primarily on Betamax releases, meaning this is a very difficult find. Should appear on a few VHS titles from 1978-1979 (including the first two Godfather films, the first VHS release of Grease, and the original release of The Bad News Bears), but keep in mind that the format was in its infancy at the time.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1979-1982, 1984)
Nicknames: "Mountain Silhouette", "Black Mountain", "Rising Mountain", "Cheesy Mountain".
Logo: On a dark blue background, we zoom out on a silhouette of a mountain. After we zoom out to a comfortable distance, there is a bright flash behind the mountain, and white "stars" (they look like circles or lens flares) appear, as well as "Paramount" (in script, but closer to the pre-1975 logo). A yellow trapezoidal trail zooms out from the base, and "HOME VIDEO" zooms out soon after, crappily chyroned in. The end result looks like the pre-1967 print logo.
Variant: After the logo was finished, the stars rolled and flew away.
Trivia: The second half of the logo was once used as a very short-lived Paramount Television logo. "PARAMOUNT TELEVISION SERVICE" was featured at the bottom, which explains the chyron for "HOME VIDEO."
FX: The flash, the effects.
Cheesy Factor: Off the scale. The stars look cheesy, the "Paramount" font doesn't look right, and the chyron for "HOME VIDEO".
Music/Sounds: A pounding backbeat as the mountain zooms out, then a synth chord.
Availability: EXTREMELY rare. Seen on Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back), Death Wish, Friday the 13th, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture VHS tapes of the era, which are not that easy to find, especially since the logo was usually taken off of post-1981 prints. Also seen on a few Hi-Fi re-releases of Paramount's 1979-mid 1980 catalog (including Downhill Racer) from 1984, and Death Wish, as confirmed by YouTube user nesfan1111, is not one of them.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; the chord and flash might not sit well with most people.
3rd Logo
(1982-1988)
Nickname: "Growing Mountain", "Cheesy Growing Mountain", "Cheesy Animation but Nice Music"
Logo: On a black background, we see the abstract mountain logo, with "Paramount" in black script in the light blue circle like the other Paramount logos, and the "A Gulf + Western Company" byline at the bottom in light blue. It begins to zoom up on us, as the stars (which are followed by light trail-streaks) and byline zoom past, and both the mountain and circle grow bigger until we are literally right on top of the peak of the mountain, with "Paramount" centering in, filling the middle of the screen. When the peak hits the bottom and "Paramount" fits the center, "Paramount" begins to shine, then there is a VERY bright flash, and it dies down to reveal the Paramount script logo (in blue) and a small "VIDEO" (shining a bit) between two blue lines.
FX: The growing mountain, the flash
Cheesy Factor: Flash seems cheesy, but the rest is okay.
Music/Sounds: A new-age type tune.
Availability: A pretty tough find. Most Paramount films went for the logo used at the time, but Television shows (such as Star Trek) and non-Paramount films (such as The Adventures of the American Rabbit) have this. It was also found on a 1990 VHS release of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," which was most likely a reissue from when this logo was originally in use.
Scare Factor: Low; the flash and growing mountain may get to some, but the music is very quiet and nice.
4th Logo
(1988-2006)
Gulf+Western (1988-1989)
Paramount Communications (1989-1995)
(Earlier version on the left, later version on the right.)
Viacom (1995-2006)
Nickname: "Abstract Mountain"
Logo: On a background filled with blue/purple squares, we see a blue square with the Paramount abstract mountain logo in gold. It shines, then moves and zooms away as the squares behind it move away, revealing "FEATURE PRESENTATION" on a tannish background. After a few moments, it zooms towards us. It cuts to the warning post, which has a pattern of Paramount mountains in the background.
Bylines: This used whatever byline Paramount was using at the time:
- 1988-1989: "A Gulf + Western Company"
- 1989-1995: "A Paramount Communications Company" (Earlier versions until 1992 have a different font for the Paramount Communications byline, sans serif)
- 1995-2006: "A Viacom Company"
Variant: There was a special bumper used for trailers from 1988 to roughly 1998-99. Over the tannish background were the words "COMING ATTRACTIONS" and the announcer says "Here are some exciting coming attractions from Paramount."
FX: The squares moving away, the animation on the Paramount square.
Cheesy Factor: The zooming effect on "FEATURE PRESENTATION" looks like cheap computer effects.
Music/Sounds: Abridged version of the Paramount fanfare. An announcer says "And now, we're pleased to bring you our Feature Presentation."
Music/Sound Variant: A variation exists where the announcer says "Paramount is pleased to bring you our Feature Presentation". This was used with all three byline variants, and can be found on video titles which have no previews before the film (such as the first four Star Trek motion pictures as released on VHS in 1989 and A Separate Peace as released on VHS in 1998).
Availability: Appears on most Paramount video releases. The Gulf + Western variation is the toughest find, but can be found on releases such as the first four Star Trek motion pictures, Coming to America, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, and Pet Sematary among others.
Scare Factor: None, although the transition from the zoomed-in logo to the Paramount warning screen is very jarring.
5th Logo
(2002)
Nickname: "CGI Mountain"
Logo: An enhanced version of the home video logo that was seen from 1988 up to now. A full color version of the Ultra Majestic Mountain (90th Anniversary version) appears in a square that overlaps a background of four purple squares. A line of light passes over it, and then the logo flies off and the squares peel off, pretty much like before. They reveal "FEATURE PRESENTATION" in a gold-yellow font flying into place, each word from a different end. The words now float against a dark cloud background, eventually zooming out towards the screen in a trail of gold light. The warning post appears as always, but with a turquoise background in place of the usual logo wallpaper.
FX: Separating squares, the words' movements, and the moving cloud background.
Music/Sounds: Same as it has been since 1988; announcer says, "And now we're pleased to bring you our feature presentation" as always.
Availability: Appears on Paramount releases of the era. For one it is on the video of Changing Lanes.
Scare Factor: Low, complements the new movie logo very nicely.
_______________________________________________________________
Paramount DVD
(2002-)
Nicknames: "CGI Disc Mountain", "Dark Mountain of Steel"
FX: It's all great CGI.
Cheesy Factor: The larger-than-life DVD flying in like a frisbee behind the mountain looks a little bit ridiculous.
Music/Sounds: Some whooshing sounds, culminating in a synth "explosion" effect with a thunderclap.
Availability: Common; appears on recent DVDs of Paramount movies and TV shows.
Scare Factor: Medium to high; the DVD flying in and the sudden flash and thunderclap and change to black is pretty jarring, especially if you are used to the movie logo and wind up with this.
_______________________________________________________________
Paramount High Definition DVD/Blu-ray
(2006- )
Nicknames: "Digital Mountain", "From SD to HD"
Logo: We first see the effect of a TV getting switched on, zooming out from one of the stars and transitioning to the middle of the Paramount logo. Then, two white lines move across the picture vertically from the center, sharpening the picture and forming the silver text:
HIGH_______
----DEFINITION
which zooms out into place. The usual Viacom byline fades in below, and the HD text shines.
FX: Nice CGI, and nice HD transfer!
Music/Sounds: Some "static" sound effects and a few loud whooshes and shining sounds.
Availability: Was seen on Paramount Blu-ray and HD-DVD releases from 2006, until Paramount switched from being multi-HD to HD-DVD only. However, when Toshiba announced they would discontinue HD-DVD, Paramount, like all other movie studios, became Blu-ray only. Their first film on Blu-ray since HD-DVD's collapse is The Spiderwick Chronicles. This logo can be found on releases with the print version of this logo on the box art.
Scare Factor: Low. If you hate giant DVD's, you'll most likely feel nauseous with this one.
