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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Logo descriptions by Matt Williams, Kris Starring, bmasters9, and BenderRoblox
Logo captures by Eric S., V of Doom, Logophile, snelfu, wisp2007, Shadeed A. Kelly, bmasters9, Mr.Logo, and BenderRoblox
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, Wisp2007, Logophile, V of Doom, mr3urious, Jonathan Hendricks and thehugetvfan
Video captures courtesy of Eric S., osdatabase, ilKoreano, RedSCT, YarcoTV, TheOKWhattimeisit, GameShowNetwork, and others
Background: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and UMD distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was first established in November 1979 by Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. as "Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment", to distribute films from Columbia Pictures on VHS, Beta, Laserdisc, and Super 8mm, with Warner Bros. titles being released by them in the latter format. It was later renamed as "RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video" (or "RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video" for international distribution, "RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts Video" (in conjuction with Hoyts) in Australia and "Gaumont Columbia RCA Video" (in conjunction with Gaumont) in France) in 1981 as a joint venture with RCA, "Columbia TriStar Home Video" on August 23, 1991 after acquiring RCA's shares from General Electric, "Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment" in 1999 before the name was made official in 2001, and to its current name in 2004. It is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures library for home entertainment, mainly releases from Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, but also releases product from Sony Pictures Classics, Screen Gems, Triumph Films, Destination Films, Stage 6 Films, Affirm Films, Revolution Studios, its television library, selected miscellaneous output from independent companies, and the CBS Films theatrical releases co-distributed by CBS Home Entertainment. Since June 21, 2007, SPHE now handles the former Sony BMG kids label, Sony Wonder.
Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment
(November 1979-November 1982)
Nickname: "The Sunburst"
Logo: The same as the Columbia Pictures "Sunburst" theatrical logo, but there is a video freeze at the end, with "Columbia Pictures" blacked out.
written in white, in Cooper Black font, is chyroned in below.
Variant: There is a black and white version of this logo seen on classic Columbia movies and shorts in B&W.
FX/SFX: Same as the "Sunburst" logo.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the Sunburst, except the freeze looks cheesy, and the font looks out of place. Plus, if you look real closely while in slow-mo, when the company name appears, you can briefly see "Columbia Pictures".
Music/Sounds: Same as the film variant.
Availability: Has rare written all over it. Columbia TriStar Home Video kept this logo on the 90's VHS release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (making its appearance after the 3rd CTHV logo) and it also made an appearance on the mid-80s video release. It is said this make a surprise appearance on the recent DVD of the 1982 TV movie Ivanhoe before the opening credits (possibly sourced from a VHS print), but no solid evidence has been shown. You can also find this logo on the original 70s clamshell releases of Born Free, Breakout, The New Centurions, The Deep, You Light Up My Life, and the original Fun with Dick and Jane. Surprisingly, this logo also appeared on early to mid '80s video prints of Gerald McBoing-Boing and Mr. Magoo cartoons. The black & white version appears on Gilda. Starting in June 1981, videocassettes of Columbia Pictures films go straight to the logo used at the time (a practice that lasted until 1989). There are also some sports specials and non-Columbia Pictures material that contain this logo, such as the 1982 VHS of The Batty World of Baseball.
Scare Factor: Low.
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RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video
1st Logo
(December 1982-October 1987)
Nickname: "RCA/Columbia Box"
Logo: On a black BG, a white-bordered box appears. In it are two black rounded rectangles, with the first bearing the "RCA" logo in red, and the second having the Columbia Pictures print logo in a blue arch-shaped border with "Columbia Pictures" below. "HOME VIDEO" is at the bottom of the white border, in black.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The "swinging border" on the first variation.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Videos from this company have long been out of print, with most videos being re-released by Columbia TriStar (occasionally with the same RCA/Columbia-style packaging). All Columbia releases and the first few Tri-Star titles (such as The Natural and The Evil That Men Do) do not contain this logo, but go straight to the movie. However, the logo does appear at the beginning of non-Columbia releases (Tri-Star, New Line, Crown International, CineTel Films) such as Real Genius, Say Yes, The King of Comedy, Private Resort, Alone in the Dark, Critters, and Rock and Roll: The Early Days. TV series such as He-Man: Masters of the Universe and Rubik the Amazing Cube have this logo as well. This logo has been spotted as late as the 1987 releases of About Last Night..., Blind Date, Armed Response, and My Demon Lover. Releases that had the "space" variant include Ghostbusters, Starman, and A Passage to India (only appears on rental copies as sale copies have no previews) to name a few. The "sparkling" variant can be seen on the post-credit coming attractions (at least twice) on Real Genius and Silverado.
Scare Factor: None for the standard logo. The "flipping" animation on the first variant is a bit jarring and may get to some.
2nd Logo
(February 1986-December 1991)
Nicknames: "The Cube", "The Spinning Cube", "RCA/Columbia Box II", "CGI RCA/Columbia Box", "The RCA/Columbia Cube"
Logo: On a black BG, we see a rotating cube, featuring the same logo as stated above on each side (either 1, 3, or 4 sides). The main difference to the logo, however, is that the border is now silvery, with "HOME VIDEO" etched in silver. A white sparkle appears on the side as it rotates.
FX/SFX: The CGI rotating cube, the white sparkle. Nice effects, but pales in comparison to its international counterpart.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds Variant: On No Holds Barred, the New Line Cinema logo is plastered by this logo, keeping the film's opening title music and sound effects (of a ring announcer and a cheering crowd) while this logo is playing.
Availability: This logo is slightly easier to come across, seeing that it is more recent. However, this logo was only used in the United States and Canada. Again, Columbia releases go straight to the movie until 1989 (the last release to do so was Ghostbusters II). Also, from 1986 to 1987, this logo was restricted to the coming attractions part of the releases. Releases that had this logo include True Believer, Casualties of War, Postcards from the Edge, Glory, Pump Up the Volume, The Adventures of Milo and Otis, Far Out Man, The Blob (1988 version), the uncut version of 976-EVIL, The Phantom of the Opera (1989 version), Xtro II: The Second Encounter, Critters 2, Night of the Living Dead (1990 version), Relentless, Hit List, Out of the Dark, Clownhouse, Hairspray (1988 version), Fast Getaway, Who's Harry Crumb?, Look Who's Talking 1 & 2, The Gods Must Be Crazy II, Troop Beverly Hills, Awakenings, and many, many more. Strangely, the 1988 film Willow (a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film) was released on video by RCA/Columbia (a bylineless MGM logo appears right after this logo). One of the last releases to include this logo was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze; the logo fades out earlier than usual. Another You has RCA/Columbia on the box and on the video label, but the video itself has neither this nor the first Columbia TriStar Home Video logo.
Scare Factor: None.
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RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video
1st Logo
(1982-1991?)
Nickname: "RCA/Columbia Box"
Logo: On a colored background, the same box from the 1st RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video logo, in 2D, fades in. "HOME VIDEO" is replaced by "INTERNATIONAL VIDEO".
Variants:
FX/SFX: The fading in.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Despite it being used for nearly ten years, it is extremely hard to come across in North America. Seen mainly on releases outside of North America such as The Amazing Spider Man, The Real Ghostbusters, and Annie. However, if you have an NTSC tape from (at least) Mexico or Japan, or even a SECAM tape from France or Russia, you'll probably find this logo.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1988?-1992)
Nicknames: "The International Spinning Cube", "RCA/Columbia Box II", "The RCA/Columbia Cube"
Logo: On a black background, a 3D cube comes up from the screen. It has the RCA logo in red at the top and "INTERNATIONAL VIDEO" at the bottom. Then the Columbia Pictures print logo in blue and white swoops up from the bottom. The cube spins once and settles down, facing the viewers.
Variations:
FX/SFX: The 3D cube rising, the Columbia Pictures print logo rising from the bottom. Pretty neat CGI animation; it's more superior to its North American counterpart.
Cheesy Factor: The only real cheesy factor is the fanfare.
Music/Sounds: A dramatic 1980s-sounding synthesized fanfare, complete with a couple whooshes, or a generic theme.
Availability: Rare. It was only used on video releases outside North America. However, if you have an NTSC tape from (at least) Mexico or Japan, or even a SECAM tape from France or Russia, you'll probably find this logo.
Scare Factor: Low. It's a very clean and professional logo.
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Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
1st Logo
(January-August 1992, 1995)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes", "Part I: The Boxes Cometh", "Split Rectangle", "Prototype CT Boxes", "Rectangular Boxes"
Logo: On a black BG, we see a split rectangle. On the left side, we see the '80s Torch Lady (print version with the sunburst intact behind her), and on the right, the TriStar "Pegasus Over Pyramid" logo (print version too, but minus the word "PICTURES" at the bottom). Above, we see the stacked words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" in Bank Gothic MD BT font that's a little stretched up by height, one above the other, and at the bottom, we see "HOME VIDEO" on a straight line.
Variant: On a 1992 VHS reissue of Metropolitan, the logo doesn't fade in or out.
FX/SFX: None. Other times, the logo would fade in and fade out.
Music/Sounds: None. Although, on foreign releases, a short guitar/base note was heard.
Availability: Quite rare. This is the very first logo featuring a box motif, which would eventually develop into the familiar and much hated Columbia TriStar Home Video and Columbia TriStar Television logos. Also, this is a placeholder logo, a logo that is used on a show or video when the new one isn't quite ready yet. Among the releases with this logo are some prints of My Girl, Annie, Ice Castles, The Adventures of Milo and Otis (the 1992 reprint), From Here to Eternity, Men at Work, Hook (both the original 1992 release and a 1995 VHS reissue), Troll 2, Spellcaster, Boyz n the Hood, Bugsy, Relentless 2: Dead On, American Blue Note, and The Prince of Tides. The international version is on VHS releases outside the United States and Canada, including a Spanish VHS of In the Line of Fire. On re-releases of some RCA/Columbia videos (some in their original packaging) and most notably some early New Line releases with the RCA/Columbia print logo (such as Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare), this logo plasters over the original RCA/Columbia logo. A few tapes with the RCA/Columbia print logo that were released in early 1992 also have this logo to begin with.
Scare Factor: None for the standard version. The one with the guitar note is minimum, bordering on low.
2nd Logo
(September 1992-April 1993)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes II", "Part II: The Boxes Take Form", "The First Box Logo"
Logo: On a white BG, we see two boxes outlined with a black border. On the left is one featuring a newly-done Torch Lady, and on the right is a newly-done Pegasus on a Columbia-like cloud background. Above the boxes are the words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR", with each word positioned over its respective logo. "HOME VIDEO" is seen below.
Trivia: The Columbia Torch Lady seen on the left was painted by Michael J. Deas and the TriStar Pegasus seen on the right was painted by Alan Reingold.
Variant: There is a variant where it happens to be an invert of colors. The background is black, the letters and the outlined boxes are both white, and both respective logos are a bit close up.
FX/SFX: The fade in and fade out of the logo.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Again, quite rare. This is just another placeholder logo, but this time they've actually designed the new logos. If not mistaken, this may just be the first appearance of the new "Sony Logos" for each company. Titles with this logo include A League of Their Own, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Finishing Touch, Where the Day Takes You, Storyville, The Finest Hour, Deep Cover, Aces: Iron Eagle III, The Player, Chrome Soldiers, Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice, Mo' Money, Mr. Saturday Night, Year of the Comet, We're Talking Serious Money, Jersey Girl, A Midnight Clear, Single White Female, Auntie Lee's Meat Pies, The Lawnmower Man, City of Joy and the early John Wayne film Two-Fisted Law, starring Tim McCoy. The inverted variant is extremely rare and it has been spotted on an Italian VHS of The Addams Family. This has also been seen on some Laserdiscs, including the 1993 Criterion release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and The Wrecking Crew. Interestingly, early videos with this logo would use the print version of the previous logo.
Scare Factor: None.
3rd Logo
(May 1993-2002, 2004, 2006)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes III", "Part III: Will This Logo Ever Die?!", "Sliding Boxes", "Blue BG Boxes"
Logo: We see a screen full of clouds forming, tossing about. Then, "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" zooms out from above, and "HOME VIDEO" shrinks out from below as we see the clouds zoom out, as part of a golden-bordered box on a blue-black gradient background. The box then splits apart to reveal the Torch Lady on the left (in its same style as before), and the Pegasus on the right (again, the same style as before), as the wording takes its position. The text shines for a few seconds after the logo is formed.
Variants:
Trailer Variants: Rarely, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, the blue background would fade out to the moving clouds and one of the following phrases would zoom in from the center of the screen:
FX/SFX: The zooming out effects; nice CGI for the time.
Cheesy Factor: It seems a bit dated, and the Pegasus looks like it was pasted on top of the Columbia logo, as the cloud backgrounds are the same. TriStar used a different, darker cloud BG, which is why.
Music/Sounds: A rather dramatic synth theme with a climaxing synth-piano fanfare at the end. Sometimes would follow a male announcer announcing the clip on.
Availability: Very common even today. Seen on almost all videotapes, Laserdiscs, and DVDs from Columbia TriStar Home Video like Thomas and the Magic Railroad, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, and Madeline, even on early DVD releases from the company. The abridged version can be found mainly on New Line releases such as National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1, Time Runner, Surf Ninjas, Three of Hearts, Man's Best Friend, Who's the Man?, Excessive Force, Chained Heat 2, Relentless 3, Relentless 4: Ashes to Ashes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and the unrated version of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. This was strangely found on the 2004 DVD of The Deep and the 2006 DVD of Jason and the Argonauts which might have been re-prints. It also popped up on the 1998 DVD of Oliver! and its 2005 reprint/repackaging. Also seen on tapes released in Canada by Astral Video after the Astral logo during the mid-1990s, including Demon Possessed.
Scare Factor: None. This logo got very popular and was used for eleven years, thanks to the music!
4th Logo (1995-1996)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes IV", "Take Hollywood Home!", "Sliding Boxes II"
Logo: We start out against a wispy brown background. Then a square with the footage of Columbia Torch Lady from the 1993 Columbia Pictures logo in it
fades in, and slides to the left, revealing a box with the footage of the TriStar Pegasus from the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo (but the background is changed into a similar cloud background from the Columbia logo, but a bit shorter and darker), which slides to the right. The words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" appear above the boxes and "HOME VIDEO" on the bottom with "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" below everything else.
FX/SFX: The boxes fading in and sliding, the animations of the Columbia/TriStar logos in the boxes.
Cheesy Factor: Again just like the 3rd CTHV logo, the Pegasus looks like he's pasted on the Columbia logo, but the cloud is shorter and a bit darker.
Music/Sounds: A singing trio (two females: one soprano & alto, and a male tenor) singing "TAKE HOLLYWOOD HOOOOOOOOOME!!!!!", or the opening theme of the trailer.
Availability: Very rare. It was used only on some tapes released by the short-lived Columbia TriStar Family Collection, such as Real Genius and The Adventures of Milo and Otis.
Scare Factor: Low to high. It all depends on what you think of that sudden singing trio. None with the opening theme.
5th Logo
(1995-1997?)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes V", "Sliding Boxes III", "Take Hollywood Home! II"
Logo: Same as before, except the background is replaced with a background of clouds, which happens to be a lighter conception of the 1993 CTHV/1995 CTIT logo intro. Plus, the name and the byline are in navy blue color.
FX/SFX: Same as the 4th logo.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the 4th logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 4th logo.
Availability: Ultra rare. It's seen on several domestic and international promos of home video releases by CTHV. One tape to have this logo is Persuasion.
Scare Factor: Same as the 4th logo.
6th Logo
(1996-1998)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes VI", "Take Hollywood Home! III", "Rising Boxes"
Logo: On a taupe brown BG, we see a row of gold print logos of the Torch Lady and Pegasus in boxes at an angle. The Columbia and TriStar boxes (in their similar styles from the 4th and 5th logos, which this time, they are still and not animated), then rise out of two of the boxes in the center as the row of boxes tilts to face the screen. The 3-D words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" and "HOME VIDEO" in gold, fade in above and below the boxes, respectively with a shining wipe effect.
Trailer Variants: Many times, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, and one of the following phrases, in script, would zoom in from the center of the logo:
Variants:
FX/SFX: Simple but nice animation.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the 4th and 5th logos.
Music/Sounds: Same as above, but the singing trio is less jollier.
Music/Sounds Variants:
Availability: Rare. C-T used this logo from 1996 to 1997 and as a result this was probably used on most releases. Sometimes it was alternated with the blue BG logo, so as always, keep your eye out. The best source for this logo would be the company's earliest DVD releases such as Philadelphia and Dr. Strangelove. It also appeared on the VHS releases of The Cable Guy (only some prints, others just used the 3rd logo), Matilda, Fly Away Home, Buddy, a later copy of Magic in the Water, The Fan, and High School High, and the shorter version appeared on Jerry Maguire (only some prints, others used the 3rd logo instead) and Jumanji (there was an ad for Sony Maximum TV sets, followed by a clip-on immediately after). The widescreen version appears on the 1998 DVD of Immortal Beloved and the widescreen Laserdisc editions of The Indian in the Cupboard, Lost in Yonkers, and The Cable Guy.
Scare Factor: Same as above.
7th Logo
(1997?)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes VII", "Blue Print Boxes"
Logo: Up against a royal blue background with many print logos of CTHV on it, we see the standard C-T boxes outlined in white with the white text "COLUMBIA TRISTAR"
above and "HOME VIDEO" below the logo respectively.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 3rd logo.
Availability: Extremely rare. It was only known to be seen on the first DVD releases of The Net, The Fifth Element, and Happy Birthday to Me; the latter two are now out of print. However, the former title on DVD can still be rented from Netflix.
Scare Factor: None.
8th Logo
(1997-2000)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes VIII", "The Filmstrip", "The C-T Filmstrip"
Logo: On an ethereal blue background, we see filmstrips crisscrossing the screen, with each frame in each filmstrip featuring the C-T box logo. We see a filmstrip in the center of the screen and then pan towards it, seeing the boxes in each frame and the endings of their respective movie animations playing out within them. As the final frame reaches the screen, the background turns white with several blue or light blue areas in each corner as the boxes (with the footage of the Torch Lady from the 1993 Columbia Pictures logo on the left and the footage of the Pegasus from the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo on the right) go into position. Then the words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" and HOME VIDEO" fade in above and below the boxes, respectively.
Variant: A widescreen variant exists.
Trailer Variants: Many times, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, and one of the following phrases, in script, would zoom in from the center of the logo:
FX/SFX: Great CGI. And if you thought this one was good, the next one is even more mind-blowing.
Music/Sounds: None, but on international releases, a generic hip hop-like jingle was used.
Availability: During the beginning of its existence, it was pretty easy to spot. However, around 1998, this logo was no longer used as their standard logo, only being used for clip-ons and trailers. Instead their standard logo was the 1993 logo. Tapes with this logo include Buddy, Men in Black, Anaconda, My Best Friend's Wedding, the Broadway Musical Edition VHS release of Annie, Das Boot: The Director's Cut, The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo, Air Force One, The Fifth Element, Slappy and the Stinkers, I Know What You Did Last Summer, 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain, and Baby Geniuses. It has also been seen on the UK DVD releases of Das Boot and Muppets from Space. It also surprisingly appeared on a mid-2000s UK DVD of Ghostbusters, which must have been a reprint of an earlier DVD.
Scare Factor: None.
9th Logo
(1999-2001)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes IX", "C-T DVD", "The Boxes of Splendor"
Logo: On a screen filled with clouds, the words "COLUMBIA" spelling itself standard and "TRISTAR" spelling itself backwards letter-by-letter, handsomely done in shining silver text, tumble onto the screen, "COLUMBIA" coming from the upper right and "TRISTAR" coming from the lower left. The clouds clear, revealing a nice backdrop of clouds and two white, glowing boxes. As the light in the boxes die down, the Columbia Torch Lady zooms in towards us in the left box, and we see the Pegasus (in his similar style from the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo), stretch his wings in the right box, as the wings cross over to the Columbia box. The words "COLUMBIA" and "TRISTAR" later change to gold lettering and position themselves under the boxes, and "DVD" (or "HOME VIDEO" for VHS releases) zooms out from the top, at warp speed, landing below the C-T text, causing the phaser effect to appear around it, which suddenly disappears.
Variants:
FX/SFX: Mind-blowing CGI, and has become a favorite of those who've seen it.
Cheesy Factor: The Pegasus' cloud is the same as the Columbia Pictures cloud, but it's backwards and shorter from the Columbia logo, which doesn't look that professional.
Music/Sounds: Whooshing sounds as the words, "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" move into position. An ethereal humming noise as the boxes are revealed and animate. As the TriStar Pegasus unfolds and stretches his wings, we hear a low whoosh sound. Last, a phaser sound as the certain text moves into place and we hear chime sounds. Sometimes, there was a more common version with an even louder version.
Availability: It's seen on most DVD releases of the time; prior to this, they used the 1993 logo. The "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" variation can be seen only on the Love Stinks VHS and the 2002 DVD of the Japanese animated Metropolis. Examples for this logo include Dogma and the first UK DVD release of The Karate Kid. Strangely, this logo makes an appearance on the 2002 Deluxe Edition DVD of Men in Black. One of the last releases to use this was the DVD release of The Wedding Planner (the VHS used the 10th logo).
Scare Factor: Low. The specific text zooming out and the phaser sound might probably get to more than a few.
10th Logo
(2001-2005)
Nickname: "Ultra Majestic Torch Lady-Pegasus Combo"
Logo: Over the usual cloud background, we pan past an extreme close up of the Torch Lady's legs and feet (covered in the robe of course), then dissolves into a pan of the TriStar Pegasus (in the print artwork style except for the body and the legs, which are in the 1993 movie logo style but in the same color as the Pegasus' face and wings) unfolding his wings. The pan then quickly dissolves into a shot from the center of the Pegasus unfolding his wings, albeit in a close-up fashion, and then a dissolve to the Torch Lady zooming-out from her face. The logo then dissolves to reveal the Torch Lady and Pegasus side-by-side on a cloud background in their print artwork style, with "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" slightly sliding in with "HOME ENTERTAINMENT", in a smaller font, fading in letter-by-letter.
Variants:
Trailer Variants: Rarely, letters would appear on top of the screen, and it, in regular font, with an announcer, would state the following (on VHS promos, half of the logo is playing in widescreen and the words are on the wide boxes):
International Trailer Variants: On early Australian releases the logo plays normally and in the top right of the screen letters appear spelling "COMING SOON". So far this has only been spotted on a 2001 VHS release of Charlie's Angels.
FX/SFX: Of course, that isn't the entire logo. Throughout the animation, the logos are artistically stylized, with mosaic and pixelization effects being used through the logo and a scrolling Matrix-like wall of typography appearing throughout. Also, the designers of the logo, Montgomery/Cobb, retouched the face of the Torch Lady and the wings of the Pegasus to make them look more realistic. The dissolves are done gradually, almost like wipes, and the logo seems to be divided up into five sections during the animation, before coming together as an actual logo at the end. The logo looks quite nice and artistic as a result.
Music/Sounds: There were two variants:
Scare Factor: None. It's a popular logo now that the widely hated "Split Boxes" have been put to rest. Nice fanfare and great logo concept make this a winner.
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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
(March 24, 2005- )
Nicknames: "The Shining Bars", "Ultra Majestic Sony Pictures Bars", "SPHE Bars", "Sony Bars"
Logo: Over a set of purple clouds, we see a bright light with rays shooting outward which start to create some lens flares. A set of white lines of light appear and zoom out to solidify into the Shining Bars, Sony Pictures Entertainment's logo, which give off rays of light. As this happens, the background turns black. The rays die down and we see "SONY PICTURES" in the Sony font appear below the Bars, a line is drawn underneath that, and "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" appears underneath.
Trailer Variants: On 2005-2006 VHS releases by SPHE, one of the following phrases would fade in during the clouds portion of the animation with a male announcer saying the phrase. Afterwards, the rest of the animation plays as normal.
FX/SFX: Just great CGI.
Music/Sounds: Two timpani drumbeats, followed by an uplifting-sounding horn/string arrangement. Sometimes, the theme is played in low tone.
Availability: Common. Can be found on all DVDs (and even UMDs for the Sony PSP) released by the company from 2005 onward. The print SPHE logo goes back to November 2004, and those early SPHE releases still have the 2001 CTHE logo. The animated SPHE logo made its debut on the PSP UMD of Spider-Man 2 in the spring of 2005. The first DVD to have this logo was Are We There Yet? The trailer variants can be considered very rare, but they appear on VHS releases by SPHE that were released between 2005-2006. Strangely this logo appeared on TV airings of Open Season 2 and Stuart Little 3 on the AUS version of Cartoon Network and many other broadcasts of direct-to-DVD releases on any US network.
Scare Factor: Low. It's just good CGI animation.
Logo captures by Eric S., V of Doom, Logophile, snelfu, wisp2007, Shadeed A. Kelly, bmasters9, Mr.Logo, and BenderRoblox
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, Wisp2007, Logophile, V of Doom, mr3urious, Jonathan Hendricks and thehugetvfan
Video captures courtesy of Eric S., osdatabase, ilKoreano, RedSCT, YarcoTV, TheOKWhattimeisit, GameShowNetwork, and others
Background: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and UMD distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was first established in November 1979 by Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. as "Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment", to distribute films from Columbia Pictures on VHS, Beta, Laserdisc, and Super 8mm, with Warner Bros. titles being released by them in the latter format. It was later renamed as "RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video" (or "RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video" for international distribution, "RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts Video" (in conjuction with Hoyts) in Australia and "Gaumont Columbia RCA Video" (in conjunction with Gaumont) in France) in 1981 as a joint venture with RCA, "Columbia TriStar Home Video" on August 23, 1991 after acquiring RCA's shares from General Electric, "Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment" in 1999 before the name was made official in 2001, and to its current name in 2004. It is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures library for home entertainment, mainly releases from Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, but also releases product from Sony Pictures Classics, Screen Gems, Triumph Films, Destination Films, Stage 6 Films, Affirm Films, Revolution Studios, its television library, selected miscellaneous output from independent companies, and the CBS Films theatrical releases co-distributed by CBS Home Entertainment. Since June 21, 2007, SPHE now handles the former Sony BMG kids label, Sony Wonder.
Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment
(November 1979-November 1982)
Nickname: "The Sunburst"
Logo: The same as the Columbia Pictures "Sunburst" theatrical logo, but there is a video freeze at the end, with "Columbia Pictures" blacked out.
COLUMBIA PICTURES
HOME ENTERTAINMENT
PRESENTS
written in white, in Cooper Black font, is chyroned in below.
Variant: There is a black and white version of this logo seen on classic Columbia movies and shorts in B&W.
FX/SFX: Same as the "Sunburst" logo.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the Sunburst, except the freeze looks cheesy, and the font looks out of place. Plus, if you look real closely while in slow-mo, when the company name appears, you can briefly see "Columbia Pictures".
Music/Sounds: Same as the film variant.
Availability: Has rare written all over it. Columbia TriStar Home Video kept this logo on the 90's VHS release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (making its appearance after the 3rd CTHV logo) and it also made an appearance on the mid-80s video release. It is said this make a surprise appearance on the recent DVD of the 1982 TV movie Ivanhoe before the opening credits (possibly sourced from a VHS print), but no solid evidence has been shown. You can also find this logo on the original 70s clamshell releases of Born Free, Breakout, The New Centurions, The Deep, You Light Up My Life, and the original Fun with Dick and Jane. Surprisingly, this logo also appeared on early to mid '80s video prints of Gerald McBoing-Boing and Mr. Magoo cartoons. The black & white version appears on Gilda. Starting in June 1981, videocassettes of Columbia Pictures films go straight to the logo used at the time (a practice that lasted until 1989). There are also some sports specials and non-Columbia Pictures material that contain this logo, such as the 1982 VHS of The Batty World of Baseball.
Scare Factor: Low.
_______________________________________________________________
RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video
1st Logo
(December 1982-October 1987)
Nickname: "RCA/Columbia Box"
Logo: On a black BG, a white-bordered box appears. In it are two black rounded rectangles, with the first bearing the "RCA" logo in red, and the second having the Columbia Pictures print logo in a blue arch-shaped border with "Columbia Pictures" below. "HOME VIDEO" is at the bottom of the white border, in black.
Variants:
- Sometimes the RCA and Columbia logos flip in on a space background, then the white border "swings in" to surround it. On Beany and Cecil Volume 1, the flipping animation is different and doesn't have a space background.
- There is a variant on some releases where the border is chrome and "sparkling" effects are layered on. Sometimes at the end of post-credit coming attractions, a copyright stamp would appear below it.
FX/SFX: The "swinging border" on the first variation.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Videos from this company have long been out of print, with most videos being re-released by Columbia TriStar (occasionally with the same RCA/Columbia-style packaging). All Columbia releases and the first few Tri-Star titles (such as The Natural and The Evil That Men Do) do not contain this logo, but go straight to the movie. However, the logo does appear at the beginning of non-Columbia releases (Tri-Star, New Line, Crown International, CineTel Films) such as Real Genius, Say Yes, The King of Comedy, Private Resort, Alone in the Dark, Critters, and Rock and Roll: The Early Days. TV series such as He-Man: Masters of the Universe and Rubik the Amazing Cube have this logo as well. This logo has been spotted as late as the 1987 releases of About Last Night..., Blind Date, Armed Response, and My Demon Lover. Releases that had the "space" variant include Ghostbusters, Starman, and A Passage to India (only appears on rental copies as sale copies have no previews) to name a few. The "sparkling" variant can be seen on the post-credit coming attractions (at least twice) on Real Genius and Silverado.
Scare Factor: None for the standard logo. The "flipping" animation on the first variant is a bit jarring and may get to some.
2nd Logo
(February 1986-December 1991)
Nicknames: "The Cube", "The Spinning Cube", "RCA/Columbia Box II", "CGI RCA/Columbia Box", "The RCA/Columbia Cube"
Logo: On a black BG, we see a rotating cube, featuring the same logo as stated above on each side (either 1, 3, or 4 sides). The main difference to the logo, however, is that the border is now silvery, with "HOME VIDEO" etched in silver. A white sparkle appears on the side as it rotates.
FX/SFX: The CGI rotating cube, the white sparkle. Nice effects, but pales in comparison to its international counterpart.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds Variant: On No Holds Barred, the New Line Cinema logo is plastered by this logo, keeping the film's opening title music and sound effects (of a ring announcer and a cheering crowd) while this logo is playing.
Availability: This logo is slightly easier to come across, seeing that it is more recent. However, this logo was only used in the United States and Canada. Again, Columbia releases go straight to the movie until 1989 (the last release to do so was Ghostbusters II). Also, from 1986 to 1987, this logo was restricted to the coming attractions part of the releases. Releases that had this logo include True Believer, Casualties of War, Postcards from the Edge, Glory, Pump Up the Volume, The Adventures of Milo and Otis, Far Out Man, The Blob (1988 version), the uncut version of 976-EVIL, The Phantom of the Opera (1989 version), Xtro II: The Second Encounter, Critters 2, Night of the Living Dead (1990 version), Relentless, Hit List, Out of the Dark, Clownhouse, Hairspray (1988 version), Fast Getaway, Who's Harry Crumb?, Look Who's Talking 1 & 2, The Gods Must Be Crazy II, Troop Beverly Hills, Awakenings, and many, many more. Strangely, the 1988 film Willow (a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film) was released on video by RCA/Columbia (a bylineless MGM logo appears right after this logo). One of the last releases to include this logo was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze; the logo fades out earlier than usual. Another You has RCA/Columbia on the box and on the video label, but the video itself has neither this nor the first Columbia TriStar Home Video logo.
Scare Factor: None.
_______________________________________________________________
RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video
1st Logo
(1982-1991?)
Nickname: "RCA/Columbia Box"
Logo: On a colored background, the same box from the 1st RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video logo, in 2D, fades in. "HOME VIDEO" is replaced by "INTERNATIONAL VIDEO".
Variants:
- On PAL tapes in Germany, the logo is against a sky blue background, after its warning screen is finished scrolling. Spanish PAL tapes have the same variant as well, but without the same warning screen.
- There is a variation with a dodger blue background, at least on PAL tapes from Italy.
- Some UK tapes have a variation with a crimson background.
- Japanese tapes would use a dark gray background.
- Another variant has a redrawn (slightly uglier) box, that has "Pictures" smaller than "Columbia", and everything is on a black background.
- Some tapes use the 5th variant, but with a white background, and everything in the large box (Columbia print logo and text) is red rather than blue and white.
FX/SFX: The fading in.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Despite it being used for nearly ten years, it is extremely hard to come across in North America. Seen mainly on releases outside of North America such as The Amazing Spider Man, The Real Ghostbusters, and Annie. However, if you have an NTSC tape from (at least) Mexico or Japan, or even a SECAM tape from France or Russia, you'll probably find this logo.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1988?-1992)
Nicknames: "The International Spinning Cube", "RCA/Columbia Box II", "The RCA/Columbia Cube"
Logo: On a black background, a 3D cube comes up from the screen. It has the RCA logo in red at the top and "INTERNATIONAL VIDEO" at the bottom. Then the Columbia Pictures print logo in blue and white swoops up from the bottom. The cube spins once and settles down, facing the viewers.
Variations:
- On some PAL tapes, the animation takes place on a pale marble background. When the logo has finished animating, it "ripples" out and the whole thing fades to black.
- On releases from Contacto Video in Colombia, the RCA/Columbia logo shrinks down to the lower right of the screen. Then the Contacto Video logo animates, then it shrinks and moves to the upper-left of the screen.
FX/SFX: The 3D cube rising, the Columbia Pictures print logo rising from the bottom. Pretty neat CGI animation; it's more superior to its North American counterpart.
Cheesy Factor: The only real cheesy factor is the fanfare.
Music/Sounds: A dramatic 1980s-sounding synthesized fanfare, complete with a couple whooshes, or a generic theme.
Availability: Rare. It was only used on video releases outside North America. However, if you have an NTSC tape from (at least) Mexico or Japan, or even a SECAM tape from France or Russia, you'll probably find this logo.
Scare Factor: Low. It's a very clean and professional logo.
_______________________________________________________________
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
1st Logo
(January-August 1992, 1995)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes", "Part I: The Boxes Cometh", "Split Rectangle", "Prototype CT Boxes", "Rectangular Boxes"
Logo: On a black BG, we see a split rectangle. On the left side, we see the '80s Torch Lady (print version with the sunburst intact behind her), and on the right, the TriStar "Pegasus Over Pyramid" logo (print version too, but minus the word "PICTURES" at the bottom). Above, we see the stacked words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" in Bank Gothic MD BT font that's a little stretched up by height, one above the other, and at the bottom, we see "HOME VIDEO" on a straight line.
FX/SFX: None. Other times, the logo would fade in and fade out.
Music/Sounds: None. Although, on foreign releases, a short guitar/base note was heard.
Availability: Quite rare. This is the very first logo featuring a box motif, which would eventually develop into the familiar and much hated Columbia TriStar Home Video and Columbia TriStar Television logos. Also, this is a placeholder logo, a logo that is used on a show or video when the new one isn't quite ready yet. Among the releases with this logo are some prints of My Girl, Annie, Ice Castles, The Adventures of Milo and Otis (the 1992 reprint), From Here to Eternity, Men at Work, Hook (both the original 1992 release and a 1995 VHS reissue), Troll 2, Spellcaster, Boyz n the Hood, Bugsy, Relentless 2: Dead On, American Blue Note, and The Prince of Tides. The international version is on VHS releases outside the United States and Canada, including a Spanish VHS of In the Line of Fire. On re-releases of some RCA/Columbia videos (some in their original packaging) and most notably some early New Line releases with the RCA/Columbia print logo (such as Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare), this logo plasters over the original RCA/Columbia logo. A few tapes with the RCA/Columbia print logo that were released in early 1992 also have this logo to begin with.
Scare Factor: None for the standard version. The one with the guitar note is minimum, bordering on low.
2nd Logo
(September 1992-April 1993)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes II", "Part II: The Boxes Take Form", "The First Box Logo"
Logo: On a white BG, we see two boxes outlined with a black border. On the left is one featuring a newly-done Torch Lady, and on the right is a newly-done Pegasus on a Columbia-like cloud background. Above the boxes are the words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR", with each word positioned over its respective logo. "HOME VIDEO" is seen below.
Trivia: The Columbia Torch Lady seen on the left was painted by Michael J. Deas and the TriStar Pegasus seen on the right was painted by Alan Reingold.
Variant: There is a variant where it happens to be an invert of colors. The background is black, the letters and the outlined boxes are both white, and both respective logos are a bit close up.
FX/SFX: The fade in and fade out of the logo.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Again, quite rare. This is just another placeholder logo, but this time they've actually designed the new logos. If not mistaken, this may just be the first appearance of the new "Sony Logos" for each company. Titles with this logo include A League of Their Own, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Finishing Touch, Where the Day Takes You, Storyville, The Finest Hour, Deep Cover, Aces: Iron Eagle III, The Player, Chrome Soldiers, Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice, Mo' Money, Mr. Saturday Night, Year of the Comet, We're Talking Serious Money, Jersey Girl, A Midnight Clear, Single White Female, Auntie Lee's Meat Pies, The Lawnmower Man, City of Joy and the early John Wayne film Two-Fisted Law, starring Tim McCoy. The inverted variant is extremely rare and it has been spotted on an Italian VHS of The Addams Family. This has also been seen on some Laserdiscs, including the 1993 Criterion release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and The Wrecking Crew. Interestingly, early videos with this logo would use the print version of the previous logo.
Scare Factor: None.
3rd Logo
(May 1993-2002, 2004, 2006)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes III", "Part III: Will This Logo Ever Die?!", "Sliding Boxes", "Blue BG Boxes"
Logo: We see a screen full of clouds forming, tossing about. Then, "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" zooms out from above, and "HOME VIDEO" shrinks out from below as we see the clouds zoom out, as part of a golden-bordered box on a blue-black gradient background. The box then splits apart to reveal the Torch Lady on the left (in its same style as before), and the Pegasus on the right (again, the same style as before), as the wording takes its position. The text shines for a few seconds after the logo is formed.
Variants:
- Some New Line Home Video releases distributed by C-T have the Sony Pictures Entertainment byline on the bottom.
- A still logo was found on early Columbia TriStar Home Video releases on DVD.
- There is also an abridged version for some New Line Home Video releases.
- There is a silent version on As Good as It Gets.
Trailer Variants: Rarely, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, the blue background would fade out to the moving clouds and one of the following phrases would zoom in from the center of the screen:
- COMING SOON TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU
- COMING SOON TO HOME VIDEO
- NOW AVAILABLE ON HOME VIDEO
- NOW AVAILABLE
- COMING SOON
- NOW AVAILABLE
FX/SFX: The zooming out effects; nice CGI for the time.
Cheesy Factor: It seems a bit dated, and the Pegasus looks like it was pasted on top of the Columbia logo, as the cloud backgrounds are the same. TriStar used a different, darker cloud BG, which is why.
Music/Sounds: A rather dramatic synth theme with a climaxing synth-piano fanfare at the end. Sometimes would follow a male announcer announcing the clip on.
Availability: Very common even today. Seen on almost all videotapes, Laserdiscs, and DVDs from Columbia TriStar Home Video like Thomas and the Magic Railroad, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, and Madeline, even on early DVD releases from the company. The abridged version can be found mainly on New Line releases such as National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1, Time Runner, Surf Ninjas, Three of Hearts, Man's Best Friend, Who's the Man?, Excessive Force, Chained Heat 2, Relentless 3, Relentless 4: Ashes to Ashes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and the unrated version of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. This was strangely found on the 2004 DVD of The Deep and the 2006 DVD of Jason and the Argonauts which might have been re-prints. It also popped up on the 1998 DVD of Oliver! and its 2005 reprint/repackaging. Also seen on tapes released in Canada by Astral Video after the Astral logo during the mid-1990s, including Demon Possessed.
Scare Factor: None. This logo got very popular and was used for eleven years, thanks to the music!
4th Logo
Nicknames: "CT Boxes IV", "Take Hollywood Home!", "Sliding Boxes II"
Logo: We start out against a wispy brown background. Then a square with the footage of Columbia Torch Lady from the 1993 Columbia Pictures logo in it
fades in, and slides to the left, revealing a box with the footage of the TriStar Pegasus from the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo (but the background is changed into a similar cloud background from the Columbia logo, but a bit shorter and darker), which slides to the right. The words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" appear above the boxes and "HOME VIDEO" on the bottom with "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" below everything else.FX/SFX: The boxes fading in and sliding, the animations of the Columbia/TriStar logos in the boxes.
Cheesy Factor: Again just like the 3rd CTHV logo, the Pegasus looks like he's pasted on the Columbia logo, but the cloud is shorter and a bit darker.
Music/Sounds: A singing trio (two females: one soprano & alto, and a male tenor) singing "TAKE HOLLYWOOD HOOOOOOOOOME!!!!!", or the opening theme of the trailer.
Availability: Very rare. It was used only on some tapes released by the short-lived Columbia TriStar Family Collection, such as Real Genius and The Adventures of Milo and Otis.
Scare Factor: Low to high. It all depends on what you think of that sudden singing trio. None with the opening theme.
5th Logo
(1995-1997?)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes V", "Sliding Boxes III", "Take Hollywood Home! II"
Logo: Same as before, except the background is replaced with a background of clouds, which happens to be a lighter conception of the 1993 CTHV/1995 CTIT logo intro. Plus, the name and the byline are in navy blue color.
FX/SFX: Same as the 4th logo.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the 4th logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 4th logo.
Availability: Ultra rare. It's seen on several domestic and international promos of home video releases by CTHV. One tape to have this logo is Persuasion.
Scare Factor: Same as the 4th logo.
6th Logo
(1996-1998)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes VI", "Take Hollywood Home! III", "Rising Boxes"
Logo: On a taupe brown BG, we see a row of gold print logos of the Torch Lady and Pegasus in boxes at an angle. The Columbia and TriStar boxes (in their similar styles from the 4th and 5th logos, which this time, they are still and not animated), then rise out of two of the boxes in the center as the row of boxes tilts to face the screen. The 3-D words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" and "HOME VIDEO" in gold, fade in above and below the boxes, respectively with a shining wipe effect.
Trailer Variants: Many times, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, and one of the following phrases, in script, would zoom in from the center of the logo:
- Coming Soon to Home Video
- Coming Soon to a Theater Near You
- Now Available on Home Video
- Now Available
Variants:
- There is a shorter version that doesn't feature a clip-on.
- An extremely rare variant exists on widescreen DVDs, Laserdiscs and VHS tapes where there are blue bars featuring small CTHV print logos on the sides of the logo.
FX/SFX: Simple but nice animation.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the 4th and 5th logos.
Music/Sounds: Same as above, but the singing trio is less jollier.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- On some trailers like both versions of the Family Collection trailer, the exact same music from the last logos are used.
- On the trailer variants of this logo, a 6-note piano jingle is added at the beginning.
- The 2nd version of the Family Collection trailer has a version similar to the one mentioned above, except the piano jingle is shortened to the last 4 notes.
Availability: Rare. C-T used this logo from 1996 to 1997 and as a result this was probably used on most releases. Sometimes it was alternated with the blue BG logo, so as always, keep your eye out. The best source for this logo would be the company's earliest DVD releases such as Philadelphia and Dr. Strangelove. It also appeared on the VHS releases of The Cable Guy (only some prints, others just used the 3rd logo), Matilda, Fly Away Home, Buddy, a later copy of Magic in the Water, The Fan, and High School High, and the shorter version appeared on Jerry Maguire (only some prints, others used the 3rd logo instead) and Jumanji (there was an ad for Sony Maximum TV sets, followed by a clip-on immediately after). The widescreen version appears on the 1998 DVD of Immortal Beloved and the widescreen Laserdisc editions of The Indian in the Cupboard, Lost in Yonkers, and The Cable Guy.
Scare Factor: Same as above.
7th Logo
(1997?)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes VII", "Blue Print Boxes"
Logo: Up against a royal blue background with many print logos of CTHV on it, we see the standard C-T boxes outlined in white with the white text "COLUMBIA TRISTAR"
above and "HOME VIDEO" below the logo respectively.FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 3rd logo.
Availability: Extremely rare. It was only known to be seen on the first DVD releases of The Net, The Fifth Element, and Happy Birthday to Me; the latter two are now out of print. However, the former title on DVD can still be rented from Netflix.
Scare Factor: None.
8th Logo
(1997-2000)
Logo: On an ethereal blue background, we see filmstrips crisscrossing the screen, with each frame in each filmstrip featuring the C-T box logo. We see a filmstrip in the center of the screen and then pan towards it, seeing the boxes in each frame and the endings of their respective movie animations playing out within them. As the final frame reaches the screen, the background turns white with several blue or light blue areas in each corner as the boxes (with the footage of the Torch Lady from the 1993 Columbia Pictures logo on the left and the footage of the Pegasus from the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo on the right) go into position. Then the words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" and HOME VIDEO" fade in above and below the boxes, respectively.
Variant: A widescreen variant exists.
Trailer Variants: Many times, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, and one of the following phrases, in script, would zoom in from the center of the logo:
- Coming Soon to Home Video
- Coming Soon to a Theater Near You
- Now Available on Home Video
- Now Available
FX/SFX: Great CGI. And if you thought this one was good, the next one is even more mind-blowing.
Music/Sounds: None, but on international releases, a generic hip hop-like jingle was used.
Availability: During the beginning of its existence, it was pretty easy to spot. However, around 1998, this logo was no longer used as their standard logo, only being used for clip-ons and trailers. Instead their standard logo was the 1993 logo. Tapes with this logo include Buddy, Men in Black, Anaconda, My Best Friend's Wedding, the Broadway Musical Edition VHS release of Annie, Das Boot: The Director's Cut, The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo, Air Force One, The Fifth Element, Slappy and the Stinkers, I Know What You Did Last Summer, 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain, and Baby Geniuses. It has also been seen on the UK DVD releases of Das Boot and Muppets from Space. It also surprisingly appeared on a mid-2000s UK DVD of Ghostbusters, which must have been a reprint of an earlier DVD.
Scare Factor: None.
9th Logo
(1999-2001)
Nicknames: "CT Boxes IX", "C-T DVD", "The Boxes of Splendor"
Logo: On a screen filled with clouds, the words "COLUMBIA" spelling itself standard and "TRISTAR" spelling itself backwards letter-by-letter, handsomely done in shining silver text, tumble onto the screen, "COLUMBIA" coming from the upper right and "TRISTAR" coming from the lower left. The clouds clear, revealing a nice backdrop of clouds and two white, glowing boxes. As the light in the boxes die down, the Columbia Torch Lady zooms in towards us in the left box, and we see the Pegasus (in his similar style from the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo), stretch his wings in the right box, as the wings cross over to the Columbia box. The words "COLUMBIA" and "TRISTAR" later change to gold lettering and position themselves under the boxes, and "DVD" (or "HOME VIDEO" for VHS releases) zooms out from the top, at warp speed, landing below the C-T text, causing the phaser effect to appear around it, which suddenly disappears.
Variants:
- C-T has adapted this logo for VHS releases; however, this has only been seen on Stuart Little and Blue Streak.
- There is another variant that has "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" in place of "HOME VIDEO".
FX/SFX: Mind-blowing CGI, and has become a favorite of those who've seen it.
Cheesy Factor: The Pegasus' cloud is the same as the Columbia Pictures cloud, but it's backwards and shorter from the Columbia logo, which doesn't look that professional.
Music/Sounds: Whooshing sounds as the words, "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" move into position. An ethereal humming noise as the boxes are revealed and animate. As the TriStar Pegasus unfolds and stretches his wings, we hear a low whoosh sound. Last, a phaser sound as the certain text moves into place and we hear chime sounds. Sometimes, there was a more common version with an even louder version.
Availability: It's seen on most DVD releases of the time; prior to this, they used the 1993 logo. The "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" variation can be seen only on the Love Stinks VHS and the 2002 DVD of the Japanese animated Metropolis. Examples for this logo include Dogma and the first UK DVD release of The Karate Kid. Strangely, this logo makes an appearance on the 2002 Deluxe Edition DVD of Men in Black. One of the last releases to use this was the DVD release of The Wedding Planner (the VHS used the 10th logo).
Scare Factor: Low. The specific text zooming out and the phaser sound might probably get to more than a few.
10th Logo
(2001-2005)
Nickname: "Ultra Majestic Torch Lady-Pegasus Combo"
Logo: Over the usual cloud background, we pan past an extreme close up of the Torch Lady's legs and feet (covered in the robe of course), then dissolves into a pan of the TriStar Pegasus (in the print artwork style except for the body and the legs, which are in the 1993 movie logo style but in the same color as the Pegasus' face and wings) unfolding his wings. The pan then quickly dissolves into a shot from the center of the Pegasus unfolding his wings, albeit in a close-up fashion, and then a dissolve to the Torch Lady zooming-out from her face. The logo then dissolves to reveal the Torch Lady and Pegasus side-by-side on a cloud background in their print artwork style, with "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" slightly sliding in with "HOME ENTERTAINMENT", in a smaller font, fading in letter-by-letter.
Variants:
- On some 2002 VHS prints of Stuart Little, there is a promo for Little Secrets that features this logo minus "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" below.
- On most Columbia TriStar DVDs from 2002-2005, the logo is in warp-speed.
- On a white background, there are two boxes. The first has the 1993 Columbia Torch Lady with a cloud behind her and the second has the 1993 TriStar Pegasus with the cloud background behind it. On the top is "COLUMBIA TRISTAR", in black and in the Bank Gothic MD BT font. Below it is "HOME ENTERTAINMENT". This logo appeared on the Comedy TV Preview found on Married... With Children: The Most Outrageous Episodes and was never used on general releases. This can also be found on certain promos of TV series by Sony Pictures Television.
- On VHS releases from 2004-2005, it has a shortened version of this logo with a trailer bump, but has the DVD music.
Trailer Variants: Rarely, letters would appear on top of the screen, and it, in regular font, with an announcer, would state the following (on VHS promos, half of the logo is playing in widescreen and the words are on the wide boxes):
- Now Playing In Theaters
- Coming Soon To A Theater Near You
- Now Available on Video and DVD
- Coming Soon To Video and DVD
- Now Available
- Coming Soon to Home Video
International Trailer Variants: On early Australian releases the logo plays normally and in the top right of the screen letters appear spelling "COMING SOON". So far this has only been spotted on a 2001 VHS release of Charlie's Angels.
FX/SFX: Of course, that isn't the entire logo. Throughout the animation, the logos are artistically stylized, with mosaic and pixelization effects being used through the logo and a scrolling Matrix-like wall of typography appearing throughout. Also, the designers of the logo, Montgomery/Cobb, retouched the face of the Torch Lady and the wings of the Pegasus to make them look more realistic. The dissolves are done gradually, almost like wipes, and the logo seems to be divided up into five sections during the animation, before coming together as an actual logo at the end. The logo looks quite nice and artistic as a result.
Music/Sounds: There were two variants:
- VHS (and early DVDs): Composed by Machine Head of Venice, California, a wonderful synthesized fanfare that is very majestic, fitting the majestic feel of the logo. Also, it would be interesting to note that the logo is one of the longest, clocking in at nearly 20 seconds!
- DVD (and later international VHS): An acoustic guitar tune combined with bells, strings, and a small chorus. The animation appears to play slightly quicker here.
- On the VHS trailer version of this logo, the clicking noise heard at the beginning of the regular VHS version of the logo is absent.
Scare Factor: None. It's a popular logo now that the widely hated "Split Boxes" have been put to rest. Nice fanfare and great logo concept make this a winner.
_______________________________________________________________
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
(March 24, 2005- )
Nicknames: "The Shining Bars", "Ultra Majestic Sony Pictures Bars", "SPHE Bars", "Sony Bars"
Logo: Over a set of purple clouds, we see a bright light with rays shooting outward which start to create some lens flares. A set of white lines of light appear and zoom out to solidify into the Shining Bars, Sony Pictures Entertainment's logo, which give off rays of light. As this happens, the background turns black. The rays die down and we see "SONY PICTURES" in the Sony font appear below the Bars, a line is drawn underneath that, and "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" appears underneath.
Trailer Variants: On 2005-2006 VHS releases by SPHE, one of the following phrases would fade in during the clouds portion of the animation with a male announcer saying the phrase. Afterwards, the rest of the animation plays as normal.
- Coming Soon to Theaters
- Now Playing in Theaters
- Coming Soon to DVD and Video
- Now Available on DVD and Video
FX/SFX: Just great CGI.
Music/Sounds: Two timpani drumbeats, followed by an uplifting-sounding horn/string arrangement. Sometimes, the theme is played in low tone.
Availability: Common. Can be found on all DVDs (and even UMDs for the Sony PSP) released by the company from 2005 onward. The print SPHE logo goes back to November 2004, and those early SPHE releases still have the 2001 CTHE logo. The animated SPHE logo made its debut on the PSP UMD of Spider-Man 2 in the spring of 2005. The first DVD to have this logo was Are We There Yet? The trailer variants can be considered very rare, but they appear on VHS releases by SPHE that were released between 2005-2006. Strangely this logo appeared on TV airings of Open Season 2 and Stuart Little 3 on the AUS version of Cartoon Network and many other broadcasts of direct-to-DVD releases on any US network.
Scare Factor: Low. It's just good CGI animation.
Gabkat2007 |
Latest page update: made by Gabkat2007
, May 3 2013, 1:40 PM EDT
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Edited by Gabkat2007
54 words added 19 words deleted view changes - complete history) |
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Keyword tags:
Colmbia TriStar HE
Columbia Pictures Home Video
Columbia TriStar Home Video
RCA/Columbia Pictures HV
Sony Corporation
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures HE
More Info: links to this page
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| Logophile | The first Columbia-Tristar Home Video logo. | 7 | Jun 8 2011, 4:46 AM EDT by OZ_Paramount87 | ||
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Thread started: Jul 17 2010, 1:29 AM EDT
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I have a few things about this logo:
1. I don't think this was used in 1991. Late 1991 releases have the RCA/Columbia logo. The original VHS release of Another you has the RCA/Columbia logo on the box and tape lable, but the video has neither the RCA/Columbia logo nor Columbia Tristar. I saw a video called Oscars Greatest Moments 1971-1991 which has the RCA/Columbia logo on the box and tape lable and has the Columbia Tristar logo. It was released in 1992. I have reason to believe the first logo was introduced in 1992. 2. It says the first logo was a placeholder logos as is the second. How can this be. Why would they have two placeholder logo? The second one I can understand, but it can't be the first. It doesn't make sense. |
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| Logophile | CTHV Blue Background with Sony byline | 2 | Nov 29 2010, 5:45 PM EST by logosrus | ||
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Thread started: Sep 8 2008, 12:40 PM EDT
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Does anyone know where I can find the Columbia Tristar Home Video logo with the Sony Pictures byline? I've looked through several New Line Home Video tapes, but I can't find it.
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| LogoFriend4 | Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment logo? | 1 | Apr 30 2013, 8:26 AM EDT by Logophile | ||
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Thread started: Apr 29 2013, 11:52 PM EDT
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Hi, I was just wondering, is there a Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment logo? If you don't know what that is, it's an Australian joint venture of Universal Home ENtertament and Sont Pictures Home Entertaiment. I can asssure there would be some kind of logo to go with it, would there?
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| WaltDisneyLogos | Edit | 0 | Jul 15 2012, 9:01 PM EDT by WaltDisneyLogos | ||
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Thread started: Jul 15 2012, 9:01 PM EDT
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I heard from Wikipedia (long time ago) that the 10th logo was first used on 7 August, 2001 and was made its last appearance at June 2005 (even though the 2005 SPHE logo was already introduced). So I edit into this:
10th Logo (7 August 2001-June 2005) |
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| AndrewVickers | 2nd Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment Logo | 11 | Apr 6 2012, 5:42 PM EDT by kc86er | ||
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Thread started: Jun 12 2011, 7:04 PM EDT
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I have just one thing about that particular logo stated in subject title:
2nd Logo (December 1981 - November 1982) (the logo with the "blue arch"). If it is unknown where it came from, then how did the snapshots get on here, was it from a YouTube video? I could also tell it's not an international logo. Also, could anyone tell me some title of where that logo came from? |
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