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Logo descriptions by by Nicholas Aczel, Sean Beard, Kris Starring, WileE2005, TVBRobotnik and Sega3dmm
Logo pictures by Eric S., V of Doom, and others
Editions by V of Doom, Bob Fish, Mr. Logo Lord and Nathan B.
Walt Disney Home Video/Entertainment
1st Logo
(1978-October 1986) 
From left to right: The standard variants, the "Walt Disney and You" promo variant, the Cartoon Classics variant, and the blue binder variant
Nicknames: "Neon Mickey", "Evil Mickey Mouse", "Neon Mouse of Doom", "Neon Mouse from Hell", "Mickey the Terrible", "Neon of Doom", "Neon from Hell"
Logo: Here are the two standard variants of this logo:
Variants:
Trivia: The second variant of this logo was used in foreign countries from 1981.
FX/SFX: All the animation in the logo.
Cheesy Factor: Early computer animation effects abound (probably "Scan"-imate), and a terrible color scheme, too. Also, the script font on the first variation is ugly with a capital UGLY, and the text on the 2nd variation zooms in very cheaply. Oh, and the fanfare is TOO loud which doesn't help either.
Music/Sounds: A loud orchestral fanfare, composed by Buddy Baker. From 1983-1986, the music was synthesized. The "Walt Disney and You" promo had the end theme playing over the regular animation before the video freeze.
Availability: Seen on Disney videos from the period. The best way to find it is to look for a Disney video with white clamshell packaging and the Sorcerer Mickey print logo on the top of the cover, which usually takes up almost half the box. The versions on the Cartoon Classics series as well as the "Walt Disney and You" promo are extremely rare.
Scare Factor: Medium to NIGHTMARE; the bad quality of the "Scan"-imated graphics as well as the loud fanfare might not sit well with people, which is considered the scariest home video logo ever made, even though it's not as scary as Viacom's V of Doom, Screen Gems' S from Hell nor the first godawful View Askew logo from 1994. The intimidating, somewhat monstrous CGI Mickey isn't exactly that friendly-looking, either. Low for the "Walt Disney and You" promo variant.
2nd Logo
(1986-2002)
Nickname: "Sorcerer Mickey"
Logo: On a black background, we see Mickey Mouse dressed as the Sorcerer's Apprentice under a blue spotlight and holding out his right hand. As we zoom up to his hand, a spark flies out from it, and as we zoom past, we see the spark circling and writing the words "Walt Disney", in red, and in the "Disney" font. The words "HOME VIDEO", also in red, zoom out and settles underneath. The logo "shines".
Variants:
FX/SFX: The spark flying and writing and the logo shining.
Music/Sounds: A low-key, gradually rising synth theme.
Availability: Quite common. Seen on home video releases of Disney shows such as DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Disney's Sing Along Songs, Dinosaurs, The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, classic Disney cartoon collections, Walt Disney Mini Classics, and Darkwing Duck. Also seen on a few Classics and Masterpiece Collection videos before the previews.
Scare Factor: None; this logo is very clean and professional, compared with the predecessor.
3rd Logo (Australia)
(1980s)
Logo: Against a white BG, we see the usual Walt Disney Home Video text from before in blue. "distributed by" appears below in very small print. It then cuts to one of the two Roadshow Home Video logos used during the 80's. For tapes that were released in 1982-1986, the "Aussie Light Trails" logo is used; tapes from 1986-1989 used "The Other V of Doom".
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on some Aussie and New Zealand PAL tapes of Disney material that was distributed through Roadshow Home Video.
Scare Factor: None by itself. However, it cuts rather jarringly to the Roadshow logo, especially when "The Other V of Doom" is used; that logo has a high scare factor in the first place.
4th Logo
(1992-2002)
Logo: On a black background, we see the golden words:
with "Walt Disney" in the corporate "signature" font. The words shine.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The "shining".
Music/Sounds: A lilting dreamy strings tune.
Availability: Seen on most (non Classics/Masterpiece) Disney video/DVD releases of the era.
Scare Factor: Low, the music may turn some people off; otherwise, it's a clean (and BORING) logo.
5th Logo
(1995-2001)
Logo: On a black background, we see the blue words:
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Same as the Walt Disney Home Video logo from 1992-2001.
Availability: Rare; seen on home video releases from Disney from the mid to late '90s, such as releases of the shows Bonkers, Goof Troop, Gargoyles, Quack Pack, Timon and Pumbaa and others. Also found on assorted post-1998 VHS releases (non Classics/Masterpiece). It ended with the 2001 VHS of Remember the Titans.
Scare Factor: Same as the 4th Logo
6th Logo
(1995-2002)
Nicknames: "Disney Videos", "The Purple Cubes"
Logo: On a blue/green gradient background, three black balls fall from the top of the screen and bounce off the bottom. Two of the balls form the ears of Mickey Mouse and one ball forms the head. Many purple cubes fall from above to form a rectangle. A right-slanted yellow rectangle and a green square also fall from above, the rectangle slants left and settles on the left while the green square slants right and settles on the right. The balls in the Mickey Mouse logo bounce onto the green square. The red corporate font "Disney" zooms out and settles on the yellow rectangle. Below, the rectangular green banner with white text "VIDEOS" unfolds to the right.
Variant: Sometimes, the background is purple, and the square is white. This was spotted on a PAL tape of Song of the South. On some swedish Disney VHS tapes there was a V/O saying (Unsure, If someone translates the right video's Swedish to British english, another point for you) "A world of magic which can be yours to own, on Walt Disney home video."
Trivia: Although this logo was shown in the U.S. in 2000 only, it was used in European countries from 1995 to 2002; for example, on 1995 releases of Pocahontas, 101 Dalmatians, and One of our Dinosaurs is Missing, on 1998 releases of Flubber, and on some Disney's Sing Along Songs tapes.
FX/SFX: All the animation in this logo.
Music/Sounds: A very short orchestral rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star" (different from the version used on the Walt Disney Pictures logo) ending with an orchestral hit. Sometimes seen silent, and also spotted with an announcer spiel.
Availability: Seen on assorted kid-oriented Disney videos, most of which were released outside of the U.S.
Scare Factor: None; another very nicely animated logo from Disney.
7th Logo
(2001-2008?)
Nickname: "The Ring"
Logo: We see a bright flash with the "D" from the gold text "Walt Disney" (in the familiar signature font) both of which are zooming out on a blue (or black) space background. When everything is at a comfortable distance at the top of the screen, the flash forms an abstract shining star below "Walt Disney", and the light spreads out to form a glowing arc. When this is finished, "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" fades in underneath the arc in gold.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: All modern computer graphics.
Music/Sounds: A short synth/orchestral tune. In 2006, the tune was slightly redone.
Availability: No longer current, but can be found on DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases from the era. Studio Ghibli films didn't have this, instead using the text "WALT DISNEY HOME ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS" on there as well.
Scare Factor: Low; the animation and music may get to some, but it is a good logo.
8th Logo
(2008?- )
Nickname: "There is Only One Disney"
Logo: We see a wall of hundreds of clips from Walt Disney Pictures, both animated and live action. One by one, the words "MOVIES", "MAGIC", and "MORE" zoom in and fade out. Then all the clips come together to form the 2006 Disney Castle. The ring gets drawn around the castle, as usual, then "DISNEY", in the famous script, fades in below.
FX/SFX: All modern effects.
Music/Sounds: The majestic American Masters fanfare. Most of the time, an announcer will say "From the magic within our hearts, to the adventure beyond the horizon, there is only one Disney.".
Availability: Current.
Scare Factor: None.
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Walt Disney Company
(1986-2002?)
Logo: Like the Walt Disney Productions in-credit disclaimer, we see a black background with the "chryoned" in-credit disclaimer in white.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Same as Buena Vista Television's 1st logo.
Availability: Plasters over the Walt Disney Television "rainbow castle" logo on DuckTales videos and some The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh videos. However, this logo was seen on a Spanish print of the "Disney's Golden Classics: Pluto" VHS.
Scare Factor: Low; the twinkling sound from the Buena Vista TV logo may startle you.
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Walt Disney Home Video International
(1981-1987)
Logo: A flash occurs. The face of Mickey Mouse in his then current drawing style zooms in, which quickly turns neon, then we see brief clips from Disney films and shorts such as Steamboat Willie, Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, Zorro, Old Yeller, Treasure Island, The Country Bear Jamboree, and The Absent Minded Professor. After Donald Duck's neon head zooms in, then a wall of light appears, Mary Poppins floats down, then Tinkerbell flies up with sparkles forming. We see a picture of a castle, neon, with fireworks, in the background. We zoom into it, then we zoom in to a vector-like rendition of Epcot. After we go to a black/dark red gradient background. the Walt Disney text zooms up from the top, then HOME VIDEO is cheaply inserted below. The whole thing sparkles.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The whole Scanimate animation... and the clips! This was originally from the US intro of the '80s version of The Wonderful World of Disney back when it was called, quite simply, Walt Disney.
Music/Sounds: A disco version of "When You Wish Upon a Star". Extended on only 2 releases and the first showings of the TV series.
Availability: Was only seen on tapes released outside the United States and Canada, usually from the UK and Europe, but this was spotted on a few Mexican tapes of the era, so go south of the border (or across the Atlantic) if you wish to find this logo. You might even spot an Asian tape with this logo as well (like an NTSC-format tape from Japan, or in the case of YouTube user "akhenaten1881", a PAL tape from Malaysia). You might even find it on some Roadshow Home Video-distributed tapes from Australia or an AVH-distributed tape from Argentina, or even a Nu Metro Home Entertainment-distributed tape from South Africa. Also seen on the TV series mentioned, sans the "Home Video".
Scare Factor: Low to medium, thanks to the the loud music and in-your-face animation.
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Walt Disney Classics
Background: "Walt Disney Classics" was created as a brand to release classic Disney animated features on video, though in the early 1990s, it also focused on releasing current releases in the Disney Animated Features Canon to video.
1st Logo
(1984-1987)
Nicknames: "Cheesy Diamond", "Early Black Diamond"
Logo: On a blue background, the red "Disney" font text "Walt Disney Home Video" flies in circular motion from the right to the left, passing by rather close to the screen, then flips and cycles back. Following closely behind it is the white text "THE CLASSICS" doing likewise. The blue background begins to slowly take on a diamond shape. A black diamond zooms up from the center of the screen at a fast pace. "THE CLASSICS" flips its way to the top of the diamond, and "Walt Disney Home Video" flips its way to the bottom. A white diamond outline zooms out and plasters itself on the black diamond.
FX/SFX: The text "flipping," the zooming diamonds.
Cheesy Factor: Primitve 1980s computer FX standards used in the flipping text and formation of the diamond.
Music/Sounds: A bouncy Medieval-style Moog synthesizer fanfare.
Availability: Has rare written all over it, only used for a short period of time. Seen mainly on old mid '80s video prints of Disney animated features including the original video releases of Dumbo and Lady and the Tramp. Usually it is in clamshell packaging with the cover featuring a black flap in the lower right corner reading "The Original Animated Classic!", and often has the diamond print logo on the spine (without WDHV text) and on the videotape label (with WDHV text).
Scare Factor: Medium; the Moog synthesizers and in-your-face animation may scare some people, but it's mostly just annoying.
2nd Logo
(1988-1994)
Nicknames: "The Black Diamond", "The CGI Diamond", "The Diamond", "Sorcerer Mickey"
Logo: On a black background, we see Mickey Mouse dressed as the Sorcerer's Apprentice under a blue spotlight and holding out his right hand (reused from the 1986 Walt Disney Home Video logo). As we zoom up to his hand, a spark flies out from it, and as we zoom past, we see the spark circling and starting to write words "Walt Disney" in metallic white in the "Disney" font. As this is being done, the background changes to blue, the "Walt Disney" text zooms out as a black diamond with a metallic white outline slowly zooms up and the metallic white text "CLASSICS" in a fancy font zooms out from the bottom of the screen. "Walt Disney" settles itself on top of the diamond and "CLASSICS" on the bottom. A spark flies from the left, circles behind the diamond, flies out from the top right and in front of the diamond, leaving a trail of pixie dust that changes the "Walt Disney" and "CLASSICS" to gold and adds a purple tint to the diamond outline. The logo “shines”.
Variants:
FX/SFX: All the animation in the logo.
Cheesy Factor: Recycling the animation of Sorcerer Mickey and the Disney script text writing on screen from the 1986 WDHV logo is a tad cheesy, but not by much.
Music/Sounds: A majestic synthesizer fanfare. Muffled on later tapes due to a video processing error.
Availability: Rare; seen on late 1980's/early 1990's Disney video releases of their feature films with the text "(A) WALT DISNEY('S) CLASSIC" on top and the diamond print logo on the clamshell spine. Some early releases with this logo feature the diamond print logo (with WDHV text) on the label like the last logo. These videos can often be found on eBay and used video stores. It was first used on the original "Cinderella" video release, and "The Fox and the Hound" was the last film from the Walt Disney Classics series. The most common Disney Classics tapes featuring this logo are Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.
Scare Factor: Minimal; the fanfare and light effects might startle some here and there, but this is one of the best home video logos ever; the music and animation mix very, very well.
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Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection
Background: "Masterpiece Collection" replaced the "Classics" brand in 1994.
(1994-1999)
Nickname: "The Emblem"
Logo: On a black background, a spark of light sketches the gold "Disney" font words "Walt Disney" in an arc formation as the screen gradually zooms away. The gold text "MASTERPIECE" zooms out from the bottom of the screen and settles underneath on the far left, followed by the gold text "COLLECTION" which settles underneath on the far right. Tinkerbell flies out from behind "MASTERPIECE," flies to the top right of the logo, and waves her wand. A flash of light and the logo is surrounded by a purple canvas with a gold, black, and white frame and a light blue circle with the "Disney Castle" logo in between the "MASTERPIECE" and "COLLECTION." Tinkerbell exits to the left of the screen, leaving a trail of pixie dust to dissolve. The logo "shines."
FX/SFX: All the animation in this logo.
Cheesy Factor: The music and some of the CGI elements seem a bit more cheesy than its predecessor.
Music/Sounds: A fast-paced remix of the fanfare used in the Disney Classics logo #2. Sometimes an announcer will say, “And now our feature presentation.”. This can be spotted on The Aristocats and Oliver & Company, as well as some prints of The Black Cauldron.
Variant: A few early releases like So Dear To My Heart and others used the 1988 Walt Disney Classics jingle (1992 variant) playing underneath and logo shines twice at the end.
Availability: Seen on VHS releases of Disney feature films in clamshell packaging with the text “(A) WALT DISNEY('S) MASTERPIECE” on front and the "Masterpiece Collection" print logo on the top of the spine (sometimes the print logo is on the front as well), starting with Snow White, Dumbo, and Robin Hood, among others. The last video released under the series was The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. These videos are now out of print, though, but they may still be easy to find at used video stores. In 1999, the "Masterpiece Collection" brand was dropped and all new Disney products were released with the "Walt Disney Home Video" or "Walt Disney Home Entertainment" logo. Strangely enough, the original VHS of The Lion King has the logo on its spine, but not on the tape. Some early prints of the 1999 VHS release of Pinocchio feature this logo, while later prints don't. It also unusually shows up on the original 1997 VHS release of Pooh's Grand Adventure, which is strange since it is a direct-to-video movie and not part of the Disney Animated Features canon, and the print logo is nowhere to be found on the box. And one print of The Great Mouse Detective (one of the first post-Masterpiece releases) has a variant of the print logo on its spine, consisting solely of the castle with "Walt Disney" below it.
Scare Factor: Low; this is yet another very nicely animated logo.
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Walt Disney Mini Classics
Background: "Walt Disney Mini Classics" was created, due to the success of the "Black Diamond Classic" series, as a brand to release Disney animated featurettes on video. It included special featurettes such as Ben and Me and Mickey’s Christmas Carol, excerpts from the '40s "packaged" Disney films such as Peter and the Wolf and The Wind in the Willows, and the four classic Winnie the Pooh featurettes.
(1987-1993)
Nickname: "The Mini-Classics Shield"
Logo: On a black background, yellow neon lines begin drawing a fancy shield outline, with scrolls and more, and as the background turns blue, the words "Walt Disney" in metallic white zoom out and plaster onto the top of the shield outline, still tracing itself onscreen, and then, as the shield is finished "drawing," "MINI" in gold appears letter by letter and zooms out onto the shield. Then a gold bar with "CLASSICS" on it in black zooms out and plasters itself in the center above "MINI". Suddenly the shield outline background fills with rainbow colors as glitter effects fly from the now-completed logo, which "shines".
FX/SFX: All the CG animation in the logo.
Music/Sounds: A bright, musical synthesizer theme, which is synchronized with the animation in the logo.
Availability: Rare; seen on Disney Mini Classics videos from 1987 to 1993, which are in slipcover packaging, and featuring the Mini Classics print logo on top. This logo always followed the 1986 "Sorcerer Mickey" Walt Disney Home Video logo on these videos. It ended with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, and these videos immediately went out of print, in contrast to a newer series created in 1993 entitled "Walt Disney Favorite Stories".
Scare Factor: Minimal; this is a cute logo.
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Walt Disney Gold Classics Collection
(2000-2001)
Logo: On a blue background filled with gold glitter effects, the gold words in corporate font "Walt Disney" is seen and below it is a gold ribbon with the red words GOLD COLLECTION, separated by a red (gold outlined) circle with the Disney castle and the word "CLASSIC" below, both etched in gold. The logo "shines".
FX/SFX: The glitter, the "shining"...
Cheesy Factor: ...which are rather cheesy CGI effects; not up to par with other recent Disney Video logos.
Music/Sounds: Same as Walt Disney Home Video’s 3rd logo, the lilting dreamy strings tune.
Availability: Only used for a year, but several Disney DVD prints dating back to 2000 are still available, so it’s an easy find. A few Gold Classic Collection DVDs use the 1993 WDHV logo instead of this one.
Scare Factor: Low because of the 4th Logo's Music, but otherwise, it's pretty nice to look at
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Disney DVD
1st Logo
(2001-2005)
Nickname: "CGI Tinkerbell"
Logo: On a night-sky background, a spark shoots at the middle of the screen forming a "D". It comes again forming a "V" this time, next to the "D" and for the third time forming another "D". A curved line is drawn and "Disney" in that famous font goes on top of "DVD". The spark goes across the bottom forming "Pure Digital Magic" (in the native language of the country in which it was released) and that spark appears to be a CGI Tinkerbell who smiles at us and takes off.
FX/SFX: All the animation in this logo.
Music/Sounds: An orchestral tune, with a few "swoops" when the sparks fly in.
Availability: Seen on pre-2006 Disney DVD releases. Several of them are still in print.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(2005- )
Nicknames: "CGI Tinkerbell Redux" (2005-2007), "2-D Tinkerbell" (2007- )
Logo: Starts with the "D" in Disney being formed, uncomfortably close to the screen. A spark flies by in tune with the music. When the "Disney" text is formed, it flies out, and "DVD" does so as well, one letter at a time. An explosion of pixie dust forms an arc around the text, completing the logo. More pixie dust forms a white bar with the text "Movies, Magic & More" (same as above in the native language of the country in which it was released). Tinkerbell flies up to the screen momentarily before exiting.
Variant: In 2007, the logo was given an enhanced look, and Tinkerbell is in 2D.
FX/SFX: All the animation in the logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo, with more whooshing sounds added when the "DVD" letters fly in.
Availability: Current; can be seen on any Disney DVD made since 2005.
Scare Factor: None.
Logo pictures by Eric S., V of Doom, and others
Editions by V of Doom, Bob Fish, Mr. Logo Lord and Nathan B.
Walt Disney Home Video/Entertainment
1st Logo
(1978-October 1986)
From left to right: The standard variants, the "Walt Disney and You" promo variant, the Cartoon Classics variant, and the blue binder variant
Nicknames: "Neon Mickey", "Evil Mickey Mouse", "Neon Mouse of Doom", "Neon Mouse from Hell", "Mickey the Terrible", "Neon of Doom", "Neon from Hell"
Logo: Here are the two standard variants of this logo:
- 1978-1984: On a black background, we see a large live-action outline of Mickey Mouse, with thin blue lights lining it on the inside, appearing and then panning forward leaving a trail of outlines while rotating counterclockwise on its pivot. The outlines then start to change one-by-one to purple. As the text "Walt Disney" in yellow ( in Walt Disney's original signature ) , the Mickey outlines one-by-one change to red. The outlines again one-by-one change to yellow as the words "Home Entertainment" in yellow zoom up and settle underneath. Last but not least, the Mickey outlines one-by-one change to green. This is mainly on the old tapes where the Fantasia Mickey took up nearly half the box.
- 1981-1986: Nearly the same as the 1978 version, but with darker colors and smaller Mickey graphics, the "Walt Disney" text in the corporate "Disney" font, and with "HOME VIDEO" in a Handel Gothic-like font.
Variants:
- In the original 1983 series of Disney’s Cartoon Classics, the videos featured a different variant of this logo. The animation plays as normal (the standard 1983 Walt Disney Home Video variant), but without any text animation, plus the music is time-compressed. Once the Mickey outlines become yellow, the screen "flips" over to another logo, which is a still shot of "Walt Disney HOME VIDEO," with "The magic lives on…” over it. The Disney text is in its corporate font in red, while the other text is light blue. The only animation in this part is the "Walt Disney" text has glitter effects all over it, and then the text flashes when the Cartoon Classics theme begins playing, and then we fade into the intro for the video series.
- On the infamous Walt Disney and You promo, there is a video freeze and the text ''WALT DISNEY HOME VIDEO'' along with a cartoon version of Sorcerer Mickey (as seen on the box) zoom in. An announcer says "Now available from Walt Disney Home Video".
- On some Italian tapes, we see a blue binder on a wooden table with the ''WALT DISNEY HOME VIDEO'' print logo in it and then it opens to reveal the logo's animation, and the whole thing plays as normal. This is very rare.
Trivia: The second variant of this logo was used in foreign countries from 1981.
FX/SFX: All the animation in the logo.
Cheesy Factor: Early computer animation effects abound (probably "Scan"-imate), and a terrible color scheme, too. Also, the script font on the first variation is ugly with a capital UGLY, and the text on the 2nd variation zooms in very cheaply. Oh, and the fanfare is TOO loud which doesn't help either.
Music/Sounds: A loud orchestral fanfare, composed by Buddy Baker. From 1983-1986, the music was synthesized. The "Walt Disney and You" promo had the end theme playing over the regular animation before the video freeze.
Availability: Seen on Disney videos from the period. The best way to find it is to look for a Disney video with white clamshell packaging and the Sorcerer Mickey print logo on the top of the cover, which usually takes up almost half the box. The versions on the Cartoon Classics series as well as the "Walt Disney and You" promo are extremely rare.
Scare Factor: Medium to NIGHTMARE; the bad quality of the "Scan"-imated graphics as well as the loud fanfare might not sit well with people, which is considered the scariest home video logo ever made, even though it's not as scary as Viacom's V of Doom, Screen Gems' S from Hell nor the first godawful View Askew logo from 1994. The intimidating, somewhat monstrous CGI Mickey isn't exactly that friendly-looking, either. Low for the "Walt Disney and You" promo variant.
2nd Logo
(1986-2002)
Middle: Standard logos
Bottom: The variants, including UK variations
Nickname: "Sorcerer Mickey"
Logo: On a black background, we see Mickey Mouse dressed as the Sorcerer's Apprentice under a blue spotlight and holding out his right hand. As we zoom up to his hand, a spark flies out from it, and as we zoom past, we see the spark circling and writing the words "Walt Disney", in red, and in the "Disney" font. The words "HOME VIDEO", also in red, zoom out and settles underneath. The logo "shines".
Variants:
- Sometimes, this logo is shown without Mickey, and only the spark animation plays. Sometimes, "presents", in white or 3-D red, fades in below with spark effects.
- On Disney's SAS: Collection of All-Time Favorites, the opening theme plays over the logo, which is sped up to accomodate it.
- Sometimes, this logo is shown without Mickey, leaving a blank space until the spark writes out the words.
- Sometimes, the "HOME VIDEO" text will be blacked out and either "Coming to Home Video", "Coming on Video Cassette This Summer" (only seen on 101 Dalmatians with a remix of the 1986 WDHV jingle), "Coming This Fall to Home Video" (without music; only seen on 101 Dalmatians and The Great Mouse Detective) or "Now on Home Video" replaces it. (The "Coming to Home Video" variation has the 1991 FP jingle (The Rescuers has a shortened version of the FP jingle with Mark Elliot saying "Coming soon from Walt Disney Home Video" and Beauty and the Beast has the full 1991 FP jingle with Brian Cummings saying "Coming from Walt Disney Home Video", and the "Now on Home Video" variation, which is only seen on Beauty and the Beast with the 1991 FP jingle with Brian Cummings saying "Now on Walt Disney Home Video".
- On tapes released in Spanish-speaking and Italian-speaking countries, "presenta", in red, fades in below, cheaply inserted. No spark effects are seen.
- On some UK releases, the short version was used and shifted down in order to make room for "COMING SOON/ALSO AVAILABLE FROM".
- This logo was used in foreign countries from 1987-1995.
FX/SFX: The spark flying and writing and the logo shining.
Music/Sounds: A low-key, gradually rising synth theme.
- A few releases that use this logo before the previews have the announcer saying "Coming from Walt Disney Home Video."
- On some UK releases, the announcer says " A world of magic which can be yours to treasure for a lifetime from Walt Disney Home Video."
Availability: Quite common. Seen on home video releases of Disney shows such as DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Disney's Sing Along Songs, Dinosaurs, The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, classic Disney cartoon collections, Walt Disney Mini Classics, and Darkwing Duck. Also seen on a few Classics and Masterpiece Collection videos before the previews.
Scare Factor: None; this logo is very clean and professional, compared with the predecessor.
3rd Logo (Australia)
(1980s)
Logo: Against a white BG, we see the usual Walt Disney Home Video text from before in blue. "distributed by" appears below in very small print. It then cuts to one of the two Roadshow Home Video logos used during the 80's. For tapes that were released in 1982-1986, the "Aussie Light Trails" logo is used; tapes from 1986-1989 used "The Other V of Doom".
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on some Aussie and New Zealand PAL tapes of Disney material that was distributed through Roadshow Home Video.
Scare Factor: None by itself. However, it cuts rather jarringly to the Roadshow logo, especially when "The Other V of Doom" is used; that logo has a high scare factor in the first place.
4th Logo
(1992-2002)
Logo: On a black background, we see the golden words:
WALT DISNEY
HOME VIDEO
HOME VIDEO
Variants:
- Sometimes, a blue or green BG would be used instead.
- A version with the Jim Henson Video music was used around 1993-1998.
- Some live-action releases or some promos have the background blue. On The Spirit of Mickey, only the words fade at the beginning of the opening theme.
- On Gordy, as well as Spot tapes, the words are blue and "presents" is seen below. This was seen from 1993-1997.
- On various video promos, the background is green. On the "Bright Beginners" promo from 1994, the background was rainbow-coloured and ''PRESENTS'' was chyroned in below.
FX/SFX: The "shining".
Music/Sounds: A lilting dreamy strings tune.
Availability: Seen on most (non Classics/Masterpiece) Disney video/DVD releases of the era.
Scare Factor: Low, the music may turn some people off; otherwise, it's a clean (and BORING) logo.
5th Logo
(1995-2001)
Logo: On a black background, we see the blue words:
WALT DISNEY
HOME VIDEO
HOME VIDEO
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Same as the Walt Disney Home Video logo from 1992-2001.
Availability: Rare; seen on home video releases from Disney from the mid to late '90s, such as releases of the shows Bonkers, Goof Troop, Gargoyles, Quack Pack, Timon and Pumbaa and others. Also found on assorted post-1998 VHS releases (non Classics/Masterpiece). It ended with the 2001 VHS of Remember the Titans.
Scare Factor: Same as the 4th Logo
6th Logo
(1995-2002)
Nicknames: "Disney Videos", "The Purple Cubes"
Logo: On a blue/green gradient background, three black balls fall from the top of the screen and bounce off the bottom. Two of the balls form the ears of Mickey Mouse and one ball forms the head. Many purple cubes fall from above to form a rectangle. A right-slanted yellow rectangle and a green square also fall from above, the rectangle slants left and settles on the left while the green square slants right and settles on the right. The balls in the Mickey Mouse logo bounce onto the green square. The red corporate font "Disney" zooms out and settles on the yellow rectangle. Below, the rectangular green banner with white text "VIDEOS" unfolds to the right.
Variant: Sometimes, the background is purple, and the square is white. This was spotted on a PAL tape of Song of the South. On some swedish Disney VHS tapes there was a V/O saying (Unsure, If someone translates the right video's Swedish to British english, another point for you) "A world of magic which can be yours to own, on Walt Disney home video."
Trivia: Although this logo was shown in the U.S. in 2000 only, it was used in European countries from 1995 to 2002; for example, on 1995 releases of Pocahontas, 101 Dalmatians, and One of our Dinosaurs is Missing, on 1998 releases of Flubber, and on some Disney's Sing Along Songs tapes.
FX/SFX: All the animation in this logo.
Music/Sounds: A very short orchestral rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star" (different from the version used on the Walt Disney Pictures logo) ending with an orchestral hit. Sometimes seen silent, and also spotted with an announcer spiel.
Availability: Seen on assorted kid-oriented Disney videos, most of which were released outside of the U.S.
Scare Factor: None; another very nicely animated logo from Disney.
7th Logo
(2001-2008?)
Nickname: "The Ring"
Logo: We see a bright flash with the "D" from the gold text "Walt Disney" (in the familiar signature font) both of which are zooming out on a blue (or black) space background. When everything is at a comfortable distance at the top of the screen, the flash forms an abstract shining star below "Walt Disney", and the light spreads out to form a glowing arc. When this is finished, "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" fades in underneath the arc in gold.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: All modern computer graphics.
Music/Sounds: A short synth/orchestral tune. In 2006, the tune was slightly redone.
Availability: No longer current, but can be found on DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases from the era. Studio Ghibli films didn't have this, instead using the text "WALT DISNEY HOME ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS" on there as well.
Scare Factor: Low; the animation and music may get to some, but it is a good logo.
8th Logo
(2008?- )
Nickname: "There is Only One Disney"
Logo: We see a wall of hundreds of clips from Walt Disney Pictures, both animated and live action. One by one, the words "MOVIES", "MAGIC", and "MORE" zoom in and fade out. Then all the clips come together to form the 2006 Disney Castle. The ring gets drawn around the castle, as usual, then "DISNEY", in the famous script, fades in below.
FX/SFX: All modern effects.
Music/Sounds: The majestic American Masters fanfare. Most of the time, an announcer will say "From the magic within our hearts, to the adventure beyond the horizon, there is only one Disney.".
Availability: Current.
Scare Factor: None.
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Walt Disney Company
(1986-2002?)
Logo: Like the Walt Disney Productions in-credit disclaimer, we see a black background with the "chryoned" in-credit disclaimer in white.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Same as Buena Vista Television's 1st logo.
Availability: Plasters over the Walt Disney Television "rainbow castle" logo on DuckTales videos and some The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh videos. However, this logo was seen on a Spanish print of the "Disney's Golden Classics: Pluto" VHS.
Scare Factor: Low; the twinkling sound from the Buena Vista TV logo may startle you.
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Walt Disney Home Video International
(1981-1987)
Logo: A flash occurs. The face of Mickey Mouse in his then current drawing style zooms in, which quickly turns neon, then we see brief clips from Disney films and shorts such as Steamboat Willie, Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, Zorro, Old Yeller, Treasure Island, The Country Bear Jamboree, and The Absent Minded Professor. After Donald Duck's neon head zooms in, then a wall of light appears, Mary Poppins floats down, then Tinkerbell flies up with sparkles forming. We see a picture of a castle, neon, with fireworks, in the background. We zoom into it, then we zoom in to a vector-like rendition of Epcot. After we go to a black/dark red gradient background. the Walt Disney text zooms up from the top, then HOME VIDEO is cheaply inserted below. The whole thing sparkles.
Variants:
- Sometimes, the screen flips down like a page book.
- Sometimes, "PRESENTS" will fade in below, written in the language of the country in which is was released (e.g., "PRESENTA" in Spain and Italy, "präsentiert" in Germany, and "presenterar" in Sweden).
- On some tapes, "HOME VIDEO" is omitted.
- On two tapes and the first airings of The Wonderful World of Disney, the above variation is used, but with more clips and the addition of a neon Pluto head.
FX/SFX: The whole Scanimate animation... and the clips! This was originally from the US intro of the '80s version of The Wonderful World of Disney back when it was called, quite simply, Walt Disney.
Music/Sounds: A disco version of "When You Wish Upon a Star". Extended on only 2 releases and the first showings of the TV series.
Availability: Was only seen on tapes released outside the United States and Canada, usually from the UK and Europe, but this was spotted on a few Mexican tapes of the era, so go south of the border (or across the Atlantic) if you wish to find this logo. You might even spot an Asian tape with this logo as well (like an NTSC-format tape from Japan, or in the case of YouTube user "akhenaten1881", a PAL tape from Malaysia). You might even find it on some Roadshow Home Video-distributed tapes from Australia or an AVH-distributed tape from Argentina, or even a Nu Metro Home Entertainment-distributed tape from South Africa. Also seen on the TV series mentioned, sans the "Home Video".
Scare Factor: Low to medium, thanks to the the loud music and in-your-face animation.
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Walt Disney Classics
Background: "Walt Disney Classics" was created as a brand to release classic Disney animated features on video, though in the early 1990s, it also focused on releasing current releases in the Disney Animated Features Canon to video.
1st Logo
(1984-1987)
Nicknames: "Cheesy Diamond", "Early Black Diamond"
Logo: On a blue background, the red "Disney" font text "Walt Disney Home Video" flies in circular motion from the right to the left, passing by rather close to the screen, then flips and cycles back. Following closely behind it is the white text "THE CLASSICS" doing likewise. The blue background begins to slowly take on a diamond shape. A black diamond zooms up from the center of the screen at a fast pace. "THE CLASSICS" flips its way to the top of the diamond, and "Walt Disney Home Video" flips its way to the bottom. A white diamond outline zooms out and plasters itself on the black diamond.
FX/SFX: The text "flipping," the zooming diamonds.
Cheesy Factor: Primitve 1980s computer FX standards used in the flipping text and formation of the diamond.
Music/Sounds: A bouncy Medieval-style Moog synthesizer fanfare.
Availability: Has rare written all over it, only used for a short period of time. Seen mainly on old mid '80s video prints of Disney animated features including the original video releases of Dumbo and Lady and the Tramp. Usually it is in clamshell packaging with the cover featuring a black flap in the lower right corner reading "The Original Animated Classic!", and often has the diamond print logo on the spine (without WDHV text) and on the videotape label (with WDHV text).
Scare Factor: Medium; the Moog synthesizers and in-your-face animation may scare some people, but it's mostly just annoying.
2nd Logo
(1988-1994)
Nicknames: "The Black Diamond", "The CGI Diamond", "The Diamond", "Sorcerer Mickey"
Logo: On a black background, we see Mickey Mouse dressed as the Sorcerer's Apprentice under a blue spotlight and holding out his right hand (reused from the 1986 Walt Disney Home Video logo). As we zoom up to his hand, a spark flies out from it, and as we zoom past, we see the spark circling and starting to write words "Walt Disney" in metallic white in the "Disney" font. As this is being done, the background changes to blue, the "Walt Disney" text zooms out as a black diamond with a metallic white outline slowly zooms up and the metallic white text "CLASSICS" in a fancy font zooms out from the bottom of the screen. "Walt Disney" settles itself on top of the diamond and "CLASSICS" on the bottom. A spark flies from the left, circles behind the diamond, flies out from the top right and in front of the diamond, leaving a trail of pixie dust that changes the "Walt Disney" and "CLASSICS" to gold and adds a purple tint to the diamond outline. The logo “shines”.
Variants:
- On several prints of the 1991 video release of Robin Hood, the Mickey scene is cut, and only the spark/diamond animation plays.
- The original 1988 prototype version seen on Cinderella (and later Canadian prints of Robin Hood and The Rescuers Down Under) had the background as a dark to light blue gradient, a more shiny, metallic diamond, and rougher animation.
- In 1992, the logo had brighter colors and a slight bluish tint, and faded out earlier than it usually does.
FX/SFX: All the animation in the logo.
Cheesy Factor: Recycling the animation of Sorcerer Mickey and the Disney script text writing on screen from the 1986 WDHV logo is a tad cheesy, but not by much.
Music/Sounds: A majestic synthesizer fanfare. Muffled on later tapes due to a video processing error.
Availability: Rare; seen on late 1980's/early 1990's Disney video releases of their feature films with the text "(A) WALT DISNEY('S) CLASSIC" on top and the diamond print logo on the clamshell spine. Some early releases with this logo feature the diamond print logo (with WDHV text) on the label like the last logo. These videos can often be found on eBay and used video stores. It was first used on the original "Cinderella" video release, and "The Fox and the Hound" was the last film from the Walt Disney Classics series. The most common Disney Classics tapes featuring this logo are Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.
Scare Factor: Minimal; the fanfare and light effects might startle some here and there, but this is one of the best home video logos ever; the music and animation mix very, very well.
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Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection
Background: "Masterpiece Collection" replaced the "Classics" brand in 1994.
(1994-1999)
Nickname: "The Emblem"
Logo: On a black background, a spark of light sketches the gold "Disney" font words "Walt Disney" in an arc formation as the screen gradually zooms away. The gold text "MASTERPIECE" zooms out from the bottom of the screen and settles underneath on the far left, followed by the gold text "COLLECTION" which settles underneath on the far right. Tinkerbell flies out from behind "MASTERPIECE," flies to the top right of the logo, and waves her wand. A flash of light and the logo is surrounded by a purple canvas with a gold, black, and white frame and a light blue circle with the "Disney Castle" logo in between the "MASTERPIECE" and "COLLECTION." Tinkerbell exits to the left of the screen, leaving a trail of pixie dust to dissolve. The logo "shines."
FX/SFX: All the animation in this logo.
Cheesy Factor: The music and some of the CGI elements seem a bit more cheesy than its predecessor.
Music/Sounds: A fast-paced remix of the fanfare used in the Disney Classics logo #2. Sometimes an announcer will say, “And now our feature presentation.”. This can be spotted on The Aristocats and Oliver & Company, as well as some prints of The Black Cauldron.
Variant: A few early releases like So Dear To My Heart and others used the 1988 Walt Disney Classics jingle (1992 variant) playing underneath and logo shines twice at the end.
Availability: Seen on VHS releases of Disney feature films in clamshell packaging with the text “(A) WALT DISNEY('S) MASTERPIECE” on front and the "Masterpiece Collection" print logo on the top of the spine (sometimes the print logo is on the front as well), starting with Snow White, Dumbo, and Robin Hood, among others. The last video released under the series was The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. These videos are now out of print, though, but they may still be easy to find at used video stores. In 1999, the "Masterpiece Collection" brand was dropped and all new Disney products were released with the "Walt Disney Home Video" or "Walt Disney Home Entertainment" logo. Strangely enough, the original VHS of The Lion King has the logo on its spine, but not on the tape. Some early prints of the 1999 VHS release of Pinocchio feature this logo, while later prints don't. It also unusually shows up on the original 1997 VHS release of Pooh's Grand Adventure, which is strange since it is a direct-to-video movie and not part of the Disney Animated Features canon, and the print logo is nowhere to be found on the box. And one print of The Great Mouse Detective (one of the first post-Masterpiece releases) has a variant of the print logo on its spine, consisting solely of the castle with "Walt Disney" below it.
Scare Factor: Low; this is yet another very nicely animated logo.
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Walt Disney Mini Classics
Background: "Walt Disney Mini Classics" was created, due to the success of the "Black Diamond Classic" series, as a brand to release Disney animated featurettes on video. It included special featurettes such as Ben and Me and Mickey’s Christmas Carol, excerpts from the '40s "packaged" Disney films such as Peter and the Wolf and The Wind in the Willows, and the four classic Winnie the Pooh featurettes.
(1987-1993)
Nickname: "The Mini-Classics Shield"
Logo: On a black background, yellow neon lines begin drawing a fancy shield outline, with scrolls and more, and as the background turns blue, the words "Walt Disney" in metallic white zoom out and plaster onto the top of the shield outline, still tracing itself onscreen, and then, as the shield is finished "drawing," "MINI" in gold appears letter by letter and zooms out onto the shield. Then a gold bar with "CLASSICS" on it in black zooms out and plasters itself in the center above "MINI". Suddenly the shield outline background fills with rainbow colors as glitter effects fly from the now-completed logo, which "shines".
FX/SFX: All the CG animation in the logo.
Music/Sounds: A bright, musical synthesizer theme, which is synchronized with the animation in the logo.
Availability: Rare; seen on Disney Mini Classics videos from 1987 to 1993, which are in slipcover packaging, and featuring the Mini Classics print logo on top. This logo always followed the 1986 "Sorcerer Mickey" Walt Disney Home Video logo on these videos. It ended with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, and these videos immediately went out of print, in contrast to a newer series created in 1993 entitled "Walt Disney Favorite Stories".
Scare Factor: Minimal; this is a cute logo.
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Walt Disney Gold Classics Collection
(2000-2001)
Logo: On a blue background filled with gold glitter effects, the gold words in corporate font "Walt Disney" is seen and below it is a gold ribbon with the red words GOLD COLLECTION, separated by a red (gold outlined) circle with the Disney castle and the word "CLASSIC" below, both etched in gold. The logo "shines".
FX/SFX: The glitter, the "shining"...
Cheesy Factor: ...which are rather cheesy CGI effects; not up to par with other recent Disney Video logos.
Music/Sounds: Same as Walt Disney Home Video’s 3rd logo, the lilting dreamy strings tune.
Availability: Only used for a year, but several Disney DVD prints dating back to 2000 are still available, so it’s an easy find. A few Gold Classic Collection DVDs use the 1993 WDHV logo instead of this one.
Scare Factor: Low because of the 4th Logo's Music, but otherwise, it's pretty nice to look at
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Disney DVD
1st Logo
(2001-2005)
Nickname: "CGI Tinkerbell"
Logo: On a night-sky background, a spark shoots at the middle of the screen forming a "D". It comes again forming a "V" this time, next to the "D" and for the third time forming another "D". A curved line is drawn and "Disney" in that famous font goes on top of "DVD". The spark goes across the bottom forming "Pure Digital Magic" (in the native language of the country in which it was released) and that spark appears to be a CGI Tinkerbell who smiles at us and takes off.
FX/SFX: All the animation in this logo.
Music/Sounds: An orchestral tune, with a few "swoops" when the sparks fly in.
Availability: Seen on pre-2006 Disney DVD releases. Several of them are still in print.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(2005- )
Nicknames: "CGI Tinkerbell Redux" (2005-2007), "2-D Tinkerbell" (2007- )
Logo: Starts with the "D" in Disney being formed, uncomfortably close to the screen. A spark flies by in tune with the music. When the "Disney" text is formed, it flies out, and "DVD" does so as well, one letter at a time. An explosion of pixie dust forms an arc around the text, completing the logo. More pixie dust forms a white bar with the text "Movies, Magic & More" (same as above in the native language of the country in which it was released). Tinkerbell flies up to the screen momentarily before exiting.
Variant: In 2007, the logo was given an enhanced look, and Tinkerbell is in 2D.
FX/SFX: All the animation in the logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo, with more whooshing sounds added when the "DVD" letters fly in.
Availability: Current; can be seen on any Disney DVD made since 2005.
Scare Factor: None.
