Logo descriptions by Matt Williams and James Stanley Barr
Logo captures by bigrene2, Eric S., Logophile, wisp2007, V of Doom, Royger Short, Mr.Logo, and Dean Stewart Rumsey
Editions by V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of ChadODell, baaba1012, Eric S., jordan6379, ACDC48086, Watcher3223, codemaster94, and youngleader610 (Mr.Logo)
Background: Warner Home Video (formerly "WCI Home Video"; the word "WCI" for "Warner Communications, Inc.", and also known as "Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc.") is the home entertainment unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner, founded in 1978 to distribute on video the film and television library of Warner Bros. Studios, and when Time Warner acquired them, programs from other Time Warner companies. Currently, they also serve distributor for television and/or movie product released by BBC (w/ 2 Entertain), Lifetime, Cartoon Network, Turner Entertainment Co., Viz Media, TruTV (formerly "Court TV"), TNT, National Geographic Society in the U.S., and product from the NBA, NFL, and NHL.
1st Logo
(July 1980-December 1985, 1987, August 1990, 1996)
Nickname: "The Big \\'"
Logo:
- July 1980-February 1981: We start out with a very big \\' logo (that is white with a blue "tube") that fills the entire screen. It then zooms back slightly. Then above the logo, the words "WCI HOME VIDEO" between two horizontal lines appear, followed by a much smaller \\' logo besides "A Warner Communications Company". The logo fades from black after the standard FBI Warning Screen and has a more-grainy film like quality to it. The W logo is slightly bigger than on the later version of the logo.
- September 1980-December 1985: Same as before, but now the logo is better quality, with "WCI HOME VIDEO" replaced with "WARNER HOME VIDEO", and the FBI Warning Screen now cuts directly to this logo. The \\' is a little smaller as well, and the film scratches are gone.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The "zooming out" of the logo, not to mention the film scratches on the WCI version.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds Variant: On some UK tapes with previews, the logo has music and a stoic, quiet-sounding man. Before the first trailer, the man says "Some other great titles from the small screen. From Warner Home Video." After the last one, he says "The titles you have just seen are available on VHS and Betamax. Ask your local stockists for details. Warner...Home Video." Oddly, the announcer is American.
Availability: Very rare. Most video releases of the era went straight from the warning screen to the movie with the Warner Bros., Orion, or First Artists logo in use at the time, and tapes that actually have this logo are long out of print. Releases as far back as the July 1980 batch of releases have this including Every Which Way But Loose and Magnum Force with Clint Eastwood and Bullitt with Steve McQueen. The first WCI releases included Blazing Saddles, The Green Berets, and The Wild Bunch. Some WCI releases are also packaged in WHV packaging, with WHV labels during a short 1980 transitional period. Caddyshack and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore are two videos known to have this variation. The 1980-1985 variant is available on The Road Warrior, Death Race 2000, THX-1138, The Amityville Horror, Any Which Way You Can, The Great Race, Gremlins and the Kung Fu pilot movie. The last tape to use this logo officially was Just Tell Me What You Want, though the logo later made a surprise appearance on the 1987 Canadian VHS of Them! and the 1990 release of Ensign Pulver. The logo made its final appearance in 1996, when Warner Home Video reissued the Super Friends Collection on VHS, using masters originally created in 1985. In the UK, it's seen on pre-cert releases including Enter The Dragon, and some very early post-cert releases including Gremlins (despite it having the next print logo on the box)Scare Factor:
- July 1980-February 1981: Low. The fade from black to the logo may startle you.
- September 1980-December 1985: Minimal to low. The transition from the FBI warning screen to this logo is sudden and jarring, but this logo is otherwise harmless.
2nd Logo
(December 1985-February 1997)
Nicknames: "The Cheesy Shield", "WB Shield", "CGI WB Shield", "The Cheesy WB Shield"
Logo: Over a time-lapsed animation of clouds, the camera zooms out between the tops of some gold-colored letters and the bottom of a gold plank. The camera then zooms out and the logo turns towards us, revealing that it is the words "WARNER HOME VIDEO", with two lines above it and two lines below it. It then zooms out to the bottom of the screen, followed by a giant WB Shield logo appearing from the top of the screen, slightly tilted to the bottom, then rotating to face us. The Warner byline fades in at the bottom of the screen. "Sparkles" appear and white "reflections" appear on the logo.
Bylines:
- 1985-1990: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc., A Warner Communications Company" (This byline was 2D and had a black shadow.)
- 1990-1993: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc., A Time Warner Company" (Same as above.)
- 1993-1997: "A Time Warner Entertainment Company"
(This byline was better-looking and had a black outline. Plus, the font was slightly bigger.)
- Variant: Sometimes, the Time Warner Entertainment byline (1993-1997) is slightly smaller. (It really uses the style of the Warner Communications and Time Warner bylines: 2D look, and black shadow.)
Cloud Backgrounds:
- December 1985: At the end, cirrus clouds are spread all over the sky with thicker clouds shown at the bottom, left side and upper-right corner of the screen.
- January 1986-February 1997: The common one: the upper sky is clear, while cirrus clouds spread at the bottom and middle of the screen. Thicker clouds are seen in the lower left and right corners of the screen. The 1995 promo variant allows us to see a second more of the footage (either that, or the background was raised a little higher).
- Early 1997: Seems to be additional footage from the 1986-1997 cloud BG. More small thicker clouds are formed at the bottom, and the cirrus clouds are spreading almost all over. (It is part of the extended version from 1990 described below.)
- 1980s (used in Australia for a preview attraction screen): Over the sky are small, greyish clouds, which are still. The BG zooms out.
- 1990: Shows us more of the "regular variant footage". The clouds end up spreading all over. It is in fact an extended version of the regular variant, starting where the latter ended.
Variants:
- There exists a rare still version of the logo, which can be found on certain Kidsongs videos and Batman Returns (though the UK release of Batman Returns used the normal bylineless logo).
- There is a prototype variant of this logo with a different time-lapse cloud background. It is currently unknown what or how many video tapes used this logo.
- Most releases outside the U.S. and some domestic releases during the Time Warner merger didn't have a byline.
- There is yet another different cloud background. This can be seen on the home video trailers for Lethal Weapon 2, A Time to Kill, and Tin Cup. (Note: on the latter two, the logo is only seen for a split second, but on the Lethal Weapon 2 trailer, the logo lasts longer.) This cloud background is in fact additional footage from the regular version.
- There is a very rare promo variant where the giant WB shield rises up from the top, and rotates to face forward, then zooms out slightly. In this version, there is no company name or byline. Found on a promotional feature on Batman Forever for its upcoming VHS release in October 1995.
- On Australian videos from the 1980s, the logo fades away to a different cloud background. It has "At Home With The Hits" in cursive and arched, with the words "PREVIEW ATTRACTION" sandwiched between sets of two lines. All are gold and the cloud background eases back.
- A black & white version can be found on B&W releases such as VHS tapes of the TV series Maverick.
FX/SFX: The "time-lapse" cloud animation, the WB shield rotating into place.
Cheesy Factor: Relatively primitive CGI (looking like it was designed on an Amiga computer, which it probably was) along with the "time-lapse" cloud animation. Cheap synth theme as well. The freeze frame on the still version looks cheap too.
Music/Sounds: A proud, bombastic synthesized theme that really fits the logo. This is a synthesized version of Warner Bros.' 1937 theatrical fanfare. As a side note, a lusher orchestrated theme with the same notes as the HV logo was briefly used as the fanfare for the movie WB shield when it returned to usage in 1984. Silent for the still version. Note: the Time Warner Entertainment byline faded in at the last note of the theme. The Warner Communications and Time Warner bylines faded in as the shield rotated to its final position.
Music/Sounds/Variant: On the 1990 Laserdisc of S.O.B., the logo is silent.
Availability: Common. Seen on every Warner Home Video release from the era, beginning with Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Notice that the current print logo is seen on 1996-1997 tapes, but still uses this logo, however it also still uses the commonly seen "DIGITALLY PROCESSED" text on the side of the packaging, so this logo is an easy find. Examples that have this logo include Bullitt, Beetlejuice, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the first three Lethal Weapon movies, and the first three Batman movies. The Time Warner byline variant is a tough find, but it appeared on My Blue Heaven, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Out for Justice, Rover Dangerfield, Lethal Weapon 3, Batman Returns, Stay Tuned, Under Siege, and Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (only the Japanese-subtitled VHS; the American release uses the Time Warner Entertainment byline). The Time Warner Entertainment byline appeared during the waning days of the logo, and appeared on, among other tapes, Animaniacs Sing-Along: Yakko's World. Another easy way to find this logo is to look for the WB shield on the front of the tape. Among the last tapes to use this logo were Eraser (pan and scan VHS only; the widescreen version uses the next logo) and Twister. The bylineless version oddly shows up on an early 1990s VHS of Journey Back to Oz from UAV Corporation (perhaps it was taken from a foreign master) as well as international VHS prints of Thelma and Louise from MGM/UA Home Video (which must have been due to WHV's distribution deal for MGM/UA at the time). Also, from 1996-1997, this logo was used concurrently with the next. Raised to rare for the still version. The prototype variant is also very rare, as it's not known what videos it was used on or how long it's been used. The Communications variant was also seen on a 1993 reprint of Bullitt.
Scare Factor: Low to medium. The bombastic music and primitive CGI may scare some, but this logo is a favorite of many. None for the still version.
3rd Logo
(March 26, 1997- )
Nicknames: "CGI Invisible/Visible Shield", "Boring Shield", "Shield of Boredom", "WB Shield II", "The Boring WB Shield"
Logo: Against a backdrop of clouds, a clear WB shield with a wordless banner slowly fades into view. Then the words "WARNER HOME VIDEO" are wiped onto the banner as the colors slowly appear on the shield.
Byline: From 2002-2003, the byline "An AOL Time Warner Company" was seen below the logo. The shield is a lot smaller in this version.
Variants:
- In 1998, like other Warner labels, a 75th Anniversary version was made. This used a smaller shield with the banner reading "WARNER BROS.", and featured a giant "75" behind it. "YEARS ENTERTAINING THE WORLD" is seen below with "YEARS" a bit bigger and in spaced-out letters. This logo is seen during the year on home video releases and some trailers.
- A rare version had a still logo in the style of the 1992 WB logo with the Warner Home Video banner replacing the Warner Bros Pictures banner and the Time Warner Entertainment byline below that. Was seen on an ad for Cats Don't Dance on the VHS releases of Shiloh and The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain and was never used as a real logo.
- Some tapes with the AOL Time Warner byline have the byline sloppily chyroned in over the standard variant; the byline's fade out is also out-of-sync with that of the video behind it in this version.
- On all Blu-ray, HD-DVD, and the 2010- DVD releases, the sky background is zoomed in by 20%. For Blu-ray, HD-DVD, as well as 2010- fullscreen DVDs, the Warner Home Video Shield is zoomed out 10%. Some Blu-ray releases from 2006-2009 have the aspect ratio in 2:35.1
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: A simple, effective logo animation; nothing really cheesy except for the "wiping" on of the text. It is worth noting, however, that the logo still carries the word "VIDEO" to this day, despite the VHS format ceasing production years ago.
Music/Sounds: A quiet piano tune with two ending types:
- Regular strings. This is used for all VHS releases as well as laserdiscs. It was used on some 5.1 DVDs. It will still continue on DVDs of television releases.
- 5.1 Synthesized strings. It will be used on all Blu-ray releases and newer DVDs of movies.
Music/Sounds Variant: Sometimes on the NTSC AOL Time Warner version, the regular strings theme is in a lower pitch. This can be found on the VHS releases of The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Uprising, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as well as the first Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set. The 2-sided DVD of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman has one side with the AOL Time Warner low-tone variant.
Availability: Common. This was used concurrently with the previous logo on 1996-1997 WHV tapes (on a side note, the print version of this logo was introduced in mid-1996, and those tapes contain the previous logo, but you should also expect the "DIGITALLY PROCESSED" text on the side of its packaging, so the previous logo is an easy find). The first products to have this logo were the first DVDs from Warner Bros released on March 26, 1997. Surprisingly, this logo was seen at the end of a 1990 episode of Night Court on TV Land. It is possible that the episodes were ripped from DVD, and TV Land forgot to edit the logo out for broadcast. This is also the case with some episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? on ABC Family. The version with the AOL Time Warner byline can be found on most tapes and DVDs from 2002-2003, including The Great Dictator and 2003 prints of the UK release of Kangaroo Jack. Strangely, this can also be seen on a "Now Available on DVD" trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which can be seen on the DVD of Shorts. It can also be seen on the UK release of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
Scare Factor: None to minimal. Although a clean logo, first-time viewers might be annoyed when expecting the previous logo and ending up with this. Although the whoosh and sting tune along with the newer look of the logo can scare some, it is definitely a nice successor to the past logos! None for the newer version.