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Warner Home Video |
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Logo descriptions by Matt Williams and James Stanley Barr
Logo captures by Bigrene2, Eric S., Logophile, and Wisp2007
Editions by V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of ChadODell, joecool85, NinetiesTVFan, baaba1012, and Eric S.
Background: First known as WCI Home Video (for Warner Communications, Inc.), this is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of TimeWarner, founded in 1978 to distribute on video the film and television library of Warner Bros. Studios mainly, as well as programs from other Time Warner companies. Currently, they also serve distributor for television and/or movie product released by BBC, Lifetime, Cartoon Network, Turner Entertainment Co., Viz Media, Court TV (now TruTV), TNT, National Geographic Society in the U.S., and product from the NBA, NFL, and NHL.
1st Logo
(1978-1985)
Nickname: "The Big \\'"
Logo:
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The "zooming out" of the logo, not to mention the film scratches on the 1978-1981 version.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: 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. Few 1978-1981 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. The 1980-1985 variant is available on The Road Warrior, Death Race 2000, THX-1138, The Amityville Horror, Any Which Way You Can, and the Kung Fu pilot movie. The last tape to use this logo officially was Gremlins, though the logo later made a surprise appearence on the 1990 release of Ensign Pulver.
Scare Factor:
2nd Logo
(1985-1997) 
Nickname: "The Cheesy 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 what appears to be a line, which is also gold. 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 disclaimer fades in at the bottom of the screen. "Sparkles" appear and white "reflections" appear on the logo.
Variants:There exists a rare still version of the logo, which can be found on certain Kidsongs videos and Batman Returns. Sometimes, a completely different cloud background was used between 1985 and 1990 (possibly the original variant).
Bylines: This logo had several different bylines on the bottom of the screen, although most releases outside the US or some releases didn't have a byline.
FX/SFX: The "time-lapse" cloud animation, WB shield rotating into place.
Cheesy Factor: Relatively primitive CGI 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 fit the logo. This is a synthesized version of Warner Bros.' 1936 theatrical fanfare. As a sidenote, 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.
Availability: Common. Seen on every Warner Home Video release from 1985 to 1997, beginning with Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Notice that the current print logo is seen on 1996-1997 tapes, but still use 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 has this logo include 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. A hint: that variant appeared on My Blue Heaven and the Japanese-subtitled VHS release of Blade Runner: The Director's Cut.
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
(1997- )
Nicknames: "CGI Invisible/Visible Shield", "Boring Shield", "Shield of Boredom"
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 2001-2002, the byline "An AOL Time Warner Company" was seen below the logo. The shield is a bit smaller in this version.
Variant: 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.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: A simple, effective logo animation; nothing really cheesy except for the "wiping" on of the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text.
Music/Sounds: A quiet piano tune. Sometimes on the AOL Time Warner version, the theme is in a lower pitch. This can be found on the VHS releases of The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Availability: Currently in use. Don't expect this on 1996-1997 WHV tapes, as the print version of this logo was introduced in 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 videos that had this logo were A Time to Kill, the 1997 reissue of Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood and others. Surprisingly, this logo was seen at the end of a 1990 episode of Night Court on TV Land.
Scare Factor: None; this is a clean logo. But it's annoying for those who like the previous logo.
Logo captures by Bigrene2, Eric S., Logophile, and Wisp2007
Editions by V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of ChadODell, joecool85, NinetiesTVFan, baaba1012, and Eric S.
Background: First known as WCI Home Video (for Warner Communications, Inc.), this is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of TimeWarner, founded in 1978 to distribute on video the film and television library of Warner Bros. Studios mainly, as well as programs from other Time Warner companies. Currently, they also serve distributor for television and/or movie product released by BBC, Lifetime, Cartoon Network, Turner Entertainment Co., Viz Media, Court TV (now TruTV), TNT, National Geographic Society in the U.S., and product from the NBA, NFL, and NHL.
(1978-1985)
Nickname: "The Big \\'"
Logo:
- 1978-1981: 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 smaller than on the later version of the logo.
- 1980-1985: 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 bigger as well, and the film scratches are gone.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: 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. Few 1978-1981 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. The 1980-1985 variant is available on The Road Warrior, Death Race 2000, THX-1138, The Amityville Horror, Any Which Way You Can, and the Kung Fu pilot movie. The last tape to use this logo officially was Gremlins, though the logo later made a surprise appearence on the 1990 release of Ensign Pulver.
Scare Factor:
- 1979-1981: Low; the fade from black to the logo may startle you.
- 1981-1985: 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
(1985-1997)
Nickname: "The Cheesy 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 what appears to be a line, which is also gold. 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 disclaimer fades in at the bottom of the screen. "Sparkles" appear and white "reflections" appear on the logo.
Variants:There exists a rare still version of the logo, which can be found on certain Kidsongs videos and Batman Returns. Sometimes, a completely different cloud background was used between 1985 and 1990 (possibly the original variant).
Bylines: This logo had several different bylines on the bottom of the screen, although most releases outside the US or some releases didn't have a byline.
- 1985-1990: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc., A Warner Communications Company"
- 1990-1992: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc., A Time Warner Company"
- 1992-1997: "A Time Warner Entertainment Company"
FX/SFX: The "time-lapse" cloud animation, WB shield rotating into place.
Cheesy Factor: Relatively primitive CGI 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 fit the logo. This is a synthesized version of Warner Bros.' 1936 theatrical fanfare. As a sidenote, 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.
Availability: Common. Seen on every Warner Home Video release from 1985 to 1997, beginning with Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Notice that the current print logo is seen on 1996-1997 tapes, but still use 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 has this logo include 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. A hint: that variant appeared on My Blue Heaven and the Japanese-subtitled VHS release of Blade Runner: The Director's Cut.
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
(1997- )
Nicknames: "CGI Invisible/Visible Shield", "Boring Shield", "Shield of Boredom"
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 2001-2002, the byline "An AOL Time Warner Company" was seen below the logo. The shield is a bit smaller in this version.
Variant: 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.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: A simple, effective logo animation; nothing really cheesy except for the "wiping" on of the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text.
Music/Sounds: A quiet piano tune. Sometimes on the AOL Time Warner version, the theme is in a lower pitch. This can be found on the VHS releases of The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Availability: Currently in use. Don't expect this on 1996-1997 WHV tapes, as the print version of this logo was introduced in 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 videos that had this logo were A Time to Kill, the 1997 reissue of Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood and others. Surprisingly, this logo was seen at the end of a 1990 episode of Night Court on TV Land.
Scare Factor: None; this is a clean logo. But it's annoying for those who like the previous logo.
