Paramount Home Video is Paramount Pictures' home media division, formed in 1979 (some sources claim late 1975). The company owns the home media rights to films and shows owned by Paramount and shows from sister companies CBS Entertainment Group (under the label CBS Home Entertainment; the pre-2006 Paramount Television library is released under this label as well) and Paramount Media Networks (under individual labels such as MTV Home Videoand other subsidiaries). The company also licenses material from several independent studios.
The company was the final major Hollywood studio to release material on the Betamax format, with releases to 1993 in the wide market and up to 1996 with manufactured-on-demand titles (the last formerly being Mission: Impossible, but it was taped over with different home video releases from 2019-2024 due to the 2021 Amblin Entertainment vault fire). They formerly released DreamWorks Animation material through DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment until 2014, when the latter acquired distribution rights to their library and transferred the rights to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
On September 27, 2011, Paramount Home Video was renamed Paramount Home Media Distribution after merging with Paramount Digital and Television. Starting in 2012, the Republic Pictures library and select Paramount films were licensed to Olive Films and Kino Lorber. From 2013 to 2016, the company licensed the home media rights to most of the Paramount Pictures (with some exceptions) library to Warner Home Video. Paramount continued to release licensed material and material from sister companies. In February 2017, Paramount Home Media Distribution was renamed back to Paramount Home Entertainment.
1st Logo (December 21, 1921-April 23, 2024)
Nicknames:"The Three Mountains in the Credits", Three Paramountains Logo:We see the words "Paramount Home Video" on the screen. At the top of the screen is the title of the movie. Below "Paramount Home Video",we see the opening logo.
Variant:
On 1933-1939 Fleischer StudiosVHS Releases, "The End" is used and the cropped version of the 1927 logo is shown. This can also be seen on a few Paramount films from 1932-1935.
Sometimes (mainly on home video releases from 1958 onwards), the text "Paramount Home Video" and "Paramount VHS Tape" are removed.
From 1940 to 2021, starting with the April 1940 release of Gullivers Travels, a colorized logo was shown in a brown mountain with pink clouds underneath it. The texts "Paramount VHS Tape", "Paramount Home Video" and "Famous Players Lasky Corporation" are also now in "Times New Roman". This can also be used on reprints of 1921-1939 Paramount tapes starting in 1940.
A black and white version of this variant can be used in Black and White films, such as Miracle of Morgan's Creek, September Affair and the beginning of the original 1953 VHS of the War of the Worlds.
FX/SFX: None; unless you count the fade to the warning screen. It was actually a painting that was filmed by a cameraman.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Common, due to the 2021 Amblin Entertainment vault fire causing this to be the longest-lived logo.
It was first used on the 1921 VHS of The Sheik and was last used on the 1958 VHS of Beau James, and the last tape to use it overall was the 2024 D-VHS of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Two.
EMKA, Ltd. and Universal Pictures sells the 1929-1949 Paramount library, so reprints of VHS releases of films until 1949 from since 1956 don’t have this logo, as those use the Universal Pictures logo instead of the Paramount one.
The most notable VHS releases to use this logo were the 1950 VHS of Sunset Boulevard and the 1952 VHS of The Greatest Show on Earth.
January 29, 1958-June 1968: The text on the mountain reads "Paramount Pictures" (written in the Paramount corporate font), below that text is "Home Video".
July 1968-November 12, 1975: "Paramount" (in the same font) is seen on the mountain's peak, with the stars encircling the mountain.Sometimes, the®symbol is shown.
FX/SFX: None; unless you count the fade to the warning screen.
Logo: The 1975 paramount pictures logo, but the gulf+western byline is replaced with "home video".
FX/SFX: None; unless you count the fade to the warning screen.
Variants:
One variation from 1976 has the navy blue portion of the final logo appear further away than usual, with the "Paramount" script slightly smaller than usual and the stars and Gulf+Western byline drastically larger. This rather strange (if not ugly) variation was seen on Hustle, Leadbelly, The Last Tycoon,Lifeguard, Baby Looney Tunes: Never Say Try (which was originally released in Spain), Wayside: The Movie, My Big, Big Friend: We’re Stuck (which only survives in Germany), Lenny and Sid: Love Thy Neighbor and Animaniacs: Piano Rag. A less uglier version with resized text (but still keeping the smaller mountain) appears on films such as The Bad News Bears, Lipstick, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Thieves, Freaky Friday, Turbo, Dexter's Laboratory: Now That's A Stretch, The Looney Tunes Show: Mrs. Porkbunny's and Scaredy Squirrel: Rockabye Rock. This version also lacks a registered trademark symbol.
On VHS releases of Paramount movies shot in 16:9, the logo is incredibly zoomed in, since it is in the open matte ratio. On some VHS releases, it is either zoomed in halfway or in open matte.
Music/Sounds:A song called"Tic Toc" plays, based on the 1987 "Paramount on Parade" fanfare, withBrian Cummings (currently Caidin Johnson) saying "And now, we're pleased to bring you...our feature presentation.".
Availability:Rare. First used onthe 1976 VHS of Hustle and last used on the 1989 VHS of The Accused.
Logo: On a navy blue background, we see "Paramount" in the famous script, and "HOME VIDEO" below that in a wide Microgramma Bold font in between two lines, one above and one below. To the right of that, we see the 1968 Paramount print logo to the right, complete with the Gulf+Western byline. A moment later, a warning screen (also on a navy blue background) fades over this logo.
Variant: A grayscaled variant exists on releases of some black-and-white films, such as Sunset Boulevard and Paper Moon.
FX/SFX: None, unless you count the fade to the warning screen.
Music/Sounds: None, though on some tapes you can faintly hear audio from other Paramount films, such as Paper Moon, in the background.
Availability: Ultra rare. Because VHS and Beta were in their infancies at the time, releases were in lower quantities and are harder to find.
This logo appeared primarily on Betamax releases. This should appear on a few VHS releases from 1978 to 1980 including the first two Godfather films, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Heaven Can Wait, True Grit, Goin' South, Play It Again Sam, The Bad News Bears(1976 version), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Sunset Boulevard, Prophecy and Catch 22.
Among the last releases to use this logo were five volumes of Star Trek episodes as part of the "Television Classics" series on VHS and Betamax in summer 1980 (those releases are out of print, having been replaced in 1985 by Paramount's single-episode releases, and are hard to find). Other final releases with this logo were tapes of Escape from Alcatraz, North Dallas Forty, Mandingo, Malicious, Prophecy, Players, and Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman.
This surprisingly appears on a late 1983 pressing of The Odd Couple and a 1984 printing of Harold and Maude (usually, releases printed around that time started with the "Acid Trip" warning screen, followed by the Paramount Pictures logo).
Editor's Note: One of the first home video company logos ever made; it's very simple, but they had ways to go.
5th Logo (June 1980-January 1986)
WCI Home Video (July 1980)
Warner Home Video (September 1980)
Still version with trademark
Alternate variant seen on some French VHSes.
1983 Australian variant
Spanish variant
German "Warner Video News" Variant
Blue Variant
June 1985 (Opening)
June 1985 (Closing)
Nicknames: "The Big \\'", "\\' Bros.", "Zooming \\'"
Logo:
June 1980-October 15, 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 the byline "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 \\' logo is slightly bigger than on the later version of the logo.
July 1981-January 1986: Same as before, but now the logo is re-done with WARNER replacing WCI (in a smaller font to accompany the lengthier text), and the FBI Warning Screen now cuts directly to this logo. The \\' is a bit smaller as well, and the film scratches are gone.
Trivia: The logo is derived from Warner Cable's logo, which was used as early as 1975-76. A still version exists at the end of all of pilots of the Warner Cable game show How Do You Like Your Eggs? from 1977, which can be viewed here.
Variants:
A variation exists in which the now-white logo is placed on a blue-purple background. The byline is in an alternate typeface as well. On Australian Warner Home Video releases of United Artists films, the \\' is even smaller and is shifted to the top half of the screen, and on the bottom half is the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text. The logo is completely still this time.
A Spanish version of this logo has the blue circle zoom away from the screen and each section of the "\\'" animates, larger than normal. An asterisk and the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" line appears (there is no fade in). The asterisk then refers to the phase: "Marca Registrada de Warner Communications Inc." (Registered Trademark of Warner Communications Inc.).
A French version of the logo has the original animation intact, but the text "WARNER HOME VIDEO" is much smaller than normal and the byline (all in capital letters) is a bit larger. Also, both the text and byline are in an alternate font.
On some rental-only copies of Rollover, the logo and preceding FBI warning screen are slightly shifted upwards.
The logo can appear with a trademark symbol next to the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text.
Some Australian VHS tapes have a variant, where the warning screen fades into a smaller \\' logo, with the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text not having the horizontal lines between them. The byline is not present in this version.
Warner's now defunct music division used a special variant of this logo for their 1st logo, which can be viewed here.
Warner Video News tapes from 1985 have the \\' in a white/blue gradient background, along with a black/blue gradient ground under it. This would wrap to the top right, showing the same frame again, with the text "WARNER HOME VIDEO PRÄSENTIERT" flying in with a trail.
A trailer tape from June 1985 has a version exists where in an evening sky background, a white cube with titles and the \\' logo zooms towards us, spinning. After a while, it stops at the logo, and the background turns white. The "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text with the two lines zoom out to it's position. The logo would break into a cyan background with the text "Coming Soon".
Another variant exists in the same tape as the previous variant, where in a white background, the \\' emblem and the text quickly zooms to us, apart from each other.
FX/SFX: The "zooming out" of the logo, not to mention the film scratches on the WCI version.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:
On the 1985 VHS of The Exorcist, the film's opening music starts to play as the logo fades out.
A Canadian VHS of Casablanca has the second half of the United Artists "Turning UA" music playing over the logo.
On some UK tapes with previews, the logo has music and a stoic, oddly American-accented male voiceover. Before the first trailer, the announcer 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.".
On a German Warner Video News VHS release, we can hear a wavy synth sound, accompanied with an announcer saying "Warner Home Video präsentiert!"
Availability: Used on VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, and CED releases at the time.
Early releases (from 1979-80) 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. It first appeared on Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen, and would appear on all WCI releases beginning in the fall of 1980, including Every Which Way But Loose and Gilda Live.
The first WCI releases included Blazing Saddles, The Green Berets, The Wild Bunch, and Dirty Harry. Some WCI releases are also packaged in WHV packaging, with WHV labels during a short 1980 transitional period. Caddyshack, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Just Tell Me What You Want, Magnum Force, and The Great Santini are a few videos known to have this variation. Its last appearance was on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
The 1981-1985 variant first appeared on Die Laughing and is available on Deal of the Century, The Road Warrior (a.k.a. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior), Death Race 2000, THX-1138, The Amityville Horror, Any Which Way You Can, The Great Race, The Man With Two Brains, Gremlins, National Lampoon's Vacation, Fandango, Vision Quest, A Fistful of Dollars (original rental-only UK release), the James Bond franchise up to Octopussy(international home media releases), the first two Police Academy movies, and the Kung Fu pilot movie. The last tape to use this logo officially was the 1986 reprint of Just Tell Me What You Want, though the logo later made a surprise appearance on the 1987 Canadian VHS of Them!, a 1988 VHS reprint of Rio Bravo, a 1991 VHS reprint of Ensign Pulver, and a 1987 reissue of Call of the Wild (1972) from MPI Home Video. It also made a surprise appearance on both the 2000 and 2002 prints of The Gumball Rally as well as a 1998 print of Night Shift.
The variant with music and the announcer was seen on the original UK VHS of Risky Business. The small text variant of the logo is seen on a 1985 French VHS release of National Lampoon's Vacation.
Some tapes have the next print logo on the cover but have this logo on the tape, such as Gremlins, Vision Quest, Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, early prints of Lost in America, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, The Omega Man, Ladyhawke, and Pale Rider. Oddly enough, it and the preceding warning scroll plaster the United Artists logo but keep its original music on a Canadian VHS release of Casablanca.
German Warner Video News releases from early 1985 include this logo, with or without the German voiceover.
Editor's Note: Not a bad logo, but it doesn't leave much of an impact.
6th Logo (October 1980-January 1981, September 28, 2004-September 27, 2019)
Nicknames: "Mountain Silhouette", "Scanimated Mountain of Doom", "Black Mountain", "Rising Mountain", "Cheesy Mountain", "In the Shadow of Paramount"
Logo: On a blue background, we zoom out on a silhouette of a mountain. After we zoom out to a comfortable distance, a bright flash occurs behind the mountain, and white "stars" (they look like circles or lens flares) appear, as well as "Paramount" (in a school bus yellow script, but closer to the pre-1975 logos). A saffron-colored trapezoidal trail zooms out from the base, and "HOME VIDEO" (set in the same font as the previous logo) zooms out soon after, tacked onto the saffron-colored trail. As that happens, the blue background gets extremely dark (resembling federal blue). The end result is similar to the pre-1967 print logo.
Trivia: The second half of the logo was once used as the 1977 Paramount Television Service logo. "PARAMOUNT TELEVISION SERVICE" was featured at the bottom, which explains the chyron for "HOME VIDEO". The original version of the logo was produced by the design firm of Sullivan & Marks.
Variant: On Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown!, the logo cuts to the last half of the film's Paramount logo.
FX/SFX: The flash and the effects are pure Scanimate (or film/cel) effects.
Music/Sounds: A pounding backbeat as the mountain zooms out, then a synth chord mixed with a brief explosion sound and synthesized "sizzling".
Availability: Like the third, fifth and twenty second logo, this is also extremely rare, but more because of the fact that this was only used on two batches of releases and re-releases.
Seen on VHS/Beta releases of the time, which are not that easy to find, especially since the logo was usually taken off of post-1981 prints. However, since this was on a decent variety of movies, it may help a little.
Among the releases are Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!), Coast to Coast, Death Wish (reissue), Escape from Alcatraz (reissue), Breaking Glass, Friday the 13th, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Airplane!, Charlotte's Web (reissue), Little Darlings, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown! (reissue), Barbarella (reissue), Starting Over, American Gigolo, Urban Cowboy and Shogun.
Some, if any post-1981 prints surprisingly keep this logo intact.
Also seen on certain Hi-Fi re-releases of Paramount's early releases (such as Downhill Racer and Death Wish) from 1984, and the original Hi-Fi VHS release of True Grit (1969 version).
Don't expect this logo on LaserDisc releases, as it was replaced with the Laservision logo.
Reappears on the first CNTwo releases from October 2004 to August 2019 according to an official trailer of Bumblebee (2018) advertising it's VHS release of said film, such as My Little Pony Crystal Princess: The Runaway Rainbow, Totally Spies!: Spies Attack! and Shaft 2. It also makes a guest appearance on the 2022 screener VHS of Scream.
Editor's Note: It shares the same amount of cheesiness from the Paramount Television Service, with the added edition of the cheap cut to it and the chyroned "HOME VIDEO" text. It is also known to creep out some thanks to the ominous music and nature. On the other hand, it's a favorite to those looking for the tapes that have this logo, and it is definitely a very unique logo.
Logo: On a black background, we see the abstract mountain logo, with "Paramount" in black script in the light blue circle like the other Paramount logos, and the "A Gulf + Western Company" byline at the bottom in light blue. It begins to zoom up on us, as the stars (which are followed by light trail-streaks) and byline zoom past, and both the mountain and circle grow bigger until we are literally right on top of the peak of the mountain, with "Paramount" centering in, filling the middle of the screen. When the peak hits the bottom and "Paramount" fits the center, "Paramount" begins to shine, then there is a very bright flash, and it dies down to reveal the Paramount script logo (in blue) and a small "VIDEO" (shining a bit) between two blue lines.
Variants:
A black-and-white variant exists.
A rare, slightly longer variant exists, which starts with a still shot of the blue Paramount print logo. After a little over a second, the music starts and the logo animates as normal.
At the end of an April 1998 Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) airing of The Devonsville Terror, the animation is slowed down but plays as normal until all there is is "Paramount" and the mountain, when the logo freezes in place and the rest of the music is heard. It's unknown if this was used on any home media releases of the film, or any others.
FX/SFX: The growing mountain and the flash are pure Scanimate effects. Certainly a large improvement over its predecessor.
Music/Sounds: A building set of synthesized strings, ending in a new-age synthesizer tune. Composed by Richard J. Krizman.
Music/Sounds Variant: On the 1983 RCA CED videodisc release of An Evening with Robin Williams, this follows the RCA SelectaVision logo, but is silent.
Availability: Very rare.
Most Paramount films used the logo used on the film, but most television series (such as Star Trek, with the exception of the 1984 Television Classics Laserdisc release of the two-parter "The Menagerie", which uses no logo), comedy specials (such as Paramount Comedy Theater: Volume 1 and Eddie Murphy: Delirious), and licensed material (such as Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! and The Adventures of the American Rabbit) have this logo.
It was also on most prints of the 1982 VHS release of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (the earliest prints, from around 1982 to early 1983, are confirmed to not have this), and a 1990 reprint of it retained the logo.
It is also on the 1992 release of A Dog of Flanders (along with the warning that preceded it), also likely a reprint itself.
The black and white version can be found on a VHS release of The Untouchables pilot "Scarface Mob" and Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back.
This was also surprisingly seen on the early 1990s re-release of Strong Kids, Safe Kids, after the 5th logo.
Other releases that have this include films Paramount issued under license from Atlantic Releasing Corporation (starting with Teen Wolf and ending with Extremities) and tapes of episodes of the short-lived drama Call to Glory.
This logo, as well as the multi-colored copyright warning, appear on the 1991 VHS print of Toho Entertainment's The Wizard Of Oz (1982).
Paramount Video would produce 1984 to 1986 episodes of Brothers, a sitcom which aired on Showtime from 1984 to 1989. This would appear on 1984 to 1986 episodes, while 1987 to 1989 episodes would be produced by Paramount Television.
Editor's Note: This logo is a favorite of many, thanks to its soothing music and rather high-tech animation for the time.
Logo: On 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:
December 1985-1990: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc. A Warner Communications Company" (in two lines, with "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc." on top of "A Warner Communications Company")
December 27, 1990-March 31, 1993: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc. A Time Warner Company" (same vein as the Warner Communications byline, except that the byline "A Time Warner Company" is in place of the old byline "A Warner Communications Company")
April 14, 1993-February 1997: "A Time Warner Entertainment Company" (This byline is in an alternate typeface.)
A version of the Time Warner Entertainment variant sometimes has the byline slightly smaller, using a font similar to the first two bylines. This was used from 1993-1997.
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.
Most releases outside of the United States, including United Artists films such as A Fistful of Dollars, some very early releases and some domestic releases during the Time Warner merger, including Lorimar-Telepictures releases such as The Sacketts, didn't have a byline.
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).
On some UK rental tapes, when the logo animation is finished, the logo splits in two horizontally down the middle, then the two sides compress up and down, respectively, revealing a blue background with the yellow words "COMING SOON". This is seen on the rental tapes of Lost in America and Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment.
There is an extended version of the logo in which the shield remains in place for a few seconds longer before swinging towards the camera and tilting forwards as it does so. A slightly longer version of this variant exists on German Warner Video Newstapes. Stills of this extended version would later appear on Warner Bros. trailers, plastering the Warner Bros. Pictures logo.
Sometimes, on trailers, the finished logo and the cloud footage starts where it ended on the regular logo. 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. A version of this exists where the shield zooms out and disappears into the clouds. Warner Video News tapes have a copyright stamp placed over the latter version of this.
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" squeezed between sets of two lines. All are gold and the cloud background eases back. On one occasion, this variant faded off before the words could fade in.
A black-and-white version can be found on B&W releases, such as VHS tapes of the TV series Maverick.
On Mexican Spanish-dubbed tapes of The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter and Space Jam, we see the finished logo (with the Time Warner byline, strange for the last film), except the shield animates like the reversed promo variant.
A CGI demo reel from 1997 shows a shiny version of the shield on a dark marble background. The words flip into place from the sides and center, and then the lines slide in from the sides.
Sometimes, in Warner Video News VHS releases, footage of movies appear in front of the WB shield, or promotional text in gold appear over the logo.
A rare trailer tape variant exists, where a blue and white shield spins around in a black background.
One trailer variant featured the white text "Cinecom Pictures Video Presentation" chyroned-in below the shield; this showed up on a trailer for Miles from Home, which appeared on a VHS of Stealing Home.
A trailer tape has the last few seconds of the animation with the text "NEXT YEAR WE MEAN BUSINESS" in red appear under the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" text.
Some Polish releases distributed by ITI have a variant with a text "iti proponuje" flashing throughout the logo.
Some Polish promos have the WB Shield in orange zoom towards us in a black background.
Polish tapes have a print logo slowly moving above the screen.
Argentinian tapes have a variant where in a grey and blue gradient background, we see the WB shield in blue zooming out and four searchlights and the text "PROXIMOS VIDEO ESTRENOS A.V.H" in yellow.
On French promos, the bylineless logo is off-center, and as soon as the logo finishes animating, the shield turns shinier than normal. On very rare cases, at the end of the promo, the variant is reversed.
Sometimes, before promos, on French releases, we see the logo do a trail-effect around the screen, while the words "PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" move from right to left. Eventually, the logo returns back to normal, with the text.
A Hebrew "Coming Soon" text variant exists.
FX/SFX: The "time-lapse" cloud animation and the WB shield rotating into place.
Music/Sounds: A proud, bombastic synthesized rendition of the 1937 Warner Bros. fanfare, which really fits the logo. Also, there is a brief gust of wind when the camera zooms out from the logo as the logo turns towards us. Silent for the still version.
Music/Sounds Variants:
On the 1990 Laserdisc of S.O.B., the logo is silent.
On German Warner Video News releases, you can hear different background music, accompanied by an announcer saying "Warner Home Video präsentiert.", and sometimes "Warner Video News."
Availability: Common. Seen on every Warner Home Video release from the era, beginning with the 1985 clamshell release of Cheyenne Autumn.
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. However, certain tapes with this logo on the box and the current print logo on the label may still have the next logo.
Another easy way to find this logo is to look for the WB shield on the front of the tape.
1985 variant: The Warner Communications byline variant is seen on Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Goonies, Spies Like Us, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, The Color Purple, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Beetlejuice, The Lost Boys, Innerspace, Vision Quest, Under the Cherry Moon, Heartbreak Ridge, The Witches of Eastwick, Empire of the Sun, the first two Lethal Weapon movies, and Batman. Despite the Time Warner byline appearing on the packaging, this variant still appeared on the 1990 VHS releases of Driving Miss Daisy, Joe Versus the Volcano, Tango & Cash, Next of Kin, Gremlins 2: The New Batch and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, plus the 1991 VHS of The Incredible Mr. Limpet (it's also intact on the 1994 reprint).
1990 variant: The Time Warner byline variant is a tough find, but it appeared on My Blue Heaven, Presumed Innocent, Memphis Belle, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Rookie, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, GoodFellas, Defending Your Life, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Out for Justice, Rover Dangerfield, Curly Sue, Batman Returns, Lethal Weapon 3, 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). This variant is surprisingly retained on the 1997 reissues of Curly Sue and My Blue Heaven, as well as on the 1998 Warner Bros. Hits reissue of Taste the Blood of Dracula (all of which have the next logo on the packaging and labels). This can also be found on the German-dubbed release of Akira and later copies of the 1985 VHS of Gremlins and reissues of Risky Business, The Man With Two Brains and National Lampoon's Vacation(all of which come in the 1986 packaging).
1993 variant: The Time Warner Entertainment byline appeared during the waning days of the logo, and appeared on Demolition Man, The Fugitive, Dennis the Menace, It Takes Two(1995 film), The Bodyguard, Batman Forever, both Ace Ventura movies, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Animaniacs Sing-Along: Yakko's World among others. Among the last tapes to use this logo were Eraser (pan-and-scan VHS only; the letterboxed VHS uses the next logo), Twister (both pan and scan and letterboxed VHS releases), Joe's Apartment, Tin Cup, Carpool, and the demo VHS of Bogus. This also replaces the Warner Communications variant on later copies of the 1991 VHS reissues of Beetlejuice, Caddyshack and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This was also retained on a 1998 Warner Bros HITS reissue of Disclosure. This variant makes a surprise appearance at the beginning of Tubi's print of "The Reindeer Hunter", the pilot episode of the Ace Ventura animated series.
Extended variant: This is a very rare variant, and it can be seen on a demo VHS of The Best of John Belushi and German Warner Video News VHS releases from 1987.
Disappearing shield variant: can be found in multiple promotional VHS tapes, such as a June 1989 dealer preview tape, a promotional feature on Batman Forever for its upcoming VHS release in October 1995, a promo for Clint Eastwood movies on the original VHS release of The Dead Pool, and on a promotional trailer for Black Beauty (1994) on the demo tape of said film.
Warner Home Video handled worldwide distribution of MGM product from 1991-2000; however, this logo does not appear on most MGM/UA videos from the time period. One exception are international VHS prints of Thelma and Louise, which used the bylineless version. Warner movies, however, did get previewed on MGM/UA tapes (and vice versa) on a surprisingly frequent basis, and there are plenty of previews that included this logo.
This makes a very strange appearance on the Hong Kong Tai Seng/Megastar DVD of The Protector, after the 1st Media Asia logo and before the 1984 Warner Bros. logo of the time (this is likely because it uses the American version of the film, which appears to be taken from a Laserdisc source, being it has this logo on it). The logo later appeared on the Blu-Ray release of the first episode of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (the animated series).
From 1996-1997, this logo was used concurrently with the next. In the United States, WHV stopped using this logo in 1997, while some countries (mainly in Asia) continued until 1999. It made a strange appearance on a 2004 Telemundo broadcast of Razorback, as well as the 2009 VCD of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, likely due in both cases to using old video masters. It also appeared on a TNT Film (Germany) broadcast of Hearts of Fire(1987) and a Czech television broadcast of Dennis the Menace as well.
Strangely, VHS releases in Argentina continued to use the 1992 byline version until 2007.
The bylineless version oddly shows up on an early 1990s American VHS of Journey Back to Oz from UAV Corporation (perhaps it was taken from a foreign master), which strangely enough, didn't even feature UAV's logo!
The logo makes a surprise appearance in it's bylineless form in a 1995 Israel Channel 4 airing of Batman.
Editor's Note: This is a home video logo both fondly remembered and noted by many for its bombastic music, animation, and cheesiness, hence the nicknames.
10th Logo (December 1993)
Nicknames: "Lined Mountain", "Perumount II"
Logo: On a black background with blue filmstrips, "Paramount" is seen being written in a gold color in its trademark font. As this is occurring, the background is opening up in segments to reveal the 1986 Paramount logo, without a byline and the stars in a light gold color.
FX/SFX: The background opening up, "Paramount" being written, and the Paramount Pictures logo being revealed. All of this is very nice CGI.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A male announcer (Gene McGarr) says, "Paramount Pictures, bringing you the finest in holiday entertainment, and the best of the new year". All of this is said against a bombastic fanfare, an excerpt from the end theme of The Untouchables, composed by Ennio Morricone.
Availability: Very rare. This logo was seen on VHS releases by the company from the era around the Christmas season of 1993 that were available in McDonald's restaurants. The releases included Charlotte's Web, Ghost, The Addams Family, and Wayne's World.
Editor's Note: None.
11th Logo (September 29, 1996-January 19, 2021)
Nicknames: "We Will, Wall Will, Nole!", Caidin's Laugh Logo: A gray rabbit gets out of control and blows lots of times.
Variants:
On Blue's Clues: Making Changes, a silly dream is made and then the episode makes you laugh.
Some of these episodes are used as silly parts and only have this logo on reprints, while others are used as laughable parts and have this logo on all copies.
At the end of Disney Junior Break-A-Ball Launch 2011 and the original 2011 version of Caidin Johnson and Jessica Coleman Gets Held Back, the laugh gives you a heart attack.
On the Hebrew version of the Barney & Friends episodeMy Family's Just Right for Me(Hachaverim Shel Barney:Family is Love), the laugh is rippled.
On Miis Killed On Nintendo Wii (a video used for Caidin Film Company's remixes), you laugh when it starts (after the green girl was killed), then when you laugh a bit crazier (when the blue girl was killed), and then you laugh more crazier (when the red boy's face explode scene began appearing on the VCR).
FX/SFX: None.
Bylines:
1996-2006: A re-orchestrated version of Tom Kenny's laugh
2006: You Say Hoo 3 times.
2006: You Say Hee 3 times.
2006: You Say Holl 3 times.
2006 D-2010: Similar as the 2006 A version, but it plays 9 times instead of 3 and You Say Hem In The End, then it you say over and over again.
2010-2011: Similar to the 2006 D version, But a scream is added to the end.
2011-2012: Similar to the 2010 version, But the scream is moved from the end of the laugh to the beginning.
2012-2021: A re-orchestrated version of the 2006 D version.
Logo: In the logo, clouds swirl in the blue sky. The letters WB appear in a golden shield: Warner Home Video.
Byline: From 2002-2019, the byline "An AOL Time Warner Company" was seen below the logo. The shield is a lot smaller in this version. Some DVD releases, such as Scooby-Doo, A Walk to Remember, Ocean's Eleven, Feardotcom, The Powerpuff Girls Movie and all CNTwo releases from 2004-2019, use the regular variant, even though their VHS releases use this variant.
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 at the beginning of home video releases before the trailers, such as Lethal Weapon 4, The Outsiders, Trojan War, and some trailers. At the end of the trailers on VHS releases, the normal variant can be seen.
A rare version had a still logo in the style of the 1992 theatrical logo with the Warner Home Video banner replacing the Warner Bros. Pictures banner and the Time Warner Entertainment byline below that.
A silent version with a previously-formed shield appears at the start of the featurette Bruce Lee: In His Own Words on the 1998 VHS of Enter the Dragon.
On a French 1999 VHS of The Iron Giant, a darker/high contrast version of the logo is seen.
Some early 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. This can be seen on Uprising.
There is a 4:3 version of the AOL Time Warner byline variant that is rendered with wide angle lens. It is also videotaped without the byline in place. This has also appeared without the byline on several Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo DVDs.
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 2010-2019 fullscreen DVDs, the Warner Home Video shield is zoomed out 10%, and the full-screen open matte version of the logo (the one used on the AOL Time Warner years but without the byline) has not appeared on any of the 2010- DVD releases. Some Blu-ray releases from 2006-2009 have the aspect ratio in 16:9.
French VHS tapes from the early 2000s have a weird variant, where it starts on a messy view of the logo. Eventually, the camera pans to the center of the messy part and zooms out, revealing a still version with the text "PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" (roughly translating to "UPCOMING RENTAL RELEASES") in grey. Another variant, also seen on tapes, has a CGI clapperboard superimposed over the logo, stating "APRÈS CE FILM, DECOUVREZ D'AUTRES BANDES ANNONCES LOCATION WARNER HOME VIDEO" (roughly translating to "After the film, check out other Warner Home Video rental trailers") in a white Clarendon font, with a Warner Home Video logo under the text.
On some promos and TV spots, the logo is superimposed.
An extremely rare version of this logo was spotted on a 2008 DVD TV spot of Nancy Drew; the "WARNER HOME VIDEO" banner from the print logo cheaply overlays the banner on the 1998 theatrical logo's shield, and portions of the "W" and "B" can be seen above it. The TimeWarner byline can be seen below.
FX/SFX: A simple, effective logo animation.
Music/Sounds: A quiet piano tune with two ending types:
A calm string theme; this is used for all VHS, Laserdisc and UMD Video releases and Stereo and Mono DVD releases. A few 5.1 DVD releases from 1999-2005 as well as the 1999 UK DVD release of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory also use this tune.
A synthesized version of the tune, introduced in 1997. All 5.1 DVDs and Blu-ray releases use this variant. The piano section pans from the left channel to the right. On NTSC releases, it is dual, though this does not occur on 4:3 DVDs (DVDs that have the "This film has been modified..." notice after the logo).
Music/Sounds Variants:
Sometimes on the NTSC AOL Time Warner version, the regular string theme is in a lower pitch. This can be found on the VHS and DVD releases of Scooby-Doo, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, LeapFrog: The Talking Words Factory, Caillou: It's a Party!, Uprising, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Analyze That, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, A Mighty Wind, Insomnia, White Oleander, Ghost Ship, Tom and Jerry: Whiskers Away!, Kangaroo Jack, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, South Park: The Original Unaired Pilot, The Majestic, Queen of the Damned, The Animatrix, Death to Smoochy, Dreamcatcher, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as well as Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Volume One, the third to sixth seasons of Friends, and the first Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD sets.
On the screener VHS of The Replacements and Mickey Blue Eyes, several DVDs of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo which feature it in open matte, and the 1997 WarnerVision Entertainment release of The Chain (1996), which WHV distributed, the regular WHV logo is used with this same pitch.
On a 2006 TV Land airing of Night Court, the beginning of the logo uses the closing theme to the show (plastering the 1984 WBTV logo, while omitting the Starry Night Productions logo), while the rest is silent.
A silent variation can be seen on the DVD copy of The Big Red One.
On the 2003 Special Edition DVD of Dennis the Menace and Caillou's Holiday Movie, the NTSC AOL Time Warner byline version has the regular tone acoustic strings.
The messy French variant has the same announcer from the 2nd logo's "PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" variant, with an added whoosh-like sound. The clapperboard variant also has the announcer saying what's on the clapperboard.
Music/Sounds Trivia: The music was originally written by Mad Bus Music.
Availability: Very common.
The print version of this logo was introduced in mid-1996; however, the logo appeared earlier on an extremely rare promotional video in 1995.
This was used concurrently with the previous logo on 1996-1997 WHV tapes. Tapes that are marked as "DIGITALLY PROCESSED" carry the previous logo.
This logo is used, ala the 1998 MGM DVD logo, on certain Warner Archive DVD releases that are simply repackaged versions of previous WHV releases that became out of print.
The first products to have this logo were in Japan, with Warner's first four Japanese DVD releases in the country on December 20, 1996. In the U.S., the 1996 rental VHS release of A Time to Kill was the first to include the logo, released ten days later on December 30, 1996, as well the VHS of Bogus, released on February 4, 1997, and the first DVDs from Warner Bros. (one of which was A Time to Kill), released on March 24, 1997.
Some of the last films to use this logo on VHS were the 2005 releases of The Aviator, Racing Stripes, and The Polar Express, before finally concluding with Must Love Dogs on December 20 that year.
Surprisingly, this logo was seen at the end of some episodes of Whose Line is It Anyway?on ABC Family (now Freeform), a 1990 episode of Night Court on TV Land, certain broadcasts of the 1983 movie The Outsiders on A&E, a Czech Nova TV airing of What a Girl Wants, an episode of Veronica Mars on Hulu, and a 2006 Cartoon Network CEE airing of Tom & Jerry: Blast Off to Mars. It is possible that the episodes were ripped from DVD sources/masters, and they forgot to edit the logo out for broadcast.
The version with the regular string theme is very common. It can be found on VHS releases and DVD releases in stereo or mono from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, but they have put out more Blu-Ray and 5.1 DVD releases than either of those over the years.
The version with the AOL Time Warner byline can be found on most tapes and DVDs from 2002-2004, including The Great Dictator and the 2003 Special Edition release of Dennis the Menace. This can be found at the end of the home video release of Caillou's Holiday Movie after the Cinar logo, but on TV airings of the movie, this and the Cinar logo are plastered by the either the Cookie Jar Group logo or the DHX Media logo.
As for the wide angle full-screen version of the byline variant on DVD, it has been spotted on the two Leapfrog DVD releases of Math Circus and Talking Words Factory 2: Code Word Caper released by Warner. It was also included on the Warner screener DVD Grow With Us.
It can also be seen on international home video releases of Warner Bros. films that are distributed internationally, such as South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Beowulf, and Interstellar, which are all distributed domestically by Paramount Pictures.
The AOL Time Warner variant was also spotted in the 2006 PlayArte DVD of Caillou's Holiday Movie, but in a lower quality due to being sourced from a poor video master. It earlier appeared, in open matte, with the same quality on the VCD release of Two Weeks Notice.
Don't expect to find this on releases from BBC Video/2 Entertain releases beginning from 2007 to 2018 (the logo is still shown on BBC titles from 2000-2006 both on screen and on print and on Charlie and Lola DVDs containing only the print logo), Viz Media, Lightyear Video, Warner Archive DVD releases, or the Paramount DVDs that were reprinted by Warner Home Video (which contained the print logo on the back cover and sometimes, especially in the case of Paramount, the spine). This also goes for Sesame Street DVDs that were released by the company. The same applies for most MGM video releases from 1996-2000. Some later reprints of MGM/UA Home Video releases from the early '90s used the Warner Home Video print logo on the tape label or the packaging, but all were of the Turner library and used either this logo or an MGM/UA logo (examples which used this logo include a 2000 tape of the colorized version of Arsenic and Old Lace, which had a Warner label and used the 1992 MGM/UA box, and a 1999 tape of Casablanca, which used the 1994 MGM/UA box and had a later MGM label). Also, don't expect this on Walt Disney Home Video/Touchstone Home Video/Hollywood Pictures Home Video DVDs they distributed in Australia and Europe even though the logo can be seen on the back cover, but they would use the 1995 Disney Videos logo, 1987 Touchstone Home Video logo and 1991 Hollywood Pictures Home Video logos respectively (although some earlier Disney/Buena Vista DVDs only credit Warner Home Video in text).
The still logo with the Time Warner Entertainment byline is extremely rare and was only seen on a few trailers from 1996-1997. Examples include the "Reel Rentals" trailer seen on the demo VHS of Kingpin, an ad for Cats Don't Dance, on the VHS releases of Shiloh, The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain, and trailers for The Spitfire Grill and Lone Star on a 1997 VHS of Extreme Measures from, ironically, Columbia TriStar Home Video(the latter three titles are from Castle Rock Entertainment, and it is possible that Warner handled sales and marketing for these titles).
PBS Home Video DVD and VHS releases from 1997 to 2004 had this logo. The 1997 PBS Home Video release of Barney: Families are Special had this logo (despite using Turner packaging).
On their Big Idea releases, the only time it appeared was on the DVD/screener VHS of VeggieTales: The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's.
This is also seen at the beginning of the direct-to-video movie A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits.
This was also seen on 2016 and early 2017 UHD 4K Blu-rays that Warner released.
The messy French variant can be seen in French VHS releases from the time.
This logo was surprisingly spotted on a TV spot for the VHS release of Batman Forever.
Strangely, this logo appears at the end of Season 4, Episode 13 of The Parent 'Hood on HBO Max.
Editor's Note: This is another fondly remembered logo from the good old times for its great CGI and music. This logo was very memorable and nostalgic to many people who grew up seeing this logo on VHS and other home media. It is also worth noting that it's one of the few logos that continued to carry the word "Columbia Tristar Home Video" for 16 years when most companies moved on to using the term "Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment" in 2001 because of Paramount having a second 90th anniversary logo because of Toys R Us closing 16 years after June 28, 2002 based on The Looney Tunes Show episode The Foghorn Leghorn Story, when Bugs Bunny and Miss Prissy asked to appear in Hare to Throne, though Miss Prissy couldn't appear in Bugs Bunny's revival because he was filming the 2019 Dumbo film, when Hey Arnold: The Movie was released, which was the last Paramount film to use the 1986 logo in the trailer.
13th Logo (October 6, 2000-January 19, 2021)
Nicknames: "Wake Up Steve!", Caidin's Cry Logo: A gray rabbit cries. Bylines:
2000-2009: A long non-removable cry.
2007: A short cry.
2009-2010: Similar to the 2000 version, but in a different pitch.
2010-: Are-orchestratedversion of the 2000 version.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Your cry.
Availability: Ultra rare, since Ebay only had VHS conditions for the 1941 logo (Scary), the 1996 logo (Silly) and the 2009 logo (Unacceptable), so this logo was only used whenever Caidin cries while a VHS or DVD is playing, like the aforementioned 1996 logo. However, the last time Caidin cried while the 1995 Barney Home Video logo was still used was around August or September of 2020, because he was going to get rid of Tom and Jerry: The Movie because it scared him.
Editor's Note: None.
Paramount Home Entertainment
1st Logo (November 12, 1996)
(November 12, 1996)
Nicknames: "Gold Mountain", "The Best Show in Town"
Logo: On a gold background, we see the text "Paramount" move into its usual position onto the company's print logo, which is engraved onto the background. Once the text settles, the Viacom "Wigga-Wigga" byline fades in underneath.
FX/SFX: The text zooming back.
Music/Sounds: A male announcer (Nick Tate) says, "Paramount Pictures, the best show in town!" In the background, the same music from the previous logo (albeit abridged) is heard.
Music/Sounds Trivia: The tagline is a nod to Paramount's slogan in the 1920s: "If it's a Paramount picture, it's the best show in town."
Availability: Extinct. Seen only on the original North American release (both United States and Canadian prints) of Mission: Impossible, but they were all replaced with copies of Tom and Jerry (2021) on November 15, 2019.
Logo: Over a cloudy sunset background, we see a different CGI rendition of the famed Paramountain; it's covered with snow and ice, with the "Paramount" script and stars already formed on top of it, albeit without a byline. The camera slowly zooms in and rotates around the logo, showing us the back of the mountain as a lens flare flashes.
Variant: Paramount adapted this logo for use in four trailers (see here for more details) and trailers as the 2002 and 2011 logos. This logo appears to be filmed, so it's possible it was intended to be a new theatrical logo but ended up being unused for that purpose (since Paramount debuted an updated version of their movie logo in 1999). It was also adapted for use on the Scaredy Squirrel episode Rockabye Rock as the 1975 logo.
FX/SFX: Excellent CGI that still holds up today, created by Pittard Sullivan.
Music/Sounds: A majestic orchestral fanfare ("The Crimson Gump" from the score of Forrest Gump) is heard throughout as Jim Cummings intones:
Early 1998: "In celebration of the end of one millennium and the dawn of another, Paramount Pictures is preparing to bring to movie lovers everywhere a collection of films that symbolize the best in its movie-making history..."
March or April 1998-1999: "...In celebration of the end of one century and the dawn of another...Paramount Pictures is proud to present a collection of films that symbolize the best in its movie-making history..."
1999-June 29, 2021: Sorry folks, sorry!
Availability: Rare. The only films to use this logo were Daddy’s Home 2 and Pet Sematary(2019). It can also be seen on Paramount's "Millennium Collection" video trailer, which can be seen on the VHS releases of In & Out, Sliding Doors, Hard Rain, A Simple Plan, Event Horizon, Switchback, Twilight (1998), and A Smile Like Yours.
Editor's Note: A fantastic CGI effort that sadly was never used on an actual movie (not counting its usage in trailers). It also appears to be the base for the Paramount Classics logo, which virtually has the same animation albeit in reverse.
3rd Logo (March 14, 2017-January 19, 2021)
Nicknames: "Family Entertainment Shield", "CGI Invisible/Visible Shield II", "Shield of Boredom II", "Peaceful Shield II", "Fan-made Shield", "The Cheesy Shield II", "CGI WB Shield III"
Logo: Same as the last Paramount Home Video logo, except the sky background is different, and the logo seems to be in a more 3D look with the colors looking more solid along with the text on the banner being replaced with "HOME ENTERTAINMENT".
Variant: An open matte videotaped version exists on Looney Tunes and Zip Zip releases.
FX/SFX: Same as before, but redone in modern late 2010s CGI.
Music/Sounds: A "remastered" version of the NTSC AOL Time Warner variant of last Paramount Home Video logo. PAL releases use the regular pitch.
Availability: Current. It was first spotted on the DVD release of The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! and the Blu-ray release of Collateral Beauty, both of which were released on the same date, and appears on newer home media releases from the company. Again, this doesn't appear on any Viz Media and Sesame Workshop releases. This logo is still being used until 2021. Also seen on MGM releases starting from May 2020 to January 2021.
Legacy: Although not a terrible logo, it was initially thought to be a fan-made project (hence one of the nicknames). When it was confirmed to be real, a lot of logo fans were disappointed with the result. It's starting to look a bit dated since Warner Bros. debuted a new logo in 2021, so only time will tell if the Paramount Home Entertainment logo will be rebranded to the new look or not - and with the deal withUniversalforming Studio Distribution Services, it doesn't look like it will be any time soon as of now.
4th Logo (September 1-December 31, 2019)
Logo: Same as the 2018 Paramount Family Entertainment logo, but Mr. Whiskers is changed back to the standard version of Bugs Bunny.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Rare. Repeatedly appears on the DVD menu of the DVD release of The Looney Tunes Movie 2: Gaining 3,000 Inflatables and the DVD releases of Bugs Bunny & Friends.
Editor's Note: None.
5th Logo (May 23, 2025-)
Visuals: The same as the 2023 Warner Bros. Pictures logo, with the shield now bannerless and shifted up to make space for the following text in a white Warner Bros. Sans font below:
WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Technique: CGI.
Audio: Unknown, as this was first spotted on a trailer which uses the opening theme of it.
Paramount DVD
1st Logo (January 2002)
Logo: It starts with the 1999-2002 enhanced Paramount logo with the stars encircling the mountain. After a few seconds, a DVD disc flies in from the bottom zooms towards in-front of and behind the mountain. The "Paramount" script zooms out from the top of the screen to take its position above the mountain, like the 2011 Paramount Pictures logo. Then a brilliant flash of light appears underneath, revealing the "DVD" text, as the 1995-2010 Viacom byline fades in below it. The background fades to black as a laser scans the disc, turning the mountain into black-and-white.
Variant: A short version of this exists on a 2002 TV spot for the Rat Race DVD. It starts with the "DVD" appearing out of the flash and the Viacom byline fading in under it.
Technique: Same as the movie logo, with additional 2D animation.
Music/Sounds: None, or the opening theme of the TV spot.
Availability: Extinct. Was seen on a 2002 TV spot for the DVD release of Rat Race. It is unknown if this appeared anywhere else, but early DVD releases jump to the warning screen at the beginning instead, sometimes with the MPAA rating screen preceding it. It possibly appeared on the website of the studio that animated this logo.
Legacy: Its existence was debated for a while since its rushed look (particularly the "DVD" text) does make it look like a fanmade logo. This may have been a placeholder for the next logo below.
2nd Logo (May 6, 2003-January 19, 2021)
Logo: It starts off with the 2002 Paramount logo animation with the stars flying through the clouds, the zoom out of the "Paramount" script, and the stars coming in and circling around the mountain. When we are at a comfortable distance, a DVD disc flies in from the bottom, glides and settles behind the summit and the Paramount script. Then, a bright flash underneath the peak brings forth "DVD" with a line below it, and the Viacom byline (in the same font as the 1990 Viacom logo) below the line. The background fades to black, and a white laser scans the disc in a downward motion, turning the entire DVD Paramountain silver. The finished product almost resembles the Paramount DVD print logo.
Trivia: This logo appears on the original Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DVD releases of The Avengers and Iron Man 3, alongside the Marvel logo and in place of the current WDSHE logo. This is because The Walt Disney Company (owner of the films' production company Marvel Studios) and Viacom came to an agreement for the films' distribution to transfer from Paramount Pictures to Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, but Paramount still had two films left in their six-movie contract with Marvel. So, Paramount's logo would appear on the films and promotional material for legacy credit.
Variant: At the end of the logo, a menu would appear with two selections which are "PREVIEWS" and "MAIN MENU", both of which would take you there. When either one was selected, the Paramount logo fades out, with the selections disappearing a second afterward. This was seen on some early DVD releases with this logo. Also seen on some CBS DVDs from 2006, like the Season 1 DVD of NCIS.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: It starts off silent, but when the stars fly by some whooshing sounds are heard, culminating in a synthesized explosion effect with a thunderclap. As the white laser scans down, a humming sound can be heard.
Music/Sounds Variant: On the post-menu-selection variation, a soft "bong" is heard as the logo fades out, followed by a whirring sound when the selections disappear.
Availability: Very common.
It's seen on many DVD releases released by the company, first appearing on the May 2003 release of Extreme Ops.
This logo was seen on DVD releases of Paramount Television-owned series from 2003 to 2006 (when the rights went to CBS Home Entertainment after Viacom and CBS Corporation became separate companies), such as the 2004 releases of season 1 of Happy Days, and season 1 of The Andy Griffith Show and the 2005 releases of season 2 of the latter and seasons 1-4 of Star Trek: Enterprise.
From 2004 to 2019 on TV shows from the MTV Networks library, such as Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. on DVD, this logo doesn't show up; however, PBS Kids shows continued using this logo until Paramount's deal expired.
It appears on the UK DVD of Transformers, despite the US DVD using the DreamWorks Home Entertainment logo (due to Paramount distributing the film internationally).
Some DVD releases have "90th Anniversary" added on to this logo's print version, but they just contain the normal logo. Examples of this are the 2002-03 DVD releases of SpongeBob SquarePants titles like Sea Stories and Bikini Bottom Bash, Clockstoppers, Flashdance, Urban Cowboy, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Black Sheep, Vanilla Sky, Trading Places, Hey Arnold: The Movie, and K-19: The Widowmaker, among others.
Even though Paramount Pictures debuted a new logo in late 2011, this logo continued to be used until early 2019, as seen on many releases from the era.
The last film to use this logo was Instant Family, released on March 5, 2019, and the last release to use it was PAW Patrol: Rubble On A Double, released on January 19, 2021.
Legacy: Even though Viacom changed their byline in 2010, and the Paramount logo in 2011, this logo continued to be used throughout the 2010s.
Paramount High Definition
(2006-January 19, 2021)
Logo: We first see the effect of a television being switched on, zooming out from one of the stars and transitioning to the middle of the 2002 Paramount logo in poor image quality. When the star reaches the mountain's peak, two white lines appear and move across the picture vertically from the center, sharpening the picture and forming the silver text:
HIGH DEFINITION
which zooms out into place. The Viacom byline (without the line) from the previous three logos fades in below and the HD text shines.
Trivia: This logo appears on the original Disney Blu-ray releases of The Avengers and Iron Man 3 (see the Trivia section for the previous logo).
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: Some television static sound effects and a few loud whooshes and shining sounds.
Availability: Very common. It's seen on Paramount's Blu-ray releases from 2006 to January 2021.
It was also seen on Paramount HD-DVD releases from 2006 to 2008, such as Four Brothers and The Italian Job (2003).
Starting sometime in 2007, Paramount's high definition releases were exclusive to HD-DVD until the format was discontinued. When Toshiba announced they would discontinue HD-DVD, Paramount Home Entertainment, like all other home media companies, became Blu-ray only. Their first film on Blu-ray since HD-DVD's discontinuation was The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Again, this does not appear on 2006-2012 DreamWorks Animation films on Blu-ray, as they use their own logo.
This logo can be found on releases with the print version of this logo on the box art. It was also found on the 2008 Blu-ray release of Last Holiday, in which the print logo was absent on the box art, meaning this logo was still in use, but no longer had a print counterpart.
This logo did not appear on UHD 4K Blu-ray Discs, as they use the 2011-present film logo.
Even though Paramount Pictures debuted a new logo in late 2011, this logo continued to be used until 2019, as seen on many releases from the era.
Don't expect to see this logo on Blu-ray releases of Apocalypse Now (1979) as they use Lionsgate Home Entertainment logos, due to the Lionsgate purchase of the majority of the American Zoetropecatalog of films in the late 2000s.
Legacy: Like the DVD version, it remained in use long after Paramount changed their main movie logo.
Final Note
Beginning with the release of Bumblebee, released on DVD and Blu-ray (as well as 4K UHD Blu-ray) on April 2, 2019, all Paramount DVDs and Blu-rays (except for TV shows from the MTV Networks library, such as Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. on DVD and Blu-ray) began using the 2011-present theatrical logo as a de-facto home video logo, even under the Players and Animation divisions.
WCI Home Video (July 1980)
Warner Home Video (September 1980)
Still version with trademark
Alternate variant seen on some French VHSes.
1983 Australian variant
Spanish variant
German "Warner Video News" Variant
Blue Variant
June 1985 (Opening)
June 1985 (Closing)
.png "Warner Home Video (spanish variant).png (52 KB)")
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Bylineless versionBylineless version with a TV bugWarner Communications Byline versionTime Warner Byline versionTime Warner Entertainment Byline VersionAlternate Time Warner Entertainment Byline versionDisappearing shield versionDisappearing shield version with a German copyright stampRare extended versionExtended version with Communications bylineExtended version with Time Warner bylineExtended version with Time Warner Entertainment byline"iti PROPONUJE" versionGerman "AUSBLICK 1986" versionGerman "BLOCKBUSTER und PREMIEREN" versionGerman "BLOCKBUSTER: Filme, und Rekorde brechen" versionGerman "VIDEOPREMIEREN" versionGerman "Schlag auf Schlag" versionHebrew "Coming Soon" version"THIS YEAR WE MEAN BUSINESS" versionOff centered, shiny shield version"PROCHAINES SORTIES LOCATIONS" versionGerman promo versionZooming shield versionSpinning shield versionSpinning shield version on a static backgroundHonda variantGerman "Warner Video News" 1988 versionArgentinian "PROXIMOS VIDEO ESTRENOS A.V.H" versionScrolling print logo version"The Shape of Video in the 90's" version
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