Paramount Home Video

# 1st Logo (1977-1979)

**Logo:** On a navy blue background, we see "Paramount" in the famous script, and "HOME VIDEO" below in the Eurostile Bold Extended 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*.

**Technique:** None, unless you count the fading effect 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:** Extremely 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 1977 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 1979. 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 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).

**Legacy:** One of the first home video company logos ever made.

# 2nd Logo (1979-1982)

**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.

**Technique:** Scanimation by Sullivan & Marks.

**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 first 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-1982 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-1982 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).
* It reappears on a 2019 trailer of *Bumblebee* (2018) advertising a "VHS release" of said film.

**Legacy:** Same logo as the Paramount Television Service, with the added edition of a cheap cut to it and the chyroned "HOME VIDEO" text.

# 3rd Logo (1982-1987)

**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. It's also possible that Sci-Fi Channel intentionally did this to hide any home video references.

**Technique:** Scanimate effects.

**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.
* This was also surprisingly seen on the early 1990s re-release of *Strong Kids, Safe Kids*, after the 4th logo. It was also on most prints of the 1982 VHS release of *Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol* (the earliest copies, 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. This logo, as well as the multi-colored copyright warning, still appear on the 1991 VHS print of Toho Entertainment's *The Wizard Of Oz* (1982).
* 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*.
* 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*.
* Paramount Video would produce 1984 to 1987 episodes of *Brothers*, a sitcom which aired on Showtime from 1984 to 1989. This would appear on 1984 to 1987 episodes, while 1987 to 1989 episodes would be produced by Paramount Television.

**Legacy:** This logo is a favorite of many, thanks to its soothing music and rather high-tech animation for the time.

# 4th Logo (1987-2006)

**Bumper:** On a background filled with blue/indigo squares, we see a blue square with the Paramount print logo on it, with an embossed mountain and the stars and script in gold. The stars shine from left to right, then the square moves and zooms away as the squares behind it move off, revealing the stacked words "FEATURE PRESENTATION" in gold zooming in on a heliotrope gradient background. The words shine, and after that, it zooms toward us at breakneck speed. Just when the text engulfs the screen, it cuts to a warning screen, which has a pattern of Paramount mountains in the background.

**Bylines:** This used whatever byline Paramount was using at the time:

* 1987-1989: "A Gulf + Western Company" (used for only six months that year)
* 1989-1995: "A Paramount Communications Company"
* 1995-2006: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (in the same font as the 1990 Viacom logo)

**Variants:**

* On the 1989 re-releases of *Sunset Boulevard* on VHS (reissued from the 1988 printing) and *The Courageous Dr. Christain* on Laserdisc (reissued from the 1987 printing), the bumper and warning screen are in black and white.
* On the 1989 releases of *Coming to America* (the first release to use this bumper) and *Distant Thunder*, the bumper cuts to black after "FEATURE PRESENTATION" zooms in, then the warning screen fades in.
* Newer copies of *This is America, Charlie Brown: The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk* retains the Paramount Communications variant of the Coming Attractions version from the original tape, while the Feature Presentation bumper and the Paramount logo appear in their Viacom versions.

**Technique:** CGI animation, which is very advanced for 1989.

**Music/Sounds/Voice-over:** The 1987 fanfare (originally composed by Lalo Schifrin), with a male voiceover (Brian Cummings) saying "And now, we're pleased to bring you, our feature presentation."

**Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:**

* A variation exists where the announcer says "Paramount is pleased to bring you our feature presentation". This was used with all three byline variants and can be found on all Laserdisc releases, as well as any VHS releases which have no previews before the film. Some examples include the 1989 releases of the first four *Star Trek* films, any promotional copies of movies released by Paramount (except for several of them such as *Harriet the Spy*, *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*, etc.), and the 1998 widescreen VHS release of *Forrest Gump*, while the full-screen version has the standard voice-over). This variant usually appears on tapes made and sold exclusively through Columbia House (usually identifiable by the presence of an orange sticker on the cover). On rare occasions, this variation did appear right after previews, such as the 1996 VHS of *Ferris Bueller's Day Off* and it’s 2000 reprint, and a series of three videocassettes sold as part of a 1993 McDonald's promotion, *The Addams Family*, *Charlotte’s Web* and *Ghost* (these releases have the Rank Home Video print logo on one of the spines on the slipcovers for those films and a face label on the tapes with a special red, yellow, black and white color scheme).
* On the 1991 screener VHS of *Subspecies*, the logo is silent. This was probably an error on Paramount's part.

**Availability:** It depends on the version, but as a whole, very common since it was used for a very long period. It appears on the majority of Paramount's home video releases, many of which are still in print.

* The original Gulf+Western variation (which is the least common) made its debut on the late 1987 home video releases of the first four *Star Trek* films, and can also be found on releases such as *Distant Thunder*, *The Experts*, *The Best of Eddie Murphy: Saturday Night Live*, *Cousins*, *The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!*, *Major League*, *Coming to America, Pet Sematary*, and *Puppet Master*.
* The Paramount Communications variation (which is easier to find) debuted on the 1989 VHS of *Scrooged*, and is also on the 1990 VHS release of *Grease*, the 1991 VHS and Laserdisc releases of *Ghost*, both *Wayne's World* films, the 1993 release of *Charlotte's Web*, and the 1998 widescreen VHS release of *Forrest Gump*.
* The Viacom variant (the most common of all three) appears on nearly every Paramount VHS release from 1995 onwards, starting with the 1995 VHS of *Drop Zone*.
* The final Paramount film released on VHS and to use this bumper was the 2006 VHS of *Yours, Mine & Ours* (2005 remake), and the last retail tape to use it overall was the 2006 VHS of *Go Diego Go!: Diego Saves Christmas*, which is also the final Paramount VHS ever released.
* This appears on demo and screener VHS tapes of PBS Kids shows from 2004 to 2006, while the normal releases just begin with the warning screen used on Paramount DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
* Used in tandem with the next bumper on 2002 releases, such as *Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*.

**Legacy:** Perhaps one of the most famous bumpers in home video history.

# 5th Logo (Late Summer-Mid Fall 2002)

**Bumper:** An enhanced version of the previous "Feature Presentation" bumper. A full color version of the 2002 Paramount logo appears in a square that overlaps a background of four purple squares. A line of light passes over it, and then the square with the logo flies off and the four purple squares peel off, pretty much like before. They reveal "FEATURE PRESENTATION" in a gold-yellow font flying into place, each word from a different end. The words now float against a dark cloud background, eventually zooming out towards the screen in a trail of gold light. The warning post appears as always, but with a dark blue background in place of the usual logo wallpaper.

**Technique:** Same as the previous bumper, albeit with a live-action cloud background and added flashing effects.

**Music/Sounds/Voice-over:** Same as the previous bumper.

**Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variant:** There is a very rare variant that uses the "Paramount is..." voiceover. This can be seen on *Damaged Care*, *Bleacher Bums* (the last release to use this bumper), *My Horrible Year!*, *Bobbie's Girl*, all demo VHS tapes with this bumper (except for *Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat* and *Serving Sara*), *The Day Reagan Was Shot*, and alternate prints of *The Sum of All Fears*. Depending on the release, there is no previews or this appears right after them.

**Availability:** Rare, due to its short lifespan, and this bumper was only used for 8 months.

* The first release to use this was the 2002 VHS of *Vanilla Sky*, and was seen on certain other 2002 Paramount Home Video VHS releases from the time frame after that, such as *Rugrats: Christmas*, *Dora the Explorer: Christmas*, *Little Bill: Merry Christmas, Little Bill* and *K-19: The Widowmaker*. The final release to use this was *Bleacher Bums*.
* Some releases from the time frame, surprisingly, have this logo's print version on the label and packaging, but do not have this bumper on the tape, as they use the previous bumper instead. See the list above for details.
* The 2002 VHS of *Changing Lanes* also has this bumper, but it cuts to the 1995 warning screen instead of the 2002 one, due to a tape manufacturing error, and is probably due to the fact that the later copies use the previous logo instead of this one.