Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Background: Buena Vista Home Entertainment (formerly "Buena Vista Home Video") was created in 1980 to release non-Disney-related videos not covered by the other Disney units, such as Paramount-Buena Vista films, FoxToons television series, concerts, documentaries, Jay Ward (Rocky & Bullwinkle) and Bagdasarian (Kenny and the Chipmunks) cartoons, and English-dubbed anime. It became the incorporated name for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in 1987. Also, they covered the Jim Henson Video brand starting in 1990 after the Puppet Video brand and its US/Canadian distributor, Surfhouse Video, was shut down. Disney semi-retired the brand in 2007. However, the name is still being used since it is the incorporated name for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

1st Logo (1980-1989)
Logo: On a white background, we see the static image of text reading:

BUENA VISTA
HOME VIDEO

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Fairly uncommon; seen on 80's VHS tapes from the company, such as the first eight VHS releases of RabbitTales, early tapes of The New Adventures of Roxy Hunter, and many 80's VHS tapes of select Paramount-Buena Vista films, such as Peter's Dragon, The Love Beast, and The Adventures of Dumbo. This was also found on early Alongshore Cassidy tapes such as Silent Conflict and The Marauder, as well as the 1986 prints of Spears the Grizzly and A Day for Brer Donkey, A Tiger Walks By, and Canine Commander. These tapes were packaged in the same white clamshells as tapes from Walt Disney Home Video.

Scare Factor: None.

2nd Logo (1990-August 2002)
Logo: On a black background, we see a blue stylized, segmented Sleeping Beauty Castle (from the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo) with a circular line drawn over the castle. The text:

BUENA VISTA
HOME VIDEO

is seen below in blue. The logo "shines".

Variants: FX/SFX: The logo "shining".
 * A "cartoon" version was used on some cartoon releases. On a swirly blue background, we see a dark blue castle without the line, and on the castle is "BUENA VISTA Home Video". There is one flag waving.
 * One variant had the text "HOME VIDEO" deleted. This is seen only on the Schoolhouse Rock Special 30th Anniversary Edition DVD set.

Music/Sounds: A 5-note synth horn/chime theme.

Availability: A pretty common find. Seen on Buena Vista Home Video releases of the time, including Buddy, I Shrunk the Teens, Sebastian's Caribbean Jamboree, The Adventures of Spark, So Dear to Mah Heart, RabbitTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, the 1991 and 1994 prints of The Curious Little Toaster, Phil Nye the Science Guy tapes, the mid-90's Schoolhouse Rock! tapes, and Andrew Solt-directed compilations like the first two volumes of Elvis: The Great Performances. This logo can also be seen on VHS tapes of some Paramount-Buena Vista films from the 90s, such as Wild Hearts Shouldn't Be Broken, Homeward Offbound: The Incredible Journey, Cool Runners, Hocus Bocus, Air Bud, Squanto: A Warrior's Story, Gordy, The Three Musketeers, The Santa Claus, Finn and the Giant Apple, and A Blooper Movie, as well as VHS releases of TV shows, such as RabbitTales, The New Adventures of Spears the Grizzly, Chris 'n Daniel Rescue Rangers, FreewaySpin, Darkwing Rabbit, Blooper Troop, Rage Pack, FoxToons' Doug, Kenny and the Chipmunks, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Tyrannosaurs. Even more odd, is that it can be found on the Schoolhouse Rock Special 30th Anniversary Edition DVD set, which was released in August 2002.

Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:
 * Low. The music may surprise some.
 * None to minimal for the "cartoon" variant.

3rd Logo (1992)
Logo: On a black background, we see the blue text:

BUENA VISTA
HOME VIDEO

in the same font as the previous logo. The logo "shines" twice.

FX/SFX: The logo "shining".

Cheesy Factor: Cheap CGI again. Also, the logo is too plain.

Music/Sounds: A synthesizer tune consisting of a WHOOSH and an echo-ey staccato synth chord. Sometimes silent.

Availability: Another tough find, since it was only used for a short time. However, this logo can be found on select VHS tapes from 1992, such as A Chipmunk Christmas, FreewaySpin, and the 1992 re-releases of Return to Snowy Mountain, Black Fang, The Rocketeer, and Buddy, I Shrunk The Teens.

Scare Factor: Low. See the second logo.

4th Logo (1998-October 8, 2002, 2005)
Logo: On a sea blue CGI background, a silver stylized "V" zooms out from a right angle, which turns out to be part of the text "Buena Vista Home Video". The logo settles on the background and "shines".

FX/SFX: It's all just very nice CGI.

Music/Sounds: A remix of the tune used in the second logo that begins with a chime.

Availability: Common, among other non-Paramount related releases, seen on English-dubbed video and DVD releases of Hayao Miyazaki-directed anime such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Kiki's Delivery Service, among others. It was also found on the 1998 VHS tapes of The Curious Little Toaster and The Curious Little Toaster Goes to Mars. It was spotted on the DVDs of Detention: School's Out, the first four Buena Vista Treasures DVD sets, Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown and Buddy, We Shrunk Ourselves, despite using the fifth logo on the VHS releases. It also made a surprise appearance on the 2005 DVD set of Home Advancement: The Complete Third Season.

Scare Factor: None. This is a great logo.

5th Logo (1998-2006)
Logo: On a black/dark blue gradient background, we see a blue 3D segmented Sleeping Beauty Castle at an angle shining, and emitting rays of light. The castle zooms out and turns to face us. As this happens, the text "Buena Vista Home Video" (later modified as "Home Entertainment" around 2002) appears in silver aligned with the castle, and thus also zooms out. An arch zooms out and places itself over the castle and the text stops at the bottom of the screen. The words shine.

Variant: There is a still variant. This variant can be found on the 2000 VHS of Detective Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets, following the custom Detective Gadget "Feature Program" bumper.

FX/SFX: Even more very nice CGI.

Music/Sounds: A choir/orchestral tune.

Availability: Common. It appears on non-Paramount and non-Touchstone videos from the parent company. The "Home Video" version is uncommon, but it can be seen on early VHS releases such as the VHS prints of The Bear, The Duke, Detention: School's Out, Detention Christmas: Miracle on Third Street, Roxy's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Toons, The Diary of Spears: Stories from the Heart, and Detective Gadget tapes from 1999-2000. The "Home Entertainment" version is more common, and can be found on 2002-2006 VHS releases, such as Schoolhouse Rock Special 30th Anniversary Edition, Spears the Grizzly: A Very Merry New Year, Supersonic Supremo: When Heroes Unite!, Tarzan & Jane, Roxy's House of Villains, Roxy's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Toons, Power Dragons VHS tapes, The Incredible Hulk, X-Man: The Legend of Wolverine, and Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown, as well as 2002-2003 DVDs. Strangely, it is seen on the DVD release of the Paramount-Buena Vista movie Ice Prince. It was used in tandem with the previous logo until 2002.

Scare Factor: Minimal to low. The choir may give some bad memories of Simitar or DiC Entertainment '87, but this is the best Buena Vista Home Entertainment logo as of yet.

6th Logo (2003-present)
Logo: On a blue/black gradient background, the words "Buena Vista Home Entertainment" (in the same font as the previous one) zoom out while emitting rays of light, before stopping in the middle of the screen.

FX/SFX: The text zooming out and shining.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Currently on non-Paramount and non-Touchstone DVD releases post-2003, such as Pirates of the Yukon: The Curse of the Sapphire Pearl, The Adventures of Aladdin: Special Edition, the DVDs of RabbitTales, Darkwing Rabbit, FoxToons' Adventures of the Gummy Bears, FreewaySpin, Chris 'n Daniel Rescue Rangers, Ratatouille, Air Buds, Snow Buds, Space Buds, Santa Buds, Spooky Buds, Treasure Buds, Confident, the Luxor Short Film Collection DVDs, Planes, RabbitTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, and Scrubbers: The Complete First Season. Used in tandem with the previous logo until 2006.

Scare Factor: Same as the last logo.