White background. Seen on most UK tapes.
Sky blue background. Seen on German tapes.
Dodger blue background. Seen on Italian tapes.
Crimson red background. Seen on some UK tapes.
Dark gray background. Seen on Japanese tapes.
Redrawn box variant
Extremely rare white background variant with a red Columbia logo and the redrawn box from the previous variant.
Extremely rare Australian variant
RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video
From Audiovisual Identity Database
< RCA
Credits
Background
RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video was an international joint venture between Columbia Pictures and RCA, who invented the SelectaVision format on June 30, 1981, to market titles internationally. It distributed the CED in the United Kingdom. It made joint ventures, first with Gaumont in 1982 to set up Gaumont Columbia RCA Video in France, and then with Hoyts Distribution in 1983 to set up RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts Video Pty. Ltd. for the Australian market. The company expanded to reach North America in 1982 with a subsidiary RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, which consolidated some operations of RCA's SelectaVision unit and Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment. The company, along with its counterparts were rebranded under the Columbia TriStar branding in 1991, renamed all operations to Columbia TriStar Home Video.
1st Logo (1982-1991?)
Logo: On a colored background (normally a white background), the same box from the 1st RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video logo, in 2D, fades in. "HOME VIDEO" is replaced by "INTERNATIONAL VIDEO". Sometimes, the box has a black border, other times, it doesn't have one.
Variants:
- On PAL tapes in Germany, the logo is against a sky blue background, after its warning screen has finished scrolling. Spanish PAL tapes have the same variant as well, but without the same warning screen.
- There is a variation with a dodger blue background, at least on PAL tapes from Italy.
- Some UK tapes have a variation with a crimson background, while others (including a tape of Jabberwocky) have this with a white background.
- Japanese tapes would use a dark gray background.
- Another variant has a redrawn (slightly plain) box, that has "Pictures" smaller than "Columbia", and a larger Torch Lady and RCA logo, all appearing on a black background. On Argentinian releases from Videomega Entertainment and LK-Tel Video, the logo would usually coast down from the center and cover the screen.
- Some early tapes use the 5th variant, but with a white background, and everything in the large box (Columbia print logo and text) is red and black rather than blue and white. There is also a blue background version that was seen on some Australian VHS tapes, like The Deep.
Technique: None, unless one counts the fading.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Common outside North America.
- Despite it being used for nearly ten years, it is hard to come across in North America, and was seen mainly on such international releases as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Real Ghostbusters, and Annie.
- However, if you have an NTSC tape from (at least) Mexico, Brazil, or Japan, or even a SECAM tape from France or Russia, you'll probably find this logo.
- Also seen on UK rental releases of Macbeth and D.A.R.Y.L., in addition to Australian releases prior to RCA/Columbia's joint venture with Hoyts in 1983.
- It also appears on the 1987 UK VHS release of Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation as well.
- Despite the next logo being introduced, it continues to be used on Argentina and Chile releases from the era.
2nd Logo (1988-1992)
Normal variant used on Mexican tapes, some UK tapes, and Japanese tapes.
UK variant with marble background
German variant seen on the warning screen in German tapes.
Silver variant
NOTE: In the 6th video, skip to 0:23 for the logo
Logo: On a black background, a 3D cube comes up from the screen. It has the RCA logo in red at the top and "INTERNATIONAL VIDEO" at the bottom. Then the Columbia Pictures print logo in blue and white swoops up from the bottom. The cube spins once and settles down, facing the viewers.
Variants:
- On some PAL tapes, the animation takes place on a light marble background. When the logo has finished animating, it "ripples" out and the whole thing transitions to the warning screen.
- On releases from Contacto Video in Colombia, the RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video logo shrinks down to the lower right of the screen. Then the Contacto Video logo animates, then it shrinks and moves to the upper-left of the screen.
- On the 1990 PAL tape of Radio Days, at the end, there is a flash and the logo turns into the silvery print logo, which shines.
- On PAL tapes from Germany, after the logo is finished animating, it goes straight to the warning screen (in German).
- The RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts Video Pty, Ltd. logo is a variant of this logo.
Technique: CGI animation done by Ed Kramer at DESIGNefx in Atlanta, GA on an SGI 4D/70 computer running Wavefront software, and animated at 30p.
Music/Sounds: A catchy dramatic '80s-sounding synthesized fanfare, complete with a whoosh sound effect when the Columbia logo rises from the bottom and a reverse cymbal when the cube settles down. Rarely, it is silent.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- The German PAL version uses a completely different theme with a synth sounder similar to a North American police car or ambulance siren at the beginning.
- Japanese tapes use a creepier-sounding whispering synth tune, with a bong, a whoosh for the Columbia Pictures logo swooping in, and a drumbeat.
Availability: Rare. It was only used on video releases outside the United States and Canada, and for the most part, appeared on Latin American and European releases of Columbia and TriStar movies on video from the late 80s/early 90s. However, if you have an NTSC tape from (at least) Mexico, Brazil, or Japan, or even a SECAM tape from Russia, you'll probably find this logo or the first one. However, French SECAM tapes have the 1st or 2nd Gaumont Columbia Films RCA Video logo appear instead (which is completely different from this one). The normal variant appears on UK releases of Flatliners and the first two Ghostbusters films, while the marble background variant appears on Hope and Glory. Australian tapes simply use the 2nd RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts Video Pty. Ltd. logo (which is very similar and even uses the same music as this logo). The standard variant was also spotted on UK VHS tapes from Watershed Pictures, which had a distribution deal with RCA/Columbia (and successor company Columbia TriStar) until 1994 when it switched distribution to PolyGram.
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