"On ABC" Bumpers

Background

A year after they acquired the American Broadcasting Company, Disney introduced commercials for kid-centric or general ABC programs as part of the previews on their tapes, and they all started with these bumpers below.

1st Bumper (Watched By More People Than Any Other Network/The American Broadcasting Company, placeholder) (1996)

Visuals: On top of Epcot's Spaceship Earth, there is Mickey Mouse dressed in his Sorcerer's Apprentice outfit from Fantasia, leaning back as his hands glow with energy, and he flings a ball of energy towards the Earful Tower, the water tower at Disney's Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios). When the energy impacts against the tower, a flash in the shape of a star appears as the 1993-1996 ABC ident animates: a red-orange flash of light and various dashes (in circular shapes) emanate from the center as the ABC text flips into place and zooms out, and the circle zooms out into place, and a second circle zooms out. A final flash occurs and the screen fades out.

Trivia: The part with Mickey was taken from the intro to NBC's The Magical World of Disney, used from 1988 to 1990. When the star-shaped "flash" appears, you can briefly see the next part of the opening.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: The sounds of wind blowing, a swooshing noise, then a loud, "zapping"-like noise, and Beau Weaver announcing: "There are great new shows for kids, from the newest member of the Disney family, ABC! Take a look!".

Availability: It was only seen on the 1996 VHS of Toy Story, it's still pretty easy to find as a lot of copies exist. It was likely the only release to have this as it was likely a placeholder until ABC's 1996-97 image package was ready (and was used for the bumper below).

2nd Bumper (Nobody Does It Like ABC/This is Your TV) (1997-1998)

Visuals: Over a constantly color-shifting background with various out-of-focus images (including the ABC logo) shifting around, there is the ABC logo zooming back, which is repeated four times at different points in the zoom-out, and the logo itself has different colors moving over it.

Trivia: On many Disney releases using the Walt Disney Company intro, this bumper is shown on a television inside a living room during one scene of the intro.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A gentle calypso tune that's the same music from the related "From Disney Interactive" bumper. Beau Weaver can be heard saying one of the following:

Version #1: "There are great new shows for kids, from the newest member of the Disney family, ABC! Take a look!".
Version #2: "There are exciting new things coming to ABC. Take a look!"
Version #3: "Don't miss all the fun and excitement on ABC. Check it out!"
Version #4: "Don't miss all the excitement on ABC. Take a look!"
Version #5: "There are great things happening for kids on ABC. Check it out!"
Version #6: "Don't miss the excitement on ABC. Check it out!"

Availability: It was seen on many tapes from Disney and Touchstone during this period, including 101 Dalmatians (the live-action remake), Lady and the Tramp, The Parent Trap, The Rescuers (the recalled version), George of the Jungle, Armageddon, and others.

3rd Bumper (America's Broadcasting Company) (1998-2002)

Visuals: There is a yellow background with the ABC logo and other black circles. When the bumper is finished, the words "America's Broadcasting Company" appear one by one.

Technique: 2D animation done by Pittard Sullivan.

Audio: Either the previous bumper's music or a nice tune with some drums that ends in the 4-note ABC jingle, which was composed by Mad Bus Music. Beau Weaver, Brian Cummings, or Andy Geller says one of the following:

Version #1: "There are exciting new things coming to ABC. Take a look!"
Version #2: "Don't miss all the fun and excitement on ABC. Check it out!"
Version #3: "Don't miss all the excitement on ABC. Take a look!"
Version #4: "Don't miss the excitement on ABC. Take a look!"
Version #5: "Don't miss all the exciting action on ABC. Take a look!"
Version #6: "There are great things happening on ABC. Take a look!"
Version #7: "Now playing on ABC."

Availability: Seen on the VHS tapes of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, Doug's 1st Movie, Inspector Gadget, The Other Sister, A Civil Action, Spy Kids, Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown, The Sixth Sense (on the version with previews), Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse, Recess: School's Out, and Bringing Down the House.

4th Bumper (America's Broadcasting Company) (2002)

Visuals: Some yellow and black shapes appear in a kaleidoscope effect, rotating multiple times. The ABC logo appears in the center after a few seconds. As the kaleidoscope effect turns into a yellow background, it appears once again, four different times, to the beat of the jingle.

Variant: An alternate version exists. The camera zooms through a circular mosaic made out of yellow ABC logos. A yellow circle then zooms in, with the black ABC logo zooming up inside of it. As the four note jingle plays, the ABC logo zooms in slightly, to the beat.

Technique: 2D animation effects done by Troika Design Group.

Audio: A guitar-driven hip-hop theme, ending with the ABC jingle. Composed by Mad Bus Music. The announcer says "Now playing on ABC."

Audio Variant: The alternate version uses a different hip-hop guitar theme, still ending with the ABC jingle, however the announcer can either say "Coming soon to ABC." or "Now on ABC."

Availability: The normal variation was seen on the VHS releases of Power Rangers: Time Force - The End of Time, The Rookie, Corky Romano and Big Trouble. The alternate version was spotted on VHS tapes of The Others and Signs.