CEL Video

Background
CEL Video is the now bankrupt successor to PBV (Publishing and Broadcasting Video).

1st Logo (1984-1986)
Logo: On a background of what looks like a cartoony reenactment of the American Revolutionary War (starting at brown dust), we see an orange neon "CEL", with a sun-like image printed in the "C", wiping in. Then we cut to a cannon turning into place, then the the mahogany word "NOW" quickly zooms through as the cannon shooting out the abstract circular shapes (like crosshair and rings), once it did the same "CEL" zooms in. We then cut to a flag reading "The CEL (on a small navy blue triangular flag) ENTERTAINMENT REVOLUTION" (on a larger persimmon-colored triangular flag) that waves in the wind. The image freezes shortly after.

Variants: The only known variants of this logo can be seen on promos


 * On one promo, "HOME VIDEO" in white is added into the first few seconds of the logo.
 * At the end of a promo, the print logo for the 3rd logo is seen at the bottom and the flag constantly moves.
 * Sometimes. the "CEL" text coming out of the cannon is changed to "NOW" which can be seen in the normal logo, but only for a few frames.
 * Another promo has the normal "ENTERTAINMENT REVOLUTION" flag changed to a painting of it featuring characters like Kermit the Frog and Tom from Tom and Jerry, two franchises CEL had distribution rights to back then.

Technique: Cel animation.

Music/Sounds: Gunshots, a synthesized trumpet fanfare, then a loud "BOOM!" when "NOW" and circular shapes shoots out of the cannon. An announcer then says "Another CEL Entertainment Revolution Presentation!"

Availability: Seen on early CEL releases. Some of these may have been re-packaged copies of PBV movies, as this logo has PBV's warning screen coming before it.

Legacy: The animation is pretty good for the time, although the CEL logo zooming in from the cannon and the flag just stopping whilist moving is quite cheap.

2nd Logo (1986)


Logo: On a background, we see  diagonal lines. A black box wipes in, as a turquoise CEL logo flies in and settles to the top left. Then another turquoise parallelogram wipes in, and then a border fills in, with a line wipes in, with the text "Times New Roman" wipes in.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: An orchestral theme.

Availability: Rare. Seen on the Australian VHS of A Chorus Line.

3rd Logo (1986-1990)


Logo: On a midnight blue background, there is a blue grid at the bottom of the screen. Three sections of "Communications and Entertainment Limited" in white rise from above the grid and zoom in towards the viewer. The "C", "E", and "L" then morph into stylized, chrome versions of the letters as they zoom in to the middle of the screen, left to right. The text vanishes, and a star travels across the outlines of the letters, making lines in the "C" in the process. The logo then "shines" as an announcer says, "CEL, Communications and Entertainment Limited."

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A descending synth note, followed by a synth horn fanfare, and the announcer.

Availability: Common. This was the logo used throughout most of CEL's life. It can be found on any MGM/UA title before the distribution deal with Warner Home Video.

Legacy: This logo uses extremely cheap computer effects and the grid is just cliche. Nonetheless, it's a pretty memorable logo for those who grew up during the period.

4th Logo (1991)
Logo: We see the warning screen scrolling against a background of the Outback at dusk. When the screen stops scrolling, the dusk sky suddenly becomes morning, and we rise up into the sky, as the same CEL logo (metallic this time) shoots in, one letter at a time, and then, "Home Video", in a Compacta font, and placed against what looks like a movie marquee sign. The logo zooms to the top left as "Entertainment Revolution" writes in a yellow cursive font below-right of the logo.

Variant: If the cassette has trailers before the program, the CEL logo will fade out to show "PREVIEW TIME" in yellow.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A catchy synth rock-and-roll tune. When the CEL logo appears a male announcer says "CEL Home Video, bringing you the Entertainment Revolution."

Availability: Extremely rare; check old tapes for this logo. This logo also appeared on Australian PAL releases of shows created by Jim Henson during the 1980s including Muppet Babies and Fraggle Rock, just to name a few. The Warning screen that appeared before the logo was also oddly spotted on a Magna Pacific Video release of Young Guns.

5th Logo (1991-1999)
Logo:


 * Variant 1: On a space background with zooming stars (a la Together Again Productions Inc.), two sets of three spheres flip together and converge to form a red circle. A red sphere appears in the middle of the circle and the whole thing rotates to form a gray crescent with five red lens shapes to the right of it. There is a big flash and the space background is now a shady sky bluish-dove gray/white gradient background as the words CEL HOME VIDEO fades in.


 * Variant 2: On a white background, the words "CEL ENTERTAINMENT", in gray, fade in, along with a weird symbol consisting of a gray crescent with several red lens shapes.

Technique:


 * Variant 1: CGI animation.
 * Variant 2: None.

Music/Sounds:


 * Variant 1: A majestic fanfare.
 * Variant 2: None.

Availability: Unknown.