Videoville Showtime

Background
Videoville Showtime is a Canadian home video/film distributor founded in 1983 in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. Also known as Showtime Video Distribution, VVS Video or VVS Films, the company distributed motion pictures and animated cartoons from independent producers. In 1999, Videoville Showtime also began to release Canadian-based humor shows on VHS and DVD. The VHS catalog ended in 2004, but the DVD catalog is still in operation.

1st Logo (1983-1990s)


Nickname: "(Neon) Star Pentagon"

Logo: On a black background, five streaky wing-like shapes (one is green, one is orange, one is dark teal, one is blue, one is hot pink ) move in from every side of the screen and stop in the center to form a pentagon shape hiding a stylized star shape in it. the pentagon then starts spinning at a fast pace, and a couple of seconds later, the text:

VIDEOVILLE    S H O W T I M E 

in light pink and leaned vertically, flies in from the upper right corner of the screen and positions itself horizontally at the bottom, as the pentagon stops spinning.

FX/SFX: The wings and the text flying in, the spinning pentagon.

Music/Sounds: A fast-pased synthetized fanfare which sounds like a newscast opening theme. The music begins in the warning screen, and continues when the logo animates.

Availability: Rare. Can be seen on 1980s and early 90s French-Canadian tapes.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1990s-)
Nicknames: "Star Pentagon II", "Cheap Pentagon"

Logo: On a blue background, a whole mess of white dust collects and converges into the star pentagon from the previous logo. A couple of seconds later, the text:

<font face="Arial"><font face="Arial">VIDEOVILLE     SHOWTIME 

fades-in. The text shines.

FX/SFX: The pentagon converging, the text shining.

Music/Sounds: A synth note is heard when the pentagon converges, then when the text appears, a weird xylophone note is heard.

Availability: Rare. Can be seen on later tapes of the company, like The New Adventures of Madeline volumes and Moment of Truth: Eye of the Stalker.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (early 2000s)
Logo: TBA.

FX/SFX: The clouds animation.

Music/Sounds: A 12-note theme.

Availability: TBA.

4th Logo (mid 2000s)


Logo: We zoom through some clouds, which fade into the handwritten letters "VVS" with a paint streak below and "FILMS" in silver on a moving cloud background.

FX/SFX: The clouds and the text fading in.

Music/Sounds: A peaceful fanfare.

Availability: Seen on Fallen Angels and it's DVD copies.

5th Logo (2008-2018)


Logo: We zoom out of a shiny navy blue "S" from the last logo. It turns out to be "VVS" from the previous logo. Then a light shines on the logo revealing the same paint streak and "FILMS" from the last logo now in a navy blue color and shiny.

FX/SFX: The zooming, the light and the shine.

Music/Sounds: A weird noise described as a dark whoosh with a weird beep, followed by an even louder beep with some light synths and another faint whoosh.

Availability: Seen on Gardens of the Night.

6th Logo (2018- )


Logo: We start off with a starry night sky. We zoom down to reveal some clouds and then an amusement park, filled with tons of attractions and trees. We then see a red rollercoaster with yellow lights. The rollercoaster then dips down and up to the starry night sky. We then take a dip down again and suddenly zoom out to reveal children riding on the coaster. We zoom through some chains from a carousel ride, then move to the humps from the same rollercoaster with a ferris wheel next to it. A light then highlights the dips and turns into a stylized "VA" symbol with "VVS FILMS" below while the background fades to black.

Variant: On Canadian prints of Orphan: First Kill, everything before the rollercoaster humps is cut out and the rollercoaster's ascent is slowed down.

FX/SFX: Spectacular CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: An orchestral fanfare with sounds of the rollercoaster, children screaming and pixie dust sounds towards the end.

Music/Sounds Variant: Orphan: First Kill uses a slower, more majestic reorchestration of the last three notes of the above theme.

Availability: Current. Seen on Videoville Showtime's current releases.