Buena Vista International

Background
Buena Vista International was the international distribution sub-arm of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. In the mid-80s, Disney signed a distribution deal with Warner Bros. to release its films theatrically in some overseas territories such as the U.K. and Ireland, Europe (except in Poland and Hungary where local distributors Filmoteka Nardowa and Intercom Zrt. handle theatrical distribution respectively), Latin America and in some countries in Asia such as South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines where it did not have any current distribution arrangements with other companies. In 1992, Disney opted to end the joint venture with Warner and reactivated the Buena Vista International name to handle operations in countries that did not have any ongoing distribution arrangements. When the Buena Vista name was phased out in favor for the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures branding around 2007, international distribution in most countries went through the Disney branding and its subsidiaries (Miramax, Touchstone, etc). However, like United International Pictures, Buena Vista International is still active as in-name-only in some developing countries such as Latin America, and parts of South Africa. The label is also used as an international distributor of films made by independent studios and a distributor of films made in foreign countries. It remains the only active unit of The Walt Disney Company to still retain the Buena Vista brand name (although Buena Vista Home Entertainment is still used as a legal disclaimer on Disney/20th Century/Searchlight/Marvel/Lucasfilm releases and as an in-name-only label for non-Disney distributed movies on home media, like Glass). As of 2019, it also acts as a international distributor for titles released by 20th Century Fox/Studios and Searchlight Pictures outside North America when Searchlight operates its autonomous distribution unit in the US.

1st Logo (1961-1983)
Logo: Same as the standard Buena Vista Film Distribution logo from 1953-1984, only "INTERNATIONAL, INC." replaces "DISTRIBUTION CO., INC.".

Variants: See Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.

FX/SFX: None, same as the regular Buena Vista logo from 1953-1984.

Music/Sounds: See Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.

Availability: Extremely rare, despite being used for 22 years. Was seen on international theatrical prints of Walt Disney productions from the era, but most current prints use domestic versions which means the standard U.S. logo is seen instead. May be found of old 16mm or 8mm home copies of various films, or on early PAL VHS releases such as Return To Witch Mountain and The Moon-Spinners.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1993-)
WZPiDe6J5_E|width=300|height=170 Nickname: "Draws & Slides"

Logo: On a black background, a white line draws with the left & right drawing at the same time and then stops. The shiny grey text "BUENA VISTA" slides up the top half and "INTERNATIONAL" slides down the bottom half.

Variant: A still variation exists. This was seen on the 2007 Mexican film Ladies' Night.

FX/SFX: The line drawing and text sliding.

Music/Sounds: Usually silent, or the opening theme of film.

Availability: Rare.


 * It was normally seen on international theatrical prints and trailers of Buena Vista/Disney films (before the main logos), as well as non-Disney productions they distributed such as Dragonfly, Abandon, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, Air Force One, Starship Troopers, Bringing Out the Dead, Snake Eyes, Face/Off, Cinderella Man, It Runs in the Family, Kiss of the Dragon, and the French version of March of the Penguins, among others; sometimes additionally containing Touchstone Pictures or Miramax Films (or other Disney sub-labels) logos at the front (though this was far from a universal rule), and some European DVDs contain the home video variants on their covers, if not the logos themselves.
 * A good amount of international home video/TV prints use U.S. domestic versions converted to PAL formats, as a result this is no longer usually seen at the front. However, some versions use prints that had mandatory edits by the countries rating council for distribution, with an example being UK prints of Face/Off; so the logo may still show up on these. This can be still be seen on international Blu-rays of Air Force One, Face/Off, and Starship Troopers. This also makes appearances on streaming prints of the 2009 Australian film Subdivision, the English dubbed version of Die Wilden Kerle 2 (retitled as The Wild Soccer Bunch on the U.S. DVD release), the Maverick Latino DVD of Tangos Are For Two, the First Run Features release of Tuvalu, and the Mexican Distrimax DVD of Ladies' Night. This logo also makes a very strange appearance (before the Miramax International and MGM logos) on a Brazilian Blu-ray print of The Brothers Grimm.
 * Was also seen on some French YouTube trailers for 2008-2009 Disney distributed films such as Ponyo.
 * International theatrical prints (pre-2020) of Die Hard With a Vengeance were believed to contain this or the 1985 Touchstone Pictures logo in lieu of the 1994 20th Century Fox logo (the film was a co-production with Cinergi, which sold some international theatrical rights to Disney/Buena Vista, coincidentally predating their eventual purchase of Fox in 2019). However, while just about all international TV, video, and streaming releases start with the Cinergi logo, the European Touchstone Home Entertainment Blu-ray features this preceding Cinergi. As of 2021 when the film (alongside the entire Die Hard saga) came to Disney+ under the STAR name in some international territories, the film uses the Fox-distributed domestic prints.
 * Domestic appearances are extremely rare (likely to be accidental inclusions), but it still makes a surprise appearance on U.S. prints (including DVD, VHS and TV airings; though it is unknown if it appears on the 2015 Olive Films Blu-ray) of It Runs in the Family after the 2001 MGM logo.
 * The logo also makes a strange reappearance on the UK iTunes viewing of The Spectacular Now. This logo was seen on 2018 UK theatrical and DVD prints of the British movie Patrick (don't expect to see it on streaming prints).
 * It was also used as a de-facto home video logo on the UK DVD and Blu-ray releases of Glass, while the movie itself used the next logo.
 * It can also be seen on German theatrical prints of movies from Universum Film.
 * It was also seen at the end of overseas theatrical prints of certain 20th Century Fox/Studios films (such as Terminator: Dark Fate).
 * It also made an appearance on the French PAL DVD of Mission to Mars, after the Pathé logo and before the Touchstone/Spyglass logos.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (2018-)
Nickname: "Draws and Slides II"

Logo: Same as before, but the logo is blue, in CGI and looks brighter. A light shine appears in the middle of the line.

FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: First seen on the international trailer of Glass and eventually appeared on the movie itself. As of 2020, the logo also appears at the end of international prints of titles from 20th Century Fox/Studios (including Searchlight Pictures) such as The Call of the Wild, Nomadland, Free Guy, The Last Duel, Ron's Gone Wrong, The French Dispatch, West Side Story (2021) among others.

Editor's Note: None.