Touchstone Home Entertainment

Background
Touchstone Home Entertainment (formerly "Touchstone Home Video") was the home entertainment arm of Touchstone Pictures, established in 1984 to distribute all Touchstone releases on video.

1st Logo (August 1984-January 8, 1986)


Nicknames: "Still Thunderball", "Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball"

Logo: On a white background, we see the Touchstone thunderball logo. Below it is "TOUCHSTONE", with "HOME VIDEO" underneath. The logo fades out after 15 seconds.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen only on early video releases of the first Touchstone movies, such as Splash and My Science Project, among others. These tapes were packaged in the same sealed clamshell boxes Disney used on their "Neon Mickey" releases. This logo is absent on the Touchstone VHS releases of Country and the TV series Wildside.

Editor's Note: A very simple effort, produced just before Touchstone introduced their famed "Snake" logo.

2nd Logo (September 23, 1986-November 1987, UK: 1986-1993)
Nicknames: "Flashing Thunderball", "Thunderball II", "Metallic Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball II"

Logo: At the bottom of the black screen is a undefined circle beside the words "TOUCHSTONE HOME VIDEO", looking just like the standard movie logo of the time but in '80s CGI. The text lights up section by section, like a flashlight, and when the "light" reaches the circle, the circle flashes and a gold thunderbolt appears on it.

Variants:
 * On a few UK videos, this logo was seen with the words "COMING SOON FROM" in Windsor Bold above the main logo. In addition, the music is slightly louder.
 * A version with "ALSO AVAILABLE FROM" in the same font also exists.
 * Another version has "LOOK OUT FOR THESE OTHER MOVIES FROM" in ITC Souvenir, which fades out after the bolt appears. The text was lazily edited into the top of the screen, as the top part of the flash is cut off.
 * On Australian releases, the logo is positioned in the middle of the screen. For the closing variant, the logo is in the same position with the words "DISTRIBUTED BY" in white underneath. The Roadshow Home Video logo follows.
 * On French releases, "EGALEMENT DISPONIBLE DANS VOTRE VIDEOCLUB" appears on top of the logo with a letter-by-letter effect.
 * On Greek releases, "ΠΡΟΣΕΝΩΣ" fades in on top of the logo.

FX/SFX: The '80s computer effects, and the "light" effects.

Music/Sounds: Same as the theatrical logo, albeit slightly distorted. Also, the music begins late and cuts off early.

Music/Sound Variants: Brian Cummings was used as an announcer for previews on a few VHS releases.
 * Tin Man preview: "And don't forget these other great titles from Touchstone Home Video." The Ruthless People trailer's theme is played instead of the logo's music.
 * Off Beat preview: "From Touchstone Home Video, their special preview of the hit feature starring Judge Reinhold and Meg Tilly..." followed by said movie title.
 * The Color of Money preview: "And now, for one of the year's top films..." again followed by said movie title.
 * Down and Out in Beverly Hills preview: "And now, here's a look at the Touchstone Home Video smash comedy hit..." once again followed by the movie title. This one uses the undistorted version of the logo's music.

Availability: Rare. Only seen on 1986-87 Touchstone videos, starting with the 1986 VHS release of Down and Out in Beverly Hills. This was used up to early 1993 on UK releases such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. This can also be seen on the 1990 Canadian VHS of Gross Anatomy, while the U.S. print uses the following logo. One of the last UK tapes to use this logo is Consenting Adults. Following the 1987 VHS of Tin Men, VHS releases from Touchstone didn't include any home video signifier until the 1989 VHS release of Cocktail.

Editor's Note: An odd computer-generated rendition of the "Snake" logo. Also, it was odd to see this logo on the Canadian VHS of Gross Anatomy even though their U.S. counterpart has the next logo.

3rd Logo (April 18, 1989-August 5, 2003, September 13, 2005 [2011 on Thailand VCDs])
Nicknames: "The Snake", "Thunderball III", "Touchstone Thunderball III", "Thunderball Snake"

Logo: Same as the movie logo, only "HOME VIDEO" replaces "PICTURES".

Variants:
 * The "HOME VIDEO" version has two variants; the VHS version has a video-generated fade-out, the LaserDisc and DVD version has a film-generated fadeout.
 * The positioning of the logo varies.
 * Starting in the early 2000's, a new variant was made to coincide with the release of DVDs. The picture quality was improved over the earlier variant, and the words "HOME VIDEO" were replaced with "HOME ENTERTAINMENT". Oddly, only a few DVDs feature this variant as most use the earlier "HOME VIDEO" version; though later VHS releases used this towards the end of 2003.
 * A rare version of the "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" logo has a smoother frame rate and the trailing animation is slightly sped-up. It appeared on the demo VHS of Crazy/Beautiful, though the actual VHS and DVD used the "HOME VIDEO" variant instead. It also appears on the 2002 VHS reprints of Cocktail and Nothing to Lose, as well as on later Australian VHS releases from the company, such as Bubble Boy.
 * " NOW YOU CAN OWN YOUR FAVORITE HIT MOVIES... " appears over the logo on various 1990-1992 sell-thru VHS releases that feature the Touchstone Home Video promo at the start, kept in print until 2002. The last new VHS release to use this variant was the summer 1992 reprint of The Doctor.
 * On the 1992 demo VHS of Sister Act, following the standard Touchstone Home Video logo, a still version of the logo fades in with the text "Coming From" above the logo and "at $19.99 S.R.P." below the logo, in the same color as the text in the logo. The screen fades to black after about 5 seconds. This precedes a sell-thru trailer for Father of the Bride.
 * On a few early 2000s UK VHS releases such as Shanghai Noon, a still shot of this logo was seen, positioned upwards with "PRESENTS" in a yellow/gold font below, accompanied by the logo's theme.
 * On early UK VHS releases with this logo, such as the 1993 releases of Sister Act and The Distinguished Gentleman, the logo plays normally, but when the text shines, the words "COMING SOON FROM" or "ALSO AVAILABLE FROM" in a gold font fades in above.
 * On an Italian trailer for Armageddon, the logo is an edited still version of the movie logo, with "HOME VIDEO" (in a different font) replacing "PICTURES".

FX/SFX: Same as the movie logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the movie logo. Up until the early 2000's, the same distorted audio mix from the second logo was used; on LaserDiscs and DVDs featuring the "HOME VIDEO" variant, as well as the original VHS of Dick Tracy, the music abruptly stops before the logo actually ends.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Touchstone's first sell-thru releases from 1989, the "HOME VIDEO" version includes an announcer, Brian Cummings, announcing over the logo, "Now you can own these hit titles from Touchstone Home Video!". On the 1989 reprint of Stakeout, only one preview is on the tape, so the announcement mentions "this hit title" instead of "these hit titles".
 * On the 1991 demo VHS releases of Green Card and White Fang, as well as the 1991 VHS releases of Arachnophobia and Taking Care of Business, the logo is silent and cut down to the last 5 seconds. Brian Cummings announces "Coming from Touchstone Home Video." over the bumper.
 * The still variant from the 1992 demo VHS of Sister Act uses the theme from the 1991 gold Walt Disney Home Video logo, and the same Brian Cummings announcement as the previous variant.
 * On Australian VHS releases, the 1997 Laserdisc of Con Air, and some DVDs, such as the 2000 DVDs of Shanghai Noon and High Fidelity and the 2002 DVD of Captain Ron, the home video version of this logo uses the audio track from the movie logo.
 * On the 2000 DVD of Adventures In Babysitting, the 2001 UK VHS release of Pearl Harbor and the 2002 UK VHS of The Count of Monte Cristo, this logo is silent.
 * UK and Australian VHS releases with this logo often have the theme in PAL high tone.

Availability: Common. First seen on the 1989 VHS release of Cocktail, this logo appears on most Touchstone DVD and VHS releases from the era until 2003, even on releases following the 2002 logo's debut such as Signs and Spike Lee's 25th Hour. Strangely, this also appears on the 2005 UMD for PSP release of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This is not seen on the UK DVD release of What About Bob?, which strangely uses the Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment logo instead. It also appeared on some UK VHS releases of Miramax Films titles in the mid-90s, such as Emma, Pulp Fiction (in which this was even oddly retained at the start of an old Sky Movies UK airing of said title) and Muriel's Wedding. It is also seen before the Miramax Home Entertainment logo on the 1994 US VHS release of Like Water for Chocolate, and also appeared on the demo VHS releases of Mediterraneo, Farewell My Concubine and The Snapper (while the retail versions used the Miramax Home Entertainment logo). It also appeared before the previews on the Thai VCD release of Starsky & Hutch. Strangely, this isn't seen on the UK VHS release of Reign of Fire which opens with the company's theatrical logo instead. It may also appear on international DVD releases of seasons 1 and 2 of Alias, given the Touchstone Home Entertainment print logo is on the box, cover and disc artwork. VCD releases in Thai continued to use this logo up until 2011 (one example being When in Rome). This strangely appeared on the 2004 Thai VCD of Walt Disney Pictures' Miracle, before the previews (the black version of the 2001 Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo is seen before the film). Similarly, this also appeared on the Australian VHS release of First Kid, once again before the previews (the 1990s Disney Videos logo is seen before the film). It also, oddly enough, appeared on the French SECAM VHS of Cool Runnings. Although the Touchstone Home Entertainment print logo is seen on the cover and disc artwork of the UK DVD release of The Three Musketeers (1993), said release opens with the Disney Videos logo instead. Conversely, this logo makes a surprise appearance on the Mexican Spanish-subtitled VHS of The Lion King.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (January 20, 2004-December 19, 2017, September 21, 2021)
Nicknames: "Thunderball IV", "CGI Golden-Light Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball IV", "CGI Touchstone Thunderball"

Logo: Same as the 2002 movie logo, only "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "PICTURES".

Variant: In 2011, the logo changed to just a still variant with the thunderball shining. This was only seen as a screensaver on Blu-rays from 2011 to the present, similar to the Walt Disney Home Entertainment screensaver variant.

FX/SFX: Same as the 2002 movie logo by Picturemill, or the thunderball shining for the Blu-ray variant.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo, but it's undistorted this time around.

Availability: Common. Appears on all Touchstone releases from 2004 onward, and also appeared in print form starting in with mid-2003 releases. Also appeared on 2004 and 2005 VHS releases, including Open Range, Under the Tuscan Sun, The Village, Mr. 3000, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and A Lot Like Love, the latter being the last VHS ever released from the company. This also plasters over the previous logo on the 2004 Australian Buena Vista Distributed DVD re-release of 10 Things I Hate About You. The final regular appearance of this logo was on the 2017 4K UHD of The Prestige, though it was also seen on the remastered Blu-ray on the 4K UHD set of Unbreakable (region A copies only). This appeared respectively before the film on the Thai VCD releases of Veronica Guerin and Ladder 49, but the previous logo was seen before the previews.

Editor's Note: None.