Kinowelt

Written by EnormousRat

Video captures courtesy of supervastguru and EnormousRat

1st Logo

(Late 90's-1997?)

Nickname:  The Universal Hoax 

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: A couple synthesized slash-like effects.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized basketball-like rhythm.

Availability: Extremely rare, seen on old German prints.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd (known) Logo

(1998?-2001)

Nickname: "World-Wide Robot"

Logo: Zooming to the Earth, we can see a TV-faced robot standing on the North Pole, jumping once and catching a flagstaff with the Kinowelt logo on it. A DVD flies out of nowhere and the robot takes it with his other hand. We zoom into a blue starry space through the screen of the robot. The white word KINOWELT is wiped over it, surounded by Earth-like shape, which shines. There are other words below: HOME ENTERTAINMENT and EN UNTERNEHMEN DER KINOWELT MEDIEN AG.

Variant: There's an alternate version used on VHS releases where we pan past Earth and the robot doesn't appear. After Earth zooms out of the picture, we see a comet fly to a bright light in space, causing an explosion of blue colors. The rest of the animation continues as normal.

FX/SFX: Simple animation of the robot, flying disc and logo appearing.

Music/Sounds: It begins with dramatic space music turning into a techno beat once we go in the screen.

Availability: Extremely rare, Also seen on old German prints usually preceded with StudioCanal logo. It was known to appear on the Ultimate Edition DVD of Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Maximum Overdrive. Also can be found on Stargate.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo

(2000?-Late 2000s?)

Logo: On a black background, a light slowly reveals the Kinowelt logo. After it is fully revealed, the background lights up to a dark blue color.

Variant: Sometimes, the words "FILMVERLEIH" or "INTERNATIONAL" will appear below, alongside a Kinowelt Medien AG byline (which is in German for the former version and English for the latter).

FX/SFX: The logo appearing.

Music/Sounds: A majestic orchestral fanfare.

Availability: Probably also seen on older German videotapes and DVDs from the time.

Editor's Note: TBA

4th Logo

(2001-2008)

Logo: We see the Earth figure zooming and roating over a blue starry background. The word KINOWELT zooms in letter-by-letter and places itself upon the planet. The light from below changes name colors to white, then the motion freezes.

FX/SFX: Everything in CGI, still good-looking.

Music/Sounds: The same fanfare from the last logo, with additional whooshes at the beginning.

Availability: Was seen on German-released DVD's like Murder by Decree. Cannot be found outside said country.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo

(2008-2011)

Nickname: "Majestic Crystal Scope"

Logo: We see few light effects playing on a series of crystal rings with a hole inside. The rings slowly move with the light beaming through them. The word KINOWELT zooms onto the rings, and they become two arcs, similar to the planet seen in previous logos.

FX/SFX: All in CGI, the animation is outstanding.

Music/Sounds: A majestic synth fanfare.

Availability: Only available in Germany on Kinowelt's final DVDs and all Blu-rays. As of September 2011 the Kinowelt brand has been retired and now has the StudioCanal logo on German releases.

Editor's Note: None.