Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Background
Buena Vista Home Entertainment (formerly "Buena Vista Home Video") was created in 1984 to release non-Disney-related videos not covered by the other Disney units, such as concerts, documentaries, Jay Ward (Rocky & Bullwinkle) and Bagdasarian (Alvin and the Chipmunks) cartoons, and English-dubbed anime, as well as programming from the likes of U.S. Television Office, Weiss Global Enterprises, and Dargaud Films. It became the incorporated name for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in 1987. Also, they covered the Jim Henson Video brand starting in 1990 after the Muppet Video brand and its US distributor, Playhouse Video, were shut down. Disney semi-retired the brand in 2009. However, the name is still being used since it is the incorporated name for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, and it was still used in some international countries, such as for French Studio Ghibli releases, until 2020.

1st Logo (1984-1985)
Logo: On a white background, we see the following text in a blue font: BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare; seen on tapes of Steve Allen’s Music Hall, early Hopalong Cassidy tapes such as Silent Conflict and The Marauder, and classic films issued by the company under the "50s THEATRE" banner. These tapes were packaged in the same white clamshells as tapes from Walt Disney Home Video.

Editor's Note: Like the first Touchstone Home Video logo, this logo was likely meant as a placeholder. Both logos also share the same color scheme.

2nd Logo (1990-April 7th, 1998; August 6th-August 27th, 2002; July 21, 2017)
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Nicknames: "The Castle", "Magic Kingdom", "Buena Vista Castle"

Logo: On a black background, we see a blue stylized, segmented Sleeping Beauty Castle (from the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo) with a circular line drawn over the castle. The text "BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO" is seen below in blue. The logo "shines" from left to right.

Variants:
 * A variant exists with the "HOME VIDEO" text replaced by "HOME ENTERTAINMENT".
 * On an early 90s Touchstone trailer tape from the UK, the logo is seen forming out of cubes.
 * There is another trailer tape variant, where we see "Showcase 91" alongside the Disney Home Video, Touchstone Home Video and Hollywood Pictures logos. At the end of the trailer tape, we see the logos again, but this time the text "Showcase 91" is gone and is replaced with a diamond. The other logos and the diamond fade out, leaving the Buena Vista Home Video logo on the top. The text lines, "The No.1 Box Office Success Story of 1990..." and "Will be the Video Success Story of 1991" fade in.
 * On the 1992 screener VHS releases of Deceived and Billy Bathgate, the logo is seen at the start of the "The Video Event of April" promo with the audio from the promo replacing the normal music.

FX/SFX: The logo "shining".

Music/Sounds: A 5-note synth horn/chime tune.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * A silent version exists.
 * On the 1992 VHS releases of Father of the Bride (original printings only), A Classic Christmas From the Ed Sullivan Show, and reprints of Mr. Destiny, an unknown deep-voiced announcer says "Now, from Buena Vista Home Video." over the logo. This precedes a preview for The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show.
 * On the Timon and Pumbaa DVDs, the end credits theme plays over the logo.
 * On the DVD/Blu-Ray/4K Ultra HD trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a different synth theme is used, and the announcer of the trailer is heard saying "The following is a paid advertisement from Walt Disney Home Entertainment."
 * The Touchstone trailer tape variant has the end of the song "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard (which accompanied the final montage of the tape), and the announcer of the tape saying "Buena Vista Home Video" in an oddly American accent.
 * The "Showcase '91" variant has an ambient synth soundtrack over the entire logo.
 * The "The Video Event of April" variant uses the audio from the promo.

Availability: Uncommon. In the US, this logo was sporadically used; overseas it was seen a bit more often.
 * In the US, this logo was rarely used. One of the first releases to use this logo was the original VHS release of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead from 1990. Other releases that have this include Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, the 1995 VHS of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, all 4 volumes of The Johnny Carson Collection: His Favorite Moments From the Tonight Show, and Andrew Solt-directed compilations like the first two volumes of Elvis: The Great Performances. The logo made its last regular appearance on the 1998 VHS release of Mummies Alive!: The Legend Begins.
 * This also appears on British VHS reissues of ex-Fox Kids shows, like Digimon and the CGI Action Man series. This was also used on Latin American and European French VHS releases of DIC's Action Man series.
 * The logo made a surprise appearance after the end credits of Disney's Doug and Quack Pack video releases released in 1997. On the latter releases, the music continues over the following Buena Vista Television logo.
 * In August 2002, the logo made a comeback on the DVD releases of The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina (paired up with the 1999 Miramax Home Entertainment logo) and the Schoolhouse Rock Special 30th Anniversary Edition DVD set; the VHS counterparts of both used the 6th logo in its place. Other DVDs released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 2002 would use the 5th logo: starting in 2003, they shifted to using only the 6th or 7th logo.
 * In another odd case, this logo can also be found on DVD compilations of the Timon and Pumbaa TV series, such as On Holiday With Timon & Pumbaa and Around the World With Timon & Pumbaa, at the end of the credits in place of the Walt Disney Television logo with the end of the closing theme playing over it. This is most likely because the DVDs are re-releases of compilations previously released on VHS, and as such recycle prints from those releases.
 * The "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" variant appeared on some PAL VHS releases like the Legend of Tarzan TV series and some Power Rangers releases.
 * In July 21, 2017, the Home Video logo made a surprise appearance at the beginning of the faux-'80s parody online commercial for the home video release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, advertising the 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray/DVD release of the film, filmed as a tongue-in-cheek 1980's infomercial.
 * The trailer tape variants come from promotional tapes/trailer tapes on YouTube.
 * This logo was also seen on a trailer for the VHS release of Kiki's Delivery Service, which can be seen on 1998 prints of Masterpiece Collection titles like Dumbo and The Sword in the Stone. Other prints of the trailer (and the VHS release itself) use the 5th logo instead.
 * Surprisingly, this can be seen at the start of the 1995 UK demo VHS of The Air Up There (a Hollywood Pictures film).

Editor's Note: A logo with simple animation, and a surprisingly cheerful tune for a logo with a dark color scheme.

3rd Logo (1990-1991; 1992)
fKoYGiOzIAs JN9XsoX9I8A Logo: On a black background, we see the blue text "BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO" in the same font as the 2nd logo. The logo "shines" twice.

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the text "PRESENTS" in blue fades in.
 * One French variant of this logo has the word "présente" in a cheesy blue/white font.
 * At the end of Australian releases distributed by Roadshow Home Video, "DISTRIBUTED BY" appears below the "HOME VIDEO" text.

FX/SFX: The logo "shining".

Music/Sounds: A synthesizer tune consisting of a whoosh and an echoing staccato synth chord. Sometimes, the logo is silent.

Availability: Extremely rare. In the US, this exclusively appeared on a few 1992 VHS releases, including select printings of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Rockin' with the Chipmunks, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Funny, We Shrunk The Adults, and The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show. It appears to have been more common in international territories, including Australia, where it appeared on Earth*Star Voyager. The "PRESENTS" variant was used frequently in the UK before trailers for Europudding films from The Movie Group, and has been spotted on the UK rental VHS tapes of White Fang and The Maid.

Editor's Note: The theme and dark atmosphere may surprise some expecting the 1990 logo.

4th Logo (International Variant) (1990-1999)
Nickname: "Buena Vista Castle II"

Logo: On a lavender gradient background, we see the Disney castle forming (like in the movie logo, but going in reverse instead of normal). The arc is drawn in reverse over the castle, and the words "Buena Vista Home Video" zoom in from the castle, one by one. The logo then shifts to the top of the screen to make room for the scrolling copyright warning.

Variants:
 * Starting in the late '90s, the background is now a sky blue gradient and instead of reading "Buena Vista Home Video", it reads "Buena Vista Home Entertainment" in a slightly different serif font.
 * In 1999 (in Australia), the logo was black on the background is white with a copyright notice.

FX/SFX: Standard late '80s-early '90s computer effects.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rarer than its American counterpart. Seen on non-Disney and non-Touchstone tapes of the time. Also seen on the 1999 Australian VHS of Monica's Trip to the Moon.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1991-1996)
Logo: On a swirly turquoise background, we see a dark blue castle that looks different to the standard Disney castle drawing of the time with a single flapping flag on the top. In front of the castle is the yellow and pink text "BUENA VISTA Home Video".

FX/SFX: The flag flapping.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 2nd logo.

Music/Sound Variants:
 * On A Chipmunk Celebration, the first note of the logo was cut.
 * On some Australian tapes, the logo is high-pitched.

Availability: Extremely rare. Appears on several VHS tapes of The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (September 1st, 1998; 2002; November 22nd, 2005)
Logo: On a sea blue CGI background, a silver stylized "V" zooms out from a right angle, which turns out to be part of the text "Buena Vista Home Video". The logo settles on the background and "shines".

FX/SFX: The shining, the words revealing, the animated background. Nice, if somewhat basic, CGI.

Music/Sounds: A bass-heavy reorchestration of the tune used in the 2nd logo, which begins with a chime and several string notes.

Availability: Rare. Seen on the original 1998 VHS of Kiki's Delivery Service before and after the opening previews (the NTSC 2003 VHS uses the 2001 Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo and that release's PAL version uses the 7th Buena Vista Home Entertainment logo), and was set to appear on the (eventually scrapped) 1999 VHS release of Castle in the Sky. It also made appearances on the 2002 DVD releases of Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown, Spider-Man: The Return of the Green Goblin, and David Blaine Fearless, all of which used the sixth logo on their VHS releases. It made a surprise appearance on the 2005 DVD set of Home Improvement: The Complete Third Season.

Editor's Note: This logo debuted at the same time as the 6th logo and was rarely ever used as a result.

6th Logo (1998-2007)
ZTTnbB5andI 3QRZlKZ33no Nicknames: "The Restored Castle", "Magic Kingdom 1998", "3-D Castle", "Buena Vista Kingdom", "Buena Vista Castle III"

Logo: On a very shady dark blue gradient background, we see a blue 3D segmented Sleeping Beauty Castle at an angle shining, and emitting rays of light. The castle flies in and turns to face us. As this happens, the text "Buena Vista Home Video" in Times New Roman font appears in silver aligned with the castle, and thus also flies in. An arch flies in and places itself over the castle and the text stops at the bottom of the screen. The words shine.

Variants:
 * There is a still variant.
 * Starting in 2002, the text "Home Video" is replaced by "Home Entertainment".

FX/SFX: The castle, the text and the arch flying in, the shining.

Music/Sounds: A 10-note choir/orchestral tune ending with a harp glissando. Composed by Walter Werzowa at Musikvergnuegen.

Availability: Common. It appears on videos that weren’t released under Disney or it’s subsidiaries, such as The Bear, Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets, The Duke, the 2003 UK DVD of Pokémon 4Ever, and some early Disney-era Power Rangers DVD and VHS releases. DVD and VHS releases of ABC shows also use this logo. It can be also seen on the UK VHS release of Kim Possible: The Secret Files (while its US counterpart and the DVD version use the Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo instead). It was used in tandem with the next logo until 2007.

Editor's Note: This logo boasts some impressive animation and music.

7th Logo (2003-)
Logo: On a black/bluish-purple gradient background, the words "Buena Vista Home Entertainment" (in the same font as the previous one) fly into place while emitting rays of light, before stopping in the middle of the screen.

Variants:
 * A widescreen version exists.
 * A shinier, more 3D variant appears on some Blu-ray releases.

FX/SFX: The text flying in and shining. Nice CGI as before.

Music/Sounds: Same as before.

Availability: Common. Was seen on releases under the Buena Vista Home Entertainment label post-2003. It was used in tandem with the previous logo until 2007.
 * Any ABC/Touchstone Television show released on DVD until 2008 used this logo, including the first six seasons of Scrubs, Ugly Betty, Lost, and many others.
 * It also appears on box sets of The Muppet Show, the US VHS release of Bionicle: Mask of Light (the UK version uses the 1994 Miramax Home Entertainment logo and the DVD release uses the 1999 Miramax Home Entertainment logo), and all four Felicity DVD box sets, as well as various Marvel animated shows and Power Rangers releases.
 * Outside North America, it can be found on many releases such as the 2005 UK DVD release of Pokémon Heroes. The 2003 PAL DVD and VHS releases of Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky also use this logo, as well as other French Studio Ghibli DVD releases. The Blu-Rays likely don't feature this logo.
 * On VHS, it's extremely rare and it can be found on several VHS releases of Power Rangers Dino Thunder, as well as the Australian VHS of Daredevil vs. Spider-Man.
 * The logo is still used as a print logo internationally (examples: the UK DVD release of Patrick, the 2015 European French version of When Marnie Was There and the 2019 European French Studio Ghibli Futurepaks), but is no longer used as a full logo; instead, these releases go straight to the main menu.
 * On Thai VCD releases, this was used up until the early 2010s on releases like Space Buddies.

Editor's Note: None.