Paramount Home Video

1st Logo (September 1979-October 1980)


Logo: On a navy blue background, we see "Paramount" in the famous script, and "HOME VIDEO" below in the Eurostile Bold Extended font in between two lines, one above and one below. To the right of that, we see the 1968 Paramount print logo to the right, complete with the Gulf+Western byline. A moment later, a warning screen (also on a navy blue background) fades over this logo.

Variant: A grayscaled variant exists on releases of some black-and-white films, such as Sunset Boulevard and Paper Moon.

Technique: None, unless you count the fading effect to the warning screen.

Music/Sounds: None, though on some tapes you can faintly hear audio from other Paramount films, such as Paper Moon, in the background.

Availability: Extremely rare. Because VHS and Beta were in their infancies at the time, releases were in lower quantities and are harder to find.
 * This logo appeared primarily on Betamax releases. This should appear on a few VHS releases from 1979 and 1980 including the first two Godfather films, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Heaven Can Wait, True Grit, Goin' South, Play It Again Sam, The Bad News Bears (1976 version), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Sunset Boulevard, Prophecy and Catch 22.
 * Among the last releases to use this logo were five volumes of Star Trek episodes as part of the "Television Classics" series on VHS and Betamax in summer 1980. Other final releases with this logo were tapes of Escape from Alcatraz, North Dallas Forty, Mandingo, Malicious, Prophecy, Players, and Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman.
 * This appears on a late 1983 pressing of The Odd Couple and a 1984 printing of Harold and Maude (usually, releases printed around that time started with the "Acid Trip" warning screen, followed by the Paramount Pictures logo).

Legacy: One of the first home video company logos ever made.

2nd Logo (October 1980-January 1981)
Logo: On a blue background, we zoom out on a silhouette of a mountain. After we zoom out to a comfortable distance, a bright flash occurs behind the mountain, and white "stars" (they look like circles or lens flares) appear, as well as "Paramount" (in a school bus yellow script, but closer to the pre-1975 logos). A saffron-colored trapezoidal trail zooms out from the base, and "HOME VIDEO" (set in the same font as the previous logo) zooms out soon after, tacked onto the saffron-colored trail. As that happens, the blue background gets extremely dark (resembling federal blue). The end result is similar to the pre-1967 print logo.

Trivia: The second half of the logo was once used as the 1977 Paramount Television Service logo. "PARAMOUNT TELEVISION SERVICE" was featured at the bottom, which explains the chyron for "HOME VIDEO". The original version of the logo was produced by the design firm of Sullivan & Marks.

Variant: On Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown!, the logo cuts to the last half of the film's Paramount logo.

Technique: Scanimation by Sullivan & Marks.

Music/Sounds: A pounding backbeat as the mountain zooms out, then a synth chord mixed with a brief explosion sound and synthesized "sizzling".

Availability: Like the first logo, this is also extremely rare, but more because of the fact that this was only used on two batches of releases and re-releases.
 * Seen on VHS/Beta releases of the time, which are not that easy to find, especially since the logo was usually taken off of post-1981 prints. However, since this was on a decent variety of movies, it may help a little.
 * Among the releases are Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!), Coast to Coast, Death Wish (reissue), Escape from Alcatraz (reissue), Breaking Glass, Friday the 13th, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Airplane!, Charlotte's Web (reissue), Little Darlings, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown! (reissue), Barbarella (reissue), Starting Over, American Gigolo, Urban Cowboy and Shogun.
 * Some, if any post-1981 prints surprisingly keep this logo intact.
 * Also seen on certain Hi-Fi re-releases of Paramount's early releases (such as Downhill Racer and Death Wish) from 1984, and the original Hi-Fi VHS release of True Grit (1969 version).
 * It reappears on a 2019 trailer of Bumblebee (2018) advertising a "VHS release" of said film.

Legacy: Same logo as the Paramount Television Service, with the added edition of a cheap cut to it and the chyroned "HOME VIDEO" text.

3rd Logo (1983-March 1987)
Logo: On a black background, we see the abstract mountain logo, with "Paramount" in black script in the light blue circle like the other Paramount logos, and the "A Gulf + Western Company" byline at the bottom in light blue. It begins to zoom up on us, as the stars (which are followed by light trail-streaks) and byline zoom past, and both the mountain and circle grow bigger until we are literally right on top of the peak of the mountain, with "Paramount" centering in, filling the middle of the screen. When the peak hits the bottom and "Paramount" fits the center, "Paramount" begins to shine, then there is a very bright flash, and it dies down to reveal the Paramount script logo (in blue) and a small "VIDEO" (shining a bit) between two blue lines.

Variants:
 * A black-and-white variant exists.
 * A rare, slightly longer variant exists, which starts with a still shot of the blue Paramount print logo. After a little over a second, the music starts and the logo animates as normal.
 * At the end of an April 1998 Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) airing of The Devonsville Terror, the animation is slowed down but plays as normal until all there is is "Paramount" and the mountain, when the logo freezes in place and the rest of the music is heard. It's unknown if this was used on any home media releases of the film, or any others. It's also possible that Sci-Fi Channel intentionally did this to hide any home video references.

Technique: Scanimate effects.

Music/Sounds: A building set of synthesized strings, ending in a new-age synthesizer tune. Composed by Richard J. Krizman.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the 1983 RCA CED videodisc release of An Evening with Robin Williams, this follows the RCA SelectaVision logo, but is silent.

Availability: Very rare.
 * Most Paramount films used the logo used on the film, but most television series (such as Star Trek, with the exception of the 1984 Television Classics Laserdisc release of the two-parter "The Menagerie", which uses no logo), comedy specials (such as Paramount Comedy Theater: Volume 1 and Eddie Murphy: Delirious), and licensed material (such as Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! and The Adventures of the American Rabbit) have this logo.
 * It was also on most prints of the 1982 VHS release of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (the earliest prints, from around 1982 to early 1983, are confirmed to not have this), and a 1990 reprint of it retained the logo.
 * It is also on the 1992 release of A Dog of Flanders (along with the warning that preceded it), also likely a reprint itself.
 * The black and white version can be found on a VHS release of The Untouchables pilot "Scarface Mob" and Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back.
 * This was also surprisingly seen on the early 1990s re-release of Strong Kids, Safe Kids, after the 5th logo.
 * Other releases that have this include films Paramount issued under license from Atlantic Releasing Corporation (starting with Teen Wolf and ending with Extremities) and tapes of episodes of the short-lived drama Call to Glory.
 * This logo, as well as the multi-colored copyright warning, appear on the 1991 VHS print of Toho Entertainment's The Wizard Of Oz (1982).
 * Paramount Video would produce 1984 to 1986 episodes of Brothers, a sitcom which aired on Showtime from 1984 to 1989. This would appear on 1984 to 1986 episodes, while 1987 to 1989 episodes would be produced by Paramount Television.

Legacy: This logo is a favorite of many, thanks to its soothing music and rather high-tech animation for the time.

4th Logo (April 1987-April 24, 2007 [2012 on Asian VCDs])
Logo: It's the 1986 Paramount Pictures logo with no video indicator whatsoever. The difference here from the theatrical version is that the logo is videotaped; the picture quality is somewhat sharper and the color scheme is brighter than normal. On occasion, the logo begins much earlier than the theatrical variant.

Trivia: Even though Paramount debuted an updated version of their movie logo in 1999, they still used the 1995 variant for home video releases.

Variants:
 * Like its parent logo, at the end of tapes, only the finished product is seen, with the clouds moving in the background.
 * There is also a short version of this logo on screener tapes from Paramount.
 * A telecined version existed, as evidenced by the video-generated fade-ins and fade-outs. It starts with an almost fully static logo (only the clouds move), but a few seconds later, the animation starts normally. The color scheme also has a bit of a brownish/earthy tone to it. This variant can be seen on 1990-2001 VHS releases, such as Peanuts tapes, Eureeka's Castle: Wide Awake at Eureeka's Castle (1997 release, at the beginning), The Adventures of Corduroy: The Dinosaur Egg, Gullah Gullah Island: Dance Along with the Daise Family, the Paramount Family Favorites release of Charlotte's Web (1973), Rugrats: A Rugrats Vacation (at the end), Rugrats: Dr. Tommy Pickles, Gullah Gullah Island: Christmas (at the beginning of the promotional copy), Blue's Clues, Blue's Big Treasure Hunt, Rugrats: Make Room for Dil, Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Pajama Party (later printings) and Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Musical Movie (at the beginning).
 * Some tapes with the Viacom variant have the clouds become still once the Viacom byline appears.
 * A still version is seen at the end of some tapes. This version also appears on the 2002 DVD of Rugrats: Decade in Diapers, the 1992 VHS of Demonic Toys (before the Full Moon logo) and before trailers on certain Paramount releases from 2000 to 2002.
 * The Viacom variant is slightly shifted up on some PAL DVDs.
 * This logo was spotted at the end of some trailers on screener VHS tapes from the company. Here, the logo is already formed, but we see copyright info under the mountain. The copyright info then fades out after a few seconds to make room for the byline to fade in.

Bylines:
 * April 1987-1989: "A Gulf + Western Company". 1987 releases used the 75th Anniversary variant, while 1988-89 releases used the standard version.
 * 1989-1995: "A Paramount Communications Company" with a line above the byline fades in. 1989-90 releases had the byline and line above it in gold, while 1990-95 releases had them in white.
 * 1995-April 24, 2007: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (in the 1990 \/|/\CO/\/\ "Wigga Wigga" font) with a line above the byline fades in, again, in white.

Technique: Same as the 1986 Paramount Pictures logo.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On the VHS tapes of Fatal Attraction (plastering the 75th Anniversary logo) and The Blue Iguana, the 1987 Paramount Pictures fanfare is heard.
 * At the end of the It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown 1997 VHS, the promotional copies of Dora the Explorer: Dora's Backpack Adventure and Boohbah: Comfy Armchair, and one promo on the Drop Zone 1995 screener VHS, the 1989 "distorted" version of the 1987 Paramount Television theme is heard.

Availability: Very common.
 * This was used as a de-facto home video logo, and can be seen on every VHS and Laserdisc release from that period -- this also includes television series (such as the original Star Trek), comedy specials, and third-party acquisitions like Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (where this plasters the original Atlantic Releasing Corporation logo), Teen Wolf Too, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, and titles licensed from the Rank Organisation (such as The Red Shoes). Combine this with its 16-year span, and this may be the most common home video logo.
 * Many videos should have either the 75th Anniversary print logo, or the standard Gulf+Western print logo (with no mention of "HOME VIDEO") on the packaging and labels.
 * The 75th Anniversary logo plasters over the "Blue Mountain" logo on the 1987 home video releases of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Crocodile Dundee, Children of a Lesser God, Top Gun, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Meanwhile, the standard Gulf+Western version plasters over the 75th Anniversary Logo on the 1988 releases of Beverly Hills Cop II, The Untouchables, Back to the Beach, Fatal Attraction, and Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. International VHS releases of these films (all released by CIC Video, with the exception of Crocodile Dundee) will likely have the film's original logo intact.
 * This was also used on all 1994-2004 Peanuts VHS releases and all Nickelodeon VHS releases from 1996 to 2003. The 75th Anniversary variant was also used on a Showtime broadcast of Hamburger Hill from March 1991.
 * It was also seen on the direct-to-video films The Little Bear Movie and Blue's Big Musical Movie.
 * Also seen at the start of VHS releases and non-USA Network airings of TV movies from Wilshire Court Productions of the era.
 * Made an unexpected appearance on a number of demo VHS tapes from as late as 2007, despite its discontinuation on commercial releases in 2003. These include George Lopez: Why You Crying?, Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks: Piggley Gets Into Trouble and The Wonder Pets: Save The Wonder Pets, released in 2005, 2006, and 2007 respectively.
 * Occasionally, this will appear before the opening previews on certain tapes. One example of this is the Paramount reissue of Rugrats: A Baby's Gotta Do What a Baby's Gotta Do and some other Nickelodeon tapes from 1996.
 * It was preserved on Echo Bridge Home Entertainment's DVD releases of Puppet Master 5 and the Mexican DVD of Demonic Toys, each before the Full Moon logo, most likely due to older VHS masters being used.
 * The Viacom version was also spotted at the start of Disney Channel/ABC Family (now Freeform) airings of Teen Witch as well as Trifecta's syndicated prints of There Goes the Neighborhood and Another 48. Hrs, among others.
 * The version with the Paramount Television fanfare made a surprise appearance at the end of the 2004 VHS of Boohbah: Comfy Armchair, following the PBS Kids Video logo. It also appeared at the end of the 1997 VHS of It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown.
 * Paramount's VCD releases in Asian territories still used this logo until 2012, which is shown after the Movieline Entertainment logo.

5th Logo (December 1993)


Logo: On a black background with blue filmstrips, "Paramount" is seen being written in a gold color in its trademark font. As this is occurring, the background is opening up in segments to reveal the 1986 Paramount logo, without a byline and the stars in a light gold color.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A male announcer (Gene McGarr) says, "Paramount Pictures, bringing you the finest in holiday entertainment, and the best of the new year". All of this is said against a bombastic fanfare, an excerpt from the end theme of The Untouchables, composed by Ennio Morricone.

Availability: Very rare. This logo was seen on VHS releases by the company from the era around the Christmas season of 1993 that were available in McDonald's restaurants. The releases included Charlotte's Web, Ghost, The Addams Family, and Wayne's World.