Rhinomation

1st Logo (Late 1980s-1990's?)
Logo: On a white background, we see a smiling kid version of the Elvis Presley rhino (from the main Rhino Records logo at the time), who is juggling eight blocks that read "KID RHINO" one-by-one.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare.

2nd Logo (1998-2001)
Logo: Against a marble background, we see a  sphere bounce five times, producing a comic sound effect each time. On the fifth bounce, the sphere expands out to the rugby ball shape from the normal Rhino logo, as "KID RHINO" fades in and zooms in slightly, being the same "RHINO" text from the main logo but in black and "KID" above it in the same font. Below the sphere, the words "HOME VIDEO" in a handwritten font appear. The logo then fades out except for the text, which turn white, followed by the screen fading to white, then finally to black.

Technique: Entirely done in CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A harp playing at the beginning, then five comic sounds (sampled from the Hanna-Barbera library) when the ball bounces, another when the words "HOME VIDEO" fade in, and a kid laughing from there until the end of the logo.

Availability: Extremely rare. Can be seen on children's tapes like the 1999 prints of Transformers: The Movie and G.I. Joe: The Movie.

(2001-Mid 2000's)


Logo: In a blank white space, a more friendly-looking version of the Elvis Rhino (from the 1st and 2nd Rhino Home Video logos) hops into view (via limited animation) from the left side of the screen. This time, the rhino now has grey skin, dark blue hair and jacket, and golden zippers, as well as a lack of gloves, alongside a more happy-looking expression. The rhino then looks away from up and then moves his arm in a "come here" fashion, causing a CGI catapult to roll on screen and, once it starts to slow down, a silver tube and a golden pull handle drop down from above. The rhino grabs the handle with his other arm and pulls it down, causing the tube to pump out 3 blobs of slime (in pastel orange, blue, and pink respectively). After the tube rises back up off-screen (along with the handle), he kicks the catapult into position towards us and then he grabs the handle on it, donning his signature grin and pulls it. The catapult launches the ball of slime, causing the entire background to fill with pink before an oval-shaped object starts to form via a "vacuum-seal" effect. The slime then begins to change colors as it recedes into the object, which now has the letters "RHINOMATION" forming, before the slime is completely absorbed by the logo, leaving it on a white background. The logo has "RHINOMATION" in a curved white font in a semi-boxy and rather childish font, placed in front of a blue oval with a green waves on it and a bold black border. The Rhino Home Video logo is also seen on the top of the logo.

Technique: The rhino prepping the catapult, the goop forming the logo.

Music/Sounds: Various cartoon sounds effects play out in this order: 3 hops when the rhino comes in, a "creaking" noise for the rhino moving his arm and a running sound effect when the catapult comes in, a funnel sound (slowed down) when the tube comes down, followed by a high-pitched violin sound when the rhino pulls the handle, a series of stretching and swashing sounds for the rest of the sequence, and then finally, a gong sound for when the logo is revealed.

Availability: Rare. It can be seen on the DVD box sets of Beast Wars: Transformers, G.I. Joe, and the infamous printings of The Transformers (1984), as well as possibly other titles. However, the logo seems to appear on "boy-centric" series despite the logo appearing on the box art of "girl-centric" shows like Jem and the Holograms and My Little Pony (1986).

Legacy: This logo is notable for this blog entry about the logo, where an angry Beast Wars fan rants about the logo.