Vin Di Bona Productions

Background
Vin Di Bona Productions is an independent television production company established in 1986 by television producer Vin Di Bona.

1st Logo (August 8, 1987-September 1, 1990)
Nicknames: "The Spinning Handwriting", "The Spinning Signature", "The Diamond", "The Cheesy Diamond"

Logo: On a gray/black gradient background, we see the pale gold text "Vin Di Bona", in Vin's signature, spinning around on a invisible tube. Curled at first, the text then unravels itself. A gold diamond outline opens under the signature as a dark orange rounded rectangle with the pale gold word "PRODUCTIONS" on it slides up from the bottom of the screen onto the center of the diamond. A slight sheen glides over the "Vin Di Bona" text.

FX/SFX: The spinning text, and the "PRODUCTIONS" graphic.

Music/Sounds: A synth humming tune with two quick organ notes right at the beginning, followed by a quick ascending harp note, after which the rest of the tune plays a note higher. The music plays in sync with everything.

Availability: Last seen on S1 episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos (a.k.a. AFV) on the Hallmark Channel and the ABC series Animal Crack Ups.

Editor's Note: The logo features some rather primitive CGI for the late '80s, especially the signature, which is just a flat transparent image being stretched around. Some have also been turned off by this logo's rather wonky-sounding synth music.

2nd Logo (February 4, 1990-May 20, 1998)
Nicknames: "The Spinning Handwriting II", "The Spinning Signature II"

Logo: On a deep blue/black gradient background, the "Vin Di Bona" signature from before spins around briefly before slowing down and unfolding. After this is done, a coral pink rounded rectangle with the text "PRODUCTIONS" (in white) on it, similar to before, zooms in underneath the signature. The "Vin Di Bona" shines.

Variants:


 * On season 1 episodes of the Showtime TV series Sherman Oaks, the logo is superimposed in the credits. The "PRODUCTIONS" oblong is now colored scarlet and looks slightly different as well, and zooms up from the bottom of the screen (a la the 1987 logo) but at a much slower pace. (As a side note, this logo was the only logo on the program to feature its music.)
 * On the TV movie For the Love of Nancy, the logo is chromed in over a red-black gradient background, except this time the "Vin Di Bona" text spins around longer. The "PRODUCTIONS" oblong has the same design and animation from the Sherman Oaks variant as well. The byline "A VIN DI BONA COMPANY" appears below the "PRODUCTIONS" oblong, and the signature shines afterwards.
 * On the U.S. game show pilot Conquer Fort Boyard, a copyright stamp is seen below the logo.
 * An in-credit notice can be seen on the TV movie Touched by Evil.
 * A short version exists that begins with the signature unfolding.

FX/SFX: The text spinning, and the "PRODUCTIONS" graphic zooming in.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1st logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On some shows and TV movies such as some 1990-1991 episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos, the end theme plays over the logo.
 * On season 2 episodes of the Showtime TV series Sherman Oaks, the logo's music plays after the closing theme, sometimes trailing into the Chris Bearde Productions logo, and then is followed up by a line from the episode.

Availability: Not too hard to find. Can be seen on the CBS/Fox Video releases of The Best of America's Funniest Home Videos, America's Funniest Pets, and America's Funniest Families. Strangely, this plastered the next logo on airings of the Daisy Fuentes/John Fugelsang era of America's Funniest Home Videos on WGN America (now NewsNation). Also seen on AFV 's spin-off, America's Funniest People, which ran from 1990-1994. The 1992 CBS special Storm the Castle (which was based on Japan's Takeshi's Castle) should have this logo as well.

Editor's Note: Some more archaic CGI and the infamous music are both present. Even in the mid-1990s, this logo was starting to look dated with the rise of better CGI.

3rd Logo (March 2, 1998-May 16, 2008)
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Nicknames: "The Spinning Handwriting III", "The Spinning Signature III", "CGI Spinning Handwriting", "CGI Spinning Signature"

Logo: Same formula as before, except the logo is now made in CGI. In a stage lit up by 5 blue spotlights in the background, we see the signature spinning as usual, only a little slower compared to before. Right before it unfolds, the word "PRODUCTIONS", now rectangle-less and thin, fades in next to the "B" in "Bona" and unfolds with the script. The text shines.

Variants:
 * Short, medium-long and longer variants exist. For the short version, the spinning signature is slower. For the medium-long and longer versions, it's exactly the same as the previous two.
 * On the game show The Big Moment, the animation is sped up. After the logo forms, it shifts up a little to make room for the following text: Times New Roman Times New Roman
 * A sped up version of the medium-long version was seen on Richard Simmons' Dream Maker.
 * On later appearances of the logo, a registered trademark symbol fades in next to "PRODUCTIONS".
 * On HD prints of AFV episodes from the era, which are edited and cropped to widescreen, the logo is superimposed on a widescreen background using the background based on the era it was on.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1st and 2nd logos, except "PRODUCTIONS" extends out along with the Vin Di Bona text.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logos. Original ABC airings of The Big Moment uses generic network music.

Availability: Common. Can be seen on Tom Bergeron-era episodes of AFV on Freeform, NewsNation, Up, and local syndication, as well as on DVD and Disney+. It was first seen on original airings of the Fuentes/Fugelsang revival in 1998. It also appeared on the Disney Channel game show Off the Wall and the ABC game show The Big Moment.

Editor's Note: The CGI in this one is much better and less dated than the previous logos, but the music may still put off some.

4th Logo (October 5, 2008- )
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Nicknames: "The Spinning Handwriting IV", "The Spinning Signature IV", "CGI Spinning Handwriting II", "CGI Spinning Signature II"

Logo: Practically the same as the previous logo, but fully redone. On a swirly red/yellow background with a little bit of yellow (similar to the background of the 2004 AFV opening), the "Vin Di Bona" text is seen, curved and facing backwards, before it slowly rotates to it's front, and quickly unfurls. The entire logo is now colored in a shiny gold color, which radiates off light for the 1st half of the logo, now rewritten to match his signature better, is at a slight angle, and appears to have a black outline. "PRODUCTIONS" is also spaced out and appears just as the logo frills out. The logo shines after the unfurling.

Variants:
 * The red/yellow background variant has both 4:3 (SD) and 16:9 (HD) versions.
 * From seasons 22-24 of AFV, the background is more yellow-orange colored. This yellow is similar to the background of the ABC Entertainment logo found at the end of some of their shows at the time.
 * From seasons 25-28 of AFV, the BG is now a blue-green gradient.
 * Starting in 2018, the logo can now sometimes be seen superimposed over the closing credits.
 * On AFV: America, This is You!, the logo is on a black background. Now starting with Season 31, the logo appears on a similar black background, but with red gradients on the top and bottom.

FX/SFX: The spinning company name, along with the moving background.

Music/Sounds: A calm synth theme with a soft, rising hum similar to the usual Vin Di Bona theme, as well as a ticking beat and twinkling heard with the final note. It is not easily heard on ABC due to Bill Ratner or other announcers plugging the show that follows AFV, but can be easily heard on international airings of Di Bona shows.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On some reruns of America's Funniest Home Videos on UPtv, along with the ABC Entertainment logo before it, the music is slowed down/low pitched. The pitch varies from an episode to another. On a handful of episodes, the pitch is so lower that the theme literally "crashes" (a la Windows).
 * Since 2018, original ABC airings of AFV uses generic network music.
 * On the January 16, 2022 episode of America's Funniest Home Videos, the logo was silent due to death of former AFV host Bob Saget.

Availability: Can be seen on current episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Editor's Note: The logo provides some superb CGI, and the music was finely redone that it's not considered uncanny anymore.