MTV/1987

Around the World (1987-1990)


Visuals: There is a cartoon Earth and then various images from across the world synced to the beat. The MTV logo then flips towards the camera on a purple background.

Technique: A blend of photomontage and 2D.

Audio: An 80s pop beat.

Bath (1987-1990)


Visuals: In the ocean, there is a man on stilts trying to fend off some sharks. He is then picked up by a woman's hand, revealing that it's actually happening in her bathtub. She notices the viewer and splashes at the screen angrily, forming the MTV logo.

Technique: Puppetry by Henry Selick.

Audio: A strange orchestral number and the splashing of water.

Masks '87 (1987-1997)


Visuals: A masked butler exits an elevator and zips towards the screen. He disassembles his head and reveals multiple other heads and objects underneath. He then opens a sardine can with the MTV logo in it while his tie forms into Music Television.

Technique: Stop-motion by Henry Selick.

Audio: A mystical piece.

Couch Potato (1987-1990)


Visuals: A man is seen channel surfing; with each channel, several cartoon characters emerge from the TV and run around the room. A grenade lands on the man and blows him up, causing him to go crazy as various cartoon characters dance around him. A giant pink M comes from the TV and lands on the man as the logo completes.

Technique: A mix of stop-motion and 2D.

Audio: Various cartoon sounds and a rock tune that starts as the man goes nuts.

Dollhouse (1987-1992)


Visuals: In a dollhouse, a group of puppet dolls are seen lounging around. A female doll arrives and makes loving gestures to them when she hears the cat at the window. She goes to open the window...and she and everyone else as well as bits of the wall gets sucked out. The MTV logo is formed by the parts of the destroyed house.

Technique: Stop-motion puppetry by Henry Selick.

Audio: A jaunty piano piece at the start, the cat meowing, and a dramatic sting when the characters are sucked out.

Fly (1987-1991)


Visuals: A series of close-ups of some flies are presented. One of them looks straight at us before morphing into the MTV logo.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Some night ambience and the sound of buzzing flies.

Legacy: Those who don't like flies (or bugs in general) might get the shivers from this one.

Guillotine (1987-1992)


Visuals: There is a guillotine's blade rise up. Then a black glove-clad hand pulls a lever, sending the blade down. Then, an M-shaped face falls, the leaves in front of the base are blown away to reveal the "MUSIC TELEVISION" text and one of his eyes falls out, still being held by the optic nerve.

Trivia: The idea of this bumper came from Bill Jarcho, after watching “The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins”, which in the film, had a sequence with a guillotine. The MTV head was built by Steve Fiorella.

Technique: Claymation by Olive Jar Animation. The hand is live-action. This was directed by Ron Labbe.

Audio: First we hear a crowd chattering and a creaking sound from the ascending blade. When the blade descends, off-screen screaming is heard (probably from the victim of the execution) and a thud when it lands. Afterwards, a gag-like sound is heard when the face appears along with the wind blowing. Finally, a "sproing" sound effect plays when the eye pokes out.

Legacy: This ID was notorious for its disturbing subject matter.

Haircut (1987-1992)


Visuals: A scientist with long hair sleeps in a chair. A monkey skeleton suddenly comes to life and grabs a pair of scissors. It cuts the scientist's hair into an M shape and runs off. The scientist wakes up and displays his grief over what happened. The skeleton places "MUSIC TELEVISION" below the hair and mocks him.

Technique: A mix of live action and Stop-motion by Henry Selick.

Audio: A jungle beat; the monkey's screeching and cutting noises.

Audio Trivia: A chopped and looped sample of the audio from this ident can be heard near the end of the song Andro by experimental electronic musician Oneohtrix Point Never.

Hip Hop (1987-1990)


Visuals: A black and white cartoon of several characters dancing to hip hop in a psychedelic presentation.

Technique: 2D animation by Julian Gibb of Animation City.

Audio: A low pitch snippet of "The New Style" by Beastie Boys and a voice saying "Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!"

M Street (1987-1990)


Visuals: An M shaped apartment building is seen with the camera zooming out from the center. Eventually, the logo completes when a purple balloon forms "TV" and a semi with Music Television on it parks nearby.

Technique: Claymation by Olive Jar Animation.

Audio: A saxophone tune and urban sounds.

M Zilla (1987-1997)


Visuals: On some raw footage of a town, a "M" puppet peeks from behind the buildings. The police officers see this, and everyone runs off as the "M" steps onto the raw footage and finds the town square. The "M" steps into the town square and gets caught in telephone wires, forming "TV", and causing a blackout.

Technique: A mix of live-action footage, puppetry and 2D animation by Broadcast Arts.

Audio: Some suspenseful music.

Availability: Can currently be seen on MTV Classic.

Music Is (1987-1991)


Visuals: There is a giant M with various figures inside dancing as words like "music" and "videos" appear. Eventually, all action stops as the Music Television text slides in below.

Technique: A mix of stop-motion and 2D.

Audio: A rap beat.

One Planet, One Music (1987-1991)


IDs: Unknown

Technique: A creative blend of live-action, photomontage, and 2D.

Audio 80s music, one for each variant.

Ouija (1987-1994)


Visuals: Unknown

Technique: A mix of stop-motion and 2D by Olive Jar Animation.

Audio: Unknown

Skull Rider (1987-1993)


Visuals: A blonde man is seen riding a skateboard as a skeleton with flaming hair chases him on a motorcycle. The man points to the right and dashes off, leaving the skeleton to fall off a cliff. We then find out that they were riding on a blue and yellow MTV logo.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A metal jingle.

Taco M (1987-1993)


Visuals: A puppet man is seen at a table. He is offered some peppers and he gleefully chows down. After he's done, he is given some crust, which he picks up, and his head splits to reveal a live-action version of himself who breathes fire on it. He presents it to the screen, showing that he made the MTV logo in the crust.

Technique: A blend of puppetry and stop-motion by Henry Selick.

Audio: A jangly tune and the man breathing fire.

Top of the Hour 1987 (1987-1988)


Visuals: Unknown

Technique: A blend of live-action and 2D by Peter Max.

Audio: A voice over by China Kantner about upcoming events on the channel alongside some 80s era music.

A Very Special Christmas (1987-1990)
Visuals: Unknown

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: "Christmas in Hollis" by Run-DMC.

Availability: Only shown around Christmastime.

Xerox Bug (1987-1991)


Visuals: There is an ant on a Xerox scanner and a bitten cookie. The ant moves to the middle of it and is squished by the top. We then see several sheets with the dead bug on them, which progressively start show the bug bleeding and becoming the "TV" script in the MTV logo.

Technique: Stop-motion animation by Henry Selick.

Audio: A suspenseful tune and and mechanical whirring.