Roadshow Entertainment

Background
Roadshow Entertainment (formerly "Roadshow Home Video") was formed by a merger with Australian film distributor Roadshow and Australian cinema chain Village Cinemas. Before the establishment of its home video division, Roadshow released its films on videocassette through Video Classics. Roadshow Entertainment is currently one of the biggest home entertainment distributors in Australia, currently releasing content from Village Roadshow Pictures, BBC, ABC, Lionsgate Films, The Weinstein Company as well as Australian TV content. They also used to distribute Walt Disney Home Video and Touchstone Home Video releases in Australia. They had their own duplication facilities, which also duplicated tapes for fellow Magnificent Seven member Rigby-CIC Video.

1st Logo (April 16, 1982-October 1985)
Nicknames: "Australian Outline", "Aussie Light Trails", "Welcome to Roadshow Home Video", "Sneak Previews"

Logo: It's just a squeezed-in variant of the 1979 Roadshow theatrical logo with the addition of the text of "HOME VIDEO", in yellow, zooming in below "Roadshow".

Variants: There are a lot of variants for this logo.
 * After the logo, "SNEAK PREVIEWS FROM OUR CATALOGUE", in yellow, appears and zooms out into Australia.
 * A variant exists where "HOME VIDEO" and "SNEAK PREVIEWS FROM OUR CATALOGUE" are in red instead of yellow.
 * There are variants with just no "SNKEAK PREVIEWS" or just "Roadshow" and no "HOME VIDEO" or "SNEAK PREVIEWS".
 * On very early tapes, such as The Fifth Musketeer and the very first release of Mad Max, a combo of variant 2 and the Roadshow Films logo plays. "HOME VIDEO" is in red (like variant 2), then the Roadshow Films logo's animation plays ("Roadshow" reverses onto Australia, "The Australian Company" appears), and "HOME VIDEO" zooms out. After an introductory scroll, the opening animation is repeated, but it freeze-frames when the Australia hits the usual position. "SNEAK PREVIEWS FROM OUR CATALOGUE" in red zooms out just as the freeze frame begins, then zooms out again.

FX/SFX: Same as the theatrical logo, but with "HOME VIDEO" zooming out.

Music/Sounds: Same as the theatrical logo.

Music/Sounds Variant: On some tapes, an announcer says, "Welcome to Roadshow Home Video. Before the movie, we'd like to show you previews of some of our films.".

Availability: Rare. Seen on Australian VHS & Betamax tapes in the early '80s, including First Blood, Mad Max, Gallipoli, Alvin Purple, An American Werewolf In London, Halloween II, Far East, Mr. Mom, and Cujo; it was also seen on early Walt Disney Home Video releases they distributed beginning in 1985. The very first Roadshow Home Video releases were Mad Max, Atlantic City, Insatiable, Sex World, King of the Mountain, Montenegro, A Change of Seasons, The Never Dead (aka Phantasm), Little Lord Fauntleroy, Endless Love, and Scanners (very likely the first title released by Roadshow Home Video). Tapes with this logo are not easy to find nowadays (usually on such covers the "Roadshow" text is in the same font as this logo, with "Home Video" and "Presents" underneath it), so check eBay Australia or your local second hand stores for tapes with this logo. Titles released under the Roadshow Vibrant Video label should also have this logo, despite the different logo on the cover. One of the last tapes to use this logo was The Mean Season.

Editor's Note: The effects on the logo haven't aged well and there isn't much in the way of originality, but it has a nice warm welcoming feel to it and is a likely a favorite among Aussie video collectors.

2nd Logo (October 1985-1993)
Logo: Same as the Roadshow Films logo of the time, however the words "ROADSHOW HOME VIDEO" appear instead of "ROADSHOW" in a smaller font.

Promo Variants:
 * On rental releases and some sell-throughs, once the logo finishes, a page turning effect occurs, revealing the message "SNEAK PREVIEWS FROM OUR MOVIES" in brown and white.
 * On some videos released in 1988 (Australia's bicentennial year), the logo starts out like the 1st logo, with the Australia outline, but then fades into this logo as an announcer says, "In the Australian tradition, Roadshow Home Video brings you a 6-pack, the Aussie 6-pack. In this, our bicentennial year, for only $19.88 each, you can have in your home library six of the all-time greatest Australian movies".

FX/SFX: Same as the 1985 Roadshow Films logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Roadshow Films and Village Roadshow Pictures theme of the time, also probably used in Village Cinemas.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Australian VHS & Betamax tapes in the late '80s and early '90s, Titles include The Falcon and the Snowman (the first release with this logo), The Terminator, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Short Circuit, 9 & 1/2 Weeks, The Running Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, and RoboCop II. It is also seen on the video board game Rap Rat. It does not appear on 1991-1992 ABC Video Releases, even though the logo is featured on the back; they just use the Video Selection Australia logo of the time. This also appears on Walt Disney Home Video and Touchstone Home Video titles they distributed at the time. Tapes with this logo should usually have the Village Roadshow logo in gold (sometimes it's a solid color) with "ROADSHOW HOME VIDEO" underneath it on the spine of the cover. Some early releases with this logo continued to use the previous logo on the labels. It also appears on New Zealand ABC Video releases along with the Video Selection Australia logo. One of the last releases to use this logo was Atmosfear.

Editor's Note: The animation of the “V” forming and the lasers is quite choppy. The music may get to a few first time viewers and the RHV text looks cheaply inserted in, but like before it's probably a favorite with Aussie video collectors and logo fans.

3rd Logo (June 10, 1993-)
Nicknames: "The Tame Australian V", "Australian V from Heaven", "Roadshow V's Tame Side"

Logo: Same as the theatrical version, except the segments move from front to back rather than the other way around (at a faster speed), and "ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT" appears in its place with the byline "A VILLAGE ROADSHOW COMPANY" below, underneath a line.

Variants:
 * On some of the first releases with this logo, the words "HOME VIDEO" replace "ENTERTAINMENT".
 * On some early releases (with the "ENTERTAINMENT" text), the logo has a greyish tint.
 * At the start of most rental tapes until 1995, when the logo is finished, the words "COMING SOON" appear, the "HOME VIDEO" version of this logo has a different version of this. There is also a "MORE PREVIEWS TO FOLLOW" variant of this.
 * On some releases like The Dish, Space Cowboys and Looking for Alibrandi, the text fades in with a different, smaller font and the word "HOME" is added. The byline is not italicized.
 * There is a special promo variant in which there is a smaller logo at the top of the screen, and "Power to the People at Home" (with an announcer repeating the line) in silver script is wiped in below, then it flashes (it could also be seen as a print logo on some of their releases such as Gallipoli, Pulp Fiction and Mad Max).
 * From around 1996 onwards, the company name just zooms out with the "V".
 * In 2011, the logo became more orange -tinted, and the text "ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT", with its byline, zooms out with the logo to end up with the same result as the previous version of the logo.
 * On the 1993 VHS release of the third episode of DIC's Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog: Lovesick Sonic, the logo appears via an wipe-up transition, and the music is slightly cut-short.
 * On widescreen DVD releases, the logo is presented in 14:9.
 * On some 2007-2011 releases, the animation is sped-up.

FX/SFX: The "V" segments moving into place.

Music/Sounds:
 * 1993-1995: A low-pitched calm synth tune with 4 chime sounds with a low synth sound at the end, also if you listen carefully as the V zooms out, a sound that resembles a drum roll can be heard, and if you listen even more carefully you'll notice that the synth tune and low synth sound come from the backing track of the Roadshow Films theme (i.e. without the 12-note melody). The text fades in exactly at the low synth sound.
 * 1996-2011: A 5-note synth chime arrangement, based on the Roadshow Films theme.
 * 2011- : The last 8 notes of the Roadshow Films theme.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On the DVD releases of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the 2005 Tim Burton remake), Music and Lyrics, Happy Feet, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, and I Am Legend, the 1998-2005 Village Roadshow Pictures music is heard in PAL.
 * On Blu-ray releases (and some DVDs, such as Mad Max: Fury Road), the music is in a lower tone due to PAL to NTSC sound conversion. This applies to both the 1996 and 2011 audio variants.
 * On the video board game Nightmare IV: Vampire (aka Atmosfear IV), a different sounder consisting of some spooky sounds and a few whooshes is heard.
 * On the "Power To The People At Home" Promo variant, we hear a funky tune with the announcer saying "Roadshow Entertainment, Power to the People at Home!"
 * On the 1993-1995 Coming Soon variant, once the Roadshow logo finishes, the 1993-1995 music is still heard, but slightly extended.
 * On Hamish & Andy's Euro Gap Year (disc 2) and Hamish & Andy's Caravan of Courage - Australia vs. New Zealand, the 1996-2011 music is used with the 2011 variant.
 * The 2007-2011 variant uses a “duophonic” version of the 1996 music, in which the right channel has a slight delay, creating a “doubling” effect.

Availability: Common. Appears on all Roadshow material during its era. The 2011 variant can be seen on more recent releases, such as the DVD release of Red Dog. It was also seen on all 1993-2005 ABC Video and 1996-2005 BBC VHS releases they distributed, but it doesn't appear on the DVD's, even though the logo could be seen on the back and on the disc; however, early ABC DVD's such as Wiggly TV feature this logo. The 1993 music variation can be seen on every release with this logo until 1995, such as Pulp Fiction, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and The Mask. The 1996 music variant appears at the end of the 1998 reprint VHS of Fireman Sam: A Spot Of Bother, despite the opening being recycled from its 1992 VHS release. The 1993-1995 music variant also appears on locally-made New Zealand Roadshow tapes. The standard 14:9 version of the 1996 variant makes a surprise appearance on the DVD releases of Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year, Hamish & Andy’s Euro Gap Year (disc 1), Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year Asia, Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year South America and Hamish & Andy Learn India & Reministmas Bonus Disc. It is unknown if this appears on the 1999 Kultur release of Don Quixote with Rudolf Nureyev and Lucette Aldous. The 1996-2011 variant is intact on the 2021 Paramount Region 4 DVD releases of Sleepy Hollow and Mansfield Park (1999), due to being reprints of their original Roadshow DVD releases. The 1993-1995 music variant makes a surprise appearance at the end of Blink on the Australian Reel Entertainment DVD, possibly due to using the master from the 1994 Roadshow VHS release. The 1996-2011 variant (in 4:3) makes a surprise appearance at the end of Little Voice on Australian Reel Entertainment DVD, possibly due to using the master from the 1999 Roadshow VHS release. The Home Video variant appears at the end of the 1993 VHS Babar: The Elephant Express.

Editor's Note: A favorite among Aussie logo fans. It is widely thought this logo started in late 1992, yet the earliest releases to use it date back to February-March 1993.