MTV/1983

Dancing Cats (February 18, 1983)


ID: On a white fence, four cats are seen doing a dance. One of them, the red one, is knocked off by a boot. Two others, the blue ones, are also knocked off the same way. The green one remains and a speech bubble appeared from him with the MTV logo in it. Said bubble fills up the screen and the logo gets covered in eyes.

Technique: 2D animation by Buzzco Associates, based on the illustrations of Sam Steinberg.

Audio: A steady rap beat along with the cats meowing.

Availability: Despite Alan Goodman and Fred Seibert being fond of Sam Steinberg's work, MTV declined to air the three Sam Steinberg IDs.

Dancing Indians (February 18, 1983)


ID: A group of Indians are seen dancing around a fire. A large shadow looms over them and they bow in fear. The shadow's owner is shown to be a giant MTV logo with features of an Indian chief.

Technique: 2D animation by Buzzco Associates, based on the illustrations of Sam Steinberg.

Audio: A rap beat with war whooping mixed in.

Dancing Pants (February 18, 1983)


ID: At a dance party, we see a lot of people dancing such as the cats from "Dancing Cats" with the MTV logo in the background as we zoom in, one of the female dancing Indians is in a corner feeling alone, until a male appears and offers to dance. They do so and kiss, morphing into the MTV logo on a yellow background.

Technique: 2D animation by Buzzco Associates, based on the illustrations of Sam Steinberg.

Audio: A remix of the music from "Dancing Indians".

Bonnie (April 1, 1983-1987)


ID: We see a cow in a field eating grass. The camera pans over to show the MTV logo in and  sprayed onto her hide.

Technique: Live-action footage by Tom Pomposello.

Audio: A short blues tune.

Suburbia (April 1, 1983-1987)
ID: We see a row of houses at daytime. Then a hand takes out a stencil of the MTV logo (without the "TV" script) and sprays it in green onto the scene. It then takes out another stencil of the "TV" script and sprays it onto the "M" in.

Variants: An alternate version exists with the "M" being sprayed in yellow and the "TV" in, as well as different sound effects.

Technique: Live-action footage by Tom Pomposello.

Audio: Sounds of a neighborhood and a spraying sound effect when the logo is drawn.

White House (April 1, 1983-1987)


ID: Same as the "Suburbia" ID, but this time it takes place in front of the White House, and the hand spraypaints the MTV logo in yellow and the "TV" script in (albeit slightly off center).

Technique: Same as the "Suburbia" ID.

Audio: A guitar version of the first six notes of "The Star Spangled Banner" (which sounds similar to the version performed by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock 1968), accompanied by spraying sound effects when the logo appears.

World Premiere Video (December 2, 1983-1986)


ID: We see a cartoon globe spinning on a dark blue background. The globe comes to rest on a brown surface before falling into a hole inside it. The camera zooms out to reveal a TV with the globe now inside. The MTV logo (in yellow and ) spins around to face the camera on top of the globe with the "MUSIC TELEVISION" text in white fading in after. Finally, the white text "WORLD PREMIERE VIDEO" spins from the back of the TV before stopping in the front and emitting a "shining" effect.

Technique: 2D animation by Jerry Lieberman Productions.

Audio: A timpani theme accompanied by a synthesized "boing" sound when the globe sinks through the hole in the TV.

Availability: Debuted with the premiere of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video on December 2, 1983.

Chainsaw (1983-1987)


ID: We open with black and white footage on a TV screen of a man and woman singing a soft love song. We cut outside to see a woman in a skimpy purple jumpsuit revving up a chainsaw, the blade of which glows. She uses it to slice the screen off as the people in the footage run away. After, she lays the chainsaw on top of the TV, revealing an orange MTV logo inside the set.

Technique: An even blend of stock footage, stop-motion, and 2D animation by Colossal Pictures.

Audio: The people in the footage singing, the chainsaw revving up, and a metal tune that blares as the TV is sliced.

Availability:' Extinct.

East Village (1983-1988)


ID: In black and white, a man finishes his pay phone call before walking off, turning to color as does. As he passes a mailbox, the MTV logo materializes in yellow and red.

Technique: Photomontage animation by ShadowLight Studios.

Audio: Town ambience.

Fish (1983-1988)


ID: A fish swims through the ocean. It releases its tail and cuts the seaweed as it swims away; the tail, the seaweed and a nearby worm forming the MTV logo.

Technique: 2D animation by Broadcast Arts.

Audio: A relaxing synth piece.

Liner Notes (1983-1987)


ID: On a black background, we see the sentence "MTV Presents" flash on-screen. A blue grid background covers it up and the pink text Liner Notes appears in hand writing. We then see various words relating to music zooming in from a star background before the grid comes back with the text and turns green; normally a list of events appear on this green grid. After a while, they fly away.

Technique: A blend of 2D and CG.

Audio: An upbeat synth tune.

Man and Dog (1983-1988)


ID: A man and his dog are seen enjoying the channel until the signal messes up. The man kicks the TV, setting it back to normal. We zoom out to also see the MTV logo against a static background.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A rock tune and the man grunting.

Psychedelic M (1983-1987)


ID: A TV in a living room is presented. The set rotates to reveal a different, trippy background on the other side with the MTV logo on the screen. The TV fades away and a trippy MTV logo appears.

Technique: Stop-motion and 2D animation by Colossal Pictures.

Audio: A descending warbly synth piece.

Rockstar (1983-1987)


ID: On a city background, a figure made of yellow shapes plays a guitar. Then it throws the guitar into the air, which explodes into the MTV logo.

Technique: 2D animation by Broadcast Arts.

Audio: A hard rock tune, followed by an explosion sound effect.

Saturday Night Concert (1983-1988)


ID: An elderly woman tunes into MTV, when the television starts to go crazy and expand into a giant statue as she and several other people run off. As the logo completes and people cheer, the text "Saturday Night Concert" shows up above the statue.

Technique: 2D animation by Colossal Pictures.

Audio: A rock tune accompanied by various cartoon sounds.

Service Station (1983-1987)


ID: A TV drives down the road to a gas station. A box shaped like the MTV logo plugs a cord into the TV, which starts showing various MTV IDs. An oil stack drops and an MTV sign lights up. Another box cleans the TV and it drives off as the boxes wave goodbye. The camera then quickly pans over to the sign of the gas station, with the MTV logo in 3D and spinning.

Trivia: All of the MTV IDs shown on the TV were created by Colossal Pictures, who also created this ID.

Technique: 2D animation by Colossal Pictures.

Audio: A synthesizer tune with the lyrics "When your TV needs a fill-up and some service, you can see / A quart of something special, come on out to MTV / We brighten up your picture and we send you on your way / So don't forget to turn to us, MTV, today!" (sung by Steve Linden and Bill Groshelle), as well as various other sound effects.

Slime (1983-1987)


ID: We see several close-ups of an MTV logo made of slime harderning until it forms into a black and yellow MTV logo.

Technique: Live-action footage.

Audio: A trippy sounding lounge piece.

Street Life (1983-1987)


ID: The camera zooms through a yellow city, passing by a woman, her shoe, a toaster, a tiger, a toothpaste tube, and a police officer with the word "STOP" on his hand jumping out of the way. Suddenly, the MTV logo (with the "M" in pink and the "TV" in ) crashes onto the street, and the "MUSIC TELEVISION" text in white appears below it.

Technique: 2D animation by Jerry Lieberman Productions and illustrated by Lou Brooks.

Audio: A synth-led tune, with the sound of a car skidding when the officer jumps back and a crumbling noise when the logo crashes onto the street.

Subway (1983-1987)


ID: Several people are seen at a subway station waiting to board. The subway arrives, and its front is shown to look like the MTV logo.

Technique: Claymation by Broadcast Arts.

Audio: A fast paced bongo tune.

Sword in the Stone (1983-1988)


ID: An ancient warrior comes across a sword in the stone and proceeds to try and pull it out. He succeeds, and transforms into a modern rockstar as the stone morphs into a flashing MTV logo.

Technique: 2D animation overseen by Richard Schenkman.

Audio: The warrior grunting and a rock tune.

Valentine's Day (1983-1988)
ID: Unknown

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Unknown.

Availability: Only shown around Valentine's Day.