HBO/Cannon Video

Background
HBO/Cannon Video was a short-lived joint venture between Home Box Office (HBO) and Cannon Films. Cannon inherited Thorn EMI's stake in the venture when they purchased Thorn EMI's entertainment holdings in 1986; despite this, few Cannon films were released by the label due to Cannon having pre-existing deals with other companies, including MGM/UA Home Video and Media Home Entertainment. This incarnation of the label was short-lived, as Cannon sold the Thorn EMI assets amid financial issues in May of 1987, and dropped out of the joint venture not long after, resulting in HBO operating the video label on their own from that point.

(October 8, 1986-July 15, 1987)


Visuals: Similar to the 1985 Thorn EMI/HBO Video logo (wall of lights, comets, blue background and the logo itself is similar), but there's a lot more action. A wall of lights opens, much like the Thorn EMI/HBO logo. Against these walls, a chrome "HBO" (in its corporate font) logo slides down one, and the word "CANNON" also in chrome, slides down the other. When they meet in the center, a glowing white star takes them in, and the walls rotate to face us as the camera pans in. When we pan in, two comets streak on two of the lights making up the wall, and when they pass, we see a white HBO logo and a white box containing the word "CANNON" rotating from the bottom to face us. The logos zoom back, with HBO zooming back to become smaller than the white box containing "CANNON", as "VIDEO" zooms out (in an effect similar to the 1980 Telepictures Corporation "Shadows" logo). Two comets streak above and below the logo to form lines, like in the 1985 Thorn EMI/HBO Video logo.

Technique: Typical 80s computer effects.

Audio: The 1982 Thorn EMI Video logo theme.

Availability: In addition to HBO and Cannon Films material, they also released Hemdale, Orion, Tri-Star and DEG material. Releases include Back to School, Night of the Creeps, and Touch and Go, among others. It also appears on later reprints of some older Thorn EMI tapes (Xtro, The First Time and Martin). Its first appearance was on Head Office, A Breed Apart, The Railway Children, and Strange Tales/Ray Bradbury Theatre (all of which still used the Thorn EMI/HBO logo on the packaging and labels), and its last appearance was on Something Wild, Three in the Cellar, and Bruce Willis: The Return of Bruno.

Legacy: A lot more effort appears to have been put into this logo compared to the Thorn EMI/HBO one, especially with the corporate logos sliding in.