20th Century-Fox Video

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

Background

20th Century-Fox Video was a home media and audio duplication service established in 1968 as Magnetic Video Corporation. It was renamed to 20th Century-Fox Video in 1982.



1st Logo (January 1, 1982-January 14, 1983)

Visuals: It's basically the 1953 20th Century-Fox logo with no video indicator whatsoever.

Variants:

  • On The Missouri Breaks and the original rental-only version of A Fistful of Dollars, the 1981 20th Century-Fox logo is used instead.
  • There also exists a black and white version of this variant, which has been spotted on The Apartment, Sergeant York, Cabiria, and A Streetcar Named Desire.

Technique: Cel animation for the spotlights, with the structure itself being an eight-layered glass painting. The structure was designed by Rocky Longo.

Audio: The 1979 20th Century-Fox fanfare by Lionel Newman, accompanied by a male announcer (different from any of the Magnetic Video announcers) on non-Fox releases, indicating the studio:

  • On United Artists releases, the voice-over said "The following United Artists feature is brought to you by 20th Century-Fox Video".
  • On ABC, ITC, Avco Embassy, Viacom, and other non-Fox releases (including concert videos, Bruce Lee films, and The Amazing Spider-Man episodes), the voice-over said "The following feature is brought to you by 20th Century-Fox Video".
  • On the double-feature release of The Making of Star Wars/SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back, the voice-over says "The following special presentation is brought to you by 20th Century-Fox Video".
  • On UK tapes with this logo, a British announcer says "20th Century-Fox Video presents".
  • Sometimes, this would plaster the film's original Fox logo (or if no logo is shown at the start, be added to the start) on a few Fox titles such as the 1982 reissues of Silver Streak, The Omen, and The Turning Point. Here, there is no voiceover.

Availability:

  • The regular variant can be seen on early Fox releases. The United Artists variant is seen on United Artists releases released by the company.
  • Most releases are in over-sized drawer-like boxes, colloquially known as the "Fox Box" due to its association with the company.
  • Strangely, most (if not all) Fox releases, such as Quest for Fire, do not have this logo, instead skipping straight to the standard 20th Century-Fox logo of the era or a custom variation thereof created for the film.
  • This was also seen rarely on re-prints of post-1981 Magnetic titles, such as The Boys from Brazil and Carrie. The very first releases in this incarnation, such as the Video Rental Library releases of Caveman, Dr. No and The Great Muppet Caper, tend to use the Magnetic logo instead. Later releases, such as Revenge of the Pink Panther (despite showing the print logo on the box and labels), use the first CBS/Fox Video logo.
  • In addition, sometimes the reverse is true; the 1984 CBS/Fox Video release of The Pink Panther Strikes Again has the CBS/Fox labeling, but has the old 20th Century Fox Video logo on the tape itself.
  • This logo remained in use on LaserDiscs and UK pre-cert releases until January 1983; the last known UK pre-cert tapes with the logo were High Anxiety, Shock Treatment and Young Frankenstein, respectively.
  • The corresponding print logo made its final known appearance on the UK pre-cert VHS of Cartoon Show Volume 3, which was released in February 1983.
  • On the 2001 UK VHS release of The Blue Max, the "20th Century Fox Video presents" voice-over variation is surprisingly retained, appearing right after the 1995 international TCFHE logo.

2nd Logo (Germany only, 1982)

Visuals: It simply consists of the white text:
Twentieth
Century-Fox
Video
zeigt

(Twentieth Century-Fox Video presents) on a black background, in the Helvetica typeface.

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: The 1935 TCF fanfare by Alfred Newman.

Availability: Only known to have appeared on a German LaserDisc of Alien.

Magnetic Video Corporation
20th Century-Fox Video
CBS/Fox Video
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