Esselte Video

1st Logo (1979-1982?)

Visuals: Just a blank black screen with the Esselte Video logo in the center of the screen, with "Distribution" at the top of the logo. The logo consists of the text "ESSELTE VIDEO" in a font reminiscent of Optima, with a gear-like circle (actually an abstract waterwheel) to the left of it, designed with a X-shape in the middle and 8 points on the outer edge.

Technique: A still digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on very early releases of them, like early The Adventures of Tintin VHS tapes.

2nd Logo (1981-1984)

Visuals: On a space background with a morphing sea blue nebula that resembles fireworks, several Esselte logos in white shoot forward en masse, rotating in different directions as they do. One of the logos sticks to the far left side of the screen and eventually stops rotating as it gets into position. Once the logos clear the screen, a large 4-pointed star appears to the right of the logo, which eventually morphs into "ESSELTE VIDEO".

Variant: A more common long variant is often used. The logo starts with CASCOM footage zooming in, stretching out, and becoming less pixelated, showcasing a neon city at dusk with light blue spotlights waving about. The camera zooms into the city, where via a ping, transitions to a house with spotlights also waving briefly around. The camera zooms through the door, which opens after the sides flash a few times, and then into the purple television, where it turns on with a blue warp effect and showcases the logo playing out.

Technique: Motion-controlled cel animation.

Audio: A female choir singing the name out with a bass in the background. In the long version, it starts off as a soft series of chimes, before gaining string instruments before finally seguing into a dramatic trumpet-led fanfare.

Availability: Seen on various Swedish VHS tapes from CIC Video and MGM/UA Home Entertainment, like Return to Eden. It also appears on early Trefa Video tapes, like releases of Snorks, M.A.S.K., The Get Along Gang, The Adventures of Tintin, and Care Bears.

3rd Logo (1984-1988)

Visuals: Either through a page-turn transition from the warning screen, or zooming in a fashion similar to the previous logo, Cascom footage showing a black river and a gold city in the distance is shown. Blue searchlights scan across the sky as the river sparkles with tiny little lights. In the distance, the Esselte logo, colored blue with a pink drop shadow, emerges from the city and flips around in front, as well as "ESSELTE" (with a blue shadow) and "VIDEO" (with a lime shadow) flipping around it. As they reach the center of the screen, a cyan 5-pointed star-shaped flash emerges from the center of the screen while rotating slightly, turning the logo white with a red drop shadow. Another cyan 5-pointed star, this time filled with white, runs across "ESSELTE VIDEO", and after a few seconds, one final star grows out of the center and freezes just before it can overtake the screen.

Technique: 2D digital animation.

Audio: It starts off with a dramatic synth bass tune, followed by a synth piano/string fanfare.

Availability: Same as before. Seen on a Swedish release of An American Tail, Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, and The Terror Within.

4th Logo (1988-1990s)

Visuals: Panning over from the warning screen at the time, it reveals a giant 3D Esselte logo in dark red rotating around on a dark blue-black gradient background. The camera rotating around to face the front of the logo. As the camera pans down to the bottom of the wheel, a bright light begins to fill the screen, eventually flashing into a burst of white light. The camera then zooms out to reveal a filmstrip playing the logo on its cells, as well as a large rotating semicircle briefly seen in the light as a shilouette before fading away. The camera eventually pans around to reveal that the filmstrips are controlled by Esselte logos, rotating in unison. As the camera puts them into full view, the filmstrip fades out, and the logo zooms out to the left as "ESSELTE VIDEO" flips out from the darkness next to it. The logo then shines with trails of cyan and gold light.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An soft upbeat rock tune, mixed with synth horns and the sounds of a rotating clicker. The music ends with a held note as a whoosh and beeping can be heard.

Availability: Same as before. Seen on a few releases of The Adventures of Tintin from the era and The Pit and The Pendulum .