Family Home Entertainment

Credits

Descriptions by
Jess Williams, James Fabiano and Cameron McCaffrey

Captures by
Eric S., EnormousRat, Dean Stewart Rumsey and snelfu

Editions by
Bob Fish, V of Doom, Jeff B, LogoWriter, Jonathan Hendricks and Kramden II

Video captures courtesy of
Eric S., Kargaroc286, DudeThatLogo, EnormousRat and MSLF4600

Background

Family Home Entertainment was a home video distribution company established by Noel C. Bloom in June 1981 to distribute family/kids releases. A year later, FHE launched a non-kids sub-division known as U.S.A. Home Video, which would eventually evolve into Artisan Entertainment. Early releases were distributed by MGM/UA Home Video and in the late 1980s, FHE's releases were distributed by MCA (mostly in Canada). In 2003, Lions Gate Films acquired and folded Artisan Entertainment and FHE became a sub-label before being rebranded as Lionsgate Family Entertainment in 2005.

1st Logo (June 1981-1985, 1987)

Visuals: On a zooming space background, a large pink/purple "sun" appears a few seconds in and slowly moves towards the screen while sizzling. After a few seconds of sizzling, it then transforms into the words "FAMILY HOME", set in "Baby Teeth," a font reminiscent of Pac-Man. Then, "ENTERTAINMENT" in the same font flies from behind the text on top of the screen and settles underneath the "FAMILY HOME" text. All the text flashes and becomes white. After a few seconds, the logo flies forwards with a trail and splits upwards and downwards, leaving the background for the rest of runtime.

Trivia: The font used in this logo was also used in the opening credits of the classic Mexican TV series El Chavo Del Ocho.

Variants:

• At the end of some tapes such as Beauty and the Beast (the 1983 Ruby-Spears version), the "Prevues of Coming Attractions" bumper (which was also used on Warner Home Video releases, albeit with an alternate soundtrack) fades to this logo when the "sun" appears. This also appeared on pre-1985 tapes from Monterey Home Video and U.S.A. Home Video.
• Sometimes, there are screen cuts at the beginning and end of the logo.
• Shortened versions exist:
  • Some tapes start the logo just as the "sun" appears.
  • A few tapes start the logo right as the "sun" morphs into the words "FAMILY HOME".

Technique: Scanimate visual effects.

Audio: The space background has electronic popping/fizz noises. When the logo forms, a 4-note synthesized chord/whoosh fanfare can be heard.

Availability: Appears on FHE releases from the era (ie. early Strawberry Shortcake, Gumby and Care Bears releases). This includes an over-sized box containing an early FHE print of this logo on the cover; this may also appear on early tapes with the next logo on the packaging.

• Other releases that may include this logo are Beauty and the Beast (Ruby-Spears version), Blackstar, The New Adventures of Zorro, Journey Back to Oz, Dorothy in the Land of Oz, Panda and the Magic Serpent, Gaiking, The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas, a few Spaceketeers releases, and some Inspector Gadget tapes.
• Some of the first tapes it appeared on were: The Adventures of Little Lulu and Tubby Volumes 1 and 2, Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas, The Adventures of Sindbad the Sailor, The Littlest Warrior, Panda and the Magic Serpent, Space Angel Volumes 1 and 2, Peter Cottontail's Adventures, Spaceketeers Volumes 1 and 2, The Return of Gumby, Gumby Magic, The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo Volume 1, The Adventures of Buster the Bear, The Adventures of Reddy the Fox, Candy Candy, Captain Harlock Volume 1, The Adventures of Captain Future Volumes 1 and 2, and The Flower Angel.
• Some post-1985 reprints retained this logo, including a 1987 reprint of A Gumby Summer and the 1986 re-print of Peter Cottontail's Adventures.
• This can be seen on the Amazon Prime print of The Great Bear Scare and the 2015 Paramount/CBS DVD of Peter and the Magic Egg.

Legacy: It has been noted by many for its visuals. Some have also nicknamed the logo "Soda Pop" for the cracking and popping sounds. Nonetheless, it is a source of nostalgia for those who grew up with this logo at the time.

2nd Logo (November 1?, 1984-April 1991)

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  Normal variant

• 

  Transformers trailer variant

Visuals: On a black background, a yellow-orange screen "flips" in by crawling the very back, the "top" and then down the front.. It has a design consisting of two solid lines and a segmented line in the middle (similar to what is used to practice writing the alphabet in school). One at a time, the letters "f", "h", and "e" are then drawn on the lines in a crayon-like font. After they draw, black dots appear in between the letters, and under that, the words "Family Home Entertainment" appear letter-by-letter, akin to a typewriter. The picture then compresses downward away from the screen.

Trivia: This logo came out earlier in 1984 but only on VHS covers from Family Home Entertainment.

Variants:

• A version has been spotted where instead of the picture compressing down, it fades out along with the music. The color is also a bit faded.
• At the end of some tapes, a orange-yellow screen that reads "also AVAILABLE from" (in white) zooms in. After 3 seconds, the screen compressing downward just before the regular FHE logo appears.
• An version exists where it plays the normal "also AVAILABLE from" variant, but it compresses downward halfway with the regular animation appearing like normal, with the bottom half slightly chopped off by the "also AVAILABLE from" screen and a bit of a black line visible between them both. When the logo finishes and compresses downward away from the screen, the "also AVAILABLE from" screen zooms upwards instead of downwards from the screen.
• Some tapes omit the logo's beginning and the closing, instead starting at the point where the letters are drawn in.
• A still version has the logo on a black background and the lines in white. A byline for IVE/NCB is shown on the bottom. This can be seen on various Transformers promos.
• Depending on the year of release, the logo either cuts in (on 1985-1990 releases) or fades in (on 1990-1991 releases).

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A loud whirring/whining sound (kind of like a Jetsons flying car starting) that leads into a synth theme with three different tones for the drawing of each letter. Three very fast synth-trumpet notes bring forth the periods after each initial, and a toy piano that plays a descending tune is used when the company's name appears. At the end, a whoosh-like laser zap is heard as the picture flips down.

Audio Variant: A low-toned variant exists.

Availability:

• Can be seen on early releases of home video releases of shows such as Thundercats, Transformers, G.I. Joe, Inspector Gadget, Amigo and Friends, The Adventures of the Little Koala, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, among others.
• Also spotted on some Rankin/Bass video releases of the time, the Chuck Jones releases of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Mowgli's Brothers, and The White Seal.
• You may also spot this on a few Japanese anime tapes like Robotech or some tapes of British cartoons like Wil Cwac Cwac and Roobarb, and the Australian Dot cartoons, too.
• The variant that fades out early can be spotted on several Robotech releases from 1987, as well as The Teddy Bears' Picnic and Babar: The Movie from 1989.
• Also seen on later Strawberry Shortcake, Gumby and Care Bears VHS releases.
• This makes surprise appearances on the Amazon Prime and Tubi prints of The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas.
• One of the earliest releases to feature this logo was G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
• One of the last releases to feature this logo was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie.

Legacy: The logo is a source, fond or otherwise, of nostalgia for those who grew up with the company around this time, as well as the debut of its best-known "handwritten" logo.

3rd Logo (May 9, 1991-1998)

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Visuals: On a white background, a red paintbrush draws an "f" (the same one from the 2nd logo) then puts a red dot after it. A blue paintbrush similarly draws an "h" and a blue dot and a yellow paintbrush draws the "e" and its dot. The camera pans to each letter as it is drawn and then pulls out. Above the logo, the paintbrushes "wash" on the words "Family Home Entertainment", with each word in red, blue, and yellow respectively.

Variants:

• On rare occasions, the logo is still.
• An abridged version was used for promos.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A four-note synth tune (which was done on the Roland D-50 synthesizer by using the "Staccato Heaven" patch) is heard at the start. The letters each have a specific tune when they're painted:

• Two separate two-note synth horn tunes for the "f" (the gap between the two synth horn tunes is occupied by the last note of the opening tune fading out).
• A descending harp sound and a 5-note horn-like tune for the "h".
• An ascending, then descending, clarinet tune for the "e".

Three different synthesized stingers play when each of the dots are added. An ascending synthesized tune with some clarinet notes mark the appearance of "Family Home Entertainment". The synth tune from the start of the logo plays again afterwards, this time with a choir mixed in, and synth chimes are heard at the end.

Audio Variant: On the screener cassettes of Queens Logic and Bloodmoon, an announcer says "Here's what's new from Family Home Entertainment!" at the end.

Availability: Can be seen on FHE releases from the early to late '90s.

• It first appeared on The Marzipan Pig, The Little Match Girl, and two volumes of Widget the World Watcher.
• Appears on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tapes from the era.
  • It appeared on 2006 and 2007 DVDs of TMNT, specifically at the end of the episodes "Plan 6 from Outer Space", "Farewell Lotus Blossom", "Michelangelo Meets Bugman" and "What's Michelangelo Good For?", probably due to VHS masters being used.
• Also showed up on the original release of Tom and Jerry: The Movie and many Rankin-Bass and Lacewood Christmas specials.
• One of the last tapes to use this logo was the Hallmark Home Entertainment release of Merlin.
• The still version can be seen on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (earlier prints use the previous logo, not still) and Bruno the Kid: The Last Christmas.
• Appears in full on the screener cassettes of Queens Logic and Bloodmoon before a preview for a Babar tape, as well as on the screener cassettes of Bad Lieutenant and Almost Blue before a preview for the first ten volumes of Robotech and on the screener cassette of Glengarry Glen Ross before a preview for several tapes centering on dinosaurs and dragons.
• This appears at the beginning and end of Epix.com's print of The Great Bear Scare, whereas the Amazon Prime print has the first FHE logo.
• This is also preserved on the Pioneer Entertainment DVD release of Speed Racer: The Movie.

4th Logo (May 15, 1998-2001)

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Visuals: Against a black background, a green "F" flips toward the screen, followed by a vermilion "H" and a lavender "E". A triangular vermilion "roof" lands on the "H" shortly after. The words: "FAMILY HOME ENTERTAINMENT", which are written in white (and in the same font as the Artisan Entertainment logo), fade in below. At the same time, two white dots fade in between the letters "FHE". The words shine.

Variant: There is a version of this logo that has the URL "www.familyhomeent.com" under the logo.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: None. However, on some releases such as the VHS release of PT Barnum, a heavenly chime tune plays.

Availability: Appears on most FHE releases up until 2001.

• Appears on releases such as Clifford The Big Red Dog: Here Comes Clifford, post-1997 prints of The Littlest Angel, some 1999 VHS releases of Kipper, and It's a Wonderful Life.
• It also shows up on third-party releases from Republic Pictures, Hallmark Home Entertainment and Discovery Channel Video (alongside Animal Planet Video and TLC Video).

5th Logo (June 27, 2000-2005)

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Visuals: On a white background, the "FHE" from before fly in from all angle, as two black dots fly in and appear between the letters. "FAMILY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" fades in under the letters, and a red roof is then drawn above the "H", making the whole thing look like the 4th logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A cheerful-sounding tuba and oboe tune with a stock airplane noise for the letters flying in, boings for the dots, and finally a drawing noise when the roof is drawn.

Audio Variant: Sometimes, it's silent.

Availability: Seen on releases from this era.

• Releases with this logo include the first four Barbie DTV movies, Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-Lot, Dragons: Fire & Ice, Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, The Miracle Maker, Ready Set Learn! Paz's Friendship Adventures, the 2004 DVD of The Last Unicorn, and the first few Speed Racer and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) sets, among others.
• By this point, this logo was used on more mainstream family-friendly material. Kid-friendly material will feature the Family Home Entertainment Kids logo instead.
• As with the last logo, it appears on a majority of releases from Republic Pictures, Hallmark Home Entertainment and Discovery.
• Even though the company's film label FHE Pictures produced Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, it doesn't appear on the film's DVD release, which uses the Artisan logo. It does, however, appear on the screener DVD of said movie.