New Line Home Entertainment

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

In 1990, New Line Cinema established its own video label as New Line Home Video (later renamed New Line Home Entertainment in 2001) and started releasing its videos the following year through RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (which became Columbia TriStar Home Video) while Laserdisc releases were exclusively distributed by Image Entertainment.

Prior to this, RCA/Columbia had been releasing some New Line films on video including the first two Critters films, Alone in the Dark (1982 version), Quiet Cool, My Demon Lover and House Party. Other distributors had also been releasing New Line films on video such as Media Home Entertainment (Nightmare on Elm Street 1-5), HBO Video (Xtro and The Blood of Heroes) and LIVE Entertainment (Babar The Movie, Chicago Joe and the Showgirl and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), among others.

Even after forming its own video label, New Line still licensed some titles to LIVE such as Drop Dead Fred (a PolyGram/Working Title production which New Line released theatrically in the US), Glengarry Glen Ross, London Kills Me (a Fine Line Features release) and all Seven Arts films which New Line released (Seven Arts was a New Line/Carolco joint venture which resulted in video rights going to LIVE).

New Line's acquisition of Nelson Entertainment in 1991 enhanced its home video library; they distributed some Castle Rock Entertainment films and reissued several former Embassy Home Entertainment titles in addition to the main studio's selections. They also released numerous third-party titles, including titles from Cinetel Films, Moviestore Entertainment, Nu Image Films, Saban, and Image Organization, among other outfits.

On January 28, 1994, New Line's video distribution shifted to Turner Home Entertainment after Turner acquired New Line; this took effect just under a year later, beginning with The Mask. After Time Warner (later "WarnerMedia" and "Warner Bros. Discovery") bought out Turner in 1996, New Line's video distribution shifted once again to Warner Home Video (now "Warner Bros. Home Entertainment").

In mid-2008, it became a division of Warner Home Video after a short transitional period and folded 2 years later.


New Line Home Entertainment

1st Logo (July 11, 1991-July 4, 1995)


Visuals: Same as the 1987 movie logo, but "NEW LINE HOME VIDEO" in a bold font replaces "NEW LINE CINEMA."

Variants:

  • On RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, Columbia TriStar Home Video, and Turner Home Entertainment releases, there is a still version of the logo before going to the warning screen. The box and filmstrips look slightly different.
  • A widescreen version of this logo is seen on such releases, like the 1994 Laserdisc releases of When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers.
  • An Amos and Andrew home video spot shows this next to the 1993 Columbia TriStar Home Video logo on a black background.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: None.

Audio Variants:

  • Some tapes have the beginning of the movie's theme, such as Late for Dinner (plastering the 1989 Columbia Pictures logo) and National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1, where the opening of the soundtrack begins at the end of the logo before going into the New Line Cinema logo.
  • The screener and the UK VHS of Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins has part of the "Mortal Kombat" song by The Immortals.

Availability: It's seen on New Line/Castle Rock releases by Columbia TriStar/Turner Home Entertainment on VHS and Image Entertainment on Laserdisc.

  • Titles with this logo include City Slickers, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, Mr. Saturday Night, Late for Dinner, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1, Above the Rim, and North.
  • This was used on a few titles distributed by Turner Home Entertainment such as The Mask, Dumb and Dumber (rental release only), Corrina Corrina, 8 Seconds, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, and Death and the Maiden (the final release to have it).
  • This can also be spotted on Comedy Central's print of the film Honeymoon in Vegas, Starz/Encore's print of Year of the Comet and TNT's print of Death Ring.
  • Strangely, MGM Home Entertainment's 2000 VHS release of Honeymoon in Vegas retains this, but not on the 2000 DVD release.
  • It is also strangely preserved on Tubi's print of Year of the Comet.
  • This also appeared on the VHS screener retailer of Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins (the actual video release of this would use the next logo), as well as on the UK VHS release of said film.

2nd Logo (July 25, 1995-February 9, 2010)

Visuals: Same as the 1994 movie logo, but "NEW LINE HOME VIDEO" (later "NEW LINE HOME ENTERTAINMENT" starting in 2001 without the text rays) zooms out from below. The respective company byline fades in underneath. It's also videotaped/digital.

Bylines:

  • 1995-1997: "A Turner Company"
  • 1997-April 24, 2001, 2003-2010: "A Time Warner Company"
  • 1999-April 17, 2001: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY"
  • 2001-2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company"
  • 2004-2010: "A TimeWarner Company"
  • Sometimes, this logo is bylineless.

Variants:

  • The first byline variants introduced, even the "Home Video" text versions plus the 2003 Time Warner byline had the original ITC Garamond Cond Book logo font. These versions were videotaped, running in fast 30fps for most of the time, and the text zooms in at 60fps; two byline variants, one being the second AOL byline variant, and the TimeWarner from 2004 onwards are filmed with a different font from the videotaped variants, with the text rapidly zooming in on the first filmed logo. 4:3 variants, except for the 2004 TimeWarner byline version, had a large field of vision, and the 16:9 variants were vertically cropped from their original formats.
  • A widescreen version of the Turner variant was used on a few early 1997 DVDs in anamorphic widescreen such as The Long Kiss Goodnight, Dumb and Dumber and Jackie Chan's First Strike. DVDs in 4:3 letterbox widescreen such as The Mask and Mortal Kombat use the regular full-screen version.
  • On VHS tapes and demo DVDs, there is a still of this logo seen before the warning screen.
  • On some VHS releases, about halfway through the animation, streaks of green appear through the blue glow. This can be found on the 1998 VHS of The Wedding Singer and the 1999 VHS releases of Pleasantville and A Nightmare on Elm Street. However, the DVDs of all three (including a Warner Bros. Century Collection VHS reissue of Pleasantville) use the standard variant.
  • On New Line Home Video DVD releases from 1999 to 2001, the Time Warner byline is in bold and in all caps.
  • There is one 4:3 version of the AOL Time Warner byline variant that has similar camera field of vision angle degrees as the 60p version of the logo. Another notable difference is that the byline is not near the bottom of the screen. This was spotted on the 2001 VHS reprint of Mortal Kombat.
  • On the 2003 byline variant, but not the recent variation prior to the logo's end, uses the Palatino font.
  • A 4:3 anamorphic squished version of the widescreen variant of the New Line Home Entertainment logo (with the AOL Time Warner byline) appears on the full-screen side of a 2003 repackaged 1997 DVD of Dumb and Dumber.
  • There are 4:3 cropped variants of the widescreen variants of the 1999 Time Warner, 2001 AOL Time Warner, 2003 Time Warner, and 2004 TimeWarner variants. The 1999, 2001 and 2003 variants can only be viewed in 4:3 mode on all DVD players, while the 2004 variant can be found on all 2004-2006 VHS releases.
  • On a promo seen on the 2001 demo VHS of Dungeons & Dragons, the filmbox from the movie logo rapidly zooms in, crossfading to the print logo for New Line Home Entertainment, with the text in a different, narrower font in black on a white background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The early version of the 1994 movie logo music, though sometimes it can be silent (such as on at least the DVDs of the Extended Editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy).

Audio Variants:

  • On some DVDs like the 2008 DVDs of Mr. Woodcock and Be Kind, Rewind, the standard New Line Cinema fanfare from the movie logo is heard.
  • On Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, it has part of the "Mortal Kombat" song by The Immortals.
  • On the Dungeons & Dragons variant, a male announcer says ''Coming from New Line Home Entertainment''.

Availability: Appeared on New Line video releases from the era. Some New Line DVDs are still in print.

  • The Turner variant was used from 1995-97, starting with In the Mouth of Madness, and also appears on some early DVDs such as Friday, The Adventures of Pinocchio, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Mortal Kombat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film), The Long Kiss Goodnight and others.
  • The 1997 Time Warner variant can be found on all VHS and DVD releases from 1997 to 2001 such as Spawn, Rush Hour, Pleasantville, The Wedding Singer, Blade, Boogie Nights, Lost in Space (1998 film), the first two Austin Powers movies and the Nightmare on Elm Street Platinum Series DVD box set.
  • Some of the last releases to use the "HOME VIDEO" variant were The Little Vampire and Little Nicky.
  • The "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" variant replaces the "HOME VIDEO" variant on most repackagings of 1997-2001 DVDs.
  • The AOL Time Warner variant can be found on several 2001-2003 VHS and DVD releases such as Sugar and Spice, Rush Hour 2, Austin Powers In Goldmember, Blade II, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
  • The 2003 Time Warner variant can be found on the VHS releases of Freddy vs Jason, Ripley's Game, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Secondhand Lions. It can also be found on some DVDs such as How To Eat Fried Worms and the 2005 DVD release of The Mask.
  • The 2004 TimeWarner variant can be found on the 2004 VHS releases of Elf and Blade: Trinity, and most 2005-2010 DVDs such as Hairspray (2007 film), Blade: House of Chthon, Running Scared (2006 film), and the 2006 Unrated DVD of Dumb and Dumber.
  • Some of the last VHS tapes to use this logo were the VHS releases of Raise Your Voice, After the Sunset, Son Of The Mask, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, The Man, Wedding Crashers and A History of Violence (one of the last major Hollywood films to ever be released on the format). One of the last releases to use this logo overall was The Time Traveler's Wife, while their final releases before they were folded into WHV were Semi-Pro and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and the still of the final Time Warner byline variant appeared on the Kill Shot: The Making of Final Destination 3 documentary, also included on the Blu-ray release of Final Destination 3.

New Line High Definition

Logo (November 20, 2007-February 9, 2010)


Visuals: The New Line logo forms as usual; the details are improved, and the background light consists of many rays. The words are in Bank Gothic MD BT font, more silver, and in 3D. When the logo is formed, a very bright light flash occurs, making the words change to "HIGH DEFINITION".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An extended version of the New Line fanfare, accompanied by a light flash sound.

Availability: Can be seen on all New Line Home Entertainment High Definition releases until 2010. It also appears on the 2011 Blu-ray of Mortal Kombat (1995), despite releasing over a year after the unit was folded into Warner Home Video.


Nelson Entertainment
New Line Home Entertainment
Warner Home Video
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