Thorn EMI Video
James Fabiano, Jess Williams, and indycar
Captures by
Eric S. and LogoFan111898
Editions by
V of Doom, indycar and Michael Kenchington
Video captures courtesy of
DudeThatLogo
Background
Thorn EMI Video was the home video division of Thorn EMI, a multimedia and electronics company, and was originally known as EMI Videogram until 1981. Its North American division was formed that same year as part of a larger home video and television enterprise known as Thorn EMI Video Programming Enterprises. In 1984, the parent company formed a joint venture with HBO that was known as Thorn EMI/HBO Video, later known as HBO/Cannon Video (when Cannon Films bought Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment and Thorn EMI's other entertainment holdings) and the U.S. unit was absorbed into the new partnership. Thorn EMI Video remained active outside the U.S. until 1986, when it was absorbed into Cannon.
1st Logo (November 15, 1981-March 1982)
Visuals: Over a blue (or dark blue) background is the 1979 Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment logo, only it is in black and white and there is now a black box under "THORN EMI" that says "VIDEO".
Technique: A still graphic.
Audio: None.
Availability: It was most likely intended as a placeholder logo.
- It can be found on the earliest Thorn EMI Video releases, including their first fourteen releases (The Tubes Video, April Wine Live in London, I Am a Dancer, Can't Stop the Music, Times Square, Death on the Nile, The Cruel Sea, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, The Best of Benny Hill, Scars of Dracula, Sophia Loren: Her Own Story, S.O.S. Titanic, The Royal Wedding, and Queen: Greatest Flix), Heartland, and The Mirror Crack'd.
- Prior to the debut of the second logo, Thorn EMI's releases in the United Kingdom usually didn't use any logo at all (even under their prior name of EMI Videogram) and just started with the opening credits or scenes of the film.
2nd Logo (June 1, 1982-May 15, 1985 [USA]/1986 [international])
Visuals: Over a black background, a blue circle of light zooms up into the screen, spins around, and turns rainbow, then splits into two light circles which spin and shrink into a shape that looks like an upside down "T" with pointed ends, most likely representing a thorn. A white box with a blue aura is drawn around the shape, and it backs away. As this happens, a white box with the words "THORN EMI" appears under that box, which has since turned blue, and when that backs away a white box surrounds that, the bottom of which contains the word "VIDEO".
Technique: Oxberry effects designed by Laurie Calvert of Filmfex in London.
Audio: A light, synthesized tune that ends in the beating of a drum and a synth fade-out.
Availability:
- Thorn EMI distributed releases from Thames Video, Orion Pictures, Hemdale Film Corporation, Regency Enterprises, Producers Sales Organization, Dino de Laurentiis Company, The Saul Zaentz Company, and Carolco Pictures, in addition to films from EMI themselves.
- Several releases that had this logo were Xtro, The Evil Dead, The Terminator, Corrupt (also known as Copkiller) and First Blood; one of the first was The Burning.
- TV shows with this logo include Ready, Steady, Go!: Volume One, the first few collections of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and Danger Mouse.
- This logo is also found on various pre-cert releases in the United Kingdom, including First Blood, A Passage to India, certain copies of The Wicker Man and the later pre-cert release of Watership Down (the very first release, from 1982, has no logo at all).
- At least in the United Kingdom, this began being used in early 1983 and continued to be used until Cannon purchased the Thorn EMI library.
- This logo also appears on some, Japanese releases on LD, Beta and VHS that were distributed by Tohokushinsha Home Video of the time, such as The Osterman Weekend and Dune, with the final release to contain it (at least on print) being The Hills Have Eyes Part 2.
- This logo also appears on the 1983 UK pre-cert VHS releases of Paddington's 9th Anywhen TV Show and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975), and the 1984 UK pre-cert VHS release of Roland Rat Superstar in Rat on the Road: Volume 1, respectively, as well as old French VHS releases of Inspector Gadget.
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