Video Collection International

This article is about the British home video company. For the unrelated American home video company, see VCI Entertainment.

Credits

Descriptions by
Dealydugan1995, Kody-The-Fox and wisp2007

Captures by
rememberedhills, zampakid and Jordan6379

Editions by
mr3urious, ZoDanma, Michael Kenchington, Jonathan Hendricks and Lizz T. Hendricks and Henrynguye5

Background

The Video Collection was renamed to Video Collection International (VCI) in 1994 due to financial difficulties (the name change was applied on-screen the following year), and in 1999 the company was sold to the Kingfisher group. In September 2004, the company merged with BBC Video to form 2 Entertain. The company's legal name was changed to 2 Entertain Video in November 2004, but the VCI logo and branding was still used on releases until September 2005.

Logo (September 11, 1995-September 12, 2005)

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  The "DVD Video" screen

Visuals: In front of a black background, there is a grey wire frame globe, a bright light emitting godrays in the top left of the screen and some grey mist below, and in front of those, a metal object flips in, along with a red sphere. This is later revealed to be the "C" in "VCI" in a bold, squished Futura PT Medium font, which flips around as it zooms out (with the sphere in the centre). The letters "V" and "I" would later spin in and arrange themselves vertically.

Variants:

• There are two DVD variants:
  • On fullscreen DVD releases, the VCI logo plays as normal, but after the animation, the logo fades out, the light glows and the DVD logo fades in. This variant is in a 4:3 ratio.
    • On some football DVD releases from 2003-2004 such as Liverpool F.C.: Five Hundred and One Goals and Manchester United: Top Ten Strikers, the DVD logo fades in much faster.
  • On widescreen DVD releases, the logo footage first appears in stretched 4:3, and then as the logo finishes animating, the background stretches out into a 16:9 ratio, as a metallic DVD logo forms in the top right of the screen.
    • On Sindy the Fairy Princess, the logo plays as normal, but after it ends, everything except the VCI text fades to black and the text moves to the left on the screen. The Optical Image logo fades into the right side and the word "Presents" appears.
• A still variant also appears before the Rosie and Jim episode "Locks" on the 2016 UK DVD release of Rosie and Jim: Bumper Pack.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A synth chime theme is heard alongside some whooshing sounds, with mechanical sounds for the VCI text arranging. Near the end, there are two deep synth notes, ending with a clang and a final chime, all of which is in a similar melody to the Strand VCI Entertainment logo.

Availability: Appears on VCI releases in the UK from the time-period until July 2005.

• However, this does not often appear on VHS releases from Thames Video, due to them mainly using their logo on its own, but appears on some of them (mostly through the 1996 and 1997 VCI Children's trailers).

Standard:

• Appears on the start and end of many releases from this time, including Phoenix Nights, Father Ted and later Thomas The Tank Engine releases, among others.
• On DVD, the standard version only appears at the end of Roo Reveals All (as part of the 2002 Cinema Club DVD release of The Last Polar Bears), the DVD release of Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles, and at the end of Rosie and Jim: Flashing Fire Engine and Other Urgent Adventures. This was because these DVD releases used upscaled VHS masters.
• The last few seconds of it also make a surprise appearance on the 2016 UK DVD release of Rosie and Jim: Bumper Pack, likely due to the master for the episode "Locks" being taken from the Rosie and Jim: Classic Collection master.
• It also appears on the 1995 UK VHS re-release of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Rock 'n' Roll and Other Stories, the 1996 UK VHS releases of Sky Dancers: The Sky's the Limit and 2 Other Episodes, Dragon Flyz: Dragon Dawn and 2 Other Stories, Dragon Flyz: Son Of Dread, and My Little Sesame Street, the 1997 UK VHS releases of Children's Playschool Favourites, and Dennis Pennis R.I.P., the 1998 UK VHS release of Pinocchio (1992) (Kid's Club release), the 1999 UK VHS releases of The Official Tyne Tees Time Capsule, Michaela Strachan: Wild About Baby Animals, and Captain Pugwash: Captain Pugwash Ahoy, and the 1999 UK promotional VHS release of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: 3 Splendid Episodes, the 2000 UK VHS releases of Lion Of Oz, East is East (1999), Little Monsters: Sulky Sue Plus Other Stories, and The Last Polar Bears, and the 2002 UK VHS releases of Thomas & Friends: Thomas Goes Fishing and Other Stories (2002 Marks and Spencer re-release), and Art Attack: Monsters and Other Scary Stuff, respectively.
• Despite appearing on the tape labels (and sometimes the covers) of direct reissues/later prints of The Video Collection-era VHS releases, it does not appear on them as they use The Video Collection's 1986-1995 logo instead.

DVD versions:

• The 4:3 version appears on almost every Thomas and Friends DVD release until the 2 Entertain merger. It mostly appears on fullscreen releases such as Lion of Oz, The Wheels on the Bus, various Manchester United DVD releases, The Royle Family, Father Ted, and the 2000 UK DVD release of 1996 adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels, among others.
  • It also appears as a closing logo on the Manchester United DVD releases.
  • Some widescreen releases also use this logo but the logo itself remains in fullscreen.
• The 16:9 version appears on a majority of widescreen VCI DVD releases such as the 2002 UK DVD release of Popstars: The Rivals, the 2003 UK DVD release of Liverpool Football Club: Five Hundred and One Goals, and the 2004 UK DVD release of Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), among others.
  • Also appears on these Thomas & Friends DVD releases: "The Fogman and Other Stories", "Pulling Together!", "It's Great to Be an Engine!", and "Bumper Party Collection!".
• On late releases between June and September 2005, such Fifi and the Flowertots: Fifi's Talent Show, the 2 Entertain logo appears on the packaging, but the VCI logo is used on the actual release.
• It appears on DVD releases from Hat Trick Productions, Channel 4 Video, Gullane Entertainment, Granada Video and Ragdoll, respectively.

Legacy: The logo was seen as ominous in the past years (thanks to the dark background, the music, the gigantic text and the logo ending with a long period of silence). Recent years have seen it become a favourite among VHS collectors, however.

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Video Collection International

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