ITV Ventures

Background
Granada Ventures was a British home video distirbutor that was orignally founded in 1980s as Pickwick Video until 1992 when Carlton Communications acquired the company and they renamed Pickwick Video to Carlton Home Entertainment in 1995 and it was later renamed to Carlton Visual Entertainment in 2002.

In 2004, both Carlton Communications and Granada merged to form "ITV plc". At the time, Carlton had their existing home video unit, while Granada had a deal with Video Collection International. The merger meant the deal could be revoked and that Granada programs were able to be released through Carlton's unit, which was soon rebranded as Granada Ventures, therefore allowing all ITV-produced shows on DVD to be branded under one name.

1st Logo (1989-Early 1992)


Logo: A series of gray and white vertical lines are formed on the screen. Then they flip around a few times to show brief clips of some films from Pickwick's Library (including a yacht race, boxing match, and even Thomas the Tank Engine). After that the text "PICKWICK", in red italic letters appears sliding in letter-by-letter from the right and the word Video appears written underneath in dark blue and underlined in red. The text then shines.

Trivia: The clip of Thomas the Tank Engine is taken from the episode Thomas Comes to Breakfast.

Variants:
 * Originally, Australian releases only feature the ending animation starting from when the text appears on-screen and freezing it for 30 seconds with the full music underneath it.
 * On later Australian releases the music starts 5 seconds into the warning screen, and the logo is a short version with the opening similar to the second logo.

FX/SFX: The lines, the letters and the shining.

Music/Sounds: A synthesised rock tune entitled "Superman 3" done by Anthony & Gaynor Sadler, which was also heard on Earthvue on the then-Prevue Guide (now Pop) around that time.

Availability: Seen on Pickwick videos from the UK and Australia around the time period such as the 1989 UK VHS reissues of the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends season 2 VHS releases Thomas, Percy and the Coal and Other Stories, Percy and Harold and Other Stories, The Deputation and Other Stories and the 1991 UK VHS release of The Best of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, among others.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (Early-Late 1992)
Logo:

FX/SFX:

Music/Sounds: A synth hum which sounds similar to the one used on the Roadshow Home Video logo in Australia, followed by five drumbeats and a different synth warbling sound.

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

1st Logo (2004-2005)


Logo: On a background, the 2004 Granada logo with "Ventures" below is shown.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Granada Ventures DVD releases from the era.

Editor's Note: Nothing much to say here. It's clear to be an obvious placeholder for the next logo.

2nd Logo (2005-2013)


Logo: Same as the 2004 Granada logo, but the word "Ventures" in a white font fades in on the bottom of the screen.

Variant: A shorter variant exists.

FX/SFX: Same as the full version of the 2004 Granada logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the full version of the 2004 Granada logo or none.

Availability:
 * Appears on releases from this time period, such as Pocoyo & Friends: Volume 1.
 * The shorter variant appears on ITV releases that were licensed to independent distributor Network Distributing.
 * It makes a surprise appearance on the Talking Pictures TV airing of The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939).

Editor's Note: None.