Logo descriptions by Jason Jones, Matt Williams, Matt Anscher, Nicholas Aczel, John Coffey, D.L. Chandell, and Gilblitz112 Logo captures by Eric S.,V of Doom, snelfu, Mr.Logo, and others Editions by Mr. Logo Lord, Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom,DreamMechanic, Gilblitz112 and Sonic2007 Video captures courtesy of Eric S., JohnnyL80, Peggy Sue, youngleader610 (Mr.Logo), Jordan Rios, PluMGMK and Matt Hardy
Background: Buena Vista Television was the production/distribution arm of Walt Disney Television established in 1985. Originally, it distributed Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television shows and the Buena Vista film library on TV. Later, it also took on the libraries of ABC (in 1996) and Saban (in 2002). It also distributed other Disney-owned libraries. When Disney retired the "Buena Vista" brand in 2007, BVTV was rebranded as "Disney-ABC Domestic Television", with the logo making its debut in September.
1st Logo
(September 14, 1985-2006)
Nicknames: "(Classic) Disney Castle", "Abstract Castle", "Blue BG & Rainbow Castle", "Multicolored Kingdom", "Disney Castle", "Rainbow Disney Castle"
Logo: It's basically the same as the 1985 Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista International Television logos, except the text below fades to "Distributed By Buena Vista Television".
Trivia:
- This logo was shown until 2006 at the end of local-Disney produced shows for example on 2003, as Club Disney produced in association with Telecinco.
- One Winnie the Pooh tape strangely had full animation, although it was supposed to use the still version. It might have been a mistake in production.
Variants:
- On shows produced by Buena Vista, there is only the "Buena Vista Television" text and no "Distributed by" header.
- International distribution releases would say "Distributed by Buena Vista International, Inc."
- There is also a chyroned in copyright date that appears underneath the logo.
- The standalone Buena Vista Television logo has the spark going from left to right.
- There is an extremely rare international variant with a bolder text and "Buena Vista Television" replaced by "Buena Vista Productions". The "Productions" text fades in a few seconds after the logo starts.
- Another variant of the "Buena Vista Productions" variant has the castle and text zoom out to about halfway up the screen, with additional copyright text appearing below. Two different copyright texts were used. This copyright text was used on the UK version of Saturday Disney:
for
GMTV
© Buena Vista Productions Ltd/GMTV Ltd
1994
While this copyright text was used on the UK TV show Wake Up in the Wild Room:
For GM TV
©1997 Buena Vista Productions/GM TV
FX/SFX: The "spark" flying, the text fades. In other cases, it's completely still.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the Walt Disney Television logo theme from 1985 or the bells sounding like you move your hand rapidly on the keys of the piano, the closing theme of the show, or none.
Music/Sounds Variant(s): On 90s episodes of the Australian version of Saturday Disney, the closing theme plays along with the bells. There was also an announcement that said "Saturday Disney is produced in conjunction with Buena Vista Productions for the Seven Network."
Availability: It used to appear at the end of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? and last seen on Bill Nye the Science Guy on Univision, and was shown before every Disney movie shown on TV outside the US. This logo was found on DuckTales DVDs and is currently on The Golden Girls DVD sets. The non-animated version of this logo was found on Winnie the Pooh videos. The standalone version was seen on some episodes of The Challengers (most episodes had no BVTV logo; see below), and pre-1996 episodes of Siskel & Ebert.
Scare Factor: Same as the 1985 Walt Disney Television logo.
2nd Logo
(May 5, 1990-October 27, 1995)
Nicknames: "Abstract Castle II", "Black BG & Rainbow Castle", "Multicolored Kingdom II", "Disney Castle II", "Rainbow Disney Castle II"
Logo: It's only the same as the 1990 Walt Disney Television logo, except the text below fades to "Distributed by Buena Vista Television".
Variants:
- Network TV Variant: See 1st logo.
- There is a longer version of this logo. The BVTV text zooms out with a chyron trail from inside the castle and centers itself under the castle. The spark flies from left to right and the flags on top appear at the same time.
- There can also be a copyright date under the BVTV text. This could usually be seen on Bill Nye the Science Guy.
- Sometimes this logo is completely still.
- There is a variant where the Buena Vista Television text, with a chyron trail like the longer version, flies up from the bottom to the top of the screen, and centers itself in the middle (like the Telepictures "Rollercoaster" logo).
FX/SFX: Same as the 1990 Walt Disney Television logo. This was done by Flip Your Lid Animation.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the 1990 Walt Disney Television logo.
Music/Sounds: Bell music, but in other cases, it's silent or the finishing of the end title theme from any show plays over the logo. But on reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy from this era that were reran after the 4th logo debuted, the music from that logo was used.
Availability: Again, usually only seen on older prints. Check old tapes for shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy (the last episode to have this was "Animal Locomotion", broadcast on October 27, 1995). Was last seen on Unsolved Mysteries on Lifetime with the BVTV logo. The 1990 quiz series The Challengers didn't have this logo, however, opting instead for either no BVTV logo at all, or the previous logo (with the exception of the Invitational Tournament, which uses the "chyron trail" variant of this logo). The long version is extinct and was last seen on early 90s episodes of Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, as well as syndicated reruns of The Golden Girls.
Scare Factor: Same as the 1990 Walt Disney Television logo.
3rd Logo
(September 6, 1991-September 4, 1992)
Nickname: "Goofy Filmstrip"
Logo: It's only the same as the 1991 Walt Disney Television logo, except after few seconds it changes to "Distributed by Buena Vista Television".Buena Vista Television (1991)
FX/SFX: Same as the 1991 Walt Disney Television logo.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Extinct, originally seen on the 1991-1992 season of The Disney Afternoon.
Scare Factor: Same as the 1991 Walt Disney Television logo.
4th Logo
(October 20, 1995-August 31, 2001?)
Nicknames: "The Comets", "The Buena Vista Comets", "The Blades", "The Globestreaks", "The Burning Comets"
Logo: We start at the angle of a dark blue Earth globe on a black space background filled with stars (possibly the Milky Way) which can be seen within a borderless background boxed-in against a black background. Three comets can be seen streaking past the globe in an diagonal direction from the bottom left corner toward the upper right corner, and gradually zoom away into the black background. The comets fly past the globe, burning dark blade-cut imprints in the process throughout the entire box, as the following text:
B U E N A V I S T A
T E L E V I S I O N
is wiped in from left to right by way of a fancy gradual dissolve. The comet blade imprint is light-colored from inside the globe portion and dark-colored from outside the globe. As the comets fly past the globe, the space background fades from a black color to a gradient yellow-purple color that can be more visibly defined from the background, with a yellow dot that appears to be the sun appearing on the surface of the globe. The gradient color also appears within the "BUENA VISTA TELEVISION" text.
Trivia: This logo appeared most commonly from 1995 to 1997, when the more common 5th logo (below) debuted, although Live with Regis & Kathie Lee/Kelly continued to use the original version in subsequent seasons.
Variant: Like the last logo, it would sometimes have copyright info underneath.
FX/SFX: Zooming from the earth, the comets "streaking," the light effects, the trailing colors of the comet blade-cut are light on the side of the dark globe and dark outside of the remaining portion outside of the globe. This was done by Pittard Sullivan.
Music/Sounds: A 7-note horn fanfare, which sounds almost like a "space-age" remix of fanfares that were used to close out old Mickey Mouse cartoons. On this logo, it was usually played at warp-speed. It also sometimes used the closing theme of the show.
Music/Sound Variant:
- On the season 4 Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Volcanoes", Bill screams into the logo while a explosion sound is heard with the logo's standard music.
- Some episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy play the theme for the long version on the standard logo and the other half in the BVTV international logo.
Availability: Extremely rare. Was found on a DVD print of Bill Nye the Science Guy. On broadcast TV, it was last seen in all its glory mostly until 2008 on Univision reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy, preceding the previous BVTV International castle logo. It was also on Live with Regis (and Kathie Lee/Kelly) episodes of this era. A version using the closing music appears on international prints of most S3 episodes of Timon & Pumbaa, cross-fading to the Buena Vista International logo. It first appeared on Season 8 of Unsolved Mysteries, which premiered on October 20, 1995, one week before the 2nd logo ended.
Scare Factor: Low. The combination of the autonomy of this Buena Vista logo (as opposed to previous logos, which clearly identified it with Disney) along with the dark tone and the burning streaks may put off a few viewers. The warp-speed fanfare may also startle some people used to the normal fanfare from the later logos.
5th Logo
(September 13, 1997-June 20, 2005)
Nicknames: "The Comets II", "The Buena Vista Comets II"
Logo: Zooming back from a closer overhead view purple Earth globe, three comets cross each others' paths, one by one, as they circle the globe and then appear from underneath streaking past the globe diagonally in unison from the bottom left to the upper right direction and gradually zoom away. A rectangular box fades in and creates an enclosure around the globe and space background with the surrounding area fading to black. The comets fly past the globe and while it trails off, they leave a frozen motion mark behind just barely past the border of the globe and in the center of the logo (the middle comet is the shortest, the top comet is longer, and the bottom comet is the furthest out) as the following text:
B U E N A V I S T A
T E L E V I S I O N
is faded in from left to right by way of a fancy gradual dissolve.
Variants:
- The short version of this rendition follows the same exact formula as the previous rendition, only now with the frozen comets intact.
- Reprints of Witt/Thomas/Harris-Touchstone shows, such as Lifetime's airings of The Golden Girls, had this logo with a "Touchstone Pictures and Television" copyright stamp, plastering the original Touchstone TV logo with copyright stamp. In later years, after Lifetime began using generic split-screen credits on shows, the logo's regular music would be heard instead of the show's end theme,albeit with the logo theme slightly off-sync.
- Some prints of this logo show a (c) year at the bottom, most notably on shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy. On the long version of this logo, the (c) year faded in midway through the duration.
- On 101 Dalmatians: The Series and Hercules: The Animated Series (both programs mentioned below) the logo fades to the Buena Vista International logo. Believe it or not, they didn't even use the Walt Disney Television logo for either program!
- On Bill Nye the Science Guy, one half of the short music plays through the standard logo, the other half plays over the BVTV International logo. On a couple of episodes, this occurred with the long version of the music.
FX/SFX: Zooming from the earth, the comets "streaking," the light effects, the fades.
Music/Sounds: Same as above, but this time never at warp-speed. There is also a long version of this logo that has some chimes before the horns come in. In other cases, the short version has the last note incomplete. A medium-length version also appears to exist, which takes the first note of the long version then goes straight to the fourth note. Also, it sometimes just used the closing theme of the show.
Availability: Common. It's still preserved on Disney, ABC and Touchstone Television shows, such as America's Funniest Home Videos on WGN, ABC Family, Tru TV, TBS and syndication. It also can be found on the two Winnie the Pooh Friendship Videos Three Cheers for Eeyore and Rabbit and Imagine That, Christopher Robin. The logo was also seen on episodes of Digimon Frontier when it was on UPN and Jetix and in Canada on YTV years ago. The "Touchstone Pictures and Television" variant surprisingly plasters the 2nd logo on a DVD of the Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Animal Locomotion".
Scare Factor: Low, especially for the long version, which may be off-putting to some for its dramatic build-up.
6th Logo
(June 21, 2005-September 2, 2007)
Nicknames: "The Comets III", "The Buena Vista Comets III", "2000s Comets"
Logo: The same concept as before, except that the globe is now a bluish-green on a spiffier version of the Milky Way, and we start from a different position than last time. On a black space background, we see three comets. We pan up to the Earth and pan to its upper right, where the comets fly to the back. Three comets streak from the left and freeze, and the screen turns white with the logo of the comets and globe in space in a box at the top, and the "BUENA VISTA TELEVISION" text, in gray, fades in and zooms out to take its place under the logo.
Variants:
- A more common short version starts with the comets streaking past first appeared in 2005, while the longer variant appeared in 2006.
- There is a rare variation that is longer than the short version, yet shorter than the extended version, where the logo starts when the comets pass the Earth instead of circling around it.
- There is an extremely rare variation where the background is light blue, the comets are still, and the company is known as "Buena Vista Productions".
FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo.
Music/Sounds: A re-orchestrated version of the fanfare in the 1997 logo. Again, there were long, short and medium-length versions.
Music/Sounds Variant: On The Tony Danza Show, it used the 1997 logo theme.
Availability: Uncommon, as it was only used for 3 years. This logo first appeared on Moonlighting in 2005 when Nick @ Nite celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2005. Appeared on episodes of Buena Vista-produced/distributed shows such as Live with Regis and Kelly, The Tony Danza Show, and the syndicated version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire from 2005 to 2007. It also appears on reruns of other shows including The Golden Palace. The long version appears on some syndicated reruns of Scrubs.
Scare Factor: None. It's a nice logo.