20th Century Studios Home Entertainment/Summary

Background: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment was the home entertainment division of 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures (now 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures), a division of The Walt Disney Company. It was initially formed as "Magnetic Video Corporation" in 1968 by Andre Blay and based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, was the first company to release theatrical motion pictures to home video for consumers in 1976, making special deals with United Artists Corporation, Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation, ITC Entertainment Group, ABC Pictures Corporation, Viacom (later "CBS Corporation", now "ViacomCBS"), RBC Films (then an exclusive licensee of several of Charles Chaplin's films), New Line Cinema, Brut Productions, Bill Burrud Productions, American Film Theatre, and 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation (now 20th Century Studios). In 1979, Fox purchased Magnetic Video from Blay, reincorporating it as "20th Century-Fox Video" in 1981. In Australia, it was one of the Magnificent Seven home video distributors. In 1982, Fox entered into a joint venture with CBS to form "CBS/Fox Video", also launching two sub-labels; "Key Video" (later reactivated as "Key DVD" by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment), and "Playhouse Video", which both became inactive in 1991. CBS/Fox Video was renamed "Fox Video" the same year, alternating with the CBS/Fox name until 1998, when Fox Entertainment Group acquired CBS's interest in CBS/Fox and renamed it to "20th Century Fox Home Entertainment" in 1995, alternating with the Fox Video name until 1998. After The Walt Disney Company's purchase of Fox in 2019, the name would be retired on-screen in 2020, with the rename to 20th Century Studios and future home media releases would use the shortened version of the movie logo starting with the video release of The Call of the Wild, while the 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment name is still used for copyright holding purposes.

Magnetic Video Corporation

1st Logo (North America Only) (November 1977-September 1982)

Magnetic Video Corporation Logo History (1977-1982)

Nickname: "Mirrored M-Circle"

Logo: Two semicircles with lines protruding down their midsections, the top a very-light grey shade and the bottom a beige color, are drawn into view, resembling "M"s. Then a bunch of circle M's appear in back of it, one gray and the other green, sort of like a continuous mirrored effect or video feedback. The text "MAGNETIC VIDEO CORPORATION" in a yellow computer-generated font begins to scroll upward while repeats appear under it, and like the M, have copies appearing behind the logo. All the copies behind it also appear to have a blue filter layered over them.

Trivia:

• Some later prints of Magnetic Video releases (e.g. Von Ryan's Express, Notorious, Young Frankenstein, and High Anxiety) may have CBS/Fox Video labels, but those are usually in the original Magnetic Video packaging, with a video release year of 1980 on the slipcover.
• Occasionally, as seen on a 1985 pressing of Von Ryan's Express and a 1984 pressing of Take the Money and Run, an earlier Magnetic Video voiceover may be plastered with its post-1980 (i.e. "...special video presentation") counterpart on later prints; also, most films featuring Elvis Presley were reprinted starting in early 1979 with the old Viacom International voiceover plastered with the "...major motion picture on videocassette" variant thereof, which would make its first new-release appearance a few months later on The African Queen.
• When 20th Century-Fox purchased Magnetic Video, they aimed to recapture audiences that no longer go to the movies, had market strategies which supposed to help eliminate video pirates, and intended to launch new productions aimed specifically at the video market.
• The original 1977 pressings of the first 50 from Fox did not have an FBI warning; just the Magnetic Video logo, followed by the film itself.
• Several titles, such as Homebodies (1974), Jury of One (1974), Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), The Ski Bum (1971), Village of the Giants (1965), and Walk Into Hell (1956), were all at one point listed in the Magnetic Video catalog in 1979, but no evidence has come up of them ever being released in 1979, or any other year during Magnetic Video's history. It is doubtful that they ever were. All of these titles were distributed by Avco-Embassy Pictures Corporation, and at least some of them would eventually see a home video release during the 1980's, particularly on Embassy's Home Entertainment division, including their Charter Entertainment label.

Variants:

• On black-and-white films, a B&W variant is used.
• Some releases have the logo partially play on a grey screen, before it quickly fades to black.

FX/SFX: The circle M being drawn in and the scrolling words repeating.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A mellow piece of music; not very easy to hear due to the studio spiel, but has a bossa-nova/mex influenced, easy listening melody, also known as elevator music (with five known lengths and four known tempos), accompanied by one of six male voiceovers (herein referred to as Voiceovers A, B, C, D, E, and F) indicating the studio:

• On most pre-1981 Fox releases, Voiceover A (a deep baritone announcer, presumably the late, great Leonard Nimoy per voice recognition) said "By special arrangement with 20th Century-Fox, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following major motion picture on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 108.7 BPM with 26 beats.
• On most early Viacom releases, as well as all their Terrytoon compilations, Voiceover B (an announcer with a more feeble, partially muffled voice than Voiceover A) said "By special arrangement with Viacom International, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following motion picture entertainment on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 113.3 BPM with 26 beats.
• On the films of Charles Chaplin, Voiceover C (an announcer with a bass voice deeper than Voiceover A) said "By special arrangement with the estate of Charles Chaplin, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following classic motion picture on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 28 beats. This version was in black-and-white, to fit with the films.
• On videocassettes of the Greatest Sports Legends series, Voiceover D (a more gravelly announcer) said "By special arrangement with Viacom International, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the Greatest Sports Legends on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 26 beats.
• On other early Betamax and VHS releases (including later prints of Viacom theatrical releases), Voiceover E (a more normal-sounding announcer, more or less likely Casey Kasem) said "By special arrangement with [Viacom International/Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation/Brut (pronounced "brute") Productions/ABC Video Enterprises], Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following major motion picture on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 111.4 BPM with 28 beats on most such releases and approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats on ABC releases. Strangely enough, the original video release of The Paper Chase (1973) uses the Avco Embassy Pictures variant (despite it being a Fox film alone at the time), most likely as a result of a video processing error.
• On Bill Burrud's wildlife documentaries, Voiceover E said "By special arrangement with Bill Burrud Productions, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following wildlife program on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 111.4 BPM with 28 beats.
• On Milestones of the Century and Men of Destiny, Voiceover F (an announcer who sounds similar to Voiceover E, only a bit deeper and more authoritative; presumably Bill St. James) said "By special arrangement with Pathé News, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following documentary on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 29 beats.
• On Magnetic's first ITC Entertainment releases, Voiceover E said "By special arrangement with ITC Entertainment, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following motion picture on videocassette." The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats.
• Starting in late 1980/early 1981, especially on early LaserDisc releases, Voiceover F said "By special arrangement with [20th Century-Fox/Viacom Enterprises/Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation/ITC Entertainment/ABC Video Enterprises/United Artists Corporation], Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following special video presentation". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats; LaserDiscs use an extended version of the music with 60 beats.
• Videocassette reprints of The African Queen and Blue Hawaii had Voiceover F's announcement worded as "By special arrangement with Viacom, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following special video presentation." The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats.
• On The Miracle of Lake Placid, Voiceover F's announcement is worded as "Magnetic Video, in cooperation with ABC Video Enterprises, is proud to offer the following feature on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats.
• On Jack Nicklaus: Sports Clinic, Voiceover D said "By special arrangement with Sports Concepts, Incorporated, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following special program on videocassette". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats.
• On some later sports-related video releases, Voiceover F said "Magnetic Video Sports is proud to offer the following special video presentation". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats; again, LaserDisc releases use an extension of the music with 60 beats.
• On Odyssey, Black Emmanuelle, Dot and the Kangaroo, and the Laserdisc release of SP/FX: The Empire Strikes Back, Voiceover F said "Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following special video presentation". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats.
• An additional Laserdisc-only voiceover was used on The Moon Is Blue, spoken by Voiceover F: "By special arrangement with Otto Preminger and Carlyle Productions, Magnetic Video Corporation is proud to offer the following special video presentation". The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 60 beats.
• Sometimes, there's no voiceover. This variant can be seen on the films of Otto Preminger, The Sensuous Nurse, Avco Embassy's Promise at Dawn, and the VHS of ITC's Autumn Sonata (the Laserdisc equivalent has the normal laserdisc ITC variant). The music's tempo is approximately 116.3 BPM with 30 beats.

Availability: Ultra rare. Magnetic Video's releases have been out of print since the mid-1980s. However, if you're lucky, you can find them at used video stores, pawn shops, flea markets, thrift stores and/or eBay listings.

• Titles with this logo include M*A*S*H, The Longest Day, Last Tango in Paris, Escape to Athena, The Magnificent Seven, The Muppet Movie, Kotch, Patton, Let It Be, All Quiet on the Western Front (1979 television version), The Making of Star Wars, The Cassandra Crossing, The Seduction of Mimi, Conversation Piece, All Screwed Up, Sympathy for the Devil, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, They Call Me Trinity, King Creole, Last Train from Gun Hill, Carnal Knowledge, Deadly Hero, The Graduate, the Greatest Sports Legends series, City Lights, The Great Dictator, The Gold Rush, A Woman of Paris, Dot and the Kangaroo, Mad Monster Party, A Touch of Class, The Jazz Singer, Casablanca, The Boston Strangler, Hello Dolly!, Alien, and At Long Last Love.
• The last tapes to use this logo were the earliest 20th Century-Fox Video releases, including Bedazzled, Caveman, Chu Chu and the Philly Flash, Dr. No, Eyewitness, A Fistful of Dollars, The Great Muppet Caper, History of the World Part I, Sergeant York and Stardust Memories. This logo continued to be used on laser videodiscs, mainly using old masters prepared around the previous November, until September 1982.
• In order to fit the whole feature on a single tape, this does not appear on their release of Monsieur Verdoux (a portion of the opening credits is also missing on the same release). This is also missing from a 1981 reprint of The Day the Earth Stood Still, which begins on the MPAA rating screen, and the 1978 tape of Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali: WBA Heavyweight Title Fight New Orleans--September 15, 1978, which begins with the program itself.
• Some later prints of releases with the Magnetic Video logo, such as Von Ryan's Express, Notorious, Young Frankenstein and High Anxiety, may have CBS/Fox Video labels, but those are usually in the original Magnetic Video packaging, with a video release year of 1980 on the slipcover.
• Occasionally, as seen on a 1985 pressing of Von Ryan's Express and a 1984 pressing of Take the Money and Run, an earlier Magnetic Video voiceover may be plastered with its post-1980 ("...special video presentation") counterpart on later prints; also, most films featuring Elvis Presley were reprinted starting in early 1979 with the old Viacom voiceover plastered with the "...major motion picture on videocassette" variant thereof, which would make its first new-release appearance a few months later on The African Queen.

Editor's Note: The logo holds a special place in history for being the first ever home video logo, which can be noted by its primitive animation. Still, the music is known to be very relaxing.

2nd Logo (International)
(1977-1980)

Nicknames: "The (Still) M-Circle", "(Still) Mirrored M-Circle"

Logo: On a buff background, we see the "Mirrored M" (in two shades of brown) from the American Magnetic Video logo behind the words "MAGNETIC VIDEO" in a white Microgramma Bold font, set in the center of the screen.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Very scarce. It might be spotted on eBay UK (or any country's website where PAL tapes are sold, like Australia and Germany). It was seen on the PAL releases of The Making of Star Wars and 100 Rifles, as well as the Australian Betamax of The Blue Max.

3rd Logo (Australia Only)
(1979?-1981)

Nickname: "Mirrored M-Circle III"

Logo: We see the Magnetic Video logo with white text below it reading "Magnetic Video (South Pacific)". All of this is on a green, kaleidoscopic, out of focus background (possibly live-action).

FX/SFX: Just the background moving in and out of focus.

Music/Sounds: The Cinemascope extension of the 20th Century Fox fanfare from 1954.

Availability: Ultra rare. Seen on a Betamax copy of The Young Lions and VHS copies of Butch and Sundance: The Early Years and The Eagle Has Landed.

4th Logo (UK Only)
(1980-1981)

Nickname: "Magnetic Text"

Logo: On a black background, we see the text "Magnetic Video" in red on the top of the screen. Below that, we see the copyright notice in yellow text. Suddenly, the screen changes on the same black background, and the text is changed to look something like this:

Magnetic Video A Twentieth Century-Fox Company

with "Magnetic Video" in red on the top and the byline "A Twentieth Century-Fox Company" below in white. The whole text is set in the middle of the screen. The text stays on the screen for a few seconds before it fades out.

FX/SFX: None. Just the text changing.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Tapes with this logo might turn up on eBay UK (or other sites) sometime. The Magnetic pre-cert release of Alien might have this.

20th Century-Fox Video

1st Logo (January 1982-January 1983; 1984)

20th Century Fox Video

Nicknames: "Searchlights", "Fox Structure", "Majestic Tower"

Logo: It's basically the 1953 20th Century-Fox logo with no video indicator whatsoever.

Variants:

• On The Missouri Breaks and the original rental-only version of A Fistful of Dollars, the 1981 20th Century-Fox logo is used instead.
• There also exists a black and white version of this logo, which has been spotted on The Apartment, Sergeant York, A Streetcar Named Desire, Arsenic and Old Lace, and The Public Enemy.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1953/1981 20th Century-Fox logo.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: The 1979 20th Century-Fox fanfare, accompanied by a male announcer (presumably Bill St. James), different from the Magnetic Video announcer, on non-Fox releases, indicating the studio:

• On United Artists releases, the voice-over said "The following United Artists feature is brought to you by 20th Century-Fox Video".
• On ABC, ITC, Avco Embassy, Viacom, and other non-Fox releases (including concert videos, Bruce Lee films, and The Amazing Spider-Man episodes), the voice-over said "The following feature is brought to you by 20th Century-Fox Video".
• On the double-feature release of The Making of Star Wars/SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back, the voice-over says "The following special presentation is brought to you by 20th Century-Fox Video."
• On UK tapes with this logo, a British announcer says "20th Century Fox Video presents."
• Sometimes, this would plaster the film's original Fox logo (or if no logo is shown at the start, be added to the start) on a few Fox titles such as the 1982 reissues of Silver Streak, The Omen, and The Turning Point. Here, there is no voiceover.

Availability: Ultra rare. It's actually harder to find than most Magnetic titles, but your best bet is non-Fox releases,

• The regular variant can be seen on The Howling, Scanners, On Golden Pond, Griffin and Phoenix, The Grissom Gang, Capricorn One, The Return of the Pink Panther, and Moses. The United Artists variant is seen on United Artists releases such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Goldfinger, La Cage Aux Folles II, the first two Rocky films, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, For Your Eyes Only (both the original 1982 release and the 1984 reissue), The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Return of a Man Called Horse, Thunderbirds Are Go!, and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, among others.
• Most releases are in over-sized drawer-like boxes, colloquially known as the "Fox Box" due to its association with the company.
• Strangely, most if not all Fox releases, such as Quest for Fire and a 1982 reissue of Silver Streak, do not have this logo, instead skipping straight to the standard 20th Century-Fox logo of the era or a custom variation there of created for the film.
• This was also seen rarely on re-prints of post-1981 Magnetic titles, such as The Boys from Brazil and Carrie. The very first releases in this incarnation, such as the Video Rental Library releases of Caveman, Dr. No and The Great Muppet Caper, tend to use the Magnetic logo instead. Later releases, such as Revenge of the Pink Panther (despite showing the print logo on the box and labels), use the first CBS/Fox Video logo. Conversely, its 1984 CBS/Fox reissue has the CBS/Fox labeling, but this logo is featured on the tape itself!
• In addition, sometimes the reverse is true -- the 1984 CBS/Fox Video release of The Pink Panther Strikes Again has the CBS/Fox labeling, but has the old 20th Century Fox Video logo on the tape itself! The logo remained in use on laserdiscs until January 1983.
• On the 2001 UK VHS release of The Blue Max, the "20th Century Fox Video presents" voice-over variation is surprisingly retained, appearing right after the 1995 international TCFHE logo.

Editor's Note: This is likely a placeholder logo, as CBS/Fox Video began releasing titles about a month after this logo was discontinued. Plus, there isn't a lot of effort here. It's just the movie logo with a voiceover.

2nd Logo (Australian Variant)
(1982)

Nickname: "Print Searchlights"

Logo: One by one, four squares zoom in by flipping. These have a white background with the print logo for 20th Century Fox in blue with the word "VIDEO" underneath. After the fourth square finishes moving into place, the logos are moved downwards by a cube effect and are replaced by a full screen version of the 20th Century Fox Video logo.

Variant: A still variant also exists.

FX/SFX: The four squares flipping and then the final cube effect.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: The PAL version of the original 1954 CinemaScope extension of the TCF fanfare. Sometimes during the second half of the fanfare, a male voice-over says: "The following feature is brought to you by 20th Century-Fox Video".

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variant: On Russian Roulette, the audio is pitched down, and finishes over the film's opening AVCO Embassy Pictures logo.

Availability: Ultra rare. This logo was only used in Australia. Some of the tapes that have this are High Anxiety on Betamax and Norma Rae on VHS. One tape that had the still variant was Star Wars. These videos are easy to spot as the cover sports a big blue or orange label on the top of the front and back of the video case.

Editor's Note: While this is a rather simple logo, you can at least give credit to TCFV's Australian division for making a proper logo.

3rd Logo (German Variant)
(1982)

Nicknames: "No Searchlights," "Boring Fox"

Logo: Just the following white text in Arial Black, set upon a black background:

Twentieth
Century-Fox
Video

zeigt

FX/SFX: A fade in and fade out.

Music/Sounds: The 1935 20th Century Fox fanfare.

Availability: This was found on a German Laserdisc of Alien, plastering the film's TCF logo.

Editor's Note: This has even less effort than the American and Australian logos, but at least the Fox searchlights were present on both of those logos.

CBS/Fox Video

1st Logo
(November 1982-July 1983; 1984)

Nickname: "Stacking Lines", "The Lines"

Logo: Over a white background, we see before us a dual set of violet lines stacking upward and downward. Then, six long objects pop in at the top and bottom of the segmented lines, revealing the words:

CBS
-----
FOX

then each letter of the word "VIDEO" pops in one by one below "FOX".

Variants:

• A still version appears on the original release of Sophie's Choice.
• A special animated version was used on PAL releases. On a blue gradient background, two segmented white curved squares and one segmented red square zoom in and out from the screen. The words "CBS FOX", letter by letter, zoom in to the left side of the screen as another segmented white parallelogram zooms in. As it curves, it fills the screen to white, and the segments of the CBS/Fox logo zoom out from the top and bottom of the screen, while the word "VIDEO" zooms out from the bottom.
• There is also an alternate variant for educational releases. On a blue-red gradient background, a light blue star flashes, and the text "A CBS/FOX VIDEO LEARNING EXPERIENCE" fades in. The words stay for several seconds, and then zoom away inward. While this happens, sets of white lines stack upon each other and form the CBS/Fox logo. A white flash below this forms the word "VIDEO". This variant is nicknamed "Inexperienced".
• There is a black and white variant. Tapes that have this include The Diary of Anne Frank, Modern Times, The Maltese Falcon, and Captain Blood.
• There is an Australian variant where the logo appears in the corner and Australian television and radio announcer Pete Smith introduces the film. Smith says, "Hello there, congratulations on your choice of a great CBS/Fox film. Before settling back, here are scenes from two films available from the vast CBS/Fox Video library."

FX/SFX: The lines stacking up and down. On the Learning Experience variant, one of the segments disappears while the logo is forming and suddenly reappears when the logo is complete.

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:

• On PAL releases, a high-pitched variant of the original 1954 CinemaScope extension of the TCF fanfare was used.
• On the "Learning Experience" variant, a female voice-over says: "This has been a CBS/FOX Video Learning Experience".

Availability: Extremely rare.

• It's been spotted on the original VHS releases of Cabaret, Knife in the Water (The Young Lover), Grand Illusion, Still of the Night, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Thunderbird 6, and the M*A*S*H series finale, as well as the original Laserdiscs of For a Few Dollars More and Love and Death.
• The first tape to feature this is The End, which was printed with 20th Century-Fox Video labels. Other tapes that have it include Rocky III, Barbarosa, and reissues of The Boys in the Band, The Billion Dollar Hobo, and Cruising, among others.
• The "Learning Experience" variant can be found on The CBS/Fox Guide to... tapes, which have been out of print for decades, such as The CBS/Fox Guide to Home Videography and The CBS/Fox Guide to Complete Dog Care among others.
• The PAL variant was seen on PAL releases from the era, such as Chariots of Fire.
• It also appears on reissues of Modern Times and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that are packaged in Magnetic Video boxes (and sometimes even have Magnetic labels).
• The Pete Smith variant was presumably seen on select Australian releases from this era by the company.
• One of the last releases to use this logo was a 1983 reissue of Rude Boy. Surprisingly, this logo was also seen on a 1998 reprint of The Pirate Movie.

Editor's Note: Those familiar with the later CBS/Fox logos might not expect this, but it's nothing that's too out of place. The PAL variant definitely has a lot more effort put into it, though.

2nd Logo
(1982)

Logo: Nearly the same as the German version of the 20th Century-Fox Video logo, except the text instead reads:

CBS/FOX
Video

presents

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. This was discovered on the UK Laserdisc of Star Wars.

Editor's Note: This is the most boring of all CBS/Fox logos.

3rd Logo (July 1983-November 13, 1984 [Most countries]; Mid-1980s [UK], September 26, 1991 [US & Canada])

Nicknames: "The Cutting Lines", "The Lines II", "The Grids"

Logo: On a blue background, two grids are moving from the top and bottom of the screen converging in the center of the screen. "CBS" comes from the top at an angle, with "FOX" coming from the bottom at an angle. The background has an orange flash, in which "CBS" and "FOX" are cut in a segmented line font as it moves toward the flash, and "CBS" and "FOX" right themselves in the center of the screen. The letters of the word "VIDEO" fly in from the bottom center of the screen one at a time. Then the trademark symbol fades in on the lower-right corner of the logo.

Variants:

• At the end of some UK promos, a still version appears.
• There is a black and white variant. This can be seen on the 1983 video releases of The Pride of the Yankees and Judgment at Nuremberg.

FX/SFX: The converging of the two grids and the logo, the Scanimate orange flash (a la the WGBH logo), and the flying of the "VIDEO" letters.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant 25-note horn march fanfare, sampled from the Bruton Music library track "National Trust" composed by Keith Mansfield.

Music/Sounds Trivia: When Bruton reissued the track on CD, they removed the prologue section from which the CBS/Fox music came. Perhaps it was because it became so associated with the CBS/Fox logo?

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variant: At the end of some Australian PAL tapes, a voiceover says "Don't forget to rewind this video tape before returning it to your video library." over the logo.

Availability: Rare. Most videos that may have used this logo were issued in the same oversized boxes that were used by 20th Century-Fox Video.

• Its first appearances are on the July 1983 Betamax/VHS releases of You Only Live Twice, The Black Stallion Returns, and A Boy Named Charlie Brown (the 1984 and 1991 FoxVideo reissues of which retain this, and which surprisingly retained this as late as 1996 on Stereo VHS prints).
• Other videos that feature this logo include the 1983 re-release of the aforementioned Star Wars, Romancing the Stone, Eating Raoul, Romantic Comedy, Yentl, Porky's II: The Next Day, WarGames, Scrooge, Heart Like a Wheel, Table for Five, Dot and the Bunny, Alphabet City, Oh! Heavenly Dog and Max Dugan Returns.
• It also appears on reissues of Inside Moves, All About Eve, Young Frankenstein, and The Charlie Daniels Band: The Saratoga Concert, in a similar fashion to what was described in the first logo. (The 1983 reissue of Rollerball, however, has both this and the 20th Century-Fox Video logos!) Tapes of Samuel Goldwyn material, such as Guys and Dolls and Sayonara, also have this at the end of the tape.
• One of the last releases to use this logo was the 1984 VHS/Betamax/Laserdisc release of The Empire Strikes Back, though this continued to be used on UK rental tapes until 1987, such as Enemy Mine and Subway.
• The "THE HIT LIST" variant can be seen on a promo/trailer tape from the era.

Editor's Note: Again, those familiar with the next logo might not be expecting the simpler animation. However, they certainly will recognize the iconic music.

4th Logo
(December 1984-September 28, 1999)

CBS Fox Video (1984) Company Logo (VHS Capture)

Nicknames: "Stairways", "Bleachers", "CGI CBS/Fox", "The Triumphant CGI Moving Blue Lines on Dark Granite", "CGI Lines", "The Lines III"

Logo: In a blue, boxed area, we see a mirrored, twin stair-like texture that shines a lot. The "stairs" rotate counter-clockwise and turn out to be the following text in blue with a segmented line between the two words on a black marble background:

CBS
-----
FOX

then the word "VIDEO" shines in below "FOX", and the whole logo shines with pride.

Trivia:

• This logo is referenced in a scene in the music video for the song "DVNO" by Justice. Said scene references both this logo and the Universal Pictures logo at the same time.
• This logo was designed and animated by Compugraph Designs in New York, NY.
• The machines employed in this logo's creation were a Bosch FGS-4000 CGI machine, Quantel DPB-7001 paint system, and an Abekas A-60 digital compositor.
• The staff of Compugraph Designs included Ed Kramer, Mike Saz, Janet Scabrini, Nat Zimmerman, and Bill Mahler.

Variants: There are a few variations of this logo:

• A black-and-white variation appears on reissues of 1930s-60s films. This variant makes a surprise appearance on the 2000 Image Entertainment DVD of City Lights, which used the video master made for the 1980s Laserdisc issue.
• On widescreen releases, the logo would zoom out to a screen with two rectangles, one on the left and one on the right, on an almond-staged orange/purple background, and the two rectangles on the sides would expand, and "SPECIAL WIDESCREEN EDITION" is below the screen on the stage.
  • A black-and-white version of this can be found on the 1989 Laserdisc of The Longest Day.
• There may be either the words "STEREO", "STEREO SURROUND", the Dolby Surround logo, the Ultra Stereo logo or the Chace Surround Stereo logo appearing in the bottom left corner.
• Around the time from just before CBS/Fox started printing their tapes at Rank Video Services America, during the warning screen, which appeared at the beginning of such tapes at that time, a still version of this logo appears a couple of times, staying on the screen for about five seconds before cutting back to the warning. This has been spotted on late 1988-early 1990 prints of Licence to Kill, Iron Eagle, Die Hard, Magic Memories on Ice, The Mighty Quinn, The January Man, The Abyss, Commando, In Like Flint, Broadcast News, Carousel, and Billy Joel: The Video Album, Vol. 1.
• On Memories of Me, Working Trash, and Downtown, a shortened version is used where we start at the logo shining. This also appears on UK tapes after the previews, such as Working Girl.
• Another near-still version that starts at the last part of the logo exists, and was used on CBS-FOX-distributed Media Home Entertainment releases.
• On the demo VHS of The Living Daylights, the logo fades out early.
• The standard version (matted to widescreen) makes a strange appearance on the 2000 Image Entertainment DVD of The Twelve Chairs.
• An entirely still version was seen on the 1984 VHS of The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly.
• On a 1990 reprint of Say Anything, the logo fades in midway through the letters turning and fades out as "VIDEO" shines.
• On the 1988 demo VHS of Bad Dreams, the fade-out is slower than usual.
• On the 1990 VHS of CBS: A Christmas Present, after the logo ends, it crossfades to the start of the program.

FX/SFX: "CBS-FOX" rotating, "VIDEO" fading. This is pretty advanced stuff for the 1980s, and it still holds up moderately well today--which probably explains its staggering 16-year lifespan.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo, but the mixing is slightly different and extra string sounds are added to accompany it.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:

• On the widescreen variant, a big "WHOOSH" sound is heard at the beginning if listening under stereo, the whoosh pans from right to left, then another whoosh when the side rectangles expand, then a thunderclap at the end also if listening under stereo, the thunderclap pans from the left side to the right.
• On the 1990 VHS of The Sound of Music, as well as the short and still versions, this logo is silent.
• At the end of most PAL tapes in Australia (Bachelor Party is an exception), there is a variant with a voice-over from Channel Seven's Don Rainsford, who says "Please rewind this cassette before returning it to your video library" at the end.
• Another variant used Chelsea Brown saying "Could you please rewind your cassette before returning it to your video library?". Of the two voiceovers, the Brown variant is harder to find.
  • At the start of these tapes, after the logo finishes, a male announcer says "CBS/Fox Video is delighted to introduce Chelsea Brown!"
• On the demo VHS of The Living Daylights, a remix of the James Bond theme plays.
• On ABC Sports Home Video Library releases, during this logo's second appearance on the tape, the ABC Sports theme plays while a male announcer says "CBS/Fox Video Sports."

Availability: Very common. This should be easy to find on VHS tapes available in second-hand shops, charity shops and on Amazon and eBay.

• The first known tapes to use this are Snoopy, Come Home and the 1984 re-releases of Moonraker and the first three Omen films.
• Can also be seen on early-to-mid 1991 Media Home Entertainment releases (such as The Applegates and Sonny Boy), BBC Video releases, and the 1997 VHS of Secrets and Lies.
• The widescreen version can be found on the 1990 VHS and Laserdisc of Henry V (the latter featuring the Dolby Surround sub-variant), the first prints of the widescreen editions of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (preceded on both tapes by the widescreen version of the 1991 Fox Video logo; the Laserdiscs of the entire Star Wars trilogy, on the other hand, only have this logo in its Dolby Surround sub-variant), and all the DVDs from Bruce Lee's "Master Collection" box set, except Bruce Lee: The Legend. The sub-variant with the "STEREO SURROUND" text appears on the 1989 Laserdiscs of The Blue Max, The Towering Inferno, and Can-Can.
• The Dolby Surround variant can be found on the first two Die Hard movies, The Abyss, The War of the Roses, Downtown, Vital Signs, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Young Guns II, Miller's Crossing, Pacific Heights, Marked for Death, Predator 2, and Edward Scissorhands, as well as the Media release of Wild at Heart and a 1989 reissue of Commando.
• The Chace Surround Stereo variant is extremely rare and can be found on the 1990 VHS releases of State Fair, Planet of the Apes, and M*A*S*H.
• The Ultra Stereo version is rare and can be found on the VHS releases of Mindgames, Survival Quest, and Frankenstein Unbound.
• The last releases to use this were FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue, Our Friend Martin, Walking with Dinosaurs, Madame Bovary, Good Neighbors: Volume 4, and the DVD release Wallace and Gromit: The First Three Adventures.
• The "STEREO" text version can be seen on the 1989-90 VHS releases of Last Rites, The 1989 U.S. Open Video, NBA Superstars, and The Enemy Below, a 1990 reprint of Silver Streak, the 1995 Hong Kong Laserdisc of Return of the Jedi (plastering the 1981 20th Century Fox logo), and a 1998 Canadian VHS of The Bravados (following the TCFHE logo).
• This is retained on the 1994 UK VHS releases of the Star Wars trilogy, but not the 1992 or 1995 US VHS trilogies, despite showing the logo on the covers and labels of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. However, their Laserdisc counterparts actually use this logo.
• A rare post-1991 solo appearance happens on the 1992 VHS of Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child, where it's not even accompanied by the BBC Video logo.
• Strangely, this does not appear on the 1998 VHS of Rusty: The Great Rescue, despite the print logo appearing on the packaging and tape labels.
• Strangely, it appears on a Canadian Malofilm Video release of Ambition, while the U.S. Media/Fox VHS used the first Fox Video logo instead.

Editor's Note: This is considered one of the most memorable logos ever made, especially thanks to the epic music.

5th Logo (Argentina Version)
(1986-88)

Logo: On a black background, we see red and blue colored circles zooming out and swirl around. The CBS/Fox logo animation, similar to the 1st logo wipes in piece by piece. The background fades to black, and the CBS/Fox Video logo slides in from the right and settles to the center. The background then turns red and blue lines swirl and move around the trail in the CBS/Fox Video logo. As it continues, the CBS/FOX Video logo zooms away, and the blue trail turns into a swirl and disappears.

FX/SFX: The circles moving, the CBS/FOX logo forming, the swirl zooming.

Music/Sounds: The Star Wars fanfare, with beeping sounds when the CBS/Fox logo appears.

Availability: Seen on earlier CBS/FOX Video Argentinian releases distributed by Legal Video, such as Romancing the Stone, Commando and Star Wars.

6th Logo (Argentina Version)
(1988-89)

Logo: On a black space background with a moon on the upper-left of the screen and a planet below that (a widescreen shot of the opening in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope after the title crawl, stretched to fit a 4:3 screen), two hands are clasped together. They move away from the top and bottom respectively, revealing a super-imposed CBS FOX VIDEO logo with an explosion inside it. Then clips from various movies (such as Star Wars) play inside the logo. Then, after a few seconds, "GATIVIDEO S.A." (in its company font) appears below, then that itself disappears after a few moments.

FX/SFX: The hands (live action), and the clips playing inside the logo.

Music/Sounds: A disco theme ("Hot Wheels" by Walter Murphy, from the Valentino music library).

Availability: Seen on VHS tapes in Argentina distributed by Gativideo, such as Predator.

7th logo
(1998)

Nicknames: "The Boring Lines", "The Lines IV"

Logo: On a black background, we see white version of the CBS/Fox Video logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Ultra rare. Its only known appearance is on an Australian VHS release of FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue.

CBS/Fox Video All Time Greats

(1989?-Early 1990s?)

Logo:

• Opening: The CBS/Fox Video logo in silver is inside of a black box with a white outline zooms up and has three black lines (each one getting larger further down) come up with it. "ALL TIME GREATS" then zooms and it has a larger line with an upside down triangle on it. This all happens against a blue background.
• Closing: The same as the opening version, only "YOURS TO KEEP FOREVER" appears under it.

Variants:

• An alternate version was found on the UK sell-through of Cocoon: The Return, which featured a metallic logo and a starry night background which turns dark red on the bottom.
• On early 1990s tapes from Spain, such as The Desert Rats and the original Star Wars trilogy, the FoxVideo logo replaces the CBS/Fox one, "YOURS TO KEEP FOREVER" isn't shown, "ALL TIME GREATS" is replaced with "GRANDES DEL CINE" in a different font, and the FoxVideo logo shines.

FX/SFX: The box, lines and text sliding up.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over:

• The CBS/Fox Video theme from the previous logos.
• On the closing version, a male British announcer says, "All Time Greats from CBS/Fox Video, favorite films to keep and enjoy, forever."

Availability: Rare. The UK versions can be seen on promos for films released under this label on other All Time Greats releases. The Grandes del Cine logo only appears at the start of Spanish tapes from the era.

Fox Video

1st Logo
(June 27, 1991-May 26, 1993, 1991-1995 (Australia))

Nicknames: "The Shining", "The CGI Shining Searchlights", "Gold Tower", "Fox Structure", "Golden Fox Structure", "Searchlights"

Logo: A still shot of the famous 20th Century Fox structure, from a slightly different angle, gold color against a simple blue background. The wording on the structure now says "FOX VIDEO", with an extra gap where "FOX" would be in the movie logo. The logo "shimmers" as bars of light move through a la the Touchstone logo.

Variants:

• There is a letterboxed "Scope" version on widescreen releases. The logo was the same, but was matted (or cropped) to widescreen.
• A black and white variant exists. This can be seen on some black and white films released on home video, such as the 1991-92 VHS releases of Miracle on 34th Street, Sink the Bismarck!, The Desert Fox, Notorious, and My Darling Clementine. The B&W version in widescreen can also be seen on the Laserdisc version of Bismarck!.
  • On the 1991 VHS of A Yank in the R.A.F., the logo's colors are retimed to brown and teal. This might be due to a processing mistake.
• On some Media Home Entertainment releases, such as Scanners 2: The New Order, the words "DISTRIBUTED BY" appear above the logo. In this case, no announcer spiel was used.
• On the demo VHS of Alien 3, after a preview for The Beverly Hillbillies tapes, a darker-tinted version appears, cutting in from black (the standard logo appears at the start of the tape).
• For the 1993 UK rental VHS of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the animation was slowed down, to fit the full extended TCF fanfare mentioned below.
• For the 1991 Australian "Uncut Version" VHS of Marked for Death, the logo animates at normal speed, but to again fit the extended TCF fanfare mentioned below, a still frame of the final product is used for the remainder of the logo's runtime.
• A special version was seen on UK widescreen VHS releases. The logo plays as normal, then it zooms out towards the middle of the screen and turns 3-D and it expands with movie scenes appearing behind the background (all resembling the letterbox format). The word "WIDESCREEN" (arched upwards and downwards with blue shadow effects underneath) pan past the screen vertically, then turns horizontal and rests in front of the Fox Video logo.
• On the Fox Video Sentimental promo, which can be found on the 1992 demo VHS of My Cousin Vinny, the logo is still and zoomed out on a black background with the text "Available from Fox Video" that's shown on the bottom.

FX/SFX: The "shimmer."

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds/Voiceover Variants:

• The 1979 TCF fanfare can be heard on PAL and French SÉCAM releases, as well as a few NTSC releases, such as the widescreen Laserdisc of Die Hard and the rental version of Point Break.
• The UK rental VHS of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York uses the extended TCF fanfare.
  • The Australian "Uncut Version" VHS of Marked for Death also uses the extended fanfare, but without the opening drumrolls.
• The UK Widescreen version has an abridged version of the extended TCF theme that starts when the logo zooms out and an energetic whoosh sound when the logo expands.
• On some tapes, only the drums from the opening of the fanfare are heard.
• On Media Home Entertainment releases, the announcer for the Media and Fox Video logos says "Distributed by Fox Video."
• There was a closing variant seen on some Australian PAL tapes (mainly rental tapes) which had the same voice-over from the CBS/Fox PAL closing variant, sometimes with the 1979 TCF fanfare preceding it.

Availability: Rare. It's seen on all Fox videos from that period. The best way to find this is to look for a Fox Video print logo that is a simple 2D drawing with no color. Again, this will be easy to find in second-hand video shops, charity shops and on eBay.

• This logo first appeared on the original release of John Irvin's Robin Hood, and was seen on such releases as Sleeping with the Enemy, Home Alone, Class Action, Only the Lonely, Point Break, Hot Shots!, For the Boys, White Men Can't Jump, FernGully: The Last Rainforest, My Cousin Vinny, Alien 3, The Last of the Mohicans, The Simpsons Christmas Special, and A Garfield Thanksgiving, as well as the UK VHS of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.
• The scope version appears on the special letterbox collector's edition of the Star Wars trilogy.
• It can also be found on BBC Video tapes from 1991-93, but those aren't as easy to find.
• It also makes surprise appearances on a 1998 UK rental reprint of the original 1991 release of Edward Scissorhands, 2001 VHS reprints of Demetrius and the Gladiators and The Five Heartbeats, and the 2000 VHS and 2003 DVD of Simon and Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park, which use the 1991 video master made for the Laserdisc and VHS reissues.
• It appears at both ends of the previews on the 1991 demo VHS of Dying Young as well.
• Also seen on tapes from Media Home Entertainment released from mid-to-late 1991 until 1993, such as Paris Trout, Nails, and Prospero's Books.
• Among the last tapes to use this were the original video release of Love Potion #9 and the 1993 Studio Classics VHS of A Letter to Three Wives.
• The Widescreen version is seen on the UK Special Edition VHS of The Abyss (which also uses the next logo).
• It strangely appeared on some early '90s reprints of earlier CBS/Fox titles with CBS/Fox packaging and labels, including My Bodyguard and Short Circuit.
• This was seen on the demo VHS and Laserdisc versions of Used People, Hoffa, and Toys, while the retail VHS versions instead contained the next logo.
• The black and white version surprisingly appears on a 2004 VHS reissue of The Desert Rats.

2nd Logo
(May 26, 1993-January 17, 1996)

Nicknames: "Rotating Tower", "The Ugly Tower", "Fox Structure II", "Ugly Fox Structure", "CGI Searchlights", "Searchlights II"

Logo: On a purple background, we see a Fox structure, from an extreme upper-left angle. We move down and pan around the structure (and a light shines through it as we do that), saying "FOX VIDEO" like in the 1st logo, before settling into the familiar angle we usually see Fox logos from.

Variants:

• An extremely rare variant exists where the Fox Video logo is already formed.
• On a few widescreen releases, such as the 1994 letterbox Laserdisc of The Omen, the logo is matted (or cropped) to 1:85.1 widescreen.
• There is a black and white variant. This can be found on the 1993 VHS releases of Young Frankenstein and The Three Faces of Eve.
• On some international releases, the logo fades in a few seconds into the animation, and also fades out earlier than usual.
• On the 1995 Selections VHS reissue of Vital Signs, the logo fades in at the same point as on the international variant, but fades out at the usual point.
• On the 1994 demo VHS of The Wedding Banquet, after it forms, the logo cuts to the film's trailer.

FX/SFX: The computer animation, which is a variation of the 20th Century Fox animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• Occasionally, the 1979 TCF fanfare was used, mainly on PAL releases including the UK rental releases of Used People, Jack the Bear, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and The Vanishing.
• On the international variant, a deep synth score is heard.
• On Media Home Entertainment releases, the announcer for the Media and Fox Video logos says "Distributed by Fox Video".
• On the 1994 VHS of Ghost in the Machine, a upbeat pop tune was heard.
• On the 1995 UK rental VHS of Alien Nation: Dark Horizon, the opening drumbeats from the TCF fanfare are heard.

Availability: Uncommon. It first appeared on the retail VHS versions of Used People, Toys, and Hoffa, with the same 2D print logo.

• This can be seen on all 1993-95 Fox Video releases such as My Neighbor Totoro (although later versions have the Walt Disney Home Entertainment logo or the 1995 domestic TCFHE logo), Doctor Dolittle, Frozen Assets, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Once Upon a Forest, The Sandlot (including a 2000 reissue, in print as late as 2004), Mrs. Doubtfire, The Chase, True Lies, Speed, Baby's Day Out, The Pagemaster, Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog, The Scout, Nell, all 1995 20th Century Fox Selections VHS releases such as Big, Pacific Heights, Shining Through and Only the Lonely, and some BBC Video releases from that era, including Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers and Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out. Tapes from 1994-95 have it after the previews rather than before them.
• It was also seen on some of Media Home Entertainment's final releases from 1993, including Scam and Taking the Heat.
• This also appears on the Star Wars Trilogy: The Definitive Collection Laserdisc box set from 1993.
• The last tapes to use this were Miracle on 34th Street (1994) and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.
• Strangely, this logo doesn't appear on the 1995 Star Wars trilogy VHS box set, despite showing the 1994 full color print logo on the cover. However, on its Laserdisc counterpart, Star Wars: A New Hope actually uses this, while The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi use the 1984 CBS/Fox Video logo instead.
• The international variant can be seen on the Hong Kong Laserdisc of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi and the French VHS of Highlander III: The Sorcerer.
• This was retained on a 1997 reprint of Nell (coming after the 1995 TCFHE logo), a 2000 reissue of Desk Set, a 2000 Mexican VHS of The Abyss, and a 2002 reissue of Stowaway.
• It also appears at the end of the 1993 Columbia House VHS M*A*S*H: The Collector's Edition - Spoils of War, after the Columbia House contact screen.
• On the 1995 VHS of To Play a King, this appears in-between the 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and CBS/Fox Video logos.

Editor's Note: This is considered by many to be an ugly logo, with its weird, dull colors and weird structuring.

3rd Logo
(1994-95)

Nicknames: "Print Logo", "Fox Structure III", "Print Fox Structure", "Searchlights III"

Logo: It's basically the full color Fox Video print logo of the time, which is the golden structure 20th Century Fox logo from 1953 with "FOX VIDEO" replacing the text. It begins by taking up the whole screen, but zooms out until it is in a box in the center of the screen.

Variant: On the Rodgers & Hammerstein Golden Anniversary Collection trailer, the words "from Fox Video" are seen below the logo.

FX/SFX: The zooming out of the logo.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the trailer. On the Rodgers & Hammerstein Golden Anniversary Collection trailer, it's silent.

Availability: Rare. It's seen on the trailer for the Shirley Temple Collection VHS box set, which can be found on the VHS releases of Mrs. Doubtfire, The Little Princess, The Blue Bird, and Miracle on 34th Street (1994). It was also seen at the end of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Golden Anniversary Collection trailer, which can be found on the 1994 VHS of The Sound of Music. This logo can also be seen on posters and VHS covers of 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures films.

4th Logo 
(December 19, 1995-March 1998)

Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights II", "Fox Structure IV", "Panning Structure", "The Searchlights IV", "Ultra-Majestic Tower", "CGI City Skyline Searchlights", "Fox Video Structure", "Majestic Fox Video Structure", "Majestic Tower", "Futuristic Structure"

Logo: We begin by panning across the Los Angeles skyline at around sunset. We go past a large searchlight and then pan across the "FOX VIDEO" structure, now redone so that it looks a lot better and all of it is set in Futura Extra Bold (so it still doesn't quite match the TCF logo). We zoom out until we reach the comfortable Fox logo distance.

FX/SFX: Very good computer animation, and a massive improvement over its predecessors.

Music/Sounds: None usually, but on Descriptive Video Service VHS's, a narrator uses the same description as on the 1993 logo.

Availability: Fairly common. This logo always came after the logo below.

• It premiered on the VHS of Die Hard with a Vengeance (the Laserdisc uses the 1993 logo), and can be seen on other releases from the era such as Broken Arrow, Independence Day, Jingle All the Way, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask, the 1996 VHS of The Sound of Music, and the 1997 Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition box set (the VHS versions only; the Laserdiscs only use the 1995 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo).
• It was also seen on all 20th Century Fox Selections titles released between 1995-97 such as Raising Arizona, The Super, Big Trouble in Little China, The Abyss, Hoffa, Short Circuit, The Omen, The Good Son, Young Frankenstein, Bill Cosby: Himself, Enemy Mine, History of the World: Part I, Porky's, Commando, The Fly (1986), and Better Off Dead.
• This was also used on most Premiere Series releases from 1996 and 1997 such as Mrs. Doubtfire, My Cousin Vinny, That Thing You Do!, Sleeping with the Enemy, and Predator.
• Strangely, this doesn't appear on The Best of The Simpsons VHS box set from 1997 (despite the logo appearing on the packaging of the individual tapes and the box itself) and the 1996 Premiere Series releases of A Walk in the Clouds, Nine Months, and The Truth About Cats and Dogs (though all three use the 1991 full color print logo on their spines).
• The Laserdisc of Volcano doesn't have the FoxVideo print logo on the cover, but both this and the following logo appear on the disc.
• Look for a screencap of this logo used on the packaging of most 1997 releases (all 1995-96 releases use the 1991 full color print logo).
• One of the last releases to use this was Anastasia (very early prints only), though the first few seconds of the logo surprisingly appeared at the start of an international video trailer for A Cool, Dry Place, which can be found on the 1999 UK VHS of Office Space.

Editor's Note: This is often seen as the best of the Fox Video logos. It has very nice animation for the time, the concept of which can be seen as a precursor to the Fox Searchlight Pictures logo.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Domestic (American) Variants

1st Logo (August 29, 1995-October 14, 2008; June 16, 2009; August 18, 2009-October 5, 2010)

20th Century FOX Home Entertainment (1995-2009) 60p variant

Nicknames: "Fox Structure", "The Box"

Logo: We see the end of the 1994-2010 Fox logo, with neither the News Corporation byline nor the registered trademark symbol. We then zoom out to reveal that it is in a box. The box is in a larger box colored cadet blue, and next to the Fox logo box are the words "20th Century Fox Home Entertainment", spanning across three lines. The logo then fades to black.

Variants:

• On some releases, the logo faded in from black rather than cutting in from black.
• The first releases with this logo had it cut to black at the end of the animation.
• On 1996 VHS tapes that have the Widescreen Series video promo, the logo fades in and then fades out later right after the animation freezes at the final frame.
• A shorter version exists where the logo begins halfway through the animation. This has been spotted on the 2005 DVD of Pet Alien: Atomic Tommy as well as VHS releases of Strawberry Shortcake.
• On the 1995 retail VHS of Bushwhacked, the logo cuts to the green MPAA rating screen, leading off the trailer for Down Periscope.
• On the original 1996 VHS of Nine Months, the logo fades in from black and cuts out to black.
• On some tapes with the Premiere Series promo, the logo is shortened and the text on the right from the logo is replaced with "PREMIERE SERIES".
• A stretched version appears on the 2004-06 DVDs of Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut (disc 2 only) and Be Still.
• A black-and-white version exists. This can be seen on the 2004 VHS of The Desert Rats.
• On a 1997 Fox Kids Highlights Screener Tape, the logo fades in after it's already zoomed back.

Trailer Variant: On some tapes with the Premiere Series promo containing this, the logo is shortened and the text on the right from the logo is replaced with "PREMIERE SERIES".

FX/SFX: A simple zoom out. It's smoother than its successor.

Music/Sounds: None usually, but on Descriptive Video Service VHS's, a narrator describes the logo before reading out the company name, depending on the release:

• On True Lies, Nick Mills describes it: "A logo reads..."
• On Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Nick Mills describes it again, this time differently: "A logo appears in golden shadowed letters."
• On Independence Day, Peter Haydu describes it: "Now, an animated logo appears in gold letters."
• On Alien, Peter Haydu describes it again, this time differently: "A logo. Towering block letters surrounded by spotlights."
• On The African Queen, Rena Baskin describes it: "Spotlight beams sweep across a logo".
• On The Full Monty and Mrs. Doubtfire, a female narrator describes it: "Now, a logo appears." Rena Baskin describes this on The Full Monty and Chloe Leaman on Mrs. Doubtfire.
• On A Christmas Carol and Rookie of the Year, a female narrator describes it: "A logo appears." Margot Stage describes this on A Christmas Carol and Wendie Sakakeeny on Rookie of the Year.
• On The King And I, Wendie Sakakeeny describes it: "A logo of a towering block of gold letters spells 20th Century Fox. A box surrounding it bears the words 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment."
• On Fantastic Four and Cheaper By the Dozen 2, Miles Neff describes it as simply "A logo".
• On X-Men (2000), Miles Neff describes it: "Now, a logo."
• On Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), Kim Mai-Guest describes it: "Now, an animated logo appears in three-dimensional gold letters: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Spotlights on either side of the logo point skyward and wave back and forth."

Music/Sounds/Voiceover Variant: On the first four Widescreen Series tapes, the late Don LaFontaine says "Presenting the Widescreen Series from Fox Video!" over the logo.

Availability: Common on VHS, DVD, and Laserdisc releases from the period.

• Appears on releases such as Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Independence Day, Casper: A Spirited Beginning, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, The Crucible, King Kong Lives, Tai-Pan, Pelle the Conqueror, Maximum Overdrive, Crimes of the Heart, Titan A.E., Silent Trigger, Raw Deal, Jingle All the Way, Ice Age, Garfield: The Movie, Robots, and Goosebumps videos, as well as some prints of Wallace and Gromit tapes (namely A Close Shave), the Best of the Simpsons VHS tapes, and the 2002 DVD release of My Neighbor Totoro; as well as the earliest MGM Home Entertainment releases by the company from early-mid 2006.
• Outside the USA and Canada, this logo can be seen on video releases of Casper TV movies of the era, and it was also seen on The Simpsons and Futurama DVDs.
• The version without the fade-out appears on the 1995 VHS and Laserdisc releases of the Star Wars Trilogy (some of the first releases to have this logo, alongside Kiss of Death (1995); however, in regards to the Laserdiscs, only The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi use it). This variant can also be seen on some home video releases by the company such as The Towering Inferno (without previews), the 1995 VHS of Snoopy Come Home, Bye Bye Love, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, The Last Winter, Nutcracker on Ice (followed by the Fox Video and CBS/Fox Video logos), the 1995 Laserdiscs of Die Hard and Die Hard With a Vengeance, Aliens, the 1995 Canadian VHS print of Bachelor Party, Miracle on 34th Street (1994), and the 1995 VHS of A Christmas Carol.
• The version where the logo faded in from black can be seen on the VHS releases of Dr. Dolittle (1998), Digimon: Digital Monsters - The Movie, Rusty: The Great Rescue (a.k.a. Rusty: A Dog's Tale), NBA Courtside Comedy, NHL's Greatest Goals, and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, as well as the demo VHS of There's Something About Mary.
• Appears at the end of Casper Meets Wendy on Disney Channel.
• While it does appear at the end of the last few HiT Entertainment DVDs that they released, it doesn't appear at the beginning of any of them.
• The logo was officially retired in 2008, with its last appearance being on the MGM DVD of the Laurel & Hardy film March of the Wooden Soldiers, though it surprisingly appears on the 2009 and 2010 releases of the last three seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, all of which were prepped up in January 2009, according to the files on the discs, as well as The Simpsons: The Twelfth Season and Family Guy: Volume Seven.
• This logo, along with the preceding FoxVideo logo, surprisingly appeared on an FXM Retro airing of Tales of Manhattan.
• On a 2003 repackaging of the 1994 VHS of Our Little Girl, this logo was added in-between the end of the Shirley Temple Collection promo and the 1993 FoxVideo logo. It also surprisingly replaces the 1983 CBS/Fox Video logo on a 2003 print of Oh! Heavenly Dog, which is otherwise identical to the 1984 video release.

Editor's Note: This isn't anything too memorable, but it isn't a completely awful logo, either. It's a simple but effective logo design.

2nd Logo (2004-July 28, 2009)

Nicknames: "Fox Structure II", "The Box II", "Enhanced Box"

Logo: Same as the previous logo, except the box is now gray with a gold border, the words "20th Century Fox Home Entertainment" are set in ITC Garamond, and the Fox logo has the News Corporation byline. It is basically an enhanced version of the first logo.

Variants:

• The logo originally existed only in a 16:9 widescreen version, as seen on D-Theater D-VHS releases and widescreen DVDs. Later on, a full-screen version was made and can be seen on DVD releases of TV shows and full-screen films.
• On early Blu-ray Discs such as Ice Age: The Meltdown, Chain Reaction, Alien vs. Predator, and The Usual Suspects, the logo is almost still except for the Fox logo, which is now the corporate version with the rear searchlights re-animated to match the standard version of the 1994 logo, but also reverses at a certain point, a la the longer version of the 1981 Fox logo.

FX/SFX: The zoom out and the fade in of the News Corp. byline. None for the Blu-ray variant except for the searchlights and the clouds.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Common.

• It first appeared on D-Theater D-VHS releases of TCF films, including Alien; it also appeared on PSP UMD TCF releases. On VHS, its only known appearances are on the 2004 release of Garden State and the 2006 demo tapes of The Transporter 2 and Little Manhattan (the retail DVD of the latter uses the previous logo).
• It can also be seen on every TCF release on DVD from late 2006 to mid 2009, such as Ice Age: The Meltdown, The Omen (2006) (both widescreen editions only; the fullscreen editions use the previous logo), Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, X-Men: The Last Stand, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, The Devil Wears Prada, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, The Simpsons Movie, the four Futurama movies, Family Guy: Blue Harvest, the extended cuts of Commando and That Thing You Do!, the Family Fun Editions of Home Alone, Jingle All the Way, and FernGully: The Last Rainforest, and most MGM titles from the period.
• Some of the last releases to use this logo were The Pink Panther 2, 12 Rounds, and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Its final appearances overall were on Prison Break: The Final Break, Miss March, Dollhouse: Season One, and Dragonball Evolution.
• This also appears on the 2006 Blu-rays of Speed and X-Men: The Last Stand. The early Blu-ray variant first appeared on Fantastic 4, which was released concurrently with the aforementioned two on November 14, 2006.

Editor's Note: Like before, it isn't remembered well at all, yet the rougher frame rate make it less professional.

3rd logo
(August 4, 2009-November 9, 2010)

Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights", "Fox Structure III"

Logo: Basically the same as the Day After Tomorrow version of the 20th Century Fox Blu-ray Disc logo.

Variant: A fullscreen variant exists. This can only be seen on The Simpsons: The Thirteenth Season and Family Guy: Partial Terms of Endearment.

FX/SFX: Same as the 20th Century Fox Blu-ray Disc logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 20th Century Fox Blu-ray Disc logo, without the streak noise.

Availability: Short-lived, but still common. It can be seen on every TCF release on DVD from around the turn of the decade until November 2010.

• Notable releases that have this are X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Whip It, Aliens in the Attic, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Crazy Heart, Avatar, Tooth Fairy, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side, How I Met Your Mother: The Legendary Fourth Season, seasons 13 and 20 of The Simpsons, the first season of The Cleveland Show, and volume five of American Dad!.
• It also appears on 2009-10 MGM Home Entertainment releases, among others.
• It also appears on the 2010 repackagings of FernGully: The Last Rainforest and Thumbelina.
• Along with the Blu-ray variant of this logo, it made a surprise re-appearance on the 2015 re-release of The Sound of Music.
• Used in tandem with the next logo in its final two months.

Editor's Note: This is a significant improvement over the previous logo.

4th Logo 
(September 14, 2010-June 9, 2020)

Nicknames: "Ultra Majestic Tower", "CGI City Skyline Searchlights", "Enhanced City Skyline Searchlights", "Majestic Tower IV", "Futuristic Structure IV"

Logo: Same as the 2009-2020 20th Century Fox logo except that, at the end, the structure pans back farther than usual to reveal the stacked words "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" on the right of the Fox structure with "HOME" set in Neutraface No. 2 and "ENTERTAINMENT" set in Tw Cen MT Condensed. Once the logo is fully revealed, the News Corporation byline fades in at the bottom of the screen (on pre-2013 releases). The registered trademark sign fades in as well.

Trivia: This logo is a throwback to the logo of That's Hollywood!, a series from 20th Century Fox Television.

Variants:

• A shortened variant exists where the logo starts midway through. This premiered on the 2011 Blu-ray of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and would be used on Blu-rays from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter onward. Starting with the original release ofbThe Croods on October 1, 2013, this became the de facto variant on DVDs as well.
• A 4:3 variant exists, but is used only for full screen DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, such as the DVD and Blu-ray releases of seasons 16 and 17 of The Simpsons and the 2012 DVD of Mr. Scoutmaster. It is also cropped to 2.35.1 as a letterbox widescreen logo. There is a widescreen version of the open matte logo expanded to 16:9 with the Hor+ screen scaling method.
• Starting with the original release of Turbo, on November 12, 2013, the News Corporation byline is excluded and the logo is bylineless for the first time since the 1995 logo. This is mainly due to the corporate split on June 28, 2013.

FX/SFX: Same as the final, current 20th Century Fox logo.

Music/Sounds: The 1997 Fox fanfare arrangement. The short version only uses the first half, minus the opening drumroll.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• DVD releases of The Simpsons Seasons 16 and 17 use the audio of Ralph Wiggum 'singing along' to the second half of the fanfare from The Simpsons Movie, whilst season 18 uses the standard 1997 fanfare, with Fat Tony saying 'Fuggedaboutit...' on the last note.
• On the 2011 Blu-rays of When Harry Met Sally..., All Dogs Go to Heaven, The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), City Slickers, Rain Man, Leaving Las Vegas, Midnight Cowboy, and Dead Man Walking, the fanfare is out-of-sync.
• A higher pitched version is used on PAL releases from the era.

Availability: Seen on 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Blue Sky Studios, and MGM releases from September 2010 up until April 2020, as well as Relativity Media and 2013-17 DreamWorks Animation releases.

• Notable releases with this logo include Glee: The Complete First Season (the first release to use this logo), Avatar: Extended Collector's Edition, The A-Team, Machete, Vampires Suck, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid sequels, X-Men: First Class, both Rio films, Margaret, the last two Alvin and the Chipmunks films, seasons 14-19 of The Simpsons, volumes 9-17 of Family Guy, the fourth and fifth Ice Age films, Epic, Hitchcock, Prometheus, A Good Day to Die Hard, Stoker, DreamWorks Animation films from The Croods to Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, The Counselor, Free Birds, The East, Don Jon, The Book of Life, Spy, The Peanuts Movie, Hidden Figures, Ferdinand, Red Sparrow, and Spies in Disguise, among others.
• The last releases to use this logo with the News Corporation byline were The Internship and The Way Way Back, both released on October 22, 2013.
• The Universal Studios re-releases of the DreamWorks Animation films that 20th Century Fox distributed from The Croods to Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie plaster this logo with the current Universal Pictures logo, which is what all re-releases use after TCF's deal expired.
• The final 20th Century Fox film to use this logo was Underwater, and the final release under the TCF name and to use it overall was Modern Family: The Eleventh & Final Season.

Final Note: Shortly after the home media release of Underwater on April 14, 2020, Disney folded the standalone operations of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment into Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (under Buena Vista Home Entertainment). Disney now uses the shortened 20th Century Studios logo or the full Searchlight Pictures logo for all future home media releases of material from 20th Century and Searchlight.

International Variants

1st Logo 
(1995-2002)

Logo: Here are the versions used on VHS and DVD:

• VHS: We see the 1994 Fox logo animate as normal until, about 13 seconds in, it zooms out, revealing the logo inside an inner box, itself contained inside an outer box on a blue-violet background with blurry searchlights, and "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" zooms out from the bottom of the screen, stopping at the bottom of the inside of the outer box underneath the inner box containing the Fox logo (without the News Corporation byline).
• DVD: We just see the end of the logo, starting from the Fox logo being revealed to be inside the box.

Variant: A still version was found at the start of the UK video release of Night of the Demons 2.

FX/SFX: The usual CGI used in the Fox logo, coupled with the zoom out of the text below.

Music/Sounds: The 1994 Fox fanfare arrangement on the VHS version, but silent on the DVD version.

Music/Sounds Variant: The still version has the synth score from the shortened international 1993 logo.

Availability: You won't find it anywhere in North America, but it is easy to find if you are in another country such as the UK or Australia. This can be seen on Titanic. Strangely, this logo does not appear on the 1998 UK rental VHS of Edward Scissorhands, which features the 1991 Fox Video logo. The DVD version can be seen on early UK DVD releases including Miracle on 34th Street (1947), as well as the 2002 Mexican DVD of Cleopatra. Also seen on the 1995 Hong Kong Laserdisc of Return of the Jedi.

2nd logo
(1999-2010)

Logo: The standard 20th Century Fox logo, but there are many streaks of orange and blue placed over it, which animate on and off the screen. When the logo is done, blue and purple gradient bars on top and bottom wipe in and the logo's sky background dissolves into a different cloud background, and "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" appears via folding effect below the logo which zooms out, and then fades out via blur effect after a few seconds leaving just the logo, which then fades out.

Variants: There are several variants, including the home video exclusive ones listed;

• On a UK home video trailer for Ice Age, the logo is in blue on a sky background with snow around it and a crack on it.
• Instead of "HOME ENTERTAINMENT", "NOW ON VIDEO" appears via folding effect below the logo which zooms out, and then the logo fades out. It is seen on some VHS tapes that have promos for movies released on videos.
• Another variant appears, with "COMING TO THEATERS" appearing via turning upward effect below the logo, and then the logo fades out. It's seen on some VHS tapes that have trailers for movies.
• Another variant has "NOW AVAILABLE ON VCD" appearing via turning upward effect below the logo, and then the logo fades out. It's seen on some VHS tapes that have promos for movies released on VCD.
• There is a variant with "FOX SPOTLIGHT" appearing via folding effect below the logo, and then the logo fades out. This is rarely seen on some VHS tapes.
• Another variant exists, with "FEATURE PRESENTATION" appearing via folding effect below the logo which zooms out, and then the logo fades out. This is seen on VHS tapes.
• There's a 75 years variant where there's an extra row under "FOX" saying "75 YEARS".
• On a French home video promo for Futurama, a giant "30th" stomps on the "20th" until the logo reads "30th CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT."

FX/SFX: The usual Fox tower animation coupled with the CGI "streaks".

Music/Sounds: VHS tapes and early DVD releases had the standard tone 1994 Fox fanfare arrangement, while DVD releases had the high tone 1997 fanfare arrangement. The home video variants had an announcer. Korean VHS tapes, such as Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, had a high tone 1994 fanfare arrangement.

Availability: Again, only used outside North America. Examples include the UK release of Ice Age and reprints of Simpsons tapes. Also appears on the Japanese Laserdisc of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (with the 1994 fanfare). The standard tone 1994 Fox fanfare arrangement music variant strangely appears on the 2004 Region 4 DVD release of Family Guy: Season Two.

Editor's Note: It's pretty much the same as the movie logo. Nothing too special.

3rd logo
(2009-2010)

Logo: Same as the 2nd logo, but when the 1994 logo is formed, the words "HOME ENTERTAINMENT", in metallic gold, zoom out below the logo (without the News Corporation byline), and the streaks of orange and blue all disappear at the end.

FX/SFX: Same as the 2nd logo.

Music/Sounds: The 1997 fanfare arrangement.

Availability: Once again, only used outside North America. It was rumored to appear on the Canadian DVD of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but this was since debunked.

Final Note: Current international releases use the 4th 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment domestic logo or the 1st 20th Century studios Home Entertainment logo.

Fox DVD Video

(July 25, 2000-May 21, 2002)

Nickname: "Metallic Fox Structure"

Logo:

• Opening: A metallic structure that says "FOX DVD VIDEO" (with "FOX" on top of the DVD logo) zooms in. A light then highlights the logo and moves from right to left (also getting the background). The structure is gradually turning and zooms toward the screen, with the viewer going through the "O" in "FOX" , revealing a trailer or promo.
• Closing: The same logo as before, only the background is moving around and is blue.

FX/SFX: The zooming in and out and turning of the structure.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over:

• On the opening version, a big beat style tune with a male announcer asking, "Are you ready for Fox DVD Video?".
• The closing version has a static noise. Both versions have a "whoosh" noise when the logo moves.

Availability: Rare. This was actually meant for a promo on VHS and early Fox DVD releases from the era talking about DVD and its features. Can be seen on most 2000-2002 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment DVD releases, such as My Cousin Vinny, X-Men, Silent Trigger, Fight Club, Nine Months, Where the Heart Is, Titan A.E., Airheads, M*A*S*H, the 10th Anniversary Edition of Edward Scissorhands, the Die Hard: Ultimate Collection box set, and Halls of Montezuma.

20th Century Fox Blu-ray Disc

(March 13, 2007-November 9, 2010; March 22, 2011; February 28, 2012)

Nickname: "CGI Searchlights"

Logo: We see the 20th Century Fox logo zooming in slowly, with the words "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" in gold at the bottom, shining. Then a blue streak changes the text to the "Blu-ray Disc" logo, leaving behind a "swoosh" shape as it does this.

Variant: On The Day After Tomorrow, the blue streak didn't appear, though its sound effect is still heard. This version was later used on DVDs from 2009-10 (as described above).

FX/SFX: The zooming in, the shining, and the words changing.

Music/Sounds: A calming, majestic fanfare, followed by a slight laser sound for the blue flash.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The title screen of Netflix for Wii uses a theme sound extremely similar to this logo's theme.

Availability: Common. It can be seen on every TCF release on Blu-ray Disc from March 2007 until the fall of 2010. It appeared on releases such as the original release of Hoosiers, Die Hard, Fight Club, Ice Age, Australia, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. It can be also seen on MGM Home Entertainment releases on Blu-ray Disc, including Valkyrie and Hot Tub Time Machine, among others. This strangely appears on the 2011 Blu-ray of Robots (which was prepped up in early 2010, according to the files on the disc, and carries a 2010 copyright) and the 2012 Blu-ray of Runaway Jury (which carries a 2011 copyright) instead of the 2010 logo. Along with the eras' respective DVD logos, it made a surprise re-appearance on the 2013 re-releases of the first four Die Hard films, and the 2015 re-releases of The Sound of Music, the first two Home Alone movies, and some of the James Bond movies (the others use the 2010 logo). The Simpsons seasons 13 and 20 on Blu-ray use this logo as well.

20th Century Home Entertainment

Logo (May 12, 2020-)

20th Century Studios logo

Searchlight Pictures logo

Logo:

• 20th Century Studios' home media release: Same as the short version of the 20th Century Studios logo, with no video indicator whatsoever and without "HOME ENTERTAINMENT".
• Searchlight Pictures' home media releases: Same as the theatrical logo, with no video indicator whatsoever.

FX/SFX: CGI.

Music/Sounds:

• 20th Century Studios' home media releases: Same as the shortened version of the final 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo.
• Searchlight Pictures' home media releases: The 1997 fanfare conducted by David Newman.

Availability: Current. It appears on current 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures' DVD/Blu-ray/UHD home media releases, starting with The Call of the Wild in 2020.