Background: PolyGram Video was the home entertainment arm of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. The company distributed a majority of their catalogue, alongside other companies and brands. They also distributed BBC Video tapes in Australia until 1996, where distribution was taken over by Roadshow Entertainment and ABC Video. PolyGram Video also distributed much of the Island World library before purchasing the company in 1994, and distributed Palm Pictures releases during the first year of the latter's existence. On December 10, 1998, PolyGram was sold to Seagram & Sons (the former parent of Universal Studios, now part of NBCUniversal). The US division of PolyGram Video was sold to USA Networks, Inc. and renamed USA Home Entertainment. The European division was reorganized under the Universal Studios Home Video name.
1st Logo (1982-April 1991)[]
Nickname: "Pixie Dust & Red Line"
Logo: On a black background, yellow dust begins to form the "PolyGram Video". Like a roller-coaster (and the 1980s RKO logo), it zooms forward, dipping down, then flying back up again, also showing a line with red stars underneath it. “presents” flies in from the right one-by-one, and a white bar of light passes through the logo.
Variants:
- Releases from Spectrum had their own special variant of this logo (and its German counterpart); more information can be seen here.
- The German "Arena" version of this logo has the word "PolyGram" with several shadows of the word flying up from the bottom and "flashing" as the main word flashes several colors. The red stars appear below, and the Arena logo is wiped in (a white box with "ARENA" in thick letters in an arc and a "swoosh" around the top, making the whole thing resemble a disc). A version of this exists without the Arena logo.
- An extended version of the regular variant has the logo shining four times.
- International versions (bar the German version) may have the "presents" text in their native language, like "presenta" in Spain.
FX/SFX: Scanimate.
Music/Sounds: An eerie synthesized humming sound, complete with two "whooshes" at the end. The Arena variant uses the music from the Spectrum version (Magnum: On The Wings of Heaven, however, uses the Spectrum version on the standard logo). In case you did not notice, the jingle was also used for the normal version, if only on VHS releases from Spain.
Availability: Extremely rare. Check thrift stores or eBay for VHS releases containing this logo. It can be seen on the UK pre-cert release of An American Werewolf in London. The German version can be seen on German PAL tapes such as The Vindicator. This logo was seen on the Image DVD release of Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, and PolyGram DVD of Magnum: On The Wings of Heaven, due to the source of the video being an old master. The logo can also be seen on a few of RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video's Musicvision tapes featuring artists under the PolyGram umbrella (including Rush: Through the Camera's Eye), but other than that it hardly put in an appearance on American tapes. This logo was discontinued around the time the company merged with its PolyGram Music Video subsidiary to expand beyond music titles.
Editor's Note: The music in the Spectrum variant is quite nice to listen to, and the animation is decent too.
2nd Logo (1986)[]
Nicknames: "Poly Want a Gram Cracker?", "PolyGram Alert!"
Logo: On a red background, "PolyGram" moves from the top right corner of the screen to the left-hand side facing the left, then faces the right and move downwards, creating a rollercoaster effect. A line of stars moves up underneath the PolyGram text. "HOME OF THE STARS" appears going down, then going up, a la the Telepictures Rollercoaster logo. An anthropomorphic cartoon parrot smiling while pointing its finger in the air fades to the right.
FX/SFX: The text moving and changing perspective. The parrot and text fading in.
Music/Sounds: A high pitched version of an excerpt from the beginning of Boytronic's "Tonight".
Availability: Known to only appear on a VHS of Alien Violators, as well as the Spanish VHS of Breeders (1986) (AKA: La Muerte Ataca New York).
Editor's Note: A weird logo that was only used once.
3rd Logo (May 1991-August 3, 1993)[]
Nicknames: "PV", "PV Videotape", "VHS Assembly", "How to Assemble a VHS", "PV Laserdisc", "How to Assemble a LaserDisc"
Logo: On a white background, parts of a video tape are drawn together (the background shows the parts in extreme close-up), and eventually two black conjoined ellipses with the letter "P" in one and a red upside down triangle (representing a "V") on the bottom position themselves onto the spools. The words "PolyGram Video" pop in one by one in sync with the music.
Variants:
- On several LaserDisc releases, the animation shows a LaserDisc being drawn instead of a video tape, and at the end, the words are shifted to the left, appear all at once, and a small gray LaserDisc logo (which looks like the LaserVision logo) appears next to them.
- On French VHS releases, like Cabaret, after the black oval outline draws in, the inside of the "P" oval fills in yellow and the black "P" fades from black to blue. The triangle oval's interior fills in blue and the triangle appears yellow. However, the 1992 French VHS of Bonnie Nuit Les Petits (Good Night the Little Ones) uses the standard variant.
- On Hidden NFL II: The Locker Room Tapes, Kiss: X-Treme Close-Up, and NFL: 100 Greatest Touchdowns, the logo fades in a second late. The Kiss tape additionally has it cut to the start of the program.
- A still version with the copyright notice below the logo saying "© POLYGRAM VIDEO 1992" was seen on a 1992 UK VHS release titled Newcastle United: Ten out of Ten.
FX/SFX: The tape being assembled, and the "shadows" on the background. Very nice and modern graphics, especially for the 1990s.
Music/Sounds: A mellow synth-rock theme combined with a whirring sound.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- The Laserdisc variant features a few additional twinkles in the music.
- On the French variant, the music is off-sync.
- On the UK VHS of Dances with Wolves, following the music, a male voiceover says "PolyGram Video, in association with Guild Home Video, presents six hit films, on sale now from all good stockists!" During this, we cut to a still version of Guild's logo.
- On Kiss: X-Treme Close-Up, the end of the theme blends into the start of the program's music.
- On several LaserDiscs as well as some UK VHS tapes, the theme is slightly extended and the final two notes are different.
- None for the still variant.
Availability: Very rare.
- NFL Crunch Course and the Buffalo Bills 1993 Video Yearbook are 2 tapes that have this, along with international Mighty Morphin Power Rangers tapes (though the next logo was used on the box and tape label).
- Also seen on PolyGram's first 4 UK rental releases - the 3 known ones are The Crying Game, Dust Devil, and Braindead.
- Its first appearance was on a trailer tape for PolyGram's June 1991 releases, and its last appearance was on a series of pre-season NFL videos from 1993, including 100 Greatest Touchdowns.
- This also plasters the PolyGram Music Video logo on later prints of The Moody Blues: Legend of a Band.
- Also appears on the 1991-93 Laserdiscs of Two Rooms: Celebrating The Songs Of Elton John & Bernie Taupin, Genesis: A History, and NFL Rocks.
- This logo also appears on UK VHS releases of Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and Space: 1999, among others.
Editor's Note: It's a cool logo, and certainly much more interesting than the next logo.
4th Logo (July 20, 1993-1997)[]
Nicknames: "BANG!", "Stretched Red Line of Doom", "Scratches of Doom"
Logo: Against a black background, the words "PolyGram Video" quickly unfold letter-by-letter. Then, a red line appears underneath, zooming out.
Variants:
- On rental-priced releases, there is a version with a blue wallpaper with PolyGram Video logos in the background. The PolyGram logo also leaves a small shadow. Children's videos, like Bananas in Pajamas: Pink Spot and Wishbone: Salty Dog, continued to use the original version, however.
- On German releases, after the logo forms the blue warning scrolls up as the logo fades out a few seconds later. After the warning, the © info (with the phonographic copyright symbol used instead) scrolls up, stops in the middle and fades out a few seconds later.
- Sometimes, it fades out immediately after it forms.
- At the end a 1995 promo for the NFL Greatest Ever Season videotape series, the logo appears, but then the NFL Films logo fades in underneath the red line.
- On the UK VHS of The Busy World of Richard Scarry: The Three Fishermen, after the red line zooms out, the logo stays on screen for 16 seconds before cutting out.
- There is also a version with "Coming Soon From" on the screen before the logo plays as normal, with the finished logo under it. This has been spotted on Posse, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, and Fargo with the black background, and on The Basketball Diaries, The Portrait of a Lady, The Usual Suspects and Candyman: Farewell To The Flesh with the blue wallpaper background.
FX/SFX: The letters and line appearing.
Music/Sounds: A series of loud "scratching" sounds as the letters appear, a "whoosh" as the line appears and shrinks, and a bang.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- Sometimes it's silent.
- On the NFL Greatest Ever Season promo, the announcer's last words ("From PolyGram Video and NFL Films!") and the end of the accompanying theme play over it.
Availability: Common.
- Found on PolyGram releases of the period such as Mr. Bean tapes, A Gnome Named Gnorm, Gridlock'd, Jason's Lyric, Fargo, Canadian Bacon, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, Posse, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, When We Were Kings, Barb Wire, Home for the Holidays, The Usual Suspects, and videos of The Adventures of Tintin.
- This also appears on the original PolyGram DVDs of Portrait of a Lady and Kalifornia, among others.
- Also shows up on mid-'90s releases of Atlantic Releasing Corporation films, including Teen Wolf.
- The "priced for rental" variant appears on The Basketball Diaries and Fargo, as well as PolyGram's early DVDs.
- Sometimes, at the end of UK VHS tapes, the logo is shown before the warning screen.
- Its first appearance was on KISS: Konfidential.
- Makes an surprise appearance on the 1998 Image/PolyGram Video Laserdisc of The Game, even though releases from the same year use the 6th logo.
- It's unknown if this appeared on Australian BBC video tapes they distributed from 1993-1996.
Editor's Note: This logo isn't liked very much since it isn't very creative, especially compared to the logo before. Also, the scratching noises can startle some people.
5th Logo (1996-March 31, 1998)[]
Logo: On a background with what appears to be dark clouds, we see the usual "PolyGram" text with the red line below it. Below that is "VIDEO", aligned to the right of the line. The text zooms in at the beginning, and the entire logo fades out at the end.
FX/SFX: The logo zooming in.
Music/Sounds: A male announcer saying "Only from PolyGram Video."
Availability: Extremely rare. Seen at the end of a PolyGram DVD promo, which can be seen on the very first DVDs released from the company, such as Ghost in the Shell.
Editor's Note: The zap at the start could startle some, but it's a decent logo.
6th Logo (1997-August 31, 1999)[]
Nicknames: "PolyGram Wing Man", "Icarus"
Logo: Essentially the short videotaped version of its movie and television counterparts, but with "V I D E O" underneath.
Variants:
- There is a long version of this which is the same as its movie counterpart which appears on PAL VHS releases in the UK and European countries. So far, it was found on a European VHS of The Real Macaw and a UK VHS of The Borrowers, among others.
- On some promotional trailers for PolyGram releases, there is also a more abstract version of the logo with a solid blue Icarus. This is based off the print logo.
- On Franklin tapes from Reader's Digest, the 1997 print logo is used.
FX/SFX: Same as the movie and television counterparts.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds Variants: On the screener tape of Bean (probably the first tape to use it), it uses the theme from the 4th logo.
Availability: Uncommon.
- Seen on PolyGram releases of the period like Barney's Great Adventure, What Dreams May Come, Bean, The Borrowers, The Game, Kansas, The Land Girls, Cats, Very Bad Things, The Last Days of Disco, The Proposition, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Clay Pigeons, Elizabeth, American VHS releases of Noddy's Toyland Adventures, and The Big Lebowski, among others.
- Also seen on VHS reissues of Troll 2, The Graduate, Misery, Needful Things, Platoon, Escape from New York, Howling 2, The Curse, The Sure Thing, and The Producers.
- This also appears on the original DVDs of Ghost in the Shell, Mr. Saturday Night, Return to Paradise, What Dreams May Come, Malice, Needful Things, and Misery, as well as the first DVD releases from Palm Pictures and Manga Entertainment.
- Also seen on the 1998 World Series video, as well as the 1999 San Antonio Spurs NBA Championship Video.
- Sometimes, at the end of UK VHS tapes, the logo is shown before the warning screen.
Editor's Note: Some people like this logo because of the animation, but others can be annoyed because of the wingman. But it's a good end to the company.