HBO Home Entertainment/Summary

Background: During the 1980s, HBO received an agreement with Vestron Video to license made-for-cable films and specials to videocassette. HBO did not get along with its own video arm until 1984, when it partnered with Thorn EMI Video to rebrand its US operations as Thorn EMI/HBO Video. In 1986, when Cannon Films bought out Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, the label was renamed to HBO/Cannon Video. Amidst financial disputes regarding Cannon, HBO bought out Cannon's interest in 1987, and it was renamed to HBO Video. It was also known as HBO Home Video from 1994 to 2003, and HBO Home Entertainment from 2009 to 2019, when it was absorbed into Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

1st Logo
(1985-1988)

Logo: Against two "walls" of purple lights, we see the following action occurs, then we see the end result showing the print logo, and two white comet streaks past the top and bottom of the logo, leaving two white lines and the background turns blue:

• Thorn EMI: The words "THORN" and "EMI" fly from the top and bottom of the screen towards the top. A metallic purple HBO logo appears, and we see its "O" first (through the hole, but without the circle). It zooms out onto a white rectangle that has appeared in the middle of the logo. The word "VIDEO" drops from the bottom of the rectangle, the "O" in the "HBO" logo gets the circle in its hole, and two white "comets" streak past the top and bottom of the logo, leaving two white lines. The background then turns blackberry-colored.

• Cannon: Against these walls, a chrome HBO logo slides down one, and "CANNON" slides down the other. When they meet in the center, a glowing white star takes them in, and the walls rotate to face us as the camera pans in. When we pan in, two comets streak on two of the lights making up the wall, and when they pass, we see a white HBO logo and a white box containing the word "CANNON" rotating from the bottom to face us. The logos zoom back, with HBO zooming back to become smaller than the white box containing "CANNON", as "VIDEO" zooms out (in an effect similar to the 1980 Telepictures Corporation "Shadows" logo). Two comets streak above and below the logo to form lines, as usual.

• Standard: No animation this time, just the basic and already-formed HBO logo, and the word "VIDEO", in thin lettering, below and two lines are seen above and below the logo.

Variants:

• A prototype version of the Thorn EMI logo exists where the HBO logo is not metallic and it zooms out quicker. In addition, the comets streak faster.
• A still version of the Cannon version exists.
• A prototype version of the HBO version exists, with simple text reading "HBO VIDEO."
• A pre-trailer version exists, with "COMING SOON FROM" and the logo below on a black background.
• At the end of the ad for Sports Illustrated: Get the Feeling: Power!, the logo is seen on a black background with "DISTRIBUTED BY" above it. It also appears in a purple 3D logo.

FX/SFX: The comets, the words animating. None for the HBO version.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 2nd Thorn EMI Video logo on the Thorn EMI and Cannon versions. None for the HBO version.

Availability: Very rare as a whole.

• The Thorn EMI version debuted on The Sleeping Beauty and Manon Lescaut, both of which use the Thorn EMI print logo on the labels and packaging. It also appears on later collections of Ready, Steady, Go, the first release of Rambo: First Blood Part II, and the last few editions of the cartoon series mentioned on the Thorn EMI Video page. It can also be seen on releases of product from other companies, such as Tri-Star, Thames, Hemdale Film Corporation, Kings Road Entertainment and Orion.
• The Thorn EMI prototype variant can be seen on Duran Duran: Arena (An Absurd Notion).
• As for the Cannon version, it can be seen on Back to School, Night of the Creeps, Something Wild, and Touch and Go, among others.
• The HBO version is the rarest of all, and releases that feature it include Three Amigos! (where this has been known to appear on prints made as late as 1999), Hoosiers, Amazing Grace and Chuck, Making Mr. Right, and some reissues of Thorn-EMI/HBO/Cannon releases. The "COMING SOON FROM" variant can be found on Hiding Out.
• The HBO prototype variant appears on the demo tape of Three Amigos!.

2nd Logo
(1988-1993)

Nickname: "The Spheres"

Logo: On a black background, we see tons of red spheres, packed tightly together. As we zoom out, the spheres form into a gold HBO logo, with a blue "VIDEO" (in that same font described above) below. When they move into place, purple bars move to their positions above and below the logo. When the logo is formed, a spotlight appears below the logo.

FX/SFX: The spheres zooming out, the purple bars moving, all of which are excellently-animated for the time.

Music/Sounds: A warbly, bass-filled synth tune loosely based off the music in the "HBO Movie" intro used at the time.

Availability: Rare. It's seen on video releases of Thames, Tri-Star Pictures, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Kings Road, Hemdale Film Corporation, Miramax, Weintraub Entertainment, and Samuel Goldwyn material, but towards the end of its run, HBO began to concentrate mainly on their own productions, including Time-Life titles previously released by Vestron Video. Among the tapes where this appears are Platoon, No Way Out, and reprints of Can't Stop the Music, S.O.S. Titanic, First Blood, The Terminator, Highlander, and Raw Deal, among other new releases and re-releases (some of which may still use the Thorn EMI or other original logo on the packaging and/or labels) of the era.

Editor's Note: A rather cool logo using the best of what CGI had to offer at the time.

3rd Logo
(1993-May 10, 2005)

Nickname: "Red Curtain"

Logo: After the Feature Presentation bumper playing, the camera pans toward the ball as it bounces on the right side of the "O" and passes through it. It then flies off to the bottom left of the screen, revealing a silver HBO logo. It zooms slowly toward the camera as "HOME VIDEO" in white fades in below.

Variants:

• HBO/Savoy Variant: On HBO/Savoy releases, instead of the HBO Home Video logo, we see the words "HBO SAVOY" both seen with their respective trademark logos on top, a segmented image of a buffalo from the Savoy Pictures logo is seen in the middle, and the word "VIDEO" below in between two red lines.

• HBO Kids Variant: We see the standard HBO Home Video logo playing, but the same ball from that logo (but the clapperboard is replaced by a camera) appears and bounces on the logo, until it falls into the O and into a curtain with toys and planets on it. Then, on a white background, we see a jack-in-the-box with the HBO logo in red on it. Then a bunch of colored letters come out of it and form the words "vids kideo". The v and k switch places to form "kids video", and the jack-in-the-box disappears.

• On a home video trailer for Winchell, the logo is light blue on a black background.

FX/SFX: The spotlights and ball, and for the kids version, the movement of the camera, the curtains being pulled, the opening of the jack in the box, and finally the bouncing movements of the letters. Typical 90's CGI animation..

Music/Sounds: A dramatic synthesized horn/string/trumpet fanfare along with cymbals crashing at the end.

Music/Sounds Variant: The "HBO Kids Video" version uses a whimsical synth tune, followed by a Parisian-style synthesized accordion piece with the jack-in-the-box's SFX, and at the end, a child giggles.

Availability: Seen on HBO VHS releases of the period. HBO DVDs used their own logo (see below), although some early HBO DVDs, such as A Bronx Tale and Circle of Friends, have either this logo or the HBO Savoy Video logo intact. Among the last VHS tapes to use this include Something the Lord Made, Everyday People, and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. The kids version was shown on family releases from the label.

4th Logo
(1998-2005)

Nickname: "HBO DVD in Space"

Logo: We see a DVD disc zooming out against a black background with purple rays, and releasing many white particles around it. The disc zooms away as the particles turn the background into a starfield, and then the word "HBO" zooms in, along with the words "HOME VIDEO", in blue. A few seconds later, "HOME VIDEO" changes to "DVD", in yellow. The finished product zooms out a little bit and then disappears in a flash.

Variants:

• A fullscreen version exists. So far, this can only be seen on ¡Three Amigos!, Ellen DeGeneres' stand-up specials (The Beginning and Here and Now), Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team, and the first seasons of Sex and the City and Six Feet Under.
• A cheaper-looking version appears in the DVD-ROM portion of Todd McFarlane's Spawn II.

FX/SFX: The zooming of the disc, the words and particles.

Music/Sounds: A shortened version of the previous logo's primary fanfare.

Music/Sounds Variant: On rare occasions, a twinkling sound is heard as the finished logo disappears.

Availability: Seen on early HBO DVD releases, such as 61*, Gia, Three Amigos!, Flashpoint, The Hitcher, No Escape, Lightning Jack, Serial Mom, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, The Grifters, Tales from the Hood, My Left Foot, Last of the Dogmen, The Changeling, Shadowlands, and Good Guys Wear Black, among others. The twinkling variant can be heard on Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Switch, Lighting Jack, Disappearing Acts, Pumping Iron, Gotti, Citizen Cohn, and the I Spy DVDs A Rockin' Bronco and Other Stories and A Thing That Flings and Other Stories.

5th Logo
(2003-04)

Nicknames: "The Purple Glow", "HBO's Special VHS Logo"

Logo: On a black background, the camera rotates around a 3-dimensional purple HBO logo. Then, we zoom out as the word "VIDEO" flips upward and the two lines and the registered trademark symbol appear. The logo sends off a purple glow, which then dies down, and then we fade to black.

FX/SFX: The camera rotations, the glow, and all. Pure CGI.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. This is the VHS counterpart of the previous logo. Seen on many VHS releases by HBO from the period, such as Normal, Undefeated, and the 2004 I Spy VHS tapes, A Thing That Flings and Other Stories and A Rockin' Bronco and Other Stories.

6th Logo
(2004-January 13?, 2009)

Logo: Against a white background, we see a distant shot of a man from below walking in. As the camera pans backward, the man appears to pull out a remote and press a button. Then, an array of gray clouds and wavy gray lines shoot out towards the screen, revealing a gray, 2D HBO Video print logo (as seen in the 1st logo). A lens flare shines on the logo, which dies down as the camera pans upward. The logo slowly zooms in.

FX/SFX: The clouds and lines revealing the logo.

Music/Sounds: Walking sounds, a zapping sound when the man presses the remote button, followed shortly by a calm piano/synth fanfare.

Availability: Seen on many DVD releases by HBO from the period.

7th Logo
(January 20, 2009-2019)

Logo: On a black background, a pattern of circles fades in, and turns counter clockwise, and goes to the other side of the pattern of circles. Then we see the HBO logo (the "O" is in the middle of pattern of circles). The logo zooms out, then the pattern of circles disappears turns into a light blue background, and the HBO logo turns blue. the word "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" (two lines are seen above and below "HOME ENTERTAINMENT") also in blue fades in. The logo slowly zooms out.

FX/SFX: Pattern of circles moving, and the backgrounds and words fading in.

Music/Sounds: An ethereal synth tune.

Availability: Common; seen on newer HBO releases such as all seasons of Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, True Detective, and True Blood, as well as movies such as Behind the Candelabra and the 2011 Blu-ray of Three Amigos!.

Final Note: In May 2019, HBO Home Entertainment was absorbed into Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, though the logo continued to be used until the following year. Since then, newer home media releases of HBO material bear the WBHE name instead.