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Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment is the predecessor of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and the successor of RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video/RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video.

Logos[]

1st logo (January 1, 1991-December 29, 1992)[]

On a black background, we see a split rectangle. On the left side, we see the '80s Torch Lady (print version with the sunburst intact behind her), and on the right, the TriStar "Pegasus Over Pyramid" logo (print version too, but minus the word "PICTURES" at the bottom). Above, we see the stacked words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" in Bank Gothic MD BT font that's a little stretched up by height, one above the other, and at the bottom, we see "HOME VIDEO" on a straight line.

Variants[]

  • On a 1992 VHS reissue of Metropolitan and a 1994 VHS reissue of The Three Stooges Vol. 1: A Bird in the Head, the logo doesn't fade in or out.
  • On Australian rental tapes with this logo, it would fade into the "COMING ATTRACTIONS" text seen in the RCA/Columbia/Hoyts logo.
  • On releases from LK-Tel Video, the logo would coast down from the center of the LK-Tel Video logo before sliding down.

2nd logo (September 1, 1992-December 26, 1995; April 3, 2001-Present)[]

On a white background, we see two boxes outlined with a black border. On the left is one featuring a newly-done Torch Lady, and on the right is a newly-done Pegasus on a Columbia-like cloud background. Above the boxes are the words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR", with each word positioned over its respective logo. "HOME VIDEO" is seen below.

Variants[]

  • There is a variant where it happens to be an invert of colors. The background is black, the letters and the outlined boxes are both white, and both respective logos are a bit close up.
  • The inverted logo variant appeared on a children's video promo seen on UK VHS Releases from early 2000. The text is in the Bank Gothic font and the both respective logos are brighter. The light rays shine on the logo when it fades in, before they disappear after a second.

3rd logo (May 19, 1993-March 27, 2001 (primary logo); April 3, 2001-present (secondary logo))[]

We see a screen full of clouds forming, tossing about. Then, "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" in yellow zooms out from above, and "HOME VIDEO" in the same color shrinks out from below as we see the clouds zoom out, as part of a golden-bordered box on a blue-black gradient background. The box then splits apart to reveal the Torch Lady on the left (in its same style as before), and the Pegasus on the right (again, the same style as before), as the wording takes its position. The text shines for a few seconds after the logo is formed.

Variants[]

  • A still logo was found on early Columbia TriStar Home Video releases on DVD.
  • There is also an abridged version for some New Line Home Video releases.
  • On a home video TV spot for Amos and Andrew, it's placed on a black background alongside the 1991 New Line Home Video logo

Trailer Variants[]

  • Many times, from 1993-1996, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, the blue background would fade out to the moving clouds and one of the following phrases would zoom in from the center of the screen:
  • COMING SOON TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU
  • COMING SOON TO HOME VIDEOAfterwards, a trailer with one of the following features would be played. Beginning in 1997, the 7th logo's trailer variants were used instead. On Australian tapes, the logos would fade out and one of these:
  • COMING SOON
  • NOW AVAILABLEwould slide in from the top and bottom respectively.

4th logo (January 3, 1995-December 30, 1997; May 1, 2001-March 12, 2013)[]

We start out against an antique gold fabric background. Then a square with the footage of the 1993 Columbia Torch Lady in it fades in, and slides to the left, revealing a box with the footage of the 1993 TriStar Pegasus (but the background is changed into a similar cloud background from the Columbia logo, but a bit shorter and darker), which slides to the right. The words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" appear above the boxes and "HOME VIDEO" on the bottom with "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" below everything else.

Variant[]

On some releases, the background is replaced with a background of tossing clouds (from the 3rd logo) and the name and byline are navy blue.

5th logo (January 2, 1996-December 29, 1998; January 4, 2000-present)[]

On a taupe brown background, we see a row of gold print logos of the Torch Lady and Pegasus in boxes at an angle. The Columbia and TriStar boxes (in their similar styles from the 4th logo, which this time, they are still and not animated), then rise out of two of the boxes in the center as the row of boxes tilts to face the screen. The 3-D words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" and "HOME VIDEO" in gold, fade in above and below the boxes, respectively with a shining wipe effect.

Trailer Variants[]

Many times, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, and one of the following phrases, in script, would zoom in from the center of the logo:

  • Coming Soon to a Theater Near You
  • Coming Soon to Home Video
  • Now Available on Home Video

Afterwards, a trailer with one of the following features would be played.

Variants[]

  • There is a shorter version that doesn't feature a trailer variant
  • An extremely rare variant exists where there are blue bars featuring small CTHV print logos on the sides of the logo. This version is seen on early DVDs, widescreen edition Laserdiscs and VHS.

6th logo (January 7, 1997-June 29, 2021)[]

Up against a royal blue background with many print logos of CTHV on it, we see the standard C-T boxes outlined in white with the white text "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" above and "HOME VIDEO" below the logo respectively.

7th logo (March 4, 1997-December 25, 2001)[]

On an ethereal blue background, we see filmstrips crisscrossing the screen, with each frame in each filmstrip featuring the C-T box logo. We see a filmstrip in the center of the screen and then pan towards it, seeing the boxes in each frame and the endings of their respective movie animations playing out within them. As the final frame reaches the screen, the background turns white with several blue areas in each corner as the boxes (with the footage of the Torch Lady from the 1993 Columbia Pictures logo on the left and the footage of the Pegasus from the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo on the right) go into position. Then the words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" and "HOME VIDEO" fade in above and below the boxes, respectively.

Variants[]

  • A widescreen variant exists on some DVDs.
  • On VHS releases that contain the "Home Entertainment" variant of the next logo, "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "HOME VIDEO" on the trailer variants.
  • There is an extremely rare variant with the Madchester music in which after the logo forms, the words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR HOME VIDEO" fade out and the words "COMING SOON" appear on the bottom of the screen.

Trailer Variants[]

Many times, the boxes would then slide away, the CTHV text would fade out, and one of the following phrases, in script, would zoom in from the center of the logo:

  • Coming Soon to a Theater Near You
  • Now Playing in Theaters/Coming Soon to Home Video
  • Coming Soon to Home Video
  • Now Available on Home Video
  • Now Available

8th logo (January 14, 1997-December 31, 2002; February 4, 2003-present)[]

On a screen filled with clouds, the words "COLUMBIA" spelling itself standard and "TRISTAR" spelling itself backwards letter-by-letter, handsomely done in shining silver text, tumble onto the screen, "COLUMBIA" coming from the upper right and "TRISTAR" coming from the lower left. The clouds clear, revealing a nice backdrop of clouds and two white, glowing boxes. As the light in the boxes die down, the Columbia Torch Lady zooms in towards us in the left box, and we see the Pegasus (in his similar style from the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo), stretch his wings in the right box, as the wings cross over to the Columbia box. The words "COLUMBIA" and "TRISTAR" later change to gold lettering and position themselves under the boxes, and "DVD" (or "HOME VIDEO" for VHS releases) zooms out from the top, at warp speed, landing below the C-T text, causing the phaser effect to appear around it, which suddenly disappears.

Variants[]

  • C-T had adapted this logo for VHS releases; however, there were only a select handful of releases that used this version such as Blue Streak, Random Hearts, The King of Masks, Crazy in Alabama, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Gen-X Cops, Fortress 2: Re-Entry and most notably, Stuart Little.
  • There is another variant that has "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" in place of "HOME VIDEO". This variant only appeared on a handful of releases; see the availability section for more info on this variant.

9th logo (April 24, 2001-present)[]

Over the usual cloud background, we pan past an extreme close up of the Torch Lady's legs and feet (covered in the robe of course), then dissolve into a pan of the TriStar Pegasus (in the print artwork style except for the body and the legs, which are in the 1993 movie logo style, but in the same color as the Pegasus' face and wings) unfolding his wings. The pan then quickly dissolves into a shot from the center of the Pegasus unfolding his wings, albeit in a close-up fashion, and then a dissolve to the Torch Lady zooming out from her face. The logo then dissolves to reveal the Torch Lady and Pegasus side-by-side on a cloud background in their print artwork styles, with "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" slightly sliding in with "HOME ENTERTAINMENT", in a smaller font, fading in letter-by-letter and the logo disappears after two light streaks in a straight horizontal fade out completely at the end.

Variants

  • On some 2002 VHS prints of Stuart Little, there is a promo for Little Secrets that features this logo minus "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" below.
  • The rest of the top parts of the logo's aspect scaling is not seen on the VHS version of the logo making the rendered footage appear a little bit tall with part of the top cropped off. It was re-adjusted for the 2nd music variant for DVDs especially for the widescreen version. Another difference with these have different color adjustments.
  • The VHS version of the logo usually cuts to black at the end on U.S. VHS tapes without trailers (and on demo VHS tapes after the Hi-Fi Stereo logo before the FBI Warning) even on VCDs and DVDs where this variant is used. The cut to black version of the first music variant occasionally pops up before the shortened widescreen trailer version of the logo on 2004-2005 tapes such as The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss video The Cat's Musical Tales. In the United Kingdom, almost every VHS tapes have the logo fading out at the end but a few of them have the VHS logo that cuts to black which one example video that has it is on Bear in the Big Blue House: The Summer of Love. It also appears on the retail VHS of Soul Assassin (containing previews) which cuts directly to the Winchester films logo before the film.
  • After the trailers on Demo VHS videos, a shortened version of the logo is played.
  • The short version of the first music variant is seen on demo tapes after the previews and before the FBI Warnings such as Kermit's Swamp Years.
  • On the first trailer of Kermit's Swamp Years, the logo is identical to the DVD variant except that the saturation matches the VHS variant and with bobbing effect from the bob de-interlacingfilter.
  • On most Columbia TriStar DVDs from 2002-2005, the logo is in warp-speed.
  • The print logo has the typical boxes, with "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" above and "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" below; it's all on a white background. This logo appeared on the Comedy TV Preview found on Married... with Children: The Most Outrageous Episodes and was never used on general releases. This can also be found on certain promos of TV series by Sony Pictures Television.
  • On VHS releases from 2004-2005, it has a shortened version of this logo with a trailer bump, but has the DVD music. Seen on Spider-Man 2, 13 Going on 30 (non-reprint copies only), White Chicks, Christmas with the Kranks, The Forgotten, Left Behind: The Movie, and Fahrenheit 9/11.
  • Due to a video processing error on the demo VHS of Love and a Bullet after the HiFi Stereo logo, the beginning of the logo where the first notes and the clicking sound heard are edited out.
  • There is a 2.35:1 scope version of the first music variant seen on the 2001 UK DVD release of Dirty Dancing.
  • In some VCD prints, the 16:9 cropped version of the first music variant is present on the disc.

Trailer Variants

Many times, letters would appear on top of the screen, and it, in regular font, with an announcer (Eric Gordon), would state the following (on VHS promos, half of the logo is playing in widescreen and the words are on the wide boxes):

  • Coming Soon to Theaters
  • Now Playing In Theaters
  • Coming Soon to Home Video
  • Coming Soon to Video and DVD
  • Coming Soon to DVD
  • Now Available on Home Video
  • Now Available on Video and DVDAfterwards, a trailer with one of the following features would be played. On demo VHS tapes, the letters do not fade in above the trailer version of the logo at the beginning of the tape before the trailers.

International Trailer Variants

On early Australian releases the logo plays normally and in the top right of the screen letters appear spelling "COMING SOON". So far this has been spotted on 2001 Aussie VHS releases of Charlie's Angels and Wicked.

Music/Sounds

1st logo

None.

Music Variants

  • On foreign releases, a short guitar/bass note was heard.
  • On tapes from Australia and one tape from Spain, the theme from the RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video logo is heard.

2nd logo

None.

3rd logo

A rather dramatic synth theme with ticking drums and hints of piano. The last note of the theme is held out for the rest of the logo.

Music/Sounds Variants

  • On the clip-on variants, the music is more orchestrated and a male announcer announces the clip on.
  • On later prints of the original VHS of As Good as It Gets, the logo is silent.

4th logo

A singing trio (two females: one soprano & alto, and a male tenor) singing "TAKE HOLLYWOOD HOOOOOOOOOME!", or the opening theme of the trailer.

5th logo

Same as above, but the singing trio is less jolly.

Music/Sounds Variants

  • On some trailers like both versions of the Family Collection trailer, the exact same music from the last logos are used.
  • On the trailer variants of this logo, a 6-note piano jingle is added at the beginning. Also, as the clip-on zooms in, a male announcer says the text on-screen as a brief string theme is heard.
  • The 2nd version of the Family Collection trailer has a version similar to the one mentioned above, except the piano jingle is shortened to the last 4 notes.

6th logo

Same as the 3rd logo.

7th logo

None, but on international releases, a Madchester breakbeat was used. On The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo, it uses the music from the 5th logo.

8th logo

Whooshing sounds as the words, "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" move into position. An ethereal humming noise as the boxes are revealed and animate. As the TriStar Pegasus unfolds and stretches his wings, we hear a low whoosh sound. Last, a phaser sound as the certain text moves into place and we hear chime sounds. Sometimes, there was a louder version. There is also another version that has a very different phaser sound, but it's unknown what releases have that version.

Music/Sounds Variant

There is an 5.1 Dolby Digital version which enhances the phaser sounds. It can be found on the 2000 DVD of Look Who's Talking Too and the 2001 Collector's Edition DVD of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

9th logo

There were two variants:

  • VHS (and early VCDs and DVDs): Composed by Machine Head of Venice, California, the clicking noise comes first, then a wonderful, majestic synthesized fanfare with horns playing throughout the logo. Also, it would be interesting to note that this variant of the logo used to be one of the longest, clocking in at nearly 20 seconds, until others such as The ABM Group, Hendring Limited, Kanaal 2 (opening), Hammer Video Home and Photo-Video were discovered.
  • DVD (and later VCDs and VHS): A shorter acoustic guitar tune that rises into a triumphant theme with bells, strings, and a small chorus. The animation plays slightly quicker here.

Music/Sounds Variant

  • On the VHS trailer version of this logo, the clicking noise heard at the beginning of the regular VHS version of the logo is absent.
  • A 5.1 synthesized version of the first music variant exists. This audio variant can be heard on certain DVDs like the original United Kingdom DVD release of Charlie's Angels.
  • On UK and Australian releases of Kermit's Swamp Years, along with the Jim Henson Entertainment logo and the film itself, the audio is high pitched. The logo itself also appears to have been very slightly sped up

Scare Factor

[]

None for the standard version. The one with the guitar note is low. None to low for the RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video music variant.

[]

None.

[]

None; this is a very popular logo among many, to the point where this one was used longer than any other Columbia TriStar logo.

[]

Depending on the variant:

  • Standard Version: None to medium. It all depends on what you think of that sudden singing trio.
  • Opening Theme: None.

[]

See previous logo.

[]

None.

[]

None.

[]

Medium to high. The specific text zooming out and the loud phaser sound might probably get to more than a few. If this blew your mind like we said previously, wait until you see the successor to these logos below...

[]

None. It's a popular logo now that the widely hated "Split Boxes" have been put to rest. A nice fanfare and great logo concept makes this logo a winner.

Video[]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3QFCWpVPf8

Columbia_TriStar_Home_Entertainment_(2002)

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2002)


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