Videoman Internacional (Argentina)

Background : Videoman Internacional was formed on July 12, 1985 by Hector Emilio Olivera and Fernando Ayala. who owned Aries Cinematografia Argentina, who also founded Legal Video a month later. Its primary purpose was to distribute MGM/UA Home Video titles for the Argentinian market, and for a short time, it also has offices in Chile and Spain. In 1987, due to Aries' financial problems, both Legal Video and Videoman Internacional became part of a new company Gativideo, which the Legal Video brand became the main brand and the Videoman brand was used for MGM/UA titles, and it was dissolved in 1989 in favor of the Gativideo brand.

1st Logo (1986-1988)
Nicknames: "Road to the Future", "Running Grid"

Logo: On a black background with a yellow haze, a grid emerges from the haze and the Videoman Internacional logo ("Videoman Internacional") with the words stacked on top of each other in a Times New Roman font in white inside a white rectangle appears and flips around before finally settling in the middle.

FX/SFX: The grid, the flipping.

Music/Sounds: A 70s-esque disco theme.

Availability: Presumably seen on older releases from the label, such as original Argentinian VHS releases of Ben-Hur, Fame, Poltergeist and The Wizard of Oz. The logo is not shown at all on Chilean VHS releases.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1988-1989)
Nicknames: "Thunderbolts of the Sun", "Trip to the Sun and Hell", "Cheesy Triangle"

Logo: On a black background, a black sun with an orange outline appears with a yellow glow (it looks similar to the Schick Sun, as mentioned in one of the nicknames). As the sun appears, a white, glowing "ray" of sunlight fades in after it that later changes to a green-black striped color. Two copies of the "Videoman Internacional" logo, from the previous logo (although the text is larger), from a tilted angle, zoom in from the top of the ray of sunlight to the bottom of the screen at a very slow pace; with the second logo tilting forward to a comfortable viewing position and the first logo staying tilted, to give the appearance of a "shadow effect" to the first logo. As the second copy of "Videoman Internacional" stops at a comfortable distance from the screen, (the first copy of the logo continues scrolling off-screen), a prototype version of the Gativideo print logo appears at the bottom. During the second half of the logo's duration, several strikes of lightning appear through.

FX/SFX: The glowing sun and animated ray of sunlight, as well as the scrolling/fading print logos and lightning strikes.

Music/Sounds: A futuristic new-age theme ("Message From The Cosmos" by Kitaro) with the sounds of three thunderclaps in sync with animation.

Availability: Ultra rare. It's found on the 1987 film, Munchies as well as VHS releases of Spaceballs, Poltergeist III and Moonstruck.

Editor's Note: The lightning and thunderclaps may startle some, but the logo is generally pretty cheap and also strange.