Palace Pictures (UK)

Background : Palace Pictures was the film distribution branch of Palace Video (UK), and the de-facto branding used on all general audience releases from Palace Video after 1985.

1st Logo
(1985-1992)

Nicknames : "Shooting Star", "Peaceful Palace"

Logo : In a nighttime environment, we see an Art Deco-styled palace with the sign "PALACE PICTURES" above the palace's entrance, emitting a large light. As the light dies down, the palace becomes a darker purple color. Then, the pillars near the palace begin to glow yellow as the palace loses its purple color in favor of a balanced tone, as a shooting star slowly streaks behind it. Then, the text "PRESENTS", in a curly font, quickly glows onto the palace (under the "PALACE PICTURES" sign and dies down. As it fully appears, the rest of the palace fades out and becomes a silhouette.

FX/SFX : The shooting star and the glowing effects.

Music/Sounds : When the palace first appears, a deep humming sound can be heard in the background. This is followed by a whirring 3-note synth theme, with each note in an ascending pitch. A whoosh sound is heard accompanying the shooting star's appearance.

Availability : Seen on tapes and movies released by the company intended for a more general audience; kid friendly tapes instead featured the Palace Video logo. Many tapes with this logo feature it twice - once at the start of the tape's trailer reel, and again following the Palace Video "OR ELSE!" warning screen and before the BBFC film rating screen. The logo remains intact on the trailer for High Spirits (1989), which can be found on the film's DVD release and on YouTube. Surprisingly, this logo doesn't appear on the 1991 UK VHS releases of Metropolitan or Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, instead being replaced with the Palace Video logo for unknown reasons. One of the last releases to have this logo was the 1992 UK VHS of Prospero's Books.

Editor's Note : A beautiful logo that has held up very well for a logo from the 80s. Its sudden appearance might startle some, but the logo is a fitting replacement for the bright and gaudy Palace Video logo.