Background: Academy Entertainment was a home video distributor that released mostly B-movies, which was in operation from 1985 to 1994.
1st Logo
(July 1985-December 21, 1987)[]
Logo: On a sunset background (with stars shooting outward, for some strange reason) with two searchlights (like the KingWorld logo), we zoom out on a Roman-like structure. A flash of light brings forth the "ACADEMY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" text, carved in stone, set upon the structure, which now has spotlights moving around on it. Then "ACADEMY HOME ENTERTAINMENT", with a "shadow" effect, zooms in, and we are left with a white print logo on a blue background, with the roof of the structure missing, and has the white line between "ACADEMY" and "HOME ENTERTAINMENT".
Variant: There is a still variant with a copyright date chyroned in at the end of tapes.
FX/SFX: Everything.
Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare.
Availability: Rare, seen on B-movies and other obscurities released by this company during the mid-to-late 80s.
Editor's Note: The building is obviously a model, and a poorly-made one at that.
2nd Logo
(1987-1993)[]
Logo: On a dark blue space background, we see a bright burst of light. Then the Academy star logo zooms in, rotating in 3D as it does so, it consists of a yellow star with a star-shaped hole that cuts from the center. When it reaches the centre of the screen, a flash appears behind it. The text "ACADEMY ENTERTAINMENT" (with a line between the words) flips in from the bottom, with "ACADEMY" in a serif font, and "ENTERTAINMENT" below in a sans-serif font. Then the words "shine" and a sparkle appears on the "Y" in "ACADEMY". Then we fade out.
Variant: At the end of tapes, we only see the company name flipping in, then the company name in Roman numerals fades in below.
FX/SFX: The flashing and flipping of the CGI star.
Music/Sounds: Two chords when the star rotates in, another one when the star flashes and "ACADEMY" flips in, three more chords, and then a glittery sound when the words shine.
Availability: Seen on all Academy tapes from 1987 to 1992. Even when the next logo was introduced in 1992, it was continued to be used at the end of tapes. Titles featuring the logo The Game of Love, Thieves of Fortune, Witchcraft II: The Temptress', Aria, Scavengers, Last Man Standing, Tongs, Close My Eyes and Victims of Love. This logo made a strange appearance at the end of the Vidmark Entertainment VHS release of Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes with the second Vidmark logo appearing after it. It was also seen at the beginning on a 2000s Encore airing of Iron Maze.
Editor's Note: This is a top notch logo for the time.
3rd Logo
(1992-1994)[]
Logo: On a blue-black gradient background, we see the Academy star logo from the previous logo in red, fades in. The star then shines, and then we see the text "ACADEMY ENTERTAINMENT" in the same style as before, although the text was in a different font, and "ENTERTAINMENT" is shown in spaced-out letters, in order to fit the length of the star.
Variant: At the end of tapes from 1993 to 1994, a copyright information fades in below.
FX/SFX: The fading in and the star shining.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Originally used at the start of Academy's tapes from 1992, this would eventually become the main Academy logo by 1993, and it was quietly retired by that time the company had closed down. Titles featuring the logo were Boris and Natasha: The Movie, Paper Marriage, Delta Heat, Liquid Dreams, Mirror Images II, Fatal Charm, Heaven Tonight, The Silencer, Dangerous Relations and Maniac Cop 3.
Editor's Note: None, this was a downgrade from the previous logo.