Background
Buena Vista Television was the production/distribution arm of Walt Disney Television established in 1985 as "Walt Disney Domestic Television", before it was rebranded in 1986 to "Buena Vista Television". Originally, it distributed Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television shows and the Buena Vista film library on TV. Later, it also took on the libraries of ABC (in 1996) and Saban (in 2002). It also distributed other Disney-owned libraries. Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution is the domestic distribution unit of the Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company formed in July 2007 initially as "Disney-ABC Domestic Television" after the Disney-ABC Television Group re-branded its syndication division Buena Vista Television, when The Walt Disney Company retired the "Buena Vista" brand. In 2013, its barter syndication division was renamed to "ABC Syndication". Since August 2015, Disney-ABC Domestic Television was renamed to its current name.
Buena Vista Television
1st Logo
(September 14, 1985-2006)
Nicknames: "(Classic) Disney Castle", "Abstract Castle", "Blue BG & Rainbow Castle", "Multicolored Kingdom", "Disney Castle", "Rainbow Disney Castle"
Logo: On a shady indigo blue background, we see the familiar Disney stylized, segmented castle (as seen in the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo), but shaded (from top to bottom) red, orange, and yellow. The white circular line is already there, and below it is the stacked text "Buena Vista Television" in two lines appear below the logo. A spark flies from the circular line, from the left to the right.
Trivia:
- This logo was shown until 2006 at the end of local-Disney produced shows for example on 2003, as Club Disney produced in association with Telecinco.
- One Winnie the Pooh tape strangely had full animation, although it was supposed to use the still version. It might have been a mistake in production.
Variants:
- On shows distributed by Buena Vista, the text appears in one line, and the word "Distributed By" is shown above the logo. The spark goes from right to left in the variant (in the same vein as the Walt Disney Pictures logo of the era). Sometimes, the text fades from the Walt Disney Television text.
- There is also a chyroned in copyright date that appears underneath the logo.
- A variant of the "standalone" logo has the text set horizontally rather than vertically.
- One variant had a dark purple background instead of the indigo-blue background. This variant can be found on the VHS release of Winnie the Pooh: Detective Tigger.
- On international distribution and most DVD releases, "Television" is replaced by "International, Inc." The font in this variant may look narrower and/or bolder.
FX/SFX: The "spark" flying, the text fades. In other cases, it's completely still.
Music/Sounds: A series of ascending pings sounding like when you move your hands rapidly on the keys of a piano, the closing theme of the show, or none.
Availability: It used to appear at the end of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? and last seen on Bill Nye the Science Guy on Univision, and was shown before every Disney movie shown on TV outside the U.S.. This logo was found on DuckTales DVDs and also appears on seasons five and six of The Golden Girls on DVD. The non-animated version of this logo was found on Winnie the Pooh videos. The standalone version was seen on some episodes of The Challengers (most episodes had no BVTV logo; see below), and pre-1996 episodes of Siskel & Ebert.
2nd Logo
(September 13, 1988-October 27, 1995)
Nicknames: "Abstract Castle II", "Black BG & Rainbow Castle", "Multicolored Kingdom II", "Disney Castle II", "Rainbow Disney Castle II"
Logo: On a black background, we see the light blue words "Buena Vista Television" below in 3D zooms out. A red chyron trail stands behind it, and we see the castle from the 1st logo zooms out. and the text centers itself and settles behind the castle. A spark then draws the circular line, but this time from left to right. As the line draws itself, the flags appear one by one on top of the castle.
Trivia: The logo is designed by Studio Productions (now Flip Your Lid Animation) in Hollywood.
Variants:
- On shows created by Walt Disney Television, the Walt Disney Television text fades out, and the words is smaller, with "Distributed By" above the logo.
- A short version exists, starting with the logo already formed, with the line drawing being the only animation of the logo
- There can also be a copyright date under the BVTV text. This could usually be seen on Bill Nye the Science Guy.
- Reprints of Witt/Thomas/Harris-Touchstone shows, such as early '90s syndicated reruns of The Golden Girls, had this logo with a "Touchstone Pictures and Touchstone Television" copyright stamp, plastering the original Touchstone TV logo.
- Sometimes this logo is completely still.
FX/SFX: The chyron trail, the zooming out of the castle, the line drawing, the flags appearing and sometimes a spark going through the circular line. This was all done by Flip Your Lid Animation (formerly known as Studio Productions).
Music/Sounds: Bell music, but in other cases, it's silent or the finishing of the end title theme from any show plays over the logo. But on reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy from this era that were reran after the 4th logo debuted, the music from that logo was used.
Availability: Again, usually only seen on older prints. Check old tapes for shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy (the last episode to have this was "Animal Locomotion", broadcast on October 27, 1995). Was last seen on Unsolved Mysteries on Lifetime with the BVTV logo. The 1990 quiz series The Challengers didn't have this logo, however, opting instead for either no BVTV logo at all, or the previous logo (with the exception of the Invitational Tournament, which uses the "chyron trail" variant of this logo). The long version is extinct and was last seen on early 90s episodes of Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, as well as syndicated reruns of The Golden Girls. This was first seen on Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town on CBS in 1988 and also appeared on the 1991 TV special Rocketeer: Excitement in the Air. It was also spotted on some episodes of Bonkers! (including the Christmas episode, "Miracle at the 34th Precinct"), the original version of the TaleSpin pilot, "Plunder and Lightning", and surprisingly appears on the Goof Troop episode "Calling All Goofs" on the Goof Troop: Volume 2 DVD set. It was also on syndie prints of Tron and White Fang.
Editor's Note: The logo has outstanding CGI for its era.
3rd Logo
(September 5, 1992-September 3, 1993)
Nickname: "Goofy Filmstrip"
Logo: It's only the same as the 1992 Walt Disney Television logo, except after few seconds it changes to "Distributed by Buena Vista Television".
FX/SFX: Same as the 1992 Walt Disney Television logo.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Extinct; originally seen on the 1992-93 season of The Disney Afternoon.
Editor's Note: Same as the 1991 Walt Disney Television logo.
4th Logo (October 20, 1995-May 23, 2006)
Nicknames: "The Comets", "The Buena Vista Comets", "The Blades", "The Globestreaks", "The Burning Comets"
WARNING: Because of the logo’s fanfare, and Bill shrieking throughout during the "Volcanoes" episode variant, turn down your speakers, and contains flashing images may cause seizures for some viewers. Please do not watch this video if you are prone to seizures.
Logo: There is an overhead view of a blue earth globe on a black space background. Three comets cross each other's paths one by one as they circle the globe and then appear from underneath, streaking past the globe diagonally in unison from the bottom left to the upper right. As the earth zooms away, the background then fades to dark blue space background filled with stars boxed in on a black background. As the screen zooms out from the point, the earth gradually rotates with a comet moving upward while the background orbits. Then, three comets can be seen streaking past the globe in a diagonal direction from the bottom left corner toward the upper right corner and gradually zoom away into the black background. The comets fly past the globe, trailing off as they fly past, leaving a frozen motion mark just barely behind the border of the globe. The company name (this time in all-caps) in a yellow/purple gradient is wiped in from left to right by way of a fancy gradual dissolve.
Early Variant: An early variant of the logo has the comets burn blade-cut imprints in the process throughout the entire box. As the comets fly past the globe, the space background fades to a yellow/purple gradient, with a yellow dot that appears to be the sun appearing on the surface of the globe. The colors in the text are also slightly different. The comet blade imprint is light-colored from inside the globe portion and dark-colored from outside the globe. The globe also turns black at the end. This was used from 1995 to 1997; however, Live with Regis & Kathie Lee/Kelly continued to use the original version until 2002, though some 1997 episodes used the 1997 version, however.
Variants:
- A shortened version of the logo exists, where the logo starts with the Earth zooming out, while the medium-length version that starts with the globe zooming out also exists, but the comets do not appear until the box shows up. Medium-length and long versions of the original 1995 logo went unused.
- On the long version of the 1997 variant, the comets have a yellow highlight and the gradient has more yellow tinting.
- On the VHS release Winnie the Pooh: Three Cheers for Eeyore and Rabbit, the long version of the logo fades out at the end. Any other VHS releases that show these cuts to black at the end.
- Like with the previous two logos, reprints of Witt/Thomas/Harris-Touchstone shows, such as Lifetime's airings of The Golden Girls and Nurses, had this logo with a "Touchstone Pictures and Television" copyright stamp, plastering the original Touchstone Television logo with copyright stamp.
- Some prints of this logo have a copyright stamp such as "© [YEAR]" at the bottom, most notably on shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy. On the long version of this logo, the text "© [YEAR]" faded in midway through the duration.
- On Hercules: The Animated Series, the logo fades into the 1995 Buena Vista International logo.
- Usually, the logo is designed for 4:3 display, but when the logo appeared at the end of Stephen King's Desperation, it was stretched to 16:9.
FX/SFX: CGI by Pittard Sullivan.
Music/Sounds: A twelve-note horn fanfare, with chimes during the first five notes. This was composed by Sam Winans.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- There are different mixes for the short, medium, and long versions. The short and medium versions have a cymbal crash, but it's omited in the long version. The instrumentation on the long version is also stripped down to just two or three horns.
- The short version just has the last seven notes of the theme.
- On pre-2014 cable prints of Seasons 6-12 and 14 of America's Funniest Home Videos, the first note of the short version is cut off. On Season 13, only half of the first note is cut off.
- A medium version was sometimes used, where it is mixed with the first note and the rest of the theme, starting with the fourth note of the long version. It is also redone as the chimes have a short delay before each chimes (unlike the flourish at the end of the long version), the fourth and fifth notes are shortened, and the flourish does not play until the last two notes are heard.
- For the first two years with the early version, the music was played at slight warp-speed.
- The closing theme of the show was sometimes used.
- Sometimes, the theme is accompanied by whooshes and sparkling sounds.
- Original airings of Disney's Scott Hamilton Upside Down had the generic CBS theme accompanying the early version.
- Quack Pack VHS releases have the 1990 Buena Vista Home Video theme play over this logo.
- On the season 4 Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Volcanoes," Bill screams into the logo while an explosion is heard with the logo's standard music.
- Some episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy play the theme for the long version on the standard logo and the other half in the BVTV international logo.
- On the 101 Dalmatians: The Series episode "You Slipped a Disk"/"Chow About That?", the logo is silent.
- The last note is sometimes incomplete.
- On the Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Comets and Meteors", the flame breath is played during the jingle of the entire logo while footage of the previous logo and the BVTV International logo are in use.
- On Bill Nye the Science Guy, one half of the short music plays through the standard logo, and the other half plays over the 1995 BVTV International logo. On a couple of episodes, this occurred with the long version of the music.
- On Winnie the Pooh: Three Cheers for Eeyore and Rabbit, the dinging noise that is heard at the beginning of the long version is absent.
- On a 2006 AMC airing of When a Man Loves a Woman, a low-toned version was used.
- During Lifetime airings of The Golden Girls, the logo's music would sometimes be slightly off-sync.
- Some original airings of Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney's Greatest Hits, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (starting in 2000), and Disney's Lilo & Stitch: Aloha From Hollywood used a generic ABC theme over the 1995 or 1997 version of the logo.
- On the Gene Siskel tribute episode of Siskel & Ebert, the logo is silent out of respect for the late Mr. Siskel. This can also be found on an Indonesian VCD release of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (while the U.S. DVD release thereof has the theme), The PJs episodes "He's Gotta Have It" and "Boyz 'n the Woods" on the season one DVD, the September 18, 2001 episode of Live with Regis and Kelly (the special edition of the show to remembering September 11 attacks), and also on TBS/TNT airings of Father of the Bride, Part II.
Availability:
- The 1995 version can be found on a DVD print of Bill Nye the Science Guy, and it was also seen on PBS airings.
- This logo can also be found on VHS releases from Disney Educational Productions of said show.
- The long version of the 1995 logo was last seen on the archived Sam Winans television section until late 2012 being replaced with the updated version, albeit in low resolution. Television and home video releases never had this, nor the medium length version of the original 1995 logo.
- On broadcast TV, it was last seen in all its glory mostly until 2008 on Univision reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy, preceding the previous 1995 Buena Vista International "Rainbow Castle" logo.
- It was also seen on Live with Regis (and Kathie Lee/Kelly) episodes of this era.
- A version of the 1995 version using the closing music can be found on international prints of most season 3 episodes of Timon & Pumbaa, cross-fading to the 1995 Buena Vista International logo; a similar variant was also seen on Quack Pack (though both shows plastered this logo with the 1986 Walt Disney Television logo on Toon Disney (now Disney XD)).
- One of the earliest appearances of the logo was on Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, which had the logo by September 1995.
- The 1995 version was seen on season 8 of Unsolved Mysteries, which premiered on October 20, 1995, one week before the 2nd logo ended.
- The 1995 version was also seen on the first season of the game show Debt when it was last seen on Lifetime in the late '90s.
- The 1995 version was also seen on reruns and on Disney+ prints of The Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series, where it was followed by the 1995 International version of 1st logo (both were plastered with the 1986 Walt Disney Television logo on Toon Disney (now Disney XD) airings), the 1995-Summer 1997 seasons of The Disney Afternoon, Dinosaurs, where it plastered the 1986 Walt Disney Television logo, and Home Improvement, where it appeared after the Touchstone Television logo, but later airings plaster it with the 1997 logo.
- The 1997 version was seen on pre-2014 syndicated reruns of seasons 6-14 of America's Funniest Home Videos, as well as 1997-2005 episodes of Siskel & Ebert/Ebert & Roeper, and 1999-2005 episodes of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, among others, as well as the last season of Debt when it was seen on Lifetime in the late '90s and Win Ben Stein's Money when it was last seen on GSN.
- It also can be found on Winnie the Pooh: Three Cheers for Eeyore and Rabbit.
- Currently seen on Freeform's reruns of Boy Meets World, as Freeform uses the same older syndicated prints that the channel used when it was known as ABC Family.
- The 1997 version of the logo was also seen on episodes of Digimon Frontier when it was on UPN, but Jetix (on ABC Family and Toon Disney) and YTV Canada airings don't use this logo at all.
- The "Touchstone Pictures and Television" variant of the 1997 logo plasters the 2nd logo on the DVD print of the Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Animal Locomotion".
- The long version of the 1997 logo with the "© 1997" was spotted on the Bill Nye the Science Guy episode "Do it Yourself Science."
- On the DVD release containing the episode, Inventions & Do It Yourself Science, the complete version of this logo appears for the English title, but the Spanish one uses the previous logo with a 1995 Buena Vista International logo. It would be continued to be in use until the show ended in 1998.
- The medium version of the 1997 logo was seen on Stephen King's Desperation (albeit being stretched), although this logo officially ended at the time, but the PAL DVD release has the next logo stretched.
- It was also seen on many other cases such as on Toon Disney (now Disney XD) airings of Hercules: The Animated Series, late Summer 1997 airings of The Disney Afternoon, and the 1998 syndie airings of Disney's DuckTales (plastering the 1st logo), among others.
- This logo also makes an appearance on the first nine episodes of The PJs on the first season DVD, while the rest of the season has the Touchstone Television logo.
- However, it is not intact on Crackle's print of the show.
- This logo has also been seen on Game Show Network reruns of Regis-era Who Wants to Be a Millionaire episodes starting in March 2023, albeit compressed due to split-screen credits. It was later reinstated on the Top of the Charts edition (July 22-27, 2001).
Editor's Note: The "comets" are a very significant change from the previous "castle" logos, which clearly identified the division with Disney. Regardless, this logo does have its fans.
5th Logo (June 21, 2005-2008)
Nicknames: "The Comets II", "The Buena Vista Comets II", "2000s Comets"
Logo: A redone version of the concept from before; the planet Neptune replaces the globe on a spiffier Milky Way background, and the sequence starts from a different position. On a black space background, there are three comets appear at the same time. The screen pans up to Neptune and pan to its upper right, where the comets fly to the back. Three comets streak from the left and freeze, and the screen turns white with the logo of the comets and globe in space in a box at the top, and the company name, this time in gray, fades in and zooms out to take its place under the logo.
Trivia: Unlike the previous logo, this one was animated at 60fps.
Variants:
- A more common short version starts with the last three comets streaking past. This was actually used first, with the longer version debuting in 2006.
- There is a rare variation that is longer than the short version, yet shorter than the extended version, where the logo starts when the comets pass the Neptune instead of circling around it.
- There is an extremely rare variation where the background is light blue, the comets are still, and the company is known as "Buena Vista Productions".
FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo.
Music/Sounds: A re-orchestrated version of the last fanfare, but without the 2nd note, also composed by Sam Winans. as with the previous, long, short and medium-length versions exist.
Music/Sounds Variant: The Tony Danza Show uses the previous theme.
Availability: Uncommon, as it was only used for 3 years. This logo first appeared on Moonlighting in 2005 when Nick @ Nite celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2005. Appeared on episodes of Buena Vista-produced/distributed shows such as Live with Regis and Kelly, The Tony Danza Show, and the syndicated version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire from 2005 to 2007. It also appears on reruns of other shows including The Golden Palace. The long version appears on some syndicated reruns of Scrubs and America's Funniest Home Videos.
Editor's Note: The lighter background will seem odd to those viewers familiar with the previous "comet" logos, but it's nothing too out of the ordinary. This is a nice logo.
Disney-ABC Domestic Television
(September 3, 2007-)
Nicknames: "Crashing Stars", "Disney-ABC in the Sky"
Logo: Two stars are flying downward on a black space background. They merge into a white star, and the logo starts to take form with the Disney (in the corporate font) logo and the ABC logo (tinted blue) coming from each side with the words "Home Entertainment and Television Distribution" (previously "DOMESTIC TELEVISION" in Futura MD BT font and spaced out all-caps), under the two small lines, and a blue sky background, with clouds appearing. As this is happening, the Disney logo and star fade from white to blue. After this, the clouds move slowly to the left. In most cases, however, the short version is used, so the logo tends to cut off before the clouds make any significant movement.
Variants:
- On Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for Nintendo DS, a still version is used. The Disney/ABC logos and words are placed horizontally against a white background, with the Disney and ABC logos separated by a vertical line.
- An updated version of the logo was introduced in September 2013. The sky color fade-in plays faster, and starts a second earlier. The ABC logo was modified into the 2013 rendition that made its debut that summer, but with a blue shine instead of a yellow one. The words "Domestic Television" appear in a new generic typeface, called "Benton Sans", and now in title case letter formation.
- The logo was updated in 2015 to reflect the name change.
- Starting in Fall 2020, a new version was made: the ABC logo is removed as the Disney logo is now at the center and much bigger, and because of that, the star disappears when it lands. The bottom now reads "Media Distribution".
FX/SFX: The two stars merging, the flying logo.
Music/Sounds: A reorchestration of the 1997 medium-length Buena Vista Television theme, composed by Sam Winans. Sometimes, the closing theme plays over the logo.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- On LIVE! with Kelly (and Michael/Ryan), a volume glitch is heard; the first half of the music plays over before the show fades to the logo and the second half is on the logo. The first half is on low volume while the second half is on the normal volume.
- On the Katie talk show, it's only the tail end of the logo.
- On some Katie, FABLife, and Right This Minute episodes, from Sam Winans' website, as well as the unused version where the theme originated from the long version, the theme is extended.
Availability: Common. Currently appears on post-2007 episodes of first-run syndication programs such as Live! with Kelly and Ryan, At the Movies, and the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, among others. Don't expect this to appear on reruns of the Disney-ABC library, because Disney allegedly has a logo policy to keep all of the original logos and to protect the Disney company's family image; this logo is seen only on first-run syndicated series.
Editor's Note: The name of this division is rather long (and rather redundant as well), but this logo is still perfectly fine.