Key Video

Background: Key Video was a sub-label of CBS/Fox Video for low-budget, classic, and TV movie releases on video. It was later reactivated by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment as "Key DVD" to distribute budget DVDs, but this incarnation was short-lived.

Key Video

1st Logo (January 18-later 1984)

Nicknames: "Space"

Logo: On a computerized space background, the words "KEY VIDEO", in a yellow Helvetica font, appear with a dissolving effect, arranged in a spiral-like fashion. They spin and spiral around five times, then arrange themselves in a straight line. After a couple of seconds, they dissolve out with a "chyron mist" effect.

Variant: A black and white variant exists. This can be found on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and I Am a Fugitive from the Chain Gang.

FX/SFX: Early 80's CG.

Music/Sounds: A heavy synth theme that seems to increase in pitch during its duration. This is from the Emil Ascher, Inc. library titled “Upsweep” (later reissued on Parry Music as "Sports Break").

Availability: Extremely rare, due to its very short lifespan and the fact that releases with this logo carried the next logo on the packaging. Tapes that have it include Who'll Stop the Rain, The Buddy System, Listen to Your Heart, Where's Poppa?, Zardoz, Foxes, Burn!, and The Hospital.

2nd Logo (Later 1984-1990, 1997)

Nicknames: "The Key", "Tri-Colored Key"

Logo: On a shady gray background, two 3-D elongated shapes and a cylinder flip towards the screen. The shapes align together, forming the outline of a key, as the 3-D words "KEY VIDEO" zoom out below. The logo “shines” and turns colorful, the top half blue, the circle part red, and the bottom half purple. The text "KEY VIDEO" (in ITC Lubalin Graph Bold) is in a shade of pink, white, and blue.

Variants:

• On B&W releases, the logo is grayscaled. Titles with this include Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, Young Frankenstein, and The Pride of the Yankees, among others.
• This has appeared in orange, blue, and green colors at least once. The background is a more grayish color and the "KEY VIDEO" text is shaded in green, white, and orange. This appears on Footlight Serenade.
• The Chace Surround Sound logo may appear at the top left of the screen. This is on the one instance of the orange/green variant we know of.
• The logo is scaled down to the lower-right of the screen on parts where it explains what the preview about to be shown is about.

FX/SFX: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A long synth note at the start, followed by a dated yet calming 3-note synth tune.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:

• On some videos, it has a male voiceover (Bill St. James) reminding the viewer to watch the end of the tape for their Spotlight Collection promo.
• On the 1985 VHS of Helter Skelter, the fanfare is out of sync.

Availability: Rare, but easy to find on tapes with the Key Video logo at the bottom of the cover and rainbow stripes appearing on the lower-top of it. Tapes with this logo include Cast a Giant Shadow, Where the Boys Are '84, Vindicator, My Man Adam, P.I. Private Investigations, Tomorrow's Child, The Girl Can't Help It, Prime Cut, Love and Death, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Killer Elite, Little Big Man, Bedroom Eyes, This Man Must Die, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, The Secret Life of an American Wife, Sayonara, The Letter, The Ox-Bow Incident, Blind Justice, Born to Race, Young Mr. Lincoln, Moon Over Miami, and Paris Blues. This is retained by surprise on the 1997 20th Century Fox Selections VHS of Better Off Dead..., seen after the 1995 Fox Video logo. It is unknown if the orange-blue-green version has appeared any other times, nor if there is a version without the Chace bug. Strangely, despite it appearing on the clip-ons, the actual logo is absent on the original VHS of Slam Dance.

Key DVD

(December 17, 2002-December 6, 2005)

Nickname: "The Key II"

Logo: On a white background is a black key with the prongs pointed upward inside a black rectangle. The text "KEY VIDEO" (or "KEY DVD") in Engravers Gothic font is seen below the rectangle.

Variant: An inverted variant exists with the logo in white on a black background.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Can easily be found on any DVD sporting the Key DVD logo, such as Slaughter of the Innocents, Active Stealth, The Calling, and Puddle Cruiser. This also appears on the original DVD of Basket Case 3: The Progeny, despite carrying 20th Century Fox logos on its packaging. Conversely, some Goosebumps discs, such as The Ghost Next Door, How I Got My Shrunken Head, Scary House, and Cry of the Cat, have the Key DVD logo throughout their packaging, but the 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo appears on the disc. The inverted variant can be found on Jack of Hearts and Project: Human Weapon.

Other

• For other related logos and images see: Key Video/Other