Sony Wonder/Summary

Background[]

Sony Wonder (formerly known as "Sony Kids' Video") was a kids and family home entertainment label that operated under Sony Music Entertainment from 1992 to 2007, and by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment from 2007 to 2020. It was known for distributing early Nickelodeon shows during the MTV era, as well as Sesame Street Home Video content, PBS Kids shows from Random House Home Video such as Caillou and Arthur, and many titles from the Golden Books Family Entertainment catalog in the U.S. and Cinar-produced shows in Canada.

Sony Wonder began on July 3, 1993 after a merger between the Sony Kids' Music and Sony Kids' Video labels, led by president of operations Ted Green. Both were originally marketed by the Sony-owned Epic Records. A couple months before this, Nickelodeon had signed a long-term agreement with Epic to put out its shows on video, lasting until 1996 when the contract expired and distribution was subsequently switched over to Paramount Home Video after Viacom's acquisition of the network. On April 24, 1995, the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) signed an agreement to distribute its Sesame Street product on video, with Random House Home Video joining the same month. On December 27, 1997, Golden Books Family Entertainment teamed up with Sony Wonder to distribute its titles, which continued under Classic Media after they bought the former company out of bankruptcy.

On March 13, 2007, Sony BMG announced that it would shut down Sony Wonder in order to focus more on its core music business, with all its current video deals being sold to other companies. Despite the shutdown announcement, Sony Wonder would continue to operate in a limited fashion as a division of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment until 2015, where it would be rebranded as Sony Pictures Family Fun, and was finally folded into Sony Pictures Kids Zone in 2020. Despite this, direct-to-video installments of The Swan Princess film series would continue to use the Sony Wonder name on its releases until then.

Today, Sesame Street content is distributed by Shout! Factory Kids, Caillou and other Cinar shows through Entertainment One in Canada, and Classic Media's catalog by Universal Studios Home Entertainment after DreamWorks Animation acquired it and renamed it to DreamWorks Classics in 2012.

1st Logo (1993-1995)[]

Nicknames: "The Teal Box", "Bouncy 'WONDER' Block"

Logo: On a white background, we see the Sony logo. At the same time, a green box with the word "WONDER" (In a decorative font), shrunken, falls from the top-middle screen to the bottom-middle screen. Once it hits the bottom, it bounces back up, spreading and widening itself as it goes. It then makes a stop below.

Variants:

On some promos, the logo is still.
One still variant has text on the top that reads "ALSO AVAILABLE FROM" in a Times New Roman font.

FX/SFX: The box bouncing. Simple early computer effects. None for the still variant.

Music/Sounds: None, except on the "ALSO AVAILABLE FROM" variant where a male announcer says everything on screen.

Availability: Rare.

It can be seen on pre-1995 Nickelodeon tapes from the era. Later Nickelodeon tapes (the ones that say "Nickelodeon Video") have the second logo.
Also seen on VHS tapes of A Bunch of Munsch, Dog City, Wild C.A.T.S., Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, and Tales from the Cryptkeeper.
Some releases with the print variation of the next logo, such as An Easter Bunny Adventure, instead use this logo on the tape itself.

Editor's Note: It's incredibly simple and far less detailed than the next logo below.

2nd Logo (1995-2007; 2013-2020)[]

Nicknames: "The Ribbon", "The Sunny 'WONDER' Ribbon"

Logo: On a time-lapsed cloudy environment, the word "WONDER" (in Herman font, more simple from before), in a pink ribbon, flies in from the top-right to the bottom of the screen and stops in the center. The ribbon then turns blue, and a CGI yellow sun appears in place of the "O" in "WONDER" via a cheesy light effect. The Sony logo fades in at the top of the ribbon. The end result is almost the same as the first logo.

Variants:

There are several short variants:
- Some releases have the logo begin shortly before the ribbon is settling into place.
- On Season 1 episodes of The Beginner's Bible, as well as at both the beginning and end of the 2002 Time Life Kids VHS of The Beginner's Bible episode "The Nativity", the logo begins just before the sun appears.
- In some cases, the logo fades to black earlier.
- On Rainbow Fish (TV Series) releases, and at the end of Sesame Street VHS promos, the logo is shown already formed.
The color of the CGI sun in "WONDER" can vary.
- On nearly all Sony Wonder releases, it is gold-yellow.
- On many Sesame Street VHS releases from late 1996-early 1998 such as Sing Yourself Sillier at the Movies and Kids' Guide to Life: Telling the Truth, it is orange-yellow.
- On early 1996 Sesame Street VHS releases such as Elmocize and Rock & Roll, it is brighter, making it appear in a white-tinted color.

On some pre-2008 widescreen DVD releases, the logo is surround by a light blue faded border. This was mainly seen on Classic Media releases.
On an online promo bumper from 2003, the logo appears via a 2D "wave" effect, with a black URL "www.sonywonder.com" appearing below. The cloud footage is also different.
On releases past The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale, it is in true widescreen and completely still.

FX/SFX: The ribbon flying, the sun and the Sony logo both appearing. A combination of 2D computer effects and basic CGI. None for the still variant.

Music/Sounds: A riveting string note is held out, and when the ribbon appears, descending harp notes play in-sync with the ribbon. As the ribbon is in its position with the sun appearing, a brief flute melody plays, and when the Sony logo appears, everything rises to one majestic note complete with tubular bells that slowly stops once the logo fades. This is all synthesized, with some samples produced on the E-mu Proteus 2 Orchestral digital synthesizer.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Most of the short variants have the already in-progress music cut in depending on when it starts. In some cases, it instead uses the closing theme of the show or promo.
On the online promo bumper, the music starts when the flute melody plays, and a female announcer is heard saying "Experience the wonder online, at www.sonywonder.com".
The still variants use the movie's opening theme.
On the TubiTV print of Timothy Tweedle: The First Christmas Elf, the Balmur Entertainment theme plays due to an editing error where the order of the logos are swapped but the audio isn't.

Availability: Common.

It can be seen on many Sony Wonder VHS and DVD releases of the period, such as Sesame Street videos, and Children's Television Workshop/Sesame Workshop videos from 1994-2008. Also appears on releases from Random House Home Video & Harvey Entertainment, Golden Books Family Entertainment, Entertainment Rights, and Classic Media.
It can also be seen on Canadian/American VHS and DVD releases of Caillou.
It also appeared on a few Nickelodeon tapes (ones that had "Nickelodeon Video" on the tape) from 1995 to 1996 before distribution changed to Paramount Home Video.
This makes a surprise appearance on the 2007 DVD sets of Sesame Street TV Episode Fun Pack Vol 1 and Vol 2, despite having the next logo on the packaging, even though the last release to use this logo on packaging is the 2006 DVD of Sesame Beginnings, Exploring Together released on November 7, 2006.
The still variant can be seen on installments of The Swan Princess beginning with "A Royal Family Tale" as well as on Honey Girls.
Strangely, this doesn't appear on any Big Idea releases distributed from the company.

Editor's Note: A very memorable logo for those who grew up watching shows that were released on home video by the company. However, the first widescreen variant looks cheap, as the faded borders were a quick way to present the logo in widescreen. When the logo returned for Swan Princess releases, the animation and original music were both gone, making the logo look boring.

3rd Logo (November 14, 2006-April 3, 2007)[]

WARNING! This logo contains flashing images that may cause seizures in some viewers. Please do not watch the videos of this logo if you are prone to seizures.

Nicknames: "Cheesy Sun", "Flash Sun", "Twirling Sun"

Logo: On a white background is a crudely drawn gold circle that zooms incredibly close to the screen, then pans back, followed by rapid flashing. Several yellow lines appear around the circle making it a sun, then spin around. The lines blur, then are re-drawn. The sun bounces to the middle of the screen, where the text "SONY", in its corporate font, slides in from the left and bumps the logo to the right. "WONDER", also in the Sony logo font, then slides in from the right and bumps the logo back to the center of the screen. The sun rays spin around one more time and wiggle around (à la the animation style of Ed, Edd n Eddy).

Variants:

On some releases, the byline "A Sony Pictures Entertainment / Kids Music Company" appears below the completed logo.
Sometimes, the gray URL "sonywonder.com" fades in below "WONDER".

FX/SFX: The movement of the circle, the rays appearing and spinning, the text bumping it. Simple Flash animation.

Music/Sounds: It begins with a quick jet zooming sound, then several xylophone notes and a "TWING!" as the circular sun zooms back. As the sun spins around, there are several drum taps, then three bouncing sounds. Two "dwong" sounds are heard as the Sony Wonder logo is finally formed, followed by an ascending twinkle.

Availability: Rare, as this logo was short-lived.

Appears on the company's later releases, such as the last few Sesame Street releases from Sony Wonder.
Don't expect this logo to appear on either Sesame Street TV Episode Fun Pack volumes, as both use the previous logo despite the fact that this logo is seen on the packaging.
One of the first DVDs of Sesame Street to use this logo is A Sesame Street Christmas Carol, while the last to use it was Sesame Beginnings Moving Together.

Editor's Note: Definitely not as memorable as the previous logo, as it was only used for a short time. The sun can possibly cause epileptic seizures for those who are prone to such things, and the re-drawing of the sun rays is also an unnecessary scene that likely only served to slightly pad out the runtime.

4th Logo (2009)[]

Nickname: "The Generic Background"

Logo: On the lighted environment of the website promo of the time, the white words "Sony wonder" (With the black drop-shadow at the right) appear in the center of the screen in a generic font.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Only seen on Playmobil: The Secret of Pirate Island.

Editor's Note: Quite possibly one of the cheapest-looking home video logos of all time. It looks like it was rushed out in under a minute, and the "Sony wonder" text isn't even in the corporate font. As it was only found on a single release, one has to wonder why it was even made in the first place.