Logo descriptions by wisp2007
Logo captures by wisp2007 and V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of Joseph Sobora (TheRedBaron1985)
Background: Turner Home Entertainment, Inc. was founded on July 29, 1986 by Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System to distribute the RKO Radio Pictures library on videocassette and, from 1987 to 1999, license the pre-1986 MGM and pre-1950 Warner Bros. libraries to MGM/UA Home Video. In 1994, when Turner bought out the New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment studios, Columbia TriStar Home Video sold the distribution rights of New Line Home Video releases to Turner Home Entertainment. Turner Home Entertainment also handled the rights to shows by Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network, as well as PBS Home Video releases from 1994-1997. In 1997, a year after Turner merged with Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery), Turner Home Entertainment was dissolved into Warner Home Video, although it remained in a limited fashion until 1999.
1st Logo (1986)[]
Logo: On a black background, we see the Turner logo zooming in with the part of the "T" longer. Below "urner" there was "HOME ENTERTAINMENT"
FX/SFX: The zooming.
Music/Sounds: None
Availability: This logo was used as a placeholder. Seen on the 1986 VHS of The Great American Bash.
Editor's Note: The logo looks like it's from the 1970s as the zoom-in is very rough. But this is a placeholder after all.
2nd Logo (1987-1990)[]
Logo: On a dark red/black gradient background, the words "TURNER HOME ENTERTAINMENT", in a fancy blue font, fly from the top of the screen, stopping in the middle.
FX/SFX: Cheap all around.
Music/Sounds: A harsh, droning synth. It sounds identical to the music of the U.S.A. Home Video logo.
Availability: Very rare.
- This logo can be seen on reprints of some RKO Home Video tapes and the original home video release of Laser Mission.
- Surprisingly, this logo also recently appeared without music during the documentary portion of Starrcade: The Essential Collection, a DVD set from World Wrestling Entertainment.
3rd Logo (1991-1993)[]
Nickname: "The Filmstrip"
Logo: On a space background we see a blue filmstrip flying which becomes a blue light. Then the words "TURNER", "HOME" and "ENTERTAINMENT" Turner Home Entertainmentin the same font used in the previous logo and in CGI fly out one by one from the center of the screen and stop in the middle as a grass background appears.
Variants:
- The logo plays normally, but it is half-superimposed to a background with two men riding on horses during the evening time.
- An international version has the logo forming on a black background before a purple reflective sphere appears below it. "INTERNATIONAL" in spaced out plain white letters fades in, also having a reflection.
FX/SFX: The filmstrip, the words flying. The space background seems detailed.
Music/Sounds: A chorus tune and a drumbeat, followed by four chorus notes when the words fly.
Music/Sounds Variant: There's also a silent version.
Availability: Rare.
- Seen on Turner video releases from 1991 to 1993 such as Reflections on Citizen Kane: Fifty Years and Tom & Jerry Kids tapes.
- The half-superimposed variant comes from a John Wayne promo on the VHS release of Montana.
- The "INTERNATIONAL" variant of this logo appears on UK VHS releases such as the 1997 UK VHS release of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop: Bumper Edition from First Independent.
4th Logo (1993-1999)[]
Nickname: "Turner Mansion"
Logo: Same as the movie logo, only "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "PICTURES".
Variants:
- There is a still version of the logo that appeared on some early releases. A different font is used as well.
- Some promos would have the mansion in an oval, just like the print logo.
- Another promo variant exists where it has the mansion in the oval but after the animation ends, the Turner Home Entertainment text turns brown just like the Turner Pictures logo. This can be found on the 1996 VHS of Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber Insects.
- There is another promo variant where it has the regular logo but it's still and has has "Also from" above it. It can be found on the 1996 VHS of Classic Jonny Quest.
- A variant exists where "Coming Soon To Home Video From..." in yellow appears in a black background, then it fades to the Turner Home Entertainment logo.
- A variant where the logo is next to the Hanna-Barbera logo exists.
- Another variant exists where the logo is small during a promo.
- Yet another promo variant exists where in a yellow-blue gradient background, we see "And now an important message from KINDERVISION AND TURNER HOME ENTERTAINMENT", along with the mansion animating like usual.
FX/SFX: Same as the movie logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the movie logo.
Music/Sounds/Variants: The still version is silent. The version with the oval and the text turning brown has a "rattling" noise, followed by a cartoony "plunk" sound effect. The "Coming Soon To Home Video From..." variant has an announcer but no background music.
Availability: More prolific than the movie logo, but still rare.
- It can be seen on several early-mid '90s Cartoon Network Video tapes, which are your best bet as several were released in the channel's early years (with some remaining in print after the Time Warner merger).
- New Line Home Video releases from this period have this logo too, such as Mortal Kombat, Safe Passage, Sev7n, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Friday and The Adventures of Pinocchio. This also appears on The Swan Princess, which was theatrically released by New Line Cinema but never used any of their logos or credited them on the video release.
- Also seen on 1994-1997 PBS Home Video releases such as Adventures from the Book of Virtues and the Ken Burns documentary Baseball.
- The still version is seen on most RKO Video Collection releases from this period, as well as some Flintstones tapes, In Search of Dr. Seuss, and the two-tape VHS release of Gettysburg.
- The "Coming Soon To Home Video from..." variant is seen on the VHS of Timeless Tales: The Emperor's New Clothes.
- The variants with the Hanna-Barbera logo are seen on promos for Hanna-Barbera releases.
- The Kindervision variant can be seen in a promo on the VHS of A Flintstones Christmas Carol.