Background: Viacom Pictures was the made-for-television film division of Viacom Productions (now "CBS Television Studios"), which produced television films for the Showtime Network and some theatrical releases.
1st Logo
(1991-1995?)
Nicknames: "Pink/Blue Wigga-Wigga", "Viacom in a Nutshell"
Logo: Over a black background, we see pink and blue shapes sliding from side to side, like the 1978 MCA DiscoVision logo, with the overlapping shapes making a yellow color. After a few seconds, we zoom out to reveal the 1990 Viacom logo (in the "\/|/\CO/\/\" style), with "\/|/\" in pink and "CO/\/\" in blue. The word "PICTURES" zooms in below, in red.
Trivia:
- This logo takes several aspects from the Viacom Productions logos that came before it. The four-note tune at the start is in the same pitch as the four notes that accompanied the Pinball logo, "PICTURES" zooms in similarly to the V of Doom logo, the logo starts close up like the V of Steel logo, and the overall design is lifted from the Wigga-Wigga logo.
Variants:
- There is an earlier variant in which "PRESENTS" fades in below that, in purplish-blue. This usually appears on trailers for films made by this company, including the trailer for Keeper of the City. A full-length version of this variant can be found on Fourth Story and the trailer for The Fear Inside.
- During the end credits, "DISTRIBUTED BY", in a small white font, is seen above the print logo of Viacom Pictures.
- At the end of the trailer for The Fear Inside, there is a still version of this logo with the text "Distributed by" above.
FX/SFX: The sliding out of "\/|/\CO/\/\", the zooming of "PICTURES" and the fading of "PRESENTS". None for the closing variant.
Music/Sounds: Four synthesized dramatic-yet-simple ascending tones, and then a synth version of the 1990 Viacom theme music, also known as the "Wigga-Wigga" music. The actual "wigga-wigga" sounds and the famed voice-over are all absent. Kettledrums are heard as "PICTURES" zooms in. None for the closing variant.
Music/Sounds Variant: There is another later variant of the logo theme with drumbeats during the 4-note tune.
Availability: Rare. Still intact on television films of the time frame, such as Taking the Heat, Scam, Keeper of the City, The Fear Inside, Nails, and Payoff. Only two of these films, Devlin and Paris Trout, have been released on DVD (in Canada), so your best bet at finding it would be out-of-print VHS releases of Viacom Pictures films by Media Home Entertainment and C/FP Video.
2nd Logo
(1991-1999)
Logo: On the closing credits of some Viacom television films, we see the following:
VI/\COM
PICTURES
"DISTRIBUTED BY" is sometimes shown above it, in the same style as before.
FX/SFX: None for the opening variant, and the scrolling of the credits for the closing variant.
Music/Sounds: The opening and closing themes of the film.
Availability: Rare. Seen on various television films and some theatrical releases of the era, such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch (film version), and White Mile, among others.