Hoyts-Warner Video (Australia)

Logo descriptions by Matt Williams and James Stanley Barr Logo captures by bigrene2, Eric S., Logophile, wisp2007, V of Doom, Royger Short, Mr.Logo, and Dean Stewart Rumsey Editions by V of Doom Video captures courtesy of ChadODell, baaba1012, Eric S., jordan6379, ACDC48086, Watcher3223, and codemaster94''

Background : Hoyts-Warner Video (formerly "Hoyts-WCI Video"; the word "WCI" for "Warner Communications, Inc.") is the home entertainment unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of TimeWarner, founded in 1978 to distribute on video the film and television library of Warner Bros. Studios, and when Time Warner acquired them, programs from other Time Warner companies. Currently, they also serve distributor for television and/or movie product released by BBC (w/ 2 Entertain), Lifetime, Cartoon Network, Turner Entertainment Co., Viz Media, TruTV (formerly "Court TV"), TNT, National Geographic Society in the U.S., and product from the NBA, NFL, and NHL.

1st Logo (July 1980-December 1985, 1987, August 1990)

Nickname : "The Big \\'"

Logo :
 * July 1980-February 1981: Same as the WCI logo, but this time "WCI HOME VIDEO" replaced with "HOYTS -WCI VIDEO" with "HOYTS " in a familar font.
 * September 1980-December 1985: Same as the 1980 Warner Home Video logo, but "WARNER HOME VIDEO" replaced with "HOYTS -WARNER VIDEO" in a familar font.

FX/SFX /Cheesy Factor : Same as the WCI/Warner Home Video logo.

Music/Sounds : None.

Availability : Very rare. Most Aussie PAL video releases of the era went straight from the warning screen to the movie with the Warner Bros., Orion, or First Artists logo in use at the time, and tapes that actually have this logo are long out of print. Releases as far back as the July 1980 batch of Aussie PAL releases have this including Every Which Way But Loose and Magnum Force with Clint Eastwood and Bullitt with Steve McQueen. The first WCI releases included Blazing Saddles, The Green Berets, and The Wild Bunch. Some WCI releases are also packaged in WHV packaging, with WHV labels during a short 1980 transitional period. Caddyshack and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore are two videos known to have this variation. The 1980-1985 variant is available on Aussie PAL VHS tapes of The Road Warrior, Death Race 2000,THX-1138, The Amityville Horror, Any Which Way You Can, The Great Race, Gremlins and the Kung Fu pilot movie. The last Aussie PAL tape to use this logo officially was Just Tell Me What You Want, though the logo later made a surprise appearance on the 1987 Aussie PAL VHS of Them! and the 1990 Aussie PAL release of Ensign Pulver.

Scare Factor :
 * July 1980-February 1981: Low. The fade from black to the logo may startle you.
 * September 1980-December 1985: Minimal to low. The transition from the Hoyts FBI warning screen to this logo is sudden and jarring, but this logo is otherwise harmless.

2nd Logo (January 1986-February 1997) Nicknames : "The Cheesy Shield", "WB Shield", "CGI WB Shield", "The Cheesy WB Shield"

Logo : Same as the 1986 Warner Home Video logo, only "HOYTS-WARNER VIDEO" instead and the Hoyts logo next to the shield. Bylines :
 * 1986-1990: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc., A Warner Communications Company"
 * 1990-1992: "A Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Inc., A Time Warner Company"
 * 1992-1997: "A Time Warner Entertainment Company"

Variants :
 * There exists a rare still version of the logo, which can be found on certain the first Aussie PAL release of Batman Returns (though the second Aussie PAL release of Batman Returns used the normal bylineless logo).
 * There is a prototype variant of this logo with a different time-lapse cloud background. It is currently unknown what or how many Aussie PAL video tapes used this logo.
 * There were three different bylines for this logo. They're all mentioned above.
 * Most releases from the Australia and some Aussie PAL releases during the Time Warner merger didn't have a byline.
 * There is a yet another different cloud background. This can be seen on the home video trailer of A Time to Kill, and Tin Cup.
 * There is a very rare promo variant where the giant WB shield and Hoyts logo rises up from the top, and rotates to face forward, then zooms out slightly. In this version, there is no company name or byline is seen. Found on a promotional feature on "Batman Forever" for its upcoming Aussie PAL VHS release in October 1995.

FX/SFX : Same as the WHV logo.

Cheesy Factor : Same as the WHV logo.

Music/Sounds : Same as the WHV logo. Silent for the still version.

Availability : Common. Seen on every Aussie PAL Hoyts-Warner Video release from the era, beginning with Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Notice that the current print logo is seen on 1996-1997 tapes, but still uses this logo, however it also still uses the commonly seen "DIGITALLY PROCESSED" text on the side of the packaging, so this logo is an easy find. Examples that have this logo include Beetlejuice, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the first three Lethal Weapon movies, and the first three Batman movies. The Time Warner byline variant is a tough find, but it appeared on My Blue Heaven, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, Out for Justice, Rover Dangerfield, and Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (only the first Australia VHS; the second Australian release uses the Time Warner Entertainment byline). The Time Warner Entertainment byline appeared during the waning days of the logo. Another easy way to find this logo is to look for the WB shield on the front of the tape. Among the last tapes to use this logo were Eraser (pan and scan VHS only; the widescreen version uses the next logo) and Twister. The byline-less version oddly shows up on an early 1990s Aussie PAL VHS of Journey Back To Oz from CIC Video. (perhaps it was taken from a foreign master). Also, from 1996-1997, this logo was used concurrently with the next. Raised to rare for the still version. The prototype variant is also very rare, as it's not known what Australian PAL videos it was used on or how long it's been used. Scare Factor : Low to medium. The bombastic music and primitive CGI may scare some, but this logo is a favorite of many. None for the still version.

3rd Logo (December 1996- )

Nicknames : "CGI Invisible/Visible Shield", "Boring Shield", "Shield of Boredom", "WB Shield II", "The Boring WB Shield"

Logo : Against a backdrop of clouds, a clear WB shield and Hoyts logo on the right with a wordless banner slowly fades into view. Then the words "HOYTS-WARNER VIDEO" are wiped onto the banner as the colors slowly appear on the shield.

Byline : From 2002-2003, the byline "An AOL Time Warner Company" was seen below the logo. The shield is a lot smaller in this version.

Variants :
 * In 1998, like other Warner labels, a 75th Anniversary version was made. This used a smaller shield with the banner reading "HOYTS-WARNER BROS.", and featured a giant "75" behind it. "YEARS ENTERTAINING THE WORLD" is seen below with "YEARS" a bit bigger and in spaced-out letters. This logo is seen during the year on home video releases and some trailers.
 * The new version starting in 2010 had the logo updated with "HOYTS" in the Impact font.
 * A rare version had a still logo in the style of the 1992 HWB logo with the HWV shield and the Time Warner Entertainment byline below that. Was seen on an ad for Cats Don't Dance on the VHS release of The Swan Princess: Escape From Castle Mountain and was never used as a real logo.

FX/SFX /Cheesy Factor : A simple, effective logo animation; nothing really cheesy except for the "wiping" on of the "HOYTS-WARNERVIDEO" text. Music/Sounds : A quiet piano tune. Sometimes on the AOL Time Warner version, the theme is in a lower pitch. This can be found on the Australian VHS releases of The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The 2-sided Australian DVD of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman has one side with the AOL Time Warner low-tone variant, while the other has the regular one, but the end of the theme has an odd version that sounds more like synth.

Availability : Currently in use. This was used concurrently with the previous logo on 1996-1997 WHV tapes (on a side note, the print version of this logo was introduced in 1996, and those Australian PAL tapes contain the previous logo, but you should also expect the "DIGITALLY PROCESSED" text on the side of its packaging, so the previous logo is an easy find). The first Australian PAL videos that had this logo were A Time to Kill, the 1997 reissue of Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood, the letterboxed release of Never Say Never Again, and others. Surprisingly, this logo was seen at the end of a 1990 episode of Night Court on GO!. It is possible that the episodes were ripped from Australian DVD, and GO! forgot to edit the logo out for broadcast. This is also the case with some episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway?on The Warner Television Network. The version with the AOL Time Warner byline can be found on most Australian PAL tapes and Australian PAL DVDs from 2002-2003, including The Great Dictator and 2003 prints of the UK release of Kangaroo Jack. Strangely, this can also be seen on a "Now Available on DVD" trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which can be seen on the DVD of Shorts.

Scare Factor : None. This is a clean logo. But it's annoying for those who like the previous logos.