Paramount Home Entertainment/Summary (2024)

Background[]

Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly known as "Paramount Home Media Distribution", "Paramount Home Video", and "Paramount Video") is Paramount Pictures' home media division and was formed around 1978/1979 (some sources claim late 1975). The company owns the home media rights to films and shows owned by Paramount and shows from sister company ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks (under individual labels such as MTV Home Video and other subsidiaries). The company also licenses the right to release material from CBS Corporation (now known as Paramount Global) such as CBS Studios/CBS Media Ventures and Showtime Networks material released through CBS Home Entertainment, (although CBS Films material is released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Lionsgate Home Entertainment) and several independent studios. They formerly released DreamWorks Animation material through DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment until 2014, when the latter acquired distribution rights to their library and transferred the rights to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. On September 27, 2011, Paramount Home Entertainment was renamed Paramount Home Media Distribution after merging with Paramount Digital and Television. Starting in 2012, the Republic Pictures library and select Paramount films were licensed to Olive Films (until 2017), Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Shout! Factory, Arrow Films, and the Criterion Collection. From 2013-2017, much of the company's output was co-released in conjunction with Warner Home Video. Paramount continues to release licensed material (such as from Peaco*ck) and material from sister companies. In May 2019, the company went back to the Paramount Home Entertainment name.

Paramount Home Video[]

1st Logo (September 1979 - June 1980)[]

Nicknames: "Still Mountain," "Boring Mountain," "Home Video Blue Mountain"

Logo: On a navy blue background, the text "Paramount" in its famous script can be seen, with "HOME VIDEO" below that in a wide Microgramma Bold font sandwiched between two lines, one above and one below. To the right of that is the 1968 Paramount print logo with the Gulf+Western byline. A moment later, the logo crossfades to a navy blue warning screen.

Variant: A black and white variant exists for releases of B&W films, such as Stalag 17 and The Elephant Man.

FX/SFX: The crossfade to the warning screen.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Ultra rare. This was only seen on the earliest batch of VHS and Betamax tapes, and as a result, these are very hard to find.

• Titles that have this include the first two Godfather films, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Heaven Can Wait, True Grit, Goin' South, Play It Again Sam, The Bad News Bears, Prophecy, and Catch 22.
• Among the last releases to use this logo were five volumes of Star Trek episodes as part of the "Television Classics" series on VHS and Betamax in early 1980 (which are long out of print, having been replaced in 1985 by Paramount's single episodes releases, and are hard to find), as well as tapes of North Dallas Forty, Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman, and early copies of Escape from Alcatraz.
• This surprisingly appears on a late 1983 pressing of The Odd Couple (usually, releases printed around that time started with the "Acid Trip" warning screen, followed by the Paramount Pictures logo), which is likely a reprint.

Editor's Note: It's a little simple, but this is one of the earliest home video logos ever, so don't expect a showstopper.

2nd Logo (July 1980 - October 1981; 1984; March 5, 2019)[]

Nicknames: "Mountain Silhouette," "Mountain of Doom," "Black Mountain," "Rising Mountain," "Cheesy Mountain," "In the Shadow of Paramount"

Logo: On a blue background, a silhouette of a mountain appears as the camera zooms out. After zooming to a comfortable distance, a bright flash occurs behind the mountain, and white "stars" (looking more like lens flares) appear, as well as "Paramount" (in a school bus yellow script, but closer to the pre-1975 logos). A saffron-colored trapezoidal trail zooms out from the base, and "HOME VIDEO" (set in the same font as the previous logo) zooms out soon after, tacked onto the saffron-colored trail. As that happens, the blue background gets extremely dark (looking like federal blue). The end result looks similar to the pre-1967 print logo.

Trivia: The second half of the logo was first used as the 1977 Paramount Television Service logo, which explains the rough cut after the mountain zoom out. "PARAMOUNT TELEVISION SERVICE" was featured at the bottom, which explains the chyron for "HOME VIDEO". If one looks very closely as the trail zooms out, the original text can barely be made out before the chyron appears.

Variant: On Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown!, the logo cuts to the second half of the film's Paramount logo.

FX/SFX: The flash behind the mountain, the stars and text zooming toward the screen. All scanimate effects that were produced by the design firm of Sullivan & Marks, who also did the earlier Paramount Television Service version.

Music/Sounds: A pounding backbeat as the mountain zooms out, then a synth chord mixed with a brief explosion sound and synthesized sizzling.

Availability: Extremely rare, but more because of the fact that this was only used on two batches of releases and re-releases.

• Seen on VHS/Betamax releases of the time, which are not that easy to find, especially since the logo was usually taken off of post-1981 prints. However, since this was on a decent variety of movies, it may help a little. Among the releases are Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!), Death Wish, Breaking Glass, Friday the 13th, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Airplane!, Charlotte's Web, Little Darlings, a re-release of Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown!, Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy, Starting Over, American Gigolo, Urban Cowboy Shogun, and Don't Look Now.
• Also seen on certain Hi-Fi re-releases of Paramount's early releases (such as Downhill Racer and Death Wish) from 1984, and the first Hi-Fi and Mono combined VHS release of True Grit.
• Don't expect this on any Laserdisc releases, as the LaserVision logo appeared instead.
• It made a surprise appearance on a 2019 April Fool's Day VHS trailer for Bumblebee, despite the film taking place after the logo's run had ended (the trailer also appeared on the promotional VHS version it was plugging).

Editor's Note: It shares the same amount of cheesiness from the Paramount Television Service logo, with the addition of the cheap cut to it and the chyroned "HOME VIDEO" text. It's also known to creep out some thanks to the ominous music and nature. Nonetheless, it's quite an interesting logo, and even Paramount themselves found it so cheesy, that they decided to reuse it almost 40 years later for April Fool's Day!

3rd Logo (November 1981 - March 1987; late-1980s)[]

Nicknames: "Growing Mountain", "Blue Paramount"

Logo: On a black background, the abstract mountain logo in light blue appears, with "Paramount" in black script and the "A Gulf + Western Company" byline at the bottom. The whole logo immediately zooms up to the camera right after it fades in, as the stars (which are followed by light trail streaks) and byline zoom past, and both the mountain and circle grow bigger until all that's left is the top of the peak and "Paramount" centering in. Right after the background fully turns blue and the stars are out of view, the "Paramount" text begins to shine with a bright flash filling the screen, and it dies down to reveal the Paramount script logo (in blue) and a small "VIDEO" (where the flash dies down to) between two blue lines. It then fades out.

Variants:

• Sometimes, the logo cuts to black after it finishes. This can be seen on the 1985 VHS of Teen Wolf.
• A black and white variant exists.
  • At the start of the 1986 VHS of The Untouchables: The Scarface Mob, the logo cuts in half a second late. The ending features the full logo.
• A rare, slightly longer variant exists, which starts with a still shot of the blue Paramount print logo. After a little over a second, the music starts and the logo animates as normal. The fades are also slower.
• At the end of an April 1998 Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) airing of The Devonsville Terror, the animation is slowed down but plays as normal until all there is is "Paramount" and the mountain, when the logo freezes in place and the rest of the music is heard. It's unknown if this was used anyplace other than this.

FX/SFX: The mountain and other elements growing, the text shining and flashing. Pure Scanimate effects that look better than the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: A building set of synthesized strings, ending in a new-age 4-note synthesizer tune. Composed by Richard J. Krizman.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The 4-note tune sounds very similar to the "Meet George Jetson" portion of the theme song to The Jetsons.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the 1983 RCA CED videodisc release of An Evening with Robin Williams, this follows the RCA SelectaVision logo, but is silent.

Availability: Very rare.

• This was mostly reserved for VHS, Laserdisc & CED releases of television shows, specials, and non-Paramount licensed material. Most Paramount films released during this period instead went straight to the film after the warning screen.
• Some releases where this can be seen include episodes of Star Trek (except the 1984 Television Classics Laserdisc release of the two-parter "The Menagerie," which uses no logo), Paramount Comedy Theater: Volume 1, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, Heathcliff: The Movie, The Adventures of the American Rabbit, Teen Wolf and Call to Glory.
• It was also seen on some prints of the 1982 VHS release of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (the earliest prints, from around 1982-early 1983, have no logo), as well as on a 1990 reprint.
• It is also seen on the 1991-92 releases of Toho's The Wizard of Oz and A Dog of Flanders (along with the warning that preceded it), also likely reprints themselves.
• The black and white version can be found on The Untouchables: The Scarface Mob and Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back.
• This was surprisingly retained on 1990s re-releases of Strong Kids, Safe Kids, Eddie Murphy: Delirious and The Metropolitan Opera: La Bohème following the 5th logo.
• This also appeared on 1984-86 episodes of the Showtime sitcom Brothers, which was produced by Paramount Video during that timeframe (Paramount Television took over for the 1987-89 episodes).

Editor's Note: This is a favorite of many, thanks to its soothing music and rather high-tech (for the time) animation.

4th Logo (April 1987 - October 7, 2003; mid-2000s)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Mountain," "Model Mountain"

Logo: It's just the 1986 Paramount Pictures logo with no video indicator whatsoever. The difference here from the theatrical version is that it's videotaped, the picture quality is sharper, and the color scheme is brighter than normal.

Bylines:

• April 1987-1989: "A Gulf + Western Company". 1987 releases used the 75th Anniversary variant, while 1988-89 releases used the standard version.
• 1989-1995: "A Paramount Communications Company" with a line above the byline fades in. 1989-90 releases had the byline and line above it in gold, while 1990-95 releases had them in white.
• 1995-October 7, 2003: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (in the 1990 \/|/\CO/\/\ "Wigga Wigga" font) with a line above the byline fades in, again, in white.

Variants:

• A black and white version was found on the 1988 VHS releases of Hamlet and This Sporting Life.
• At the end of some home video promos from the early 1990s, the logo is shortened to when the semi-circle forms. Alongside the byline, a copyright notice fades in. This variant surprisingly appears in place of the regular logo on the screener tape of Trancers III: Deth Lives!, immediately after the warning screen.
• A still version is used at the end of some releases with this. Normally, this fades in and out, but on Snoopy Double Feature: What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown/It's Magic, Charlie Brown and Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Pajama Party, it cuts in and fades out.

FX/SFX: The same as the Paramount logo from 1986.

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds Variant: Following a retailer promo for Drop Zone on its demo VHS, the 1987 Paramount Television theme plays.

Availability: Extremely common.

• This was used as a de-facto home video logo, and can be seen on every licensed VHS and Laserdisc release from that period. This also includes television series (such as the original Star Trek), comedy specials, and non-Paramount films like Teen Wolf Too and The Garbage Pail Kids Movie.
• Look for either the 75th Anniversary print logo, or the standard Gulf+Western print logo (with no mention of "HOME VIDEO") on the packaging and labels. The 75th Anniversary logo plasters over the original "Blue Mountain" logo on the 1987 home video releases of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Crocodile" Dundee, Children of a Lesser God, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
• Meanwhile, the standard Gulf+Western version plasters over the 75th Anniversary logo on the 1988 releases of Beverly Hills Cop II, The Untouchables, Back to the Beach, Fatal Attraction, and Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. International VHS releases of these films (all released by CIC Video except for "Crocodile" Dundee) will likely have the film's original logo intact.
• Strangely, a 1991 VHS of The Great Gatsby plasters the film's original Paramount logo with the Gulf+Western variant. The Paramount Communications variant also makes a surprise appearance on the 1995 VHS of Through the Eyes of a Killer, which has the Viacom variant of the next logo preceding it.
• With the exceptions of the releases listed above, most Paramount films released during this period will use the logo originally used on the film, or sometimes a newer-byline plaster of the same theatrical logo.
• This was also used on all 1994-2004 Peanuts releases and all Nickelodeon releases from 1996-2003, as well as the 2003 VHS of Two of Us.
• The 75th Anniversary variant was also used on a Showtime broadcast of Hamburger Hill from March 1991.
• It was also seen on the direct-to-video films The Little Bear Movie and Blue's Big Musical Movie.
• The logo makes unexpected appearances on demo tapes from 2004-07, such as Broadway: An American Musical, Jakers: Piggly Gets Into Trouble, and The Wonder Pets: Save The Wonder Pets. It was also spotted on a Mexican VHS of Collateral as well.
• Occasionally, this will appear before the opening previews on certain tapes. Examples include the Paramount reissue of Rugrats: A Baby's Gotta Do What a Baby's Gotta Do and some other Nickelodeon tapes from 1996.

Editor's Note: Despite it simply being a videotaped variant of their 1986 theatrical logo, this may be one of the most common home video logos ever due to its 16-year lifespan and appearance on nearly every Paramount-licensed release during this period. It even rivals that of MGM's or Disney's logos, or even the following bumper.

5th Logo (May 17, 1989 - December 2008)[]

Nicknames: "Feature Presentation," "Coming Attractions," "Abstract Mountain," "The ID-ish Logo", "90th Anniversary"

Logo: On a background filled with textured indigo squares, a blue square with the 1968 Paramount print logo (with one of three bylines) in gold sits in the middle of the screen. The stars shine from left to right, then moves and zooms away as the squares behind it pull away, revealing the stacked words "FEATURE PRESENTATION" in gold zooming in on a heliotrope gradient background. The words shine, and after that, it zooms towards the camera at breakneck speed. Just when the text engulfs the screen, it cuts to a warning screen, which has a pattern of Paramount mountains in the background.

Bylines: This used whatever byline Paramount was using at the time:

• May 1989 - November 1989: "A Gulf+Western Company"
• November 1989 - June 1995: "A Paramount Communications Company" (in sans serif font with a line above)
• June 1995 - December 2008: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (in its 1990 corporate "wigga-wigga" font with a line above)

Variants:

• A pre-trailer version with all three bylines was used from 1989 to 1996. In this version, the words "COMING ATTRACTIONS" appear over the heliotrope gradient background, and it cuts out after the zoom in.
  • The Paramount Communications variant of this uses the same serif font for the byline as the theatrical logo, with the text and line being a bit further apart than the Feature Presentation one.
• Black and white versions of the Gulf+Western and Paramount Communications variants exist. They can be seen on the 1989-90 VHS releases of Sunset Boulevard, The Delicate Delinquent, The Desperate Hours, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and Hell Is for Heroes.
• On some 2002 releases, a redone and enhanced special variant of the Feature Presentation bumper was made to celebrate Paramount's 90th anniversary. It utilizes the same concept as before, but with a full color version of the 2002 Paramount logo appearing in a square that overlaps a background of four purple squares. A line of light passes over the whole logo, and then the center square flies off and the purple squares pull away, pretty much like before. They reveal the words "FEATURE PRESENTATION" in a gold-yellow onyx-font flying into place, each word from a different end. The words now float against a dark moving cloud background, eventually zooming in towards the screen in a trail of gold light. The same warning screen appears as usual, but with a solid navy blue background in place of the usual logo wallpaper. This special variant was only used on releases from May 4 to December 10, 2002.
  • Some prints of Changing Lanes have this logo cut to the wallpaper warning screen instead of the dark blue one, due to a tape manufacturing error. This is probably due to the fact that earlier prints used the standard Feature Presentation logo instead of this one.
• There is a very rare longer version of the Gulf+Western variant where the logo is still for a few seconds before it begins. Also, once the "FEATURE PRESENTATION" text zooms in, there is a tan screen for a split-second, then the warning screen appears. It appears on the 1989 Gulf+Western releases of the first four Star Trek motion pictures, and in black and white on the 1989 VHS release of Sunset Boulevard.
  • This also occurs on the 1989 VHS of Will Penny, but the bumper instead cuts to the start of the film as it and the warning screen had their usual orders swapped.
• A shorter version of the Viacom variant exists where after the "FEATURE PRESENTATION" text zooms in, it suddenly cuts to black. This can be seen on the 1997 releases of the Godfather trilogy, the 2003 Filipino VCD of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, UK and Australian releases that have special features after the film, and the 1994 screener VHS of Dragonworld (this also applies to promotional copies of Paramount films as well, although the demo warning screen appears after a split-second of a black screen).
• On the 1991 screener VHS of Hired to Kill, the logo cuts in a half-second late.
• On a few screener cassettes from 1991-95 such as The Two Jakes, Soapdish, The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, and Clear and Present Danger, a timecode can be seen in various positions.

Variants Trivia: The cloud background for the 90th Anniversary variant is simply footage taken from a stock video library. The footage in question can be viewed here at approximately 6:30.

FX/SFX: The shine on the stars, the squares moving away, the zooming of the text. Amazing CGI work that still holds up today.

Music/Sounds: The 1987 remixed Paramount on Parade fanfare, composed by Jerry Goldsmith, with the intro chimes omitted and a slightly different lead. As the squares separate, a male announcer (most likely Bill McAllister) says one of the following:

• Coming Attractions: "Here are some exciting coming attractions from Paramount."
• Feature Presentation, Variant A: "And now, we're pleased to bring you our feature presentation."
  • This voiceover would mostly be used for videocassette releases that had previews before the feature, as well as Paramount Communications-era Philips CD-I releases (excluding The Addams Family, Black Rain, and Apocalypse Now, which use the other voiceover).
  • Some tapes without opening previews mistakenly use this voiceover, such as a reprint of the original 1989 VHS release of Major League, a few Star Trek titles (one printing of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the pan and scan version of the 1991 Star Trek: The Movies VHS box set [the widescreen version uses the correct "Paramount is..." voiceover], and Star Trek: Nemesis), the screener VHS of Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (the commercial release does have previews before the film), Cousins, Scrooged, Paycheck, Extreme Ops, the 2005 reissues of Mean Girls and School of Rock, Timeline, and Kid Cop.
• Feature Presentation, Variant B: "Paramount is pleased to bring you our feature presentation."
  • This was used with all three bylines, and can be found on Laserdiscs, Viacom-era Philips CD-I discs, and videocassettes without opening previews.
  • A few such releases where this can be found include the 1989 releases of the first five Star Trek films, A Separate Peace, later prints of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Nick Jr.'s Imagine That!, some promotional tapes, some copies of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (most copies do have previews and the other voiceover), Teletubbies: "Naughty Noo Noo!", Boohbah: "Hot Dog", Nickelodeon Super Toons, and the 1998 widescreen release of Forrest Gump.
    • This voiceover was also rarely used for the 90th Anniversary variant, appearing on Damaged Care, Bleacher Bums, My Horrible Year!, Bobbie's Girl, the demo tapes of SpongeBob SquarePants: Bikini Bottom Bash and Hey Arnold!: The Movie, and The Day Reagan Was Shot.
  • On rare occasions, this variation did appear right after the opening previews, such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Wayne's World, Delicatessen, Pet Shop, Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns, the 1996 VHS of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, screener tapes of Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth, The Silver Stallion: King of the Wild Brumbies, It's All True, Intersection, Jimmy Hollywood, The Browning Version, I.Q., Pontiac Moon, Parallel Lives, Dead Man on Campus, Hollywood Confidential, Midnight Man, Bad Apple, Apres Vous, Asylum, Year of the Dog, Next, Rugrats: Grandpa's Favorite Stories, Mad Hot Ballroom, Winter Solstice, and Ask the Dust, and two in a series of four videocassettes sold as part of a 1993 McDonald's promotion, namely The Addams Family and Ghost (Charlotte's Web and Wayne's World were the other two, but both use the correct voiceover). The McDonald's releases have the Rank Home Video print logo on one of the spines on the slipcovers for those films and a face label on the tapes with a special red, yellow, black and white color scheme.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On the VHS of The Desperate Hours and the Laserdisc of The Best of Eddie Murphy: Saturday Night Live (both released in 1989), the ending of the fanfare is cut off. This also happens on the screeners of Leapin' Leprachauns! and Magic in the Mirror: Fowl Play, except at a slightly later point in the music.
• On the 1991 screener VHS of Subspecies, the bumper is silent. This was fixed on the commercial release.
• On the 1991 screener VHS of Hired to Kill, the music starts a split-second in due to the logo cutting in.

Availability: Very common overall. It appears on most Paramount VHS, Laserdisc, VCD and CD-I releases.

• Coming Attractions: Uncommon. It was only used on VHS.
  • It made its overall debut alongside the "Feature Presentation" bumper on Coming to America, and was last used on The Phantom.
  • The Paramount Communications variant is the most common, while the Gulf+Western and Viacom variants are significantly harder to come by.
  • While it usually appears as the very first thing on the tape, it appears second on the aforementioned Coming to America (after a Pepsi commercial) and two Peanuts tapes from 1994 released in conjunction with Travelodge: It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown and You Don't Look 40, Charlie Brown (both after a Travelodge promotional offer ad plugging Peanuts tapes).

• Feature Presentation: Very common overall.
  • The Gulf+Western variant is rare, as it was only used for less than a year. Like mentioned above, it made its debut on Coming to America, and can be found on releases afterward such as the first four Star Trek films, Distant Thunder, The Experts, The Best of Eddie Murphy: Saturday Night Live, Cousins, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, Major League, Pet Sematary, and Puppet Master, among others.
  • The Paramount Communications variant is more common. It debuted on Scrooged, and appears on almost all Paramount tapes from late 1989-95. It also appears on Paramount-distributed titles from Prism Entertainment, Full Moon Entertainment, Skouras Pictures, and Miramax Films, as well as some reprints past 1995, such as the 1996 reissue of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!.
  • The Viacom variant is extremely common and appears on nearly every release from June 1995 onwards, starting with Drop Zone (although the screener version uses the Paramount Communications byline). The final Paramount film released on VHS and to use this logo was Yours, Mine & Ours (2005), and the final commercial release to use it overall was Go Diego Go!: Diego Saves Christmas!. It continued to appear on screener tapes of material released afterwards up until as late as 2008, such as An Inconvenient Truth, The Wonder Pets: Save the Wonder Pets, and Ghost Town, none of which were released on VHS commercially.
  • Some titles, such as the 1991 Laserdisc release of Apocalypse Now and the 1998 VHS release of Titanic, go straight to the warning screen, while on the 1997 releases of The Godfather trilogy, the logo cuts to black before the THX "Broadway" logo, as the warnings are placed at the beginning, separate from the logo. It also goes right to the warning screen on most French Canadian Paramount releases, right after Malofilm Video ceased distribution of French Canadian Paramount releases. Other releases where only the warning screen appears include the 1991 VHS releases of the Indiana Jones trilogy, the 1989 VHS of The Shootist, a 1990 reprint of Breakfast at Tiffany's, the 1989 Laserdisc of The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, some Star Trek: The Animated Series tapes, alternate copies of The Truman Show and Sliding Doors, and CHC prints of Payback.
  • This makes a surprise appearance on foreign VHS releases that have any special features at the end of the tape (perhaps because American video masters were likely used over in the UK, but were edited for release there), such as the UK releases of The Italian Job (2003) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, and an Australian dealer copy of Jackass: The Movie.
  • The bumper appears twice on double feature demo tapes, preceding both features on the cassette. It is also seen twice (with the 4th logo inserted in between) on the 1998 demo VHS of Midnight Man with both voiceover variants.
  • This appears on demo VHS tapes of PBS shows from 2004-06, such as Teletubbies, Boohbah, Cyberchase, Broadway: An American Musical, and Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise & Fall of Jack Johnson. The commercial releases just start with the warning screen used on Paramount DVDs and Blu-ray Discs.
• 90th Anniversary: Rare. It was only used on certain VHS releases in 2002.
  • It premiered on later prints of Vanilla Sky (earlier prints use the standard bumper) and was last seen on K-19: The Widowmaker.
  • Other 2002 releases that use this variant include SpongeBob SquarePants: Sea Stories, The Sum of All Fears, Lucky Break, MTV Yoga, later prints of Crossroads and Orange County, Dora the Explorer: Move to the Music, The Day Reagan Was Shot, Damaged Care, Bleacher Bums, My Horrible Year!, the demo VHS tapes of SpongeBob SquarePants: Bikini Bottom Bash and Hey Arnold!: The Movie, all 3 Jackass volumes, and Rugrats Christmas.
  • Some 2002 releases, such as Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, SpongeBob SquarePants: Halloween, 9/11: The Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition, Rugrats Halloween, Rat Race: Special Edition, the standard VHS version of Hey Arnold!: The Movie, Rugrats: Easter, We Were Soldiers, the demo VHS of SpongeBob SquarePants: Sea Stories, and Little Bill: I Love Animals, have the 90th Anniversary print logo on the spine and label, but instead use the standard bumper on the tapes themselves.

Editor's Note: Perhaps one of the most famous logos/bumpers in home video history, due to its well-done CGI animation and appearances on many video titles throughout its runtime. The loud fanfare and the cut to black on some variants may startle some, though.

The 90th Anniversary variant was a unique and impressive way to celebrate the film studio's milestone, even though it was short-lived.

6th Logo (December 1993)[]

Nickname: "Lined Mountain"

Logo: On a black background with blue filmstrips, "Paramount" is seen being written in a gold color in its trademark font. As this is occurring, the background is opening up in segments to reveal the 1986 Paramount logo, without a byline and the stars in a light gold color.

FX/SFX: The background opening up, "Paramount" being written, and the Paramount Pictures logo being revealed. All of this is very nice CGI.

Music/Sounds: A male announcer says, "Paramount Pictures, bringing you the best in holiday entertainment, and the best of the new year". All of this is said against a bombastic fanfare, an excerpt from The Untouchables soundtrack composed by Ennio Morricone.

Availability: Very rare. This logo was seen on three out of four VHS releases by the company from the era around the Christmas season of 1993 that were available in McDonald's restaurants, those being Charlotte's Web, Ghost, and The Addams Family (Wayne's World was the fourth, but it was merely a re-release of the standard issue).

Editor's Note: A well-animated alternate take on the 1986 theatrical logo, despite only appearing on a few promotional releases.

7th Logo (May 21, 2002 - October 24, 2006)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Mountain III", "Ultra Majestic Mountain II", "Ultra Majestic Paramount II"

Logo: Like the 4th logo, it's just the 2002 Paramount Pictures logo without a video indicator, except it is videotaped and zoomed out.

Variant: In its first year of use, VHS and DVD releases used the "90th Anniversary" variant.

FX/SFX: Same as its movie counterpart.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Fairly common. This was used as another de-facto home video logo.

• The 90th Anniversary version is used on 2002 VHS and DVD releases such as Trading Places, SpongeBob SquarePants: Sea Stories, MTV Yoga, Dora the Explorer: Move to the Music, The Day Reagan Was Shot, Flashdance, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (where it inexplicably plasters the 1999 film logo on VHS), Orange County (also plastering the 1999 logo, but on both formats), Black Sheep, Vanilla Sky, Major League, Damaged Care, Bleacher Bums, My Horrible Year!, all 3 Jackass volumes, and Rugrats Christmas, as well as the 2003 DVD of Easy Come, Easy Go (despite the normal logo being used on the packaging).
• The standard version is used on 2003-06 releases such as G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Sponge Who Could Fly, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, and Go Diego Go!: Diego Saves Christmas! (where it made its final overall appearance on VHS).
• The standard version plasters the 90th Anniversary variant of the film logo on the VHS versions of Extreme Ops, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure, and The Hours.
• Strangely, it doesn't appear on the DVDs of Graveyard Shift and Five Card Stud, which just start on the warning screen.

Paramount DVD[]

1st Logo (2002)[]

Logo: The 1986 Paramount logo is seen on-screen already formed. However, the "Paramount" text is black in front of a DVD disc that is behind the mountain. "DVD" is seen below, with the Viacom byline below that.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening of the TV spot.

Availability: Extinct. It was seen on a 2002 TV spot for the DVD release of Rat Race. It is unknown if this appeared anywhere else.

Editor's Note: Its existence was debated for a while, since its rushed look does make it look like a fan-made logo. It can otherwise be viewed as a prototype for the main logo below.

2nd Logo (January 7, 2003 - March 5, 2019)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Disc Mountain", "Modern Mountain of Doom", "Dark Mountain of Steel", "Dark Perumount"

Logo: It starts off with the 2002 Paramount logo animation with the stars flying through the clouds, the zoom out of the "Paramount" script, and the stars coming in and circling around the mountain. After zooming away to a comfortable distance, a DVD disc suddenly flies in from the bottom with a bright light in the sky swooping by. The DVD disc glides and settles behind the summit and the Paramount script. Then, a bright flash underneath the peak brings forth "DVD" with a line below it, and the Viacom byline (in the same font as the 1990 Viacom logo) below the line. The background fades to black, and a white laser scans the disc in a downward motion, turning the entire logo silver. The finished product almost resembles the Paramount DVD print logo.

Trivia: This logo appears on the original Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DVD releases of The Avengers and Iron Man 3, alongside the Marvel logo. This is because The Walt Disney Company (owner of the films' production company Marvel Studios) and Viacom came to an agreement for the films' distribution to transferred from Paramount Pictures to Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, but Paramount still had two films left in their six-movie contract with Marvel. So, Paramount's logo would appear on the films and promotional material.

Variant: At the end of the logo, a menu would sometimes appear with two selections: "PREVIEWS" and "MAIN MENU", both of which would take you to exactly what it said on the tin when selected. When either one was selected, the color on the menu goes from blue to yellow, once it was pressed, the Paramount logo fades out, with the selections disappearing a few seconds afterward. This was seen on some early DVD releases with this logo, such as The Italian Job (2003), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Rugrats Go Wild!, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season, The Ren & Stimpy Show: The First and Second Seasons, and All Grown Up: Lucky 13 (the last release to use this variant).

FX/SFX: Same as the normal logo, except for the disc gliding and turning the logo to silver.

Music/Sounds: It starts off silent, but when the stars fly by, some whooshing sounds are heard, culminating in a synthesized explosion effect with a thunderclap. As the white laser scans down, a humming sound can be heard.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the post-menu-selection variation, a soft "bong" is heard as the logo fades out, followed by a whirring sound when the selections disappear.

Availability: Very common.

• It's seen on many post-2003 DVD releases released by the company, starting with Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (even though the print logo on the cover is the 90th Anniversary version).
• This logo was seen on DVD releases of Paramount Television-owned series from 2003-06 (when the rights went to CBS Home Entertainment after Viacom and CBS Corporation became separate companies), such as the 2004 releases of season 1 of both Happy Days and The Andy Griffith Show, and the 2005 release of season 2 of the latter.
• After 2004, this logo would no longer appear on Nickelodeon (although The Wild Thornberrys Movie, released in 2003, doesn't have this logo), Comedy Central, and CBS DVD releases.
• Despite Viacom introducing a new byline in 2010, and Paramount introducing a new logo in 2011, this logo continued to be used well beyond those years, as seen on more recent releases such as Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, Project Almanac, Boyhood, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, The Gambler, Interstellar, Selma, Top Five, Allied, and A Quiet Place.
• It was retained on a 2008 Lionsgate reprint of Nobody's Fool, on a double-feature flipper disc with Fat Man and Little Boy.
• On the 2006 DVD reissue of Mission: Impossible 2, this only appears on the second disc, as disc 1 is a reprint of the original 2000 release.
• This doesn't appear on Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which is an IFC Films production. It's also strangely absent from the 2003 DVDs of Bang the Drum Slowly, Fear Strikes Out, Talent for the Game, and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which start at the warning screen, despite all being Paramount films.
• The last release to use this logo was Instant Family.

Editor's Note: The animation of the DVD flying in is pretty simple, while it as well as the sudden thunderclap and flash may surprise some, though it's still a favorite among most (though not as much as the 1989 logo). As already mentioned, this logo was still being used into 2019 despite a new Viacom byline and a new Paramount logo early in the decade.

Paramount High Definition[]

(September 26, 2006 - March 26, 2019)[]

Nicknames: "Digital Mountain", "From SD to HD", "Digital Paramount"

Logo: At the start, there is an on-screen effect of a television getting switched on, zooming out from one of the stars and transitioning to a dark, muddled version of the 2002 Paramount logo already animating in progress. When the star reaches the mountain's peak, two white lines appear and move across the picture vertically from the center, sharpening the picture and forming the silver text "HIGH DEFINITION", which zooms out into place. The Viacom byline (without the line) from the previous three logos fades in below and the HD text shines.

Trivia: This logo appears on the original Disney Blu-ray releases of The Avengers and Iron Man 3 (see the Trivia section for the previous logo).

FX/SFX: The television static, the zooming away from the star, and the revelation of the text.

Music/Sounds: Some television static sound effects and a few loud whooshes and shining sounds.

Availability: Common.

• It can be seen on Paramount's Blu-ray releases, such as Black Sheep, Major League, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, We Were Soldiers, Black Rain, Primal Fear, Almost Famous, Defiance, The Peacemaker, and Kiss the Girls.
• It was also seen on Paramount HD-DVD releases (hence the term "High Definition" rather than just "Blu-ray" or "HD-DVD") from 2006-08, such as Four Brothers and The Italian Job. Starting sometime in 2007, Paramount switched their high definition support to HD-DVD. When Toshiba announced they would discontinue HD-DVD, Paramount, like all other home media companies, became Blu-ray only. Their first films on Blu-ray since HD-DVD's discontinuation were Next and Face/Off, as well as DreamWorks' Blades of Glory, all of which were first planned for release in 2007, followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles.
• This logo can be found on releases with the short-lived print version of this logo (consisting of a silver border around the cover image, with "HIGH DEFINITION" on the lower left) on the box art. Sometime around 2008, the print logo was abandoned (examples include Last Holiday and Iron Man), while the on-screen logo continued to be used.
• The last release to feature this was Pet Sematary: 30th Anniversary Edition.

Editor's Note: Same as the 2003 DVD logo, though there's nothing really simple nor surprising about this.

Final Note: Beginning with the release ofBumblebee, all Paramount DVDs and Blu-rays began using the standard 2011 theatrical logo as a de-facto video logo.