What Release Has What Logo (Live-Action)

BRIEF BACKGROUND: Disney films, prior to the company creating its first official logo in 1985 (the "Walt Disney Pictures" castle logo), used a logo for their distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution.

Walt and Roy O. Disney created Buena Vista in 1953, after breaking ties with their previous distributor, RKO Radio Pictures. It was named after the street in which the Disney Studios is based. Just about every Disney feature-length film made up until 1984, and even several short subjects, began with a still Buena Vista logo, often set to a piece of music that was part of the opening credits song or overture. The majority of the Disney features films and short subjects distributed by RKO from 1937 to 1956 begin similarly.

When the RKO-era Disney features were re-released after the formation of Buena Vista, Disney swapped the RKO logo with a Buena Vista logo. After introducing the Walt Disney Pictures logo in 1985, re-issues of Disney animated classics then removed the Buena Vista logo from the opening credits altogether, sometimes putting it at the very end. Most of the time, the first 5-or-seconds of the opening credits song or overture would be chopped in the process.

The live-action films were among the first subjects to come to home video from the company.

This list will look at select live-action Disney films whose home video releases used different opening logo sequences, and in many cases, the incorrect ones.

NOTE #1: There are three mainline Buena Vista logos. The original, used from 1953 to 1966 (and in some special cases, sporadically after 1966) has a more black-and-blue gradient background with all of the letters looking like they were painted on.

Several live-action Disney films released between 1953 and 1959 have their own custom variants of this logo. For example, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA has the logo's typeface/fonts in front of a curtain, DAVY CROCKETT, KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER sets the typeface against an old paper-like surface. Other films use another font altogether, such as JOHNNY TREMAINE and PERRI. After 1961, most films carried the standard logo, though there were some exceptions.

The original Buena Vista logo has two separate variants: From 1953 to 1960, the bottom of the logo said "Film Distribution Co., Inc." From 1960-onward, it just says "Distribution Co., Inc." Some post-1960 releases and re-releases, however, use the old card that says "Film Distribution Co., Inc." These are mere anomalies.

The BV logo used from 1966 to 1979 (and on THE FOX AND THE HOUND in 1981) updates the background to a more blue/turquoise-esque gradient. It's shaded and saturated differently from film to film, so that's another story altogether. The letters for "Distributed by" and "Distribution Co., Inc." are a more formal, serif font. Some films released during the late '60s and early '70s used the older Buena Vista logo, such as THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, THE LOVE BUG, and SCANDALOUS JOHN.

For Mickey Mouse's 50th Anniversary, Disney created an intro used on some of their 1978 releases. (And well into 1979 abroad.) A rainbow Buena Vista logo would follow a spinning Mickey Mouse intro (later remade as Walt Disney Home Video's first logo). This one is rather hard to come by...

The 1979 Buena Vista logo uses a similar gradient background to the classic ones, but the words of Buena Vista are rendered in a metallic typeface with a different serif font for the other words. This was used all the way up until 1984.

Like the 1966 logo, there are some slight differences in the saturation and shading of the gradient background. Only one film bares a slightly-customized version of this logo, and that's FRANKENWEENIE, which has an all-black background and the lettering in grayscale.

Some films from this period used their own unique versions, harkening back to the custom 1950s title cards... These would include THE BLACK HOLE, THE LAST FLIGHT OF NOAH'S ARK, CONDORMAN, NIGHT CROSSING, TRON, TEX, VINCENT, FUN WITH MR. FUTURE, and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES.

NOTE #2: Most differences in video releases of live-action Disney films can be boiled down to "it has a Buena Vista"/"it doesn't have a Buena Vista logo". Listed here will be the major differences amongst video releases.

BLACKBEARD'S GHOST (1968)

• 1981 video release: Opens with the 1979 Buena Vista logo, complete with the accompanying drum-beats of the opening score. This is also how it opens on some pressings of the 1990 video release, other pressings omit the logo altogether. This opening is also used for the film's 2002 video release.
• NOTE: BLACKBEARD'S GHOST only had one theatrical re-release in North America, in 1976. The 1979 Buena Vista logo on these video releases indicates that this print may be from an international re-release, likely an Australian re-release in 1980.
• 2016 video release: Opens with the correct, late 1960s Buena Vista logo.
  

THE SHAGGY D.A. (1976)

• 1985 video release: The music the accompanies the Buena Vista logo can be heard, but there is no Buena Vista logo.
• 2006 video release: Contains the Buena Vista logo.

RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN (1978)

• 1986 video release: No Buena Vista logo, no accompanying sound effect.
• 2003 video release: Contains a standard Buena Vista logo with accompanying music. All future video releases of this film have this same opening sequence. (2006, 2009, 2015) The real opening is the Mickey Mouse 50th Birthday intro and rainbow Buena Vista card.

THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE (1978)

• 1983 video release: No Buena Vista logo, no accompanying sound effect. Same as the 1994 video release.
• 2004 video release: Opens with the Mickey Mouse 50th Anniversary intro and Buena Vista logo, though there is no fanfare during the Mickey Mouse intro.

HOT LEAD & COLD FEET (1978)

• 1980 video release: A 1979 Buena Vista logo is used, but with no music. This may be sourced from an international release of the film. (It was released in January 1980 in Australia, so it could come from that.)
• 1993 video release: The rainbow Buena Vista logo appears with the music, but no Mickey Mouse 50th Anniversary intro preceding it. The same goes for the 2004 video release.

THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN (1985)

• 1986 video release: Opens with the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo. This goes for both the 2002, 2004, and 2018 video releases.
• 1988 video release: Omits the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo, the film starts at the in-film "Walt Disney Pictures presents" credit.

(To be continued)