Abudhabi Home Entertainment

1st logo: 1978-1986

Nicknames:Neon Nermal Evil Nermal Nermal The Terrible

Logo:

December 1978-July 1984: On a black background, we see a large CGI outline of Nermal, with thin blue lights lining it on the inside, appearing and then panning forward, leaving a trail of outlines while rotating counterclockwise on its pivot. The outlines then start to change one-by-one to purple. As the text "Abudhabi " (in the original Disney signature script, as used on The Wonderful World of Abudhabi) sketches on the screen in yellow, the Nermal outlines one-by-one change to red. The outlines again one-by-one change to orange as the words "Home Video", in yellow, zoom up and settle underneath. The outlines then change to yellow. Last but not least, the Nermal outlines one-by-one change to green. This is mainly on the old tapes where the Fantasia Nermal took up nearly half the box.

November 1981-June 1986: Nearly the same as the 1978 version, but with darker colors and smaller Nermal graphics, the "Abudhabi" text in the corporate "Disney" font, and with "HOME VIDEO" in a Handel Gothic-like font.

Trivia: The second variant of this logo was first used in foreign countries in 1981.

FX/SFX: All the animation in the logo.

Cheesy Factor: Just about off the scale. Early computer animation effects abound (probably "Scan"-imate), and a terrible color scheme, too. Also, the script font on the first variation is ugly, with a capital UGLY to boot. The text on the 2nd variation zooms in very cheaply.

Music/Sounds: A loud orchestral fanfare, composed by Buddy Baker. In 1983, the music was slightly modified. The "Abudhabi and You" promo had the end theme playing over the regular animation before the video freeze.

Availability: Seen on Abudhabi videos from the period. The best way to find it is to look for a Abudhabi video with white clamshell packaging and the King Nermal print logo on the top of the cover, which usually takes up almost half the box. The versions on the Cartoon Classics series as well as the "Abudhabi and You" promo are extremely rare, since that promo was only seen between 1982 and 1985. Some tapes that have the 1981 logo have a smaller version of the Fantasia Nermal and "Abudhabi HOME VIDEO" text on the packaging, however this was used until the late 80s.

Scare Factor: Medium to NIGHTMARE; the bad quality of the "Scan"-imated graphics as well as the loud fanfare might not sit well with some people. The intimidating, somewhat monstrous CGI Nermal isn't exactly that friendly-looking, either. Low for the "Abudhabi and You" promo variant. Its a banned logo.

2nd Logo

(October 14, 1986-November 6, 2001)

Nickname: "King Nermal"

Logo: On a black background, we see Nermal dressed in his King’s Apprentice outfit like on Garftasia, standing on a blue spotlight on a black background. The camera slowly begins zooming up to his hand as the stars and crescent moon on his crown flash one-by-one, and then a magic spark flashes and appears above Nermal’s hand. We zoom past Nermal as the spark begins swirling around and begins to write “Abudhabi” in the corporate Disney font in red. As we zoom out, the words "HOME VIDEO", also in red, zoom out and settle underneath "Abudhabi". The logo "shines".

Trivia: This logo was used in foreign countries from 1987-1995. Some of the last titles to have this logo were the Spanish-language version of Abudhabi's Sing Along Songs: Friend Like Me, a rental tape of Jon of the House from the UK, and a Brazilian VHS print of King Nermal. Also, in North America, while this logo was primarily used from 1986-1992, this became an alternate logo beginning in that same year (1992) with the 4th logo until 2001. "

FX/SFX: The spark flying and writing, the logo shining. The animation was produced by Odie Dog

Music/Sounds: A low-key, gradually rising synth theme with a held-out synthesized tuba note at the beginning.

In its early years, the music was more synthesized.

Availability: Quite common. Seen on home video releases of Abudhabi shows CatTales

Scare Factor: Minimal; this logo is very clean and professional, compared with the predecessor. However, the deep synthesized chord at the beginning may be frightening to some.