Peanuts Home Entertainment

Peanuts Home Entertainment

Background: Peanuts Home Entertainment began it's life in 1979 as Peanuts Home Video. Prior to 1981, their first releases were only documentaries and ice shows such as Happy Anniversary Charlie Brown. Starting in 1981 with Play it Again Charlie Brown, they began releasing their animated television specials on video. The Peanuts Home Video name was kept until 2001, when it was renamed as Peanuts Home Entertainment. Starting in the late 1990's, the company began producing DVDs and in the mid-2000's began releasing Blu-Ray Discs.

1st Logo

(January 1979-June 26, 1986)

Nicknames: "Neon Snoopy", "Snoopy from Hell", "Snoopy of Doom", "The reason why I don't want to see the beginning of my very old classic Peanuts tapes", "Snoopy's Outlines"

Logo: Here are the two standard variants of this logo:

1979-1984: On a black background, we see a large CGI outline of Snoopy with thin blue lights lining it on the inside, appearing and then panning forward, leaving a trail of outlines while rotating clockwise on it's pivot. The outlines then start to change one-by-one to purple. As the text "peanuts" (in the Helvetica font) sketches on the screen in yellow, the Snoopy outlines one-by-one change to red. The outlines again one-by-one change to yellow as the words "home entertainment" (also in Helvetica), in yellow, zoom up and settle underneath. Last but not least, the Snoopy outlines one-by-one change to green. This is mainly on the old tapes where the Flying Ace Snoopy took up nearly half the box.

1981-1986: Nearly the same as the 1978 version, but with darker colors and smaller Snoopy graphics, "PEANUTS" in the Peanuts font with "HOME VIDEO" in a Handel Gothic-like font.

Variants:

On the original 1983 series of Peanuts Holiday Classics, the videos featured a different variant of this logo. The animation plays as normal (the standard 1981 Peanuts Home Video variant), but without any text animation, plus the music is time-compressed. Once the Snoopy outlines become yellow, the screen "flips" over to another logo, which is a still shot of "PEANUTS HOME VIDEO," with "The fun lives on…” over it. The Peanuts text is in it's font in red, while the other text is light blue. The only animation in this part is the "PEANUTS" which has glitter effects all over it, and then the text flashes when the Holiday Classics theme begins playing. Then we fade into the intro for the video series.

On the promo for the original Snoopy the Musical VHS release, there is a video freeze and the text "PEANUTS HOME VIDEO '' zooms in, along with the Flying Ace Snoopy (as seen on the box). An announcer says "Now available from Peanuts Home Video".

On some Italian tapes, we see a blue binder on a wooden table with the "PEANUTS HOME VIDEO '' print logo and the Flying Ace Snoopy on it. Then it opens to reveal the logo' s animation and the whole thing plays as normal. This is very rare.

There's an even rarer variant found on A Boy Named Charlie Brown (the 1969 movie) --on a dark blue space background that zooms away slowly, we see "MADE FOR VIDEO!", tilted, colored orange and against some stripes. It "rolls" backward, and the title logo for the special rotates into place, colored lime green. "Produced for" appears below, then it fades out as the title rotates away, making room for a flying CBS logo (in blue) on top and a flying Peanuts Home Video logo (in red) on the bottom, with the word "and" fading in. The music is the same as the standard logo. This was also seen on Snoopy Come Home.

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: Early computer animation effects abound (probably "Scan"-imate), and a terrible color scheme too. Also the Helvetica 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 Snoopy the Musical promo had the end theme playing over the regular animation before the video freeze.

Availability: Seen on Peanuts videos from the period. The best way to find it is to look for a Peanuts with white clamshell packaging and the Flying Ace Snoopy print logo on the top of the cover, which usually takes up almost half the box. The versions on the Holiday Classics series as well as the Snoopy the Musical 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 Flying Ace Snoopy and "PEANUTS HOME VIDEO" text on the packaging, however this was used until the late 80's.

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 Snoopy isn't exactly that friendly-looking, either. Low for the Snoopy the Musical promo variant.

2nd Logo

(October 14, 1986-November 6, 2001)

Nickname: "Flying Ace Snoopy"

Logo: On a black background, we see Snoopy dressed in his Flying Ace outfit standing on a blue spotlight on a black background. The camera slowly begins zooming up to his hand as a magic spark flashes and appears above Snoopy's hand. We zoom past Snoopy as the spark begins swirling around and begins to write "PEANUTS" in the Peanuts font font in red. As we zoom out, the words "HOME VIDEO", also in red, zoom out and settle underneath "PEANUTS". The logo "shines".

Variants:

Sometimes, this logo is shown without Snoopy and only the spark animation plays.

On the 1990 video release of The Big Stuffed Dog, this logo is shown without Snoopy, leaving a blank space until the spark writes out the words.

Sometimes, "presents", in white or 3D red, fades in below with spark effects. On some rare occasions, this is seen blacked out or covered with a gray box on some tapes.

On Peanuts SAS: Collection of All-Time Favorites, the opening theme plays over the logo, which is sped up to accomodate it.

Sometimes, the "HOME VIDEO" text will be blacked out and either "Coming to Home Video", "Coming on Video Cassette This Summer" (only seen during the "Coming to Home Video" variation on the later 1992 video reprints of He's Your Dog Charlie Brown), "Coming This Fall to Home Video" (without music; only seen on He's Your Dog Charlie Brown and It's a Mystery Charlie Brown" or "Now on Home Video", in the Laser font, replaces it. The "Coming to Home Video/Coming on Video Cassette This Summer" variation, from He's Your Dog Charlie Brown

has Mark Elliot saying, "Stay tuned for a preview of two new Peanuts animated specials coming to home video. Coming on videocassette this summer...", with a remix of the 1986 PHV jingle. The "Coming to Home Video" variation later reappears on the 1992 prints of It's Magic Charlie Brown and Happy New Year Charlie Brown with the 1991 Feature Presentation jingle. It's Magic Charlie Brown has a shortened version of the FP jingle with Mark Elliot saying "Coming soon from Peanuts Home Video", while Happy New Year Charlie Brown has both the "Coming to Home Video" variation with the full 1991 FP jingle and Brian Cummings saying "Coming from Peanuts Home Video" and the "Now on Home Video" variation, with Brian Cummings saying "Now on Peanuts Home Video."

On tapes released in Spanish-speaking and Italian-speaking countries, "presenta", in red, fades in below, cheaply inserted. No spark effects are seen.

Sometimes, just the end of the logo is shown. On the 1992 print of It's Magic Charlie Brown Mark Elliot says, "And available now on videocassette..." while the 1991 FP jingle plays. On Snoopy's Getting Married Charlie Brown, Mark Elliot says, "Now available on videocassette..." with the same FP jingle.

On some UK releases, the short version was used and shifted down in order to make room for "COMING SOON/ALSO AVAILABLE FROM". This has also been seen on the long version a couple of times as well.

There is an Italian promo, which features clips from the Charles Schulz anthology series and Peanuts specials. This variation ends with the regular spark animation. During all of this, a remix of "Casey, Jr." plays.

There is a variant at the end of some Peanuts Italian promos where the logo shines twice.

There is a variant where the shining plays backwards after playing normally.

Sometimes, the logo fades out earlier than usual.

Sometimes the logo incorporates a computer-generated fade out. 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 Peanuts Sing Along Songs: Friend Like Me, a rental tape of It's an Adventure Charlie Brown from the UK and a Brazilian VHS print of Snoopy's Reunion. 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 Milhous Hal.

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

In it's early years, the music was more synthesized.

There is an extremely rare short version with a different synth theme which incorporates "dings" that are perfectly synchronized with the logo "sparkling". This can be seen on a handful of early 90's re-releases, including It's Arbor Day Charlie Brown and You're Not Elected Charlie Brown.

Some UK tapes overlay whooshing and sparkling sounds over the music.

A few releases that use this logo before the previews have Brian Cummings saying "Coming from Peanuts Home Video." This would be used for the short version on the 1991 video release of A Charlie Brown Celebration and for the long version on Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown and early prints of Is This Goodbye Charlie Brown?.

On some UK releases, an announcer says "A world of laughter which can be yours to treasure for a lifetime, from Peanuts Home Video."

Also, on some PAL tapes, there's a high pitch that also exists. Some tapes in the UK use this version in tandem with the standard version, even on the same tape.

On an Australian PAL release of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown (the 1985 animated special) the logo is silent.

Availability: Quite common. Seen on home video releases of Peanuts animated specials and movies,

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.

3rd Logo (Australia)

(April 1982-1989)

Logo: Against a white background, we see the usual Peanuts Home Video text from before in blue, with "HOME VIDEO" in a Century Gothic-esque font. "distributed by" appears below in very small print. It then cuts to one of the two Roadshow Home Video logos used during the 80's. For tapes that were released from 1982-1986, the "Aussie Light Trails" logo is used; tapes from 1986-1989 used "The Other V of Doom".

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on some Aussie and New Zealand PAL tapes of Peanuts material that was distributed through Roadshow Home Video.

Scare Factor: None by itself. However, it cuts rather jarringly to the Roadshow logo, especially when "The Other V of Doom" is used; that logo has a high scare factor in the first place.

4th Logo

(November 15, 1991-February 26, 2002)

Nickanme: "Boring Logo" "SHINY THING!"

Logo: On a black background, we see the golden words:

PEANUTS

HOME VIDEO

with "Peanuts" in the font of the same name. The words shine.

Variants:

Sometimes, a blue background would be used instead.

On Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, only the words fade at the beginning of the opening theme.

On The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show and the This is America Charlie Brown mini-series, the words are light blue and "presents" is seen below. This was seen on 1993-1997 tapes.

On You 're in the Super Bowl Charlie Brown, the background is a sliding rainbow gradient and PRESENTS is chyroned in below.

There is a variation with "NOW YOU CAN OWN THESE HIT TITLES..." above in a Times New Roman Font with the 1989 FP jingle seen on 1992 re-prints such as Life is a Circus Charlie Brown and It's Flashbeagle Charlie Brown.

FX/SFX:The "shining"...

Cheesy Factor: ...which looks like it's been recycled from the 2nd logo. (and probably is)

Music/Sounds: A lilting dreamy strings tune.

Availability: Fairly common. Seen on most (non Classics/Masterpiece) Peanuts video/DVD releases of the era. Most 1998 prints of Masterpiece titles have this logo instead of the Masterpiece Collection logo, including It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Scare Factor: Low, the music may turn some people off; otherwise, it's a clean (and BORING) logo.

5th Logo

(January 31, 1995-June 14, 2005)

Nicknames: "Peanuts Videotapes", "The Purple Cubes"

Logo: On a blue/green gradient background, three black balls fall from the top of the screen and bounce off the bottom. Two of the balls form the nose and an ear of Snoopy and one ball forms the head. Many purple cubes fall from above to form a rectangle. A right-slanted yellow rectangle and a green square also fall from above. The yellow rectangle slants left and settles on the left, while the green square slants right and settles on the right. The balls in the Snoopy logo bounce onto the green square. The red text "PEANUTS" in the namesake font, zooms out and settles on the yellow rectangle. Below, a rectangular green banner with the white word "VIDEOTAPES" unfolds to the right.

Trivia: Although this logo was shown in the U.S. in 2000 only, it was used in international countries from the beginning of 1995 to mid-2005; for example, on 1995 releases of It's Spring Training Charlie Brown and What a Nightmare Charlie Brown, on 1998 releases of It Was My Best Birthday Ever Charlie Brown and on some Peanuts Sing Along Songs tapes. On early releases in some countries, this logo was used concurrently with the 2nd logo, then again with the "Ring" logo on early 2000's releases. It was last seen on a Mexican I Want a Dog for Christmas Charlie Brown VHS tape from 2005, which did NOT have "The Ring" logo.

Variant: On releases from the UK, the background is purple (so the purple cubes don't appear), and the square is white. Also, the font for  VIDEOTAPES  is slightly different and the animation too. This version was possibly re-animated. This was spotted on a PAL tape of It's the Girl in the Red Truck Charlie Brown. There was also a Japanese version of this logo where the gradient background is lavender/purple. Some Dutch tapes have "BEGEISTERN EEN LEBEN LANG" appearing below.

FX/SFX: All the animation in this logo.

Cheesy Factor: The logo and animation look way too simple and cheap. The European variant looks even cheaper than the American variant, though.

Music/Sounds: A very short orchestral rendition of the main Peanuts theme ending with an orchestral hit. On some Swedish Peanuts VHS tapes, there is a Swedish V/O saying "Us at Peanuts Videotapes bring to you a world to laugh at. The best part is it repeats!" over the music. The variant with the purple background and the white square had an announcer. Sometimes, the logo is seen silent.

Availability: Seen on assorted kid-oriented Peanuts videos, most of which were released outside of the U.S.

Scare Factor: None.

6th Logo

(August 1, 1995-March 20, 2001)

Nicknames: "The Very Boring Logo", "Blue Letters on a Black Background", "They Seriously Used This?!" "The Logo of No Animation"

Logo: On a black background, we see the Persian blue words:

P E A N U T S

HOME VIDEO

Variant: There is a variant with smaller text and a slightly different font.

FX/SFX: None.

Cheesy Factor: The whole logo looks lazy. There is no animation, and the text isn't even in the Peanuts font. In fact it looks like a placeholder for the other logos more than anything, like the first PBS logo. Possibly the worst logo in this page.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Peanuts Home Video logo from 1992-2001.

Availability: Rare; seen on home video releases from Peanuts from the mid to late 90's, including the lone CB&SS episode from 1986, "April Fools!". Also found on assorted post-1998 VHS releases (non Classics/Masterpiece). It ended with the 2001 VHS release of It's the Pied Piper Charlie Brown. A shorter version can be found at the beginning of some trailers on certain tapes.

Scare Factor: Low, because of the 1992 logo's music, but in all seriousness, this logo is even more boring than that logo. But some people may hate it, since this cuts to the Feature Presentation bumper they used at the time, which has a high scare factor in itself.

7th Logo

(October 9, 2001-April 30, 2008)

Nicknames: "The Ring", "Ring in Space"

Logo: We see a bright flash with the "P" from the gold text "Peanuts" (in the familiar and namesake font) both of which are zooming out on a blue (or black) space background. When everything is at a comfortable distance at the top of the screen, the flash forms an abstract shining star below "Peanuts" and the light spreads out to form a glowing arc. When this is finished, "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" fades in underneath the arc in gold.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: All modern computer graphics. The logo has an 80's "retro" feel to it, however.

Music/Sounds: A short synth/orchestral tune. In 2006, the tune was modified.

Availability: Can be found on DVD, UMD and Blu-ray Disc releases from the era. Some are still in print. The blue background one is on animated TV specials, movies, CB&SS and This is America Charlie Brown, while the black background is reserved for documentaries, ice shows and The Big Stuffed Dog. As for VHS, this logo appeared late in the format's life and can be seen on the first Platinum Editions, as well as on A Charlie Brown Valentine.

Scare Factor: None to low; the animation and music may get to some, but this is one of the best home video logos ever!

8th Logo

(2007- )

Nicknames: "The Other HBO 2000"

Logo: We fly through a town at night, where we see familiar faces from various Peanuts specials, both old and new, doing various activities and with clips of the following appearing in the sky: A Charlie Brown Christmas, It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown, Snoopy's Reunion, A Charlie Brown Valentine and He's a Bully Charlie Brown until we fly though a tunnel and into a sky where we see hundreds of clips from Peanuts media, both animated and live action, both old and new. One by one, the words "FUN", "HUMOR" and "& MORE" zoom out and fade out. Then all the clips come together to form a movie theater screen, we then fly through a hallway, concession stand and box office until we fly out the door and pan up to a marquee, on it is "PEANUTS", in the namesake font, as usual.

Variants:

On some UK DVDs, there is a shorter version, which starts off at the part when the theater screen is formed. Starting in 2009, this logo is cut-short and shown on all current Peanuts releases.

There was a Christmas variant with Christmas lights decorating the buildings, both in the town fly-by and on the theater, snow on the ground and the "PEANUTS" marquee glowing.

FX/SFX: All modern and beautiful effects.

Music/Sounds: A majestic version of the Peanuts theme. Most of the time, an announcer will say "From the laughter within our hearts, to the adventure beyond the horizon, there is only one Peanuts." On the short variant, it's just the end of the majestic fanfare.

Availability: Current.

Scare Factor: None, a very beautiful logo.