Family Home Entertainment

By Matt Williams, James Fabiano and Cameron McCaffrey

1st Logo
(1982-1986)

Nicknames: "Soda Pop", "Cheesy FHE"

Logo: On a black background filled with dots/"stars" (obviously this is supposed to symbolize space), a large "sun" slowly moves towards us. It then dissolves into the words "FAMILY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" in probably one of the ugliest fonts ever. The logos then flash and become pure white. After a few seconds the logo dissolves and we are left with only a shot of the stars before we fade out.

Variation: On later FHE tapes (1985-1986) there is a variation of this logo where instead of the logos dissolving after turning white, the logos fly upward using computer generated effects. This is a very rare, hard-to-find variation.

SFX: The transformation of the star into "FAMILY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" ...and the "flying" effects for the white logos on the 1985-1986 logo variation.

Cheesy Factor: This one goes off the charts. The "sun" looks like the fakest thing in the world (and looks more like a fizzing Alka-Seltzer tablet than anything else!), the colors are gaudy, and the space background looks like it was done on an Apple II.

Music/Sound FX: The space background has plopping/fizz noises. When the logo forms a chord/whoosh sound can be heard.

Availability: Can be seen on early Gumby releases by FHE.

Scare Factor: Median, (the bad animation can get to some people) :) but the logo is probably one of the most soda-like in the world!

2nd Logo
(1986-1993)

Nicknames: "F.H.E.", "Handwriting Pad"

Logo: A yellow screen "flips" in, and it has one of those lines you used to practice printing letters on in kindergarten. (Two solid lines with a segmented line in the middle) One at a time, the letters "f.h.e." are drawn on the lines in a crayon-like font. They are colored, in order, red, blue, and yellow, respectively. Under that the words "Family Home Entertainment" appear, and then the picture flies away downward.

SFX: "Flipping" screen, drawn letters.

Cheesy Factor: The screen "flipping" is an '80s SFX standard.

Music: Starts with a zipping sound (kind of like a Jetsons flying car starting), and leads into a synthesized theme with three different tones for the drawing of each letter. Three faster tones bring forth the periods after each initial, and an xylophone is used when the company's name appears. At the end, a "WHOOSH" is heard as the screen "flies" away.

Availability: Can be seen in early releases of home video releases of shows such as "The Transformers," "G.I. Joe," and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Scare Factor: Low

3rd Logo
(1993-1999)

Nickname: "The Paintbrush"

Logo: On a white background, a red paintbrush draws an "f" similar to the one in the second logo then puts a red dot after it. A blue paintbrush similarly draws an "h" and a blue dot and a yellow paintbrush gets the "e" and its dot. The camera pans to each letter as it is drawn and then pulls out. Above the logo the paintbrushes "wash" on the words "Family Home Entertainment", with each word in red, blue, and yellow respectively.

SFX: Impressive use of CGI from FHE, using the ability to pan in and out impressively.

Music/Sound FX: Each letter has its own little tune culminating in a synthesized stinger at the end.

Availability: Can be seen on later Turtles releases by FHE.

Scare Factor: None, very good CGI.