Heron Communications

Written and Compiled by Matt Williams, Nicholas Aczel & Cameron McCaffrey

Hi-Tops Video
(1985-1992)

Logo: On a gray background, a red stylized drawing of a shoe appears, without the shoelaces. Then, white "shoelaces" appear at the bottom and begin to slowly make their way up the shoe, culminating in a nice big bow when the shoe is completely tied. The shoe zooms out, and the words "HI-TOPS VIDEO" appear in black in the "Kentucky Fried Chicken" font, followed by "A Heron Communications Company".

SFX: The tying of the shoe.

Cheesy Factor: The animation used for the tying of the shoe is pretty low-tech and primitive.

Music: Very loud and bouncy synthesized music score.

Availability: Originally appeared on "My Pet Monster", later Heron releases of Charlie Brown specials, and lots of other children's videos.

Scare Factor: Low, the animation is choppy, and the music is cheap, but nothing scary here

Media Home Entertainment
1st Logo
(1978-1981)

Nickname: "MEDA"

Logo: On a twinkling space background, the dark blue stylized word "MEDA" lights up ala a pink outline. The logo glitters three times in-sync with the fanfare, then a glitter appears below the logo and flies across the screen writing the words "Media Home Entertainment Inc." in similar font and coloring. The logo glitters some more and briefly flashes pink.

SFX: The lighting/glittering effects, the glitter writing.

Cheesy Factor: Off the scale. The space background looks like something out of a hand-drawn animated cartoon, the pink-on-blue lettering is gaudy, and the glitter---yecch!

Music: A very dramatic orchestral fanfare.

Availability: Extinct, apart from the occasional old prints circulating in used video stores. This was used on the very first Media Home Entertainment tapes but quickly replaced with the 2^nd logo.

Scare Factor: Median, the dramatic fanfare and bad animation will probably get on more than a few nerves, though it would get much worse when the font changed....

2nd Logo
(1981-1987)

Nickname: "The Space Logo"

Logo: On a space background, 2 outlines of the word "MEDIA" begin to move towards each other from opposite sides of the screen (one on top and one on bottom), in a very odd font and styled so that it looks somewhat like this:
__MEDIA__
With the first line connecting to the "M", and the second connecting to the "A". The two words continue their move towards each other, and when they meet, there is a very large flash as the outline(s) rotate backwards, so that we see a little of the logo's bottom. The flash subsides and the whole logo is filled in with chrome. "MEDIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT, INC.", in black but glowing blue, zooms in from the center of the screen.

Byline: Beginning in 1984, "A HERON COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" zooms in from the center below the Media line.

SFX: The outline, the space background (which actually looks quite realistic for its time)

Cheesy Factor: The animation is primitive and the zooming in words are extremely cheesy, but definitely not as bad as some logos of the time.

Music: A very dramatic orchestral fanfare.

Availability: Pretty rare nowadays, as videos from this company have long been out of print.

Scare Factor: High due to the fanfare, outlines, Media font, and bright flash.

3rd Logo
(1987-1992)

Logo: On a black BG, several sets of bar segments move up from the bottom of the screen at an angle. As we rotate towards the front, we see that the bars are forming the Media logo, similar to the one in Logo 1. After the logo is fully formed, the chrome fades in, and "A Heron Communications Company" appears underneath.

Fox Video Connection?: Their very last releases went through Fox Video. The above logo would play as normal, but there would be an announcer saying "Media Home Entertainment in association with Fox Video!" When the announcer got to the Fox Video part of that, Fox Video logo 1 played.

SFX: The forming of the word "MEDIA".

Music: A low-key synth theme.

Availability: Again, rare, seeing as most of the videos it released have been re-released by New Line or Anchor Bay.

Scare Factor: Low.

The Nostalgia Merchant
(1980's, exact dates unknown)  

Logo: On a space background with white, red and orange stars, we see an object zooming towards the center of the screen from the top. It rotates into the middle to reveal that it is the "Nostalgia Merchant" logo, a yellow circle with a large light blue square overlapping it, all of this being covered by a white border. Inside the yellow circle is the black word "ThE" in a font somewhat resembling the Freehand591 BT font, and "NOSTALGIA MERCHANT" in red with a black outline in a font that resembles the Comicraft fonts "That's All Folks" and "Too Much Cappucino." Below, the words

A Division of
MEDIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
A Heron International Company  

fade in.  

SFX/Cheesy Factor: The logo zooming towards the center and the words fading in, which both look very 80's.  

Music: A very memorable and well-done orchestral piece that fits the logo very nicely.  

Availability: Rather hard to find, as Nostalgia Merchant tapes have been out of print for a while now. Your best bets would be either E-Bay or old mom-and-pop video stores.  

Scare Factor: The logo might surprise the first time you see it, but it's harmless.  

Note: I'm having trouble with the exact dates this logo was around. If anyone knows, please drop me a line at [email protected].