Buena Vista International Television

Logo descriptions by Shadeed A. Kelly
Logo captures by V of Doom, Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., Wisp2007, and Gilblitz112
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly
Video captures courtesy of TVpresentation, JohnnyL80, T1mmyDHr3t2, PluMGMK and EnormousRat

Background

Buena Vista International Television was the international distribution arm of Walt Disney Television established in 1985 to produce non-USA series and distribute all Disney-owned libraries around the world. In 2007, this division was renamed to "Disney-ABC International Television" after Disney retired the "Buena Vista" brand. It was renamed again in 2011 to "Disney Media Distribution".

1st Logo
(1985-1990)

Logo: On a blue background, we see a small yellow logo of the segmented Sleeping Beauty Castle (from the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo). Underneath it are the large words "Buena Vista International Television".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the program.

Availability: Extremely rare. Spotted on a Thames television airing of Roger Rabbit & the Secrets of Toontown, as well as 1980s Polish prints of Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers.

2nd Logo
(1985, 1987-2006)

Nickname: "Rainbow Castle"

Logo: Same as the 1985 Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista Television logos, but it reads "Distributed By Buena Vista International, Inc." underneath the castle.

Variants:

• The gradient background may be black/blue, black/indigo, or black/violet.
• There is a copyright stamp sometimes seen under the logo.
• 1987-1996 versions of this logo have the text slightly curved and in a slightly different font. The word "by" isn't capitalized in this version.
• A 16:9 widescreen version exists.
• Two very rare variants exist, in which the text is in a different font. Also, the word "Inc." is gone in these variants. These versions were used in 1992 and 1996, respectively.
• Another ultra-rare variant exists on Stick with Me, Kid. After a computer-generated turn-around that changes from the 1994 Buena Vista Productions logo to the BVI logo, also in bolder text, but animates as normal. Below the next part is a copyright notice for The Walt Disney Company.
• The BVI text is also bold on Дисней Клуб (the Russian version of Disney Club), but the background is purple, both logos are animated and not divided into parts and the logos animate as normal.
• Some fifth-season episodes of Home Improvement have the logo zoomed in.
• On the S5 HI episode "Her Cheatin' Mind", the logo cuts to black after a couple seconds.
• A brighter version appears on the sixth-season HI episode "The Feminine Mistake."

FX/SFX: The spark flying, the text fading. Other times, it's a still logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as Walt Disney Television and/or Buena Vista Television logos or none.

Availability: Domestically, it can be seen on most DVD releases of The Golden Girls, all eight seasons of Home Improvement, the 2000 VHS of Mr. Headmistress, and, strangely, the 2011 Disney Movie Club Exclusive DVD of Westward Ho, the Wagons!, while internationally, it still appears on Disney-owned programs and movies (an example being an UK DVD of The Nightmare Before Christmas). It can also be found on the Goof Troop episodes "Max-imum Protection" and "Goofin' Hood and His Melancholy Men" on the Goof Troop: Volume 1 DVD set, at the end of a print of Young Pioneers, and on the 1994 Mexican VHS of Plymouth from VideoVisa. It was strangely seen on international fullscreen prints of the According to Jim episode "Unruly Spirits", at least two episodes of season 1 of Scrubs ("My Day Off" and "My Blind Date"), some early season 1 episodes of 8 Simple Rules (for Dating My Teenage Daughter), and a few early episodes of season 1 of Lost, while the widescreen versions have the next logo.

3rd Logo (1998-2007)

Nickname: "Blue Castle"

Logo: Same as the Walt Disney Television and Walt Disney Television Animation logos. The logo reads either "WALT DiSNEY TELEVISION" or "WALT DiSNEY TELEVISION ANIMATION" and later fades to the name "Distributed By Buena Vista International, Inc." Other times, the name just fades in with the usual circular line animation drawn over the castle.

Variant #1: In an alternate variant, the logo was also referred to as "BUENA VISTA INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION" with the byline "Servicing the Distribution of this Programme", on a blue background while the spark flies over the castle a little slower. Sometimes, the text will be a little smaller and the castle a little bigger (while the byline and text are also close together). There's is a rare bylineless version.

Variant #2: A long version exists which includes 5 extra seconds of animation, and this logo is entirely filmed for 10 seconds.

Variant #3: In another alternative variant, it's the same as the 2000-2006 Walt Disney Pictures "Flashlight" logo from Dinosaur, except it says "Distributed by Buena Vista International, Inc.", the castle is fully formed, and that same orange light/flare trail effect is fast enough. This was used from 2004 to 2006.

Variant #4: Like the previous logo, This logo would come in either the standard 4:3 version or the widescreen 16:9 version.

• • A cropped (or stretched, in some cases) widescreen 16:9 version is used on most widescreen prints.
  • There is also an open matte and true widescreen 16:9 version.
  • An extremely rare 2.35:1 widescreen version exists.

FX/SFX: The name fading and the spark animating. Other times it's a still logo.

Music/Sounds: Silent (mainly on the standalone logo), the finishing of the Touchstone Television theme, the finishing of the 1987 Walt Disney Television theme (which is sometimes high-toned for PAL prints), or the finishing of the end title theme of any show.

Music/Sound Variants:

• On a Disney Junior Canada airing of a Stanley episode, the logo had the music from the Cartoon Pizza and the 2001 Playhouse Disney Originals logo. This could be because of a bad plaster error.
• On an international airing of a That's So Raven episode, the logo had the music of the 2002 Disney Channel Originals logo. This also could be a bad plaster error.
• On an early international airing of the That's So Raven episode, "Driven To Insanity," the logo had the music of the 2000 Disney Channel Originals logo (Oddly, the episode was apart of season 1 which used the 2002 music). This could be due to a lousy plaster error.
• The full 1988 WDT theme was also used on the standalone logo, due to yet another plastering error.
• Overseas airings of the final season of The Golden Girls also played the 1985 WDT/BVTV "Rainbow Castle" theme on both the Touchstone logo and this one, once again due to a plastering error.
• The 1985 WDT/BVTV "Rainbow Castle" theme was also used on the standalone logo, appears on early Channel 5 "Milkshake" UK airings of The Book of Pooh as well as international prints of the first two episodes of season 1 of Lost.
• On international fullscreen prints of a handful season 1 episodes of Kim Possible, the 1987 Walt Disney Television theme is out-of sync.
• On BBC One UK airings of What About Bob? (1991), the closing theme ends over it, with the music fades out to silence when the logo fades out to black.

Availability: Uncommon; still seen on international prints of any Disney, Touchstone, ABC, and Buena Vista Television shows and Disney-owned movies on cable networks like Showtime and SundanceTV. Can also be seen on DVD releases such as seasons two and four of The Golden Girls (although two episodes in the latter season, "Yes, We Have No Havanas" and "The Auction," just have the Witt/Thomas and Touchstone Television logos), plus the season three episode "The Artist," and portions of the fifth and seventh seasons (one episode of the latter season uses partial animation, however). The fully animated version appears at the end of Tim Allen Presents: The Home Improvement User's Guide, which appears as a bonus feature on season eight of its parent show. This made a surprise appearance on a SundanceTV airing of the My So-Called Life episode "Life of Brian". It was also seen on a Bulgarian airing of Chocolat, before the 2011 Miramax closing logo. Channel 4 UK airings of Coyote Ugly have this logo at the end, after the Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Touchstone Pictures logos.

4th Logo
(2006-07, 2011-present)

Nicknames: "The Turning 2-D Castle", "The White Castle"

Logo: On a purple water-like background, we see a 2-D Walt Disney castle turning from right to center while white lights shines up on the logo. Turning with the castle we see the stacked words, "BUENA VISTA INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION" in Times New Roman underneath the castle with "BUENA VISTA" bigger and a Disney copyright stamp underneath. Above the castle is either of these phrases in an Arial font: "Distributed by" or "Servicing (the) distribution of this programme."

FX/SFX: The castle fading in and turning.

Music/Sounds: The finishing of the 1988 Walt Disney Television long version theme. In other cases, it's silent, or the ending theme of the show.

Music/Sounds variants:

• One episode of Dirt uses the music of the 5th FX Networks logo due to a reverse plaster error.
• On current prints of the TV movie Model Behavior, the short Walt Disney Television music is heard due to plastering the 1986 WDT and 1995 WDT/BVI logos.
• On an international trailer for Alpha Teens on Machines, we hear a drum roll, followed by two rather primitive-sounding synth notes (the second held for longer), ending with a string sounder.

Availability: Very rare. It's seen on some international shows such as Polish airings of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (and older Disney cartoons, plastering the previous two logos) and early episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This also plastered the Touchstone Pictures and Amblin Entertainment logos on one Christmas Eve airing of Who Framed Roger Rabbit on BBC 2. The silent version has appeared on an HBO print of She's All That. It also makes occasional appearances on some region 1 DVD releases of Touchstone Television series, including the fifth and sixth seasons of Scrubs and the first season of Ugly Betty.

Other

• For other related logos and images see: Buena Vista International Television/Other