MTM Home Entertainment/Logos/Summary

These are the logos for Thorn EMI Video (UK), Argosy/MTM Video, Argosy Pictures Home Video, Judy Garland/Argosy Media/MTM Home Video, Thorn EMI/MTM Video, MTM/Cannon Video, CBS/FOX-Argosy Media Video (UK), MTM Home Video, Argosy Home Entertainment, MTM Home Entertainment, and International Home Cinemas.

Argosy/MTM Video
Background: In 1976, Argosy Media teamed up with MTM Enterprises to form Argosy/MTM Video, also opening a sub-label, Argosy Pictures Home Video, in 1979. This was the first partnership between Argosy and MTM, which would ultimately merge as Argosy Entertainment in 1982. It was also the first-ever home video company in the US, predating Magnetic Video by a year (though Magnetic Video was founded in 1968); this early adoption of the VHS and Betamax formats parallels Shaw Communications (Argosy and MTM’s parent company at the time) being the second ever company to release DVDs in 1997, after Warner Home Video. The Argosy/MTM name was used until 1984, when TVS Entertainment (which had recently acquired Judy Garland Pictures) joined the venture to form Judy Garland/Argosy Media/MTM Home Video.

1976-1980


Logo: Over an off-white background, we see lines in different colours, which form 9 multicoloured copies of the text “ARGOSY/MTM” stacked on top of each other. The copies merge into one “ARGOSY/MTM” in dark grey, which moves to the left. The “VIDEO” text then fades in, forming “ARGOSY/MTM VIDEO”.

FX/SFX: Very early Scanimation.

Music/Sounds: A stock music theme that was later used for the Thorn-EMI and HBO-Cannon logos.

1980-1984


Logo: On a black background, a blue CGI arrow flies into view. It “melts” into a blue gooey liquid, which reconstitutes itself into the text “ARGOSY/MTM VIDEO”, one letter at a time. The whole thing shines.

FX/SFX: Early 3D CGI, which (according to recollections) cost millions of dollars to create.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1976 logo.

Judy Garland/Argosy Media/MTM Home Video
Background: Judy Garland/Argosy Media/MTM Home Video was formed in 1984 when British ITV franchise Television South (which had then-recently acquired Judy Garland Productions) formed a joint venture with Argosy Entertainment (including its Argosy Media and MTM Enterprises subsidiaries), subsuming the existing Argosy/MTM Video unit. In 1989, TVS acquired Argosy Entertainment, turning the company from a joint-venture into a fully-owned subsidiary. In 1993, after TVS lost its ITV franchise and was acquired by International Family Entertainment, the company was renamed as simply MTM Home Video.

1984-1993
Logo: On a space background, a white bordered box draws itself. Then an outlined image of Aaron the Cat with a “Big A” flag appears, which is colored in, and two comets fly across the screen. The Judy Garland sunset print logo in white flies in, and the words "Argosy Media" in a purple serif font appear, along with the MTM Enterprises logo of the era (animating the same as the TV variant, but with “ENTERPRISES” replaced with “HOME VIDEO”). After a few seconds, we fade out.

FX/SFX: Early computer animation, this time made using an Unix box. A massive downgrade from the 1980-1984 A/MTMV logo.

Music/Sounds: For US releases, a stock music track, also used for the 1982-1991 Gaumont/Columbia/RCA Video logo. For foreign releases, the same theme from the 1976 and 1980 logos.

1979-1985
(TBA)

Trivia: Thorn EMI Video in the UK never used the scanimated logo animation, instead keeping the still logo.

Thorn EMI/MTM Video
While Thorn EMI partnered with HBO in the USA, they partnered with MTM in the UK.

1985-1986
Description: On a black background, two "walls" of purple lights open up from the middle. The words "THORN" and "EMI" fly from the top and bottom of the screen towards the top. A shiny purple MTM logo appears, and we see a close-up of its logo first. It joins a white rectangle that has appeared in the middle of the logo. The word "VIDEO" drops from the bottom of the rectangle, and two white "comets" streak past the top and bottom of the logo, leaving two white lines. The background then turns a blackberry color.

FX/SFX: The "flying" words.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1982 Thorn EMI Video USA logo.

1986-1987
Description: Similar to the 1985 Thorn EMI/MTM Video logo (wall of lights, comets, blue background and the logo itself is similar), but there's a lot more action. A wall of blue lights opens, much like the Thorn EMI/MTM logo. Against these walls, a chrome "MTM" (in its corporate font) logo slides down one, and the word "CANNON" also in chrome, slides down the other. When they meet in the center, a glowing white star takes them in, and the walls rotate to face us as the camera pans in. When we pan in, two comets streak on two of the lights making up the wall, and when they pass, we see a white MTM logo and a white box containing the word "CANNON" rotating from the bottom to face us. The logos zoom back, with MTM zooming back to become smaller than the white box containing "CANNON", as "VIDEO" zooms out (in an effect similar to the 1980 Telepictures Corporation "Shadows" logo). Two comets streak above and below the logo to form lines, like in the 1985 Thorn EMI/MTM Video logo.

FX/SFX: The lights, comets, and sliding.

Music/Sounds: The 1982 Thorn EMI Video USA logo theme.

CBS/FOX-Argosy Media Video (UK)
Background: In the UK, CBS/FOX teamed up with Argosy Media.

1984-1998


Description: Same as the 1984-1998 CBS/Fox Video USA logo, except the CBS/Fox text is rearranged, an orange rectangle containing the “Argosy Media” text is added, and the "Video" shines in below the logo.

FX/SFX: CBS/FOX-Argosy Media rotating, "VIDEO" wiping itself on.

Music/Sounds: A rather catchy tune sounding similar to the HBO Movie jingle.

Argosy Pictures Home Video
Background: Established in 1979, Argosy Pictures Home Video specialized in distributing Argosy Media titles on VHS and DVD. They were the first distributors of the "Smart Set" library of educational tapes, and also the first company to put "Mirage in LaGuardia" on DVD. In 2015, the company was merged into corporate sibling MTM Home Entertainment.

1979-1981


Description: On a sky blue background, we see the Argosy "A" logo in white. Below it is the white text, “ARGOSY PICTURES HOME VIDEO”, in a rounded font.

FX/SFX: Still.

Music/Sounds: None.

1981-1984


Description: On a sky background, the words "ARGOSY PICTURES HOME VIDEO" in gold fades in and shine once. An (R) symbol in the same color appears to the lower right of the text. The "A" enters from the right of the screen and settles above it.

FX/SFX: Early 80s CGI.

Music/Sounds: A calm synth theme with some wind chimes and a ding sound when the "A" appears.

1984-1990


Description: On a white background, we see Aaron the Cat (from the Argosy TV logo) holding a VHS tape that has a label with a yellow Argosy “A” logo and the text "ARGOSY PICTURES HOME VIDEO" beside the A.

FX/SFX: Still.

Music/Sounds: Film projector sounds and the “Aaron’s Ditty” from the TV logo.

1990-1991


Description: On a black background, we see the abstract "A" logo in red with a white outline. Below it is the red text, “Argosy Pictures Home Video”.

FX/SFX: Still.

Music/Sounds: None.

1991-1994


Description: On a starry background, we see a stylized version of the Space Needle fly up from the bottom and explode into a dozen pieces. The "blast" morphs into the words "ARGOSY PICTURES", then the words "HOME VIDEO" in the same font fade in below. The "A" appears in sky blue, without a dot, which is filled in by a comet. The stars in the background light up and dim back to what they were before.

FX/SFX: Typical early-90s CGI.

Music/Sounds: A jazzy synthesized theme, with a whoosh when the comet dots the "A".

1994-2000


Description: On a space background, we see a solid gold stylized "A" floating in space. The "A" passes the Sun, then Mercury, then Venus, then finally reaches Earth, which is spinning. The "A" settles in the center of the screen. A close-to-screen comet zooms very fast by the Earth. It turns the "A" shinier, and forms the words "ARGOSY PICTURES HOME VIDEO" (with the same gold texture as the "A") under the "A", in Copperplate font. When the comet is off-screen, we see the text zoom back under the "A". The logo shines once, then the logo fades to black.

FX/SFX: Impressive CGI.

Music/Sounds: Just a whoosh or two and a loud zoom sound that sounds like a race car zooming to be the first one to pass the checkered flag and win the race.

2000-2008
Description: On a space BG, we see an abstract gold "A" in 3-D zooming out from the center of the screen. The words "ARGOSY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" in a yellow bold serif font zoom in under the "A" afterwards. We zoom in the middle of the "A". We reach Earth and we get right into the clouds, the screen turns white. Then we fade to a shot near more clouds to see 8 triangles falling out of the sky. We turn 180 degrees to see that the same "A" and text that we saw earlier in the logo with the triangles encircling a star statue. Once everything is in place, the ownership byline fades in.

Trivia: The 8 triangles represent 8 units of Argosy at the time: Argosy Media Television, MTM Films, MTM Enterprises Television, Argosy Pictures, Seven Arts Pictures, Gramercy Pictures, Judy Garland Pictures, and Embassy Pictures. The 5-pointed star statue represents 5 cities that hosted Argosy production studios: Seattle, Washington; Charlotte, North Carolina; New York City, New York; Tokyo, Kanto; and Castineland, Sintopia.

FX/SFX: Decent CGI for the early-2000s.

Music: A fanfare also used for the Paramount Pictures logo in The Longest Yard.

2008-2015
Description: On a black background, the outline of the Argosy A in cyan, seen from an angle, draws in, glowing and with a reflecting glow below. We see two more outlined Argosy A’s, one red and one blue, in front of each other, being formed in the same way. We then cut to another Argosy A outline being drawn, this time in white. The logo flickers like a neon sign, forming a fully-formed Argosy A with the text “ARGOSY HOME ENTERTAINMENT” centred below.

Variant: Starting in 2011, an ArgosyMTM Group byline fades in at the end.

FX/SFX: Impressive CGI.

Music/Sounds: A warbly "outer space" synth scale, with a synth ding then a dreamy synth ditty and a series of synth whooshes. Composed by Argosy composer Sally Sharp.

International Home Cinemas
Background: International Home Cinemas was a British home video distributor formed in 1987 when MTM/Cannon Video was sold off. It was acquired by TVS Entertainment in 1990, which in turn was acquired by International Family Entertainment (now ArgosyMTM Group) in 1993. In 1995, IHC was folded into MTM Home Video.

1987-1988
(TBA)

1988-1990
(TBA)

1990-1993
(TBA)

1993-1995
(TBA)

MTM Home Video
Background: MTM Home Video was the home media unit of MTM Enterprises, Inc. that was spun off from Argosy Pictures Home Video in 1993 after the acquisition of the parent company by International Family Entertainment, Inc. (now "ArgosyMTM Group"). MTM Home Video became MTM Home Entertainment in 2000.

1993-2000 (USA), 1993-1996 (International)
(TBA)

1996-2000
(TBA)

2000-2008
(TBA)

2008-2011
(TBA)

2011-2020
(TBA)

2013-2020 (secondary)
(TBA)

2020-present
(TBA)