Paramount Home Entertainment Warning Screen

USA/CANADA WARNINGS

1st Warning

(1978-1979)

Warning: We see on a dark blue background the warning text in white. This follows the 1978 Paramount Home Video logo.

FX/SFX: The fade-in transformation from the logo to the warning.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on Betamax releases and a few VHS releases with the 1978 Paramount Home Video logo.

Scare Factor: None; not scary, just boring.

2nd Warning

(1979-1989)

Nicknames: "Acid Trip", "Taste the Rainbow"

Warning: On a background of changing colors (green, yellow, red, pink, purple, blue, and green again) [ala the 1989-2005 MGM/UA Home Video logo] appears the warning text in white in large lettering in a ITC Serif Gothic font.

Early Variant: There is an early variation where the text is smaller and in a different font (Bauhaus 93), still had some punctuation, and was in yellow instead of white. This was used until 1984.

Cheesy Factor: Punctuation is missing. The first period, the hyphen, and the comma is gone. The 1979 version still had the period and comma.

FX/SFX: The changing colors.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on all releases from this era. The Bauhaus variant can be seen on tapes including later prints of the original release of Grease. The variant is also spotted on Star Trek Paramount tapes from the 1980s (with "Paramount HOME VIDEO" on the side and the Gulf+Western print mountain on the other.)

Scare Factor: Low.

3rd Warning

(1987-2006)

Warning: Transforming from the zooming-in of "FEATURE PRESENTATION" from the Paramount Home Video Feature Presentation ID of the era, we see a wallpaper with the Paramount logo all over it. We see the standard Warning in the ITC Korinna font.

Color Backgrounds:

1987-1989: Mauve/white gradient.

1989-2006: Dark blue gradient.

Bylines:

1987-1989: A Gulf+Western Company

1989-1995: A Paramount Communications Company

1995-2006: A Viacom Company (in the Viacom Wigga-Wigga font)

Variants:

In 1989, a shadow effect was applied to the text (This is when the Paramount Communications variant started its usage).

In 1995, the font was changed to ITC Benguiat Medium.

One variant had the background in light/dark gray gradient and had more text as well. Seen on most Paramount DVD releases from 1999-2002, such as Wayne's World, Black Sheep and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

There is an extremely rare variant on demo tapes (for example, Dollman Vs. Demonic Toys) that asked the viewer to call a certain telephone number and to help prevent video piracy. The text also scrolls up.

The Canada version has the word "WARNING" in red, underlined in white, along with modified warning text.

Two Canadian Star Trek VHS tapes have the Canada version (with "WARNING") in a sans-serif font. (Note: the byline used was the sans-serif Paramount Communications byline, which may have something to do with it.)

On the 1998 VHS of Titanic, the 1991 VHS of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the 1991 laserdisc of Apocalypse Now, the 1989 laserdisc of The Naked Gun, the 1997 releases of the Godfather trilogy, the 2004 VHS of Boohbah: Comfy Armchair, the 2004 VHS of Boohbah: Snowman and a different version of The Truman Show, because they didn't contain the "Feature Presentation" ID, this screen instead faded in from black.

FX/SFX: The transformation from the "FEATURE PRESENTATION" zoom-in to the Warning.

Cheesy Factor: The early years of this warning had the same text as the last logo, which lacked some punctuation. In 1989, the first period returned, but the other punctuation is still missing.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on all videos from this period. The Gulf+Western variant, however, is a tough find, but can be found on some Paramount tapes. The other two variants are easier to find. The gray-colored background variant can be found on most Paramount DVDs.

Scare Factor: None, unless you want to count the transformation from the "Feature Presentation" to the Warning. The font of the text on the Gulf+Western and Paramount Communications variants from 1989-1995 can also creep some out.

4th Warning (Alternate)

(1989)

Nicknames: "Another Acid Trip", "Taste the Rainbow Again"

Warning: On a color-changing gradient background, appears the warning text in white, and in a different font (Times New Roman).

FX/SFX: Same as the 2nd screen.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Spotted on a 1989 VHS release of Star Trek: The Animated Series - Volume Five.

Scare Factor: Low.

5th Warning

(2002-)

Warning: On a navy blue background, we see the Warning text in the same font as the 3rd Warning, in English on the first screen, and Spanish on the second screen. On most tapes, the Spanish screen isn't there.

Variants:

Sometimes, the background is eggplant-colored.

On PBS Home Video VHS releases from Paramount that don't have the "Feature Presentation" ID at the beginning, such as Caillou: Caillou at Play, this screen fades in.

There is an early version of this warning which has the same text as the last warning. It can be seen on tapes with the 90th Anniversary Feature Presentation logo. A Canada version exists on Canadian prints.

FX/SFX: None, unless you want to count the transformation from English to Spanish on some DVDs.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Current on all Paramount releases from 2002-present, CBS Home Entertainment releases and DreamWorks releases from 2006-2011. Nowadays, this is no longer used at the beginning of Paramount DVDs post-2013, being swapped in favor of Universal's new warning, but this is still used at the end. However this appeared at the beginning of the 2014 DVD of SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants.

Scare Factor: None.

INTERNATIONAL WARNINGS

1st Warning (Non-USA, general)

(1980-2005)

See CIC Video Warning Screen.

United Kingdom

1st Warning

(2000-2001)

See CIC Video Warning Screen.

2nd Warning

(2000-)

Warning: We see a blue wallpaper with the Paramount logo (with Viacom byline) all over it. We see the standard Warning in the Gill Sans font.

Variant: DVD releases would have the text in the Arial font.

FX/SFX: None, except for the text scrolling at the end of the tape.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on some UK Paramount Home Entertainment VHS and DVD releases.

Scare Factor: None.

3rd Warning

(2003-2005)

Warning: The 1986-2002 Paramount logo animates, then it backs away revealing itself on the inside of a VCR. Some tape appears with "WARNING" scrolling on it. We cut to several shots, in sync with the music. We cut to one more shot that lasts in the rest of the warning. The warning text appears below. At the end of the tape, more detailed warning text appears scrolling up like the credits of a movie.

FX/SFX: All CGI.

Music/Sounds: A piano-jazz tune, with the sounds of the VCR as a background noise. The final part of the music is an ascending tune played by the piano. The end of the tape only has the VCR sounds.

Availability: Common in the UK and Ireland. Seen on The Core.

Scare Factor: Low, it may startle you the first time you see it, but it's harmless.

Australia

TBA