Logo descriptions and captures by' John Montagnino, Cameron McCaffrey, 'AsdfTheRevival, Tlogos, Hoa, and Yeow95 Editions by AsdfTheRevival, Bob Fish, Michael Bass, and V of Doom Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, roygerdodger721, and Eric S.
Background: Vin Di Bona Productions is an independent television production company established in 1986 by television producer Vin Di Bona.
1st Logo
(1987-1990)
Nicknames: "The Spinning Handwriting", "The Spinning Signature", "The Diamond"
Logo: On a gray/black gradient background, we see the pale gold text "Cannell Di Bona", in Cannell's signature, spinning around. The text then unfolds itself. A gold diamond outline flips up from under the Cannell Di Bona text. A dark orange rounded rectangle with the word "PRODUCTIONS" on it in pale gold, moves up from the bottom of the screen onto the diamond.
FX/SFX: The spinning text, the "PRODUCTIONS" graphic.
Cheesy Factor: Primitive, early CGI.
Music/Sounds: A creepy synth humming tune that tries to sound cheerful (which makes it worse) that almost sounds similar to the 1991 All American Television theme. This music was composed by Alfred Newman.
Availability: Last seen on S1 episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos on Hallmark Channel. Tapes of Animal Crack-Ups should have this logo, too.
Scare Factor: Medium. The creepy synth tune and dated CGI may scare a few, but is nothing compared with its successor.
2nd Logo (1990-1997)
Nicknames: "The Spinning Handwriting II", "The Spinning Signature II"
Logo: On a deep blue/black gradient background, the gold text "Cannell Di Bona", in Cannell's signature, spins around for a second. Then it unfolds itself. After this is done, a coral pink rounded rectangle with the text "PRODUCTIONS" (in white) on it zooms-in.
Variants:
- On the TV movies from 1993-1997, the logo is chromed in over a red-black gradient background, expect this time the "Cannell Di Bona" text spins around longer. The "PRODUCTIONS" oblong is now colored scarlet and looks slightly different, as well, and zooms up from the bottom of the screen (a la the 1987 logo) but at a much slower pace. . The byline "A VIN DI BONA COMPANY" appears below the "PRODUCTIONS" oblong, and the "Vin di Bona" text shines afterwards.
- On the 1995-1996 Showtime TV series Sherman Oaks, the logo is superimposed in the credits. The same animation and logo before, but spins around shorter, bylineless and dosen't have the shine effect on the "Vin Di Bona" text. No chrome this time. (As a side note, this logo was the only logo on the program to feature its music.)
FX/SFX: The text spinning, the "PRODUCTIONS" graphic zooming in.
Cheesy Factor: Same as the 1st logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 1st logo.
Music/Sounds Variant: Some 1990-1991 episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos and the TV movie For the Love of Nancy play their closing themes over the logo.
Availability: Not too hard to find. Last found on late S1-S8 episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos reran on Hallmark Channel. Also seen on AFV's spin-off, America's Funniest People, which ran from 1990-1994. A 1992 special called Storm the Castle (which aired on CBS, and was based on Japan's Takeshi's Castle) should have this logo as well.
Scare Factor: Medium to high for the music and zooming in effect of the text "PRODUCTIONS" (for those who are unfamiliar with it). Low to medium for the other variants.
3rd Logo (1998-2008)
Nicknames: "The Spinning Handwriting III", "The Spinning Signature III"
Logo: Basically a slower version of the previous logos, except the background is now lit up at the bottom, and the word "PRODUCTIONS", now rectangle-less, is moved next to the Cannell Di Bona text, and animates similar to the script.
FX/SFX: Same as logos 1 and 2, except the spinning handwriting is slower, and "PRODUCTIONS" extends out along with the Cannell Di Bona text.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logos.
Availability: Seen on the second revival of AFHV hosted by John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes, as well as the current version hosted by Tom Bergeron on ABC, ABC Family, Hallmark Channel, WGN America, and local syndication. It also appeared on the short-lived, long-forgotten Disney Channel game show Off the Wall.
Scare Factor: Low to medium. The CGI in this one is much better and less dated than the previous logos, but the music may still put off some.
4th Logo (October 5, 2008- ) Nicknames: "The Spinning Handwriting IV", "The Spinning Signature IV" Logo: Same as the previous logo, but the background is a swirly red with a little bit of yellow (similar to the background of the current AFHV opening) and the company logo is redone and tilted slightly.
Variant: On the 2011 season of AFHV, the background is more yellow. This yellow is similar to the background of the 2011 ABC logo found at the end of their shows.
FX/SFX: The spinning company name, along with the moving background.
Music/Sounds: A re-arrangement of the Vin Di Bona 1987 logo music, Composed by Jerry Goldsmith.
Availability: Can be seen on new episodes of the current version of America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC, Hallmark Channel and ABC Family in the United States, and on A-Channel in Vancouver or Victoria in Canada.
Scare Factor: None. They managed to "de-creepify" the music (quite a feat).