VideoTours

(1980s-2000)

Visuals: On a black-grey gradient background, a 3D purple triangle, positioned downwards, appears and spins clockwise from the top left corner of the screen, moving in a curve towards the right. When it reaches the middle of the screen, a dark blue plate swings over it from the right and the text "VIDEOTOURS" slides in from both sides of the screen, with "VIDEO" from the left and "TOURS" from the right, and then zooms out with a dust trail onto the plate. The text is in a orange-yellow graident abstract font, and a white outline is seen around it. The text shines and, after a second, pictures of a kangaroo, a bottle of beer, 2 ballet dancers leaping, a zebra, and the Liberty Bell appear from right to left respectively, all with white outlines. Finally, a large purple scribble draws in behind the logo.

Variants:

• A short version exists that starts with the text coming together, and fades out just as the pictures all appear.
• A still variant exists.

Technique: 3D and 2D computer animation.

Audio: A mystical-sounding synth tune played on Roland D-50 with whooshes when the triangle rotates. A flourish plays when the scribble is drawn. The still version is silent, while the short version has the music end with the choir-like section.

Availability: Can be found on VideoTours tapes like one for Monterey Bay Aquarium, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and San Diego Zoo, among others. The short version appears on Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures, and is kept on reruns of it.