Family Home Entertainment
Encyclopedia
Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American
home video
company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California
.
-oriented programming, most notably popular 1980s television cartoons, including The Transformers
, G.I. Joe, Jem
, ThunderCats
, Pound Puppies
, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
animated series, Gumby
, Clifford the Big Red Dog
, The Care Bears, and Bucky O'Hare
, and other non-animated shows like Baby Einstein
. It also had a one off theatrical release division, FHE Pictures, established in 2002; its first and only release was Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
. FHE was one of the two distributors for most of the seasonal Rankin/Bass
television specials aired on CBS
, the other distributor being Vestron Video
, a now-defunct company. The company has also released several VHSs of British kids' cartoons in the US since the 1980s (i.e., Roobarb
, Wil Cwac Cwac
), as well as some Japanese anime
, such as Robotech
and The Adventures of Ultraman, plus the Australian "Dot"
films. Their output wasn't always family friendly, though; in the early '80s, several titles were released under the "World of Horror" label directly by FHE, including Journey into the Beyond and The Child
(which was later rebranded as a Monterey Home Video
release). Since 1982, they also released Filmation's TV shows such as Lassie's Rescue Rangers
, The Lone Ranger
, Shazam!, Blackstar
, and The Adventures of Zorro, plus the only Filmation movie released at the time, Journey Back to Oz
. Early FHE releases was distributed by MGM/UA Home Video
; in the late 1980s, FHE's releases were distributed by MCA
(most notably in Canada). Canadian releases were distributed by two companies in the early 1980s, which were International Home Entertainment Canada (IHEC) and Vidéo Screencraft, Inc.
In 1982, the company introduced USA Home Video as a non-family division of the company. In 1986, the company changed its name to International Video Entertainment, and then to Live Entertainment, with "Family Home Entertainment" as an imprint of IVE/Live. They would later go on to become Artisan Entertainment
, which has since been acquired by Lions Gate Entertainment
. In 2005, FHE was folded into Lionsgate Home Entertainment
.
Today, the bulk of the FHE releases are now on DVD including the Care Bears Family and Clifford the Big Red Dog.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California
Newbury Park, California
The community of Newbury Park, California is located in the western portion of the city of Thousand Oaks and Casa Conejo, an unincorporated area of southeastern Ventura County's Conejo Valley, which is also in the northwestern Greater Los Angeles Area...
.
General information
It released children's and familyFamily
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
-oriented programming, most notably popular 1980s television cartoons, including The Transformers
The Transformers (TV series)
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animal-like forms. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea...
, G.I. Joe, Jem
Jem (TV series)
Jem, also known as Jem and the Holograms, is an American animated television series that ran from 1985 to 1988 in U.S. first-run syndication...
, ThunderCats
ThunderCats
ThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens...
, Pound Puppies
Pound Puppies
Pound Puppies is a toyline sold by Tonka in the 1980s. It later inspired an animated TV special, an animated TV series, and a feature film. Shipments of the toys over five years generated sales of $300 million in 35 countries....
, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated television series produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. The pilot was shown during the week of December 28, 1987 in syndication as a five part miniseries and began its official run on October 1, 1988...
animated series, Gumby
Gumby
Gumby is a green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey, who also created Davey and Goliath. Gumby has been the subject of a 233-episode series of American television as well as a feature-length film and other media...
, Clifford the Big Red Dog
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Clifford the Big Red Dog is an American children's book series first published in 1963. Written by Norman Bridwell, the series helped establish Scholastic Books as a premier publishing company....
, The Care Bears, and Bucky O'Hare
Bucky O'Hare
Bucky O'Hare is a fictional character and the hero of an eponymous comic book series as well as spin-off media including an animated TV series and various toys and video games...
, and other non-animated shows like Baby Einstein
Baby Einstein
Baby Einstein is a line of multimedia products and toys that specializes in interactive activities for children aged 3 months to 3 years old. Subjects such as classical music, art, and poetry are prominently explored. These products are currently made by a division of the Walt Disney Company,...
. It also had a one off theatrical release division, FHE Pictures, established in 2002; its first and only release was Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a 2002 American computer-animated film based on VeggieTales, produced by Big Idea Productions, Lions Gate Films and FHE Pictures. It is the first feature-length film in the VeggieTales series....
. FHE was one of the two distributors for most of the seasonal Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
television specials aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, the other distributor being Vestron Video
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1982 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market....
, a now-defunct company. The company has also released several VHSs of British kids' cartoons in the US since the 1980s (i.e., Roobarb
Roobarb
Roobarb is a British animated television programme for children, originally shown on BBC1 just before the evening news. Each cartoon, written by Grange Calveley and animated by Bob Godfrey, was about five minutes long. Thirty episodes were made, and the show was first shown on October 21, 1974...
, Wil Cwac Cwac
Wil Cwac Cwac
Wil Cwac Cwac or Will Quack Quack is a Welsh-language cartoon based on a series of children's books written in the 1920s by Jennie Thomas and J. O. Williams . The cartoon series ran from 1984 to 1986. Both book and cartoon series take place in rural Wales...
), as well as some Japanese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, such as Robotech
Robotech
Robotech is an 85-episode science fiction anime adaptation produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. and first released in the United States in 1985...
and The Adventures of Ultraman, plus the Australian "Dot"
Dot and the Kangaroo
-Film adaptations:The book was adapted into a film in 1977 which featured a combination of animation and live-action. The main character, Dot, was voiced by Barbara Frawley. The film also featured Spike Milligan as the voice of Platypus. The movie featured an original soundtrack including several...
films. Their output wasn't always family friendly, though; in the early '80s, several titles were released under the "World of Horror" label directly by FHE, including Journey into the Beyond and The Child
The Child
The Child may refer to:* The Child , a 2005 film* "The Child" , a second season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation* The Child , an American horror movie from 1977....
(which was later rebranded as a Monterey Home Video
Monterey Home Video
Monterey Home Video is a home video company co-founded in 1982 by Scott Mansfield, founder of Monterey Movie Company, and Noel C. Bloom, founder of Family Home Entertainment. Monterey is the second sub-label of NCB Entertainment, after FHE....
release). Since 1982, they also released Filmation's TV shows such as Lassie's Rescue Rangers
Lassie's Rescue Rangers
Lassie's Rescue Rangers is an animated TV show produced by Filmation and featuring Lassie, running from 1973 to 1975. The hour-long pilot, Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain, was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.-Overview:...
, The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
, Shazam!, Blackstar
BlackStar
Blackstar is an American animated television series, a science fantasy story sometimes reported as being inspired by Thundarr the Barbarian. It was produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being tucked in as a...
, and The Adventures of Zorro, plus the only Filmation movie released at the time, Journey Back to Oz
Journey Back to Oz
Journey Back To Oz is a 1974 animated film and the official sequel to the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, although Baum received no screen credit. However, the Wizard was nowhere to be found, at least in the...
. Early FHE releases was distributed by MGM/UA Home Video
MGM Home Entertainment
MGM Home Entertainment is the home video and DVD arm of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-History:The home video division of MGM started in 1979 as MGM Home Video, releasing all the movies and TV shows by MGM. In 1980, MGM joined forces with CBS Video Enterprises, the home video division of the CBS television...
; in the late 1980s, FHE's releases were distributed by MCA
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
(most notably in Canada). Canadian releases were distributed by two companies in the early 1980s, which were International Home Entertainment Canada (IHEC) and Vidéo Screencraft, Inc.
In 1982, the company introduced USA Home Video as a non-family division of the company. In 1986, the company changed its name to International Video Entertainment, and then to Live Entertainment, with "Family Home Entertainment" as an imprint of IVE/Live. They would later go on to become Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
, which has since been acquired by Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
. In 2005, FHE was folded into Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment is the home video and DVD distribution arm of Lions Gate Entertainment and most former Artisan Entertainment releases. Its library of more than 8000 films owes some of its size to output deals with other studios...
.
Today, the bulk of the FHE releases are now on DVD including the Care Bears Family and Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Filmography
- Jonah: A VeggieTales MovieJonah: A VeggieTales MovieJonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a 2002 American computer-animated film based on VeggieTales, produced by Big Idea Productions, Lions Gate Films and FHE Pictures. It is the first feature-length film in the VeggieTales series....
(Co-production with Big Idea Productions) - Turtle Tunes (based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTeenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesThe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
franchise)