Turner Entertainment
Encyclopedia
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American media company founded by Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...

. Now owned by Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution (in recent years, this role has largely been limited to being the copyright holder, while sister company Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 handles all sales and distribution).

Background

Turner Entertainment Co. was established on August 4, 1986 as a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...

 to oversee its film library after Ted Turner's short-lived acquisition of MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

/UA
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

.

After re-selling the studio, Turner kept its library, which included the following:
  • Nearly all of MGM's film and television library prior to May 23, 1986 ending with the film Killer Party
    Killer Party
    Killer Party is a horror film released in 1986. The movie was directed by William Fruet.-Plot:Three friends are trying to get into a sorority. One of them, Vivia , plays a prank on the girls in the sorority on the night of the initiation...

    (released on May 9, 1986)
    • Included in this portion are a few individual films that MGM acquired from other studios in connection with filming remakes, such as
      • The 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
        Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931 film)
        Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fredric March. The film is an adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , the Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a man who takes a potion which turns him from a mild-mannered man of...

        , originally from Paramount Pictures
        Paramount Pictures
        Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

      • The 1936 version of Show Boat
        Show Boat (1936 film)
        Show Boat is a 1936 film based on the musical play by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II , which the team adapted from the novel by Edna Ferber....

        and the 1931 version of Waterloo Bridge
        Waterloo Bridge (1931 film)
        Waterloo Bridge is a 1931 American drama film directed by James Whale. The screenplay by Benn Levy and Tom Reed is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Robert E. Sherwood....

        , both originally from Universal Studios
        Universal Studios
        Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

      • The 1937 version of The Prisoner of Zenda
        The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 film)
        The Prisoner of Zenda is a 1937 black-and-white adventure film based on the Anthony Hope 1894 novel of the same name and the 1896 play. Of the many film adaptations, this is considered by many to be the definitive version....

        , originally from Selznick International Pictures
        Selznick International Pictures
        -Origin:It was founded in 1935 by producer David O. Selznick and investor John Hay "Jock" Whitney after Selznick left Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and leased a section of the RKO Pictures lot in Culver City, California...

         and distributed by UA
  • The former Associated Artists Productions
    Associated Artists Productions
    Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...

     (a.a.p.) catalog
    • Pre-1950 releases from Warner Bros.
      Warner Bros.
      Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

      • Not included in this library were
        • Lady, Play Your Mandolin!
          Lady, Play Your Mandolin!
          Lady, Play Your Mandolin! was the first Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Rudolf Ising of Harman and Ising. It was originally released in August 1931.-Overview:...

          - the first entry in the Merrie Melodies
          Merrie Melodies
          Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...

          series
        • All the black-and-white entries in the Looney Tunes
          Looney Tunes
          Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

          series
        • All the black-and-white Merrie Melodies produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions
          Warner Bros. Cartoons
          Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical...

        • All Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies released on or after August 1, 1948
        • All live-action short subjects released on or after September 1, 1948
        • Two 1949 features merely distributed by WB
    • Fleischer
      Fleischer Studios
      Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...

      /Famous
      Famous Studios
      Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...

       Popeye
      Popeye
      Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...

      cartoons
  • The U.S. rights to a majority of the RKO Radio Pictures
    RKO Pictures
    RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...

     library
    • Some of these rights had not been held by MGM at the time of the Turner acquisition, these rights would be bought by Turner later on.
    • Turner later got rights to this library in Latin America and Australia as well.
  • Some United Artists
    United Artists
    United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

     material (the TV series Gilligan's Island
    Gilligan's Island
    Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...

    and its two animated spin-offs The New Adventures of Gilligan
    The New Adventures Of Gilligan
    The New Adventures of Gilligan is an animated series produced by Filmation and was aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. It was based on the 1964-1967 CBS television series Gilligan's Island and featured almost all the actors from the show, except for Tina Louise, who was determined to distance...

    and Gilligan's Planet
    Gilligan's Planet
    Gilligan's Planet is a Saturday morning cartoon produced by the Filmation animation studio and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982-1983 season on CBS...

    , and the 1975 documentary Bugs Bunny: Superstar
    Bugs Bunny: Superstar
    Bugs Bunny: Superstar is a 1975 Looney Tunes documentary film, narrated by Orson Welles and produced and directed by Larry Jackson.The film includes nine Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons which were previously released during the 1940s :* What's Cookin' Doc? * The Wild Hare Bugs Bunny:...

    , though originally post-1952 UA, are also a part of the package, the latter due primarily to its inclusion of nine full WB cartoons from the a.a.p. package).
  • Films by Brut Productions, the production division of Fabergé
    Fabergé (cosmetics)
    -History:The American oil billionaire Armand Hammer collected many Fabergé pieces during his business ventures in communist Russia in the 1920s. In 1937, Armand Hammer’s friend Samuel Rubin, owner of the Spanish Trading Corporation which imported soap and olive oil, closed down his company because...

     (A Touch of Class).
  • Some of the above material, such as the MGM musical films Till the Clouds Roll By
    Till the Clouds Roll By
    Till The Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American musical film made by MGM. The film is a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern, who was originally involved with the production of the film, but died before it was completed...

    and Royal Wedding
    Royal Wedding
    Royal Wedding is a 1951 Hollywood musical comedy film known for Fred Astaire's dance performance on a ceiling and another with a coat rack. The story is set in London in 1947 at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and stars Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah...

    , have lapsed into the public domain
    Public domain
    Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...

    , but Turner held the original film elements and/or rights to release authorized videos of these films.


Turner later re-sold United Artists and the MGM logo back to Kirk Kerkorian
Kirk Kerkorian
Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian is an American businessman who is the president/CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian is known as one of the important figures in shaping Las Vegas and, with architect Martin Stern, Jr...

, and sold the old MGM studio lot to Lorimar, keeping the aforementioned library. In 1991, Turner Entertainment's parent Turner Broadcasting purchased Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...

 and its extensive animated library including The Jetsons
The Jetsons
The Jetsons is a animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing in prime-time from 1962–1963 and again from 1985–1987...

, Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. Yogi Bear was the first breakout character created by Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...

, Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...

, The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...

, Huckleberry Hound
Huckleberry Hound
The Huckleberry Hound Show is a 1958 syndicated animated series and the second from Hanna-Barbera following The Ruff & Reddy Show, sponsored by Kellogg's. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound; another starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo; and a third...

, Top Cat
Top Cat
Top Cat is a Hanna-Barbera prime time animated television series which ran from September 27, 1961 to April 18, 1962 for a run of 30 episodes on the ABC network. Reruns are played on Cartoon Network's classic animation network Boomerang.-History:...

, and Space Ghost
Space Ghost
Space Ghost is a fictional superhero created by Hanna-Barbera Productions and designed by Alex Toth for CBS in the 1960s. In his original incarnation, he was a superhero who, with his sidekick teen helpers Jan, Jace, and Blip the monkey, fought supervillains in outer space...

(along with most of the Ruby-Spears library up to 1991). Turner's vast animation library served as the basis for Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....

, and later Boomerang
Boomerang (TV channel)
Boomerang is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner. Boomerang specializes in reruns of animated programming from Time Warner's extensive archives, including pre-1986 MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...

.

Turner Entertainment also played a huge part in film preservation
Film preservation
thumb|300px|Stacked containers filled with reels of [[film stock]]The film preservation, or film restoration, movement is an ongoing project among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images which they contain...

 and restoration, thus such classic films as Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...

, Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...

, King Kong
King Kong (1933 film)
King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...

, Easter Parade, and the original The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...

, can continue to be seen today via its various cable channels, as well as in revival movie houses and home video. The films are also internationally distributed and shown by many channels around the world.

Turner Entertainment also distributes films from the RKO Radio Pictures, pre-May 1986 MGM and pre-1950 Warner Bros. libraries, certain films from New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...

 (1994–1997), and shows from TBS, TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...

, Hanna-Barbera (1991–1997), Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....

, Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...

, truTV and PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 (1994–2004) on 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...

 via Turner Home Entertainment, and after 1996, Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...

 (which currently operates Turner's home video subsidiary as an in-name-only division). (see below.)

The library itself

Today, as part of Time Warner, Turner Entertainment continues to oversee its inherited library, which also includes The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

, A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd, including material from his books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. It was directed by Bob Clark...

, Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...

, Gilligan's Island, Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...

, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, Top Cat, Huckleberry Hound, Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest is a media franchise that revolves around a boy named Jonny Quest who accompanies his father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964-65 television series and has come to include two subsequent television series, two television films, and a video game.-1964–1965...

, Space Ghost and Captain Planet.

There are very few exceptions to this library, however.
  • The Flipper
    Flipper (1964 TV series)
    Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park...

    TV series produced by MGM Television
    MGM Television
    Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television is an American television production/distribution launched in 1955 and a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc....

     and later sold to The Samuel Goldwyn Company
    The Samuel Goldwyn Company
    The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...

     is now owned by MGM again.
  • Charlotte's Web
    Charlotte's Web (1973 film)
    Charlotte's Web is a 1973 American animated musical film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Sagittarius Productions and based upon the 1952 children's book of the same name by E. B. White...

    , produced by Hanna-Barbera, is still distributed by Paramount Pictures
    Paramount Pictures
    Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

    . Hanna-Barbera continues to hold the copyright to the film alongside co-producer Sagittarius Productions.
  • While Warner Bros. and Turner hold the film elements of Hanna-Barbera's Once Upon a Forest
    Once Upon a Forest
    Once Upon a Forest is an animated film produced by Hanna-Barbera in association with HTV Cymru/Wales, Ltd. and released on June 18, 1993 by 20th Century Fox....

    , all theatrical, television and home entertainment rights are completely and exclusively controlled by 20th Century Fox
    20th Century Fox
    Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

    .
  • 20th Century Fox owns Hanna-Barbera's Capitol Critters
    Capitol Critters
    Capitol Critters is an animated television series about the lives of mice, rats, and roaches who reside in the basement and walls of the White House in Washington, D.C...

    , co-produced with 20th Century Fox Television
    20th Century Fox Television
    20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...

    .
  • Jetsons: The Movie
    Jetsons: The Movie
    Jetsons: The Movie is a 1990 animated science fiction film produced by Hanna-Barbera and released on July 6, 1990, by Universal Pictures based on the hit cartoon series, The Jetsons . The movie features the final voice roles of George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc who both died during production of the film...

    , The Flintstones
    The Flintstones (film)
    The Flintstones is a 1994 American live-action comedy film based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon television series of the same name about a Stone-Age man, his family and his best friend. The film was directed by Brian Levant, written by Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein and Steven E...

    , its sequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
    The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
    The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas is a 2000 comedy film and prequel to 1994's The Flintstones based on the hit cartoon series of the same name, produced by Amblin Entertainment and Hanna-Barbera and distributed by Universal Studios...

    and the ride film footage of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera
    The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (ride)
    The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera was a simulator ride at Universal Studios Florida, and one of the park's original attractions. The story line was that Dick Dastardly and Muttley have kidnapped Elroy Jetson, Yogi Bear gives chase and the audience is in for the ride of their lives. Peter N...

    are owned and controlled by NBCUniversal whereas the characters, original TV series and merchandising rights rest with Warner Bros. via Turner Broadcasting's ownership of Hanna-Barbera.
  • Although WB/Turner holds US rights to The Wind and the Lion
    The Wind and the Lion
    The Wind and the Lion is a 1975 adventure film. It was written and directed by John Milius and starred Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith and John Huston...

    , international rights remain with Columbia Pictures
    Columbia Pictures
    Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...

     (via Sony Pictures Entertainment
    Sony Pictures Entertainment
    Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...

    ).
  • In 1976, MGM and United Artists co-produced Network
    Network (film)
    Network is a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System , and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet...

    , with both companies sharing the copyright. In 1981, MGM purchased UA, and for five years, owned complete control of the film. MGM now owns part of the copyright (as they retained the rights to UA's releases), sharing it with Turner (as a result of the aforementioned purchase of MGM's library).
  • Although Turner co-produced The Wizard of Oz cartoon series produced by DiC Entertainment
    DiC Entertainment
    DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...

    , the rights to the show are owned by Cookie Jar Entertainment
    Cookie Jar Entertainment
    The Cookie Jar Group is an American and Canadian producer of children’s entertainment, consumer products and educational materials...

    .
  • The 1948 Alfred Hitchcock
    Alfred Hitchcock
    Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

     film Rope
    Rope (film)
    Rope is a 1948 American thriller film based on the play Rope by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by Sidney Bernstein and Hitchcock as the first of their Transatlantic Pictures productions...

    , released by Warner Bros. and sold to a.a.p., is now distributed by NBCUniversal (it had reverted to Hitchcock and his estate in the past).
  • Another Hitchcock film, Notorious, started out as a David O. Selznick
    David O. Selznick
    David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...

     production until the producer sold the rights to RKO before production began. RKO originally owned the copyright, but the film was sold years later to American Broadcasting Company
    American Broadcasting Company
    The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

    , which owns the rights to some of Selznick's other films.
  • The 1956 film Moby Dick
    Moby Dick (1956 film)
    Moby Dick is a 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Ray Bradbury and the director. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn...

    , released by Warner Bros. and sold to a.a.p., is now owned by United Artists (via MGM).
  • Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears cartoons that are based on Happy Days
    Happy Days
    Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....

    , Laverne and Shirley, and Mork and Mindy
    Mork and Mindy
    Mork & Mindy is an American science fiction sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC. The series starred Robin Williams as Mork, an alien who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-man egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-starred as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate...

    are owned by CBS Television Distribution
    CBS Television Distribution
    CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...

    , along with The Little Rascals
    The Little Rascals (animated TV series)
    The Little Rascals was a 1982-1984 Saturday morning cartoon series produced jointly by Hanna-Barbera Productions and King World, and broadcast on ABC...

    cartoons co-produced with King World and Harlem Globetrotters
    Harlem Globetrotters (TV series)
    Harlem Globetrotters was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera and CBS Productions, featuring animated versions of players from the basketball team, Harlem Globetrotters....

    (although WB/Turner owns The Super Globetrotters
    The Super Globetrotters
    The Super Globetrotters is an American Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for NBC. It premiered on September 22, 1979 and ran for 13 episodes.It was a spin-off series from Hanna-Barbera's Harlem Globetrotters....

    , though both Globetrotters series have been less frequently seen in recent years due to intellectual property
    Intellectual property
    Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

     issues).
  • CBS Storybreak
    CBS Storybreak
    CBS Storybreak is a Saturday morning anthology television series that originally aired on the CBS network during the 1985 season. Hosted by Captain Kangaroo's Bob Keeshan , the episodes are half-hour animated adaptations of some of the most beloved children's books published at the time of airing,...

    , produced at Hanna-Barbera's Australian division, is also owned by CBS Television Distribution, as the series was co-produced by CBS.
  • Hanna-Barbera's Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone
    Midnight Patrol: Adventures In The Dream Zone
    Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone / Potsworth and Company is an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera in conjunction with Sleepy Kids PLC and is known outside the USA as Potsworth & Co....

    is owned by Classic Media
    Classic Media
    Classic Media, LLC, is an American production company and distributor of family programming. It was founded in 2000 by former Marvel Entertainment CEO Eric Ellenbogen and former Broadway Video executive John Engelman in hopes of acquiring mismanaged classic properties and giving exposure to...

    .
  • Hanna-Barbera's Jeannie and Partridge Family 2200 A.D.
    Partridge Family 2200 A.D.
    Partridge Family 2200 A.D. is an animated television series based on The Partridge Family created by Hanna-Barbera.-Production:This version started out as Hanna-Barbera's updated version of The Jetsons, where Elroy was now a teenager, and Judy now had a steady job as an ace reporter...

    are owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
  • Hanna-Barbera's Popeye cartoons from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as Popeye and Son
    Popeye and Son
    Popeye and Son is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and King Features Entertainment, and aired for one season and thirteen episodes on CBS. Maurice LaMarche supplied the voice of Popeye in this series, succeeding Jack Mercer in that role...

    and the TV special Hägar the Horrible: Hägar Knows Best, are owned by King Features Syndicate
    King Features Syndicate
    King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...

    . However, KFS has licensed DVD rights for the Popeye cartoons to WB as part of the deal allowing them to release the Paramount Popeye cartoons on DVD.
  • Hanna-Barbera's Gravedale High
    Gravedale High
    Gravedale High is an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera for NBC Productions...

    , co-produced with NBC
    NBC
    The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

    , is owned by NBCUniversal.
  • Hanna-Barbera's Pink Panther and Sons
    Pink Panther and Sons
    Pink Panther and Sons is an animated Pink Panther television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and MGM/UA Television. The series was originally broadcast on NBC from 1984 to 1985. The original Pink Panther cartoons were produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, is in the TV animation industry, but in...

    , as well as the Hanna-Barbera produced episodes of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures
    Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1990 TV series)
    Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures is a 1990 spin-off animated television series following the misadventures of two time-travelling slackers as they travel into the distant past and future...

    are owned by MGM - the very studio where the Hanna-Barbera team got its start (MGM acquired the Bill and Ted series after it bought Orion Pictures
    Orion Pictures
    Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...

    ; MGM also owns the DiC produced episodes of said show). MGM also owns the Hanna-Barbera produced episodes of Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt and the movie C.H.O.M.P.S (as both were co-produced with American International Pictures, AIP became Filmways Pictures and was acquired by Orion, and Orion was bought by MGM).
  • The Godzilla
    Godzilla
    is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...

    segments from The Godzilla Power Hour
    The Godzilla Power Hour
    Godzilla is a 30-minute animated series co-produced between Hanna-Barbera Productions and Toho in 1978 and aired on NBC in the US and TV Tokyo in Japan.The series is an animated adaptation of the Japanese Godzilla films produced by Toho...

    , produced by Hanna-Barbera, are now owned by Toho Company Ltd. with Classic Media handling U.S. distribution rights (the Godzilla segments were originally included when Turner bought Hanna-Barbera and when Time-Warner bought Turner until 2003 when WB/Turner sold the Godzilla segments to Toho, while WB/Turner still owns the Jana of the Jungle
    Jana of the Jungle
    Jana of the Jungle is a cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera. It first aired alongside Godzilla as The Godzilla Power Hour.-Plot:The series is essentially about a female version of Tarzan named Jana , who traveled to the rain forests of South America in search of her lost father...

    segments). Coincidentally, WB is producing a reboot of the Godzilla film series set for release in 2012.
  • Although WB owns the Super Friends
    Super Friends
    Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...

    cartoons and spin-offs produced by Hanna-Barbera as well as The Dukes
    The Dukes
    The Dukes is an animated series which ran on CBS in 1983 based directly on the popular live-action television series The Dukes of Hazzard.-Plot:...

    , Turner never owned them - instead, these were always under WB control (unlike the other H-B series now part of the WB library).


Turner Entertainment self-distributed much of its library for the first decade of its existence. After the Time Warner merger, its distribution functions were largely absorbed into WB. As a result, Turner now largely serves merely as a copyright holder for a portion of the WB library just like how Hanna-Barbera's current purpose as the in-name only unit of Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...

 is to serve as the copyright holder for its creations such as The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Top Cat and Yogi Bear while Time-Warner's divisions handle sales and merchandising (similar to how EMKA's sole purpose is to be the copyright holder for the pre-1950 Paramount sound features, with other NBCUniversal divisions handling distribution).

As a production and distribution company

Turner Entertainment, as a production company, also creates original in-house programming, such as documentaries about the films it owns, new animated material based on Tom & Jerry and other related cartoon properties, and once produced made-for-TV movies, miniseries, and theatrical films such as Gettysburg, Fallen
Fallen (film)
Fallen is a 1998 supernatural thriller film, directed by Gregory Hoblit, and starring Denzel Washington, John Goodman and Donald Sutherland.-Plot:...

, The Pagemaster and Cats Don't Dance
Cats Don't Dance
Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 animated musical comedy film, notable as the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Entertainment's feature animation unit . The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment...

under the Turner Pictures banner. Turner also had an international distribution sales unit, Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution. Turner Pictures folded into Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 after the Turner-Time Warner merger, and currently holds the distribution rights to the films made by the production division.

The Pagemaster and Cats Don't Dance were produced under Turner Feature Animation, Turner's animation unit headed by David Kirschner
David Kirschner
David Kirschner is an American film and television producer, particularly of animated features.After studying at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, David Kirschner once worked as an illustrator of Muppets and Sesame Street characters, and created the children's book...

 and Paul Gertz, which was folded into Warner Bros. Feature Animation.

Turner also had a television unit called Turner Program Services
Turner Program Services
Turner Program Services was the former syndication arm of Turner Broadcasting. It served the same purpose as Turner Entertainment's distribution unit, with the exception that TPS was more involved in distributing television series rather than films....

 which had run until 1996 when it was rebranded as Telepictures Distribution which distributed Mama's Family
Mama's Family
Mama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It was cancelled in May 1984, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In September 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for an additional four seasons,...

and all TPS shows after 1996. In 2003 Telepictures Distribution was folded into Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Television Distribution is an American television distribution arm of Warner Bros. Television, itself a part of Time Warner formed circa 1960. In 1989, the studio formed Warner Bros...

 which meant Telepictures
Telepictures
Telepictures is an American production company, currently operating as a label of Warner Bros. Television, with Hilary Estey McLoughlin currently serving as President...

 took over all series that were first run and distributed by TD.

The a.a.p. library was technically under the TPS unit of Turner (aside from the copyrights themselves), as a.a.p. was originally a television syndication company. Upon being sold to UA, a.a.p.'s library was made part of the UA television unit
United Artists Television
-Background:UA purchased Associated Artists Productions in 1958, giving UA access to the pre-1950 Warner Bros. library and the Popeye cartoons made by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios between 1933 and 1957....

. The a.a.p. library continues to be part of Turner/Warner's television unit
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...

 today.

Home video

  • As previously mentioned, Turner Home Entertainment (THE) released most of the Turner catalog on video;
  • THE also released World Championship Wrestling
    World Championship Wrestling
    World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

     pay-per-view events, wrestler profiles, and "Best Of" packages on video until the demise of WCW in 2001;
  • THE distributed home video releases from New Line Home Entertainment
    New Line Home Entertainment
    New Line Home Entertainment is the home entertainment distribution arm of New Line Cinema, founded in 1990. According to New Line's website, Misery was the first New Line Home Video release....

    , as well as PBS
    Public Broadcasting Service
    The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

     programs in the mid-1990s. NLHE distributed New Line films on video by itself from 1996 until the Warner Bros./New Line merger in 2008. PBS shows are now distributed on video by Paramount;
  • THE also distributed films produced by Turner Pictures on video;
  • THE distributed the initial video release of an animated film The Swan Princess
    The Swan Princess
    The Swan Princess is a 1994 American animated film based on the ballet "Swan Lake". Starring the voice talents of Jack Palance, John Cleese, Steven Wright, and Sandy Duncan, the film is directed by a former Disney animation director, Richard Rich, with a music score by Lex de Azevedo...

    , which is merely distributed by New Line Cinema;
  • Some films released on VHS by Turner Home Entertainment are distributed in the UK by First Independent Films
    First Independent Films
    First Independent Films was a British film distributor and home video company that replaced Vestron Video UK and were first opened in 1991.Although a small film company, the company distributed a wide selection of genres, but they mainly served as a distributor for New Line Cinema and Turner...

  • Contractually, the MGM and Warner film libraries which Turner owned had been 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...

     until their rights expired in 1999 at which point they were reassigned to Warner Home Video. This transaction also completed WB's re-acquiring of distribution rights to their pre-1950 library;
  • In 1994, THE entered a distribution deal with Columbia TriStar Home Video in the UK. The deal expired in 1997;
  • It was absorbed into Warner Home Video as an in-name-only unit after Time Warner bought Turner;
  • Turner Classic Movies
    Turner Classic Movies
    Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...

    releases special edition DVD boxsets of films from both the Turner and Warner catalogs under the TCM label. They are also an affiliate of Movies Unlimited, a Philadelphia based mail order DVD and video company.
  • THE also released some Hanna-Barbera tapes in the mid-1990's.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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