Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American entertainment company involved in the production and distribution of television programs. The company was founded in August 1986 by Ted Turner and is currently owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The company is currently mainly used as a copyright holding company, with its operations given to Warner Bros. Entertainment.
The company held the rights to Tom and Jerry until 1996. While Turner owned Tom and Jerry, they produced Tom & Jerry Kids as well as Tom and Jerry: The Movie (under the Turner Pictures banner).
Background[]
On March 25, 1986, Ted Turner and his Turner Broadcasting System purchased MGM from Kirk Kerkorian for $600 million, and renamed it MGM Entertainment Company, Inc. However, due to concerns in the financial community over the debt-load of his companies, on August 26, 1986, he was forced to sell MGM back to Kerkorian for approximately $300 million.[1] However, Turner kept MGM's film, television and cartoon library as well as a portion of the United Artists library, forming Turner Entertainment Company, Inc.[2][3] The library also included the pre-1950 Warner Bros. titles, the Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios Popeye cartoons originally released by Paramount Pictures, the US/Canadian/Latin American/Australian distribution rights to the RKO Radio Pictures library, and Gilligan's Island and its animated spin-offs.[4] In December 1987, Turner acquired the worldwide rights through license, to 800 RKO films from its then-parent company Wesray Capital Corporation.[5]
On November 29, 1989, Turner made another attempt to buy MGM/UA, but the deal failed, and Turner formed Turner Pictures and Turner Pictures Worldwide instead.[6]
In 1991, Turner purchased Hanna-Barbera Productions, most of the pre-1991 Ruby-Spears Productions library, and Man from Atlantis from Great American Broadcasting.[7] Turner Broadcasting subsequently launched Cartoon Network, and later Boomerang, to use its vast animation library.
Turner also acquired Castle Rock Entertainment in 1993, then New Line Cinema in 1994.
Turner Entertainment self-distributed much of its library for the first decade of its existence, but on October 10, 1996, Turner Broadcasting was purchased by Time Warner and its distribution functions were largely absorbed into Warner Bros. As a result, Turner now largely serves merely as a copyright holder for a portion of the Warner Bros. library. Hanna-Barbera's current purpose as the in-name only unit of Warner Bros. Animation is to serve as the copyright holder for its creations such as The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bear, while Time Warner's divisions handle sales and merchandising.
Production 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, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, Fallen, The Pagemaster and Cats Don't Dance under the Turner Pictures banner. Turner also had an international distribution sales unit, Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution. Turner Pictures folded into Warner Bros. 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 and Paul Gertz. Spun off from the feature division of Hanna-Barbera Productions, Turner Feature Animation was folded into Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which was then merged into Warner Bros. Animation.
Home video[]
In the first decade of its existence, Turner released most of its own catalog on home video through Turner Home Entertainment (THE). However, the MGM film libraries which Turner owned were still distributed by MGM/UA Home Video along with THE until their rights expired in 1999, about three years after the Turner-Warner merger, the rights go to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. THE released films produced by Turner Pictures on home video with their distributors and independently released the Hanna-Barbera cartoon library on home video.
In 1994, THE entered a distribution deal with Columbia TriStar Home Video in the UK until the deal expired in 1997 (although some films released on VHS by THE are distributed in the UK by First Independent Films).
Upon the Turner-Time Warner merger, THE was absorbed into Warner Home Video as an in-name-only unit in December 1996.
Library[]
Turner Entertainment's current library includes:
- Nearly all of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's film, television and cartoon library released prior to May 23, 1986 ending with the film Killer Party released on May 9, 1986.[8] This includes Tom and Jerry.[3]
- Material from MGM's predecessors (Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Mayer Pictures) post-1917 that did not enter the public domain.
- Some material from United Artists.
- The US and Canadian distribution rights to the RKO Radio Pictures library.
- The former Associated Artists Productions catalogue.
- Warner Bros. library released prior to January 1, 1950.[9][10]
- Nearly all of the pre-1950 Warner Bros. feature films.
- Material from WB silent films post-1918 that did not enter the public domain.
- Pre-September 1948 Warner Bros. live-action short subjects.
- Pre-August 1948 color Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies.
- Harman and Ising Merrie Melodies (except Lady, Play Your Mandolin!).
- The Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios Popeye cartoons, originally released by Paramount Pictures from 1933 to 1957.[11]
- Warner Bros. library released prior to January 1, 1950.[9][10]
- Gilligan's Island and its animated spin-offs (The New Adventures of Gilligan and Gilligan's Planet).
- Almost all the Hanna-Barbera Productions library.[7]
- Almost all the pre-1991 Ruby-Spears Productions library.
- Man from Atlantis television movies and TV show, produced by Solow Production Company.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "TURNER, UNITED ARTISTS CLOSE DEAL" - Orlando Sentinel
- ↑ "Chicago Tribune: Turner May Sell Equity In Company" - Pqasb.pqarchiver.com
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Turner Sells The Studio, Holds On To The Dream" – Los Angeles Times
- ↑ "Turner Plans New Channels." Associated Press (June 5, 1993).
- ↑ "Turner Buys Rights to 800 RKO Movies", Los Angeles Times (Reuters), December 10, 1987 (available online).
- ↑ "Turner Buying MGM/UA" - The New York Times
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Turner Buying Hanna-Barbera" - The New York Times
- ↑ Warner Archive Collection podcast (April 8, 2014). Warner Bros. Entertainment.
- ↑ You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008)
- ↑ 1957 MOVIES FROM AAP Warner Bros Features & Cartoons SALES BOOK DIRECTED AT TV
- ↑ Tom Kenny, Jerry Beck, Frank Caruso, Glenn Mitchell, et al. (2007). Popeye the Sailor: 1933–1938, Volume 1. Special Features: I Yam What I Yam: The Story of Popeye the Sailor (DVD). Warner Home Video.