Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

and subjects for

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Paramount Pictures, and the pre-1948 color '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts produced by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

History

Associated Artists

Associated Artists was founded in 1948 by

Eliot Hyman Eliot Hyman (1904–1980) was an American film executive who helped co-found Seven Arts Productions. Biography Hyman entered the film production business in 1948, when he co-founded Associated Artists. He became the sole owner of Associated Ar ...

. It handled syndication of around 500 films, including the Republic Pictures and Robert L. Lippert libraries, but both companies soon entered television distribution. It also handled syndication for Monogram Pictures and

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation was the smallest and least prestigious of the Hollywood film studios of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called "Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower Street in Hollywood where shoest ...

. In 1951, Hyman sold the company to David Baird's Lansing Foundation, which in turn sold it to the startup company Motion Pictures for Television (MPTV), where Hyman served as a consultant. Hyman also became a partner in Mouline Productions, the producers of ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

'', while financing and producing other films and TV projects.

Associated Artists Productions

In July 1954, Hyman launched another TV distribution company which used the Associated Artists name, Associated Artists Productions, Inc., with the purchase of the syndication rights to the

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

''Sherlock Holmes'' films from MPTV. His son Ken served as vice-president. Associated Artists Productions also acquired distribution rights to ''

Johnny Jupiter ''Johnny Jupiter'' is the name of two early American television programs featuring a combination of live action and hand puppets. The first version aired on the DuMont Television Network from March to June 1953. The second version aired on ABC fr ...

'', '' Candid Camera'', thirteen Artcinema Associates feature films, thirty-seven Western films, and three serials. In March 1956, Hyman's company was acquired by investment firm PRM, Inc., headed by Lou Chesler. PRM closed the purchase of the entire pre-December 1949

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...

library in February 1956 for $21 million, with a.a.p. and its theatrical subsidiary Dominant Pictures handling distribution sales. On December 5, 1956, PRM changed its name to Associated Artists Productions Corp. a.a.p. also purchased the ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios from Paramount Pictures on June 11, 1956. This purchase and the Warner Bros. cartoon package combined gave a.a.p. a library of over 568 theatrical cartoon shorts, which would be staples of

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

for many years. In January 1957, a.a.p announced plans to purchase the short subject library of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

for $4.5 million. Around 900 shorts would be included in the package such as the ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

'' cartoons and Pete Smith comedies, among others. Although the deal was nearly finalized, it fell through, reportedly due to the price of the sale. MGM would then distribute the shorts themselves through their own in-house television subsidiary Metro TV.

National Telefilm Associates National Telefilm Associates (NTA) was an audio-visual marketing company primarily concerned with the syndication of American film libraries to television, including the Republic Pictures film library. It was successful enough on cable television ...

announced plans to buy control of AAP Corp. on November 18, 1957. By December 16, 1957, control of a.a.p. was the subject of litigation which was passed on to the New York Supreme Court between the parties of a.a.p.,

, and Harris minority shareholder group.

United Artists Associated

The company was acquired by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

(UA) in 1958, with UA borrowing the full amount $27 million from Manufacturers's Trust when a.a.p. shareholders needed cash quickly. The a.a.p. purchase did come with the uncollected accounts' receivable amount around the purchase price. The resulting division was named United Artists Associated, Inc. (u.a.a.). u.a.a. made a deal to distribute ''

Beany and Cecil ''Beany and Cecil'' is a 1962 animated television series created by Bob Clampett for the American Broadcasting Company. The cartoon was based on the television puppet show '' Time for Beany'', which Clampett produced for Paramount Pictures compan ...

'' internationally. With the twin syndicated packages of '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' and ''Popeye'', u.a.a. took a look at a number of shorts in the a.a.p./pre-1950 WB library that appealed to children and packaged them in a third group known as ''The Big Mac Show'', which has a cartoon wrap around.

Distribution rights

The material a.a.p. bought from Warner Bros. Pictures included nearly all of the features produced and distributed by Warner Bros. prior to 1950, and the live-action short subjects released prior to September 1, 1948. The cartoon library included every color ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' short released prior to August 1, 1948, and nearly all of the ''Merrie Melodies'' produced by Harman-Ising Productions from 1931 to 1933. The remaining black-and-white ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts made from 1933 to 1934 and the black-and-white ''Looney Tunes'' shorts were not included in the library as the TV rights were sold to Guild Films in 1955. Former Warner cartoon director Bob Clampett was hired to catalog the Warner cartoon library.

Film archive

In 1969, the United Artists Corporation presented to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

the earliest surviving preprint material from the pre-1950 film library of Warner Bros. (including First National library). The collection contains 200 silent features (1918–29), 800 sound features (1926–50), 1,800 sound shorts (1926–48), and 337 ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts (1931–48). While consisting largely of Warner Bros. releases, the collection includes nearly two hundred sound features released by Monogram Pictures Corporation between 1936 and 1946 and 231 ''Popeye'' cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios released between 1933 and 1957. Most motion pictures exist in the original black-and-white/Technicolor camera negatives. The Library is converting those items on nitrate to safety film stock and has obtained reference prints for seventy of the better known Warner Bros. features, such as ''

Gold Diggers of 1935 ''Gold Diggers of 1935'' is an American musical film directed and choreographed by Busby Berkeley, and starring Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart and Alice Brady. Winifred Shaw, Hugh Herbert and Glenda Farrell are also featured. The son ...

'' (1935), '' High Sierra'' (1941), ''

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang ''I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang'' is a 1932 American pre-Code crime-drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Paul Muni as a wrongfully convicted man on a chain gang who escapes to Chicago. It was released on November 10, 1932. The f ...

'' (1932), ''

The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music score as well as lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolate ...

'' (1927), and '' Little Caesar'' (1930). There are no

films (such as ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

'' and ''

The Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film '' The Pi ...

'' franchise; these are owned by

) in the United Artists Collection. The early synchronized sound

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

shorts are lacking accompanying sound discs. This is a large collection of nitrate negatives and masters, which are still undergoing transfer to acetate stock. Most of the safety film copies exist only in the preservation master stage, limiting accessibility for viewing and duplication. Some years ago, the Library of Congress obtained 16mm prints (though many are television prints, flat in picture quality and occasionally edited) for the pre-1950 Warner Bros. features. Additional prints have been added to the collection, ranging from "reject fine grain master positives" (copies made for preservation but deemed inadequate) suitable for reference use, to high-quality 35mm prints reserved for theatrical projection. United Artists also sent 16mm prints of most of the Warner Bros. and Monogram films to the

Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is a major archive of motion picture, television, radio, and theater research materials. Located in the headquarters building of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, the ...

, such as ''

My Four Years in Germany ''My Four Years in Germany'' is a 1918 American silent war drama film that is notable as being the first film produced by the four Warner Brothers, Harry, Sam, Albert, and Jack, though the title card clearly reads "My Four Years In Germany Inc. ...

'' (1918), '' Conductor 1492'' (1924), '' Midnight Lovers'' (1926) and '' Joe Palooka in Triple Cross'' (1951). Titles and holdings are listed in the various M/B/RS catalogs. There are a number of published reference books on Warner Bros. films. Copyrights are still in effect for most of the films in this collection; a donor restriction also applies. United Artists has passed through various hands, but current ownership of this material resides with Turner Entertainment Co.

Ownership of properties

purchased United Artists, including the a.a.p. library, from

Transamerica Corporation The Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. ...

in May 1981 and became MGM/UA Entertainment Co.

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

(via Turner Entertainment Co.) took over the library in 1986 during

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he fo ...

's brief ownership of MGM/UA. When Turner sold back the MGM/UA production unit, he kept the MGM library, including the Warner Bros. films and ''Popeye'' cartoons from the a.a.p. library, for his own company. On June 16, 1982,

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

began to buy back rights to the pre-1950 Warner Bros. library (with the pre-1948 Warner Bros. live-action and animation shorts) from MGM/UA for $100 million in cash. The MGM-Warner deal was terminated on July 28 of that same year, after two companies failed to complete acquisitions of MGM/UA's record company asset and the pre-1950 Warner Bros. film libraries; the main reason is that the negotiations fell apart because of dozens of unresolved points, probably relating to the oldest Warner Bros. films. The Warner Bros. film libraries were reunited in 1996 when Time Warner, then the parent company of Warner Bros., bought Turner. Turner remains the copyright owner in name only to the former Associated Artists Productions properties, while

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...

handles their distribution.

Subsidiaries

* a.a.p. Records, Inc. was a music arm of a.a.p., which distributed the ''Official Popeye TV Album''. * United Telefilms Limited was the Canadian division of a.a.p., which existed around the same time. Live action films used a variation of the main a.a.p. logo, but the initials "UTL" would be spelled out, and a notice at the bottom said "Distributed in Canada by United Telefilms Limited". ** United Telefilm Records was a music label of United Telefilms. *** UT Records, Tel Records, and Warwick Records were subsidiaries of United Telefilm Records. * Dominant Pictures Corporation was a subsidiary of a.a.p., which distributed the features that the company purchased to theaters. It re-released a number of films from the pre-1950 WB library, as well as a number of

British films The United Kingdom has had a significant film industry for over a century. While film production reached an all-time high in 1936, the "golden age" of British cinema is usually thought to have occurred in the 1940s, during which the directors D ...

which a.a.p. bought the rights to. Dominant also sold and/or leased 16mm prints of WB library titles to non-theatrical rental libraries. The subsidiary was later folded into UA's main theatrical distribution arm after the company was sold to UA. Some pre-1931 WB library is considered lost.

References

{{Authority control Film distributors of the United States Television syndication distributors Mass media companies established in 1948 Mass media companies disestablished in 1958 1958 mergers and acquisitions 1948 establishments in New York (state) 1958 disestablishments in New York (state)