Turner Entertainment Co.
is an American multimedia company founded by
Ted Turner
Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...
on August 2, 1986. Purchased by
Time Warner Entertainment on October 10, 1996, as part of its acquisition of
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its asse ...
(TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing the TBS library for worldwide distribution. In recent years, this role has largely been limited to being the copyright holder, as it has become an in-name-only subsidiary
of
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
, which currently administers their library.
History
On March 25, 1986,
Ted Turner
Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...
and his
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its asse ...
purchased
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
(MGM) from
Kirk Kerkorian
Kerkor Kirk Kerkorian (; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian ...
for $1.5 billion, 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 the MGM name, all of
United Artists
United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...
(UA), and the MGM
Culver City
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...
studio lot back to Kerkorian for approximately $300 million after months of ownership. But in order to still go about his plans to broadcast the MGM/UA assets as "originals" on his TBS and upcoming TNT channels, Turner struck a deal with Kerkorian; Turner kept the studio's film, television and cartoon library as well as a small portion of the UA library, forming Turner Entertainment Company during the exchange.
The company was headed by
Roger Mayer, who was a former executive of MGM, and formed a development division with the intention of making movies and television shows. The library also included most of the pre-1950
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
library (including all color ''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...
'' and ''
Merrie Melodies
''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...
'' cartoons released before August 1948), the
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...
/
Famous Studios
Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...
''
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.[Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...](_blank)
, the US/Canadian/Latin American/Australian distribution rights to the
RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...
library (not including any films produced by
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
and
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (; born Szmuel Gelbfisz; ; July 1879 (most likely; claimed to be August 27, 1882) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer and pioneer in the American film industry, who produce ...
), and most of the ''
Gilligan's Island
''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...
'' television franchise (not counting the television movie sequels owned by other companies), all of which were owned by UA.
In order to save funds, Turner instituted a policy that they would pass on making sequels to now-Turner-owned properties in favor of
colorization of old black-and-white movies. On December 2, 1987, Turner Entertainment had entered into an agreement with American Film Technologies to computer-colorize three films from the MGM library that were originally in black-and-white: ''
Boom Town'', ''
They Were Expendable
''They Were Expendable'' is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and featuring Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William Lindsay White, relating the stor ...
'' and ''
Catered Affair'', and Turner would have the option to have AFT colorize additional 22 films and has a second option for another 24 films by 1992. On December 10, 1987, Turner acquired the worldwide licensing rights to 800 of RKO's films from its then-parent company
Wesray Capital Corporation
Wesray Capital Corporation is a private equity firm focusing on leveraged buyout investments. The firm was founded by former US Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon and former New Jersey Nets owner Ray Chambers.
The firm is known for i ...
.
On October 3, 1988, Turner Broadcasting System launched the
TNT
Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
network, and later
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...
(TCM) in 1994 to use their former MGM/UA library. In doing so, Turner has played a major part in
film preservation
Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the wide ...
and restoration. By broadcasting such classic films as ''
King Kong
King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...
'', ''
The Wizard of Oz'', ''
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind ...
'', ''
Citizen Kane
''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'', ''
Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
'', ''
Meet Me in St. Louis'', ''
Singin' in the Rain
''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno a ...
'' and the original ''
The Jazz Singer
''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...
'', on numerous Turner affiliated cable channels, as well as in showing them in revival movie houses and home video worldwide, Turner introduced a new generation to these films.
On November 29, 1989, Turner made another attempt to buy MGM/UA, but the deal failed, and they formed Turner Pictures and Turner Pictures Worldwide instead.
On October 29, 1991, Turner acquired
Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
and most of the pre-1991
Ruby-Spears Productions library from
Great American Broadcasting for $320 million.
Shortly after the acquisition, on October 1, 1992, Turner Broadcasting System launched
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
, and later
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
, to serve as the primary broadcaster of its vast animation library.
On August 17, 1993, Turner purchased
Castle Rock Entertainment
Castle Rock Entertainment is an American independent film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick (September 8, 1947 – February 27, 2025) and Alan Horn.
Histo ...
and
New Line Cinema
New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...
for over $650 million.
Turner Entertainment self-distributed much of its library for the first decade of its existence, but on October 10, 1996, Turner Broadcasting System was purchased by Time Warner Entertainment and its distribution functions were largely absorbed into Warner Bros. As a result, Turner Entertainment is now an in-name-only subsidiary of Warner Bros., serving merely as a copyright holder for a portion of their library. Hanna-Barbera's current purpose as the in-name only unit of
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...
is to serve as the copyright holder for its creations such as ''
The Flintstones
''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...
'', ''
Scooby-Doo
''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...
'' and ''
Yogi Bear'' while Warner Bros. handles sales and merchandising.
Divisions
As a production company, Turner Entertainment also created 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-television films, 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. In 1995, the Turner Pictures production company developed a film slate. Turner also had an international distribution sales unit, accordingly named Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution, Inc. Turner Pictures was folded into Warner Bros. after the Turner-Time Warner merger, and currently holds the distribution rights to the films made by the production division. Time Warner transferred some of Turner's leftover projects like ''
City of Angels'' and ''
You've Got Mail'' into
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
Turner Feature Animation
Turner Feature Animation was Turner's animation unit headed by
David Kirschner
David Maxwell Kirschner (born May 29, 1955) is an American film and television producer and screenwriter. His producing credits include Don Bluth's ''An American Tail'' (also wrote) and ''Titan A.E.'' animated features as well as the '' Child's Pl ...
and Paul Gertz. The two animated movies ''
The Pagemaster'' and ''
Cats Don't Dance'' were produced under Turner's animation unit. Spun off from the feature film division of
Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
, 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 catalogue on home video through Turner Home Entertainment (THE). However, the MGM and Warner Bros. film libraries which Turner owned were still distributed by
MGM/UA Home Video along with THE until their rights expired in 1999, while THE handled the home video distribution of titles from the RKO library. THE released films produced by Turner Pictures on home video with their distributors and independently released the Hanna-Barbera cartoon library on home video.
THE also released
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
(WCW) pay-per-view (PPV) events, wrestler profiles, and "Best Of" packages on video until the demise of WCW in 2001; the WCW video library, along with the rights to the WCW name and certain talent contracts, were sold to
the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) in March 2001. In 1987, THE had signed a distribution deal with the
Video Institute of the Soviet Union to release 10 titles from the pre-May 1986 MGM library in Russian videocassette rental shops, and the deal with Turner would be a first for the Soviet home video market, where officials indicate that there are 660,000 VCR recordings, and films include ''
Zabriskie Point'', and other titles, none of them were colorized.
From early 1995 to early 1997, THE also distributed home video releases from
New Line Home Video, taking over from Columbia TriStar Home Video as well as distributing PBS programs on home video the year before (taking over from the defunct Pacific Arts). NLHE distributed New Line films on video by itself from 1997 until New Line Cinema merged with Warner Bros. in 2008. PBS shows are now distributed on video and DVD by PBS's own distribution company,
PBS Distribution.
In 1995, THE entered a distribution deal with
Columbia TriStar Home Video in France, Britain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the deal expired in 1997 (although some films released on VHS by THE are distributed in the United Kingdom by
First Independent Films
First Independent Films was a British film distributor and home video company that replaced Vestron Video International's UK operations.
History
Vestron Video formed their international division Vestron Video International in 1981, including a ...
).
Upon the Turner-Time Warner merger, THE was absorbed into
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...
as an in-name-only unit in December 1996. However, Turner Classic Movies does release special edition DVD boxsets of films from both the Turner and Warner catalogs under the TCM label. (Some magazines, most notably ''
Starlog
''Starlog'' was an American monthly science fiction magazine that was created in 1976 and focused primarily on ''Star Trek'' at its inception. Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs were its creators and it was published by Starlog Group, Inc. in Aug ...
,'' when listing upcoming releases from Warner related to Cartoon Network programming listed it as being released by THE, likely to differentiate it from other, adult-oriented titles.)
Library
Turner Entertainment's current library includes:
* The
Brut Productions Brut Productions was a film production company that was an offshoot of Fabergé cosmetics under George Barrie.
History
Barrie began considering becoming involved in film production when producer Mike Frankovich asked Fabergé to create a mock ad ...
library
* Nearly all of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
's film, television and cartoon library released prior to May 23, 1986
* Some material from
United Artists
United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...
, including:
** The US and Canadian distribution rights to the
RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...
library
** Most of the ''
Gilligan's Island
''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...
'' franchise (the original series and animated sequels)
** The former
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ' ...
catalogue, which includes:
***
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
' library of films released prior to January 1, 1950
**** Distribution rights to the pre-August 1948
Warner Bros. Cartoons library (color cartoons only)
***** Distribution rights to the
Harman and Ising-produced ''
Merrie Melodies
''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...
'' cartoons
*** The
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...
/
Famous Studios
Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...
''
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.[Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...](_blank)
between 1933 and 1957
Tom Kenny
Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...
, Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer.
Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...
, 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
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...
.
* The majority of the
Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
library
** Almost all of the pre-1991
Ruby-Spears Enterprises library
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
American companies established in 1986
Mass media companies established in 1986
1996 mergers and acquisitions
Mass media companies of the United States
Film distributors of the United States
Warner Bros. divisions
Turner Broadcasting System