Turner Pictures

Turner Entertainment Co.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Multimedia, Entertainment
Founded	August 4, 1986 (1986-08-04)
Founder	Ted Turner
Fate	Acquired by Time Warner in 1996
Headquarters	United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Ted Turner (founder)
Products	Film and television content library management, copyright holding
Parent	Warner Bros. (part of WarnerMedia/Time Warner)

Turner Entertainment Co. is a U.S.-based multimedia enterprise established by Ted Turner on August 4, 1986. It became part of Time Warner in 1996 following the acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS). Originally, Turner Entertainment was responsible for managing the TBS content library worldwide. Presently, it mainly serves as a copyright holder under the umbrella of Warner Bros., which oversees the administration of the collection.

History

In March 1986, Ted Turner and Turner Broadcasting System acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for $1.5 billion, subsequently renaming it MGM Entertainment Company, Inc.. Later that year, due to financial constraints, Turner sold back the MGM brand, United Artists (UA), and the Culver City studio lot for approximately $300 million. Despite this, he retained ownership of the studio's extensive film, television, and animation archives—including parts of UA’s assets—and established Turner Entertainment Company to provide programming for his TBS and TNT networks.

The vast archive encompassed pre-1950 Warner Bros. materials (including color Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies), Popeye cartoons from Fleischer/Famous Studios, distribution rights to RKO Pictures’ catalog (excluding Disney and Goldwyn works), as well as much of the Gilligan's Island series. Turner emphasized colorizing classic black-and-white movies over creating sequels as a cost-effective strategy to capitalize on these holdings.

By late 1987, Turner obtained global licensing for 800 RKO films and collaborated with American Film Technologies to colorize selected MGM titles. The launch of TNT in 1988 and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in 1994 heavily featured this library, cementing Turner's commitment to film preservation by airing timeless titles like King Kong, The Wizard of Oz, and Gone with the Wind across cable channels.

Following an unsuccessful bid to reacquire MGM/UA in 1989, Turner founded Turner Pictures and Turner Pictures Worldwide. In 1991, it purchased Hanna-Barbera Productions along with most of Ruby-Spears' pre-1991 catalog for $320 million. This acquisition supported the creation of Cartoon Network in 1992 and later Boomerang, broadening Turner's footprint in animated programming.

Further expansion occurred in 1993 when Turner acquired Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema for over $650 million, establishing the company as a major Hollywood entity.

Initially handling its library distribution independently, Turner Entertainment was absorbed into Time Warner’s Warner Bros. division following the 1996 merger. Since then, it functions primarily as a copyright holder within Warner Bros., while subsidiaries such as Hanna-Barbera maintain similar roles for their properties like The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and Yogi Bear. Warner Bros. manages sales and merchandising activities for these assets.

Divisions

Turner Entertainment developed original content internally, which included documentaries about its film archives, new animated productions inspired by Tom & Jerry, as well as made-for-television movies, miniseries, and theatrical releases under the Turner Pictures label. Notable titles include Gettysburg, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, Fallen, The Pagemaster, and Cats Don't Dance. In 1995, Turner Pictures assembled a film production slate alongside operating an international distribution arm known as Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution, Inc.. After merging with Time Warner, Turner Pictures was integrated into Warner Bros., which currently holds distribution rights for its films. Some productions such as City of Angels and You've Got Mail were transitioned to Warner Bros.’ catalog.

Turner Feature Animation

Turner Feature Animation served as the animation branch of Turner, overseen by the company's founders David Kirschner and Paul Gertz. Its production credits include the animated movies The Pagemaster and Cats Don't Dance. Emerging from the feature animation division of Hanna-Barbera, Turner Feature Animation was ultimately integrated into Warner Bros. Feature Animation, unifying Turner's animation efforts under Warner Bros.

Home video

During its initial phase, Turner released the majority of its titles on home video through Turner Home Entertainment (THE). While MGM and Warner Bros. libraries owned by Turner were jointly distributed with MGM/UA Home Video until 1999, THE independently managed home video distribution for the RKO collection and productions under Turner Pictures. Additionally, THE was responsible for distributing the Hanna-Barbera cartoon catalog on home video formats.

THE also handled pay-per-view events and related programming for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) until WCW ceased operations in 2001; subsequently, the WCW video rights and library were acquired by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). In 1987, THE forged a groundbreaking partnership with the Soviet Union's Video Institute to distribute MGM titles in Russian-language videocassette rental outlets.

From 1995 to 1997, THE took over distribution of New Line Home Video releases from Columbia TriStar Home Video and also distributed PBS content until PBS launched its own distribution division. Following this period, New Line managed its own releases independently until its merger with Warner Bros. in 2008.

In 1995, THE entered into a distribution deal with Columbia TriStar Home Video covering markets in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; this agreement concluded in 1997. After the Turner-Time Warner merger in 1996, THE was incorporated into Warner Home Video, continuing as a nominal entity. Currently, Turner Classic Movies issues special edition DVDs featuring selections from both Turner and Warner catalogs under the TCM brand.

Library

The assets held by Turner Entertainment comprise:

• The collection from Brut Productions
• Copyrighted works originating from MGM's predecessor companies (Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures) dating post-1915, along with most of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's film, television, and animation libraries released prior to May 23, 1986—excluding certain titles such as Babes in Toyland, Electric Dreams, the 1964–1967 Flipper series, and Fame, which remain under MGM ownership. Control over these three predecessor studios is exercised through Orion Pictures, while some cartoons like Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper belong to the estate of Iwerks.
• Specific holdings from United Artists, including:
  • Distribution rights within the US and Canada for the RKO Radio Pictures catalog, with exceptions for certain franchises and public domain works
  • The majority of the Gilligan's Island franchise—including original series and spin-offs—jointly owned with the estate of Phil Silvers
  • The former Associated Artists Productions collection encompassing:
    • Warner Bros. films released before January 1, 1950, excluding public domain titles or those controlled by third parties
      • Rights to distribute pre-August 1948 Warner Bros. Cartoons, including color shorts and Bugs Bunny: Superstar
        • Distribution rights to most Merrie Melodies cartoons produced by Harman and Ising, except for Lady, Play Your Mandolin!
    • The Popeye cartoons created by Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios and released by Paramount Pictures between 1933 and 1957
• The complete library of Hanna-Barbera Productions, excluding licensed properties
  • All pre-1991 productions from Ruby-Spears Enterprises, except for titles such as Rambo: The Force of Freedom (owned by StudioCanal), It's Punky Brewster (owned by Universal Television), and Piggsburg Pigs! (owned by Disney through ABC Family Worldwide)

This substantial collection highlights Turner's strategic focus on capitalizing upon classic film and television content to strengthen its position and competitive edge within international entertainment distribution markets.