| advertise add site services publishers database health videos | ![]() | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Turner 450, Sequoia-Turner 450 Fluorometer, Sequoia Turner 450 Digital... blockscientific.com | Weight Loss Centre Turner | Turner Weight Loss Centre Directory | Free... goweightloss.com.au | Aids, Foam Tubing, Steering Wheel Turner, Key Turners, Doorknob... handyhealthcare.co.uk | Turner Medical Arts - Dr. Duncan Turner, OBGYN - Santa Barbara, CA turnermedicalarts.com |
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution.
[edit] BackgroundTurner Entertainment Co. was established on August 4, 1986 as a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System to oversee its film library after Ted Turner's short-lived acquisition of MGM/UA. After re-selling the studio, Turner kept its library, which included the following:
Turner later re-sold United Artists and the MGM logo, keeping the aforementioned library. In 1991, Turner Entertainment's parent Turner Broadcasting purchased Hanna-Barbera and its extensive animated library including The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, Huckleberry Hound, Top Cat, and Space Ghost (along with most of the Ruby-Spears library up to 1991). Turner's vast animation library served as the basis for Cartoon Network, and later Boomerang. Turner Entertainment also played a huge part in film preservation and restoration, thus such classic films as Casablanca, Citizen Kane, King Kong, Easter Parade, and the original The Jazz Singer, 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 RKO Radio Pictures, certain films from Castle Rock Entertainment (1994-1996) and New Line Cinema (1994-1996), and shows from TBS, The CW4Kids, TNT, Cartoon Network, Kids' WB, and PBS (1994-2004) on home video via Turner Home Entertainment, and after 1996, Warner Home Video. (see below.) [edit] The library itselfToday, as part of Time Warner, Turner Entertainment continues to oversee its inherited library, which also includes The Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Story, Gone with the Wind, Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, Top Cat, Huckleberry Hound, Jonny Quest and Space Ghost. There are very few exceptions to this library, however.
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 (similar to how EMKA's sole purpose is to be the copyright holder for the pre-1950 Paramount sound features, with other NBC Universal divisions handling distribution). [edit] CriticismIn some cases, Turner has been subjected to criticism for altering whatever prints they had available for the Looney Tunes and other cartoons they had rights to broadcast. In many cases, they edited, recut, changed end cards, and even redubbed character voices in these cartoons. Of particular note are older Tom and Jerry cartoons which incorporated a somewhat stereotypical "Mammy" maid character: this character appeared untouched until the late 1980s, but when re-aired by Turner, the character's skin had been changed to make her appear caucasian and the voice had been redubbed by a voice actor to eliminate the previous voice's use of ebonics. Voices in Casper the Friendly Ghost and in very early Popeye cartoons were totally redubbed as well in some cases. Many of the shorts have been oversaturated or otherwise damaged by excessive Digital Video Noise Reduction, and sometimes the colors have been entirely changed. [edit] As a production companyTurner 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, The Pagemaster and Cats Don't Dance under the Turner Pictures banner. Turner also had a 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. Cats Don't Dance was produced under Turner Feature Animation, Turner's animation unit, which was folded into Warner Bros. Feature Animation. Turner also had a television unit called Turner Program Services which had run until 1996 when it was folded in Telepictures Distribution which distributed Mama's Family and all TPS shows after 1996. In 2003 Telepictures Distribution was folded into Warner Bros. Television which meant Telepictures took over all series that were first run and distributed by TD. [edit] Home video
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |