Warner Bros. Family Entertainment

Warner Bros. Family Entertainment
Fate Currently an in-name-only unit of Warner Bros. Pictures
Founded 1992 (1992)
Headquarters Burbank, CA
Parent Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Warner Bros. Family Entertainment is the family film label of Warner Bros., itself a subsidiary of WarnerMedia. It released numerous theatrical (or direct-to-video) family films and television series.

History

The division was founded in 1992 to produce more family-friendly films.

The first theatrical film released under the Family Entertainment label was Dennis the Menace, released in the summer of 1993. The film proved to be a huge hit at the box office, grossing over $50 million at the domestic box office despite receiving negative reviews from critics. Following it was Free Willy, which was also released in the summer of 1993 and would also be a huge box office hit, grossing over $75 million domestically.

Other 1993 releases included a live-action film adaptation of the book The Secret Garden which didn’t perform as well as the previous two films but still garnered over $30 million at the domestic box office. WBFE made another film in 1993, called George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. The last 1993 WBFE theatrical release was Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and it wasn't a success at the box office, getting only $5 million at the box office compared to its $6 million budget.

1994 was the worst year for WBFE, where it was home to numerous flops. In the early part of 1994, Warner released Thumbelina, which was a major flop at the box office. Another 1994 film was a live-action rendition of the book Black Beauty, which was another flop for the studio, grabbing only nearly $5 million at the box office. Following it was A Troll in Central Park, which garnered less than $1 million at the box office. The last two films in 1994 were Little Giants, which performed better, but only received nearly $20 million domestically and Richie Rich, which was only a minor flop, grossing over $38 million for its $40 million budget.

In 1995, it brought a live-action rendition of the book A Little Princess, which only got over $10 million in its domestic release. Other films include international releases of The Pebble and the Penguin (MGM holds the US rights to the film), which was a bomb at the box office, grossing nearly $4 million, and Born to Be Wild, which also garnered nearly $4 million. However, the biggest success of 1995 for the company was the sequel to Free Willy, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, which, although it wasn't nearly as successful as the predecessor, was a minor success, garnering over $30 million.

In 1996, it would bring WBFE's biggest hit yet, Space Jam, which garnered over $90 million domestically, making the film a huge box office hit. In 1997, it would be home to some of Warner's least-successful movies yet. The next film was released in 1997, Turner Feature Animation's Cats Don't Dance, which flopped at the box office with over $3 million earned. The next 1997 film was a sequel to The Swan Princess, The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain, but it performed poorly at the box office mainly because of a limited theatrical release. The final 1997 film was the third Free Willy film, Free Willy 3: The Rescue, which performed poorly, grossing over $3 million.

In 1998, it released Warner Bros. Animation's Quest for Camelot, which would be a flop at the box office, but grossed more than previous films released by the company, grossing nearly $23 million domestically. In 1999, it brought two more films from Warner Bros. Animation, the poorly performed The King and I, which only grossed nearly $12 million, and Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant, which was also a flop, grossing over $23 million. The only 2000 film released under WBFE was My Dog Skip, which became the company’s first major box office success in nearly four years, grossing nearly $35 million.

Two more family films were released in 2001 through WBFE. Cats & Dogs was proved to be one of the biggest successes of the company’s history, grossing over $200 million worldwide. The next film, Osmosis Jones, was hoped to follow the previous two films in the success line-up, but sadly flopped, only grossing nearly $15 million. It wasn’t until 2004 that another film from WBFE was released, Clifford's Really Big Movie, which was another box office flop, mainly because of opening under 500 screens, grossing only over $3 million.

Warner Bros. continues to release family films later in the 2000s, but the logo for its Family Entertainment subsidiary was no longer used. The last film to officially be released under the Family Entertainment banner was their first film to be released in Germany and the United Kingdom only, Laura's Star (2004).

As of 2014, WBFE is currently active as an in-name-only unit of Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Animation since 2009 and 2013. Warner Premiere was WBFE's in-name-only unit until Warner Premiere shut down in 2013.

Warner Bros. Family Entertainment also distributes classic kids and family TV shows by Warner Bros., such as ALF: The Animated Series, ALF Tales and Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, and TV specials such as Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! as well as classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Yogi Bear Show, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Scooby’s All-Star Laff-a-Lympics, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and The New Adventures of Captain Planet, including pre-1991 Ruby-Spears Productions cartoons such as Heathcliff and Dingbat, Heathcliff and Marmaduke, Thundarr the Barbarian, Mr. T and The Centurions, and classic DC Comics cartoons such as Superfriends, The All-New Super Friends Hour, Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, The New Adventures of Superman, The Adventures of Aquaman, The Plastic Man-Baby Plas Super Comedy Show and The Adventures of Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder, and Turner Entertainment cartoons such as The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, The Tom and Jerry Show and The New Adventures of Gilligan.

Notable theatrical films

Notable direct-to-video films

Release Date Title Notes
1990s
March 11, 1992Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacationwith Amblin Entertainment
March 17, 1998Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZerowith DC Entertainment
September 22, 1998Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
October 5, 1999Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost
December 21, 1999Wakko's Wishwith Amblin Entertainment
2000s
September 12, 2000Tweety's High-Flying Adventure
October 3, 2000Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders
December 12, 2000Batman Beyond: Return of the Jokerwith DC Entertainment
October 9, 2001Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
March 12, 2002Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ringwith Turner Entertainment
February 11, 2003Baby Looney Tunes' Eggs-traordinary Adventure
March 4, 2003Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire
September 30, 2003Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico
October 21, 2003Batman: Mystery of the Batwomanwith DC Entertainment
June 22, 2004Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster
November 16, 2004Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!with Castle Rock Entertainment
January 4, 2005¡Mucha Lucha!: The Return of El Maléficowith Fwak! Animation
January 18, 2005Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Marswith Turner Entertainment
February 8, 2005Aloha, Scooby-Doo!
October 11, 2005Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furrywith Turner Entertainment; released theatrically in select cities by Kidtoon Films
October 18, 2005The Batman vs. Draculawith DC Entertainment; television film
December 13, 2005Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy?released theatrically in select cities by Kidtoon Films
February 24, 2006Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!
June 20, 2006Superman: Brainiac Attackswith DC Entertainment
August 22, 2006Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskerswith Turner Entertainment
September 15, 2006Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyowith DC Entertainment; television film
November 14, 2006Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
September 4, 2007Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!
October 2, 2007Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Talewith Turner Entertainment

Notable television shows

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