华纳兄弟
维库，知识与思想的自由文库
华纳兄弟包括几大子公司，包括華納兄弟影业、華納兄弟电视制作、華納兄弟动画制作、華納家庭录影、DC漫画和CW电视网。 华纳兄弟成立于1918年，是美国成立时间第三悠久的电影公司，前两家为派拉蒙电影公司和环球影业，均成立于1912年。
[编辑] 影業發展[编辑] 歷史華納兄弟娱乐公司的公司名称是为了纪念其四位创始人。这四位犹太人兄弟从波兰移民到加拿大安大略的伦敦，包括哈利·華納(1881-1958)、亚伯特·華納，(1883-1967)、山姆·華納(1887-1927)以及杰克 L. 華納 (1892-1978)。三位哥哥从1903年开始从事展映生意，并且买下了一台放映机，在宾西法尼亚和俄亥俄的一些煤矿业城镇播放电影。1903年，他们建立了他们的第一家电影院——位于宾西法尼亚的纽卡索的the Cascade。（原来的电影院现在仍然保留了下来，作为纽卡索发展中的市中心的标志性建筑而被修复，希望吸引到更多游客，[1]）到1904年，华纳兄弟成立了以匹兹堡为总部的Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company（华纳兄弟影业公司的前身）发行电影。几年内，电影发行业务发展到了四个州。在第一次世界大战期间，他们开始尝试制作电影， 并在1918年在好莱坞日落大道成立了华纳兄弟片厂。山姆和杰克·华纳负责制作电影，而哈利和亚伯特处理在纽约的财务和发行事宜。在1923年，他们正式合并为华纳兄弟影业公司。 公司的第一笔重要交易是从剧作家大卫·贝拉斯科手上获得了1919年Avery Hopwood的百老汇音乐剧淘金者的改编权。然而真正让华纳兄弟小有名气的是一条叫瑞丁丁( Rin Tin Tin )的狗，它是被一位美国士兵第一次世界大战后从法国带回来的。这位狗演员在当时很有名气，从来自地狱河流的人开始，领衔主演了26部电影。它对当时尚缺乏电影制作经验和实力的华纳兄弟公司初期发展上功不可没。 隨着業務開始興旺, 華納獲得Wall Street的支持, 並於1924年從 Goldman Sachs取得貸款。 華納利用這筆金錢收購了Vitagraph Company，欲使用其全國發送系統擴大觀眾之數目。與此同時,公司亦開展電台事業、在多個主要城市建立電台站，如在洛杉磯的KFWB。此外亦購買土地興建劇院。 At the urging of Sam Warner, the company committed to develop Vitaphone, and in 1926年 began making films with music and effects tracks. When this proved popular, they took the next step and offered, in October 1927年 a picture with dialogue, one that would revolutionize the business, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson. The movie was a sensation, launching the era of "talking pictures" and banishing silent movies. But unfortunately, the brothers missed the premiere of The Jazz Singer due to Sam's funeral. Flush with cash thanks to the success of The Jazz Singer, in 1928 Warner bought the Stanley Company, a major theater chain. This gave them a share in rival First National Pictures, of which Stanley owned one-third. In a bidding war with William Fox, Warner bought more First National shares, and gained control in 1929年. The Justice Department agreed to allow the purchase if First National was maintained as a separate company. But when the depression hit, Warner asked for and got permission to merge the two studios; soon afterward Warner Bros. moved to the First National lot in Burbank. Though the companies merged, Justice required Warner to produce and release a few films each year under the First National name until 1938年. For thirty years, certain Warner productions would be identified (mainly for tax purposes) as 'A Warner Bros. - First National Picture.' In 1928, the Warner Brothers released Lights of New York, the first all-talking feature. Due to its success, the movie industry converted entirely to sound almost overnight. By the end of 1929, all the major studios were making sound films exclusively. In 1929, the Warner Brothers released On with the Show (1929), the first all-color all-talking feature. This was followed by Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) which proved to be the most popular film of that year. (It continued to be so popular that it played in theatres until 1939). The success of these two color pictures caused a color revolution (just as the first all-talkie had created one for talkies). The Warner Brothers released a large number of color films in 1929-1931. The following were features were photographed entirely in Technicolor: The Show of Shows (1929), Sally (1929), Bright Lights (1930), Golden Dawn (1930), Hold Everything (1930), Song of the Flame (1930), Song of the West (1930), Life of the Party (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930), Under A Texas Moon (1930), The Bride of the Regiment (1930), Viennese Nights (1931), Woman Hungry (1931), Kiss Me Again (1931), Fifty Million Frenchmen (1931), Manhattan Parade (1932). In addition to these, scores of features were released with Technicolor sequences as well as a numerous variety of short subjects. The majority of these color films were musicals. Unfortunately, by 1931 the country had grown so tired of musicals that the Warner Brothers were forced to cut the numbers of many of the productions and advertise them as straight comedies. The public had begun to associate musicals with color and thus the movie studios began to abandon its use. Unfortunately, Warner Brothers had a contract with Technicolor to produce two more pictures in that process. As a result, the first mysteries in color were produced and released by the studio: Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). Under production head Darryl F. Zanuck, Warners in the 三十年代 became known for gritty, 'torn from the headlines' pictures that some said glorified gangsters. Warner stars tended to be tough-talking, working-class types, among them James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck. After Zanuck was succeeded by Hal B. Wallis in 1933年, the studio tried for a more sophisticated style, offering melodramas (or 'women's pictures'), swashbucklers, and expensive adaptations of best-sellers, with stars like Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Muni and Errol Flynn. The studio was one of the most prolific producers of Pre-Code pictures and had a lot of trouble with the censors once they started clamping down on what they considered indecent (around 1934). As a result, the Warner Brothers turned out a number of historical pictures from around 1935 in order to avoid confrontations with the Breen office. The record attendance figures of the World War II years made the Warner brothers rich. The gritty Warner image of the 1930s gave way to a glossier look, especially in women's pictures starring Davis, de Havilland and Joan Crawford. The 四十年代 also saw the rise of Humphrey Bogart from supporting player to major star. And in the post-war years Warners continued to create new stars, like Lauren Bacall and Doris Day. On January 5, 1948年, Warner offered the first color newsreel, covering the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl. Warner was a party to the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. anti-trust case of the 四十年代. This action, brought by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, claimed that the five integrated studio-theater chain combinations restrained competition. The Supreme Court heard the case in 1948年, and ruled for the government. As a result Warner and four other major studios were forced to separate production from exhibition. Early in 1953年, the Warner theater holdings were spun off as Stanley Warner Theaters. With no more theaters to fill there was no need to produce thirty pictures a year, and no need for expensive contract-actors or for costly staff. After fifty years in the business the Warners saw the system winding down, and agreed to sell the studio to a bank-led syndicate. Only after the deal was completed in 1956年 did elder brothers Harry and Albert Warner learn that the leading investor in the bank's syndicate was youngest brother Jack, who now had control of what had been a family business. Even in an argument-prone family like the Warners, this was too much, and led to a rupture in family relations. For the rest of their lives the brothers did not speak to one another. But Jack was solely in charge at Warner Bros. Pictures. For a time Warner Bros. rebounded, specializing in adaptations of popular plays like The Bad Seed, No Time for Sergeants and Gypsy: A Musical Fable. There was also a successful television unit, offering popular series like 77 Sunset Strip and Maverick. Already the owner of extensive music-publishing holdings, in 1958年 the studio launched Warner Bros. Records, but by the 六十年代, motion picture production was in decline. There were few studio-produced films and many more co-productions (for which Warner provided facilities, money, and distribution), and pickups of independently made pictures. In 1967年, Jack gave in to advancing age and the changing times, selling control of the studio and its music business for $78 million to Seven Arts Productions, run by the Canadian investors Elliot and Kenneth Hyman, whose Associated Artists Productions had once owned the pre-1948年 Warner film library. The company, including the studio, was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.
To the surprise of many, flashy, star-driven Warner Communications merged in 1989年 with the white-shoe publishing company Time, Inc. Though Time and its magazines claimed a higher tone, it was the Warner Bros. film and music units which provided the profits. In 1997年 Time Warner sold the Six Flags unit. The takeover of Time Warner in 2000年 by then-high-flying AOL did not prove a good match, and following the collapse in "dot-com" stocks, the AOL name was banished from the corporate nameplate. In 1995年, Warner and station-owner Tribune Company of Chicago launched The WB Network, finding a niche market in teenagers. The WB's early programming included an abundance of angsty teenage fare like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 7th Heaven and Dawson's Creek. In 2006 Warner and CBS Corporation decided to close the The WB and CBS's UPN and jointly launch The CW Television Network. 後九十年代，華納兄弟得到哈利波特的版權。Warners obtained rights to the Harry Potter novels, and released feature film adaptations of the first in 2001, the second in 2002, the third in 2004, and the fourth in November 2005. The fifth is slated for 2007年六月. Over the years, Warners has had distribution and/or co-production deals with a number of small companies. These include (but are not limited to) Amblin Entertainment, Morgan Creek Productions (now working with Universal Studios), Regency Enterprises (now working with 20th Century Fox), Village Roadshow Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Silver Pictures, The Ladd Company, and The Geffen Film Company. [编辑] 電影庫Over the years, a series of mergers and acquisitions have helped Warners (the present-day Time-Warner subsidiary) to accumulate a diverse collection of movies, cartoons, and television programs. In the aftermath of the 1948 anti-trust suit, uncertain times led Warners in 1956 to sell its 650 of its pre-1948 films and cartoons to a holding company which became Associated Artists Productions (AAP). Two years later AAP sold its holdings to United Artists (UA), which held them until 1981年, when MGM bought UA. Three years later Turner Broadcasting System, having failed to buy MGM, settled for ownership of the MGM/UA library. This included all pre-1986 MGM features as well as the pre-1948 Warner material. Ownership of the classic Warner films came full-circle when Time Warner bought Turner, although technically they are held by Turner Entertainment while Warner is responsible for sales and distribution. These acquisitions, among others, mean that Warner owns almost every film they've made since inception (excepting certain films Warner merely distributed, such as the United States Pictures catalog, except for Battle of the Bulge, which WB still owns). Certain of John Wayne's Warner films are owned by Batjac, Wayne's company. Seven years after its 1964年 release, rights to My Fair Lady reverted to CBS, which had backed the theatrical production, although Warner now owns the DVD rights under license from CBS. (Interestingly, 35 years after that, CBS and Warner Bros. will form The CW Television Network, as mentioned above.) As noted, Warner owns all pre-1986年 MGM titles and cartoons; the US/Canadian and Australian rights to a majority of the RKO Radio Pictures library; the 1933-1957 Popeye theatrical animated shorts; and a portion of United Artists material (most of this under its Turner subsidiary). In addition Warner has acquired most of the Hanna-Barbera Productions television cartoons (as well as Heidi's Song, but not including cartoons based off Marvel Comics properties which are owned by the Walt Disney Company, as well as shows based off Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley which are owned by CBS Paramount Television; among other licensed properties); most of Lorimar's television and film holdings (including most of the Allied Artists / Monogram and post-1974 Rankin/Bass libraries, as well as several films made by Lorimar themselves which were released originally by Paramount Pictures, among other studios); the National General Pictures library (except those produced with Cinema Center Films, which are owned by CBS and Paramount Pictures); most ancillary rights to Castle Hill Productions library (which includes early UA material); and a few films released by others, such as the 1956 version of Around the World in Eighty Days; the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; most of the pre-1991 Morgan Creek Productions library; most of the pre-1990 Saul Zaentz film library; the 1978-1981 Orion Pictures library; the non-Japan rights to the first three Pokémon films; and Castle Rock Entertainment films made after Turner acquired Castle Rock (except the Region 1 rights to The Story of Us and The Last Days of Disco, as well as the international rights to The American President, all owned by Universal). The University of Southern California Warner Bros. Archives is the largest single studio collection in the world. Donated in 1977 to USC's School of Cinema-Television by Warner Communications, the WBA houses departmental records that detail Warner Bros. activities from the studio’s first major feature, My Four Years in Germany (1918), to its sale to Seven Arts in 1968. UA donated pre-1949 Warner Bros. nitrates to the Library of Congress and post-1951年 negatives to UCLA's film library. Most of the company's legal files, scripts and production materials were donated to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [编辑] 電視發展[编辑] 劇集[编辑] 動畫華納兄弟的動畫於1930年適度推出，製作者為Leon Schlesinger。 而在1930年至1933年，Hugh Harman和Rudolf Ising為樂一通推出多套令人矚目的音樂動畫。但在他們離開後，樂一通製作衰落起來。直至1944年，Tex Avery和Termite Terrace的創意力才使樂一通變回開始時那般受歡迎。 後來，華納兄弟買下了許多經典，如DC漫畫、MGM等，使其動畫庫存更強大。 在現代，華納兄弟亦製作一定數量的動畫，放在星期六早上的KidsWB!中播出。以目前形勢，它們主要是在舊經典中加入新原素。 [编辑] 華納在中華的發展[编辑] 中国大陆华纳新亚洲娱乐咨询公司在北京赛特大厦和上海世纪商贸广场分别设有代表处，负责处理华纳兄弟娱乐公司在中国大陆的业务事务。另外，华纳家庭录影与中国录音录像出版社合资在上海成立了DVD、VCD音像发行公司中录华纳家庭娱乐有限公司。 [编辑] 香港[编辑] 台湾华纳兄弟目前是唯一在台湾设置直属电影发行机构和DVD、VCD家庭娱乐公司的美商电影公司。 [编辑] 参考资料
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