Warner Bros. Family Entertainment/Summary (2024)

Background[]

Warner Bros. Family Entertainment was the family production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment that was established in 1992 under Time Warner Entertainment a year after its overseas distribution deal with Buena Vista International which Warner distributed Disney & Touchstone films in overseas territories. It handles kids & family-oriented movies and TV shows, mostly animated, along with some live-action releases. However, after a string of box-office flops, the company made WBFE a direct to DVD and kids-oriented TV show only label, and started using their normal unit for theatrical releases, starting with My Dog Skip. They still distributed films in international territories, mostly Germany; their last theatrical release was 2009's Laura's Star and the Mysterious Dragon Nian. Afterwards, family-oriented productions were moved back to the normal Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Animation names (and later, Warner Animation Group), whereas direct-to-video productions moved to Warner Premiere.

1st Logo (1992-August 11, 2001)[]

Visuals: A bannerless WB shield is shown, as usual, posed against the sky. Then Bugs Bunny (in a tuxedo) leans over the shield, puts a hoop-like, wordless banner around it, and spins it around. The byline "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" fades in under the logo. Then Bugs Bunny then steps to the left from under the shield, does a Vanna White-like pose, and puts his hand on the banner where it stops to reveal the words "FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT". Bugs keeps his hand on it as he leans, brandishes a carrot and takes a bite on it as the banner shines.

Variants:

• A more common version was introduced later on. This time, the sequence starts with the banner already on the shield, displaying the inscribed words. After the byline, which is smaller, fades in, the logo continues per se with Bugs Bunny's usual pose and animation. The shield is noticeably bigger in this version.
• There is a version used for trailers and TV spots where it is based on the early version of the logo with the shield smaller and the byline bigger, but it starts with Bugs Bunny's usual animation and the banner doesn't shine.
• An abridged version was used to open TV series in the '90s (the logo forming with Bugs Bunny already doing his usual routine along with the shining ribbon).
• A version without Bugs Bunny is seen at the end of the 1995 Looney Tunes short Carrotblanca, with the "That's all Folks!" script written on top of it. The shield opens with a nervous-looking Tweety inside of it, saying "That's all Folks!" and laughing (in his Usmarte impression), the shield closes, and then "A WARNER BROS. CARTOON" appears on the bottom-right corner. The shield, in this case, is noticeably hand-drawn.
• There is also a noticeably digitally remastered version with no shining ribbon, which was used from 1999 to 2001. Plus, the ribbon's shadow is not there and the byline is in a different typeface.
• A videotaped variant of the logo appears on The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show in the late '90s.
• A full unmatted variant exists.
• On a commercial for the VHS for The Fox and the Hound, the byline is in Hebrew.

Technique: Traditional animation by Bill Waldman at Warner Bros. Classic Animation.

Audio: A symphonic, majestic arrangement of "Merrily We Roll Along", composed by Richard Stone, plus the sound of Bugs munching his carrot. Originally, a fishing reel sound (with soft whooshing sounds) can be heard when Bugs spins the banner.

Audio Variants:

• In 1992, an abridged version of "Merrily We Roll Along" was used on season 2 of Merrie Melodies starring Bugs Bunny & Friends (the Fox Kids version), That's Warner Bros.! (later The Bugs n' Daffy Show), a few 1993 episodes of Taz-Mania and Batman: The Animated Series, the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special", and a Hub Network rerun of the season 1 episode "Tiny Toons Music Television", as well as Cartoon Network airings of the Looney Tunes cartoon Devil May Hare.
• Almost every other show with the abridged version has a rearrangement of the sting used to close out Warner Bros, cartoons of the 1990's composed by husband and wife Steven and Julie Bernstein. The piece consists of a timpani and harp crescendo, a 4-note brass fanfare based on the last 4 notes of the Animaniacs theme ("Those are the facts!"), a piano crescendo, and tuba hit with the normal carrot crunching sound effect still used. Amazon prints of Waynehead use a low pitched version.
• On the short-lived WB cartoon Road Rovers, an electric guitar riff that sounds very little like the Road Rovers theme song plays over this logo.
• On Black Beauty (1994), this logo is silent.
• The show's end theme played over it on 1993-2000 episodes of The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show.
• The Looney Tunes shorts featuring this logo use a re-orchestration of Max Steiner's fanfare for the 1937 Warner Bros. Pictures logo.
• A Finnish TV spot for the VHS release of The Pebble and the Penguin has Leo's roar from the MGM logo due to sloppy plastering. This likely happened because Warner Bros. holds the international distribution rights to this movie.
• High tone versions exists on PAL prints.

Availability:

• This logo was first used on Merrie Melodies starring Bugs Bunny & Friends on Fox Kids in 1992.
• Can be seen in front of various WB Family movies of the '90s such as the first three Free Willy films, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Black Beauty, It Takes Two (though it's removed from current prints as Paramount Pictures via Rysher Entertainment now owns this film), Richie Rich, Space Jam, and Cats Don't Dance, among others.
• The early version can be seen on Dennis the Menace, George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, Thumbelina, and A Troll in Central Park (the latter three films are now currently owned by 20th Century Studios) as well as the original VHS release of Free Willy.
• The trailer version can be seen on the theatrical trailer of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and some trailers and TV spots of other films in the library.
• The short version can be seen in front of Animaniacs, Pinky & the Brain, and Freakazoid! (it remains intact on those shows' DVDs and on streaming prints), Superman: The Animated Series, and the first season of Static Shock, as well as the ill-fated Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain.
• The version with the rare fanfare was seen on Taz-Mania on AOL's In2TV and on DVD.
• The 1999-2001 version was seen on Batman Beyond, Histeria!, Detention, The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, and the first season of The Zeta Project. It was also seen on the final years of The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show (after the end credits) on ABC.
• The logo with the electric guitar riff tune is intact on Road Rovers on DVD.
• The short 1993 version was also seen at the beginning of The New Batman/Superman Adventures from 1997 as well as the short-lived The Adventures of Batman & Robin (a.k.a. season 2 of Batman: The Animated Series) from 1994.
• This also appears on the Looney Tunes shorts Chariots of Fur, Another Froggy Evening, Superior Duck, Pullet Surprise, From Hare to Eternity, and Father of the Bird.
• A physical, silver colored version of the print logo can also be found on Warner Bros. Editions of the Chevrolet Venture minivan from 2000-2003, affixed to the driver and passenger-side swing doors, and above the liftgate handle on the rear of the car, while a colored sticker version was affixed to the LCD display on the in-car VHS/DVD player.
• It was also seen on international prints of the third NeverEnding Story movie, pre-2000s prints of Thumbelina and A Troll in Central Park and pre-2001 international prints of The Pebble and the Penguin.
• It also plasters the Paramount logo on the 1997 DVD release (and the 1999 UK DVD release) of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
• It also appears when Boomerang airs the Looney Tunes short "A Pizza Tweety-Pie".
• It was seen on early trailers of Quest for Camelot (though the film itself and later trailers and TV spots use the "75 Years" variant of the next logo).

2nd Logo (March 20, 1998-September 24, 2009)[]

Visuals: Nearly the same as the 1998-2020 Warner Bros. Pictures logo, the only differences are that the shield banner reads "FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT" instead of "WARNER BROS. PICTURES", and Bugs steps to the left from under the shield, doing the same pose and animation from the previous logo. The Warner byline fades in below.

Bylines:

• March 20, 1998-2001: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY". Also, on this variant, the shield, cloud background and the "FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT" banner are enhanced.
• February 2001-2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company"
• 2003-March 22, 2008: Bylineless.
• 2004-September 24, 2009: "A Time Warner Company"

Variants:

• As with the main Warner Bros. Pictures logo, a "75 Years" variant (see this page for more on the variant description from this era) was used. It's a lot like the regular logo, but the only differences are that logo itself is darker where the cloud background is darker and the text and the shield are in a bronze color.
  • The variant itself was animated at 1.37:1 "academy" where this full open-matte version of this logo was used on full screen prints of Dennis the Menace Strikes Again and the U.S. prints of A Rat's Tale while Quest for Camelot use the cropped 1.66:1 version. Widescreen versions crop this logo to 1.78:1 while full screen pan-and-scan versions for VHS crop the logo at both sides from its 1.66:1 aspect ratio.
  • On one TV spot of Quest for Camelot, a scope version of this logo was used, albeit still and cropped to 4:3 full screen.
• A scope variant exists.
• Like the last logo, an abridged version is featured at the beginning of shows starting in 2001. Notably seen on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.
• For a short period after AOL Time Warner was reverted back to Time Warner, the logo went without a byline.
• Another shortened version of this logo, this time starting with the shield zooming out, began usage from around 2001-2002 to 2008.
• A version without Bugs Bunny also exists, but was mostly used as a corporate logo.
• In 2005, there was a short lived version where the banner reads "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" like the normal logo.

Technique: CGI with the traditional animation from the previous logo. Like the 1998 Warner Bros. Pictures logo, this was done at Intralink Film Graphic Design.

Audio: Same as the previous logo, but is preceded by the beginning half of the original Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary wind chimes fanfare. The abridged logo uses the short music from the previous logo.

Audio Variants:

• On U.S. prints of A Rat's Tale and Quest for Camelot, the logo is completely silent.
• On French prints of Scooby-Doo! On Zombie Island, it has the 1999 Warner Bros. Pictures fanfare on this logo due to a sloppy plaster job.
• Sometimes, when the long version is plastering the previous logo, there are no wind chimes at the start, followed by the 1993 music.
• On the DVD and digital HD versions of The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, the long version of this logo is seen, starting off silent, and then when the shield begins zooming out, the original opening music heard during the \\' logo plays underneath.
• High tone versions exists on PAL prints.

Availability:

• The "75 Years" variant has only appeared on U.S. prints of A Rat's Tale, Quest for Camelot and Dennis the Menace Strikes Again, as well as the trailer for The King and I. Though Starz and Netflix prints of Quest for Camelot strangely plaster this logo with the Warner Bros. Television logo instead, mainly due to the 75th Anniversary wordings.
• The long version doesn't pop up that often, as around this time many theatrical films under the Family Entertainment label opted for the traditional logo. It was last seen on The King and I, released on March 19, 1999, and was also unfortunately used to plaster the \\' logo on the DVD releases of The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (with wind chimes), The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie and Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island, the previous logo on the 2014 Blu-ray of Black Beauty, as well as to plaster the Paramount logo (and other former post-1972 Warner logos, including the previous logo) on post-2001 DVD releases of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (though it is finally restored on the 2021 4K Blu-ray). After 1999, theatrical movies began using any of the current Warner-related logos.
• However, the short version was seen frequently in front of various WB Animation shows such as What's New, Scooby-Doo?, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, Baby Looney Tunes, ¡Mucha Lucha!, Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island, Firehouse Tales, Xiaolin Showdown, The Batman, Loonatics Unleashed, Static Shock, Tom and Jerry Tales and the first season of Johnny Test among others. The short version starting with the shield zooming out can be seen on various Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, and Tom and Jerry DTV movies.
• From 2008-2012, the Warner Premiere logo replaced the Family Entertainment logo on the DTV movies, while Warner Bros. Animation has replaced the long-running WBFE logo with their own for the first time since 1991, although the direct-to-video movies Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes (released on August 24, 2010), Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz (released on August 23, 2011), Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (released on September 6, 2011) and Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse (released on October 2, 2012), along with Blu-ray reissues of WBFE's back-catalog have the 1993 print logo on their back covers.
• The logo can be spotted on many European animated features released by Warner Bros., such as The Little Polar Bear and Laura's Star. Also seen on the trailers and TV spots for My Dog Skip, as well as the trailer for the 1999 VHS release of The Wizard of Oz (although the actual films respectively use the standard Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer logos instead).
• Does not appear on CBBC UK airings of What's New, Scooby Doo?, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, Krypto the Superdog, The Batman, ¡Mucha Lucha! and Baby Looney Tunes.