Warner Bros. Family Entertainment was the family division label ofWarner Bros. Entertainment. It was founded in 1993 and released numerous theatrical anddirect-to-video family-oriented films and television shows before the label was retired in 2011.
The division was founded in 1993 to produce more family-friendly films after its 1987 distribution deal withthe Walt Disney Company in whichWarner Bros. releasedDisney films theatrically (e.g.The Little Mermaid,Beauty and the Beast as well as reissues such asCinderella) in many overseas territories from 1988 to 1992.[1] The first theatrical film released under the Family Entertainment label wasDennis the Menace, released in the summer of 1993.[2] 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 wasFree 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 bookThe Secret Garden, which didn't perform as well as the previous two films but still garnered over $30 million at the domestic box office, andGeorge Balanchine's The Nutcracker. The last 1993 theatrical release from Warner Bros. Family Entertainment wasBatman: 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, due to a lack of promotion from Warner Bros.
In 1994, it was the worst year for Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, where it was home to numerousbox-office bombs. In the early part of 1994, Warner Bros. releasedThumbelina, which was a major box-office bomb. Another 1994 film was a live-action rendition of the bookBlack Beauty, which was another box-office bomb for the studio, grabbing only nearly $5 million at the box office. Following it wasA Troll in Central Park, which garnered less than $1 million at the box office. The last two films in 1994 wereLittle Giants, which performed better, but only received nearly $20 million domestically andRichie Rich, which was a box-office success, grossing over $76 million for its $40 million budget.
In 1995, it brought a live-action rendition of the bookA Little Princess, which only got over $10 million in its domestic release. Other films that year included international distribution ofThe Pebble and the Penguin, which was a box-office bomb, grossing nearly $4 million, andBorn to Be Wild, which also garnered nearly $4 million. However, the biggest success of 1995 for the company was thesequel toFree Willy,Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, which, although not nearly as successful as the first film, was a minor success, garnering over $30 million.
In 1996, it saw Warner Bros. Family Entertainment's biggest hit yet,Space Jam, which garnered over $90 million domestically. The following year, the division releasedTurner Feature Animation'sCats Don't Dance (inherited fromTurner Pictures as a result ofTime Warner's merger withTurner Broadcasting), which bombed at the box office with over $3 million earned stemming from a lack of promotion. The next 1997 film was the thirdFree Willy film,Free Willy 3: The Rescue, which performed poorly, grossing over $3 million.
In 1998, it releasedWarner Bros. Feature Animation'sQuest for Camelot, which would be a box-office bomb, but grossed more than previous films released by the company, grossing nearly $23 million domestically. In 1999, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment released two more films, the poorly performedThe King and I, which only grossed nearly $12 million, andBrad Bird'sThe Iron Giant, which was also a box-office bomb, grossing over $23 million. The film itself was planned to be released under the banner, but director Brad Bird was against it for a multitude of reasons, especially the serious tone,Bugs Bunny being an ill-fit to open the film, and that the words "Family Entertainment" would have made this be marketed solely as a kids film, so Bird and the crew made a custom Warner Bros. Feature Animation logo instead.[3]The Iron Giant would, however, go on to become a cult classic through video releases and television airings. The only film released under Warner Bros. Family Entertainment in 2000 wasMy Dog Skip, which became the company's first major box-office success in nearly four years, grossing nearly $35 million, although the film itself would use the main Warner Bros. Pictures logo instead.
Warner Bros. continued to release family films later in the 2000s as well as the 2010s, but the logo for its Family Entertainment subsidiary was no longer used in the United States.
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