 | |
| Industry | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1957; 68 years ago (1957) |
| Defunct | 2003; 22 years ago (2003) |
| Fate | Liquidation, Assets sold toClassic Media (now known as DreamWorks Classics) |
| Successor | Harvey Entertainment, Inc. (DreamWorks Classics) |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Casper the Friendly Ghost Richie Rich Baby Huey Little Dot Little Audrey Little Lotta Wendy the Good Little Witch |
The Harvey Entertainment Company (formerly known asHarvey Films andHarvey Entertainment, or simplyHarvey, and later namedSunland Entertainment Co.) was theproduction arm ofcomic book publisherHarvey Comics. It was founded in 1957.[1][2]
A majority of the company's assets were purchased byClassic Media (currently owned byNBCUniversal viaDreamWorks Animation) in 2001 under the in-name subsidiaryHarvey Entertainment, Inc., while the remains of the business including the live-action film division were folded withinEcho Bridge Entertainment.
In the early 1960s, they createdHarvey Funnies, the original entertainment company to produceThe New Casper Cartoon Show.[3]
On October 28, 1986, Harvey Films filed a lawsuit againstColumbia Pictures claiming that the logo for the filmGhostbusters was similar to the logo forThe Ghostly Trio, specifically the ghost in the logo was similar toFatso, and Columbia argued thatFatso was only a portion of their, at the time, renewed trademark, and there were three ghosts instead of just one. The court argued that the logos are largely dissimilar and thatThe Ghostly Trio had only the words of the trademark and the three ghosts while the logo forGhostbusters has a sign forprohibition with only the torso and head of only one ghost. The expressions are different, with their ghosts having mischievous or evil facial expressions, while the other one is bewildered. The court said:
Accordingly, the Court concludes that the claimed likelihood of confusion has no material basis in fact. The sole evidence which Harvey has produced on this issue are excerpts from magazine articles which suggest a general association between the "Ghostbusters" logo and "Casper" comics. It is clear from reading these articles that there was no confusion whatsoever on the part of the authors. A finding of general association, that the "Ghostbusters" logo is reminiscent of "Casper" characters, does not mean that the prospective moviegoer in purchasing a ticket for "Ghostbusters" thinks that he is going to see a "Casper" cartoon. Neither does it mean that he will think that "Ghostbusters" is derived from "Casper" cartoons or that it is sponsored by the same source as "Casper".
The court dismissed the case for not violating their trademark.[2]
In 1989, Jeffrey A. Montgomery purchased Harvey from the Harvey family for $7.5 million.[4] With this, the company became a subsidiary of Montgomery's HMH Communications (based inSanta Monica, California) and was renamed Harvey Comics Entertainment.[5][6][7]Universal Pictures secured a 10% stake in Harvey in exchange for producing films based onCasper and select other Harvey properties.[8]
During this period, Montgomery began to re-syndicate the existing animated library as well as reprint older comic book titles. ThroughClaster Television,Casper & Friends was syndicated to local TV stations for three years between 1990-1994, while the "Harvey Classics" comic books began being published around the same time.[9] In 1991, the company licensed outRichie Rich andCasper toWarner Bros. andUniversal Pictures respectively to create films based on the characters.[10]
In 1993, Harvey launched two additional comic book imprints to publish titles outside of its existing library -Nemesis Comics andUltracomics, the latter was made to publishUltraman comics.[11] In the same year, the company went public under theNASDAQ Small Cap Exchange and was renamed The Harvey Entertainment Company.[12]
In March 1994, the company saw expanded losses with its revenue falling 26%.[13] In May,Marvel Comics took over publishing and distribution for Harvey's comic book titles.[14] In September, the first Harvey television series produced exclusively for television,The Baby Huey Show, aired on syndicated television stations for two seasons. The series featured brand new made-for-TVBaby Huey cartoons, as well as an assortment of existing Harvey cartoons, effectively replacing the previous syndication package.
On May 29, 1996, Harvey commissionedSaban Entertainment to produce newdirect-to-video material based onCasper andRichie Rich, with20th Century Fox Home Entertainment secured as the distributor. This deal was placed outside of the theatrical deal with Universal, of which they would produce a sequel to the 1995Casper film and retain all other theatrical rights to the character.[15] In September, a second newly-produced series,Richie Rich was syndicated for a single series of thirteen episodes.
In February 1997, Harvey re-acquired full merchandising and licensing rights to their properties includingCasper andRichie Rich fromUniversal Pictures, although they would continue to work with the company on new animated projects.[16] The company reported a net loss of $386,000 in March, which Harvey blamed on the repurchase.[17][18] In September, the company expanded their deal with Saban Entertainment to include an additionalCasper feature -Casper Meets Wendy for a fall 1998 release, with20th Century Fox Home Entertainment remaining on board as distributor.[19]
In February 1998, Harvey pre-sold a package ofHarveyToons cartoons, entitledThe HarveyToons Show, to the then-upcomingFox Family Channel.[20] Jeffrey A. Montgomery and Greg Yulish were ousted from the company in March.[21] On July 27, Harvey announced that through a business plan with the Global Media Management Group, the company would produce a slate of twelvedirect-to-video feature films and three television shows.[22]
In April 1999, the company changed hands after a group of investors purchased it for $17.7 million.[23] The company secured continued losses, including a $250,000 loss forBaby Huey's Great Easter Adventure.[24] In September 1999, Harvey announced that they would purchase the film distributorPM Entertainment from its founders Joseph Merhi and Richard Pepin for $6.5 million and a further $1.45 million in stock.[25][26] In October, the company entered into a partnership withSpümcø to produce web-exclusive content featuring an assortment of Harvey characters.[27] in November, the company signed a theme park deal withLandmark Entertainment Group to construct and design a theme park featuring the Harvey characters.[28] The company attended its first MIPCOM in November 1999 after entering the self-distribution market, announcing the work of a new CGI-animatedCasper Christmas movie withMainframe Entertainment and a live-actionBaby Huey series aimed towards a pre-school audience. Harvey Home Entertainment also released severalHarveyToons VHS releases withUniversal Studios Home Video.[29] TheCasper project with Mainframe was officially announced in December.[30]
Harvey's purchase of PM Entertainment was closed in January 2000, with PM becoming a fully-owned subsidiary of Harvey.[31] In February, the company launched a new subsidiary, Harvey Fashion LLC, as a joint-venture with PG Capital. Harvey Fashion would manufacture, sell and market apparel collections based on the classic Harvey characters.[32] In March, the company teamed up withStudio B Productions to produce a new television series featuringWendy the Good Little Witch, entitledWendy the Witch, for an early-2001 delivery.[33] The company engaged in third-party distribution in April 2000 by becoming the international sales representative and distributor of animation studioFilm Roman.[34] In May, the company acquired television rights to the websiteWalter Miller's Home Page, allowing Harvey to branch off to primetime television.[35] Universal acquired North American distribution rights toCasper's Haunted Christmas in June.[36] In the same month, Harvey entered into a worldwide licensing agreement withHearst Entertainment, with the latter handling merchandising and licensing to bring the Harvey Classics over to a new generation.[37] At the beginning of August, the company secured a deal with website ThinkBox to add its characters to ThinkBox's kids portal, with Harvey also receiving an equity position in ThinkBox.[38] On August 17, the company purchased North American distribution rights to the movieA Monkey's Tale fromPearson Television International.[39]
In August, it was announced thatLions Gate Entertainment was an interested partner in taking over Harvey Entertainment with eight other companies also interested.[40] At the end of the month, the newly-formedClassic Media announced that they would purchase a 60% stake in Harvey Entertainment for a cash-and-stock deal valued at $30 million.[41] The deal fell through at the beginning of November.[42] At this point, Harvey Entertainment was on the verge of liquidation.[43] Harvey sold international sales rights to the PM Entertainment library toCineTel Films in February 2001.[44]
Following the failed purchase, on March 8, 2001, The Harvey Entertainment Company announced that Classic Media would purchase all its media library for $17 million. The deal would include Harvey's entire library of classic characters, film library, print materials, the "Harvey" brand and logo, among others. The Harvey Entertainment Company (including PM Entertainment) itself would not be included in the sale and would be renamed.[45][46] The deal was verified by the two businesses in May[47][48] and the deal was closed on June 26. The following day, The Harvey Entertainment Company was renamed Sunland Entertainment Co., putting a focus exclusively on the PM Entertainment catalogue.[49][50] Following the sale of the Harvey characters, Classic Media formed an in-name subsidiary entitled Harvey Entertainment, Inc. to hold all copyrights to the Harvey catalog.
In 2003, Roger Burlage sold the remains of Sunland Entertainment and PM Entertainment, alongside its library, to a group of investors who also purchased out the assets of CineTel Films. With this,Echo Bridge Entertainment was formed.[51]
Theatrical films
TV series
Direct-to-video
Cancelled projects
Harvey once planned to create theatrical films based on a selection of characters, but these films never materialized.[52]
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