Follow the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz. Zoom on a broom with Harry Potter. Save the world with Wonder Woman, Batman, or even the Super-Pets. Chomp on a carrot with Bugs Bunny. Let a whale go in Free Willy. But hold tight to a ring in The Lord of the Rings.
These movie worlds and characters all come from Warner Bros. That studio films and TV shows. And now, it is turning 100!
Warner Bros. came from four brothers with a dream. They were Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. The Warner family moved from Poland to Canada. The brothers mastered the movie business in the United States. They traveled through Ohio and Pennsylvania. They showed movies on a . In 1903, the brothers started buying theaters. Soon, they were making movies!
The Warners moved to Hollywood, California — the land of movie stars. That’s where Warner Bros. started on April 4, 1923. The studio paid for movies to get made. It also had buildings and sets for filming.
Right away, Warner Bros. pushed the limits of sound and color. It made some of the first movies with spoken lines. Those films were called “talkies.” On with the Show! was the first all-talking movie in color!
Warner Bros. movies featured famous actors. Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart starred in the flicks. And starting in the 1930s, the studio brought us Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck. Those characters are in Looney Tunes!
In 1990, the company with Time Inc. They became Time Warner. Time Warner was the world’s biggest entertainment company! Today, the studio is part of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Warner Bros. has successful series. It made all of the Harry Potter movies. The eight main films made more than $7.7 billion! Warner Bros. also makes the superhero films based on DC Comics. It tells stories of Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman!
Warner Bros. is celebrating its birthday all year. There will be special events and products. A concert will bring movie music to 100 cities!
David Zaslav leads Warner Bros. Discovery. “Over the past 100 years, Warner Bros. has created beloved films, TV shows, and characters,” Zaslav said. The studio “has been the place for storytelling.”
So, what’s next? “We are excited about our bright future,” Zaslav shared. He hopes to keep telling “stories that entertain, inform, and inspire.”
Updated April 3, 2023, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Ashley Morgan
