Universal Pictures: Difference between revisions

|formerly=Universal Film Manufacturing Company (1912-1923)<br>Universal Pictures Corporation (1923-1946)<br>Universal-International (1946-1963)<br>Universal Pictures, Inc. (1963-1964)<br>Universal City Studios, Inc. (1964-1999)<br>Universal Studios Inc. (1999-2014)

[[Universal Pictures]] was originally formed on April 30, 1912 as '''Universal Film Manufacturing Company''' by Carl Laemmle, a German-Jewish immigrant who settled in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he managed a clothing store. It was formed from a merger of several film companies: Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), Powers Motion Picture Company, [[Rex Motion Picture Manufacturing Company]], [[Champion Film Company]], [[Nestor Film Company]], and the New York Motion Picture Company. It is the oldest studio in Hollywood. The word "Universal" means "Omnipresent". In 1915, he opened Universal Studios. In 1923, it was renamed to Universal Pictures Corporation.

During the early 1920s, Irving Thalberg was entrusted with most of Universal's production policy decisions. Thalberg made distinct improvements of quality and prestige in Universal's output while dealing with director Erich von Stroheim's inability to control the expense and length of his films. Thalberg eventually fired Stroheim and replaced him with Rupert Julian. Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal in late 1922 to his own growing studio, Louis B. Mayer Productions, and when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was formed in 1924, Thalberg continued in the same position for the new company. Without Thalberg's guidance, Universal became a second-tier studio for several decades. In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, [[Deutsche Universal-Film AG]], under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler's increasing domination of central Europe. The advent of sound led to productions in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. Despite not being distributed by Universal Pictures, some of these films were exhibited through other independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York City. However, Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary.

In 1946, Universal Pictures merged with International Pictures, headed by Leo Spitz and William Goetz. This team ran the newly-formed Universal-International Pictures, while Nate Blumberg and J. Cheever Cowdin remained at the helm of Universal Pictures, the parent company. Universal-International underwent significant expansion, with Goetz at the helm. One major move was taking on the American distribution of J. Arthur Rank's British productions, including critically acclaimed films like David Lean's Great Expectations and Laurence Olivier's Hamlet. The studio also ventured into the non-theatrical market, acquiring home-movie dealer Castle Films and offering "highlights" reels from its film library for home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. In 1948, Universal-International ordered the destruction of all remaining silent film copies to collect the silver nitrate after World War II ended. Despite its expansion efforts, the production arm of the studio struggled to produce hits at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was replaced and the studio returned to its roots of producing low-budget and series films. After Rank lost interest, his shares were sold to investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records took full control of Universal in 1952. The studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, which released its products alongside Universal-International's films.

In 1962, Music Corporation of America (MCA) purchased Decca Records and with it, Universal-International, leaving Milton Rackmil and Edward Muhl in charge, as Dr. Jules Stein (Board Chairman) and Lew Wasserman (President) continued to guide MCA. As a result of a consent decree with the justice department, MCA divested itself of its talent agency business. This led to Universal-International being renamed into the current '''Universal Pictures'''. The company focuses on movie franchises such as ''Fast and Furious'', ''Jurassic Park'', ''Psycho'', ''The Mummy'', ''Van Helsing'', ''Curious George'', ''Death Race'', ''Beethoven'', ''The Land Before Time'', ''Despicable Me'', ''Happy Death Day'', ''Hop'', ''The Scorpion King'', ''Pitch Perfect'', and ''Ted''.  

In 1990, MCA/Universal was acquired by Matsushita Electric and later sold to Seagram and Sons in 1995. On December 9, 1996, MCA was reincorporated and renamed as "Universal Studios". In December 2000, French company Vivendi acquired Universal Studios from Seagram and Sons and formed Vivendi Universal Entertainment. The deal was closed on January 8, 2001. On May 11, 2004, it was part-owned by Vivendi Universal (20%) and General Electric (80%) and became a subsidiary of NBC Universal, Inc. On January 26, 2011, Vivendi sold the remaining 20% of NBC Universal to GE until January 28, when Comcast Corporation acquired a 51% controlling interest of the renamed NBCUniversal, LLC, and the remaining stock (49%) from GE on March 19, 2013.