Guild Films Company, Inc.

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Guild Films Company, Inc. issued in 1959. This historic document was printed by the Security Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of an eagle. This item has the printed signatures of the Company’s President ( John J. Cole ) and Secretary and is over 43 years old. This is the first time we have seen this certiifcate.






Certificate Vignette



In the early 1950's, Warner Bros. sold to Sunset Productions, its library of black and white cartoons, except for the Harman-Ising b/w Merrie Melodies. These cartoons were sold to Guild Films, headed by Art Gross.

At that time, Warner Bros. was ashamed to have their name on the television screen, so they insisted that Sunset put their own title card at the start of the cartoon, omitting all references to Warner Bros., including the WB shield scene in "Porky in Wackyland".

Guild Films soon acquired Motion Pictures For Television, a firm best known for the 1950's Superman television series, as well as the television distributor for the Paramount Superman cartoons.

But it didn't take very long for the cartoons to make their way back to Warner Bros. In the 60's, Guild Films was acquired by 7-Arts Associated, which was now headed by Eliot Hyman, who headed Associated Artists Productions, which owned the color WB cartoons.

When 7-Arts and Warner Bros. merged in 1967, the cartoons were reunited with WB. And then Warner Bros realized they could make a lot more money off them if they were in color! Even the Guild Films closing was redrawn.