)[2][3] later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television.

Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the Popeye the Sailor shorts by Paramount Pictures, and the pre-1950 Warner Bros. Pictures film library, notably the pre-August 1948 color Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated shorts, and the black-and-white Merrie Melodies shorts from Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, excluding Lady, Play Your Mandolin!.

It handled syndication of around 500 films, including the Republic Pictures and Robert L. Lippert libraries, but both companies soon entered television distribution.

[1] In March 1956, Hyman's company was acquired by investment firm PRM, Inc., headed by Lou Chesler.

[4] PRM closed the purchase of the entire pre-December 1949 Warner Bros. Pictures library[5][6][7][8] in February 1956 for $21 million, with a.a.p.

National Telefilm Associates announced plans to buy control of AAP Corp. on November 18, 1957.

was the subject of litigation which was passed on to the New York Supreme Court between the parties of a.a.p., NTA, and Harris minority shareholder group.

took a look at a number of shorts in the a.a.p./pre-1950 WB library that appealed to children and packaged them in a third group known as The Big Mac Show, which has a cartoon wrap around.

The Library is converting those items on nitrate to safety film stock and has obtained reference prints for seventy of the better known Warner Bros. features, such as Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), High Sierra (1941), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), The Jazz Singer (1927), and Little Caesar (1930).

Most of the safety film copies exist only in the preservation master stage, limiting accessibility for viewing and duplication.

When Turner sold back the MGM/UA production unit, he kept the MGM library, including the Warner Bros. Pictures films and Popeye cartoons from the a.a.p.

[21][22] The MGM-Warner deal was terminated on July 28 of that same year, after two companies failed to complete acquisitions of MGM/UA's record company asset and the pre-1950 Warner Bros. film libraries; the main reason is that the negotiations fell apart because of dozens of unresolved points, probably relating to the oldest Warner Bros.

Turner remains the copyright owner in name only to the former Associated Artists Productions properties, while Warner Bros.