General Cinema was a nationwide chain of movie theaters that operated from 1935 until 2002. At its peak the company operated approximately 621 screens, some of which were among the first cinemas certified by THX. Its mascot was Popcorn Bob and his Candy Band, which graced the company's policy trailers from 1993 until 2002 and were created by Lucasfilm. Starting in the 1960s General Cinema diversified into other businesses; at times they owned the department store Neiman Marcus, the publisher Harcourt Brace, radio stations in several major markets (notably WEFM in Chicago, WZGC in Atlanta, WGCL in Cleveland and WIFI in Philadelphia), and TV station WCIX in Miami. They formed a joint venture theater chain with Hoyts, known as Hoyts General Cinema, that had locations throughout South America. The company suffered greatly when it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2000. They also switched their beverage supplier from Pepsi to Coca-Cola in 2001. What remained of the company afterward was acquired by AMC Theatres in 2002. With the acquisition, the Credits program merged into the MovieWatcher network.
The General Cinema Corp. trademark was placed up for auction on December 8, 2010. As of 2011, this trademark has been recently published for opposition by JTE Multimedia.
Famous quotes containing the words general, cinema and/or corporation:
“The general will is always right.”
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
“If an irreducible distinction between theatre and cinema does exist, it may be this: Theatre is confined to a logical or continuous use of space. Cinema ... has access to an alogical or discontinuous use of space.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“The nearest the modern general or admiral comes to a small-arms encounter of any sort is at a duck hunt in the company of corporation executives at the retreat of Continental Motors, Inc.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)