Casablanca was part of the film colorization controversy of the 1980s,[172] when a colorized version aired on the television network WTBS. In 1984, MGM/UA hired Color Systems Technology to colorize the film for $180,000. When Ted Turner of Turner Broadcasting System purchased MGM/UA's film library two years later, he canceled the request, before contracting American Film Technologies (AFT) in 1988. AFT completed the colorization in two months at a cost of $450,000. Turner later reacted to criticism of the colorization, saying, "[Casablanca] is one of a handful of films that really doesn't have to be colorized. I did it because I wanted to. All I'm trying to do is protect my investment."[173]
The Library of Congress deemed that the color change differed so much from the original film that it gave a new copyright to Turner Entertainment. When the colorized film debuted on WTBS, it was watched by three million viewers, not making the top-ten viewed cable shows for the week. Although Jack Matthews of the Los Angeles Times called the finished product "state of the art", it was mostly met with negative critical reception. It was briefly available on home video. Gary Edgerton, writing for the Journal of Popular Film & Television criticized the colorization, stating that "Casablanca in color ended up being much blander in appearance and, overall, much less visually interesting than its 1942 predecessor."[173] Bogart's son, Stephen, said, "if you're going to colorize Casablanca, why not put arms on the Venus de Milo?"[156]
