Pokémon in the United States: Difference between revisions

The [[Pokémon anime]] debuted in the United States on September 7, 1998, helping to launch Pokémon into a nationwide phenomenon that lasted until the early 2000s. All English-language dubs of the Pokémon anime were performed in the United States, first by [[4Kids Entertainment]] and later by [[Pokémon USA]].

While the [[Pokémon movie]]s are regularly released theatrically in Japan, [[M01|only]] [[M02|the]] [[M03|first]] [[M04|five]] [[M05|movies]] and the Zekrom variant of the [[M14|14th movie]] have seen release in the US; all other movies have premiered on television (usually on Cartoon Network) and released straight to video or DVD.

Kids' WB! (Warner Brother's Studios) is a former programming block that was broadcast on {{wp|The WB Television Network}} and later, as a result of a merge between WB and {{wp|UPN}}, on {{wp|The CW Television Network}}. The initial run of the block was from 1995-2008, and it aired (at various stages) both before and after school, and also on Saturday mornings. Kids' WB, in its original form, shut down on May 17, 2008. Prior to its closure it was relaunched as an online {{wp|video on demand}} service.

In 2006, before any more Pokémon USA episodes could be aired, the network announced that all non-{{wp|Warner Brothers}} shows would be dropped from the lineup. This meant that ''Pokémon'', among other shows, would no longer be aired on Kids' WB!. The series would eventually move to Cartoon Network, which is owned by TimeWarner via its' {{wp|Turner Broadcasting}} division, managed by {{wp|Ted Turner}}, also known as Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III on September 8th.

The last time Kids' WB! aired was, contrary to earlier reports, May 17, 2008. After this date the block was relabeled as {{wp|The CW4Kids}}. Kids' WB! was revamped into an online video on demand service, which was launched on April 28, 2008. ''Pokémon'' is not included on the list of available titles; however, episodes are available on demand via the USA [[Pokémon.com]] web portal.

Previously, they had aired reruns of episodes from Pokémon's earlier seasons such as ''[[Pokémon: Master Quest|Master Quest]]''. As of April 2010, almost every season has aired on Cartoon Network. They have also aired all of the ''[[Pokémon Chronicles]]'' episodes during the summer of 2006. Currently, the series does not air on the network.

Cartoon Network tends to marginalize end credits-replace the original ending with their own generic credits while running a promo. This is not a very big loss for anime episodes, which have rather unremarkable ending sequences in the dub, unless the credits break away from the current format, such as in ''[[DP022|Borrowing on Bad Faith!]]''. However, by extension, this means that the credits of Pokémon movies aired on the channel, which contain an epilogue, are missed, to the chagrin of viewers. Occasionally, the credits are simply sped up. Also, when the [[M13|thirteenth movie]] first aired on the channel, several scenes were omitted, which [[The Pokémon Company International|TPCi]] did not appreciate.

The Toonami block aired for the final time on September 20, 2008. Although the Toonami block itself ended, the block's streaming-video service Toonami Jetstream, which  showed episodes from various arcs of Pokémon anime, continued operations until January 30, 2009. After nearly four years of being off the year in the US, Toonami later returned on the air on May 26, 2012, but now on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's late-night programming block. This was done by popular demand after Adult Swim's April Fools stunt.

Toonami Jetstream was a {{wp|Streaming media|streaming video}} service run by Cartoon Network and [[VIZ Media]] to provide anime and action cartoons 24 hours a day.  The service launched on July 17, 2006.  The service remained online even after its parent programming block, Toonami, ended on September 20, 2008.  On January 20, 2009, Toonami Jetstream switched all available offerings with "top 10" lists from most of their at-the-time current shows.  Toonami Jetstream shut down on January 30, 2009. Cartoon Network Video, Toonami Jetstream's former sister service, became Cartoon Network's lone streaming video service at the time Jetstream shut down. The Pokémon anime didn't initially migrate over to Cartoon Network Video, but would do so a few months after Jetstream's shutdown.

Boomerang is a cable network owned by {{wp|Time Warner}}, operating as a sister station to Cartoon Network. Boomerang is well-known for airing many cartoons that came from the 20th century such as {{wp|The Flintstones}}, {{wp|The Jetsons}}, Popeye the Sailor Man, and The Yogi Bear Show, as well as older episodes of currently-running series, Pokémon among them. A full list is on {{wp|List of programs broadcast by Boomerang|Wikipedia}}. Boomerang was made shortly after the introduction of Cartoon Network in 1992. However, it was only a block for the network, and didn't become a channel until 2000. During its time as a block, it lasted for only a couple of hours at a time.