The Pokémon Company International: Difference between revisions

[[Image:The Pokémon Company International logo.png|thumb|Logo]]

'''The Pokémon Company International''' (abbreviated to '''TPCi''') is the subsidiary of '''[[The Pokémon Company]]''' that manages the [[Pokémon]] franchise in the West.<ref>[http://www.pokemon.com/us/about/ About the Pokémon Company International | Pokemon.com]</ref>

[[Image:PUSA logo.png|thumb|Pokémon USA logo]]

The Pokémon Company International was founded in February 2001 as '''Pokémon USA, Inc.'''<ref name="his">[http://www.pokemon.co.jp/corporate/en/history/ Company History | The Pokémon Company]</ref> (shortened to '''PUI''' and '''PUSA'''). It was later merged in 2009 with '''Pokémon UK'''<ref name="TPCi">[https://web.archive.org/web/20090413121437/http://worldscreen.com/articles/display/20547 ''Pokémon Merges North American, European Operations'' (WorldScreen.com news article from April 9, 2009)]</ref> (itself founded in March 2003<ref name="his"/>) to form the current international subsidiary. The company's president is [[Kenji Okubo]], the former head of Pokémon USA.<ref name="TPCi"/> Okubo said the two companies had worked closely together on a day-to-day basis and that the change in name was done to reflect the connection between the two offices and ensure their worldwide reach.<ref name="TPCi"/>

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The first president of Pokémon USA was [[Tatsumi Kimishima]].{{fact}} In 2002, he was replaced by [[Akira Chiba]], when Kimishima was promoted to President of [[Nintendo]] of America following Minoru Arakawa's retirement.{{fact}}

In 2003, the distribution agreement with [[Wizards of the Coast]] for the Pokémon trading cards ended. After this, Pokémon USA took over as the manufacturer and distributor of the {{pkmn|Trading Card Game}}.{{fact}}

In January 2006, the licensing and merchandising agreement between [[4Kids Entertainment]] and Pokémon USA expired.{{fact}} This agreement included the [[dub]]bing of the {{pkmn|anime}} so Pokémon USA switched to producing the English dub in association with [[TAJ Productions]] which had worked with 4Kids on [[season]]s [[S01|one]] through [[S05|five]].{{fact}} The recasting of the main characters created [[Pokémon USA recasting controversy|a large controversy]]. In May of the same year, {{DL|Pokémon in the United States|Kids' WB!}} announced that it would be dropping all anime from its autumn lineup in its move to {{wp|The CW}}, which included the Pokémon anime.{{fact}} Pokémon USA went into negotiations with {{DL|Pokémon in the United States|Cartoon Network}} to air past and future episodes of Pokémon, which turned out successful.{{fact}} In June, a ''Master Toy'' licensing agreement was signed with {{wp|Jakks Pacific}}.{{fact}}

In 2007, [[Kenji Okubo]] became the President when Akira Chiba stepped down.{{fact}} In 2008, the production of the dub moved to [[DuArt Film & Video]].{{fact}} Red Central was commissioned by Pokémon UK to create a {{wp|marketing}} style guide for Europe.{{fact}}

In 2008, a partnership with {{wp|Network Distributing|Network}} was announced.{{fact}} Network will distribute the [[Pokémon movie]]s and {{DL|List of anime episodes|anime episodes}} on {{wp|DVD-Video|DVD}}.{{fact}} It was also announced {{wp|Jetix#Jetix Europe|Jetix Europe}} (now {{wp|Disney XD}}) would air the next [[season]] of the [[Pokémon anime]].{{fact}}

In February 2009, PUSA announced a deal with {{wp|Toys "R" Us}} in which stores would have a dedicated ''Pokémon Boutique''.{{fact}} A deal was also announced with [[Universal Studios Home Entertainment]], in which the company will be distributing the [[Pokémon movie]]s on {{wp|DVD-Video|DVD}}.{{fact}}

Like [[4Kids Entertainment|4Kids]], TPCi makes changes while dubbing the anime, but they are more limited in scope. Music edits are common and dialogue edits are usually done to obfuscate explicit religious or death references and match the {{wp|Audio to video synchronization|lip-flap}}. Paint edits, which 4Kids is infamous for, are rarely performed by TPCi. Also, in every episode TPCi has dubbed to date, the "To Be Continued" screen is extended by three seconds. The reasons for this are unknown.

* [http://www.pokemon.com/us/country/ Pokémon.com's Country Selector]

** [http://www.pokemon.com/us US website]