4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment was an American company that specialized in licensing and producing English-language versions of non-English media. They were the exclusive licensing agent for merchandise, TV, and home video rights for Pokémon outside of Asia from 1998[1] to 2005, though produced their final dubs for the Series in late 2006.[2] They were the main producers of English-language Pokémon animation during that period, and a number of their dubs in other languages have been based around their work. The rights 4Kids once had, are now held by The Pokémon Company International.
| 4Kids Entertainment | ||||
 The company's former logo | ||||
| Founded | April 28, 1970 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defunct | February 7, 2017 | |||
| Headquarters | New York, New York, USA | |||
| Type | Public | |||
| Industry | Licensing, Television | |||
Website
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History
4Kids and Nintendo of America had been business partners since 1987, when the company was known as Leisure Concepts.[3] 4Kids licensed Pokémon the Series after a February 1997 trip to ShoPro's offices,[4] and their plans to dub it in English were revealed shortly after the "Pokémon Shock" incident.[1] The animated series was announced at NATPE 1998[5] and production started the following May at TAJ Productions. The animated series premiered on September 7 in syndication, with an order of 52 episodes.[6] Shortly after this, 4Kids sub-licensed the animated series to parties in other parts of the world like Canada, Latin America, and Europe.[7][8][9] At the same time, 4Kids served as a licensing agent for Pokémon merchandise on behalf of Nintendo of America.[10]
Prior agreements 4Kids had with Nintendo were replaced with two new ones in October 2001; one was with the newly-formed Pokémon USA and gave 4Kids the same Pokémon rights they always had,[11] while the other was with Nintendo of America and gave 4Kids some exclusive licensing rights for other Nintendo properties (like F-Zero and Kirby) outside of Japan.[12] Additionally, 4Kids continued to outsource Pokémon dubbing projects to TAJ until 2003, when they took it in-house (their first dubbed episode in-house was Address Unown!).
By the time their deal with Pokémon USA expired in 2005,[2] 4Kids' dubs consisted of the first 8 seasons of Pokémon the Series, its first 8 tie-in movies, a few specials and games, several English theme songs, the Pokérap, Pokémon Chronicles, songs that appeared in Pikachu's Jukebox and Pokémon Karaokémon, and the 2.B.A. Master album. Pokémon USA (now known as The Pokémon Company International) took over 4Kids' Pokémon-related roles after the expiration; their first dubs were the TV special The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon and season 9 of Pokémon the Series.
On December 5, 2012, 4Kids Entertainment announced that it had ended a dispute over the so-called Pokémon agreement with The Pokémon Company International, under which TPCi would get a $1 million general, unsecured claim against the debtor.
Despite their massive contributions to the animated series and the Pokémon franchise as a whole, there had been many critics. Some fans felt that some important information, facts, or emotions expressed in the original version were lost in translation. Frequent move errors, type matchup errors, and most infamously, poor quality in the Pokémon Trainer's Choice segments have led fans to believe 4Kids had very little knowledge of the Pokémon franchise as a whole.
Post-Pokémon
In May 2008, Kids' WB! was replaced with The CW4Kids (later known as Toonzai), a block ran entirely by 4Kids. On March 24, 2011, TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems sued 4Kids Entertainment due to "underpayments, wrongful deductions, and unmet obligations" concerning the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. TV Tokyo and NAS claimed that 4Kids' collaboration with Funimation Entertainment violated their original contract and enabled 4Kids to hide income amassed from home video production. They sought $4,792,460.36 USD in damages as a result.[13] In the midst of the lawsuit, 4Kids filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection on April 6, 2011. The lawsuit was settled on February 29, 2012, with 4Kids retaining rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise after a judge ruled that TV Tokyo and NAS had improperly terminated their agreement with 4Kids.[14]
In June 2012, Saban Brands purchased the rights to several of 4Kids' anime properties, including Dragon Ball Z, Sonic X, Cubix, and the Toonzai block. Rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise were sold to Konami, who also acquired 4Kids Productions and reincorporated it as 4K Media. Toonzai was replaced by the Saban-run Vortexx, and it lasted until 2014. 4Kids reincorporated as 4Licensing Corporation in December 2012, and continued to exist until a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan of theirs went into effect on February 7, 2017.
In-house dubbing projects
In-house voice directors
Typical edits
Common complaints from fans concern 4Kids' tendency to edit some parts of Pokémon the Series to make it more appropriate for the American audience, primarily children and pre-teenagers. These edits can be broken down into several categories.
- Cultural changes: Scenes relating to Japanese culture were often edited to be more accessible to American audiences. One example of this is the renaming of onigiri, which have been called a variety of things from donuts to popcorn balls, though on occasion sporadically they would also retain the rice balls.
- Dialog edits: Sometimes a character's lines were edited so as to change the meaning. For example, in The Legend of Thunder!'s dub, Attila is Hun's new partner, whereas they had known each other for years in the original.
- Wordplay: Occasionally, wordplay made were lost in translation. Frequently, puns would be inserted instead where they were not before, such as in Electric Shock Showdown, where Meowth pun-ishes Jessie and James. Puns were also used in the episode titles, a practice which The Pokémon Company International decided to continue.
- Music edits: In most (not all) episodes of the first three seasons of the Anime dub, 4Kids kept most of the original Japanese music in the dub and often added their own pieces to fill moments of silence. Conversely, 4Kids replaced most of the Japanese music in the first three Movie dubs, with the first and third being completely rescored.
- In contrast, all of the original Japanese music was kept from the fourth movie onward to their final dub of eighth movie, excluding openings and endings and the title screen music for the fourth and fifth movies. From seasons four to eight (including Pokémon Chronicles), 4Kids replaced most of the Japanese music with their own music, except for scenes that feature music from the games, such as in In the Knicker of Time. And despite this, it should be noted that 4Kids' dubs of seasons four to eight still managed to retain more of the Japanese music than the end of the TPCi dub in-house from seasons sixteen to the final one in season twenty five.
- Paint edits: Paint edits were usually made to remove Japanese text, but they were also done for things such as turning an onigiri into a sandwich in Judgment Day!, a practice which The Pokémon Company International also ended up continuing from the XY Series onward into JN via orders to OLM in Japan.
- Cuts: Some scenes were removed completely, sometimes due to time constraints. Often, however, they were removed in the name of censorship, such as with James's breast scene in Beauty and the Beach or in cases of 'excessive' violence.
- Scene switches: Occasionally, scenes were moved around. For example, several attacks are performed out of order in The Evolutionary War!.
- Motto: Team Rocket's motto usually changed slightly in each episode in the dub, yet, in most cases, it stayed exactly the same in the original.
- Openings/endings: 4Kids created their own openings using their own music. While the original had its own unique ending, the dub would either simply run a shorter version of the opening along the left side of the screen or use an instrumental version of the opening song for the ending, again a practice which The Pokémon Company International decided to continue.
- Who's That Pokémon?: Often, the Pokémon, layout, and presentation were different in the original. During the first season, the Pokémon were usually the same as in the Japanese version. In the second and third seasons, the segment mostly had a Pokémon starring in the following episode. From seasons four to six, the Pokémon were completely random. Although this feature stopped in Japan at the end of the Johto saga, it continued through the dub season Pokémon: Advanced. For Pokémon: Advanced Challenge and Pokémon: Advanced Battle, this was replaced by Trainer's Choice.
- Pokérap/Pikachu's Jukebox/Pokémon Karaokémon: These music video segments shown in the early seasons of the dub were not present in the original.
Legacy
- 4Kids' censorship edits later became an internet meme.
Logos
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The company's original logo, used when Pokémon the Series began to be dubbed -
A prototype version of the logo from 1995. -
The logo without the ® symbol. This is seen in the beginning of Pokémon DVDs and videos from 1998-1999. -
The logo with the ® symbol in the end of each Pokémon video (especially DVDs). -
Logo used on Pokémon: The First Movie, with "Productions" replaced by "Entertainment".
External links
- 4Kids Entertainment official site (archived)
- 4Licensing Corporation official site (archived)
- Anime News Network article announcing the moving of dub production from 4Kids to Pokémon USA.
- Wikipedia article
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. may get cartoon series - Sarasota Herald Tribune (January 1, 1998)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pokémon USA Moves Licensing In-House In 2006 - KSCA Public Relations Worldwide (December 23, 2005)
- ↑ 10-K Index: "Agreement between Nintendo of America, Inc. and the Registrant dated December 17, 1987 (4)"
- ↑ Creating the Craze for Pokemon: Licensing Agent Bet on U.S. Kids - The Wall Street Journal (August 16, 1999)
- ↑ NATPE 1998: It's A Tough Market But Someone is Selling... - Animation World Network (February 1, 1998)
- ↑ Pokémon Hits The World - Animation World Network (October 3, 1998)
- ↑ Pokémon Hits The World - Animation World Network (October 3, 1998)
- ↑ Pokémon sold to Latin America broadcasters - Animation World Network (February 14, 1999)
- ↑ POKEMON sold to Europe - Animation World Network (April 2, 1999)
- ↑ Pocketing the Pokemon - The Hour (May 27, 1998)
- ↑ 4Kids Entertainment Signs New Five-Year Agreement With Pokémon USA - KSCA Public Relations Worldwide (October 10, 2001)
- ↑ 4KIDS ENTERTAINMENT SIGNS LONG-TERM AGREEMENT WITH NINTENDO OF AMERICA - KSCA Public Relations Worldwide (October 10, 2001)
- ↑ TV Tokyo, Nihon Ad Terminate Yu-Gi-Oh! Deal, Sue 4Kids - Anime News Network (retrieved September 27, 2022)
- ↑ 4Kids' Yu-Gi-Oh! License Is Still in Force, Court Rules - Anime News Network (retrieved September 27, 2022)
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This article is part of Project Mass Media, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on official Pokémon publishing, broadcasting, communications, and other media. |