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4Kids Entertainment () is an American company specializing in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the world. They are most known for their original and acquired television programs. 4KIDS PRODUCTIONS 4Kids Productions is a wholly owned subsidiary responsible for the production of 4Kids content. Current TV productions 4Kids Entertainment has production and/or distribution rights for the following current TV programming:
Former TV productions The following TV programs have ended or expired (some are temporarily expired or ended) but were handled by 4Kids Entertainment during their run:
''Note: this is not a complete list.'' Other licenses 4Kids also has Licensing agreements for the following properties, based around merchandise licensing and marketing:
4KIDS AND MICROSOFT On January 17, 2006, 4Kids and , 2006 . One of the first titles announced was '' Viva Piñata '' which would be developed by Rare Ltd. 4KIDS TV 4SIGHT LICENSING SOLUTIONS INC. On April 19, 2006, 4Kids had announced a new subsidery entitled 4Sight Licensing Solutions Inc. 4Kids Launches 4Sight Licensing Solutins animenewsnetwork.com Accessed 18 April , 2006 . According to 4Kids, 4Sight will license and market brands aimed at adults, teenagers and tweens. While none of 4Kids's current anime property will be moved to 4Sight, Todd Fromer of KCSA publicity, representing 4Kids, has said that isn't necessarily ruled out of the 4Sight lineup, but that anime lends itself more to a children's market. AWARDS, HONORS & FACTS On June 22, 2005, , 2005 . Over those 10 years, Kahn and 4Kids had licensed such huge and popular Properties such as '' Pokémon '', '' Yu-Gi-Oh! '', '' Cabbage Patch Kids '', and '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''. Nintendo announced that as of January 1 , 2006 , 4Kids would not be handling most aspects of the Pokémon franchise, instead having Pokémon USA handle all aspects of the property in the US. Previously, Pokémon USA and 4kids shared duties on Pokémon. The anouncement also noted that the next Pokémon series, Battle Frontier, will not be handled by 4Kids. However, 4Kids will retain some control over any remaining Pokémon contracts set to expire later on. CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSY There are Anime fans that are highly critical of 4Kids because of the large number of changes made by 4Kids for the English-language versions of Anime titles they license. These changes can include heavy editing (even to shows with virtually no objectionable content), alterations to characters and plot lines, extensive rescoring of background music, script Americanization , and removal of most Japanese and English text - this is often referred to as Anime Censorship by detractors. The 4Kids titles which have attracted the most criticism from anime fans are '' Shaman King '', '' Sonic X '', and '' Yu-Gi-Oh! '' and most infamously '' One Piece ''. The sentiment shared among the more devoted fans of these titles and anime fans in general is that most of the changes made to these shows serve no real purpose other than marketing, and reduce the quality of the original work (in other words, it is believed that such changes are unnecessary). Some anime fans have argued that since (in their opinion) the shows were originally aired to be nothing more than marketing engines in Japan towards children and fans of the series, 4Kids is opening up these properties to the US market for marketing to kids, with edits to conform to US broadcast standards. Some fans use the handling of '' One Piece '' as a counterargument to that argument. The type of work 4Kids is known for has sometimes caused the company to be incorrectly credited by anime fans with dubs produced by other companies. The most prominent examples of common misattributions are '' MegaMan NT Warrior '' ('' Rockman EXE '', produced by VIZ Media ), ''Knights of the Zodiac'' ('' Saint Seiya '', produced by ADV Films and DiC ), and ''Cardcaptors'' ('' Cardcaptor Sakura '', produced by Nelvana ). Such error in attribution among anime fans is generally held to be a result of 4Kids becoming synonymous with the type of English dub displayed by the above examples, though it shows that 4Kids is not alone in producing heavily-altered, Americanized versions of animated Japanese TV shows. 4Kids claims that some level of , 2005 . Statements such as these have prompted a mixed response among anime fans, with some even wildly accusing 4Kids of overt Racism or Xenophobia due to their policy of making any possible edits to mask a show's Japan ese origin. (e.g. The changing of Tokyo Mew Mew to a rumored proposed title of Hollywood Mew Mew until it was changed a second time to '''Mew Mew Power'''.) In 2004 , 4Kids began testing the potential market for unedited versions of their Anime titles by releasing uncut, bilingual DVDs of '' Yu-Gi-Oh! '' and '' Shaman King ''. As of October 2005, however, future volumes of these titles have been delayed indefinitely. It is unclear if the test program was a success or a failure, as rumors and arguments abound on why they dumped the unedited DVD's program without a clear explanation. 4Kids CEO Al Kahn has stated in his interview with Anime News Network that 4Kids is planning on extending uncut DVD releases to include all Anime titles in their lineup at some point in the future; however, there is no further evidence that this is still a priority. To conclude his interview with the Anime News Network, Kahn stated, ''"I think they have to understand that because the price of these acquisitions is so high, that if they want this programming to come to the United States then they're going to have to accept the fact that it's going to be available in two styles. Because the only money that can be made that helps pay for the acquisition is obviously whether or not we're able to outfit it for the masses. And fitting it for the masses requires editing. And if we didn't do that, it'd be very difficult for us to afford to bring it in, just to release it to the anime fan who would be looking for the uncut version."'' Anime fans are mixed on Mr. Kahn's stance that some changes are necessary to bring Japanese animation to broadcast television. Nevertheless, fans of properties held by 4Kids disagree with some of the changes that are "necessary" to make a series marketable, and contend that in its drive to be as appealing as possible to children, 4Kids has altered some of its titles to the point where they have lost the qualities that made them originally appealing in Japan. Interview with a script writer On , 2006 . As with many of 4Kids' prior statements, the interview incited controversy in the anime viewing community. Some notable excerpts from the interview below: When asked on his previous experience with the Sonic franchise: ''"I’ve never played the game, seen the series or read the comics."'' When asked about the changes made to eliminate Japanese references, Haigney responded: ''"As you know, many references do remain. Some, however, are quite obscure (in my judgment) and the shows don't particularly allow for explanation of many of these references. It doesn't seem to be the case that the creators of most of the anime series we air are intentionally trying to make "Japanese" series, just the opposite. But certain references and behaviors that are strange to U.S. viewers are in these series simply because they are part of the collective experience of the Japanese creators who, most times, intend to create "universal" characters and situations, albeit for, primarily, Japanese viewers. I have nothing against this, but my job is to remake these series for a mass U.S. audience."'' And later on, in response to questions about the revision anime series: ''"I know that many fans of the Japanese series vilify 4Kids for changing the content of the original shows. What they may not realize is that Fox Broadcast Standards and Practices forbids things like smoking, firing realistic weapons and, generally, any kind of violence that would be easy for kids to imitate. That’s because the FCC has rules and regulations governing broadcast. I happen to dislike realistic violence in the context of kids’ cartoons, but the changes we make in the original shows have nothing to do with a capricious desire to “ruin” or “destroy” them, as some “purists” seem to feel."'' The interview ended when Michael Haigney comments: ''"I know some hardcore anime fans hate the fact that 4Kids doesn't simply air the original Japanese series with "literal" subtitles. I understand their feelings. I'd just ask them to remember that 4Kids has probably brought more anime to more viewers than any company in the world. It may not always be in the way some fans would like, but I think 4Kids has contributed greatly to the interest and availability of anime worldwide. Maybe that counts for something in their eyes."'' "U.S. kids don't read!" Kahn incited controversy when at a manga panel at the 2006 New York Comic-Con , where he bluntly stated ''"U.S. kids don't read!"'' This incited some hisses from those present in the room, mainly librarians and other representitives of the book world. To try and soften the blow, Kahn elaborated his comment by saying that ''"The content is disposable. More and more of it is available for free."'' Kahn's explained since a lot of American children are computer and tech savvy, that digitized content would be seen as the future of content, whether it be print or visual media. Viz Media 's Liza Coppola responded to Kahn's words by bringing up Viz's partnership with the Read for America literacy campaign, stating "Manga is a great medium to bring kids back to reading." , 2006 It should be noted that in Japan, manga remains a wanted commodity due to the cheapness, wide selection that caters to all ages, and availability. Also, given the geography and the culture, the Japanese rely heavily on public transportation, unlike the US, and as such, have time to read manga and other forms of printed media while on such modes of transportation. Mile High Comics The Beat thought differently by stating ''"Those are words to heed, we think. Anyone who isn't planning for a world of ever increasingly electronic gadgetry is already living in the past. But when did anyone in comics really show vision?"'' MILE HIGH COMICS presents THE BEAT at COMICON.com comicon.com Accessed 24 February , 2006 REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS Official 4Kids websites Interviews with 4Kids staff
Selected criticism
Sites pointing out edits made by 4Kids There are many websites that give comparisons between the unedited version of a show acquired by 4Kids (in almost all cases, the shows are originally Japanese ) and its edited version. There are websites for:
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