4Kids Entertainment

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Template:Infobox Company $12.7 million USD (2004) | num_employees = 360 (2006) | homepage = http://www.4kidsent.com/ }} Image:4Kids.jpg

4Kids Entertainment(Template:Nyse) 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.

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4Kids Productions

4Kids Productions is a wholly owned subsidiary responsible for the production of 4Kids content.

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Current TV productions

4Kids Entertainment has production and/or distribution rights for the following current TV programming:

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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.

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Other licenses

4Kids also has licensing agreements for the following properties, based around merchandise licensing and marketing:

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4Kids and Microsoft

On January 17, 2006, 4Kids and Microsoft signed a deal to license children's video games exclusively for the Xbox 360 gaming system, in an effort to put more child-oriented games on the system, whose gaming library is currently dominated by games targeted toward the 13-and-up market. [1] One of the first titles announced was Viva Piñata which would be developed by Rare Ltd.

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4Kids TV

In January 2002, 4Kids Entertainment entered into a four-year agreement with FOX to lease the network's Saturday morning programming block. The block has been titled 4Kids TV (formerly Fox Box) and serves as one of the main outlets in the United States for 4Kids properties.

The Fox Box premiered on September 14, 2002 after Fox Kids was dissolved due to financial issues. The block was re-branded 4Kids TV in January 2005. 4Kids is wholly responsible for the content of the block and collects all advertising revenues from it.

The block targets mostly kids and tweens and airs on Saturday mornings in most areas of the United States, though some stations carry it on Sundays instead.

The block has a somewhat unusual relationship to the Fox Network. The programming is produced for Fox and offered to Fox Affiliates first, so the Fox affiliate in any given area has right of first refusal. In the event a Fox affiliate or in some cases an O & O opts not to carry 4Kids TV the block then is available in the market for another television station to pick up. This has happened in quite a few instances.

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Opt-out areas

In some markets the Fox affiliate/owned and operated station has opted not to run 4Kids TV. 4Kids TV does not meet the criteria to be considered educational and does not count toward the 3 hour per week mandatory educational children's programming quotas.

In markets where the Fox station does not run 4Kids TV, another station in the market can pick it up. The following Fox stations do not run 4 Kids TV-most stations that passed on 4Kids TV were formerly owned by New World Communications, when those stations became Fox affiliates, they were not interested in what was then called Fox Kids:

(Note: Stations affiliated with UPN or WB will either become CW or My Network TV affiliates, or independents, in September 2006.)

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Markets where 4Kids TV does not run at all

These stations are all Fox O&O's-WBRC and WGHP of course were never owned by New World Communications, rather they were sold directly to Fox
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Markets where 4Kids TV runs on a current UPN affiliate

Only WFLD is a Fox O&O-the first orignal one to drop Fox children's programming
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Markets where 4Kids TV runs on a current WB affiliate

WJW, WJBK, and KSAZ are Fox O&O's while KMPH and KPTM are owned by Pappas. KMPH dropped the 4Kids TV lineup and sent it to KFRE
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Markets where 4Kids TV runs on a current independent station

All Fox affiliates listed here are O&O's
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Other countries

4 Kids has also been granted a license by Ofcom to broadcast a Children's entertainment channel in the UK [2][3]. However as at January 2006 there are reports that 4Kids have dropped their plans for the channel, these coincide with news of a number of similar offerings being launched by more established brands [4] and the fact that most of 4kids' library being licenced to multiple UK channels (only a few, lesser known shows have gone unaired in the UK, most of them being anime).

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4Sight Licensing Solutions Inc.

On April 19, 2006, 4Kids had announced a new subsidery entitled 4Sight Licensing Solutions Inc.[5] 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.

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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 One Piece, Shaman King, Sonic X, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. 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 Americanization is necessary for their imported shows in order to make them more marketable to children. CEO Al Kahn has been quoted as saying, "By the time we localize the programs kids don’t even know they’re from Japan any more." He has even gone so far as to state that "Labels such as 'anime' are meant for adults". Later, in an interview with Anime News Network, he stated that 4Kids attempts to "westernize it [anime] so that children in English-speaking countries will understand it, and to us that is very critical." Statements such as these have prompted a largely negative response among anime fans, with some even bitterly accusing 4Kids of overt racism or xenophobia due to their policy of making any possible edits to mask a show's Japanese 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 appear to be 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 reasonable 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 his view of which changes are "necessary" to make a series marketable, and contend that in its drive to be as appealing as possible to children, 4Kids has fundamentally altered the substance of some of its properties to the point where they no longer hold the qualities that made them appealing in the first place, often, as a result, causing the show to be less marketable.

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Interview with a script writer

On 12 February, 2006, Anime Boredom posted an interview it had conducted with 4Kids scriptwriter, Michael Haigney. <ref>Mr. Michael Haigney Interview (4Kids) animeboredom.co.uk. Accessed 24 February, 2006.</ref> 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."

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"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 the room and aggravated some. Present in the room were many librarians and other representitives of the book world. To try and soften the blow, Kahn backed-up his comments by saying that "The content is disposable. More and more of it is available for free." Kahn's point was since a lot of Americans are computer and tech savvy, that digitized content would be seen as the future of content, whether it be print or visual media. Publishers Weekly noted in their online article that "He noted that many people in the U.S. walk around with MP3 players or other electronic devices, whereas in Japan, everyone on the subway seems to have a "3,000-page manga."<ref>Manga: Essential or Disposable? publishersweekly.com Accessed 24 February, 2006</ref>

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, unlike the US, the Japanese rely heavily on public transportation, 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."<ref>MILE HIGH COMICS presents THE BEAT at COMICON.com comicon.com Accessed 24 February, 2006</ref>

Viz Media's Liza Coppola quickly responded to Kahn's words by pointing out their partnership with the Read for America literacy campaign, stating "Manga is a great medium to bring kids back to reading."

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Awards, honors & facts

On June 22, 2005, LIMA, the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association, inducted 4Kids CEO & Chairperson Alfred R. Kahn into the Murray Altchuler Licensing Hall of Fame for his "continual and outstanding" contributions to the licensing industry for over 10 years. 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. [6]

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.

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References

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External links

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Official 4Kids websites

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Interviews with 4Kids staff

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Selected criticism

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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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