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4Kids Entertainment

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File:New4kids.gif
The current 4Kids logo
File:4Kids.jpg
Previous logo used to 2005.

4Kids Entertainment NYSE: KDE is a sub-division company of The Summit Media Group Inc. headquartered in New York City that licenses children's television shows in the United States and in other countries outside Japan. Its CEO is Alfred R. Kahn.

On September 1, 2005, Steven M. Grossman will serve as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of 4Kids Entertainment. [1]

Titles

It produces several shows in the English language, including translated anime. Its distribution services are handled by FUNimation. All programming on 4Kids TV (formerly the Fox Box) is licensed by 4Kids. A list of shows that it produces:

A list of shows that it distributes, from the United Kingdom:

A list of shows that it translates and distributes, from Japan:

A list of shows that it translates and distributes, from Italy:


In addition, 4Kids has licensing agreements with the American Kennel Club, Clear Channel Communications' "Monster Jam" series, the enitre Nintendo character lineup ranging from Mario Brothers to The Legend of Zelda, "The Artist The Dog" and "The Cat" line of products and Xavier Roberts' Cabbage Patch Kids toys, as well as partial ownership of Pokémon USA, the American subsidiary of The Pokémon Company.

Criticism

Many anime fans in the US are highly critical of 4Kids because of its policy of extensive Americanization of the anime titles it licences. In addition, 4Kids uses a non-stop "cartoony"-type score in place of the original Japanese score. The fans feel that such alteration alters the series from what they originally were, and some feel that it defaces the original work and demeans the original author. 4Kids tends to licence only titles targeted to preteens, and claims to modify the titles to appeal to the same demographic in the US, as they say leaving in Japanese references and keeping the titles as is will lower the series' ratings. Some anime fans have gone as far as to accuse 4Kids of overt racism against the Japanese due to the Americanization of the anime 4Kids licenses. Contrary to 4Kids' views, Americanizing an anime to be licensed is not always necessary to win in ratings; for example, MegaMan: NT Warrior, which is dubbed by Viz Media, has name changes and edits for age-appropriateness. However, the English version of the show keeps in all drawn-in text, regardless of Japanese or English, and still gets high ratings on the Kids' WB block. Warner Bros. Animation's series Xiaolin Showdown is an American cartoon that is highly based on Chinese culture and uses drawn Chinese text, and is among Kids' WB's most-watched shows.

In order to combat the complaints, 4Kids has allowed FUNimation, their DVD distributor, to release unedited versions of Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh! on DVD as a test (similar to how DiC allowed ADV Films to release unedited versions of Sailor Moon and Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac)). If the unedited releases do well, 4Kids may expand them, as well as release uncut DVDs to other animes such as Sonic X, Ultimate Muscle, etc. to its entire lineup. The unedited releases also contain an English language track done by the same cast as the edited version, although it is faithful to the original.

However, with the releases of Volumes 3 for "Shaman King" and volumes 4 and 5 for "Yu-Gi-Oh!" on an indefinite delay, apprently due to legal issues alluding to FUNimation wanting out of the partnership with 4Kids to the point of point blank refusing to allow uncut DVDs untill Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters, the fans have become agitated at 4Kids. One Piece was released in edited-only DVDs [2], despite rumors [3] that there would be unexpurgated DVD releases.

Controversial Alfred R. Kahn quotes

The following are quotes from 4Kids CEO, Alfred R. Kahn that were controversial among anime fans in America.

"American kids aren't aware of other cultures and thus don't need to see references to Japan." (on the Americanization of Tokyo Mew Mew) [4]

"I think the term anime is misleading; I think kids don't know from whence we cometh. By the time we localize the programs kids don't even know they're from Japan any more. We as adults tend to label this stuff, but kids don't really know it." (also when talking about the licensing of Tokyo Mew Mew) [5]

Also, according to the Anime News Network, Kahn described the protagonists of Magical Doremi as being "sexy". [6]

Awards & Honors

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. [7]

Miscellaneous

R&B singer O'Ryan and rapper Bow Wow have appeared on 4Kids' Saturday morning block, 4Kids TV, during commerical breaks.

Official links:

Interviews:

Criticism:

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