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4Kids Entertainment

March 04, 2023

4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English-dubbed Japanese anime through its subsidiary 4Kids Productions between 1992 and 2012; it specialized in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States. The first anime that 4Kids Productions dubbed was the first eight seasons of Pokémon that originally began airing on first run syndication and then it later moved to exclusively air on Kids' WB! in the United States. The company is most well known for its range of television licenses, which has included the multibillion-dollar Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Japanese anime franchises. They also ran two program blocks: Toonzai (originally The CW4Kids) on The CW, and 4Kids TV (originally FoxBox) on Fox, both aimed at children.[3] The 4KidsTV block ended on December 27, 2008; Toonzai block ended on August 18, 2012, which was replaced by Saban's Vortexx, which in itself was succeeded by Litton's One Magnificent Morning in 2014.

4Kids Entertainment
FormerlyLeisure Concepts
(1970–1995)
4Kids Entertainment
(1995–2012)
4Licensing Corporation (2012–2017)
TypePublic
NYSE: KDE
OTCBB: KIDE
OTCQB: FOUR
IndustryLicensing
FoundedApril 28, 1970; 52 years ago (1970-04-28) (as Leisure Concepts, Inc.)
FoundersMike Germakian
Stan Weston
DefunctFebruary 7, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-02-07)
FateBankruptcy
SuccessorKonami Cross Media NY
Headquarters
New York, New York
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsFox Box/4Kids TV
The CW4Kids/Toonzai
Number of employees
16 (2013)
Subsidiaries4Kids Entertainment International Limited
4Kids Entertainment Licensing, Inc.
4Kids Entertainment Home Video, Inc.
4Kids Productions, Inc.
4Kids Ad Sales, Inc.
The Summit Media Group, Inc.
4Kids Technology, Inc.
Websites 4 Kids, Inc.
4Kids Entertainment Music, Inc.
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

4Licensing Corporation had its world headquarters on Third Avenue in New York City, its former subsidiary, 4Kids Productions, had its headquarters in a separate building in Manhattan. The New York Stock Exchange delisted 4Kids (NYSE: KDE) on June 1, 2010. On April 6, 2011, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following a lawsuit concerning the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. On December 13, 2012, the company announced that it had emerged from bankruptcy.[4] On September 21, 2016, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection once again and shut down operations one year later.[5] 4Kids' former CEO, Alfred R. Kahn, founded a successor company called Kidtagious Entertainment in 2019.[6]

History

Company origins

Leisure Concepts was co-founded on April 28, 1970,[7][8] by Mike Germakian (later who would be known as one of the creators of ThunderCats) and Stan Weston (the creator of G.I. Joe and Captain Action),[9][10] as an independent licensing agency in New York City. Mike Germakian was the secretary of LCI, while Stan Weston was initially the President and later the Chairman of Leisure Concepts.[8][11][12] Weston was also the Treasurer of the company.[13]

1970–1990: Early beginnings

See also: ThunderCats

In the beginning, the company pitched toy and cartoon ideas to various companies, as well as formed partnerships with companies such as Rankin/Bass, among others.[11]

LCI began making news in the 1980s through licensing actual people, a variety of products, and even concepts. The company also had a growing number of deals with television producers and toy manufacturers. Among the company's licenses at the time were Farrah Fawcett of Charlie's Angels fame, Charlie Chan, James Bond 007, a wide array of Nintendo characters and products, the Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV Series[14] and many others.[15]

LCI is credited in its assistance in the initial development of the "ThunderCats" concept and acted on behalf of Lorimar-Telepictures Corp as an exclusive worldwide licensing agent for products based on "Thundercats",[16][17][18][19] an agreement that was signed between the two parties on June 15, 1984.[20]

During the mid-1980s, Ted Wolf came up with the idea of a race of catlike humanoid superheroes. He shared his vision with his friend Stan Weston, who in turn, through LCI, pitched it to Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment. Both Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass were impressed with the idea and the potential that it had of becoming an instant success. They approved of it and "ThunderCats" went into production.

During the early development stage, Mike Germakian designed much of the ThunderCats' characters, vehicles and locations. He was also responsible for creating the now iconic ThunderCats logo, featuring a stylized black panther head on a red circle. Germakian's designs were then sent to Pacific Animation Corporation in Japan to be adapted into cartoon format. After completing work on ThunderCats, Germakian went on to design characters for SilverHawks and The Comic Strip, both Rankin/Bass shows.

In July 1987, Alfred Kahn, former Executive Vice President of Marketing[21] at Coleco, who was credited for bringing the Cabbage Patch Kids to the Mainstream, joined the company as vice chairman and a member of the board of directors.[22]

On December 17, 1987,[22] LCI signed a licensing deal with Nintendo of America, Inc. to market the software products that went along with its increasingly popular gaming systems. Nintendo had already introduced The Legend of Zelda for its home video game system, a software product that went on to sell more than one million copies during the year.[15] Some time in 1986, the company also signed a licensing deal to market Star Wars.[23]

1990–2000: Expansion and name change

See also: Bobby Kotick, The Summit Media Group, and Pokémon

The 1990s were seen as turning point for the company. In the early 1990s, LCI expanded its operations and began television production in 1992. This would include English-dubbing Japanese anime through its subsidiary 4Kids Productions, which the company would be mostly known for.

In 1987, Bobby Kotick (now President and CEO of Activision Blizzard) tried to acquire Commodore International. When Kotick was unsuccessful he instead purchased a controlling stake in LCI, thus also becoming LCI's CEO and chairman in June 1990.[24][25] Kotick later traded out of his stake in LCI and bought a 25% stake in Activision in December 1990. In March 1991, Kotick became CEO at Activision.[26]

The company did $6 million in sales in 1989 and employed 14 people by 1990.[27]

On March 12, 1991, LCI appointed Alfred Kahn as its chairman and CEO.[22]

In 1992, two subsidiaries were established by the company: The Summit Media Group, Inc. and 4Kids Productions.[15]

The company changed its name from Leisure Concepts Inc. to 4Kids Entertainment Inc. on November 16, 1995.[22] Although the company changed its name, "Leisure Concepts" still operated as a separate subsidiary of the company,[22] meaning the company may have decided to use the "Leisure Concepts" name for branding purposes.

By 1999, 4Kids Entertainment employed 50 people.[28]

2000–2005: The new millennium

See also: 4Kids TV

The new century found 4Kids Entertainment Inc., switching from the NASDAQ market and joining the New York Stock Exchange on September 20, 2000.[15][29][30] The firm's new ticker symbol was KDE and the company was riding high during the continuing success of "Pokemon" when it earned Fortune's top slot on its 100 Fastest Growing Companies for 2000.[31][32][33] The company was also listed on the Frankfurt Exchange earlier in the year.[34]

On April 5, 2000, 4Kids and Mattel signed a licensing agreement to create Hot Wheels die-cast cars and racing sets featuring the PACE Motor Sports line of monster trucks. The license included rights to the monster truck Grave Digger, and a new line of World Championship Wrestling vehicles designed after their star wrestlers such as Goldberg, Sting and Bret Hart. The PACE Motor Sports and World Championship Wrestling line of Hot Wheels vehicles have been available nationally at mass-market retailers beginning in the summer of that year.[35]

In 2001, 4Kids Entertainment obtained the merchandising and television rights to the series Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters[36] from Nihon Ad Systems, producing an English-language version which aired in North America on Kids' WB from September 29, 2001, to June 10, 2006.

In October 2001, 4Kids Entertainment acquired a 3% stake in The Pokémon Company, in a move to benefit indirectly from Pokémon's success in Asia, and from worldwide sales of Pokémon electronic cards and video games.[37][38]

In late January 2002, after engaging in a bidding war with DIC Entertainment, 4Kids Entertainment signed a four-year, US$100 million deal with the Fox Broadcasting Company to program its Saturday morning lineup.[39] 4Kids Entertainment was wholly responsible for the content of the block and collected all advertising revenues from it.[40]

In May 2002, 4Kids Entertainment launched a home video division called 4Kids Entertainment Home Video, and appointed FUNimation Productions as the exclusive distributor for their Yu-Gi-Oh!, Cubix, Cabbage Patch Kids and Tama and Friends properties.[41]

By 2002, 4Kids got $140 million in Pokémon revenue.[42][43]

4Kids' new Saturday-Morning cartoon block on fox premiered on September 14, 2002, as "FoxBox"[44] FoxBox rebranded to "4Kids TV" in January 2005.[45]

2005–2010: Further expansion and financial failings

On October 10, 2005, 4Kids Entertainment sold its 3% stake in The Pokémon Company for US$960,000, to the three parties owning the rights to Pokémon (Nintendo, Creatures and Game Freak).[46]

On December 23, 2005, the company announced that it will not renew the Pokémon representation agreement set to expire on December 31, 2005. And that beginning in 2006, Pokémon USA, Inc.'s in-house licensing group will handle all Pokémon licensing outside of Asia. However the company will continue to receive commissions for the next several years, on payments made under existing Pokémon license agreements whose term expires after December 31, 2005.[47]

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 was at the time dominated by games targeted toward the 12-and-up market.[48] One of the first titles announced was Viva Piñata which would be developed by Rare. On June 10, 2006, 4Kids licensed the sequel series to Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, for release in North America.[49]

On April 18, 2006, 4Kids launched a new subsidiary entitled 4Sight Licensing Solutions Inc.,[50] which licenses and market brands aimed at adults, teenagers and pre-teens. "We have built an impressive roster of captivating and successful children's entertainment properties," said Alfred Kahn.[50] "Given the increased number of brands that we are representing that focus on an older audience, we felt it would be beneficial to organize a new subsidiary primarily devoted to the marketing and licensing of these brands. We believe that we can successfully utilize our marketing and licensing expertise to build brand value for properties targeting an older consumer that are not necessarily media or character driven."[50]

On December 11, 2006, 4Kids Entertainment announced the formation of two subsidiaries, TC Digital Games, LLC, a trading card company, and TC Websites, LLC, an online multi-platform game company. "The formation of TC Digital Games and TC Websites represent a significant enhancement of our business strategy," said Alfred R. Kahn, chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment.[51] TC Digital Games LLC and TC Websites LLC were shut down in 2010, due to continued lack of profitability.

On October 2, 2007, Warner Bros. and CBS announced that the Kids' WB programming block on their co-owned network, The CW, would be ending in 2008, and no longer be marketed and produced in-house, due to factors including cable competition. Rights for the five-hour Saturday morning block were bought by 4Kids, and they began to program the time with their own programming (mixed in with three former Kids' WB originals) in September 2008.[52] Because of this additional deal, 4Kids provided programming for both The CW and Fox in the 2008–09 season giving 4Kids nine hours of combined children's programming on two broadcast networks, as 4KidsTV ran until December 27, 2008. The new block, The CW4Kids, started May 24, 2008. The CW4Kids was renamed to Toonzai starting on August 14, 2010, featuring Magical Do-Re-Mi!, Cubix: Robots for Everyone, Dinosaur King, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Sonic X and Dragon Ball Z Kai. Even though 4Kids TV was discontinued as it was online only, this programming block continued to use the CW4Kids name, to reflect to the network it airs on. 4Kids also indicated that it retained Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sonic X in its lineup. In addition to that, Toonzai also aired Dragon Ball Z Kai. The Toonzai block ended on August 18, 2012. A week later, the block was replaced by Vortexx, which ran as a final Saturday morning cartoon block on The CW from August 25, 2012, to September 27, 2014, before being replaced by One Magnificent Morning on October 4, 2014.

On November 10, 2008, 4Kids Entertainment announced that it would exit its contract with Fox and terminate its Fox programming block by the end of 2008.[53][54] The final broadcast of 4Kids TV on Fox was on December 27, 2008.[55]

On December 17, 2008, 4Kids Entertainment announced that it is laying off about 15% of its workforce due to the worsening economic environment, and financial situation at the company.[56]

2010–2012: Decline and first bankruptcy

On May 28, 2010, the company announced that New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trading in its common stock would be suspended prior to the opening of trading on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, thus effectively delisting the company from the New York Stock Exchange. Beginning June 1, 2010, the company began trading under the new stock symbol "KIDE" on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) market.[57]

On January 11, 2011, the company announced that Alfred Kahn, the CEO and Chairman of the Company since March 1991, had left the company. Michael Goldstein, a member of the company's Board of Directors since March 2003, was appointed interim chairman, while the company was conducting a search for a new CEO.[58]

On March 29, 2011, TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems (NAS) sued 4Kids Entertainment, alleging that the company entered into illegal agreements with other companies, including Funimation Entertainment and Majesco Entertainment, regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime franchise. TV Tokyo claimed that those agreements allowed 4Kids to collect royalties without paying a portion of those royalties to TV Tokyo, which violates their original agreement. The companies are seeking almost $5 million in "underpayments, wrongful deductions, and unmet obligations." As part of the suit, the companies terminated the Yu-Gi-Oh! license from 4Kids. Neither Funimation nor Majesco are listed as defendants in the case.[59]

4Kids Entertainment informed the licensors on March 27, 2011, that their termination letter was "wrongful and devoid of any factual and legal basis," and that they had not given 4Kids 10 days notice as required. 4Kids further revealed that they had made a good-faith payment of $1 million and agreed to a March 18 meeting in lieu of a lawsuit, which TV Tokyo and NAS nevertheless decided to go ahead with. The company also stated that even if the termination is found to be valid, the company is prepared to do whatever it takes to stay in business. 4Kids filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as of April 6, 2011.[60][61] 4Kids requested that the court suspend co-licensor Asatsu DK's attempts to exercise control of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise in the United States, particularly in terms of selling the rights to the latest anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, which was due to be pitched at the Licensing International Expo on June 14.[62][63] However, on June 2, 2011, bankruptcy judge Shelley Chapman issued a court order on TV Tokyo and NAS for an automatic stay on the U.S. Yu-Gi-Oh! license and said that the trial will proceed in two phases. The first phase is whether the contractual termination was valid, and the second is how much money 4Kids would owe the companies. The first phase of the trial began on August 29, 2011.[64]

On October 27, 2011, 4Kids and the executives of former financial company Lehman Brothers reached a deal, after Lehman had improperly invested most of 4Kids funds in auction rate securities. 4Kids received $500,000 from the deal.[65] Chapman later ruled that the Yu-Gi-Oh! license is still in effect due to TV Tokyo, NAS and ADK not terminating the agreement properly.[66] On February 29, 2012, there was an amicable settlement of the lawsuit between 4Kids Entertainment and Asatsu-DK (ADK) and TV Tokyo over the license of the Yu-Gi-Oh! property.[67]

On May 1, 2012, Kidsco Media Ventures LLC, an affiliate of Saban Capital Group, placed a bid to acquire some of 4Kids' assets, including the US rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and The CW4Kids block, for $10 million.[68] On June 5, 2012, 4Kids commenced an auction between Kidsco and 4K Acquisition which was then adjourned so 4Kids, Kidsco, and 4K Acquisition could consider an alternative transaction.[69][70][71] On June 15, 2012, 4Kids filed a notice outlining a proposed deal in which its assets would be divided between Kidsco and 4K Acquisition which was finalised on June 26, 2012. The deal saw 4K Acquisition acquire the US rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and KidsCo acquire 4Kids' other assets including the agreements for Dragon Ball Z, Sonic X, Cubix and The CW Network's Toonzai Saturday morning programming block.[72][73]

On August 14, 2012, it was announced through a quarterly report that 4Kids Entertainment had discontinued operations of four operating divisions: 4Kids Ad Sales Inc., 4Kids Productions Inc., 4Kids Entertainment Music Inc., and 4Kids Entertainment Home Video, Inc. due to their continued lack of profitability. On September 13, 2012, it was revealed through a quarterly report that on August 16, 2012, the Board of Directors of 4Kids Entertainment determined to discontinue the operations of its UK subsidiary, 4Kids Entertainment International Ltd., which became effective on September 30, 2012.[74] 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 will get a $1 million general unsecured claim against the debtor.[75]

2012–2016: Rebrand as 4Licensing Corporation

 
4Licensing Corporation logo.

A meeting was scheduled on December 13, 2012, to confirm 4Kids' plan to exit bankruptcy.[76] The same day, the New York bankruptcy judge sent 4Kids Entertainment Inc. on its way out of Chapter 11 protection Thursday, overruling an objection by the American Kennel Club Inc. over a licensing agreement and approving its reorganization plan, which calls for the full payment of claims.

On December 21, 2012, 4Kids Entertainment was renamed 4Licensing Corporation.[76]

2016–2017: Second bankruptcy and closure

On September 21, 2016, 4Licensing Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy;[5] the bankruptcy plan became effective on February 7, 2017, and the company immediately ceased operations thereafter.[77][78]

Licenses and productions

Main article: List of 4Kids Entertainment licenses and productions

4Kids Entertainment licensed a wide variety of media products, ranging from video games and television programs to toy lines featuring the Royal Air Force. 4Kids focused on licensing content for the children's market.[79] including content for both boys and girls.[80] Many of its licenses came from dubs of Japanese anime, including Fighting Foodons, and Shaman King, while others are Western animations or properties like Chaotic or Back to the Future: The Animated Series.

Most programs were either licensed out to local stations, or broadcast on their dedicated programming block 4Kids TV. Typically, 4Kids would retain several properties on hiatus (such as Yu-Gi-Oh! GX), or in production to allow for turnover of their existing products. 4Kids also licensed, and merchandised, a number of non-animation based products, such as calendars like The Dog, and toys like Cabbage Patch Kids.

Back catalogues

Executive management

This is a list of Chief Executive Officers that ran 4Kids Entertainment.

Chief executive officers

  • June 1990–December 1990: Robert Kotick[25]
  • March 12, 1991 – January 11, 2011: Alfred R. Kahn[81]
  • January 11, 2011 – September 30, 2012: Michael Goldstein[82]
  • October 16, 2012 – February 29, 2016: Bruce R. Foster[83]

Criticism and controversy

Further information: Editing of anime in distribution
 
Comparison of the same scene in One Piece. Original Japanese version (top) and 4Kids edit of what could be perceived as blackface (below).

During its operation as 4Kids Entertainment, the company faced intense criticism from viewers over the company's extensive editing and localization of the anime and other non-American series they licensed. Practices like censorship, story editing, music editing, and their "Americanization" of Japanese culture references, which were changed to be more American. One example included characters eating rice balls commenting that they were eating jelly donuts in their dub of the original Pokémon anime.[84]

At the 2019 Fan Expo Canada, Eric Stuart, who did the voice of Brock in the 4Kids dub of Pokémon, and the voice of Seto Kaiba in the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and who was also part of the production side, mentioned why 4Kids' dubs had this censorship. He explained that American culture has different sensitivity to certain content compared to Japanese culture, and networks on Saturday mornings had standards that would forbid certain inappropriate content like firearms, sexual references, religious references, display or mention of death, alcohol, cigarettes, and other content that is considered offensive to American audiences. As the censorship is dictated by the networks and not the production company itself, 4Kids would submit the scripts and footage of their dubs to the networks their dubs air on, and then the executives of those networks would review them. Then after they reviewed it, they would tell 4Kids to cut out certain scenes and edit inappropriate content to something particular like change Sanji's cigarette to a lollipop in One Piece, or change a stone that looks like a cross to something non-religious in order for their dubs to pass the network's standards. He also pointed out that Pokémon, and anime as a whole, wouldn't be as wildly popular as it is today if companies like 4Kids didn't air it on network television instead of being in the back of a video store.[85]

At the 2016 Metrocon, Eric Stuart also explained the "Americanization" in 4Kids' dubs. He stated that those edits were actually international edits. When companies like 4Kids purchase the licensing to Japanese anime, the anime not only was redubbed into English but also redubbed into multiple languages because companies like 4Kids were used to distribute the anime to other countries by using their own dubs and licensing them to other countries to have their dubs be used to distribute the anime. The Japanese food products being changed and Japanese references being removed were requested by those Japanese anime companies because they wanted their anime to be distributed worldwide and wanted international audiences to relate to their products much easier. So while the Japanese anime companies remove the Japanese text on signs, 4Kids removed the scenes involving Japanese references and changed the names of the Japanese food products like rice balls to something more international like donuts while only occasionally changing the animation to the foods since making animation changes causes rise in production costs and they already have to make plenty of animation changes in their dubs.[86]

A March 2006 study by the Parents Television Council, a conservative advocacy group, on violence in children's television programs claimed that the 4Kids dub of Shaman King was still too violent for children.[87]

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  •   This article contains quotations from Leisure Concepts at the ThunderCats wiki, which is available under a Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) license.
  •   This article contains quotations from Mike Germakian at the ThunderCats wiki, which is available under a Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) license.

External links

March 04, 2023
4kids, entertainment, formerly, known, leisure, concepts, later, known, 4licensing, corporation, american, licensing, company, company, previously, also, film, television, production, company, that, produced, english, dubbed, japanese, anime, through, subsidia. 4Kids Entertainment Inc formerly known as Leisure Concepts Inc and later known as 4Licensing Corporation was an American licensing company The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English dubbed Japanese anime through its subsidiary 4Kids Productions between 1992 and 2012 it specialized in the acquisition production and licensing of children s entertainment around the United States The first anime that 4Kids Productions dubbed was the first eight seasons of Pokemon that originally began airing on first run syndication and then it later moved to exclusively air on Kids WB in the United States The company is most well known for its range of television licenses which has included the multibillion dollar Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh Japanese anime franchises They also ran two program blocks Toonzai originally The CW4Kids on The CW and 4Kids TV originally FoxBox on Fox both aimed at children 3 The 4KidsTV block ended on December 27 2008 Toonzai block ended on August 18 2012 which was replaced by Saban s Vortexx which in itself was succeeded by Litton s One Magnificent Morning in 2014 4Kids EntertainmentFormerlyLeisure Concepts 1970 1995 4Kids Entertainment 1995 2012 4Licensing Corporation 2012 2017 TypePublicTraded asNYSE KDEOTCBB KIDEOTCQB FOURIndustryLicensingFoundedApril 28 1970 52 years ago 1970 04 28 as Leisure Concepts Inc FoundersMike GermakianStan WestonDefunctFebruary 7 2017 6 years ago 2017 02 07 FateBankruptcySuccessorKonami Cross Media NYHeadquartersNew York New York U S Area servedWorldwideProductsFox Box 4Kids TVThe CW4Kids ToonzaiNumber of employees16 2013 Subsidiaries4Kids Entertainment International Limited4Kids Entertainment Licensing Inc 4Kids Entertainment Home Video Inc 4Kids Productions Inc 4Kids Ad Sales Inc The Summit Media Group Inc 4Kids Technology Inc Websites 4 Kids Inc 4Kids Entertainment Music Inc Footnotes references 1 2 4Licensing Corporation had its world headquarters on Third Avenue in New York City its former subsidiary 4Kids Productions had its headquarters in a separate building in Manhattan The New York Stock Exchange delisted 4Kids NYSE KDE on June 1 2010 On April 6 2011 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following a lawsuit concerning the Yu Gi Oh franchise On December 13 2012 the company announced that it had emerged from bankruptcy 4 On September 21 2016 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection once again and shut down operations one year later 5 4Kids former CEO Alfred R Kahn founded a successor company called Kidtagious Entertainment in 2019 6 Contents 1 History 1 1 Company origins 1 2 1970 1990 Early beginnings 1 3 1990 2000 Expansion and name change 1 4 2000 2005 The new millennium 1 5 2005 2010 Further expansion and financial failings 1 6 2010 2012 Decline and first bankruptcy 1 7 2012 2016 Rebrand as 4Licensing Corporation 1 8 2016 2017 Second bankruptcy and closure 2 Licenses and productions 2 1 Back catalogues 3 Executive management 3 1 Chief executive officers 4 Criticism and controversy 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditCompany origins Edit Leisure Concepts was co founded on April 28 1970 7 8 by Mike Germakian later who would be known as one of the creators of ThunderCats and Stan Weston the creator of G I Joe and Captain Action 9 10 as an independent licensing agency in New York City Mike Germakian was the secretary of LCI while Stan Weston was initially the President and later the Chairman of Leisure Concepts 8 11 12 Weston was also the Treasurer of the company 13 1970 1990 Early beginnings Edit See also ThunderCats In the beginning the company pitched toy and cartoon ideas to various companies as well as formed partnerships with companies such as Rankin Bass among others 11 LCI began making news in the 1980s through licensing actual people a variety of products and even concepts The company also had a growing number of deals with television producers and toy manufacturers Among the company s licenses at the time were Farrah Fawcett of Charlie s Angels fame Charlie Chan James Bond 007 a wide array of Nintendo characters and products the Hulk Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV Series 14 and many others 15 LCI is credited in its assistance in the initial development of the ThunderCats concept and acted on behalf of Lorimar Telepictures Corp as an exclusive worldwide licensing agent for products based on Thundercats 16 17 18 19 an agreement that was signed between the two parties on June 15 1984 20 During the mid 1980s Ted Wolf came up with the idea of a race of catlike humanoid superheroes He shared his vision with his friend Stan Weston who in turn through LCI pitched it to Rankin Bass Animated Entertainment Both Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass were impressed with the idea and the potential that it had of becoming an instant success They approved of it and ThunderCats went into production During the early development stage Mike Germakian designed much of the ThunderCats characters vehicles and locations He was also responsible for creating the now iconic ThunderCats logo featuring a stylized black panther head on a red circle Germakian s designs were then sent to Pacific Animation Corporation in Japan to be adapted into cartoon format After completing work on ThunderCats Germakian went on to design characters for SilverHawks and The Comic Strip both Rankin Bass shows In July 1987 Alfred Kahn former Executive Vice President of Marketing 21 at Coleco who was credited for bringing the Cabbage Patch Kids to the Mainstream joined the company as vice chairman and a member of the board of directors 22 On December 17 1987 22 LCI signed a licensing deal with Nintendo of America Inc to market the software products that went along with its increasingly popular gaming systems Nintendo had already introduced The Legend of Zelda for its home video game system a software product that went on to sell more than one million copies during the year 15 Some time in 1986 the company also signed a licensing deal to market Star Wars 23 1990 2000 Expansion and name change Edit This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it August 2016 See also Bobby Kotick The Summit Media Group and Pokemon The 1990s were seen as turning point for the company In the early 1990s LCI expanded its operations and began television production in 1992 This would include English dubbing Japanese anime through its subsidiary 4Kids Productions which the company would be mostly known for In 1987 Bobby Kotick now President and CEO of Activision Blizzard tried to acquire Commodore International When Kotick was unsuccessful he instead purchased a controlling stake in LCI thus also becoming LCI s CEO and chairman in June 1990 24 25 Kotick later traded out of his stake in LCI and bought a 25 stake in Activision in December 1990 In March 1991 Kotick became CEO at Activision 26 The company did 6 million in sales in 1989 and employed 14 people by 1990 27 On March 12 1991 LCI appointed Alfred Kahn as its chairman and CEO 22 In 1992 two subsidiaries were established by the company The Summit Media Group Inc and 4Kids Productions 15 The company changed its name from Leisure Concepts Inc to 4Kids Entertainment Inc on November 16 1995 22 Although the company changed its name Leisure Concepts still operated as a separate subsidiary of the company 22 meaning the company may have decided to use the Leisure Concepts name for branding purposes By 1999 4Kids Entertainment employed 50 people 28 2000 2005 The new millennium Edit See also 4Kids TV The new century found 4Kids Entertainment Inc switching from the NASDAQ market and joining the New York Stock Exchange on September 20 2000 15 29 30 The firm s new ticker symbol was KDE and the company was riding high during the continuing success of Pokemon when it earned Fortune s top slot on its 100 Fastest Growing Companies for 2000 31 32 33 The company was also listed on the Frankfurt Exchange earlier in the year 34 On April 5 2000 4Kids and Mattel signed a licensing agreement to create Hot Wheels die cast cars and racing sets featuring the PACE Motor Sports line of monster trucks The license included rights to the monster truck Grave Digger and a new line of World Championship Wrestling vehicles designed after their star wrestlers such as Goldberg Sting and Bret Hart The PACE Motor Sports and World Championship Wrestling line of Hot Wheels vehicles have been available nationally at mass market retailers beginning in the summer of that year 35 In 2001 4Kids Entertainment obtained the merchandising and television rights to the series Yu Gi Oh Duel Monsters 36 from Nihon Ad Systems producing an English language version which aired in North America on Kids WB from September 29 2001 to June 10 2006 In October 2001 4Kids Entertainment acquired a 3 stake in The Pokemon Company in a move to benefit indirectly from Pokemon s success in Asia and from worldwide sales of Pokemon electronic cards and video games 37 38 In late January 2002 after engaging in a bidding war with DIC Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment signed a four year US 100 million deal with the Fox Broadcasting Company to program its Saturday morning lineup 39 4Kids Entertainment was wholly responsible for the content of the block and collected all advertising revenues from it 40 In May 2002 4Kids Entertainment launched a home video division called 4Kids Entertainment Home Video and appointed FUNimation Productions as the exclusive distributor for their Yu Gi Oh Cubix Cabbage Patch Kids and Tama and Friends properties 41 By 2002 4Kids got 140 million in Pokemon revenue 42 43 4Kids new Saturday Morning cartoon block on fox premiered on September 14 2002 as FoxBox 44 FoxBox rebranded to 4Kids TV in January 2005 45 2005 2010 Further expansion and financial failings Edit On October 10 2005 4Kids Entertainment sold its 3 stake in The Pokemon Company for US 960 000 to the three parties owning the rights to Pokemon Nintendo Creatures and Game Freak 46 On December 23 2005 the company announced that it will not renew the Pokemon representation agreement set to expire on December 31 2005 And that beginning in 2006 Pokemon USA Inc s in house licensing group will handle all Pokemon licensing outside of Asia However the company will continue to receive commissions for the next several years on payments made under existing Pokemon license agreements whose term expires after December 31 2005 47 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 was at the time dominated by games targeted toward the 12 and up market 48 One of the first titles announced was Viva Pinata which would be developed by Rare On June 10 2006 4Kids licensed the sequel series to Yu Gi Oh Yu Gi Oh GX for release in North America 49 On April 18 2006 4Kids launched a new subsidiary entitled 4Sight Licensing Solutions Inc 50 which licenses and market brands aimed at adults teenagers and pre teens We have built an impressive roster of captivating and successful children s entertainment properties said Alfred Kahn 50 Given the increased number of brands that we are representing that focus on an older audience we felt it would be beneficial to organize a new subsidiary primarily devoted to the marketing and licensing of these brands We believe that we can successfully utilize our marketing and licensing expertise to build brand value for properties targeting an older consumer that are not necessarily media or character driven 50 On December 11 2006 4Kids Entertainment announced the formation of two subsidiaries TC Digital Games LLC a trading card company and TC Websites LLC an online multi platform game company The formation of TC Digital Games and TC Websites represent a significant enhancement of our business strategy said Alfred R Kahn chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment 51 TC Digital Games LLC and TC Websites LLC were shut down in 2010 due to continued lack of profitability On October 2 2007 Warner Bros and CBS announced that the Kids WB programming block on their co owned network The CW would be ending in 2008 and no longer be marketed and produced in house due to factors including cable competition Rights for the five hour Saturday morning block were bought by 4Kids and they began to program the time with their own programming mixed in with three former Kids WB originals in September 2008 52 Because of this additional deal 4Kids provided programming for both The CW and Fox in the 2008 09 season giving 4Kids nine hours of combined children s programming on two broadcast networks as 4KidsTV ran until December 27 2008 The new block The CW4Kids started May 24 2008 The CW4Kids was renamed to Toonzai starting on August 14 2010 featuring Magical Do Re Mi Cubix Robots for Everyone Dinosaur King Yu Gi Oh Yu Gi Oh 5D s Sonic X and Dragon Ball Z Kai Even though 4Kids TV was discontinued as it was online only this programming block continued to use the CW4Kids name to reflect to the network it airs on 4Kids also indicated that it retained Yu Gi Oh and Sonic X in its lineup In addition to that Toonzai also aired Dragon Ball Z Kai The Toonzai block ended on August 18 2012 A week later the block was replaced by Vortexx which ran as a final Saturday morning cartoon block on The CW from August 25 2012 to September 27 2014 before being replaced by One Magnificent Morning on October 4 2014 On November 10 2008 4Kids Entertainment announced that it would exit its contract with Fox and terminate its Fox programming block by the end of 2008 53 54 The final broadcast of 4Kids TV on Fox was on December 27 2008 55 On December 17 2008 4Kids Entertainment announced that it is laying off about 15 of its workforce due to the worsening economic environment and financial situation at the company 56 2010 2012 Decline and first bankruptcy Edit On May 28 2010 the company announced that New York Stock Exchange NYSE trading in its common stock would be suspended prior to the opening of trading on Tuesday June 1 2010 thus effectively delisting the company from the New York Stock Exchange Beginning June 1 2010 the company began trading under the new stock symbol KIDE on the OTC Bulletin Board OTCBB market 57 On January 11 2011 the company announced that Alfred Kahn the CEO and Chairman of the Company since March 1991 had left the company Michael Goldstein a member of the company s Board of Directors since March 2003 was appointed interim chairman while the company was conducting a search for a new CEO 58 On March 29 2011 TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems NAS sued 4Kids Entertainment alleging that the company entered into illegal agreements with other companies including Funimation Entertainment and Majesco Entertainment regarding the Yu Gi Oh anime franchise TV Tokyo claimed that those agreements allowed 4Kids to collect royalties without paying a portion of those royalties to TV Tokyo which violates their original agreement The companies are seeking almost 5 million in underpayments wrongful deductions and unmet obligations As part of the suit the companies terminated the Yu Gi Oh license from 4Kids Neither Funimation nor Majesco are listed as defendants in the case 59 4Kids Entertainment informed the licensors on March 27 2011 that their termination letter was wrongful and devoid of any factual and legal basis and that they had not given 4Kids 10 days notice as required 4Kids further revealed that they had made a good faith payment of 1 million and agreed to a March 18 meeting in lieu of a lawsuit which TV Tokyo and NAS nevertheless decided to go ahead with The company also stated that even if the termination is found to be valid the company is prepared to do whatever it takes to stay in business 4Kids filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as of April 6 2011 60 61 4Kids requested that the court suspend co licensor Asatsu DK s attempts to exercise control of the Yu Gi Oh franchise in the United States particularly in terms of selling the rights to the latest anime series Yu Gi Oh Zexal which was due to be pitched at the Licensing International Expo on June 14 62 63 However on June 2 2011 bankruptcy judge Shelley Chapman issued a court order on TV Tokyo and NAS for an automatic stay on the U S Yu Gi Oh license and said that the trial will proceed in two phases The first phase is whether the contractual termination was valid and the second is how much money 4Kids would owe the companies The first phase of the trial began on August 29 2011 64 On October 27 2011 4Kids and the executives of former financial company Lehman Brothers reached a deal after Lehman had improperly invested most of 4Kids funds in auction rate securities 4Kids received 500 000 from the deal 65 Chapman later ruled that the Yu Gi Oh license is still in effect due to TV Tokyo NAS and ADK not terminating the agreement properly 66 On February 29 2012 there was an amicable settlement of the lawsuit between 4Kids Entertainment and Asatsu DK ADK and TV Tokyo over the license of the Yu Gi Oh property 67 On May 1 2012 Kidsco Media Ventures LLC an affiliate of Saban Capital Group placed a bid to acquire some of 4Kids assets including the US rights to the Yu Gi Oh franchise and The CW4Kids block for 10 million 68 On June 5 2012 4Kids commenced an auction between Kidsco and 4K Acquisition which was then adjourned so 4Kids Kidsco and 4K Acquisition could consider an alternative transaction 69 70 71 On June 15 2012 4Kids filed a notice outlining a proposed deal in which its assets would be divided between Kidsco and 4K Acquisition which was finalised on June 26 2012 The deal saw 4K Acquisition acquire the US rights to the Yu Gi Oh franchise and KidsCo acquire 4Kids other assets including the agreements for Dragon Ball Z Sonic X Cubix and The CW Network s Toonzai Saturday morning programming block 72 73 On August 14 2012 it was announced through a quarterly report that 4Kids Entertainment had discontinued operations of four operating divisions 4Kids Ad Sales Inc 4Kids Productions Inc 4Kids Entertainment Music Inc and 4Kids Entertainment Home Video Inc due to their continued lack of profitability On September 13 2012 it was revealed through a quarterly report that on August 16 2012 the Board of Directors of 4Kids Entertainment determined to discontinue the operations of its UK subsidiary 4Kids Entertainment International Ltd which became effective on September 30 2012 74 On December 5 2012 4Kids Entertainment announced that it had ended a dispute over the so called Pokemon agreement with The Pokemon Company International under which TPCi will get a 1 million general unsecured claim against the debtor 75 2012 2016 Rebrand as 4Licensing Corporation Edit 4Licensing Corporation logo A meeting was scheduled on December 13 2012 to confirm 4Kids plan to exit bankruptcy 76 The same day the New York bankruptcy judge sent 4Kids Entertainment Inc on its way out of Chapter 11 protection Thursday overruling an objection by the American Kennel Club Inc over a licensing agreement and approving its reorganization plan which calls for the full payment of claims On December 21 2012 4Kids Entertainment was renamed 4Licensing Corporation 76 2016 2017 Second bankruptcy and closure Edit On September 21 2016 4Licensing Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 5 the bankruptcy plan became effective on February 7 2017 and the company immediately ceased operations thereafter 77 78 Licenses and productions EditMain article List of 4Kids Entertainment licenses and productions 4Kids Entertainment licensed a wide variety of media products ranging from video games and television programs to toy lines featuring the Royal Air Force 4Kids focused on licensing content for the children s market 79 including content for both boys and girls 80 Many of its licenses came from dubs of Japanese anime including Fighting Foodons and Shaman King while others are Western animations or properties like Chaotic or Back to the Future The Animated Series Most programs were either licensed out to local stations or broadcast on their dedicated programming block 4Kids TV Typically 4Kids would retain several properties on hiatus such as Yu Gi Oh GX or in production to allow for turnover of their existing products 4Kids also licensed and merchandised a number of non animation based products such as calendars like The Dog and toys like Cabbage Patch Kids Back catalogues Edit FilmRise Shout Factory RLJE Films The Pokemon Company Konami Konami Cross Media NY Discotek Media Hasbro Entertainment One Viz Media Media Blasters Crunchyroll formerly Funimation Executive management EditThis is a list of Chief Executive Officers that ran 4Kids Entertainment Chief executive officers Edit June 1990 December 1990 Robert Kotick 25 March 12 1991 January 11 2011 Alfred R Kahn 81 January 11 2011 September 30 2012 Michael Goldstein 82 October 16 2012 February 29 2016 Bruce R Foster 83 Criticism and controversy EditFurther information Editing of anime in distribution Comparison of the same scene in One Piece Original Japanese version top and 4Kids edit of what could be perceived as blackface below During its operation as 4Kids Entertainment the company faced intense criticism from viewers over the company s extensive editing and localization of the anime and other non American series they licensed Practices like censorship story editing music editing and their Americanization of Japanese culture references which were changed to be more American One example included characters eating rice balls commenting that they were eating jelly donuts in their dub of the original Pokemon anime 84 At the 2019 Fan Expo Canada Eric Stuart who did the voice of Brock in the 4Kids dub of Pokemon and the voice of Seto Kaiba in the English dub of Yu Gi Oh and who was also part of the production side mentioned why 4Kids dubs had this censorship He explained that American culture has different sensitivity to certain content compared to Japanese culture and networks on Saturday mornings had standards that would forbid certain inappropriate content like firearms sexual references religious references display or mention of death alcohol cigarettes and other content that is considered offensive to American audiences As the censorship is dictated by the networks and not the production company itself 4Kids would submit the scripts and footage of their dubs to the networks their dubs air on and then the executives of those networks would review them Then after they reviewed it they would tell 4Kids to cut out certain scenes and edit inappropriate content to something particular like change Sanji s cigarette to a lollipop in One Piece or change a stone that looks like a cross to something non religious in order for their dubs to pass the network s standards He also pointed out that Pokemon and anime as a whole wouldn t be as wildly popular as it is today if companies like 4Kids didn t air it on network television instead of being in the back of a video store 85 At the 2016 Metrocon Eric Stuart also explained the Americanization in 4Kids dubs He stated that those edits were actually international edits When companies like 4Kids purchase the licensing to Japanese anime the anime not only was redubbed into English but also redubbed into multiple languages because companies like 4Kids were used to distribute the anime to other countries by using their own dubs and licensing them to other countries to have their dubs be used to distribute the anime The Japanese food products being changed and Japanese references being removed were requested by those Japanese anime companies because they wanted their anime to be distributed worldwide and wanted international audiences to relate to their products much easier So while the Japanese anime companies remove the Japanese text on signs 4Kids removed the scenes involving Japanese references and changed the names of the Japanese food products like rice balls to something more international like donuts while only occasionally changing the animation to the foods since making animation changes causes rise in production costs and they already have to make plenty of animation changes in their dubs 86 A March 2006 study by the Parents Television Council a conservative advocacy group on violence in children s television programs claimed that the 4Kids dub of Shaman King was still too violent for children 87 References Edit 4Licensing Corporation Annual Report 2012 SEC Retrieved August 21 2016 FORM 10 K SEC Retrieved September 21 2015 4Kids Ad Sales www 4kidsentertainment com Archived from the original on February 6 2006 Retrieved September 21 2015 4Kids Plan Confirmed Over License Partner s Objection Law360 Retrieved July 10 2013 a b 4Licensing Corporation Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Business Wire businesswire com September 22 2016 Retrieved September 25 2016 Whyte Alexandra June 5 2019 Al Kahn Toper Taylor launch kid licensing co Kidscreen LEISURE CONCEPTS INC SEC November 1995 Retrieved August 3 2016 a b Certificate Of Amendment Certificate Of Incorporation 4 KIDS ENTERTAINMENT INC Docstoc August 16 1999 Archived from the original on May 19 2015 Retrieved July 10 2016 Alan McKee Dr Alan McKee Christy Collis Ben Hamley June 11 2014 Entertainment Industries Entertainment as a Cultural System p 35 ISBN 9781317979197 Retrieved August 8 2016 Advertising Bicentennial Help The New York Times June 20 1974 Retrieved August 8 2016 a b Mike Germakian a Father of the ThunderCats nn memorium ThunderCats Lair Thundercatslair org September 29 2008 Retrieved July 10 2013 J J Winebaum Plans To Wed Cindy Weston The New York Times February 2 1986 Retrieved August 8 2016 Schedule 13D SEC July 9 1996 Retrieved August 16 2016 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century AFI Retrieved August 12 2016 a b c d History of 4Kids Entertainment Inc Fundinguniverse com Retrieved July 10 2013 The Business of Children s Entertainment Norma Odom Pecora March 6 2002 p 74 ISBN 9781572307742 Retrieved August 4 2016 Lippman John August 16 1999 Creating the Craze for Pokemon Licensing Agent Bet on U S Kids The Wall Street Journal Retrieved August 12 2016 Millman Nancy July 29 1986 Burger King aims at kids market in new campaign Chicago Sun Times Archived from the original on November 10 2013 Retrieved August 12 2016 via HighBeam Subscription required Teresa Salas August 1 1988 Buyers licensors partners in profit strong merchandising support considered vital to property s success toy industry Licensing Scope Playthings Archived from the original on September 11 2016 Retrieved August 12 2016 via HighBeam Subscription required Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement Other Events April 27 2012 Archived from the original on March 7 2015 Retrieved August 4 2016 ADVERTISING Cabbage Patch Honors For a Coleco Executive The New York Times December 29 1983 Retrieved August 3 2016 a b c d e 10 K Edgar Online January 4 1996 Retrieved July 30 2016 D amp B Reports Obemy 34 35 Dun amp Bradstreet Credit Services 1986 p 64 Kotick changes the game at Activision Blizzard December 4 2008 Retrieved August 3 2016 a b SCHEDULE 14A Activision Blizzard July 31 1995 Archived from the original on February 13 2018 Retrieved August 8 2016 Nutall Chris October 8 2007 Game player with a serious goal Financial Times Retrieved August 12 2016 Subscription required Sherwin Richard July 23 1990 He has license to make a killing New York Daily News Retrieved July 25 2021 via Newspapers com Martin John October 24 1999 Coming to America Tampa Bay Times p 125 Retrieved March 26 2022 via Newspapers com 4Kids Entertainment Chairman and CEO Rings Opening Bell At The New York Stock Exchange 4Kids Lists On The New York Stock Exchange Business Wire Berkshire Hathaway September 20 2000 Archived from the original on February 14 2018 Retrieved June 10 2019 via thefreelibrary com 4Kids Entertainment Inc To List On The New York Stock Exchange PDF 4kidsentertainment com September 14 2000 Archived from the original PDF on March 13 2006 Retrieved August 16 2016 FORTUNE s 100 Fastest Growing Companies Fortune September 4 2000 Retrieved August 3 2016 Give Us Your Money 4Kids Entertainment Attains Poke Momentum awn com October 1 2000 Retrieved August 3 2016 Al Kahn Chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment Fortune Magazine s No 1 Fastest Growing Company in America Featured Tonight on CNBC s Business Center Business Wire Berkshire Hathaway August 17 2000 Archived from the original on February 14 2018 Retrieved August 8 2016 via thefreelibrary com 4Kids Entertainment Inc Announces Frankfurt Listing 4kidsentertainmentinc com March 13 2000 Archived from the original on January 7 2001 Retrieved June 24 2019 Mattel Announces PACE Motor Sports and WCW Licensing Agreement With 4Kids Entertainment Inc PR Newswire Cision April 5 2000 Archived from the original on May 20 2000 Retrieved July 1 2019 via Yahoo com 2001 Annual Report PDF 4kidsentertainment com March 25 2002 Archived from the original PDF on January 3 2007 Retrieved August 16 2016 4Kids Entertainment Signs New Five Year Agreement With Pokemon USA Leading Children s Entertainment Company Acquires 3 Interest In The Pokemon Company TheFreeDictionary com October 10 2001 Archived from the original on November 24 2018 Retrieved June 10 2019 4Kids Entertainment Signs New Five Year Agreement With Pokemon USA PDF 4kidsentertainment com October 10 2001 Archived from the original PDF on October 24 2005 Retrieved July 29 2016 McClellan Steve Schlosser Joe January 28 2002 4Kids win win deal Broadcasting amp Cable Archived from the original on December 22 2008 Retrieved September 21 2015 Downey Kevin March 1 2002 Signs of life for kids television Media Life Magazine Archived from the original on December 22 2008 Retrieved September 21 2015 4Kids Launches 4Kids Home Video Business Animation World Network 4Kids Santa Cruz Sentinel October 19 2002 p 10 Retrieved November 26 2021 via Newspapers com Pereira Joseph October 18 2002 Pow Ka Zam Voom 4Kids Picks Fight With Nickelodeon The Wall Street Journal Retrieved November 26 2021 Subscription required The week that was Broadcasting amp Cable May 20 2002 Archived from the original on December 22 2008 Retrieved September 21 2015 Fox Box To Be Rebranded 4KIDS TV Press release 4Kids Entertainment January 18 2005 Form 10K EdgarOnline com March 16 2006 Retrieved July 16 2016 Pokemon USA Moves Licensing In House in 2006 4Kids Entertainment to Transition Its Representation of Pokemon Business Wire December 23 2005 Retrieved August 3 2016 Microsoft and 4Kids Entertainment Form Alliance PDF www 4kidsentertainment com January 17 2006 Archived from the original PDF on February 23 2006 Retrieved September 21 2015 4Kids Entertainment Announces Yu Gi Oh GX to Air on Cartoon Network All New Yu Gi Oh Series Debuts This October www businesswire com August 10 2005 Retrieved May 20 2020 a b c 4Kids Launches 4Sight Licensing Solutions Anime News Network Retrieved April 18 2006 4Kids Entertainment Forms New Trading Card And Online Game Companies PDF Press release 4Kids Entertainment December 11 2006 Archived from the original PDF on January 6 2009 Retrieved September 21 2015 via TC Digital Games Schneider Michael October 2 2007 CW turns to 4Kids on Saturdays Variety 4Kids to End Its Fox Programming Block in December Anime News Network November 10 2008 Retrieved November 10 2008 Schneider Michael November 23 2008 Longform ads replace kid fare on Fox Variety Archived from the original on March 10 2009 Retrieved March 15 2009 4Kids Entertainment Reports Third Quarter 2008 Results And Settlement of Fox Litigation QuoteMedia November 10 2008 Archived from the original on February 27 2009 Retrieved March 15 2009 4Kids Entertainment Lays Off About 15 of Workforce Anime News Network December 12 2016 Retrieved August 3 2016 4Kids common stock to trade under new symbol KIDE beginning on Tuesday June 1 2010 Business Wire May 28 2010 Retrieved August 3 2016 4Kids Entertainment Chairman and CEO Alfred R Kahn Retires Business Wire January 11 2011 Retrieved August 3 2016 TV Tokyo Nihon Ad Terminated Yu Gi Oh Deal Sue 4Kids Anime News Network May 30 2011 Archived from the original on April 30 2011 Retrieved June 3 2011 4Kids Files Shareholders Report on Yu Gi Oh Lawsuit Anime News Network March 31 2011 Retrieved April 4 2011 4Kids Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Anime News Network May 30 2011 Retrieved June 3 2011 4Kids Files to Prevent Yu Gi Oh Zexal Licensing Anime News Network May 30 2011 Retrieved June 3 2011 Japanese Firms Pitch New Yu Gi Oh at Licensing Expo Anime News Network May 30 2011 Retrieved June 3 2011 Judge Orders Hold on U S Yu Gi Oh Anime License Anime News Network May 30 2011 Retrieved June 3 2011 4Kids Lehman Reach Deal In 36M ARS Dispute Law360 October 27 2011 Retrieved November 27 2011 4Kids Yu Gi Oh License Is Still in Force Court Rules Anime News Network December 31 2011 Retrieved December 31 2011 ADK TV Tokyo amicably settle Yu Gi Oh suit with 4kids Anime News Network March 1 2012 4Kids to Sell Yu Gi Oh Assets to Kidsco for US 10 Million Updated AnimeNewsNetwork May 1 2012 Retrieved June 12 2012 4Kids Entertainment Adjourns Section 363 Auction 4Kids Entertainment June 8 2012 Archived from the original on June 23 2012 Retrieved September 21 2015 Daswani Mansha June 8 2012 Konami Saban Explore Deal to Divide Up 4Kids Assets WorldScreen Archived from the original on June 15 2012 Retrieved September 21 2015 Whittock Jesse June 11 2012 4Kids bidders tussle over assets C21Media Retrieved June 12 2012 Konami to get 4Kids Yu Gi Oh assets under proposed deal Anime News Network June 16 2012 4Kids sells Yu Gi Oh CW Network related assets jointly to konami kidsco Anime News Network June 26 2012 Accessed June 2012 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Filings issuerdirect com Archived from the original on September 21 2013 Retrieved September 21 2015 4Kids Pokemon Co Get OK For 1M Contract Row Settlement Law360 Retrieved July 10 2013 a b EDGAR Pro yahoo brand edgar online com Retrieved April 2 2021 4Licensing Corporation Private Company Information Bloomberg bloomberg com Retrieved August 23 2017 4Licensing Bankruptcy Plan Effective Summarized Bankrupt Company News February 7 2017 Archived from the original on September 5 2017 Retrieved September 4 2017 Pennington Steven Alfred R Kahn Anime News Network Retrieved April 24 2005 2004 Annual Report PDF www 4kidsentertainment com Archived from the original PDF on August 10 2007 Retrieved September 21 2015 4Kids Entertainment Chairman and CEO Alfred R Kahn Retires www 4kidsentertainment com January 11 2011 Archived from the original on January 14 2012 Retrieved September 21 2015 Michael Goldstein CPA Michael Goldstein Executive Profile amp Biography Businessweek Investing businessweek com Retrieved July 10 2013 FORM 8 K Endgar Online February 29 2016 Retrieved August 8 2016 4Kids Hates Riceballs retrieved March 13 2022 Stuart Eric 2019 Pokemon Voice Acting Stars Rachael Lillis amp Eric Stuart Fan Expo Canada 2019 Q amp A Panel Event occurs at 43 36 Retrieved October 6 2019 Stuart Eric 2016 No Guidelines Eric Stuart Q and A 2 Metrocon 2016 Retrieved January 4 2020 New PTC Study Finds More Violence on Children s TV than on Adult Oriented TV Parents Television Council March 2 2006 Archived from the original on December 9 2019 Retrieved January 19 2022 This article contains quotations from Leisure Concepts at the ThunderCats wiki which is available under a Attribution ShareAlike 3 0 Unported CC BY SA 3 0 license This article contains quotations from Mike Germakian at the ThunderCats wiki which is available under a Attribution ShareAlike 3 0 Unported CC BY SA 3 0 license External links Edit New York City portal Companies portal Anime and manga portal Television portal United States portal4Licensing Corporation archive 4kidsent com archive 4Kids Entertainment at Anime News Network s encyclopedia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 4Kids Entertainment amp oldid 1139073545, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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