How 4Kids Entertainment Entered The Shadow Realm. 

“They made TMNT 03 is what they did and in this house 4Kids is not that bad, enda story” -Tony Soprano

You can really tell 4Kids started out in marketing. Say what you will about their TV edits, but they knew how to _sell_ a show. Especially when it comes to theme songs.

4kids really deserves more credit it helped first bring shows like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh into existence and helped give dubbed and kids anime a stronghold I doubt anime and manga fans from the 90s and 2000s would even be the hardcore fans they are today without this unforgettable Saturday morning block.

4Kids stigma left a lot a children’s anime doomed to be left in Japan, while others failed to catch on like Doraemon on Disney XD.

Fun fact: they still exist......kinda. They rebranded as 4Licensing Corporation before going bankrupt for a second time and having one of the subsidiaries bought out by Konami which is now Konami Cross Media NY. Essentially a company that exists to make animated commercials for the west and give them links to the old 4Kids Yu-Gi-Oh! Voice Actors and dub the anime. They also work with other Konami properties in the west like Frogger and Bomberman.

My family didn't have cable television for many years as a kid, so 4kids was my cartoon fix. Was sad when Pokémon left it :(

I think that people don’t give 4kids enough credit for being the one that perfected dub only soundtracks. The songs that they made still hold up.

A lot of great memories, especially Ultimate Muscle, Kirby, and Funky Cop. It reminds me of how much I despise the FCC.

And just like that, he’s back. Needed this video to bring some type of joy in my life right now..

Another great video, I really appreciate the Mew Mew Power mention, Zoey in the thumbnail, and the fact that she showed up for a few seconds in the B-roll :D I also think the end of the video was really funny, and the 4Kids logo animation at the end was a nice touch. This video was very well researched and you covered all corners, I'm sure I've read their Wikipedia article a few times, you did perfect!

I remember watching Sonic X on the CW on Saturday mornings.

Now technically, 4Kids is now Konami Cross Media NY after Konami bought out 4Kids and then the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! in the US! And they've still got some of the voice actors on board, too! So, they're not technically gone if you really think about it! Just sayin', but yes, I do miss 4Kids so much and I would like them to make a comeback to life and bring the name back, just like with what CN did to bring back HB with the rebranding of their European studio formerly know as Cartoon Network Studios Europe into HBSE, and they've been producing European shows now, and it's great! So anything can happen! But anyways, thanks for doing this video, bro! I appreciate it so much, I love it! Keep it up, man! You're doing amazing and I love your content! I can't wait to see what you cover next on the roster, dude! Incredible! I also love how you added the lifepoint counter in the video, that was funny as hell LOL! Please cover Funimation next! I would love to see a video on, my guy! And their history and rivalry with 4Kids as well! That would be so cool to see!

Awesome stream and took me back....Most appreciated, Bro!

Their dub of Yu-Gi-Oh is great. I can even say I think it is better than the Japanese version. Dan Green and Eric Stuart are the one true Yami Yugi and Seto Kaiba. I love them.

Great video,I appreciate what 4kids did for Pokémon and Yugioh during my childhood and teens for the 90s and 2000s.

I remember watching 4kids as a child as much as I loved my X-men and Batman cartoons. I give 4 kids on WB and Fox Box, which is props for opening the gates for anime

The issue with 4Kids was never that they censored content for TV. The problem was that, outside of a short-lived release of Yugioh, they refused to release uncut versions of their shows on DVD, even long after that became an industry standard. When Funimation acquired the rights to One Piece, they put out two versions of the show- One that was edited down for TV (to pick up where 4Kids left off) and one that was uncut for the DVD release. This is absolutely the right way to handle this situation; people would not have had nearly as much of an issue with 4Kids if they had just put out uncut versions of their shows.

The only good 4Kids did was Thundercats in the 1980s, TMNT 2003, and the Pokémon dub for awhile.

I've been following your community posts about the progress on this video. I can really tell you put a lot of time into this, way to go!

I got so angry the second i clicked on this because i immediately got rick rolled. You have earned my respect

Thanks for the history lesson, Red.

This video was brilliant. 4Kids was my absolute childhood and it brought me so many good memories. Say what you want about them, but 4Kids put a lot of us on back in the day and was our gateway into the anime world. For that, I will always appreciate this company.

Appreciate that you get right into the meat and potatoes of the situation

A great video to start back while after your hiatus, good to have you back! I remember that seizure episode but never watched it.

Say what you will about 4Kids, but without them neither Pokémon nor Yugioh wouldn't be a sucess in the west.

4Kids was a...mixed bag to put it politely. There is no doubt they helped play a major part in introduced anime and Japanese media in the west...but I don't miss them. Not even a little bit. The good things they did don't outweigh the bad, sorry.

Epic audience bag fumble!!!

always enjoy these videos, so interesting what happens with this stuff, i watched my fair share of pokemon and yugioh when i was younger, i miss those days

Been enjoying the content on your channel!! Keep it up 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

It's a good thing I'm watching this on a Saturday morning

Great video title, these franchise wars sent many anime shows to the "Shadow Realm". The Lehman br.... involvement is interesting considering their collapse after the popular "Too Big to Fail" phrase.

Miss 4kids tv 😢 . ...ty for ur amazing work

I always wondered what happned to 4kids dissapearing all of a sudden back in 2008. thanks for the very insightful analysis. Really fun and unique take on it.

I really don’t care what people say about 4Kids. It was an amazing time to be a kid watching the early Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! anime along with all the other dubs.

4kids was my teenage years

I love the life points of four kids like Yu-Gi-Oh

Marvelous job with this commentary on 4Kids. I will admit as bad as they are. Without them we wouldn't get anime and they did the best they could. Kind of can't say the same about FUNi. BTW don't hold anything back when talking about their history. Especially the last parts.

New to this channel, but I know the Funimation video is gonna bang. 🙏🙏

If 4Kids didn't exist, so many anime fans wouldn't be anime fans at all.

9:00 By the words of Slick Rick: Here we go!!! 😅

I don't think anime would have taken off in the west as quickly as it did without 4Kids but would have found its success eventually. It's an animation medium and those who love animation would have still sought it out.

Bobby Kotick used to run 4kids in the 80s.

Nice informational video

Oh, 4KidsTV, we miss you. Please make a comeback one day... I miss my childhood. 😢

A new Kinnikuman anime is coming this July! It’s not ultimate muscle related, but it’s about Kid Muscle’s dad in the original universe that Ultimate Muscle spun off from.

Never knew Viva pinata was a "Rare Games" title ngl

I think the real problem that problem have with 4kids is that the audience became more wiser and more aware that anime was censored in the 2000s.

As a Supreme Weeb/Otaku 4Kids is definitely the LJN of the 2000’s but for anime, nowadays I perfer watching these anime in it's uncut japanese format with English Subtitles although I do remember back in the late 2000's and early 2010s when anime fans in the US are roasting 4Kids for its cringe poor edits of them making rant videos about telling you to just watch the Japanese Version with Subtitles uncut etc Although I think that 4Kids went downhill after they ruined One Piece, which is a very Horrible American version of the great Japanese original which is a property in Japan that they don't care about it Although there are some good things about 4Kids manly TMNT 2003, and I do like and love the voice actors of Jason Griffin and Mike Pollock 😀 As all ways really good video 😄👍

11:41 Yeah…kinda ashamed to say it…I was hyped for the Fall Season for Kids WB! Because of Loonatics Unleashed…and yeah.

Growing up watching 4kids was such a treat especially later on learning about the crazy censorship 4kids did. So disappointed that Sanji had lung cancer instead of cripping diabetes. But what 4kids really Excelled at was the songs and intros, all bops I still listen to this day.

Minoru Arikawa Left Nintendo in 1991.(Rather he was FIRED by Hiroshi Yamauchi) the President of Nintendo of America in ‘97-98 was Howard Lincoln.

I know for the sake of the full view of the video the censorship section had to be short here but the localisation issue was literally every US network. Even for Nelvana's Cardcaptors Kids WB demanded even more edits even after Nelvana took out the more "objectionable" parts of the show. Plus the whole deal with "Sailor Moon"'s original dub run. Apparently they had to take One Piece to get access to Yu-Gi-Oh so I don't really blame them as much now for how that turned out - they had to use it - but somehow make it "kid friendly" 4Kids really wanted to call the shots on the IP - peeved off TPC enough to convince them to go solo, and then tried to go around Konami. I think the closest to the ideal setup was TMNT for them.

Sonic X was bueno bossman I didn't even know Pokémon was 4Kids and all that stuff.

Lucky for me, I never watched the Crash Dummies cartoon growing up. But we did have that one toy from the line that was literally a torture chair.

But on the Bright Side,Pokémon Anime still has a grand record of Twenty Six Seasons.

Corporate goons pointing finger guns at Kaiba 😂

4kids also made the first yugioh film which was good

Whoa whoa whoa. Ok lemme say this real quick before I finish ur video. That part about why 4kids got sued is missing a part. They were illegally licensing yugioh out to other companies without permission from TV tokyo and nas and taking in all the profits. When those 2 companies found out,that's when they decided to pull the license and sue. It wasn't just them making money and not paying the Japanese companies. It was more centered around 4kids not having permission to do what they did anyway. I remember reading about that as it happened way back when and I was like "damn how ima watch yugioh now" lol

18:00 - You madlad

I only have small memories about 4Kids because my parents didn't have those channels back then until I found it on CW in 2008. The only cartoon I found was Sonic X (shivers). That show did not aged well. But I can say this, the way Amy behaved in that show is what inspired the rivalry between her and Jerry from Tom and Jerry. If you like to learn more how this happened, feel free to ask.

8:37 Just found mine while going through some old boxes during a move. Takes me back, I tell you what.

The fall of 4kids cause the downfall of children’s anime in America.

4kids did good theme songs for Pokemon, One piece and Yugi-oh BUT they also changed a healthy couple; Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune into cousins. It makes their relation disgusting and weird. Not sure it was the right choice 😂They also makes Mew ichigo rap instead of saying a simple phrase like " I'm here at your service, ready to save the world! '' Just make a cute magical girl rap for no reason, that won't be cringe at all!

It was five star video.

If I’m being honest here the only reason why I watch yugioh alot is 4kids would always air it last and since I had no cable I would watch it lol

I miss the kids WB and 4Kids, after the end of 2008 and 2010.

yes a lot of 4Kids translations were executive driven, but this is a reflection of an earlier approach to translation in the 70s and 80s wherein the localization of Japanese Media was seen not as a translation, but as a source of raw footage for an essentially American product. This is how you get things like Robotech, which cobble together multiple series into one thing and rewrite large portions of script. 4Kids was not exceptional, it was merely the most visible, and one of the last holdovers of this idea that you should take a foreign series as a cheap way to make an American one. It was a particular focus of by anime fans because it was visibly antiquated even in it's era, and symbolic of how backwards that perspective was, but the push against it was also a call for a respect for the source material of all anime in an era where there were many competing dubbing companies. For the most parts, studios listened. It's hard to envision the changes in the state of dubbing back then, if you were not around, but the hate of 4kids is a different beast than the comparatively minor changes we have today in even the least ethical translations. Like, it was taboo to even acknowledging in dubbing that countries other than America existed. Digimon Adventure was not an amazing dub by modern standards, was largely given a ridiculous punch-up which added a lot of weird gags, and took a long time to treat it's source material seriously, but was noted to have broken a lot of ground in it's era simply because it acknowledged the characters were Japanese and did not change the setting. Series previously altered entirely got re-translated in response to all the pressure, and there were decades of faithful dubs and translations as a result. So people have forgotten the status quo was not "Alter these to be a little more marketable in the west" but it’s really, "Be careful the kids don't assume this show is foreign." Legit, there was a time when the only faithful dubs were dubs mostly too low-budget, or series too universal, to bother altering, but at the same time, it’s better than getting a hack dub. Japanese media companies DID want their series to be seen in the west, but that does not mean they wanted it cut and altered in that manner. There are stories from that era: Miyazaki sending a katana to Disney demanding "no cuts" among the most famous showing that a lot of the creators found these habits rather disrespectful as well. Even famous cases like Ghost Stories are something of a misinterpretation: There was no evidence the japanese company which sold Ghost Stories ever said "Do whatever," they in fact said "Do not change the character's names," which by all interpretation seems like a push against the idea that they were given the ability to localize it however they saw fit. Certainly, a lot of the companies simply wanted to make money I am sure, but that in and of itself is not a reason to support something ethically. Anyways, the censorship and heavy localization of anime was not good then, and it's not good now; it's incorrect when people like this think that like 4kids was simply marketing something a bit for a wider audience.

Most of the voice actors are Broadway stars.

Did I just get… nvm do glitter force next

I remember watching 4kids for Kirby Right Back At Ya! in 2008 before it was taken off from On Demand. Ted Lewis giving King Dedede a southern accent in the English dub was the best part of the entire show.

Cool

So it’s saying that 4kids also never produced a good theme song or insert song.

Please do a video on ABC's 1 Saturday morning

172 views, I see ya, keep goin 😎

I Hate to said but The one piece 4kid theme Banger even though i hate the Work of remove stuff from original

The nicest thing I can say is that it gave Yu-Gi-Oh abridged lots to work with.

great video but whats with the timer thing

it was redbox that ran blockbuster out of business eventhough one still exists in alaska.

4Kids One Piece is weird but good omg it's kinda funny

Joel Perez from yugioh

WHY AM I STILL LOOKING AT LOGOS?

Honestly, based on my experience the 4Kids hate you see online is probably overrepresented. I'd attribute that largely to media polarization and survivorship bias. Certainly people like the product more than the company, but that's typical.

Yes, maybe the strict TV and networks rules in the US are a reason of 4Kids censorship. But many 4Kids Dubs was published in other countries to that didn't have this strict TV Rules. Maybe 4Kids forced TV Networks in other countries to dub the 4Kids Version. Because 4Kids mostly had the licences of a anime in all countries outside asia. In many countries the anime mostly untouched and uncut even in children TV Many europeans watchs shows and movies from the US like SpongeBob or Star Wars. Europeans are used to media from other cultures and changes are unnecessary. Even nudity is for many europeans not a issue. One Piece which aired on German TV since 2003 (one year before the 4Kids Dub aired) was completely untouched and was barely cencored in the children TV. Even no Background music and Soundeffect changes. Otherwise the German Dub of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Series which aired on German TV also since 2003 based on the 4Kids Version. Because 4Kids had the Yu-Gi-Oh! licences for all countries outside asia on the same channel which One Piece aired mostly untouched und uncut. The Yu-Gi-Oh! series could be aired on German TV uncut, maybe even in Children TV. A German publisher tried to dub the missing episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX und 5D's that 4Kids never dubbed, to dubbed in German directly from the japanese original version. But weren't allowed because all German Dub Yu-Gi-Oh! Episodes from all Series MUST based of the US Version. Because of this, I really hate then a US company licenced a anime series even in europe an forced to dub the changed US version to other countries.

To be fair yugioh Tmnt 2003 and kirby back at ya was actually pretty solid next to ABC kids if you had basic cable that was all you had growing up on Saturday mornings 😂😂😂 same with WB😊😊

2:05 mr sys'

10:06 Not shown: Andy Heyward being fucking pissed.

16:26 I don’t get it, can someone explain this to me

I look forward to when you’ll look into Funimation’s history.

4Kids tv was awesome! I wish it hadn't gone to the shadow realm.... 😂

For the algo

I grew up 4kids

Wanted for WarnerMedia.

I don't Consider them a Bad Company though compared to someone like Disney UGH Disney has decided to become a Conglomerate of a Company they Merged with alot of Companies and hoping whatever Movie comes out in Theaters will Sell....... yeah Disney keep telling yourself that..... the Main Reason I Despised them now is because they Killed Star Wars and both them and Marvel just keep releasing Movies into Theaters Months Apart hoping their Movie will Sell...... yeah again keep telling yourself that! but do Consider 4Kids to be like them? Nope!

I always found 4kids to be alright as a kid and now bizarre to look back on. But then you look at the culture of America at the time and what else could have they done? It's obvious there were a lot of things out of their control but at the same time it's surprising what they did get away with. TMNT 03 is still a surprising show with how "safe" it was advertised to be.

Noice vid

It sucks Doremi never took off with 4Kids, granted it was way too advanced for them

Most of their pre one piece dubs was enjoyable for what they edited them in it , cheesy Saturday morning cartoons

The reason why 4Kids Entertainment went bankrupt as we all said They have pretty much went into the Shadowrealm (No Pun intended) is that they lost the rights to the Pokémon anime as The Pokemon Company International decided not to renew their deal with 4Kids and decided to dub the series in-house as the Voice-actors who worked on the 4kids dub of Pokémon got replaced by sound-alikes plus Peter Laird the co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sold Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Paramount even worse that they got hit hard by the 2008 Global Economy Recession as they were losing alot of anime they have licensed and TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems sued them and they won which led to Konami brought out 4Kids Productions and rechristened it to 4K Media and later Konami Cross Media NY while Saban got most of the rights that 4kids has licensed until it expired i.e. Sonic X is now owned by Discotek Media as they released the series on DVD and Blu-Ray in both the English Dub and the Japanese version.

How they failed: They sold their Pokemon anime assets and tried to scam the owners of the japanese Yu-gi-oh anime. Really, that is the entire reason. They were on the decline in that era, but these two choices really were what cost them their head. Had they not been so foolish, then they likely would have lasted until the current era when their dubbing style, despite obviously staying controversial, has regained popularity because it is often seen as a "two cakes"-type of situration now. Heck, taking Yu-gi-oh as an example...most of their changes suck nuts, but not absolutely everything was bad. Their editing at points give the series much better pacing where it feels a bit drawn out originally. Their comedy makes characters friendly to each other actually feel more natural at times, and some select rewrites are actually for the better.(People are quick to bash the changed plot for the Ghost Kaiba-episodes, but what it originally was is kinda lame and clunky in comparison. And if we want to talk about material being untempered...guys, the anime is already heavily rewritten and censored from the manga.)

I mostly watch Kirby Right Back at Ya on 4Kids when Iwasyounger... I didn't really cared for the other shows as much..😥😥😥