4Kids Entertainment files for bankruptcy: Former dubber goes bankrupt

[BulbaBot]

4Kids Entertainment files for bankruptcy: Former dubber goes bankrupt

5 years after the company ceased dubbing the Pokémon anime, 4Kids Entertainment has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 4Kids controlled the English dub of the Pokémon anime from the first episode (1998) through the eighth season (2005).

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[System Error]

Wow, did not see this coming. Heard of that lawsuit thing, but did not expect Chapter 11 to come sometime after. And let me be the first to say...

Spoiler

NAH NAH NAH NAHHHH
NAH NAH NAH NAHHHH
HEY HEY HEY
GOODBYE!

NAH NAH NAH NAHHHH
NAH NAH NAH NAHHHH
HEY HEY HEY
GOODBYE!

 

[Lady-Jesus]

Aww I used to love 4kids. Thought they did a great job with Pokemon :/

 

[chimera]

Well, that's that. And let me say...

Wow, did not see this coming. Heard of that lawsuit thing, but did not expect Chapter 11 to come sometime after. And let me be the first to say...

Spoiler

NAH NAH NAH NAHHHH
NAH NAH NAH NAHHHH
HEY HEY HEY
GOODBYE!

NAH NAH NAH NAHHHH
NAH NAH NAH NAHHHH
HEY HEY HEY
GOODBYE!

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Fudgenuggets]

Aww I used to love 4kids. Thought they did a great job with Pokemon :/

Now that's a laugh. Since when did Arbok evolve into Seviper? Since when are water types weak to fire types? Don't make me start on the rice balls.

 

[Ivysaur]

Since when did Seviper evolve into Arbok?

You got it backwards, bro. Everyone knows Arbok evolves into Seviper.

Anyway, the sad thing about this is, many VAs and other workers are going to lose their jobs. And in this terrible economy, too.

 

[Miar]

Way to go, Kazuki Takahashi et al. (This is mostly because of that lawsuit regarding Yu-Gi-Oh they're in)

While I don't particularly like 4kids's shows, I still wonder who'll get them if they go out of business, and what they'll do with them.

 

[Garren]

This is something my thirteen year old self would be thrilled by, but honestly I haven't care about them for better or worse in years. :/

 

[A5J4DX]

shocking lol yh right

 

[immewnity]

Now that's a laugh. Since when did Seviper evolve into Arbok? Since when are water types weak to fire types? Don't make me start on the rice balls.

You got it backwards, bro. Everyone knows Arbok evolves into Seviper.

Anyway, the sad thing about this is, many VAs and other workers are going to lose their jobs. And in this terrible economy, too.

Alright, let's not make this into another dubbing/VA dispute. Remember that voice acting arguments are banned on BMGf. JSYK.

Also, filing for bankruptcy doesn't mean that the company is bankrupt, but that they are nearing that and need help. I apologize for the confusion caused by the tagline.

 

[Fudgenuggets]

You got it backwards, bro. Everyone knows Arbok evolves into Seviper.

Anyway, the sad thing about this is, many VAs and other workers are going to lose their jobs. And in this terrible economy, too.

What are you talking about. That's what I said! >_>

The main reason why I don't like 4kids was because of all the error they made, and Pokemon was the only show that I actually watched.

 

[Frugrow]

Alright, let's not make this into another dubbing/VA dispute. Remember that voice acting arguments are banned on BMGf. JSYK.

Also, filing for bankruptcy doesn't mean that the company is bankrupt, but that they are nearing that and need help. I apologize for the confusion caused by the tagline.

I sent you a PM about 2 days ago...did you receive it?

Anyway, I don't watch the Pokemon anime that much anymore so I can't really compare 4Kids work to the anime now. I did look up all the current theme songs on Youtube and have to say the opening songs went down hill after 4Kids parted its way with the Pokemon anime. Not one catchy song..This is also not nostalgia talking. The new theme songs just suck!

Pokemon Johto is still my favourite. What a brilliant song!

p.s: Advance Battle is a awesome song too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKsrmnWlsTQ&feature=related

*sigh*

 

[Grave-E]

Apart from Pokemon, Kirby and One Piece, there's...really nothing in these guys' resume that actually interested me, to be perfectly honest. Looking at some of the shows they have dubbed, it's kind of strange that their rep became as bad as it did.

I guess it's good for anime fans who are quaking in their boots at the prospect of these guys getting their hands on their favourite show, but I personally don't care.

 

[SinCosTan]

4kids ruined Yu-Gi-Oh and I haven't forgiven them since. I saw the ruined Yu-Gi-Oh first, but when I realized what the real YGO was I couldn't find it in myself to forgive them.

 

[Cybersai]

While they haven't gone completely out of business just yet, this is a tell-tale sign. I doubt they'll recover.

Either way it doesn't matter. 4kids has been crap for years, none of their new shows have not been particularly popular, they were pretty much dead the moment they lost Pokemon.

It was only a matter of time. I'm honestly surprised 4kids lasted as long as they did, I mean its 2011 now for goodness sakes.

 

[Karamazov]

No matter how 4Kids handled the dub, they still introduced me to a wonderful franchise.

It's really tragic to see them go out like this.

 

[Hitomi]

I did feel somewhat bad for 4Kids until I learned what they did that resulted in them getting sued. Then I was fairly annoyed with them, then vindictively satisfied, and then somewhat sad about all the people who lost/will lose their jobs over the mismanagement by a few stupid people.

(For those of you who don't want to/can't click the link

4Kids Entertainment has made quite a business out of taking Japanese anime programming like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! and dubbing it into English for the pleasure of U.S. children. Just how lucrative? The Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, including a popular TV show and various merchandising, is said to have earned 4Kids over $152 million in income between 2001 and 2009.

But now, the Japanese animation studio that first created the anime hits is attacking, claiming that 4Kids owes it millions of dollars for making secret agreements with TV networks and home video distributors as well as making improper royalty deductions, including for the cost of the actual dubbing. As the result of alleged contractual breaches, the Japanese companies behind the show reveal they have just terminated their licensing agreements with 4Kids. They now want past money owed too.

TV Tokyo Corporation and Nihon Ad Systems filed the lawsuit last week in New York federal court.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs exercised their right to audit 4Kids' financial books in 2010 to see whether they were getting paid 50% of gross income, minus pre-defined expenses, as agreed upon in the original licensing agreement.

The auditor allegedly turned up some questionable accounting concerning deals made by 4Kids with the Cartoon Network and other parties.

For example, 4Kids is said to have made an agreement with Funimation Productions, giving it the right to exploit the YGO series on home video. "4Kids conspired with Funimation to fraudulently hide from Plaintiffs more than 45% of the total income Funimation paid to 4Kids from the sale of the home videos," the complaint states.

Allegedly, 4Kids not only licensed YGO, but also several other Japanese animation series it didn't own. Under the terms of this supposedly secret deal, which allegedly included a strict confidentiality clause, 4Kids didn't have to do much besides perform certain marketing services. It was Funimation's job to produce and distribute the series, and for this right, Funimation paid a $1.3 million advance and gave over nearly $4 million in a service fee, which was allegedly then hidden from the plaintiffs.

4Kids is said to have made a similar "strictly confidential" deal with Majesco Sales Inc. to produce and distribute videos of the YGO episodes on Nintendo's Gameboy Advanced game system, and allegedly never turned over any royalties.

The complaint also details some improper deductions, including more than $2.5 million worth of international withholding taxes, bank charges, insurance coverage, YGO style guide art, the cost of the audit itself, and even the cost of the dubbing. TV Tokyo says 4Kids "expressly agreed to bear [such costs] under the agreement."

After the auditor's report, the parties met in February to discuss the situation. The plaintiffs are said to have made an offer, which was rejected. After further discussions, on March 17, 4Kids wired $1 million as a "good faith" initial payment. The next day, reps for the Japanese companies flew to the U.S. for a final meeting to see if they could resolve the mess.

"4Kids abruptly terminated this meeting without a resolution to any of the outstanding issues," says the complaint.

In response, TV Tokyo Corporation and Nihon Ad Systems have cancelled the agreement and filed a lawsuit, seeking more than $4 million in damages and other relief for breach of contract and fraud. The legal dispute also leaves the future of some of the most popular Japanese programming on U.S. television in some doubt.

Attempts to reach 4Kids for comment were unsuccessful.

tl;dr 4Kids was not being honest in their financial dealings.

But to give 4Kids a little bit of credit, say what you will about 4Kids' dubbing abilities, but I never would have even been introduced to the Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokémon franchises if not for them.

 

[Cybersai]

Keep in mind if 4kids didn't dub Pokemon, some other company would have back in 1998 instead. Its not like 4kids was the only company that could have adapted the anime back when it first came over here.

 

[rbogey]

I always hated how PC they had to make everything. Some of their shows had little to no violence in them at all.

 

[SirOni]

Nevertheless, the opening themes are unforgettable and I will always get shivers from the nostalgia I get when listening to them.

4Kids may have done some bad localizations and illegal actions but it's still a little hard to think of what may happen to them.