Background: 4Kids Entertainment was a production company that was established in 1970 initially as "Leisure Concepts, Inc.", specializing in the acquisition, production, and licensing of children's entertainment around the world. The company is most well-known for its range of television licenses, which has included the multi-billion dollar Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! media franchises. They also ran a program block on Fox stations known as 4Kids TV and aimed at children. In May 2008, 4Kids now airs a block alongside with the programs aired on the former "Kids! WB", now called "The CW4Kids" on The CW Television Network. On December 27, 2008, 4Kids TV ended on FOX, leaving them to handle "The CW4Kids" and as of August 14, 2010, "Toonzai". In April 2011, they filed for bankruptcy in response to a lawsuit concerning their Yu-Gi-Oh! license; the lawsuit has since been resolved. In 2012, 4Kids' entertainment assets were sold to Saban Brands and 4K Acquisition Group (a subsidiary of Konami), due to lack of profitability. As a result, 4Kids Entertainment became 4Licensing Corporation.
1st Logo
(1995-1998)[]
Logo: On a murky bluish background, the plaster which has "4KIDS" on a blank filmstrip with "PRODUCTIONS" in a red rectangle below flips in from the bottom as the flash on the background brings forth a blast from an explosion.
FX/SFX: The animation.
Music/Sounds: The closing theme playing over.
Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on WMAC Masters.
Scare Factor: Minimal. The explosion is sudden.
2nd Logo
(1998-1999)[]
Nicknames: "4Kids Supernova", "The Pokémon Logo"
Logo: The background is a murky bluish color, and quickly a reddish-purple supernova-like explosion brings forward a silver embossed plate that contains the 4Kids logo (which is the silver rectangle with "4Kids" already "cut out" on it with "PRODUCTIONS" and a red line underneath on the blue rectangle outline). After a small shimmer hits part of the plate.
Variants:
- The slightly longer version of the logo is seen on the first 16 VHS volumes of Pokémon from Viz Video, where the supernova flashes again. Also it fades in and out.
- On the rare theatrical trailer of the first Pokémon movie, "ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "PRODUCTIONS". This variant seems to run in slow/delayed motion. This variant also has no Registered trademark "®" symbol.
- A still version of the "ENTERTAINMENT" variant with the plate taking up the entirety of the screen was spotted on the Game Boy Video cartridges of Pokémon and Sonic X. It is currently unknown whether this is seen on the Yu-Gi-Oh! cartridge as well.
FX/SFX: The light explosion, the shimmer on the logo.
Music/Sounds: The split screen credits promo music on original airings on the now-defunct Kids' WB! Otherwise, the closing theme in the normal version.
Music/Sounds Variants: On slightly longer version, it has several ascending whooshing noises, followed by a "bang"; 2 synth notes play in the background.
Availability: Rare. Seen on the first 52 episodes of Pokémon: Indigo League. Also preserved on the Viz Media Blu-ray release, and streamed on Netflix.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1999-Late 2005, 2008-2012)[]
Nicknames: "Golden CGI 4Kids", "The Other Pokémon Logo"
Logo: The background is a swirl of blue, green and yellow. The plate is already present, with "4Kids" already "cut out" of the plate as opposed to embossed on it. This time, "ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "PRODUCTIONS". On the theatrical variants, the parts of the 4Kids logo fly out from the outside, and when they come together, "ENTERTAINMENT" fades in.
Variants:
- Sometimes this plays at warp speed.
- There is a weird "muddy" variant on Pokémon Heroes'. This is due to the film's English and international release having a blue tint applied to it for unknown reasons.
- Sometimes this may be shown in letterboxed format on TV.
- Some shows, like Sonic X, play the theatrical variant.
- This logo varies by aspect ratio; it may be shown in 16:9 or 1.85:1 widescreen.
FX/SFX: The light explosion, the shimmer on the logo.
Cheesy Factor: None at all because this is a pretty spiffy logo, although the movie versions have a slight "shaking" effect (probably due to the film stock's stability), which was rarely seen on TV as well.
Music/Sounds: The theme plays over the logo. In its movie and video appearances, a magical chiming, as well as a "swoosh" sound effect can be heard.
Music/Sounds/Voiceover Variant: On a sneak peek of the FoxBox block, this logo will have an announcer (presumably Mike Pollock) saying "And now, from the producers of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon, it's the FoxBox!". This promo was spotted on the Kirby Comes to Cappy Town DVD.
Availability: Uncommon. It's usually saved on the post-1999 episodes of Pokémon on Boomerang (until its 2015 rebranding) and on the theatrically and DVD-released Pokémon movies. This logo was used for the closing credits of Pokémon until midway through the Advanced Challenge season. It also appears on episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! on rare occasions. This logo made a surprise come back on Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension and Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl: Galactic Battles, but it's probably an error on the compressed credits. Is usually preserved on DVD. Also preserved on Kirby! Right Back at Ya! episodes on the Kirby TV Channel for Nintendo Wii (available in Europe, Australia and New Zealand only). Can be found on most early episodes of Sonic X before 2005, though on some international prints, it's usually removed by having the TMS Entertainment logo held over it.
Scare Factor: Same as the 1st logo.
3rd Logo
(Early 2005-2012)[]
Nickname: "The Red Ball", "The Color Explosion", "The Last Pokémon Logo"
Logo: On a black background, a red ball appears from the center of the screen and moves towards us and shines, then moves back. When the ball shines, the 4Kids logo appears. When the red ball stops on the "I", there's an explosion, and the explosion causes the 4Kids logo to colorize. After the explosion clears away, we see:
4k!DS
TV
written in a large, bulging font. The logo shines at the end.
Variants:
- This logo was first called "4Kids Entertainment" before becoming "4Kids TV". "ENTERTAINMENT" was written in light blue. The 4Kids.tv website has the logo as "4KidsTV: The Games Station".
- At the end of episodes of Pokémon Chronicles, the red ball comes into view as the credits near the end (Usually as the company copyrights come onto the screen).
- Episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (from the Search For The Rainbow Dragon arc onwards) alter the logo, placing "TV" next to "4Kids" instead of under it.
- Episodes of Viva Pinata on the 4Kids VOD service use a completely different logo animation, which uses the alternate jingle stated below.
- On DVD releases of 4Kids shows, the logo has a copyright date to the year of the DVDs release.
- The "TV" logo was seen on Winx Club for PSP. It appeared on a gradient blue background. This logo was also spotted on Viva Pinata: Party Animals for NDS.
FX/SFX: The ball shining, the explosion.
Music/Sounds: A long, drawn out synth chord plays throughout, with a loud "WHOOSH" as the ball flies into view, and a zapping sound as it hits the logo and colors it. This jingle, however, is limited to its home video division, as all 4Kids shows have the ending theme of the show playing over the logo. Episodes of Viva Pinata on the 4Kids Video On Demand service use a complete different jingle, which sounds like a bunch of rapid drum beats.
Availability: Uncommon. The "entertainment" version of this logo can be seen on DVD releases of 4Kids shows (usually with a copyright stamp at the bottom of the screen). The TV version is featured at the end of post 2005/2006 episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the second half of the 7th season of Pokémon: Advanced Challenge starting with the episode "Grass Hysteria", as well as the 8th and final season to be dubbed by the company, Advanced Battle, Pokémon Chronicles, their discontinued One Piece English dub, Yu-Gi-Oh! (from the "World Championship" arc onward), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, early episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Viva Pinata, Dinosaur King, and Magical DoReMi, and among others.
Scare Factor: Minimal.