#4Kids Flashback

[hikayagami]

While searching around, I recently came upon a Youtube channel that featured promo videos and a podcast that has some really interesting stuff involving the behind the scenes of working at 4Kids. There were also some interesting tidbits from some of the comments too.

For example, thanks to the comments, I've found out that Mollie Weaver (Renee in Mew Mew Power) is now part of an indie band called MIHI NIHIL, where she goes under the name Mihi Vox.

This channel seems to have gone under the radar when it definitely needs some more recognition.

Official Website: https://www.4kidsflashback.com/

[shironezuninja]

I listened to a couple of 4Kids Flashback podcast episodes this afternoon. I’m quite surprised that I enjoyed Eric Stuart’s oral history more than Sammy’s. I liked his little venting dub story after what Burger King had made use of his Squirtle voice recording.

Sammy may’ve given me the boost to be more committed to Spider-Man fandom/researching around September 2022, but it was the more experienced voice actor/director from my Pokemon preteen years, who suddenly popped into the back of my memory, when I first heard Christopher Daniel Barnes voice Spidey last July.

Now I’m waiting for everything to fall down from my ceiling before I can redecorate it again…this time, with no media franchises getting destroyed within my Multiverse of Knowledge…because a Big Fallen One broke my heart.

[ljaesch]

4Kids Flashback Celebrates Beloved '90s/2000s Anime Series in Latest Podcast

Take a trip down anime memory lane with 4Kids Flashback, an anime-centric weekly podcast hosted by voice actress Tara Jayne Sands and artist/podcaster Steve Yurko spotlighting the acting and production talent behind some of the most popular series from 4Kids Productions. 4Kids Flashback is now featured in the Maji Media lineup. 4Kids Flashback focuses on the intricacies behind the productions and…

[bidisastersanji]

Sanji with heart glasses is a need

(Link to the TikTok btw)

[just-absolutely-super]

sometimes i wonder what the FUCK 4kids was thinking when they decided they wanted to dub one piece

they probably went over budget trying to censor all the shit that goes on in this series

[shinigami-striker]

Wayne Grayson | Friday, 09.22.2023

It's late and all, but kudos (and a happy birthday) to Wayne Grayson, a former 4KidsTV voice actor known as the voices of:

Joey Wheeler - Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters (2001)

Michelangelo Splinterson (Mikey) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003-2009)

[dark-magical-ships]

Uh. Kind of a long shot but does anyone have any really nice imagines for f/o helping to break PTSD flashbacks/smooth stress from them? Or have a blog where I can request that with super extra ASAP delivery time? Because ooooof

[sunlitmcgee]

wait fuck. is this the 4kids dub. is the english audio used on netflix for one piece 4Kids

[icarus-suraki]

Netflix, live action Cowboy Bebop didn't work out, so what makes you think live action One Piece is going to work out any better???

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (March 10-16, 2024)

"It looks as though its Japanese producers, assisted by a stray American—fellow named Terry Morse, who is an alumnus of Hollywood's Poverty Row—made a close study of the old film, "King Kong," then tried to do substantially the same thing with a miniature of a dinosaur made of gum-shoes and about $20 worth of toy buildings and electric trains." —Bosley Crowther, reviewing Godzilla, King of the Monsters! for The New York Times

"The special effects are hardly special, but hey, what do you expect in a Japanese monster movie?" —Tony Kiss, reviewing Godzilla 1985 for the Asheville Citizen-Times

"Sure it's bad filmmaking. Sure it's a guy—actor Tsutomu Kitagawa—clad in a nearly vintage latex Godzilla getup and stomping through Tokyo, knocking down cardboard mini-buildings and upending toy-sized cars with his gnarly feet. But that's the point." —Bob Longino, reviewing Godzilla 2000 for The Palm Beach Post

Godzilla Minus One won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards, sending a stunned Takashi Yamazaki (VFX supervisor), Kiyoko Shibuya (VFX director), Masaki Takahashi (3D CG director), and Tatsuji Nojima (VFX artist/compositor) to the Dolby Theatre stage. Said Yamazaki, reading from prepared comments in English, "To someone so far from Hollywood, the possibility of standing on this stage seemed out of reach." I could scarcely believe what I was watching myself, despite having given a presentation for a Wikizilla stream mere hours before on Minus One's very real chances of beating more expensive American contenders. Everything I said about its nomination goes triple for its victory; we'll be talking about this one forever. To those of us who remember when Godzilla was basically a joke in the American consciousness (including my Wikizilla colleague Darthlord1997, who had a speech of his own prepared), it's the ultimate vindication.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Takashi Yamazaki directed an ad for Ajinomoto about food waste which released this week. It features the unsubtly-named Foodlosslla attacking Tokyo and facing an Ultraman-esque defense team. As with Minus One, the ad's visuals are a clever combination of high-end (a detailed CG monster) and low-end (dropping plastic fruit on top of fleeing extras).

Last year, the 4Kids Flashback podcast interviewed Mike Pecoriello, producer and writer for the company's renditions of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Ultraman Tiga, and he delivered some major news about the latter. Although only 23 episodes of Tiga aired in the U.S., 4Kids dubbed the whole thing. At the time of the podcast's recording, he thought he made copies of all the episodes, but while that doesn't seem to be the case, he did provide 4Kids Flashback with the series finale. It's a good deal more serious than the episodes which aired, with the quips kept to a minimum. Let the hunt for the rest commence!

SciFi Japan has details on Kaiju Yarrow, a Japanese comedy doubling as a tourism ad for the city of Seki. The premise is very self-aware:

KAIJU YARROW! is set in Seki City, Gifu Prefecture. One day, 30 year old Ichiro Yamada, who works in the tourism department of a government office, is ordered by the mayor to produce a "local film.'' However, Yamada, didn't want to produce the typical "mediocre local movies'' that are everywhere nowadays, so he comes up with the idea of making a "monster movie'', which has been his life-long dream. However, his dreams develops into a major incident involving the city government...! Will Yamada be able to complete his life goal of making a monster movie??

Junichiro Yagi will direct; YouTuber Gunpee will star. Unknown quantities both when it comes to kaiju, so how this will turn out is anyone's guess.

Tickets for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire have gone on sale in the U.S.—and as a reminder, the brief GKIDS theatrical release of The End of Evangelion wraps tomorrow.

[synergysilhouette]

Rewriting the Winx Club girls (just for fun)

In anticipation for season 9/the reboot of Winx Club (I've heard it being called both a continuation and a reboot, but I think Iginio said himself it was a reboot), I decided to make a post on how I'd personally rewrite the Winx girls. This isn't a "how they should've been" post, but just my own imagination. Note: I don't recall much beyond season 4, and the 4kids dub may have me messed up on some details, so lemme know if I got information wrong!

Bloom--In my reimagining, Bloom would be a shy loner, in contrast to most of the other Winx girls and the specialists. It's not that she doesn't like fashion, socializing, and having fun (as the series defines it), but she's very overwhelmed being away from her home on Earth. I'd also make it so that she IS actually descended from witches on one of her parents' sides as well as fairies; as a 4kids child, the bias against witches was much stronger than in the canon dub, and I think that creates more conflict for Bloom, especially if she herself is from Italy and the traditional view of witches is negative. I'd also make it so that she learns more about her parents via flashbacks and anecdotes from others. I'd confirm that both Oritel and Miriam are fairies, though since one of them also had witch ancestry, the match was hotly contested, and the destruction of Domino was contributed to said lineage. And it's not revealed early on that Daphne is Bloom's sister; it's just thought that she's Bloom's fairy godmother (I heard her favorite fairy tale is Cinderella, anyway) who gives her visions of Domino before it's destruction. Faragonda confirms FGs exist as a job, but is confused since Bloom describes Daphne as noncorporeal when FGs should be living, physical fairies guiding others. Bloom's witch ancestry is also what summons the dark phoenix, and the duality of Darkar and the Great Dragon helps Bloom to reconcile her fairy and witch heritage. It's also important to note that she doesn't start dating Sky until AFTER the Diaspro reveal, and Selina joins her at school, so at least she has a friend from the get-go. However, she feels A LOT of pressure on her since her bloodline carries the direct magic of the dragon flame. It's also noted that she broke up with Andy a year before the show began (I was gonna say she broke up with him RIGHT BEFORE she came to Alfea, but I thought that wouldn't make her romance with Sky realistic or stable since it began so soon after she arrived). I'd also note that before she gains control over her powers, Faragonda passes her off as a regular fire fairy, not a fairy of the dragon flame, for her own protection.

If I had to redesign her magic look, I'd make it black with multicolored elements to signify the cosmos from which the primordial dragon created the magic dimension. I'd also base her physically on Emma Stone, and I'd be curious to have Jodi Benson voice her (though Mae Whitman is my backup).

Stella--Stella is a character defined by her relationships with others. At the beginning of the series, her parents are at the tail-end of their marriage. Despite being raised to read people (both as a princess and a socialite), Stella is blissfully unaware of her parents' impending divorce, with only a few people close to her being aware of it. While she does eventually recover, it leaves her numb for a while, and sees a turning point for her character as she becomes much better at analyzing people and develops an interest in psychology. Her relationship with Brandon is also dived into, with her realizing his inferiority complex to the point where he lied to her about who he was. This puts a pause on their relationship until Stella feels secure about her emotional state and how happy her social circle makes her. And of course, her parents' new relationships (Luna with Allan and Radius with Cassandra) challenge her further, since she can't go back to the blissful ignorance she had before; she can only push forward and make new happy memories with her friends and family. It should also be noted that while eventually happy together (for a time), Radius and Luna mainly got married because Radius--despite magical ancestry--had no magic of his own, while Luna did, making her a good match to bear his heirs.

Design-wise, I'd put her in silver and gold to accommodate her being the fairy of the sun, moon and stars. She could be physically inspired by Anya Taylor-Joy and voiced by Andrea Baker.

Aisha--The iconic princess of Andros is the most athletic Winx member (so a little bit buff), as well as one of the most practical. Aisha is never forced into an arranged marriage with Nabu, but instead falls for him and finds out that he's conveniently from a noble family. The fact that he's a wizard also helps raise his value to the royal magical family (though perhaps I'd make him a male fairy in my rewrite). It's noted that Aisha does have options, as evident by entertaining Nex and Roy's advances (though IDK how polyamory would go over in a kids' show), but Nabu is her priority. As the fairy of waves, she constantly likes to be near water, especially to communicate with her merpeople relatives (something Bloom is also excited to see, being from Earth). Aisha is seen as "half mermaid, half fairy," given her father's mer-heritage and her mother's fairy heritage, pushing her to be diplomatic for both realms. For a period, she goes by Layla, attempting to distance herself from her royal status as well as prevent suitors and unwanted nobles from finding her.

I'd keep the aqua palette she has in Bloomix for her main design, and base her appearance on SZA. I could see Cree Summer playing her.

Musa--A musical prodigy and aspiring star, but that's sadly common in Harmony, so common that the people there face discrimination for their innate musical abilities by foreigners, who see it as a magical cheat and that they have no true talent or hard work. As a result of this, Musa's father (who I'd rename Itar from "chitarra," which is Italian for guitar; Ho-Boe reminds me of the term hobo) was discouraged from music until he met her mother and she inspired him to be a musician. He had a long career before Musa was born, but his wife's death meant he lost his motivation to overcome discrimination, and as such he discouraged Musa from pursuing a musical career, going as far as leaving Melody and having Musa grow up on another planet. As such, she strives to learn more about her culture and heritage, set on becoming a muscian (she can sing and play several instruments). Riven's controlling attitude reminds her of her father, which both frustrates and comforts her--but something's gotta give. At one point on Earth, she becomes the main vocalist for Andy, Mark, and Rio's band (I'm imagining they have a pop-punk sound, taking inspiration from No Doubt, Panic @ the Disco, and Olivia Rodrigo, though they can branch out)--much to Riven's chagrin, but by this point he knows not to let his jealousy ruin their relationship.

In terms of design, I'd probably keep the red-pink colors for her transformation, but take inspiration from concert outfits like the ones worn by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce. I'd base her character design on Rina Sawayama and have her voiced by Awkwafina. I'd also keep her androgynous-feminine style.

Tecna--The most practical girl of the bunch, she doesn't often let emotions get in her way, most likely because she's a cyborg (inspired by one of the dubs that claimed she was an android; there's a difference). As the third child in line for the throne (gonna keep her royal based on comics, and I wanted more winx girls to have siblings), she has flexibility with her future life goals, but is still raised to uphold Zenith's honor and glory. She often comes off as inconsiderate, but bonding with the group (and romancing the bashful Timmy) has opened her up. Her newfound emotion is met with mixed-reception back home, where such things are seen as a nuisance, but her family appreciates it, nonetheless. However, she can be reckless; given that her people are imbued with magic that gives them machine-like qualities, she often puts herself at risk because she can take it/be fixed later on. And note: her father has King Cryos' design while her mother has Magnethia's design.

Tecna is non-binary (felt like that'd be easy rep and not super contestable), physically inspired by Demi Lovato and a green distorted fairy form (at first, anyway, to sell the digital aspect). I'd want her to be voiced by Kari Wahlgren, given that I loved 4kids' British Tecna and Kari's British accent as Emma Frost.

Flora--My personal favorite Winx girl, Flora is the heart of the group (to Tecna's mind of the group). She often has sympathy for others without being naive, and comes from a more naturalistic, almost ancient culture that believes in being one with nature. As such, she occasionally clashes with Tecna, reveres Bloom (holding the power of the creator), and adores Stella, Aisha, and Musa. She's very traditional and romantic, having fallen for pacifist Helia (who I'd rewrite as a fairy, druid, or wizard who mainly uses healing/protective magic) due to shared ideals, as well as being childhood friends; they even got engaged early on, but they're waiting to graduate. Her first priority once she's done at Alphea is going to Earth with Bloom to fix the environment (which would take at least a year), and has been invited to work for the royal family thanks to her contributions to nature. Her kindness has made her popular far and wide, and she's partially credited with making Linphea fashion-forward while still maintaining cultural traditions. A lot of people seem confused about her background, and she's Latin-inspired, so it would be nice to see her area of Linphea inspired by a Latin American country.

Transformation-wise, I'd take inspiration from many flowers (real or not) such as blue-white morning glories, blue lilies, bleeding hearts, dahlias, and bat flowers. For her appearance, I'd base her off of Selena Gomez (keep the tan, though; even if we don't see Flora's Latin inspiration, we can still have skintone diversity), and I'd want her VA to be Maria Canals-Barrera.

Roxy--Surprise! I wasn't gonna include Roxy, but I thought why not? MAJOR overhaul, though; first off, I'd give her a different name (personal preference), perhaps Ariel. Plus her story is Bloom 2.0 in a few ways. In any case, after Bloom--a powerful fairy--is discovered on Earth, a planet previously thought to be abandoned by fairies, scouts are sent to investigate, eventually discovering Ariel. She is hesitant to leave Earth, particularly her father, boyfriend (not every guy has to go to Red Fountain), and her mother's grave. Here, the Earth fairies are mostly gone for good, with the Wizards of the Dark Circle becoming deity-like legends for villainous characters, though I'd probably make one or two of them fairies to show that even fairies can be evil. Ariel also keeps her powers under wraps, being suspicious and the opposite of Bloom--who was desperate to know her heritage--not exactly keen on her new life of danger. But she gets along with Flora, Musa, and Aisha eventually, as well as seeing new animal life.

I'm COMPLETELY changing her design since she looks like she could be Tecna's sister; I'd take the opportunity to make her Pacific Islander or Native American (I'm thinking USA or Canadian) instead--though I will note this removes her Arthurian and Irish inspiration, unfortunately--and I'd give her an orange transformation look (since Stella's no longer using it). I'd base her off of either Amber Midthunder or Auli'i Cravalho (though with a deeper tan in either case) and have her voiced by either Kiawentiio Tarbell or Auli'i herself.

Lemme know what you think or if you have any questions! I may do the specialists next.

[gallusrostromegalus]

Hello! I read TPOFATGIF for the first time this week after binge reading your lore posts, and I have a lore question. I get that the home of the main case is a Japan/America amalgamation similar to that of Big Hero 6, but is there any lore reason as to why its like that? Were Japan and America separate places in this world and then fused later or has it always been like this?

I wrote them in a place that is both Japan and California at the same time because of the Animaniacs.

For some additional context, for me, my first exposure to Yugioh was the infamous 4Kids Dub on Kids!WB whch was... weird, to say the least.

YuGiOh was one of the first anime-anime they showed on that network, after Pokemon, and the first cartoon series I recall that had a specific airdate order- everything before then had been episodic in the sense that it didn't really matter what order the season's episodes were shown in- it didn't matter who Batman fought last week, this week he was on another case. Pokemon did reference previous episodes, but was so full of random filler and side-adventures that it didn't really matter when WB showed the first season out of order. One staruday Ash just had a Charmander now and we just rolled with that.

But Yugioh started off with "Previously On Yugioh" flashbacks that really only made sense if you'd seen the previous episode, and as calvinball as the games were, they did have like. A Turn Order that you had to follow consistently, and it was the first time my 5th-grade self had ever seen a show with a sesonal plot and I was BUCKWILD about it.

At the same time, this was still a very Transitional period for KidsWB, going from a lot of cartoons that were produced in-house to a lot of cartoons produced in independent studios or in Japan. One of the most famous In-House cartoons, that was still (barely) running in 2000 when YGO hit, was the cartoon that built the KidsWB Brand: Animaniacs. The Animaniacs, for those of you that were only born this millenium, were a trio of... creatures. The Warner Brothers, Yakko Warner and Wakko Warner, and their sister, Dot who would escape from the water tower where they were lcked up last week, to cause mayhem and make remarkably sharp and adult satirical jokes about current events, until they were caught and locked back up until next week. It was directed by steven speilberg and it was fucking wild.

But a peculiar precept of the Animaniacs universe was that they explicitly, in the canon of their show, lived in the water tower on the Real Life Warner Movie Studios Lot, in Real Life Burbank, CA. The backgrounds were frequently traced photographs of the IRL Studio and surrounding hollywood landmarks. In addition to the show, the Studio also made "Bumps" or micro-episdodes that were like, 30 seconds long, for when the commericals didn't quite fill out the whole half hour. In those, the Animaniacs made jokes like they were actors employed by the studio, playing the role of the Animaniacs, and would complain about the on-site parking or the latest contracts, a meta-joke that goes clean back to the Looney Tunes in the 1950's and probably farther. Bugs and Daffy were there too, threatening to go on strike, but the Animaniacs combined that meta joke with their canon of living on-site to like. Complain about traffic on specific roads in Brubank.

...and then when KidsWB started accepting cartoons from other studios, they KEPT doing those Meta Bumps. Batman and Daffy comisserated about the difficultly of keeping thier black suits black over a cup of coffee. Omi of Xaolin Showdown and Riccochet of Lucha Libre compared the relative amount of workman's comp they were owed for thier stunts behind one of the sets. When Yugioh joined the network, it's characters were also added to the bumps.

One particular bump stood out to me, and unfortunately I haven't ever found a recording of it, but characters were complaining about commute times to work. The Animaniacs kicked off with not understanding how everyone was late to shooting, Come on guys, we're PROFESSIONALS. Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures told them off- they lived on site, he had to commute all the way from San Francisco's Chinatown! That's nothing, groans Batman, Do you have any idea how much he spends in Batfuel for the Batjet commuting in from Gotham. Chinatown? laughs Omi, try commuting from actual China! Yugi walks in and asks what's going on, and someone asks him how long it takes him to get to work.

"Oh, I just walk over after school." Yugi says, and there is a cut to the expanded scenery with Warner Brothers Studio on one side of the street, and Domino High School on the other side of the street. "It's a good thing school is so close." he adds. "I have to spend like four hours in special FX and makeup to get my hair to do this! If I had to commute, we'd never have time to shoot!"

... And that joke-within-a-joke Micro-universe, that takes place in twelve different cartoon shows and IRL Burbank California, just an hour south of where my grandparents lived, that peculiar metaverse where my childhood nostalgia lives, is the universe where TPOFATGIF takes place. It's in IRL late 90's/early 00's California, because I lived in California in the late 90's and early 00's and that's the context I first experienced YGO in. It's in the IRL parts of Tokyo that Takahashi-sensei put into his Magnum opus. It's in a universe that contain's both Gotham City and Uncle's Antiques. It's Big Hero Six's San Fransokyo, and Ace Attorney's Japanifornia.

But that wasn't actually the question you asked.

Please consider: Tea and Bakura were both born on "Leap Days"- days when the calendar can't be reliably measured, where day repeat or blend together. Mako's dad is lost in the South Pacific Triange, a mysterious place where you can sail east all day and end up west of where you started. Tristan's dad has a job that is basically being a supplier to D&D Adventuerers.

But as far as everyone knows, it's always been like this. Sometimes there are extra days, or wormholes, or monsters. Reality is just like that, as far as anyone can remember.

But.

Not everyone remembers, do they? Mahad knows his king by his face but not how he came to be the Dark Magician, just that he is. Neither Shadi knew where the Millenium Puzzle was until very recently, which seems a odd for the Guardian(s) of the Millenium items. The Spirit of the Ring has memories upon memories upon memories, but neither he nor Yami can even remember their names. in fact, nobody theoretically old enough to remember what happened 5,000 years ago actually remembers.

I wonder what that's all about? :)

[shironezuninja]

Fate is a funny, little devil. I never knew that my 2nd anime character squeeze (Yu-Gi-Oh!), was once bitter towards [Pokemon] who featured my 1st anime character squeeze. A whole new perspective of outcomes that separates hard-cased fans like me from experienced actors. Maybe censored anime DID have an impact for new anime to get recognized in the States later on.

[ljaesch]

4Kids Flashback Spotlights 1990's/2000's Anime

Take a trip down anime memory lane with 4Kids Flashback, an anime-centric weekly podcast hosted by voice actress Tara Jayne Sands and artist/podcaster Steve Yurko spotlighting the acting and production talent behind some of the most popular series from 4Kids Productions. 4Kids Flashback is now featured in the Maji Media lineup. 4Kids Flashback focuses on the intricacies behind the productions and…

[amethysttribble]

People saying it's okay to skip Skypia give me flashbacks to 4kids thinking it was okay to skip Little Garden or getting rid of Laboon.

Little Garden! Another arc I have honest to god seen people say it’s perfectly okay to skip to save time and I’m just- *shaking them*

*me w/ a megaphone on the street*: LITTLE GARDEN IS INSTRUMENTAL TO NOT ONLY SETTING UP CHOPPER, BUT BETTER DEFINING USOPP’S DREAM AND INTRODUCING GIANTS

NOT ONLY IS IT INSTRUMENTAL TO USOPP’S DREAM AND FORSHADOWING ELBAF AND THE GIANTS AND THEIR CULTURE BUT ITS INSTRUMENTAL TO BEGINNING LUFFY’S LEADERSHIP ARC (that Matt Owens has explicitly said it the center piece of season 2, this is why he’s in charge of this show and those dumbasses aren’t)

NOT ONLY LUFFY’S LEADERSHIP ARC BUT BUILDING VIVI’S CHARACTER AND CONFLICT AND ANXIETY AND BAROQUE WORKS AS A THREAT

NOT ONLY VIVI BUT-

I could go on and on and on, I could do the same for Skypeia, I could do the same for Long Ring Land Land, on and on and on.

You’re so fucking right anon, it reeks of 4Kids style cuts. It’s short-sighted and stupid! This drives me even more batshit, because allegedly, these people (in articles, and also on Tumblr and Reddit and YouTube) are fans. I’d ask how they can’t see but I know how.

[huntikfrance]

[FR] La chaîne YouTube 4Kids Flashback a publié une vidéo promo inédite de la série "Huntik Secrets & Seekers" datant de sa diffusion sur la chaine 4Kids américaine. (PS: La vidéo est en anglais!)

[EN] The YouTube channel 4Kids Flashback has posted a rare promo video of the “Huntik Secrets & Seekers” series dating from its broadcast on the American 4Kids TV channel.