4Kids Entertainment
From Sega Retro
4Kids Entertainment is a company headquartered in New York City that licenses children's television shows in the United States and in other countries. 4Kids is best known for producing dubbed versions of Japanese anime series, including Pokémon and Sonic X.
Many anime fans in the US are highly critical of 4Kids because of its policy of extensive Americanization of the anime titles it licences. On one hand, such alteration alters the series from what they originally were, and some feel that it defaces the original work and demeans the original author. On the other hand, 4Kids tends to licence only titles targeted to preteens, and is modifying the titles to appeal to the same demographic in the US - leaving the title as is would limit its access in the US, as well as potentially raising the ire of parent groups.
However, in order to combat the complaints, 4Kids has allowed FUNimation, their DVD distributor, to release unedited versions of Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh! on DVD as a test (similar to how DiC allowed Pioneer and ADV to release unedited versions of Sailor Moon and Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac)). If the unedited releases do well, 4Kids may expand them, as well as release uncut DVDs to other animes such as Sonic X, Ultimate Muscle, etc. to its entire lineup.
After Deem Bristow passed away, 4Kids supply voice actors for Sonic games. This has angered many fans who preferred the original cast. Some are considered terrible (like the voices of Rouge the Bat, Vector the Crocodile, Knuckles the Echidna and Jet the Hawk), but others are considered fantastic (like Wave the Swallow and Dr. Eggman). However, many have found it amusing to hear 4Kids actors swear in Shadow the Hedgehog (game).