Fox Kids and Fox Family anime

[TheMisterManGuy]

In January 2002, the FOX Broadcasting Company sold its 4 hour Saturday morning block to 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. Known for adapting popular Anime titles such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! 4Kids would be responsible for all content development and ad revenue for the block, with Fox itself having little to no involvement. 4Kids used its newly minted "FoxBox" as a vehicle for new Anime properties, several of which became infamous in the anime community for the hacked up editing and censorship 4Kids gave them. But way before 4Kids came into, Fox was already airing anime on its networks.

In the early 2000s, the Fox Kids Network aired several anime shows, most of which were licensed by then-corporate sibling, Saban Entertainment, Inc. Aside from its biggest hit at the time, Digimon: Digital Monsters, Fox Kids aired other shows such as Flint: The Time Detective, DinoZaurs, Escaflowne, Transformers, and Mon Colle Knights. Fox Kids grouped its anime programing into a 2-hour Friday block named "Anime Invasion" in 2000.

It wasn't just Fox Kids either. Fox's ill-fated Fox Family Channel also broadcasted several of the same shows as part of the "Made in Japan" Sunday block, but also added Monster Rancher and the 90s Mega Man series. At the time, Cartoon Network was really the only other channel heavily investing in anime, so Fox Kids and Fox Family were the closest things to alternatives for the 2000s.

As you know, Fox's Family division was purchased by Disney in 2001, leading to the 4Kids deal. If Fox hadn't sold off Fox Family Worldwide, then I think they could've built their anime lineup into a solid Toonami/Adult Swim alternative. I've said this before, but Fox Family had a ton of untapped potential as a network that never actually got utilized.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

It's a shame that Fox Family never took off as a major competitor to Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel before the Disney acquisition led the channel to become ABC Family and later Freeform.

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

It's a shame that Fox Family never took off as a major competitor to Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel before the Disney acquisition led the channel to become ABC Family and later Freeform.

It really is. I think if there had been some sort of shake up at the channel early on, then Fox Family could've become an actual threat to the big 3.

 

[JMTV Studios]

It really is. I think if there had been some sort of shake up at the channel early on, then Fox Family could've become an actual threat to the big 3.

Yeah, same thing with The Hub and looked how that turned out...

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

Yeah, same thing with The Hub and looked how that turned out...

The Hub was kind of domed from day one. It was a digital cable channel, which means its distribution is more limited. And it was half owned by a toy company, which made a lot of other toy companies weary of buying ad-time on the channel, which means less money being made from ad-sales, which means a much lower budget compared to the big three.

Fox Family at least had better distribution and the whole Fox Kids library at their disposal.

 

[JMTV Studios]

The Hub was kind of domed from day one. It was a digital cable channel, which means its distribution is more limited. And it was half owned by a toy company, which made a lot of other toy companies weary of buying ad-time on the channel, which means less money being made from ad-sales, which means a much lower budget compared to the big three.

Fox Family at least had better distribution and the whole Fox Kids library at their disposal.

Yeah, good point. Thinking about that makes me even more sadder of what The Hub could've been.

Now that Hasbro bought Entertainment One, I'm hoping they don't repeat the same mistakes with them collaborating Discovery and just start making their own content through other platforms. Who knows, maybe The Hub might come back as a streaming service if Hasbro play their cards rights, but I'm not gonna hold my breath on that.

As for Fox Family? I'll give Fox credit for trying to built an family audience with their kids and families programs. But similar to The Hub, it just came and went due to unfortunate circumstances behind it.

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

As for Fox Family? I'll give Fox credit for trying to built an family audience with their kids and families programs. But similar to The Hub, it just came and went due to unfortunate circumstances behind it.

Fox Family's ultimate downfall was Fox and Saban constantly bickering over the direction of the channel and its programing. There were other complications as well, such as its over-reliance on foreign produced shows, as well as poor primetime ratings. I personally think Saban should've got out while he could, and let Fox bring in people who actually know how to run a TV network.

 

[JMTV Studios]

Fox Family's ultimate downfall was Fox and Saban constantly bickering over the direction of the channel and its programing. There were other complications as well, such as its over-reliance on foreign produced shows, as well as poor primetime ratings. I personally think Saban should've got out while he could, and let Fox bring in people who actually know how to run a TV network.

Yup, and I'm not surprised by it. Now that Disney owns Fox, I'm glad they were able to do it right with Freeform and learn how to run a family network properly.

If only Discovery and Hasbro could to do same thing then The Hub 10 years ago, it would've lasted much longer by now...

 

[harry580]

Fox Family's ultimate downfall was Fox and Saban constantly bickering over the direction of the channel and its programing. There were other complications as well, such as its over-reliance on foreign produced shows, as well as poor primetime ratings. I personally think Saban should've got out while he could, and let Fox bring in people who actually know how to run a TV network.

maybe like buying out saban entertainment and rebrand it as fox family entertainment and the anime side would become fox anime studios and saban paris would become fox europe animation

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

It really is. I think if there had been some sort of shake up at the channel early on, then Fox Family could've become an actual threat to the big 3.

Couldn't agree with you more.

 

[TheCartoonRailfan]

I heard that Saban managed to acquire the broadcasting rights to Magic Knight Rayearth and Slayers. Unfortunately, the shows never aired on American television. Even Toonami mentioned they wanted to acquire the rights to these shows, but Saban never aired them and lost the rights to the shows.

 

[Red Arrow]

Fox Kids / Jetix / Disney XD Netherlands has aired 32 anime series so far. Currently only Pokémon remains, which they have been airing since 1999.

1. B-Daman
2. Beyblade
3. BeyWheelz
4. Bob in a Bottle
5. Bobobo Bo Bo Bobo
6. Digimon
7. Dinosaur King
8. DinoZaurs
9. Flint the Time Detective
10. Go! Go! Itsutsugo Land
11. Hamtaro
12. Hello Kitty
13. Honey Bee Hutch
14. Inazumi Eleven
15. Medabots
16. Megaman NT Warrior
17. Mon Colle Knights
18. Oban Star-Racers
19. Pecola
20. Pokémon
21. Samurai Pizza Cats
22. Shaman King
23. Shin Chan
24. Shinzo
25. Sonic X
26. Stitch!
27. Super Pig
28. Teknoman
29. Tenkai Knights
30. Transformers: Cybertron
31. Transformers: Energon
32. Yu-Gi-Oh!

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

I heard that Saban managed to acquire the broadcasting rights to Magic Knight Rayearth and Slayers. Unfortunately, the shows never aired on American television. Even Toonami mentioned they wanted to acquire the rights to these shows, but Saban never aired them and lost the rights to the shows.

IIRC, Magic Knight Rayearth was pitched to Fox Kids way back in 1995 by Toei. There was a pilot for an Ocean Group dub on one of the DVD releases. Sadly Fox Kids passed on the show, presumably because of both Anime not being that big at the time, and the show's female leads, which executives probably thought would've put off their core audience at the time.

As for Slayers, I imagine that was dropped because of Escaflowne's poor ratings. I heard somewhere that they had a hard time editing the show down to a Fox Kids standard, so it was cancelled. Fox Family also picked up Detective Connan way back in 2000, but never got to air it.

 

[TheCartoonRailfan]

IIRC, Magic Knight Rayearth was pitched to Fox Kids way back in 1995 by Toei. There was a pilot for an Ocean Group dub on one of the DVD releases. Sadly Fox Kids passed on the show, presumably because of both Anime not being that big at the time, and the show's female leads, which executives probably thought would've put off their core audience at the time.

As for Slayers, I imagine that was dropped because of Escaflowne's poor ratings. I heard somewhere that they had a hard time editing the show down to a Fox Kids standard, so it was cancelled. Fox Family also picked up Detective Connan way back in 2000, but never got to air it.

I have to agree that there would have been significant censorship involved with Slayers. Regarding Magic Knight Rayearth, a similar situation happened with KidsWB and Cardcaptors. KidsWB aired the show for about a year and half around 2000-2001. To cater to a male audience, all the romantic content was censored so the show could focus more on the action. Cartoon Network only aired the series for less than three weeks in 2001.

While Fox Family never aired Detective Conan, Adult Swim managed to air the show around 2004-2005. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

I have to agree that there would have been significant censorship involved with Slayers. Regarding Magic Knight Rayearth, a similar situation happened with KidsWB and Cardcaptors. KidsWB aired the show for about a year and half around 2000-2001. To cater to a male audience, all the romantic content was censored so the show could focus more on the action. Cartoon Network only aired the series for less than three weeks in 2001.

While Fox Family never aired Detective Conan, Adult Swim managed to air the show around 2004-2005. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

Honestly it's impressive how much anime Fox had aired, or planned on airing between Fox Kids and Fox Family during that time. Honestly, I think Fox Family could've done well with a late-afternoon Toonami style block aimed at tweens/teens for some of these shows, particularly Rayearth and Conan.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

IIRC, Magic Knight Rayearth was pitched to Fox Kids way back in 1995 by Toei. There was a pilot for an Ocean Group dub on one of the DVD releases. Sadly Fox Kids passed on the show, presumably because of both Anime not being that big at the time, and the show's female leads, which executives probably thought would've put off their core audience at the time.

As for Slayers, I imagine that was dropped because of Escaflowne's poor ratings. I heard somewhere that they had a hard time editing the show down to a Fox Kids standard, so it was cancelled. Fox Family also picked up Detective Connan way back in 2000, but never got to air it.

It's a shame neither got picked up.

 

[Light Lucario]

There definitely would have been some significant edits to Slayers. A part of me is kind of curious what that would have looked like, but another part of me wonders who thought something like Slayers would be a good choice for a Saturday morning cartoon block. I like the series, but it definitely wouldn't work on Fox Family or Fox Kids without any edits.

It is such a shame that the channel eventually ditched anime and animation in general outside of movies. They had some pretty fun shows. Freeform is obviously more successful and the situation with Fox Family would have happened regardless, but it was still so sad.

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

There definitely would have been some significant edits to Slayers. A part of me is kind of curious what that would have looked like, but another part of me wonders who thought something like Slayers would be a good choice for a Saturday morning cartoon block. I like the series, but it definitely wouldn't work on Fox Family or Fox Kids without any edits.

Like I said, I think Slayers could've worked if Fox Family introduced a Toonami style late-afternoon block for 9-14 year olds. Fox seemed to have pretty lax content standards for kids programing, as I hear that they aired the more controversial episodes of Braceface.

I felt like Fox Family was always a channel of wasted opportunity. They had some decent shows, and the strength of the Fox brand behind it at the time. Had Saban got out of the partnership, I think we could've seen them become an actual competitor.

 

[harry580]

Like I said, I think Slayers could've worked if Fox Family introduced a Toonami style late-afternoon block for 9-14 year olds. Fox seemed to have pretty lax content standards for kids programing, as I hear that they aired the more controversial episodes of Braceface.

I felt like Fox Family was always a channel of wasted opportunity. They had some decent shows, and the strength of the Fox brand behind it at the time. Had Saban got out of the partnership, I think we could've seen them become an actual competitor.

that why i said earlier buyout saban entertainment from haim saban and reunite news corp with fox children production and also adding new additions to fox children productions like power rangers and the digimon dub

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

that why i said earlier buyout saban entertainment from haim saban and reunite news corp with fox children production and also adding new additions to fox children productions like power rangers and the digimon dub

I think that would've been the end result once Saban sold his stake. Saban Entertainment would've been fully absorbed into Fox Family Worldwide, with its various operations chopped up and dispersed throughout the division.