4Kids

Lore & Background

Leisure Concepts was co-founded on April 28, 1970, by Mike Germakian (later who would be known as one of the creators of ThunderCats) and Stan Weston (the creator of G.I. Joe and Captain Action), as an independent licensing agency in New York City. Mike Germakian was the secretary of LCI, while Stan Weston was initially the President and later the Chairman of Leisure Concepts. Weston was also the Treasurer of the company. In the beginning, the company pitched toy and cartoon ideas to various companies, as well as formed partnerships with companies such as Rankin/Bass, among others. LCI began making news in the 1980s through licensing actual people, a variety of products, and even concepts. The company also had a growing number of deals with television producers and toy manufacturers. Among the company's licenses at the time were Farrah Fawcett of Charlie's Angels fame, Charlie Chan, James Bond 007, a wide array of Nintendo characters and products, the Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV Series and many others. LCI is credited in its assistance in the initial development of the 'ThunderCats' concept and acted on behalf of Lorimar-Telepictures Corp as an exclusive worldwide licensing agent for products based on 'Thundercats', an agreement that was signed between the two parties on June 15, 1984. During the mid-1980s, Ted Wolf came up with the idea of a race of catlike humanoid superheroes. He shared his vision with his friend Stan Weston, who in turn, through LCI, pitched it to Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment. Both Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass were impressed with the idea and the potential that it had of becoming an instant success. They approved of it and ThunderCats went into production. During the early development stage, Mike Germakian designed much of the ThunderCats' characters, vehicles and locations. He was also responsible for creating the now iconic ThunderCats logo, featuring a stylized black panther head on a red circle. Germakian's designs were then sent to Pacific Animation Corporation in Japan to be adapted into cartoon format. After completing work on ThunderCats, Germakian went on to design characters for SilverHawks and The Comic Strip, both Rankin/Bass shows. In July 1987, Alfred Kahn, former Executive Vice President of Marketing at Coleco, who was credited for bringing the Cabbage Patch Kids to the Mainstream, joined the company

In Their Own Story

The lobby was full. Four names in the ready-up column, a fifth still loading in from a different continent, the ping numbers glowing a sympathetic amber. The map was Dust II—always Dust II, the one that never got old because the geometry was a conversation you could have with your hands. The IGL typed a single line in chat: 'B main, slow, no rush.' No voice needed. They'd run that setup two hundred times. The round started with the soft clink of a knife against a wall, the telltale hiss of a smoke canister arcing over the site, and then the beautiful, terrible silence of a hold. Somewhere in the back, a deagle cocked. One shot. One name on the scoreboard. The chat filled with a single exclamation point and a laughing emoji. They'd won the round. They'd probably win the match. And tomorrow, one of them would have a job interview and the other would be in a different time zone, but tonight the server was theirs and the crosshair was steady and that was enough.

Reader's Guide

4Kids Entertainment was a licensing and production company best known for dubbing Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! for English audiences. It operated two children's TV blocks: 4Kids TV (on Fox) and Toonzai (on The CW). The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011 and 2016, shutting down one year after the 2016 filing.

Did You Know?

• Leisure Concepts was co-founded by Mike Germakian and Stan Weston; ThunderCats was created by Ted Wolf, not by either founder.
• 4Kids Productions' first dubbed anime was the first eight seasons of Pokémon, beginning with the first season.
• 4Kids filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016 and shut down operations one year later.