4Kids employee talks about working there-

Mindy · 07-10-2011, 06:38 AM

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment..._employee_ama/

It's a bit of a read, but user "bacondevil" takes on heated questions. Scroll down halfway down and bacondevil talks about TMNT2k3 and Turtles Forever. Maybe some of you have asked him some questions? If not, take a stab at it. Thread was started this weekend. We probably already know most, if not all, but it's interesting to read about the other 4Kids' shows, too. Happy reading!

Quote:

I have been an employee of 4Kids Entertainment for the past 9 years. I work for their subsidiary 4Kids Productions. As the name implies, we are the ones in charge of producing the shows you have all come to love and hate or not know existed.

I am fully aware of the opinion people have of 4Kids, so I would like to establish a few personal facts and set up a few ground rules (should anyone actually have questions).

I have a purely creative role. I do not have any say on what shows we produce, what visual edits are made, and how 4kids treats a property on the business side.
I'm here as a friend, please do not treat me like the company. I am not here to defend what 4Kids does, but to hopefully explain why they do what they do.
I will gladly answer questions regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! lawsuit that are public but there are some things I legally cannot say. I apologize in advance if I cannot answer your question.

Quote:

There was a season 5 produced that we had not aired at the time, when we finished the season the Mirage (and maybe Playmates? Not sure, but they did have a say in the show as well) felt the season was too dark for kids. Which is ********, but whatever.

So Fast Forward was a way to lighten it up. The last two seasons were definitely the weakest. Part of the problem was money was becoming an issue and both Mirage and Playmates were putting up less and less money to get the show done. We had a season 7 that we had to scrap, but then we were able to recover for season 8 and the Turtles Forever movie. I enjoyed the movie, thought it was a good end for us and I'm happy Nicktoons airs it somewhat often.

The episode that was removed never finished production. It didn't even get to me before they started to cancel that episode. There were talks of us trying to finish it ourselves, but we never found the time in our schedules to take it on as a personal project.

Quote:

Thank you very much! It means a lot to hear that, as this was our first original production we all tried to go out with something that the fans would enjoy.

I only wish the person who owns the rights to the original '87 music wasn't being such a hard ass about us using his theme. Would have made it that much better.

LOL--

Quote:

And too many shows are about kids and cards. I will die a happy man if I never have to work on a show that involves kids fighting with cards ever again.

And a user posted a link to the 4Kids parody "2Kids: Casey and Friends" that my friend did. hehe bacondevil said he would look at it later. It was good fun working on that. I see it's still pretty popular.

*Master Splinter* · 07-10-2011, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mindy

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment..._employee_ama/

It's a bit of a read, but user "bacondevil" takes on heated questions. Scroll down halfway down and bacondevil talks about TMNT2k3 and Turtles Forever. Maybe some of you have asked him some questions? If not, take a stab at it. Thread was started this weekend. We probably already know most, if not all, but it's interesting to read about the other 4Kids' shows, too. Happy reading!

I seen this thread on reddit but I didn't bother asking anything. Was nice of the guy to answer questions.

-ms

Mindy · 07-10-2011, 07:43 AM

He doesn't seem to be vicious or anything. I thoroughly enjoyed his comments.

*oldmanwinters* · 07-10-2011, 11:16 AM

Great find, Mindy!

**Venom** · 07-10-2011, 08:14 PM

I wonder who the hard ass is? I initially thought Chuck Lorre, but remembered he's never seen a penny of royalties.

*CyberCubed* · 07-10-2011, 10:01 PM

I'm glad to see they at least tried to get the original theme song BGM for Turtles Forever.

Its a damn shame we can't ever hear the classic theme song for anything new because of rights issues.

**Jester** · 07-10-2011, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I'm glad to see they at least tried to get the original theme song BGM for Turtles Forever.

Its a damn shame we can't ever hear the classic theme song for anything new because of rights issues.

Ya think Fred Wolf might have been the issue? Then again, he let them use the characters...or did they need FW's permission to use the characters, since they were owned by Mirage?

*oldmanwinters* · 07-11-2011, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jester

Ya think Fred Wolf might have been the issue? Then again, he let them use the characters...or did they need FW's permission to use the characters, since they were owned by Mirage?

They didn't need permission to use the characters, though it is funny they were able to redraw the original model sheets... which makes me think they at least contacted FW over that matter.

*Roseangelo* · 07-11-2011, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

They didn't need permission to use the characters, though it is funny they were able to redraw the original model sheets... which makes me think they at least contacted FW over that matter.

I don't think they'd need permission to do that. The model sheets they drew over they got from me.

*oldmanwinters* · 07-11-2011, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

I don't think they'd need permission to do that. The model sheets they drew over they got from me.

Which is why Rose is mentioned in the credits and Fred Wolf isn't, yo!

Where did you get them from? Was it the same Yahoo! Fan Group where I probably ripped them from years ago?

*Roseangelo* · 07-11-2011, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

Which is why Rose is mentioned in the credits and Fred Wolf isn't, yo!

Where did you get them from? Was it the same Yahoo! Fan Group where I probably ripped them from years ago?

Booyah!

I have no clue where I got them, honestly. I got contacted and asked if I had anything of that nature and after searching through my computer I found that I did. I just have so much random stuff saved from so many years of internet stuffs.

*TheSkeletonMan939* · 08-16-2011, 05:03 PM

Quote:

We had a season 7 that we had to scrap, but then we were able to recover for season 8 and the Turtles Forever movie.

Season 8? Did he say Season 8?

*oldmanwinters* · 08-16-2011, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSkeletonMan939

Season 8? Did he say Season 8?

I'm thinking "Season 8" was "Back to the Sewers." "Season 7" would have been the planned and in-progress 2nd season of "Fast Forward."

*Powder* · 08-16-2011, 05:54 PM

I really wish we would've gotten a second season of Fast Forward. Not even for the rad stuff they had planned, just for the sake of it. I thoroughly enjoyed that series. When it first aired I hated the idea of it & didn't even check it out but in '09 I got the DVD's for my collections sake and fell in love with it.

07-10-2011, 07:43 AM	#3
Mindy Foot Soldier Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 184	He doesn't seem to be vicious or anything. I thoroughly enjoyed his comments. __________________ TMNT OVA English fandubs ~ completed! TMNT & other fics: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1013080/

07-10-2011, 11:16 AM	#4
oldmanwinters Overlord Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Between yesterday and tomorrow! Posts: 15,474	Great find, Mindy! __________________ Experience the TMNT Fan Commentaries! Check out my TMNT fan comic, "Nothing to Fear"! View my sketch work! I'm selling some of my hard-to-find TMNT items!

07-10-2011, 08:14 PM	#5
Venom Space Knight Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,637	I wonder who the hard ass is? I initially thought Chuck Lorre, but remembered he's never seen a penny of royalties. __________________

07-10-2011, 10:01 PM	#6
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,783	I'm glad to see they at least tried to get the original theme song BGM for Turtles Forever. Its a damn shame we can't ever hear the classic theme song for anything new because of rights issues.

08-16-2011, 05:54 PM	#14
Powder 40 Years of TMNT Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Shell-Ri-La Posts: 26,945	I really wish we would've gotten a second season of Fast Forward. Not even for the rad stuff they had planned, just for the sake of it. I thoroughly enjoyed that series. When it first aired I hated the idea of it & didn't even check it out but in '09 I got the DVD's for my collections sake and fell in love with it.