NEW YORK (May 20, 2003) - "Drum Roll Please..." The 4Kids Entertainment Saturday broadcast network FOX BOX is announcing a line-up that will be filled with fun, action and adventure..."Ba Dum!" The FOX BOX will unwrap its second season, September 6, with a line-up of established shows and exciting program debuts.
Anchoring the FOX BOX are such network favorites as TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, KIRBY: RIGHT BACK AT YA!, THE CRAMP TWINS and ULTIMATE MUSCLE: THE KINNIKUMAN LEGACY. The Fall '03 line-up also boasts the television premieres of SONIC X, SHAMAN KING and FUNKY COPS, as well as the hit show CUBIX, an acclaimed 3-D CGI animated series, which is jet-propelling over to lead off the FOX BOX.
Introducing The New Season FOX BOX Saturday Morning Schedule:
8:00AM: Cubix
8:30AM: The Cramp Twins
9:00AM: Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy
9:30AM: Sonic X
10:00AM: Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
10:30AM: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
11:00AM: Shaman King
11:30AM: Funky Cops
"FOX BOX has got funk, squares (cubes), kings, twins, muscles, pink super heroes, mutant turtles and one crazy hedgehog - all packed into a vibrant Saturday morning," said Norman Grossfeld, President of 4Kids Productions. "We do more before noon every Saturday than most networks do in a week! The FOX BOX line-up continues to deliver quality shows and is rapidly becoming a Saturday morning destination."
FOX BOX PREMIERES...
SONIC X
Accidentally transported by Chaos Control, Sonic finds himself on a strange planet inhabited by humans and teams up with his newest friend, Christopher. Together, Sonic and Christopher embark on a series of exhilarating and elaborate quests as they search for the "Chaos Emeralds," precious stones delivering the power to conquer the world to whoever possesses them. Through their adventures, Sonic and Christopher must battle Sonic's archrival, the evil Dr. Eggman, a robotics authority, who wants the "Chaos Emeralds" for himself so that he can establish his own empire to dominate the world. Known for speed, power and energy, Sonic helps Christopher overcome his boyhood fears as they meet up with long-time friends Knuckles, Tails and Amy, and encounter new pals Cream and Cheese. In a distant galaxy, the confrontation between Sonic and Dr. Eggman begins once again!
FUNKY COPS
Fresh from winning a Best New Animated Series award from the prestigious "Cartoon on the Bay" international animation conference, Funky Cops is 1970's nostalgia and outrageous comedy! Modeled after '70's cop shows, Funky Cops chronicles the adventures of two brothers on the police force who become stars at a San Francisco disco. Brother Ace is the smooth one... The head of a band fashioned after the Jackson Five, Ace used to be a hairdresser before he became a cop. His partner Dick is the Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry-type. The show was created by brothers Christophe and Benoit Di Sabatino and is produced by Antefilm.
SHAMAN KING
From the producers of Yu-Gi-Oh! comes the Shaman King. This adventurous series takes place in a world where anything is possible... where spirits and ghosts interact with humans. The main character is a 13-year-old boy who is a modern-day shaman, one of the gifted few who can see the spirit world. His power comes by teaming up with Amidamaru, a samurai warrior spirit. Together they travel the globe fighting evil spirits and misguided shamans on their quest to be the next Shaman King. Each battle prepares them for the once every 500 years "Grand Tournament" that will name the new Shaman King.
CUBIX
4Kids' first original animated series, Cubix follows the adventures of robot whiz-kid Connor, a 13-year-old who brings to life a robot named Cubix that had been discarded as useless. After Connor gets done, though, Cubix is anything but useless... applying his phenomenal super-charged powers to help Connor and his friends face down the endless stream of threats posed by the town's wacky mad scientist, the evil Dr. K. Set in the futuristic world of Bubble Town, where 10,000 of its population of 24,000 residents are robots, Cubix is all about action, adventure - and uncommon friendship.
FOX BOX RETURNS...
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
They're the biggest heroes ever transformed and empowered by globs of weird, glowing green alien ooze. They're a family filled with love for each other - and committed to battling evil wherever they find it. This new series sets itself apart from the past by staying close to the original comic books' strong graphics and rich stories, combining serious butt-kicking ninja action and irreverent humor. This exciting series unfolds in a linear fashion, with each episode setting up the next - keeping kids on the edge of their seats!
KIRBY: RIGHT BACK AT YA!
One of Nintendo's most popular characters of all time, Kirby made his U.S. broadcast debut on the FOX BOX. Loaded with action, Kirby is a cosmic comic adventure. Kirby is a Warpstar knight-in-training who crash-lands on the Planet Popstar - and accidentally ends up as the pink protector of villagers. When King Dedede conjures up all his maniacal monsters, Kirby inhales their powers and gives them back a taste of their own medicine! Don't mess with Kirby. He'll send it "Right Back at Ya!"
THE CRAMP TWINS
They're sibling rivalry's twin spokesmen... Meet Wayne and Lucien, a pair of twins with zero in common who have turned Saturday morning television into a raucous laugh fest. Produced by TV-Loonland and based on two graphic novels by Brian Wood, The Cramp Twins is the story of Wayne and Lucien Cramp, 10-year-old twins who are not at all alike. And, that's not just because Wayne has a big, oval shaped, purplish-gray head, in contrast to Lucien's small, round, pink head. It goes much deeper, no doubt all the way back to the womb. Delightfully mischievous, Wayne has one mission in life: to embarrass and bother his brother Lucien. His hobbies include eating, stirring up trouble and collecting weird stuff in his bedroom. And then there's Lucien, eager to please and thoroughly well mannered, he wants to save the world through knitting!
ULTIMATE MUSCLE: THE KINNIKUMAN LEGACY
Nothing captures the attention of boys quite like wrestling - and Ultimate Muscle is wrestling at its most radical! Ultimate Muscle pits the powerful but cowardly Kid Muscle in an intergalactic slam-a-rama of fast-paced excitement and far-out fun. With earth threatened by a sinister and oh-so-muscular band of space baddies, an interplanetary cry for help goes out for a hero to fight off these ne'er do-wells. Reluctantly and accidentally answering the call: Kid Muscle, who must somehow find the courage to compete in a wrestling tournament like none before. In the other corner: hundreds of the most diverse and powerful super-wrestlers that the cosmos has to offer. Oh, yeah, the fate of the universe is at stake, of course! Only one outcome's for sure: Ultimate Muscle will turn up the action and the laughter.
About 4Kids Entertainment
Headquartered in New York City, with international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. is a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing. 4Kids, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides domestic and international merchandise licensing; product development; television, film, music and home video production and distribution; media buying and planning; and Web site development. For further information, please visit the company's Web site at www.4KidsEntertainment.com.
About FOX BOX
Saturday morning kids TV has taken on a whole new shape with the Fall 2002 launch of FOX BOX. From 4Kids Entertainment, FOX BOX is the TV network home for the all-new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy, The Cramp Twins, Ultraman Tiga, Fighting Foodons and Pirate Islands. FOX BOX airs Saturday mornings 8:00AM-12:00PM (ET/PT) on Fox Network affiliates nationwide.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Due to the fact that the Company faces competition from toy companies, television networks, motion picture studios and other licensing companies, and the uncertainty of public response to the Company's properties, actual results or outcomes may differ materially from any such forward-looking statements.