I’m sure I’m not the not only with fond memories of 4Kids Entertainment, the film and television production company that produced the English-dubbed of some of the most popular anime, most notably Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon. If that’s the case, you definitely want to check out 4Kids Flashback, the new podcast hosted by Tara Jayne Sands, a voice actress who should be very familiar to 4Kids Fans, and artist/podcast Steve Yurko.
Official press release below:
Take a trip down anime memory lane with 4Kids Flashback, an anime-centric weekly podcast hosted by voice actress Tara Jayne Sands and artist/podcaster Steve Yurko spotlighting the acting & production talent behind some of the most popular series from 4Kids Productions. 4Kids Flashback is now featured in the Maji Media lineup.
4Kids Flashback focuses on the intricacies behind the productions and internal machinations of the popular, oft-controversial 4Kids Productions, including inside looks at the dubbed versions of Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, Sonic X, Shaman King and many more from the late 1990s and 2000s – before the company shut down in 2017. The company was beloved by children, but also received criticism from anime fans who wanted to see adaptations that were more loyal to the original Japanese shows.
Sands, who worked on many of the 4Kids series, and Yurko go behind the scenes of these shows and the company itself in revealing interviews with actors, writers, editors, producers and musicians responsible for these series, including former 4Kids Productions president Norman Grossfeld, actors Veronica Taylor (Pokémon), musician John Siegler (writer of the Pokémon theme song), Eric Stuart (Yu-Gi-Oh!) and Critical Role’s Sam Riegel (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Yu-Gi-Oh! producers/writers Michael Pecoriello and Matthew Drdek, and more.
“Anime is bigger than ever today, so it felt like the right time to produce a podcast that caters to both hard core fans as well as those simply feeling nostalgic for the Saturday morning cartoons of their youth,” Sands says. “4Kids Flashback is designed to uncover the true history of 4Kids and its many series, as told by the people who were actually there.”
Sands can be heard on hundreds of radio and TV commercials, audiobooks, video games and popular cartoons, including more than 50 characters in the original English Pokémon series, as well as HunterXHunter, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon Adventure Tri, Shaman King, My Hero Academia, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and many more. Her commercial work ranges from McDonalds, American Express and Ford to Pom, Home Depot and Albertsons. In addition, she has narrated over 300 audiobooks and has been honored numerous times with Earphones awards and Audie nominations. Sands is no stranger to interviewing talent: as the on-camera host of Cartoon Network’s weekly Friday night lineup, appropriately titled Fridays, she interviewed dozens of celebrities like George Lucas, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams, Daniel Radcliffe and Charles Barkley.
A graduate from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Yurko has established himself among the elite storyboard artists in the industry, working for series/studios as diverse and esteemed as Rick and Morty (Green Portal Productions), Duncanville (Bento Box), Harmonquest (Starburns Industries), Robot Chicken (Stoopid Buddy Stoodios) and Dinosaur Train (The Jim Henson Company (2018), amongst others.
The weekly podcasts arrive every Wednesday. 4Kids Flashback initially soft-launched on October 25, 2023 with guest Jim Malone, voice director, engineer, producer and writer for 4Kids Productions. Subsequent podcast episodes have featured Amy Birnbaum, renowned for voicing Max in Pokémon, Kirby in Right Back At Ya and Téa in Yu-Gi-Oh (Nov. 1), and Shawn Conrad, singer of the One Piece rap among his many credits (Nov. 8).
Fans are invited to listen early and ad free at Patreon.com/4kidsflashback, and to subscribe today wherever podcasts are available. More information can be found at www.4KidsFlashback.com.
ABOUT MAJI MEDIA
The Japanese word Maji [mah-jee] is an intensifier, used for situations where you want to add a real emphasis. It is quite often used as a word to mean “really,” “seriously,” or “serious.” Maji Media has been producing podcasts about Japanese culture and entertainment since 2009, amassing millions of downloads and tens of thousands of followers. Home to 14 current podcasts, the Maji Media network has successfully funded a Kickstarter documentary filmed in Japan and raised well over $40,000 for charitable causes.
