Funimation Mexico

[Eryn]

FLOWERMOUND, Texas, June 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- FUNimation Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) have reached an exclusive multi-year distribution services agreement. Universal will manage distribution of FUNimation's entire DVD and Blu-ray portfolio, as well as sales to many national retailers in the U.S. and Canada. John Morici, Managing Director -- U.S. and Canada, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and Mike DuBoise, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, FUNimation, jointly made the announcement today.

This agreement will allow FUNimation, North America's anime market share leader, to continue delivering on its commitment to serve anime fans everywhere and to expand its leadership in home entertainment. "Pairing Universal's 'best-in-class' home entertainment distribution infrastructure with FUNimation's superior anime properties, along with our marketing, production, and fan engagement capabilities, effectively positions our companies for enduring success," said Gen Fukunaga, CEO and founder of FUNimation. "We believe this new strategic agreement will create an important opportunity for us to strengthen our physical distribution business."

"We're excited to partner with FUNimation, the premier anime company in both the United States and Canada. They have a proven track record for marketing a compelling slate of titles as evidenced with such recent releases as 'Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods,' 'Attack on Titan,' 'Cowboy Bebop,' 'Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign,' and their upcoming theatrical release of 'Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F','" said Morici. "We are pleased to enter into a distribution services partnership with this talented group and look forward to our collaboration."

"As the home entertainment industry continues to evolve, this agreement will create greater scale and opportunities for us across our physical distribution business, resulting in meaningful benefits," said DuBoise. "It also allows us to double down on our efforts to acquire and co-produce shows, build brands for our partners, improve fan experiences at every touch-point, and further develop digital distribution capabilities."

FUNimation Entertainment's library spans over 400 anime and live-action titles; including gems for the most serious anime fans as well as those just discovering anime. It includes key franchises such as Dragon Ball, Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop, and Tokyo Ghoul; in addition to critically acclaimed movies such as "Summer Wars," "Wolf Children," "Akira," and the soon-to-be-released "The Boy and the Beast."

About Universal Pictures Home EntertainmentUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is a part of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

About FUNimation Entertainment FUNimation Entertainment is the leading anime company in North America and a subsidiary of Group 1200 Media. FUNimation has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands. The company manages a full spectrum of rights for most of their brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, Internet, and home video sales and distribution. Its content is released across traditional and digital distribution channels, including theatrical exhibition, physical and digital home entertainment, as well as paid and free subscription on-demand services. For more information about FUNimation Entertainment and its brands, visit www.funimation.com.

About Group 1200 MediaGroup 1200 Media, a fully integrated, next-generation independent entertainment studio, is the parent holding company of FUNimation Entertainment, Giant Ape Media, and Group 1200 Consumer Products, and a market leader in the acquisition, creation, production, distribution, licensing, and marketing of a wide-ranging anime, TV and movie slate. The company's three subsidiaries encompass curated content, services, and consumer products aligned to distinct genres and audiences. For more information, visit www.group1200.com.

Crunchyroll, LLC (formerly known as "Funimation Entertainment", "Funimation Productions" and "Funimation Global Group, LLC", but more commonly known at the time as "Funimation") is an anime dubbing, licensing, and distribution company based in Fort Worth, Texas that was founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga. It was acquired by Navarre Corporation, a computer products distribution and publishing company, on May 11, 2005 for $100.4 million. In April 2011, Navarre sold Funimation to a group of investors including Gen Fukunaga for $24 million. The company consolidated its divisions under the new holding company Group 1200 Media in May 2013. On October 27, 2017, 95% of the company was acquired by Sony Pictures Television, while Fukunaga retains 5% of the company. Notable anime dubbed by this company include the Dragon Ball series, Fullmetal Alchemist, and One Piece. It also previously released a handful of Nelvana and Alliance Atlantis series in the past. On December 9, 2020, Sony announced they had acquired rival anime streaming service Crunchyroll from WarnerMedia (now part of Warner Bros. Discovery). Two years later on March 1, Sony announced that Funimation Global Group, the service's parent company, was rebranded as Crunchyroll, LLC and a large majority of its catalog was moved to Crunchyroll altogether, though the Funimation streaming service remained active and continued to distribute titles that were originally licensed by the Funimation company before the merger. However, on February 7, 2024, it was announced that the Funimation app and website would be shut down completely on April 2, 2024, and that all Funimation subscribers could choose to migrate their account data to Crunchyroll until then, which effectively ended the Funimation name after nearly 30 years.

Trivia: The logo is meant to homage the Lone Star, referencing the studio being based in Texas. However, the logo bears a distinct resemblance to a Dragon Ball (a mystic orb with a star engraved on it), which was one of Funimation's most iconic dubs.

Variant: There is a prototype version, where the shapes are above the "FUNimation Productions Inc." text. The shapes appear one by one, and the text forms by integration. A copyright notice also appears below the logo.

Visuals: On a sky blue background, loads of bubbles can be seen floating across the screen, each reflecting the FUNimation logo. The FUNimation logo comes in from the left and middle of the screen, as a voice-over says the company name.

Audio: Starts with a whoosh, which then turns into the 1st logo jingle as a male announcer whispers "FUNimation". The jingle culminates with the sound of a child laughing (the same stock "Diddy laugh" heard in the ImaginEngine and Double Hemm logos).

Visuals: On a black background, 2 silver rings quickly swirl around and intersect, creating lights and the new Funimation logo. The shapes are the same, but the rectangle is horizontal and crooked, with the circle to the left of it, and the star on the being on the lower-right corner of the logo. "FUNIMATION" is now seen is a jumbled, bold font with blue "afterimages" on the circle. "ENTERTAINMENT" is in the same font, but not jumbled. Under it is "A N/\\//\RR三 CORPORATION COMPANY", with Navarre's corporate logo in place. The logo is dark at first, but brightens up and zooms in after the rings leave. After a bit, the logo gets engulfed by the 2 blue lights and disappears.

Audio: A shining sound is heard when the rings are seen, follow by a sound that sounds like a radar. A humming noise is then heard throughout the rest of the logo with an announcer saying "Funimation!".

Visuals: The screen fades in to see a chrome/silver Funimation logo angled on its side. A glowing light appears from the far side, wiping over the logo and coloring it in as the logo faces frontward, a huge flash engulfing the screen. The flash dies down, revealing the fully colored logo from before, except in 3D. The logo zooms back a little bit, before suddenly erupting in a flash of light, briefly turning the screen white before going black.

Audio: A fizzling/sparking noise as the light colors the logo in, and a low "whoosh" as the logo flashes the first time. A voice-over whispers "Funimation!" at the same time. This is followed by a low whistling noise that starts quietly, but after a few seconds suddenly gets louder and higher, followed by a loud whoosh as the logo erupts in light. The FMA variant starts with a loud whoosh with a sound that sounds similar to a laser gun being fired, followed by the "Funimation!" voice-over, the latter of which, ironically, is played over a black screen.

Visuals: On a white background, the 2005-2011 Funimation logo is drawn in. From the left and right sides of the screen, red and blue paints enter and start filling in the logo. Once the logo is completely filled in, the letters in "FUNIMATION" pop out one-by-one and the whole logo flashes and shines, and the web address "www.funimation.com" appears below. The logo (which is from the FMA variant of the previous logo) stays on screen for a few seconds, then it disappears, and the text "YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING" takes its place, with the web address still on screen. About a second later, "YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING" and the web address zoom towards the screen.

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