FUNimation Entertainment

FUNimation Entertainment (previously known as FUNimation Productions) is an United States entertainment company formed by Gen Fukunaga in the early 1990s to produce, merchandise and distribute anime and other entertainment properties in the United States and international markets. On May 11 2005, FUNimation was acquired by Navarre Corporation

Navarre Corporation Acquires FUNimation, and Provides Financial Update and Guidance - May 11, 2005 Navarre press release. Accessed July 8, 2006. And is now a subsidiary business unit. FUNimation is headquartered in North Richland Hills, Texas, near Fort Worth, Texas, occupying one and a half floors of a four story office building.

FUNimation English Version
On April 12, 2007, FUNimation Entertainment announced that acquired the license to One Piece, and would produce an English version of episodes 144-205, to premiere on Cartoon Network in August. In an interview with AnimeOnline, marketing director Lance Heiskell claimed that the company had been aiming to license the series since before 4Kids had acquired it.

The series will have a brand new dub cast, a possibility of original background music, and lighter edits, with FUNimation editing the series to a TV-PG rating. Due to FCC regulations, the practice of altering Sanji's cigarette into a lollipop will be kept. The name "Zolo" will be used only in the televised dub to keep continuity with casual viewers. "Zoro" will be used for both the uncut dub, and Japanese with English subtitle track. FUNimation plans to distribute the series in bilingual DVD box sets, retailing for 49.98 and containing 13 episodes each. The target release date for the box sets is somewhere between November and February, with a release schedule of two to three sets per year. While the televised airings will run with edits and continue from where 4Kids left off, the DVDs will be completely uncut, and FUNimation will be releasing the DVDs from episode 144. Episodes 1-143 will not be released as soon as hoped because Viz Media still has the licence to them. But there is a rumor that the licence will expire in 2009.

The series will be promoted at the next Anime Expo.