Tamagotchi Toons

Tamagotchi Toons, known as Toon de Hakken!! Tamagotchi in Japan and UPN de Hakken!! Tamagotchi during Japanese promotions, is a Japanese animated series produced by Bandai, in association with Studio Gallop and Wang Film Productions (for Seasons 1 and 2), and Dongwoo Animation (for Season 3), for TV Tokyo, that premiered in 1998. 
An English dub was produced by the infamous 4Kids Entertainment, and aired on UPN, Nickelodeon, and in Syndication in North America. It is a spiritual successor to the 1997 animated feature Tamagotchi Video Adventures. 
While Bandai Namco Filmworks has the Japanese rights to the show, Viz Media and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (through Studio Distribution Services, a joint venture with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) currently have the North American and International home media rights. The series ended it's run in 2002, with the finale initially airing on Nickelodeon. 
Most home media releases had the 1986 Paramount Pictures logo (with the Viacom byline), and later the 2002 Paramount Pictures logo (on VHS, with the 90th Anniversary version being used during 2002), or the Paramount DVD logo (on DVD obviously), before Viz acquired the rights. 
Prior to 2011, this was the only Tamagotchi animated series with an official dub, as Viacom Media Networks (now Paramount Domestic Media Networks) sold the Tamagotchi rights to Cartoon Network in February 2010 after a fierce battle between Aniplex of America, NBCUniversal, Tribune Media, Funimation (now Crunchyroll), Sentai Filmworks, and Cartoon Network/Warner Bros., as the Cookie Jar dub of the 2009 Tamagotchi! anime was considered unofficial, and they were preparing to sue Cookie Jar. 
Currently, the show airs on Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang, as well as the Weigel-owned programming service MeTV. It has also previously aired on Qubo, via Qubo Night Owl during the 2010s, Nicktoons (known at that time as Nicktoons Network), prior to the international rights to the Tamagotchi franchise's departure from Viacom, and The CW, via the Saturday morning animation block Vortexx. 
The show was also syndicated to various stations. Station owners that aired the show included Fox Television Stations, Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcasting, The E.W. Scripps Company, and Weigel Broadcasting. 
CBS-owned stations continued to air the show until 2014, when The CW discontinued it's Saturday morning animated programming block in favor of the live-action educational block One Magnificent Morning. 
However, it is rumored that The CW would air a Tamagotchi-themed programming block, allegedly known as "Tamagotchi Takeover", featuring this show and the Cartoon Network dub of the 2009 Tamagotchi! anime, when the deal with Litton Entertainment expires. 
==Premise==
Taking place after the events of Tamagotchi Video Adventures, Tamagotchi Toons revolves around the fourteen Tamagotchi going on misadventures on Tamagotchi Planet.
==Characters==
=== The Main 14 ===
*Mametchi (voiced by Amy Birnbaum) - A smart yet very child-like Tamagotchi. She is friends with Mimitchi but often acts childish if things don't go her way.
*Mimitchi (voiced by Tara Jayne) - Mametchi's best friend. Although more mature than Mametchi, the two get along very well. He often breaks the fourth wall in the 4Kids dub.
*Ginjirotchi (voiced by Ted Lewis) - A Tamagotchi who loves everything fancy. While a good dancer, he happens to be very poor at reading.
*Pochitchi (voiced by Kayzie Rogers) - A dog Tamagotchi. He is extremely playful and doesn't really know what disciplineis. He is the one that often gets into trouble.
*Maskutchi (voiced by Kayzie Rogers) - He is a sneaky yet very cowardly Tamagotchi. He often has a cautious personallty and fears of being punished. On the Qubo website, he is considered the show's main protagonist.
*Zuccitchi (voiced by Veronica Taylor) - A Tamagotchi that desires to be a hero. He often nicknames himself "Zuckin-Man" (Mask-Man in the 4Kids dub), and often brags about it, much to the others' annoyance.
*Kuchipatchi (voiced by Megan Hollingshead) - A laid-back Tamagotchi who appears to be very dumb. Despite his low intelegence, he can get suprisingly creative.
*Hashizoutchi (voiced by Lisa Ortiz) - A Tamagotchi who loves to sleep all day. Despite being seen drowzy all day, she has a habit of partying at night.
*Nyorotchi (voiced by Eric Stuart) - A notoriously selfish Tamagotchi. He often robs other people of their food and whines about it whenever they say "no".
*Kusatchi (voiced by Rachel Lillis) - A flower Tamagotchi. She loves the sunlight and often basks in it. In the 4Kids dub, she is mistakenly known as "Flowertchi" in season 1.
*Tarakotchi (voiced by Rachel Lillis) - Kuchipatchi's friend. While smelly in scent, she has a kind personallity and loves rock music.
*Takotchi (voiced by Tara Jayne) - An octopus Tamagotchi. Despite being an octopus, she hates the water but likes warm baths.
* Zatchi (voiced by Eric Stuart) - A sly Tamagotchi. He is extremely smart and often messes with machines. He likes Sci-fi (and openly likes Star Trek in the 4Kids dub).
* Bill (voiced by Ted Lewis) - A Tamagotchi who is based on then-president Bill Clinton. He dreams of being a ruler of the Tamagotchi planet but is aware that he can't. A running gag in the series is where he gets mad at someone for telling him that he can't rule the planet.
===The Tamagotchi Leaders ===
*The Gotchi King (voiced by Dan Green) - The Tamagotchi Planet's rule. While typically kind to other Tamagotchi, he seems to have a temper towards Cosmotchi, his servant. Unlike his modern counterpart, he is more human-like and has a gold head. In the 4Kids dub, he is known as the Great Gotchi. In the series multiple times, he implies he also has a son but no one knows the whereabouts of him.
*Cosmotchi (voiced by Ted Lewis) - The Gotchi King's servant. He has a stubborn yet welcoming personallity. According to the cast guide, he translates the Tamagotchi's language. It is rumored that the reason why the Gotchi King has a temper towards him is because he kicked the prince out. He is the only one of the leaders to appear in season 1.
*Princess Gotchi (voiced by Kerry Williams) - The Gotchi King's daughter. Unlike her modern counterpart Princess Tamako, she is a pink larval-like creature with fangs for teeth. She has a hyperactive personality and has a crush on Kuchipatchi.
*The Gotchi Queen (voiced by Maddie Blaustein) - The Gotchi King's wife. Unlike the Gotchi King, she seems to be more forgiving to Cosmotchi. Unlike her modern counterpart, she has more insect-like attributes.
=== Other Tamagotchis ===
* Shirotchi (voiced by Maddie Blaustein) - Debuting in season 2, an elderly and kind-hearted, yet shy Tamagotchi who runs a daycare. She is good friends with Mimitchi, and Bill has a crush on her.
* Rocketchi (voiced by Dan Green) - TBA
==== Insect Tamagotchi ====
TBA
==== Aquatic Tamagotchi ====
TBA
==== Alien Tamagotchi ====
TBA
== Episodes ==
During it's run on UPN, new episodes aired on Tuesday nights (branded as Tamagotchi Tuesdays on most UPN stations, including WWOR) or during the graveyard hours on Sunday Nights on stations that carried UPN as a secondary affiliate. The series ran for Three 26-episode seasons and UPN often won 4th place during the nights. 
During the early 2000s, another Tamagotchi show succeeding Tamagotchi Toons based on the Tamagotchi Connection series, known as "Tamagotchi Connect-Toons", was in the works for UPN (later The CW) in 2006, but this never happened, as UPN was CBS-owned at the time and the fact that mid-2006 was the time when most major UPN stations removed the affiliation in favor of MyNetworkTV.
=== Season 1 ===
TBA
=== Season 2 ===
TBA
=== Season 3 ===
Season 3 would see a slight reformat to the series. The theme song was changed to a rearranged version of "What's a Tamagotchi?", and the focus was moved towards other Tamagotchi characters, rather than the main 14. Episodes were also changed into the "3 Shorts" format, popularized by shows such as Dexter's Laboratory and Grim & Evil.
== International Broadcast ==
Tamagotchi Toons began airing in Canada on Family Channel in April 1999. Reruns had also aired in Canada on Teletoon Retro, Cartoon Network Canada, and Boomerang Canada. The French dub of the show had also aired on Télétoon in Quebec.
In Spain, the European/Castilian Spanish dub Tamagotchi Toons aired on Fox Kids Spain.
In Brazil and Latin America, Tamagotchi Toons aired on Discovery Kids.
In Germany, the German dub of Tamagotchi Toons aired on Super RTL.
In Hungary and Romania, Tamagotchi Toons aired on Minimax.
In Russia, a Russian voice-over of Tamagotchi Toons began airing on 2x2 in 2008.
== Home Media ==
Tamagotchi Toons saw various VHS and DVD releases since 1999. Paramount Home Media Distribution released most of the older Tamagotchi Toons VHS and early DVD releases with Viz Media taking over in 2007 (with Paramount still remaining as a silent distributor until 2010, when they sold the rights to Warner Bros.). Since 2011, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment distributes the show, with nearly all releases under them using the title "The Original Tamagotchi Toons", to avoid confusion with the first Tamagotchi! anime that was airing new episodes at that time on Cartoon Network. For some odd reason, one Tamagotchi Toons VHS, Takotchi vs. The Rain, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (with co-distribution by Viz Video) released it instead of Paramount in August 2001, due to a brief dispute between Viacom and Bandai America at the time. 
A 4Kids executive suggested that the home media releases should have a "logo" called "Tamagotchi Home Video", as a nod to the 1995 Barney Home Video logo. However, Bandai and Paramount rejected this idea, in order to avoid being sued by Lyrick Studios (the owners of Barney at that time). Despite this, a reference to said logo can be found in the episode "The Monster of Loch Gotchi", in the form of "Nessietchi Home Video".
In 2014, the boxset Tamagotchi Toons: The Complete Series Boxset was released.
Currently, the entire series has been uploaded to YouTube by Bandai Channel, with all instances of the Paramount Television logo (with the exception of one episode from 2002) being edited out. The only exception is the episode "Princess Gotchi's Metamorphosis" which had the 90th anniversary logo on it. The series is also available on Netflix, as "Classic Tamagotchi Toons".
== Trivia ==
* The Japanese version has no voices for the characters, they instead speak in unintelligible beeping.
* The English dub of the show premiered 5 months before the premiere of the Japanese version.
* Tarakotchi closely resembles his (or in this case, her) modern design, whilst using the International color scheme.
* Apart from Rocketchi, no Tamagotchis from the P4 appear in this series.
Category:TV Series