The Cartoon Historian Lesson 1: DIC Entertainment

Welcome Students to the first ever Cartoon History Lesson. I'm your Teacher,Stefan the Cartoon Historian. Today we will learn all about DIC Entertainment and it's unfortunate end.

Many of us who watched cartoons in the 80's and 90's probably know about DIC Entertainment and the shows it created. Nowadays,however,nobody knows Who or what DIC is. That's because it doesn't exist anymore.Wanna know what happened to it? Well,look alive class,'cuz your're about to find out.

DIC Entertainment (pronounced "deek") was an international film and television production company which was founded in 1971 as DIC Audiovisuel by frenchman Jean Chalopin in France, as a subsidiary of Radio-Television Luxembourg (RTL). So Contrary to popular belief,DIC was originally a French Company.

The company's name was originally an acronym for Diffusion, Information et Communication. In addition to animated television shows such as The Real Ghostbusters, (1986-1991),DIC produced live-action feature films while under Disney,like 1999's Inspector Gadget. This was before Disney turned to shit,but that's a lesson for another time.

Anyway,DIC'S American arm was founded in 1982 as DIC Enterprises. The company's United States headquarters, established in 1982 and headed by Andy Heyward, Robby London and Michael Maliani, were in Burbank, California. In 1986, Andy Heyward bought the company, thus making the US headquarters the main base of operations. And so,DIC became an American controlled company. DIC was definatly at it's best in the 80's.it's 80's shows were great. These great 80's shows include: The Real Ghostbusters,Inspecter Gadget,and Captain N.

In 1993, DIC Animation City (as it was then known) and Capital Cities/ABC formed a joint venture called DIC Entertainment LP and in 1995 it became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The 90's weren't that bad for DIC either. They shows like: Sonic SatAM,and Mummies Alive.In 1995,DIC aquired the licence to Dub the Sailor Moon anime. The Dub got mixed reviews from Sailor Moon fans. Today,the SM dub has a cult following.

In 2000,with an investment by Bain Capital, Heyward re-purchased DIC Enterprises (as it was then known). He purchased Bain Capital's interest in 2004 and took the company public the following year. In 2003,DIC launched a syndicated children's programming block called DiC Kids Network.Unfortunately for them,it sucked.

In early 2006, DIC Entertainment and CBS Corporation signed a multi-year deal to unveil a new 3-hour long programming block for Saturday mornings on CBS. The resulting KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS was launched the following fall. That block sucked even more. On September 15, 2007, a new programming block: KEWLopolis premiered, a joint venture between DIC, CBS, and American Greetings.This was one of DIC's biggest blunders. It was apparent that DIC's glory days were far behind them.

In April 2007, DIC Entertainment, Corus Entertainment's Nelvana and Sparrowhawk Media Group announced plans to launch KidsCo a new international children's entertainment network. It was a disaster. A disaster that DIC never recovered from. Then,On June 20, 2008, it was announced that DIC would be acquired by Cookie Jar Group,a Canadian entertainment company. And Finally,On July 23, 2008, Cookie Jar completed the acquisition of DIC Entertainment,and became Cookie Jar Entertainment,a Canadian/American(mostly canadian) Hybrid Company.


So there you have it,The rise and tragic fall of DIC. Had DIC kept on pumping out cool cartoons like they did in the 80's and 90's,maybe it would've survived and the Canadian buyout wouldn't have taken place. Y'know,I really miss DIC,It gave us such great shows in the 80's and 90's.

Rest in peace DIC. Rest in eternal peace.

DIC Entertainment
1971-2008


Well that's gonna do it for now. I hope ya'll found my Lesson interesting and entertaining. Class Dismissed.

Rock On and Stay Cold,
Stefan