DiC and Studios USA Revisited
Jeff Harris, February 3. 2002 (edited and updated August 2002)
Though DiC Entertainment and Studios USA have little to nothing in common. they have both undergone major transformations. The strangest thing is both studios have positioned themselves in different directions. One company has become free of their corporate shackles while the other company has become part of a new global powerhouse.
The story of Studios USA since the original article is an extensive one. For starters, I wrote a "redemption" article about the changes that occurred the months after August in November 1999. Studios USA's Sci-Fi Channel dropped the "Channel" from their name and began a new attitude, acquired the cable rights to Bohbot Kids Network's Bulldog TV block, which included all-action shows like Roughnecks: Starship Troopers, Roswell Conspiracies, Rambo, and the anime series Monster Rancher, and returned Saturday Anime to its Saturday morning roots. However, in the first quarter of 2000, all of these acquisitions were gone, and Sci-Fi returned to mediocrity. Instead of going down with a ship, Sci-Fi actually evolved over time, concentrating on its high quality original programming like Farscape, The Guardian, G vs. E, The Invisible Man, Lexx, and Exposure, and investing in ambitious projects like a remake of Dune. Sci-Fi has become popular to a brand new audience, and above everything else, they don't need animation on their network, which is kind of sad considering that animation is a major contributor to the science fiction drama.
Notice I haven't talked about USA Network. Perhaps that's because they're a lost cause and will be forever lost in the shuffle, though they've finally cancelled the Peter Engel shows, a year before NBC decided to do likewise.
The recent announcement that Studios USA is returning to its Universal Studios roots courtesy of a merger with Italy's Vivendi Universal has a lot of entertainment gurus speculating. The fact that USA's Barry Diller owns a piece of the newly formed studio and has an active role in the management makes insiders a little giddy about the future plans of Vivendi Universal, which may include more networks being formed. This could become an interesting time. If they need programming, they could always go to the new power player of the animation industry, DiC Entertainment.
DiC's turnaround came around the end of 2000 when their former parent company Disney realized that they still owned the animation studio. A consortium, led by studio head Andy Heyward, bought the DiC name, production facilities, and library from Disney for an undisclosed price, and the new owners wasted little time forging new alliances. Their seasons of Sailor Moon were distributed by Houston-based anime distributor ADV Films while their libraries were being distributed on video by Trimark Films and Universal Home Video. DiC's first post-Disney production, an animated adaptation of the box-office bomb Evolution, had so-so ratings, but the studio continues on with new productions, finding itself in a rumored production deal with Pokemon distributor 4Kids Entertainment for shows in syndication and on the new Fox Saturday block. What makes DiC an interesting player is that they have a lot of cards on the table. They were a serious contender to buying the Golden Books Entertainment company as well as contender for the abandoned Fox and NBC Saturday blocks. Now, as a tentative partner with 4Kids, DiC has a chance to reclaim the viewers and fans it lost in the 90s. As I have learned over the years, those that air content may rule, but those who make the content is king, and DiC may reclaim that throne once again.
