Saban Entertainment
Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name, BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent US-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, which was originally founded as a music production company under the name, Saban Productions. The first TV show produced by Saban is the live action/animated show Kidd Video.
The logo used from 1996 to 2001 | |
| Formerly | Saban Productions, Inc. (1980–1989) Saban Entertainment, Inc. (1989–2001) |
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| Industry | Animation Filmmaking |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founders | Haim Saban Shuki Levy |
| Defunct | October 1, 2002 |
| Fate | Acquired by The Walt Disney Company (2001) then went dormant (2014) |
| Successors | Library: BVS Entertainment (2002–2014) Disney General Entertainment Content (2014–present) Power Rangers Franchise: Saban Brands (2010–2018) Hasbro (2018–present) |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Television programs Theatrical films |
| Owner | Haim Saban (1980–2001) |
| Parent | Independent
(1980-2001) (between 1996-2001 one of the main shareholders of the Fox Family Worldwide JV along with News Corp.)
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| Subsidiaries | Saban International N.V. (l.k.a. BVS International N.V.) Saban International Services, Inc. (l.k.a. BVS International Services, Inc.) Saban International Paris (l.k.a. SIP Animation) (1991-2012, as minority stake owner, 2012-2023, as sole shareholder partner) Créativité et Développement (1996-1998) Saban Consumer Products (l.k.a. Active Licensing Europe/Jetix Consumer Products) Ventura Film Distributors B.V. Libra Pictures |
The company imported, dubbed, and adapted various Japanese series such as Maple Town, Noozles, Funky Fables, Samurai Pizza Cats, and the first three Digimon series to North American and international markets over syndication, including both animation and live-action shows. Saban also adapted various tokusatsu shows from Toei Company, including Power Rangers (based on the Super Sentai series), Big Bad Beetleborgs (based on Juukou B-Fighter), VR Troopers (featuring elements of Metal Hero series such as Space Sheriff Shaider, Jikuu Senshi Spielban, and Choujinki Metalder), and Masked Rider (an original interpretation using scenes from the Japanese Kamen Rider Black RX).
Saban was involved in the co-production of French/US animated shows created by Jean Chalopin for DIC Entertainment. Some of these early 1980s co-productions were Camp Candy, Ulysses 31, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, and The Mysterious Cities of Gold (the third of which was a Japanese co-production).
Saban has also distributed and provided music for television programs produced by other companies such as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Inspector Gadget and the first two dubbed seasons of Dragon Ball Z.
In the 1990s, Saban also operated a production company Libra Pictures, which was targeted to older audiences than it was on Saban's normal kid-friendly output, as well as a syndicated subsidiary Saban Domestic Distribution, whose primarily purpose was to distribute shows for first-run and off-net syndication.