DIC Entertainment

DiC Entertainment (pronounced "deek", rendered "DiC") was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated (and occasionally live-action) television shows such as Inspector Gadget (1983–1986), Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990-1993), Madeline (1993-1994), Sonic the Hedgehog (1993-1994), Sabrina, The Animated Series, (1999-2000), Liberty's Kids (2002-2003), Super Duper Sumos (2002-2003), Strawberry Shortcake (2003-2008) and Trollz (2005-2006). DIC produced live-action feature films while under Disney, including 1998's Meet the Deedles and 1999's Inspector Gadget.

The company was founded in 1971 as DIC Audiovisuel by Frenchman Jean Chalopin in Paris as a subsidiary of RTL Group (RTL), Europe's leading entertainment company. "DIC" was originally an acronym for Diffusion, Information et Communication. DIC later opened a US office in Burbank. Andy Heyward then bought the company in 1986 and DiC became an American company. DIC was also known as The Incredible World of DiC, '''DiC. Audiovisuel, DiC Enterprises,  DIC Animation City and DIC Productions'''. In 2008, DIC was acquired by Cookie Jar Group and the DIC name ceased to exist.

DIC Enterprises
DIC Audiovisuel's American arm was founded in 1982 as DIC Enterprises, headed by Andy Heyward, Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi, in Burbank, California.

In 1985, DIC opened their own Japan-based animation facility for animation production on some of their shows (such as the second seasons of Inspector Gadget and Heathcliff, among other shows), so they wouldn't have to mostly deal with other overseas animation subcontractors.

In 1986, Heyward and other investors bought the company, thus making the US headquarters the main base of operations. After the buyout, Chalopin and Bianchi, along with producer Tetsuo Katayama, left DIC and were replaced by Robby London and Michael Maliani.

After the buyout, the company was in heavy debt and the foreign rights to the DIC library were sold to Saban Productions, who then sold the rights back to Chalopin. At the time, Heyward considered Chalopin an enemy, despite the fact that Heyward took over the company from Chalopin to begin with. DIC sued Saban for damages; in 1991, both companies reached a settlement.

In 1989, the company's name was changed to DiC Animation City.

ABC subsidiary
In 1993, DIC Animation City and Capital Cities/ABC formed a joint venture called DIC Entertainment LP. With ABC in 1994, DiC programmed two children's blocks, Dragon Club and Panda Club, in China. In 1996, DIC became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, following Disney's acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. In May 1998, DIC agreed to provide a children's programming block, Freddy's Firehouse, to soon to be launched Pax Net.

Independent
In 2000, with an investment by Bain Capital, Heyward re-purchased DIC Enterprises. Heyward purchased Bain Capital's interest in 2004 and took the company public the following year.

In January 2003, DIC announced three syndicated children's programming E/I blocks called DiC Kids Network.

In 2005, Mexico City-based Ánima Estudios was considering a partnership with DIC Entertainment. However, the latter studio wanted to focus independently on its own projects.

DIC Entertainment and CBS Corporation agreed to a new 3-hour long programming block for Saturday mornings on CBS called KOL Secret Slumber Party, which was launched on September 15, 2006. On September 15, 2007, a new programming block KEWLopolis premiered, a joint venture between DIC, CBS, and American Greetings.

In April 2007, DIC Entertainment, Nelvana and NBC Universal Global Networks announced plans to launch KidsCo, a new international children's entertainment network.

On June 20, 2008, it was announced that DIC Entertainment would be acquired by Cookie Jar Group. On July 23, 2008, the deal was completed, and DIC was immediately folded into Cookie Jar Entertainment.

Freddy's Firehouse
Freddy's Firehouse (FFH) was a TV children's educational program block of DIC and distributed by Buena Vista International, both Disney affiliates in May 1998. At the block's start, most of the programming would be from DIC's library and was planned to air on Pax Net for two years with it running on weekends with three hours on Saturday and two hours on Sunday. Buena Vista would be free to sell to other outlets international. However Pax went with their own Cloud 9 block.