4KIDS ENTERTAINMENT NAMED WORLDWIDE LICENSING,
MARKETING AND PROMOTIONAL AGENT
FOR ANIMATION COLLECTIVE’S ELLEN’S ACRES

New Animated Preschool Series Scheduled to Debut September 2006
On Cartoon Network

NEW YORK, NY (April 17, 2006) – 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) announced today that it has been appointed the exclusive worldwide licensing agent for Animation Collective’s preschool television series, Ellen’s Acres.

4Kids Entertainment will manage all marketing, promotions and licensing initiatives for Ellen’s Acres. The new animated series is expected to run weekday mornings on Cartoon Network beginning in September 2006. 4Kids plans to launch a merchandise licensing program in 2007.

Created by Larry Schwarz, Ellen’s Acres is a preschool comedy about a 5-year-old girl named Ellen, her feather duster, her radial tire, the hotel she owns and her amazing adventures. Actually, the hotel belongs to her parents, but the amazing adventures part is totally true. There’s not a lot to do and there aren’t any other kids Ellen’s age at Emerald Acres Hotel, 39 miles outside Tonapah, Nevada. Ellen’s only companions are her parents, the folks that work at the hotel and the guests. But Ellen’s got a big imagination…Actually, it’s totally enormous!

“Ellen’s Acres is bound to capture the hearts and creative instincts of young girls everywhere,” said Alfred R. Kahn, Chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment. “This deal is also a key part of our strategy to strengthen our presence in the girls market.”

“Ellen’s Acres is all about play and we could have no better partner than 4Kids Entertainment to bring Ellen’s world of imagination to children,” said Larry Schwarz, CEO of Animation Collective. “This deal also deepens our successful relationship with 4Kids beyond Kappa Mikey and YoMonkeys.”

4Kids Entertainment also serves as the worldwide licensing, marketing and promotional agent for Animation Collective’s popular animated series Kappa Mikey – which airs on Nicktoons Network in the U.S. and will debut later this year on Nickelodeon channels worldwide – and YoMonkeys, a children’s yoga-inspired series.

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About 4Kids Entertainment

Headquartered in New York City with international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) is a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing. 4Kids, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides domestic and international merchandise licensing; television, film, music and home video production and distribution; media planning and buying; product development; and Web site development. For further information, visit the Company’s Web sites at www.4KidsEntertainment.com and www.4Kids.TV.

About Animation Collective:

New York City-based Animation Collective (www.animationcollective.com) is a leader in creating animated children’s programming for television, the Internet and home video. Larry Schwarz is the creator and executive producer of all of Animation Collective's original television series including Kappa Mikey – Nickelodeon’s first ever global acquisition, recently picked up for a second season – Leader Dog, and Tortellini Western for Nicktoons Network and Ellen's Acres and HTDT for Cartoon Network. In addition, Schwarz served as producer of Wulin Warriors for Cartoon Network and the first season of The Incredible Crash Dummies for 4KidsTV. Animation Collective is the largest provider of original content for KOL, America Online's kids channel and Red, its teen channel. Its first multi-platform success, Princess Natasha for America Online, can be seen as a TV series on Cartoon Network and will be released later this year as a book series from Little, Brown, a comic book series from DC Comics and as licensed consumer products.

The information contained in this press release, other than historical information, consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important factors beyond the Company's control, including general economic conditions, consumer spending levels, competition from toy companies, motion picture studios and other licensing companies, the uncertainty of public response to the Company's properties and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations.

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CONTACT:

4Kids Entertainment
Jeffrey Klein or Karyn Barr
Dan Klores Communications
212-981-5189 or 212-981-5263
jeff_klein@dkcnews.com /karyn_barr@dkcnews.com

Animation Collective
Annalise Carol
212- 947-1099
annalise@animationcollective.com