Meet the man who made Pokemon an international phenomenon
Al Kahn also introduced us to the Cabbage Patch Kids and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but his biggest success may be the Pokemania currently sweeping the globe
You probably don’t know him, but Al Kahn is likely to have had an enormous influence on your life. As a licensing executive, Kahn has spent more than 30 years distributing and promoting iconic brands including the Cabbage Patch Kids, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, James Bond and the anime and video game Yu-Gi-Oh!
But the true highlight of his career may be that he is responsible for Pokemania – an accomplishment that may make you either praise or curse him. Kahn is the one who persuaded the company behind the “Pocket Monsters” card and Game Boy games to bring the franchise out of Japan and introduce it to the world.
He also happens to be the one who decided that the franchise should be called “Pokemon”.
The franchise – a monster-collecting card and video game inspired by creator Satoshi Tajiri’s childhood bug collection – was a notable hit in Japan in the early 1990s. Kahn, then working with a group called 4Kids Entertainment, was visiting the country on business from the US on other licensing work with Nintendo.
While there, Kahn saw something very unusual.