The company was founded on May 9, 1994, as FUNimation Productions. The company was originally based in Silicon Valley, but eventually relocated to North Richland Hills, Texas. They initially collaborated with other companies on "Dragon Ball", such as BLT Productions, Ocean Studios, Pioneer and Saban Entertainment. After two aborted attempts to bring the "Dragon Ball" franchise to television via first-run syndication, Cartoon Network began airing "Dragon Ball Z" as part of its Toonami programming block in 1998, which quickly became the highest-rated show on the block and garnered a large following. The success of "Dragon Ball Z" is credited for allowing Funimation to acquire other licensed titles.