What happened to Escaflowne on Fox Kids?

In August 2000, Fox Kids Network began broadcasting Escaflowne in the United States, in a version produced by Saban Entertainment under license from Bandai Entertainment. The edits were structural, not cosmetic. The first episode was skipped altogether, its material recycled as flashbacks; new "flashback" sequences were inserted throughout; Hitomi's role was heavily downplayed to refocus the show on action for Fox's target audience of young boys; and Yoko Kanno's score was partially replaced with techno rearrangements by Inon Zur. Three episodes (the original 9th, 18th, and 20th) were cut down and merged into others, shrinking the series from 26 episodes to 23.

Fox cancelled it after ten aired episodes, citing low ratings, and explained the edits as necessary to meet its target audience, broadcast standards, and timeslot. Canada's YTV then aired all 23 dubbed episodes from September 11, 2000, saving the true first episode for last, in February 2001. Bandai's VHS release of the edited dub was discontinued after four volumes the same month, while the uncut series, released by Bandai on DVD in its original order, became the version that sold: American fans had already made the subtitled tapes outsell Gundam.