Central Park Media's Websites go down, AX Message Photo

After over ten years of operation, Central Park Media's main website has finally gone offline. The website is Centralparkmedia.com . The url now leads to a page that only states "Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)". However you can use an internet achive site to retreive most if not all of the information (and some of the pictures, but not all) CPM had up on their sites. The Wayback Machine has the website achived from 1996 through 2007 (when it was last updated). You can view all the different years here , or go sraight to the most recent update here. This url was listed as something being auctioned off by CPM's liquidator, and it was also announced that it had an expiration date.

Also I have found a photo of the AX 2009 CPM Farewell Message. So here it is, courtesy of japanator.com.

Central Park Media Gives Final Farewell at Anime Expo

Central Park Media paid for an add to be printed in the Anime Expo 2009 convention's programming guide. To read the entire add, click here (courtesy of Anime News Network)

The add says:

"To all CPM Fans and Friends: It has been a wonderful twenty years working to find great anime and manga to bring to the attention of American fandom."

In addition to this message they also included a quote from the bible (which in my opinion is highly out of character for CPM). They signed the add listing all their affiliates and lables, however U.S. Manga Corps (perhaps their best known lable) was oddly not listed for unknown reasons.

Central Park Media News wishes everyone at CPM the best. The world will continue to turn without CPM around...but it will be a sader place. It just won't be the same without John O'Donnell at the head of an anime company. John O'Donnell and CPM did a lot to promote anime in North America, and to that we owe them more then they will ever know. They cleared the path for the newer companies to follow. They were the first R1 anime company to release anime on LaserDisk, DVD, release straight to DVD boxset (skipping singles), put anime online legally( to watch/to buy), put anime on PSP, make specific websites for anime series, first to co-produce a new anime title with Japan (M.D. Geist 2) and had many other "firsts" in R1 history (way too many to list here), not to mention coming up with many things that have now become standard in a U.S. release of any anime title. And you don't release anime for 19 years without making some type of an impact (on the fans and the industry). CPM will be missed. But at least we still have all their great DVD's to remember them by, and ADV's re-releases as well. And please remember to support ADV and buy any re-releases you are interested in seeing.

Central Park Media News will contiue to report on any other developments regarding Central Park Media, it's key people, it's bankruptcy, and titles licensed by them.