In 1996, Funimation Productions licensed Dragon Ball Z for an English-language release in North America. They contracted Saban Entertainment to help distribute the series to television, and Pioneer Entertainment to handle home video distribution. The Vancouver-based Ocean Studios were hired by Funimation to dub the anime (Funimation had previously used the Ocean voice cast in their short-lived 1995 dub of Dragon Ball). Saban musicians Ron Wasserman and Jeremy Sweet, known for their work on the Power Rangers franchise, composed a new background score and theme song (nicknamed "Rock the Dragon"). Funimation's initial English dub of Dragon Ball Z had mandated cuts to content and length, which reduced the first 67 episodes into 53. It premiered in the United States on September 13, 1996 in first-run syndication, but halted production in 1998 after two seasons. This was due to Saban scaling down its syndication operations, in order to focus on producing original material for the Fox Kids block. Pioneer also ceased its home video release of the series at volume 17 (the end of the dub) and retained the rights to produce an uncut subtitled version, but did not do so.\n\nAnswer this question based on the passage: when did dragon ball z premiere in america? OK. Let's think. My stream of consciousness:
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The relevant information is: It premiered in the United States on September 13, 1996 in first-run syndication, but halted production in 1998 after two seasons. The answer is September 13 , 1996.
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