The Kozo Story!

Summer 2003 is when it all started... for me at least. On my usual travels around the internet, I happened across a link to watch Kozo... I loved it! But I had forgotten the link, so I searched through my temporary internet files until I found it.. and uploaded it to my web site. Then I passed the link around to a couple of friends.

Then I headed off for my usual vacation for about two weeks or so, and when I came back, I did what every good web master would do: I check my site, stats, and email! My email was LOADED with people complaining that they couldn't see kozo anymore, or that their friend told them to check it out, but the link was dead. So off to my stats I went and I found that 105793 people had come to see kozo in just two weeks; and those 105793 people (each watching it about 12 times), used up 160gigs of transfer! For that to make sense to you, a single person would have had to download it 1269516 times and it would have probably filled up their computer 4 or more times! My host had disabled access to the file (I thank them for doing only that... most hosts would have kicked me to the curb!) so I posted a little note saying that too much bandwidth had been used, and I was sorry, but I couldn't host kozo anymore.

Then something new happened! I started getting over 300 emails per week asking to see Kozo just once more ("just send me the link, I swear I wont tell anyone else!") and some people even apologized for using so much bandwidth. But even with all these emails, it wasn't until one of the very last that some one actually offered to help! That inspired me to start up this fan site. The first version was just thrown together to get it back out there. This one looks a lot nicer, in my opinion at least :D

Kozo has spread world wide! Besides the countless web sites with links to kozo, message boards, blogs, news posts etc... word of mouth helped the spread too! Teachers, parents, friends, family, school, work, messenger profiles, email forwards.. every one was spreading the word. Kozo has also on TV in commercials in MULTIPLE countries! French Canadian TV (Vrak), TV in Spain, Brazil (Estilo Ramy - Gazeta), a "key tones" commercial in Holland and the UK, A noite é uma crianca - Bandcirantes network, TV in the USA (WGN Channel 9 News with Larry), in Australia it is a TV commercial for 2day FM and Fox FM, with kozo dancing to different music, TV in Japan, a German music show called Viva, on MTV in Poland. Kozo is also in print: El Mercurio (a news paper in Chile), Next Step (a magazine), a magazine in Argentina... and it has been played during lectures and presentations, in places you may sometimes not expect, like CHURCH! also, at the end of a business meeting in the states, at the end of a lecture in the U.K. at a youth specialties workshop in Cainton Michigan, in a mall at an AOL booth in Puerto Rico, and in a Hip-Hop club in the Dominican Republic!

And that's only what has been reported to me! Who knows what else is out there! Not included are things like news items from strictly online sources. I am approaching 5000 emails of people telling how much they enjoy Kozo, how they watch it when they're feeling down and it complely brightens up their day. Emails about how people have sent kozo to loved ones serving in Iraq, how it helps them cheer up their little daughter when she is in a pouty mood. Emails with thoughts from people 5 years old, to 50 years old. Emails of thanks, and in the case of 1 out of every 500 emails a comment like "Well... that was kinda gross!"

But the thing is Kozo is still going strong. People still love Kozo, they are still checking out the site, and they are still telling all their friends! One thing that is ALWAYS asked is WILL THERE BE ANNOTHER KOZO? Will kozo dance to another song? Well, the answer from Duck Studios is a resounding YES! Expect it to be here the moment it becomes available!

UPDATES!

Well, another year, another road block. At the end of March 2005 we were contacted by Warner Chapelle, the owners of the rights to the song which Kozo dances to. They told us we needed to remove Kozo or suffer legal consequence. Obviously we removed it as soon as we could. The way we over-came this road block was we finally got a NEW KOZO! animation up on the site. Kozo vs. The Vending Machine. It is not a music video, but it IS funny. News through the grape vine is to keep your eyes open for a new Music Video from Kozo. When it is out, you know where it will be - the story WILL continue.

Stats!

All Time Stats (June 2003 - Sept. 2004):

Number of Unique Visitors:		534990 (1176/day)
Number of Hits:		6101617 (13410/day)
Amount of transfer (bandwidth) used:		864 GIG (fills 29 computers)
Most Popular Month:		July 2003, Just beating out June 2003
Number of Emails:		7082 (71/week)
Favorite Comment:	There are many, but this is one of the first: In today's world, things change so fast, people are so unpredictable... it is nice to have something to be able to turn to... something that is always there and you can accept just for what it is. For me, Kozo is exactly that. Thank you! Kozo keeps me laughing!

Stats from the past Month (March 2005):

Number of Unique Visitors:		53037 (1711/day)
Number of Hits:		1188873 (38351/day)
Amount of transfer (bandwidth) used:		73 GIG (2411mb/day)
Number of Emails:		293 (73/week)
Favorite Comment:	I play this every Friday to get my weekend started right!!
Most Used Search Strings: (top 3 of 257)		Kozo, dancing hippo, purple hippo
Biggest Referer:		google.com/search
Number of different countries coming to see Kozo:		at least 91

FAQ! Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. What happened to the other Kozo movie?
a - Warner Chapelle said it had to be removed for legal reasons.

Q. Who made Kozo, and who made this web page?
a - Lane Nakamura, a director at Duck Studios is the creator of Kozo (California, USA). This fan page is completely un-related, and was made by myself (Canada). I am a web designer [Web Site]

Q. What is this page for?
a - So many people wanted to see Kozo, I simply had to find a way to get it to them. This is my way of sharing Kozo with as many people as possible!

Q. How do I watch Kozo?
a - Just go to the main page of this site, and click on the dancing letters that say "Click Here to Watch." If you don't see those words on the main page, you may need to download the flash player. At the bottom of every page there is a link to get flash. You can install it, it is safe.

Q. How do i download Kozo?
a - We are making as many versions as possible for you so that you can watch kozo on your own computer whenever you like. The More Kozo page will have many downloads. Just choose what your looking for and the proper file type for your computer and save it. You may also need to have WinZip installed. This program is also safe to install and use (it is also free!)