@Tamike:
He approved the Funimation cast but did no say in the 4kids cast. The reason he had a say in the Funimation cast was because they wanted to make sure that the voices were done right this time. But yes Toei did approve of the 4kids actors but they did not encourage them to make the choices they did. Here's how it basically went. "Toei: Hey which company should we let dub One Piece? The company with the two huge money makers Pokemon and Yugioh or the company thats only big show is DBZ? Lets go with the one with Pokemon and Yugioh since there more likely to get us some money when they dub and release it. 4kids: Hey we decided the voices for the characters and the edits were going to make and all that so what do you say? Toei: Well since you guys are the ones that turned Pokemon and Yugioh into such big moneymakers then alright I guess we'll trust you so go ahead and do whatever you feel the need to do. 4kids: Thanks. 3 years later with all of the hate for the dub that they saw Toei decided to check out the 4kids dub and see why everyone hated it and why it wasn't making much money for 4kids. Toei: Alright lets take a look at the dub. "5 Minutes later". WHAT THE HECK IS THIS GARBAGE?! SO THAT'S THE SHOW ISN'T DOING GOOD IN AMERICA. WE LET 4KIDS DO THIS TO ONE OF OUR BIGGEST SHOWS?! 4KIDS WERE PULLING THE PLUG WITH YOU AND WERE GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE TO LOOK FOR SOMEONE TO DUB IT! Oh Funimation has been getting more popular in recent years and everyone loves them so lets give it to them! But we have to to be careful that they don't screw it up so were going to work hand and hand with them and keep on eye on every move they make when it comes to One Piece to make sure they get it right!"
And that's pretty much what happened. So Toei did not actually pick out the voice actors or anything and basically all they did was just say yes to everything 4kids thought was right thinking that they knew what they were doing but then they realized their mistake and took it away from 4kids.
Yeah this is pretty much it, although I don't think Toei Animation was oblivious to what 4Kids was doing, I'm sure they approved everything. I remember talking to a Toei Animation guy at Anime Expo in '07, thanking him for letting FUNimation take over "One Piece". When I asked if he liked the 4Kids version he said,"…No".
There were multiple factors for "One Piece" making the switch from 4Kids to FUNimation. I think 4Kids and Toei Animation were obviously mutually disappointed with how "One Piece" did. I'm sure 4Kids cancelled it voluntarily, rather than being forced by Toei Animation it was probably a mutual decision. And FUNimation and Toei Animation had a mutual desire to continue it in America. My friend asked at the same Toei Animation booth at Anime Expo '07 about why FUNimation took "One Piece" over from 4Kids. Fan outcry was one of the main reasons, another had to do merchandising. I don't know if there was anything else to it. I remember talking to someone from Toei Animation on the phone years ago (don't ask how) and he explained as well that they changed the target audience from little kids to teens.
@LuffyWinner:
I wanted Naruto fanboys to share the pain One Piece has been through. Naruto got a decent dub when it aired on TV so they don't know the pain of 4Kids buying and turning their show into crap (Which it is now) XD
The fanbases could've had so much more in common, we'd be united in our sorrow lol. Well it would certainly suck for fans of both series, which there are plenty of. I'm glad "Naruto" got the deal it did (I'm not a fan but most of what I've seen of it is pretty decent). It was good for the fans but more importantly anime on T.V. and mainstream consciousness of anime. It helped as well that "One Piece" came on after "Naruto" at least. Well. at most "Naruto" fans feel the pain of the "Shippuden" getting stuck on Disney XD with less promotion, worse timeslots, and perhaps more editing than when the first series was on Cartoon Network.