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Toei Animation Co., Ltd. (Japanese: 東映アニメーション株式会社, Hepburn: Tōei Animēshon Kabushiki-gaisha; /ˈtoʊ.eɪ/)[a] is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It was originally founded on January 23, 1948, as Japan Animated Films by Kenzō Masaoka and Sanae Yamamoto.
Former studio building in Nerima, Tokyo after the 1964 expansion. The building was demolished in 2014 to make room for a larger studio building in the same location (pictured below) with the Toei Animation Gallery being rebranded to the Toei Animation Museum in the process.
Early history
The studio was founded by animators Kenzō Masaoka and Sanae Yamamoto in 1948 as Japan Animated Films (日本動画映画, Nihon Dōga Eiga) often shortened to Nichidō Eiga (日動映画). In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was renamed Toei Animation Co., Ltd. (東映動画株式会社, Tōei Dōga Kabushiki-gaisha; "dōga" is Japanese for "video", and in some extent "animation"). In 1998, the Japanese name was renamed to match with the English name. It has created a number of TV series and movies and adapted Japanese comics as animated series, many popular worldwide. Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Yasuji Mori, Leiji Matsumoto and Yōichi Kotabe have worked with the company.[5] Toei was a shareholder in the Japanese anime satellite television network Animax with other anime studios and production companies, such as Sunrise, TMS Entertainment and Nihon Ad Systems Inc.[6][7][8]
Although the Toei Company usually contracts Toei Animation to handle its animation internally for some of their works, they occasionally hire other companies to provide animation; although the Toei Company produced the Robot Romance Trilogy, Sunrise (then known as Nippon Sunrise) provided the animation. Toei Company would also enlist the help of other studios such as hiring Academy Productions to produce the animation for Space Emperor God Sigma, rather than use their own studio. Since 1962, Toei Animation uses its own production offices rather than using Toei's television division.
Toei Animation's anime which have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award are Galaxy Express 999 in 1981, Saint Seiya in 1987 and Sailor Moon in 1992. In addition to producing anime for release in Japan, Toei Animation began providing animation for American films and television series during the 1960s and particularly during the 1980s.
Later history and ransomware attack
In October 2021, Toei Animation announced that they had signed a strategic partnership with the South Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM.[9]
On March 6, 2022, an incident occurred in which an unauthorized third party attempted to hack Toei Animation's network, which resulted in the company's online store and internal systems becoming temporarily suspended. The company investigated the incident and stated that the hack would affect the broadcast schedules of several anime series, including One Piece.[10][11] In addition, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was also rescheduled to June 11, 2022, due to the hack.[12][13][14] On April 6, 2022, Toei Animation announced that it would resume broadcasting the anime series, including One Piece.[15][16] The following day, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that the hack was caused by a targeted ransomware attack.[17]
On June 5, 2025, the company announced a new animation production label known as Eterna Animation which would focus on original works with the label's first work, Foxing announced at the same time with the short being released during 2026.[18]
On August 26 of that year, the company announced the establishment of another studio in Osaka. The "Osaka Studio" would act as its second domestic animation studio further expanding Toei Animation's production work as well as recruiting artists from the Kansai region and build ties with the local community. According to Toei Animation board member and head of production Kiichiro Yamada, he states that the labor shortage in the Japanese animation industry is a serious issue and that the studio feels that it has an urgency to recruit creators and open studios across other regions in Japan rather than having to deal with the Tokyo studio.[19]
Subsidiaries
Subsidiary
Notes
TAVAC (Toei Audio Visual Art Center)
Toei's recording facility that specializes in Japanese audio, video and sound effects, and Japanese dubbing
Toei Animation Music Publishing (music division)
the company's music department that maintains links with the music publishers connected with TV stations, manufacturing corporations, and productions
Toei Animation Phils., Inc. (Philippine division)
the company's division that provides animation assistance for the majority of Toei-produced anime
Toei's division located in Los Angeles; responsible for the program licensing of Toei-produced series to North America, Latin America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand[20]
Toei Doga US Services, Inc.
U.S. domestic stock
Toei Animation Europe S.A.S. (European division)
Toei's European division based in Paris, France; it engages in the production, marketing, and licensing of animation products in Europe
Toei Animation Enterprises Limited (Hong Kong division)
established in Hong Kong as a joint venture with Animation International Limited in 1997;[4] it is a wholly owned subsidiary since 2009[21]
NOTE: A few of these productions have no involvement by Toei Animation, but rather Toei Company financing other animation studios instead to produce them.
Inspired by the manga Kaze no Ishimaru by Sanpei Shirato; animated by Yasuji Mori and Hayao Miyazaki; the anime was renamed Kaze no Fujimaru in order to associate it with its sponsor, Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals (now Astellas Pharma)
It is the first anime-based series produced in Japan for an American company (not counting Rankin/Bass' previous Animagic stop motion productions, which were also animated in Japan).
Adapted from the manga, which was originally titled Sunny the Witch upon first serialization, but by the time this program aired, it was changed to Sally the Witch by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, which was serialized in Shueisha's Ribon magazine for girls; episodes 1 through 17 episodes of this TV anime were filmed in black-and-white, and the remainder of the series (episodes 18 through 109) was filmed in color, making it one of the earliest color anime, alongside Mushi Production's Kimba the White Lion in 1965 and Tatsunoko Production's Speed Racer in 1967.
Adapted from the manga Hakaba no Kitaro and GeGeGe no Kitaro by Shigeru Mizuki which were serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine from 1960 to 1969
Adapted from the manga Cyborg 009 by Shotaro Ishinomori, which was serialized in Shonen Gahosha's Monthly Shonen King, Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine, Akita Shoten's Monthly Boken-Oh, and Mushi Production's COM magazines from 1964 to 1969; it is also a continuation of the 1966–1967 anime film serial, although it is in monochrome, unlike the films, which were in color
Adapted from the manga by comedy-king Fujio Akatsuka, which was serialized from 1962 to 1965 in Shueisha's Ribon magazine, as the first magical girl manga series; while Sally the Witch was the first magical girl anime to hit the airwaves.
It was an international co-production between the US and Japan. Animation was by Toei Animation (Japan) with help from Korean studio Big Star, but the scripts and voices were all in English. It aired on CBS in the US in 1987.
Natsuyasumi Ninki Anime Matsuri: Arare-chan!! Sen-nen Joō no Shōtai wa?!
First Dr. Slump special and crossover of Dr. Slump Arale-chan and Queen Millennia; features the Dr. Slump special segment "Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: Huh!? Penguin Village Through the TV Jack" ("Dr. Suranpu Arare-chan: ayaya!? Pengin mura de terebijakku") and a brief recap through the first ten episodes of the Queen Millennia series
Second Dr. Slump special; features the three respective segments "Penguin Village SOS!!" ("Pengin mura SOS!!"), "Affairs of the Heart!" ("Hāto de shōbu!") and "Anything is OK, Mr. Handy" (" Nandemo OK Ōcha-kun")
Originally aired in April 1986 to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the Kansai Electric Power Company, who sponsored and produced the film; Leiji Matsumoto was credited for the film's development, even though he had nothing to do with its inception. Distributed by the Mainichi Movie Company
Special aired in between episodes 131 and 132 of the series respectively; features the three respective segments "A Beautiful Transformation? The Journey and Growth of the Crybaby Usagi", "Haruka and Michiru Return: The Ghostly Puppet Play" and "Chibiusa's Adventure: The Vampire Mansion of Terror"
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS Gaiden: Ami-chan no Hatsukoi
Hokuto no Ken 6: Gekitou Denshouken - Haou heno Michi
1992
Hokuto no Ken 7: Seiken Retsuden - Denshousha heno Michi
1993
Koede Asobu: Heart Catch PreCure!
2010
Enka no Pandemica
2014
Re:Ver Project -Tokyo- (co-developed with Nestopi)[54]
2025
Dubbing
Animated productions by foreign studios dubbed in Japanese by Toei are The Mystery of the Third Planet (1981 Russian film, dubbed in 2008); Les Maîtres du temps (1982 French-Hungarian film, dubbed in 2014), Alice's Birthday (2009 Russian film, dubbed in 2013) and Becca's Bunch (2018 television series, dubbed in 2021 to 2022).
Toei has been commissioned to provide animation by Japanese and American studios such as Sunbow Entertainment, Marvel Productions, Hanna-Barbera, DIC Entertainment, Rankin/Bass Productions and World Events Productions (DreamWorks Animation). In the 60's, they primarily worked with Rankin/Bass, but beginning in the 80's, they worked with Marvel Productions and their list of clients grew, until the end of the decade. Toei didn't provide much outsourced animation work in the 90's and since the 2000s has only rarely worked with other companies outside Japan.
On December 7, 2021, Toei Animation copyright claimed over 150 videos by YouTuber Totally Not Mark, real name Mark Fitzpatrick.[59] He uploaded a video addressing the issue, claiming that they were protected under fair use, and that nine of the videos do not include any Toei footage. He also outlined the appeal process on YouTube, and estimated having the videos reinstated could take over 37 years. He then goes on to announce that he would not be supporting new Toei releases until the issue had been resolved, and also called for a boycott on the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero film.[60] The dispute sparked discussion on YouTube on the vulnerability of creators against the copyright system and lack of fair use laws in Japan, with YouTubers such as PewDiePie and The Anime Man speaking out on the issue.[61][62]
On January 26, 2022, Fitzpatrick had his videos reinstated after negotiations with YouTube.[63]
Treatment of employees
On January 20, 2021, two employees have accused Toei Animation of overworking their employees and discrimination towards sexual minorities. The company had inappropriately referred to employees who identifies as X-gender (a non-binary identity in Japan).[64][65]
↑"PRESS | 香港子会社を100%子会社に" (in Japanese). corp.toei-anim.co.jp. January 15, 2009. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
↑尾田栄一郎. "放送局 | TVアニメ | 原作・アニメ情報". ONE PIECE.com（ワンピース ドットコム） (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
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US$134.69 million (2021) [1] 
