Toho Co., Ltd. is a Japanese entertainment company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of films and the production and exhibition of stage plays. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Toho is best known for producing and distributing many of Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya's kaiju and tokusatsu films as well as the films of Akira Kurosawa and the anime films of Studio Ghibli, CoMix Wave Films, TMS Entertainment, and OLM, Inc. The company has released the majority of the highest-grossing Japanese films, and through its subsidiaries, the company is the largest film importer in Japan.
The history of anime can be traced back to the start of the 20th century, with the earliest verifiable films dating from 1917. Before the advent of film, Japan already had a rich tradition of entertainment with colourful painted figures moving across the projection screen in utsushi-e (写し絵), a particular Japanese type of magic lantern show popular in the 19th century. Possibly inspired by European phantasmagoria shows, utsushi-e showmen used mechanical slides and developed lightweight wooden projectors (furo) that were handheld so that several performers could each control the motions of different projected figures.
Madhouse, Inc. is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro staff, including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Rintaro is the pseudonym of Shigeyuki Hayashi, a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse, though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working in the animation industry—at age 17—as an in-between animator on the 1958 film Hakujaden. His works have won and been nominated for multiple awards, including a nomination for Best Film (Metropolis) at the 2001 Festival de Cine de Sitges.
Nippon Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City.
Anime-influenced animation or Animesque is a type of non-Japanese works of animation that are similar to or inspired by anime that is not made in Japan. Generally, the term anime refers to a style of animation originating from Japan. As Japanese anime became increasingly popular, Western animation studios began implementing some visual stylizations typical in anime—such as exaggerated facial expressions and "super deformed" versions of characters.
DongWoo Animation Co. Ltd is an animation studio located in Seoul, South Korea. It has produced many animated series and films created and produced in the United States, Canada, South Korea and Japan. The current CEO of the studio is Kim Young-doo.
Nasu: Summer in Andalusia is a 2003 Japanese anime film by Madhouse, directed by Kitarō Kōsaka, the famed animation supervisor of the Oscar-winning anime film Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke and long-time collaborator of Studio Ghibli, and adapted from a short 3-tankōbon manga by Iō Kuroda, entitled Nasu, which was serialized in the Afternoon manga magazine.
Marvel Animation Inc. is an American animation production company. It was incorporated on January 25, 2008 to direct Marvel's efforts in animation and home entertainment markets. The incorporated Marvel Animation included then ongoing animation efforts by Marvel Studios with Lionsgate and Nickelodeon. Marvel Animation operates under Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company.
LeSean Thomas is an American television animation producer, director, animator, comic book artist, writer, character designer, and storyboard artist, based in Meguro, Tokyo.
Polygon Pictures, Inc. is a Japanese 3DCG animation studio.
Masao Maruyama is a Japanese anime producer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Madhouse, as well as the founder of MAPPA and Studio M2 animation studios. He is the current Chairman of MAPPA and President of Studio M2 and Board member of N LITE Japan.
Studiopolis, Inc. is an American post-production studio located in Studio City, Los Angeles. It specializes in voiceover recording and dubbing for cartoon, anime, and video game projects. They were formerly known as Screenmusic Studios and then Studio E Productions until 2005. The studio is owned by Jamie Simone. It has another studio located in Burbank, California.
Ponyo is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi, and distributed by Toho. The film stars Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Kazushige Nagashima, Yūki Amami, George Tokoro, Rumi Hiiragi, Akiko Yano, Kazuko Yoshiyuki and Tomoko Naraoka. It is the eighth film Miyazaki directed for Studio Ghibli, and his tenth overall. The film tells the story of Ponyo, a goldfish who escapes from the ocean and is helped by a five-year-old human boy, Sōsuke, after she is washed ashore while trapped in a glass jar. As they bond with each other, Ponyo desires to become a human girl, against the devastating circumstances brought about by her acquisition and use of magic.
Tetsurō Araki is a Japanese animator, storyboard artist, and director. He goes by the alias Mochizuki Saburō when working as an episode director and key animator. He is best known as the director of the widely acclaimed anime adaptations of Death Note and the first three seasons of Attack on Titan.
Yona Yona Penguin (よなよなペンギン) is a 2009 animated fantasy adventure film produced by the Japanese anime studio Madhouse and sister company Dynamo Pictures. An international co-production of Japan and France, it was Madhouse's first fully 3D CGI film. Rintaro, known for Galaxy Express 999 and Metropolis, directed the project, while French production company Denis Friedman Productions collaborated and helped fund the film.
Mamoru Hosoda is a Japanese film director and animator. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Animated Feature Film at the 91st Academy Awards for his seventh film Mirai.
Studio Chizu is a Japanese animation studio based in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. It was co-founded by Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito in 2011. Studio Chizu has won three Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year awards. The image in their logo is a reference to Makoto Konno, the main character of the Hosoda-directed 2006 film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
TMS Entertainment Co., Ltd., formerly known as the Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd., also known as Tokyo Movie or Kyokuichi Tokyo Movie, is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946.
Kazuhide Tomonaga is a Japanese director, animator, storyboarder, and cartoonist. he has worked at Toei Animation, Group TAC, Oh! Production, and TMS Entertainment. He is currently a director at Telecom Animation Film Company. He is a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). His style inspired another famous animator, Naotoshi Shida.
