Animation Studio - Japanese Studios

Japanese Studios

The first known example of Japanese animation, also called anime, is dated around 1907, but it would take till 1956 for the Japanese animation industry to successfully adopt the studio format as used in America and Europe and it would take till 1961 for the productions to be aired in America. Till the formation of Toei Animation in 1956, the first Japanese animation studio of importance, the animators remained as independent anime artists, though some still exist.

After the formation of Toei Animation Co. Ltd. in 1956, the Japanese studios churned out minor works of animation. But with the release of Toei's first theatrical feature, The Tale of the White Serpent released in October 1958, the animation industry in Japan came in to the eye of the general public. Toei followed the Disney formula for their first few animated featured films, i.e. they usually retold a folk tale, produced and distributed only one feature per year and the heroes had animal companions.

Due to their lack of popularity in the American markets, Japanese theatrical productions were not screened in America for the better part of the next two decades. However, the success of Alakazam the Great led to the finding of artist Osamu Tezuka, who would go on to become the father of Japanese manga with his brand of modern, fast paced fantasy story lines. He became influenced by Hanna-Barbera productions of the late 1950s and made Japan's first made for television animation studio, Mushi Productions. The success of the studios' first show in 1963, Astro Boy, was so immense that there were 3 other television animation studios by the end of the year and Toei had opened their own made for television division. The greatest difference between Japanese studios and North American studios was the difference in adult themed material to make way in Japan. Tezuka's thought that animation should not be restricted to kids alone has brought about many studios that are employed in the production of adult themed adaptations of classic stories such as Heidi (Heidi, Girl of the Alps), One Thousand and One Nights and The Diary of a Young Girl to name a few.

In the 1980s, animation studios were led back to their theatrical roots due to the success of Hayao Miyazaki's film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which led publishing house Tokuma Shoten to finance a new animation studio, Studio Ghibli, which would be used for the personal works of Miyazaki and his close friend, Isao Takahata. Many of Ghibli's works have become Japan's top grossing theatrical films, whether in live-action or animated form.