Nippon Animation

Nippon Animation

Nippon Animation logo.
Type	Animation film studio
Industry	Media and Entertainment
Founded	1962
Headquarters	Koganei, Tokyo, Japan
Products	Animated feature films (Anime)
Website	www.nippon-animation.co.jp/

Nippon Animation (日本アニメーション, Nippon Animēshon^?) 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.

Nippon Animation is famous for producing numerous anime series based on works of literature such as Anne of Green Gables and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, co-founders of the famous Studio Ghibli, directed several episodes in the World Masterpiece Theater series.

Company history

What is now Nippon Animation is descended from Zuiyo Eizo (Zuiyo Enterprises), an animation studio that produced several popular series in the early and mid-1970s, including 1974's Heidi, Girl of the Alps, an adaptation of Johanna Spyri's popular children's book Heidi. The Heidi anime was enormously popular in Japan (and later in Europe as well, and the feature-length edit of the TV series also saw a U.S. VHS release in 1985), but Zuiyo Eizo soon found itself in financial trouble because of the high production costs of a series it was attempting to sell to the European market. In 1975, Zuiyo Eizo was split into two entities: Zuiyo (not Zuiyo Eizo), which absorbed the debt and the rights to the Heidi anime, and Nippon Animation, which was essentially Zuiyo Eizo's production staff (including Miyazaki and Takahata). Officially, Nippon Animation Co., Ltd. was established in June 1975 by company president Koichi Motohashi. The newly rechristened Nippon Animation found success right away with Maya the Bee and A Dog of Flanders, which became the first entry in the World Masterpiece Theater series to be produced under the Nippon Animation name (the series had previously existed during the Zuiyo Eizo era). Hayao Miyazaki left Nippon Animation in 1979 in the middle of the production of Anne of Green Gables to make the Lupin III feature The Castle of Cagliostro.

Body of work

In addition to the World Masterpiece Theater series, Nippon Animation has also produced many other series based on Western works of literature, as well as original works and adaptations of Japanese manga. Many of these are included in the list of the studio's works below.

Of the studio's productions not based on Western literature, the most popular is undoubtedly Chibi Maruko-chan (1990), based on the popular manga by Momoko Sakura. At its peak, this slice-of-life anime about an unusually intelligent elementary-school-aged girl and her family and friends managed an audience rating of nearly 40%, making it one of the highest-rated anime series ever (and the highest-rated anime program in Japanese history at the time).

Works adapted from Western literature

World Masterpiece Theater series

Main article: World Masterpiece Theater

Other TV series

• Maya the Bee (みつばちマーヤの冒険, Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken) - 1975
• Little House on the Prairie (草原の少女ローラ, Sōgen no shōjo Rōra (Laura, Girl of the Prairies)) - 1975
• Arabian Nights: Sinbad's Adventures (Arabian Naitsu: Shinbaddo No Bôken) - 1975
• The Adventures of Piccolino (Pikorīno no Bōken) - 1976
• Little Lulu and Her Little Friends (Little Lulu to Chicchai Nakama) - 1976
• Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac(Kuma no Ko Jacky) - 1977
• Future Boy Conan (Mirai Shonen Conan) - 1978, a Hayao Miyazaki work
• Bannertail: The Story of Gray Squirrel (Seton Dobutsuki Risu no Banner) - 1979
• Heart (Cuore): An Italian Schoolboy's Journal (Ai no Gakko Cuore Monogatari) - 1981
• Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (Wanwan Sanjushi, The Three Musketeers) - 1981; co-production with BRB Internacional (Madrid, Spain)
• The New Adventures of Maya the Bee (Shin Mitsubachi Maaya no Boken) - 1982
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu) - 1983
• Around the World with Willy Fog (Anime 80 Sekai Isshu) - 1983 (In Spain), 1987 (In Japan); co-production with BRB Internacional
• Manga Aesop's Fables - 1983
• Bosco Adventure (Bosco Daiboken) - 1986
• Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics (Grimm Meisaku Gekijo/Shin Grimm Meisaku Gekijo) - 1987-1989
• Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli - 1989
• Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (Kaze no Naka no Shojo Kinptasu no Jeannie) - 1992

TV specials

• Anne's Diary: The Story of Anne Frank (Anne no Nikki: Anne Frank Monogatari) - 1979
• Manxmouse (Tondemo Nezumi Daikatsuyaku) - 1979
• Back to the Forest (Nodoka Mori no Dobutsu Daisakusen, English titles: Peter of Placid Forest, Back to the Forest) - 1980
• The Story of Fifteen Boys (Hitomi no Naka no Shonen Jugo Shonen Hyoryuki, Two Years' Vacation) - 1987

Other works

TV series

• Dokaben - 1976
• Attack on Tomorrow (Ashita e Ataku) - 1977
• Ginguiser (Chogattai Majutsu Robot Ginguiser) - 1977
• I'm Teppei (Ore wa Teppei) - 1977
• Charlotte (Wakakusa no Charlotte) - 1977
• The Casebook of Charlotte Holmes (Angie Girl, Jouo Heika no Petite Angie) - 1977
• Song of the Baseball Enthusiasts (Yakukyou no Uta) - 1977
• Haikara-san ga Tōru (Smart-san, Mademoiselle Anne) - 1978
• Misha the Bear Cub (Koguma no Misha) - 1979
• Seton Dobutsuki Risu no Banner - 1979
• Sanpei the Fisherman (Tsurikichi Sampei) - 1980
• The Many Dream Journeys of Meme - 1983
• Noozles (Fushigi na Koara Burinkii, Blinky and Printy) - 1984
• Bumpety Boo (Hey! Bumboo) - 1985
• Spaceship Sagittarius (Uchuusen Sagittarius) - 1986
• Animated Classics of Japanese Literature (Seishun Anime Zenshu) - 1986
• Topo Gigio - 1988
• Chibi Maruko-chan - 1990
• Pygmalio - 1990
• Top Striker (Moero! Top Striker) - 1991
• Christopher Columbus - 1992
• Mikan's Picture Diary (Mikan Enikki) - 1992
• Papuwa-kun (Nangoku Shonen Papuwa-kun) - 1992
• Bow: Modern Dog Tales (Heisei Inu Monogatari Bow) - 1993
• Dragon League - 1993
• Muka Muka Paradise - 1993
• Captain Tsubasa J - 1994
• Mahojin Guru Guru - 1994
• Super Pig (Ai to Yuki no Pig Girl Tonde Burin) - 1994
• Yamato Takeru - 1994
• Mama Loves the Poyopoyo-Saurus - 1995
• Grander Musashi - 1997
• Cooking Master Boy (Chūka Ichiban!) - 1997
• Coji-Coji (Sakura Momoko Gekijo: Koji-Koji) - 1997; from the creator of Chibi Maruko-chan, Momoko Sakura
• Ten-Ten-Kun (Hanasaki Tenshi Ten-Ten-kun) - 1998
• Inventor Boy Kanipan (Hatsumei Boy Kanipan) - 1998
• Hunter × Hunter - 1999
• Corrector Yui - 1999
• Bikkuriman 2000 - 1999
• Taiga Adventure (Mirai Shonen Conan II: Taiga no Daiboken) - 1999; a remake of Future Boy Conan directed by Hayao Miyazaki's former assistant, Keiji Hayakawa, but featuring a new cast of characters
• Marcelino Pan y Vino - 2000 (Japan-Spain co-production; title is Spanish for "Marcelino, bread and wine")
• Mahōjin Guru Guru - April 2000, TV Tokyo
• Princess Comet (Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san) - 2001; based on a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, creator of Tetsujin 28-go and Sally, the Witch
• Hungry Heart: Wild Striker - 2002-2003, Animax
• Papuwa - September 2003, TV Tokyo
• Sore Ike! Zukkoke Sannin Gumi - April 2004, TV Tokyo
• Fantastic Children - October 2004, TV Tokyo
• Mix Master - 2005 (Japan-Korea co-production with Sunwoo Entertainment and KBS)
• Pokapoka Mori no Rasukaru - 2006
• Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge - 2006

TV specials, movies and OVAs

• King Fang (Oyuki Yama no Yuusha Haou) - TV special, 1978
• Our Hit and Run - TV special, 1979
• Maegami Taro - TV special, 1979
• Locke the Superman (Chojin Rokku) - movie, 1984; OVA sequels, 1989, 1991 and 2000
• Future Boy Conan (Mirai Shonen Conan Tokubetsu Hen-Kyodaiki Gigant no Fukkatsu) (movie) - 1984
• Sango-shō Densetsu: Aoi Umi no Elfie - TV special, 1986; seemingly inspired heavily by Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa
• Chibi Maruko-chan (movie) - 1990
• Tottoi (The Secret of the Seal) - 1992, movie
• Bow (movie) - 1993
• Mahojin Guru Guru (movie) - 1996
• Hunter x Hunter (OVA) - 2002
• Miyori no Mori - TV movie, 2007

External links

• Official website
• Official English website