# Telecom Animation Film

Telecom Animation Film Co., Ltd. (株式会社テレコム・アニメーションフィルム, Kabushiki-gaisha Terekomu Animēshon Firumu) is a Japanese animation studio founded on May 19, 1975. The studio is a subsidiary of TMS Entertainment and is located in the parent company's headquarters building.
Telecom Animation Film is a well-established studio known for its production cooperation on films produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, including the Japan-US co-production Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, Hayao Miyazaki's Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, and Isao Takahata's Jarinko Chie. It is known in the industry as a prestigious studio, and has had many famous creators on its roster in the past, including Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Yasuo Ōtsuka, who was their former tutor and animation director on their works, Kazuhide Tomonaga, who worked on the car chase scene in The Castle of Cagliostro, Nizo Yamamoto, art director at Studio Ghibli, and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, character designer for Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The studio has in-house staff of keyframes, inbetweenings, background art, direction, and production assistants who manage these tasks, allowing the general flow of production to be done in-house. Unusually for an animation studio, Telecom has an in-house art department. It is particularly known for its background art, and is highly regarded in the industry for its high level of technical ability. Its appeal lies in its high drawing power and 3D layout precision.
It has participated in various productions in the form of production cooperation, and have been involved in the creation of background art for blockbuster films such as Hayao Miyazaki's The Castle of Cagliostro, Studio Ghibli films, Makoto Shinkai's Weathering With You, and Mamoru Hosoda's Belle. While participating in the production of Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke, the studio was consulted about the lack of time for coloring and suggested digital painting, which led to Ghibli's introduction of computer graphics.

## History

In 1975, Telecom Animation Film was established by Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS) to train animators who could draw full-animation. Yutaka Fujioka, the president of TMS at the time, dreamed of making a big breakthrough in the United States. So Fujioka decided to make a full-animation film that could compete with Disney, but in Japan, limited-animation adopted and developed by Osamu Tezuka was the mainstream. Therefore, he planned to establish a new studio, Telecom Animation Film, and use it as a base to produce a Japan-U.S. co-production of an animated film using full-animation.
In the summer of 1978, Fujioka acquired the rights to adapt the legendary American cartoon Little Nemo into a film. When Telecom advertised in a newspaper for staff, they received over 1,000 applications, and Fujioka hired 43 people with no animation experience. Rather than selecting animators with experience in limited-animation, Fujioka chose to select entirely inexperienced amateurs and train them into elite animators with full-animation skills. Sadao Tsukioka, who was said to be a genius, was invited as an instructor for the first year. He used a unique method of training the new recruits, such as eliminating the influence of the TV series, as he considered it unnecessary for making a feature film. In 1979, Yasuo Ōtsuka moved from Shin-Ei Animation and took over Tsukioka's position. Since there were few animators who could actually do the work, Ōtsuka transferred Nobuo Tomizawa from Nippon Animation, Atsuko Tanaka and Keiko Oyamada from Shin-Ei Animation, and Kazuhide Tomonaga, Tsukasa Tannai, and Shojiro Yamauchi from Oh! Production to Telecom. However, because of difficulties in securing production funds and organizing staff, production of the film never got off the ground, so Telecom decided to first work on another TV series and films under Ōtsuka. So Ōtsuka invited Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata to join Telecom as directors, and they moved from Zuiyo. Miyazaki directed the second Lupin III film, The Castle of Cagliostro, and Takahata directed Jarinko Chie. Fujioka frequently held screenings of those two films for Hollywood film professionals in order to promote Telecom and the Japanese animation industry, which at the time was regarded in the U.S. as having low production capabilities. The films attracted a lot of attention, especially from young animators, including John Lasseter. The event also brought about an unexpected response, such as requests from countries outside the U.S. for TMS and Telecom to produce a TV series. TMS began production of the Italian-Japanese co-produced TV series Sherlock Hound in 1981, after receiving a request for a TV series from RAI, the Italian national public broadcaster. The series was actually animated by Telecom Animation Film, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. However, the collaboration was dissolved after six episodes were produced, and the remaining 20 episodes were subsequently produced with funding from Japanese companies. Kyosuke Mikuriya took over as director from Miyazaki, and with Telecom leaving to focus on the film Little Nemo, TMS outsourced the animation to Gallop, a fledgling studio. Telecom then took on the actual production of animation works for American production companies such as Disney, Warner Bros., and Filmation, which had been commissioned by TMS, and became proficient in the art of full animation in the 1980s.
In the spring of 1981, TMS established a local subsidiary in the U.S. and began full-scale efforts to produce the film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. On the Japanese side, Fujioka was appointed line producer, and on the U.S. side, Gary Kurtz was appointed film producer upon the recommendation of George Lucas.
Under producer Yutaka Fujioka's grand order to "produce a world-class animation film," creators from Japan and abroad were gathered, and many famous people such as Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Osamu Dezaki, Yasuo Ōtsuka, Ray Bradbury, Jean Giraud (Moebius), and Chris Columbus were involved. However, various misunderstandings occurred between Japan and the US, and the production ran into difficulties. Miyazaki and Takahata, who were originally slated to direct the film, left the project, and the staff continued to change one after another, causing confusion. Kurtz was working as the executive producer of Disney's Return to Oz at the time, and spent most of his time in London and New York. He visited Los Angeles, the site of Little Nemo, only about once a month, and only for two hours in the afternoon. His autocratic production policy caused friction with the Japanese staff. Miyazaki submitted various reports and ideas for scenarios to Kurtz, but he never adopted them. The Japanese staff clashed with Kurtz, and Miyazaki left Telecom in November 1982, followed by Takahata in March 1983.
When production on Little Nemo was halted in the late 1980s, Telecom was invited by Katsuhiro Otomo, who had heard that the studio had a talented crew, to join the production of his film Akira. However, in the middle of production, Fujioka requested that they make a pilot for Little Nemo (produced by Osamu Dezaki and Akio Sugino), and Telecom staff were forced to withdraw from the Akira site.
The film was completed in 1988 and released in Japan in July 1989, but the box office gross ended up around 900 million yen. In 1992, the film was released in 2,300 theaters in the U.S., but failed at the box office. The video software that was later released sold more than 4 million copies, and the production costs were eventually recouped, but the film failed to attract an audience, and Fujioka's dream of making a hit film in the U.S. was not realized. The film took seven years to complete (it took 10 years for the U.S. release), and the budget eventually ballooned to more than 5 billion yen. It was the biggest project in the history of Japanese animation, but it ended in failure, and Fujioka took responsibility for it, gave up all rights related to Tokyo Movie, and retired from the industry.
In November 1995, the Sega Group absorbed Tokyo Movie Shinsha into Kyokuichi, with Kyokuichi being the surviving company. In conjunction with the merger, Kyokuichi made Telecom Animation Film and TMS Photo, which had been subsidiaries of Tokyo Movie Shinsha, its own subsidiaries. Kyokuichi later changed its name to TMS Entertainment.
In the 1990s, after Little Nemo, the studio continued to work on international productions through TMS. The Warner Bros. animated television series The New Batman/Superman Adventures, directed by Kenji Hachizaki, Yuichiro Yano, Toshihiko Masuda, and Hiroyuki Aoyama, won a Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program in 1998.
For a long time, Warner Bros. of the U.S. had subcontracted work to Telecom through TMS, but in 2000 Warner Bros. began outsourcing all production to Korea, where production costs are lower. Telecom then changed its policy and began to focus on production for the Japanese market instead of overseas. In addition, while taking on subcontract productions from TMS and other Japanese studios, from 2002 Secret of Cerulean Sand, Telecom began to produce its own productions as the prime contractor and to co-produce with other companies.
In 2009, Hoshi Shinichi Short-Short, produced by Telecom and broadcast on NHK, won the Grand Prix in the Comedy category at the 37th International Emmy Awards.
Telecom has been in debt for two consecutive fiscal years since the fiscal year ending March 2017, and on August 10 of the same year, it reduced its capital from 98 million yen to 10 million yen.

## Works
### Television series and original video animations

| Title | Producer | Network(s) | Year(s) | Note |
| Lupin III Part II | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | Nippon TV | 1977-1980 | 11 episodes |
| The New Adventures of Zorro | Filmation | CBS | 1981 | Credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| Jarinko Chie | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | MBS | 1981-1983 | |
| Ulysses 31 | DIC Audiovisuel | FR3, Nagoya Broadcasting Network | 1981-1982 | Pilot |
| Inspector Gadget | DIC Audiovisuel | Syndication | 1983-1986 | Season 1 |
| The Littles | DIC Audiovisuel | ABC | 1983-1985 | |
| Sherlock Hound | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | RAI | 1984 | 8 episodes |
| Heathcliff | DIC Audiovisuel | Syndication | 1984-1985 | Season 1 |
| Mighty Orbots | Tokyo Movie Shinsha, MGM/UA Television | ABC | 1984 | 4 episodes |
| Rainbow Brite | DIC Audiovisuel | Syndication | 1984-1986 | Season 1 |
| Onegai! Samia-don | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | NHK | 1985-1986 | 3 episodes |
| The Wuzzles | Walt Disney Television Animation | CBS | 1985 | Credited as TMS Entertainment, Inc. |
| Adventures Of the Gummi Bears | Walt Disney Television Animation | NBC, ABC | 1985-1990 | Up until season 5, credited as TMS Entertainment, Inc. |
| The Blinkens | Tokyo Movie Shinsha, MCA Universal | | 1986 | Direct to video |
| Galaxy High School | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | CBS | 1986 | |
| The Real Ghostbusters | Dic Audiovisuel | ABC, Syndication | 1986-1991 | Pilot and 13 episodes including The Halloween Door |
| Dennis the Menace | Dic Audiovisuel | Syndication, CBS | 1986-1988 | Both openings and some season 1 episodes, also handled camera direction, Credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsa |
| Bionic Six | Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Universal Television | Syndication, USA Network | 1987 | |
| DuckTales | Walt Disney Television Animation | Syndication | 1987-1990 | Original series, season 1, credited as TMS Entertainment, Inc. |
| ALF: The Animated Series | Dic Animation City | NBC | 1987-1989 | Opening and first episode |
| Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | | 1987 | OVA |
| The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | Walt Disney Television Animation | ABC | 1988-1991 | Season 1 credited as TMS Entertainment, Inc. |
| Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers | Walt Disney Television Animation | Syndication | 1989-1990 | Season 1 credited as TMS Entertainment, Inc. |
| Alfred J. Kwak | Telescable Benelux B.V., Visual '80 | VARA, ZDF, Televisión Española, TV Tokyo | 1988-1990 | 3 episodes |
| Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates | Fox Children's Productions Southern Star Productions | Fox | 1990-1991 | 13 episodes, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd |
| Tiny Toon Adventures | Warner Bros. Animation | Syndication, Fox | 1990-1992 | 19 episodes, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| Ozanari Dungeon | Toshiba EMI, Tokyo Movie Shinsha | | 1991 | OVA trilogy |
| Jarinko Chie 2 | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | MBS | 1991-1992 | 2 episodes |
| Batman: The Animated Series | Warner Bros. Animation | Fox | 1992-1995 | 6 episodes plus layout for 1 episode by Dong Yang (Harley and Ivy), credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation | Warner Bros. Animation | | 1992 | Direct to video, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsa |
| Animaniacs | Warner Bros. Animation | Fox The WB | 1993-1998 | Original series, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha for seasons 1 and 2, TMS-Kyokuchi for season 4's Cutie and the Beast/Boo Happens/Noel |
| Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog | DIC Entertainment | Syndication | 1993-1996 | Opening and 5 episodes, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| Gargoyles | Walt Disney Television Animation | Syndication, ABC | 1994-1997 | 1 episode for Walt Disney Animation Japan (Hunter's Moon, Part 2), criedted as TAF |
| Tiny Toon Adventures: Night Ghoulery | Warner Bros. Animation | | 1994 | Originally direct to video, later aired on Fox in 1995, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| Spider-Man | Saban Entertainment, Marvel Animation | Fox | 1994-1998 | First 10 episodes of season 1, 1 season 2 episode (Hydroman) and 1 season 3 episode (Turning Point), mostly did supervising for South Korean studios, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha for seasons 1 and 2, TMS-Kyokuchi for seasons 3,4 and 5 |
| The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries | Warner Bros. Animation | The WB | 1995-2002 | Season 1, 7 episodes, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| A Pinky and the Brain Christmas | Warner Bros. Animation | The WB | 1995 | Credited as TMS-Kyokuchi |
| Superman: The Animated Series | Warner Bros. Animation | The WB | 1996-2000 | Seasons 1 and 2, 14 episodes, credited as TMS-Kyokuchi |
| The New Batman Adventures | Warner Bros. Animation | The WB | 1997-1999 | 5 episodes, credited as TMS-Kyokuchi |
| An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island | Universal Animation Studios | | 1998 | Direct to video, released in 2000 in the United States, credited as TMS-Kyokuchi |
| Wakko's Wish | Warner Bros. Animation | | 1999 | Direct to Video, credited as TMS-Kyokuchi |
| Cybersix | Kyokuchi Tokyo Movie, NoA | Teletoon, Kids Station | 1999 | co-produced with NOA |
| Inuyasha | Sunrise | NNS (YTV) | 2000-2004 | 4 episodes |
| Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker | Warner Bros. Animation | | 2000 | Direct to video, credited as TMS Entertainment, Ltd. |
| Secret of Cerulean Sand | TMS Entertainment | Wowow | 2002 | co-produced with TMS Entertainment and Koko Enterprises |
| Nurse Witch Komugi | Tatsunoko Production, Kyoto Animation | | 2002 | First OVA series, first 2 episodes |
| Sonic X | TMS Entertainment | TV Tokyo | 2003-2006 | 17 episodes |
| Uninhabited Planet Survive! | self produced | NHK | 2003–2004 | co-produced with Madhouse |
| Pazurizu | self produced | Kids Station | 2004 | 3DCG series |
| Futakoi | self produced | TV Tokyo | 2004 | Original series |
| Tide-Line Blue | self produced | TV Asahi | 2005 | |
| Ramen Fighter Miki | self produced | Chiba TV, TV Kanagawa, TV Saitama, Yomiuri TV | 2006 | |
| Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture | self produced | Fuji TV (Noitamina) | 2007 | co-produced with Shirogumi |
| Nijū Mensō no Musume | self produced | Fuji TV | 2008 | co-produced with Bones |
| Green Lantern: First Flight | Warner Bros. Animation | | 2009 | Direct to video |
| Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood | Bones | JNN (MBS, TBS) | 2009-2010 | 6 episodes |
| LilPri | Shogakukan Music and Digital Entertainment, TMS Entertainment | TV Tokyo | 2010-2011 | |
| Justice League: Doom | Warner Bros. Animation | | 2012 | Direct to Video |
| Moyashimon Returns | self produced | Fuji TV | 2012 | co-produced with Shirogumi |
| Superman vs. The Elite | Warner Bros. Animation | | 2012 | Direct to video |
| Aikatsu! | Sunrise | TV Tokyo | 2012-2016 | Original series, season 1 and 2 episodes of season 2, co-produced with Sunrise |
| Z/X Ignition | self produced | TV Tokyo | 2014 | |
| Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement | Dentsu | Nippon TV | 2014 | |
| Lupin III Part IV: The Italian Adventure | TMS Entertainment | Italia 1, Nippon TV | 2015–2016 | |
| Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation | TMS Entertainment | TBS, CBC, MBS, BS-TBS | 2016 | |
| Orange | TMS Entertainment | Tokyo MX, AT-X, BS11, TVA, ABC, TSB | 2016 | |
| Baki: Most Evil Death Row Convicts | TMS Entertainment | | 2016 | OVA |
| Chain Chronicle: The Light of Haecceitas | Graphinica | ABC, Tokyo MX, AT-X, TVA, BS11, TVQ | 2017 | |
| Lupin III Part V: Misadventures in France | TMS Entertainment | Nippon TV | 2018 | |
| We Rent Tsukumogami | TMS Entertainment | NHK | 2018 | |
| Tower of God | Crunchyroll, Webtoon, TMS Entertainment | Tokyo MX, BS11, GYT, GTV | 2020 | Season 1 |
| Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro | self produced | Tokyo MX, BS11, MBS, AT-X | 2021 | Season 1 |
| Shenmue: The Animation | Crunchyroll, Williams Street, Sega, TMS Entertainment | Adult Swim (Toonami), Tokyo MX | 2022 | |
| Lupin Zero | TMS Entertainment | | 2022 | Web series |
| Four Knights of the Apocalypse | TMS Entertainment | | 2023 | |
| Kawagoe Boys Sing | evg | | 2023 | |
| Astro Note | Shochiku | | 2024 | |
| Rick and Morty: The Anime | Williams Street, Sola Entertainment | Adult Swim | 2024 | |
| Blue Box | TMS Entertainment | JNN (TBS) | 2024 | |

### Films

| Title | Producer | Release year | Notes |
| Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | 1978 | |
| Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | 1979 | |
| Botchan | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | 1980 | |
| Jarinko Chie | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | 1980 | |
| Sugata Sanshirou | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | 1981 | |
| Here Come the Littles | DIC Audiovisuel | 1985 | |
| Heathcliff: The Movie | DIC Audiovisuel | 1986 | Original animated footage made for the movie, otherwise a compilation of 7 Heathcliff shorts from the 1984 Heathcliff TV series |
| Castle in the Sky | Studio Ghibli | 1986 | |
| Akira | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | 1988 | |
| Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | 1989 | |
| Porco Rosso | Studio Ghibli | 1992 | |
| Pom Poko | Studio Ghibli | 1994 | |
| Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | 1995 | |
| Whisper of the Heart | Studio Ghibli | 1995 | |
| Princess Mononoke | Studio Ghibli | 1997 | |
| Case Closed: The Fourteenth Target | TMS-Kyokuchi | 1998 | |
| The Tigger Movie | Walt Disney Television Animation Disney MovieToons | 2000 | For Walt Disney Animation Japan |
| Spirited Away | Studio Ghibli | 2001 | |
| The Cat Returns | Studio Ghibli | 2002 | |
| Inuyasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass | Sunrise | 2002 | |
| Detective Conan: The Private Eyes' Requiem | TMS Entertainment | 2006 | |
| Detective Conan: The Lost Ship in the Sky | TMS Entertainment | 2010 | |
| Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker | TMS Entertainment | 2012 | |
| The Wind Rises | Studio Ghibli | 2013 | |
| Detective Conan: Dimensional Sniper | TMS Entertainment | 2014 | |
| Aikatsu! The Movie | Sunrise | 2014 | co-produced with Sunrise |
| Lupin III: Jigen's Gravestone | TMS Entertainment | 2014 | |
| Orange: Future | TMS Entertainment | 2016 | |
| Lupin III: Goemon's Blood Spray | TMS Entertainment | 2017 | |
| Case Closed: The Crimson Love Letter | TMS Entertainment | 2017 | |
| Mary and the Witch's Flower | Studio Ponoc | 2018 | |
| Lupin III: Fujiko's Lie | TMS Entertainment | 2019 | |
| Blue Thermal | self produced | 2022 | |

### Other

| Title | Release year | Notes |
| Obake-Chan | 1978 | First project, short film |
| Little Nemo: Sadao Tsukioka Pilot | 1978 | First Little Nemo pilot Copyright date says 1980 despite being made in 1978 |
| Little Nemo: Yoshifumi Kondo Pilot | 1984 | Second Little Nemo pilot |
| Little Nemo: Osamu Dezaki Pilot | 1987 | Third Little Nemo pilot |
| Little Nemo: TV Pilot | 1989 | Was supposed to be a tie in to the movie but was canceled due to the movie's failing at the box office |
| Bugs Bunny Mitsubishi RVR CM | 1991 | 2 commercials |
| Don Quixote: A Dream in Seven Crystals | 1994 | In game animation, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| Astal | 1995 | In game cutscenes, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| The Adventures of Batman & Robin (video game) | 1995 | Sega CD version, in game cutscenes, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| Magic Knight Rayearth (video game) | 1995 | Sega Saturn version, in game cutscenes, credited as Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
| Waynehead | 1996 | Opening, series animated by Philippine Animation Studio Inc. and Hanho Heung-Up Credited as TMS-Kyokuchi |
| Sonic: Man of the Year | 1997 | Short film, originally made in 1993, 4 shorts were made but only 1 got released as bonus content in Sonic Jam, the remaining 3 shorts have not been released |
| Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus | 2002 | PlayStation 2 version, in game cutscenes, credited as Telecom Animation Film Company |
| The Adventures of Super Oil and High-Octane | 2005 | 2 shorts, produced by Cartoon Network Japan |
| Ojii-san no Lamp | 2011 | Short film, produced as part of Young Animator Training Project |
| BUTA | 2012 | Short film, produced as part of Young Animator Training Project |
| Rick and Morty vs. Genocider | 2020 | Short film, produced by Cartoon Network Japan, Justin Roiland's Solo Vanity Card Productions!, Green Portal Productions, Williams Street and Adult Swim |
| From North Field | 2020 | Produced by Robot Communications Inc. 2 shorts |
| Cosmo Samurai | 2021 | Short film, produced by Cartoon Network Japan, Williams Street and Adult Swim |
| Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil) | 2021 | Short film, produced by Cartoon Network Japan, Justin Roiland's Solo Vanity Card Productions!, Green Portal Productions, Williams Street and Adult Swim |
| Puyopuyo!! Quest | 2021 | Opening Animation, Created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Puyo Puyo series and the game's renewal |
| Cosmo Samurai 2 | 2022 | Short film, produced by Cartoon Network Japan, Williams Street and Adult Swim |
| Sonic Superstars | 2023 | Opening Animation |