Telecom Animation Film
{{Short description|Japanese animation studio}}
{{Expand Japanese|テレコム・アニメーションフィルム|date= June 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Telecom Animation Film Co., Ltd.
| logo = Telecom Animation Film logo.png
| logo_size =
| logo_upright =
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption = Logo used since 2013
| image = TMS Entertainment and Telecom Animation Film Office.jpg
| image_caption = Headquarters in Nakano, Tokyo
| trade_name =
| native_name = 株式会社テレコム・アニメーションフィルム
| native_name_lang = ja
| romanized_name = Kabushiki-gaisha Terekomu Animēshon Firumu
| type = Subsidiary
| industry = Anime
| predecessor =
| founded = {{start date and age|1975|05|19}}
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| hq_location = Nakano
| hq_location_city = Nakano, Tokyo
| hq_location_country = Japan
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| products = {{Unbulleted list|Animated films|Animated television programs|OVA|ONA|Video games|}}
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| parent = TMS Entertainment
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| website = {{URL|telecom-anime.com}}
}}
{{Nihongo|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.{{cite web |url=https://cho-animedia.jp/article/2022/02/04/30730.html |title=アニメ映画『ブルーサーマル』が完成するまで 第三回 スタジオに潜入(1) |trans-title=Until the animated film "Blue Thermal" is completed: Part 3 Infiltrating the Studio (1) |last=Goto |first=Yurina |date=February 4, 2022 |language=ja|website= Animedia |publisher= iid |access-date=June 17, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20190530-lupin-telecom-animation-film/ |last= |first= |title=The studio that created the animation production company 'Telecom Animation Film' infiltration coverage and 'LUPIN THE IIIRD Fujiko Minato's lie' looks like this |trans-title= |language= |page=|website=Gigazine |publisher= OSA |date=May 30, 2019 |access-date=May 30, 2024}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://www.bunkatsushin.com/varieties/article.aspx?bc=1&id=3435 |title=東映『ブルーサーマル』押切P "映画館で空を飛ぶような体感" |trans-title=Toei "Blue Thermal" Oshikiri P "Feel like flying in the sky at the movie theater" |last= |first= |page= |date=March 8, 2022 |language=ja|website= Bunkatsushin|publisher= Bunkatsushinsha |access-date=June 17, 2024 }}
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,{{efn|Tomonaga did not have a car license, so he drew the car while learning about it from Ōtsuka, the animation director, and Ōtsuka himself added the clutch operation movements.{{Cite web|url=https://anime.eiga.com/news/column/tiff2021_news/114598/ |last= |first= |title=大塚康生さんは"アニメーションの大先生" ともに仕事をしたアニメーターと研究家が語る多角的な一面 |trans-title=Yasuo Otsuka is a "great master of animation". Animators and researchers who worked with him talk about his many different sides |language= ja|page= |date=November 2, 2021|access-date=June 17, 2024|website=Animehack | publisher = eiga.com}}}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://cho-animedia.jp/article/2021/12/27/29932.html |title=テレコム・アニメーションフィルムの歴史と魅力|trans-title=The History and Appeal of Telecom Animation Film |last=Goto |first=Yurina |date=December 27, 2021|language=ja|website= Animedia |publisher= iid |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://cho-animedia.jp/article/2022/02/11/30876.html |title=アニメ映画『ブルーサーマル』が完成するまで 第四回 スタジオ潜入(2) |trans-title=Until the animated film "Blue Thermal" is completed: Part 3 Infiltrating the Studio (2) |last=Goto |first=Yurina |date=February 4, 2022 |language=ja|website= Animedia |publisher= iid |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://magmix.jp/post/69782 |title=宮崎駿監督幻の米デビュー作『リトル・ニモ』 企画途中で離脱も、数々の出会いと「名作」が生まれ...(1)|trans-title=Director Hayao Miyazaki's elusive US debut film "Little Nemo": Despite his departure midway through the project, many encounters and a "masterpiece" were born... (1) |last= |first= |author-link=|page=1 |date=December 2, 2021 |language=ja|website=Magmix |publisher= Media Vague |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
Yutaka Fujioka, the president of TMS at the time, dreamed of making a big breakthrough in the United States.{{cite web |url=https://animeanime.jp/article/2014/12/26/21375.html |title=「名探偵ホームズ」友永和秀氏（作画監督・原画）インタビュー前編 |trans-title="Sherlock Hound" Interview with Kazuhide Tomonaga (Chief Animation Director/Key Animator) Part 1 |last= |first= |date=December 26, 2014 |language=ja|website= Anime!Anime! |publisher= iid |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
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.{{cite web |url= https://reminder.top/742391829/ |title=宮崎駿も降板、壮大すぎたアニメ「NEMO/ニモ」映画より面白い制作過程! |trans-title=Director Hayao Miyazaki also quit the project. The production process of the overly grandiose animation "Nemo", more interesting than the film itself!|last= |first= |date=November 22, 2019 |language=ja|website= Re:minder |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
In the summer of 1978, Fujioka acquired the rights to adapt the legendary American cartoon Little Nemo into a film.{{cite web |url= https://cinemajp.com/2019/09/22/anime005/ |title=日本アニメ海外進出の先鞭をつけた野心作 NEMO ニモ（東宝東和）|trans-title= Nemo (Toho Towa), an ambitious work that pioneered the overseas expansion of Japanese animation. |last= Nishikawa |first= Akiyuki |author-link=|page=|date= September 22, 2019|language=ja|website=Magmix |publisher= Media Vague |access-date=June 17, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126064311/https://cinemajp.com/2019/09/22/anime005/|archive-date=November 26, 2020}}
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.{{efn|Otsuka had been seconded from Shin-Ei Animation to Nippon Animation just prior to that, over the objections of the company, for Future Boy Conan, Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut, but he transferred to Telecom instead of returning to the company after its completion.}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://magmix.jp/post/69782/2 |title=宮崎駿監督幻の米デビュー作『リトル・ニモ』 企画途中で離脱も、数々の出会いと「名作」が生まれ...(2)|trans-title=Director Hayao Miyazaki's elusive US debut film "Little Nemo": Despite his departure midway through the project, many encounters and a "masterpiece" were born... (2) |last= |first= |author-link=|page=2 |date=December 2, 2021 |language=ja|website=Magmix |publisher= Media Vague |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
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.{{efn|The TV broadcasts was not in the order of production.}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.style.fm/as/05_column/365/365_159.shtml |title=アニメ様の七転八倒 第159回 無音で上映された『名探偵ホームズ』|trans-title=Anime-sama's Seven Ups and Eight Downs No. 159: "Sherlock Hound" shown without sound |last= |first= |date=July 2, 2009 |language=ja|website=WEB Anime Style |publisher=Style |access-date=June 17, 2024 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.style.fm/as/05_column/365/365_160.shtml |title=アニメ様の七転八倒 第160回 大物監督達の海外合作作品|trans-title=Anime-sama's Seven Ups and Eight Downs No. 160: International co-productions by big-name directors |last= |first= |date=July 3, 2009 |language=ja|website=WEB Anime Style |publisher=Style |access-date=June 17, 2024 }}
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.{{cite web |url=https://animation-nerima.jp/enjoy/kyojin/vol16/ |title= 練馬にいた! アニメの巨人たち 第16回 高畑 勲さん（アニメーション映画監督）その2|trans-title=They were in Nerima! Giants of Anime Vol. 16: Isao Takahata (animation film director) Part 2 |last= |first= |author-link=|page= |date=October 2018 |language=ja|website= |publisher= Nerima Animation Site |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://www.value-press.com/pressrelease/202257 |title=日本最小のフィルム映画館で傑作アニメ『リトル・ニモ』が現代に蘇る! 《『リトル・ニモ』と80年代テレコム・アニメーションの世界》開催 |trans-title="Little Nemo" comes back to life in Japan's smallest film cinema! "Little Nemo and the World of Telecom Animation in the 80s" will be held |last= |first= |date=April 5, 2019 |language=ja|website=valuepress |publisher= Cinema Novecento |access-date=June 17, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.style.fm/as/05_column/animesama22.shtml |last=Oguro |first=Yuichiro |title=アニメ様の七転八倒 第22回 日本アニメ史 空前の大プロジェクト |trans-title= Anime-sama's Seven Ups and Eight Downs No. 22: The Unprecedented Project in Japanese Anime History |language= ja|page= |date=November 21, 2005 |access-date=June 17, 2024|website= Web Anime Style |publisher= Style Inc.}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054888261012/episodes/1177354054889724913 |title= 【1980年代 (3)】宮崎駿作品でもヒットしなかった時代|trans-title=[1980s (3)] The era when even Hayao Miyazaki's works were not hits |last= |first= |author-link=|page= |date=December 2, 2021 |language=ja|website=Kakuyomu |publisher= Kadokawa Shoten |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
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.{{Cite web|url=http://ningyonoie.com/zukan/20la_2.html |last=Shimizu |first=Koji |title=「ロサンゼルスの思い出2 ゲーリー・カーツ（Gary Kurtz）さん、フランクトーマスさんとオーリー・ジョンストンさん、池内辰夫さん（池ちゃん）と大塚康生さん」|trans-title=Memories of Los Angeles 2 Gary Kurtz, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Tatsuo Ikeuchi (Ikechan) and Yasuo Otsuka |language= ja|page= |date=January 14, 2004 |access-date=June 17, 2024|website= |publisher= NINGYONOIE ARCHIVES}}
Miyazaki submitted various reports and ideas for scenarios to Kurtz, but he never adopted them.{{efn|Miyazaki later used them for Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke.}}{{cite web |url=https://magmix.jp/post/69782/3 |title=宮崎駿監督幻の米デビュー作『リトル・ニモ』 企画途中で離脱も、数々の出会いと「名作」が生まれ...(3)|trans-title=Director Hayao Miyazaki's elusive US debut film "Little Nemo": Despite his departure midway through the project, many encounters and a "masterpiece" were born... (3) |last= |first= |author-link=|page=3 |date=December 2, 2021 |language=ja|website=Magmix |publisher= Media Vague |access-date=June 17, 2024}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://fullfrontal.moe/koji-takeuchi/ |title=Tales of Anime Production – Interview with Kôji Takeuchi [Annecy Animation Festival 2022] |trans-title= |last=Seraki |first=Dimitri |language= |date=Mar 7, 2023 |access-date=June 17, 2024 |website= fullfrontal.moe|publisher=}}
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.{{cite web |url=http://anime100.jp/jpn/interview/519 |title=日本のアニメ100周年記念 「これからのアニメとこれまでのアニメ」 |trans-title=Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Japanese anime: "Anime of the future and anime of the past"|last= |first= |date=March 12, 2020 |language=ja|website= Anime NEXT_100 |publisher= The Association of Japanese Animations |access-date=June 17, 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200815081857/http://anime100.jp/jpn/interview/519|archive-date=August 15, 2020}}
In November 1995, the Sega Group absorbed Tokyo Movie Shinsha into Kyokuichi, with Kyokuichi being the surviving company.{{cite web|url=https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/company/overview/ |title=COMPANY OVERVIEW |publisher=TMS ENTERTAINMENT CO., LTD.|access-date= June 17, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tms-e.co.jp/company/overview/ |last= |first= |title=会社概要 |trans-title=COMPANY OVERVIEW |language= ja|page= |date= |access-date=June 17, 2024|website=Toyo Keizai Online | publisher= TMS ENTERTAINMENT CO., LTD.}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://warnerbros.co.jp/home_entertainment/detail.php?title_id=1379 |title=スーパーマン アニメーション |trans-title= Superman: the Animated Series |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |language= ja |page= |date= |access-date= June 17, 2024|website= Warner Bros. Official Website |publisher=}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://thetv.jp/news/detail/11249/ |title=NHK「星新一ショートショート」が国際エミー賞グランプリを受賞! |trans-title=NHK's "Hoshi Shinichi Short Shorts" wins the International Emmy Award Grand Prix! |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |language= ja |page= |date=December 11, 2009 |access-date= June 17, 2024|website= Web the Television |publisher= Kadokawa Shoten.}}
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 =
= Films =
= Other =
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.telecom-anime.com/ Telecom Animation Film Official Website]
- [http://www.tms-e.com/ TMS Entertainment Official Website]
- {{Anime News Network|company|158}}
- [http://digidownload.libero.it/dottor_vaffa/co-production1.htm co-productions database]
{{Sega Sammy Holdings}}
{{Japanese animation studios}}
{{Telecom Animation Film}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Animation studios in Tokyo
Category:Japanese animation studios
Category:Japanese companies established in 1975