Tezuka Productions
Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd. (株式会社手塚プロダクション, Kabushiki-gaisha Tezuka Purodakushon) is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as Marvelous Melmo, the 1980 and 2003 Astro Boy series, and Black Jack. His son, Makoto Tezuka, currently aims to use Tezuka Productions to extend Tezuka's manga series with new issues and publish posthumous works such as Legend of the Forest.
Animation studio | |
Industry | Media and Entertainment |
Founded | 23 January 1968[1] |
Founder | Osamu Tezuka |
Headquarters | Takadanobaba, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan[2] |
Number of locations | Nobidome, Niiza City, Saitama, Japan[2] |
Key people | Makoto Tezuka |
Products | Anime (Television, Film, OVA) |
Website | http://tezukaosamu.net/ |
Their logo is a silhouette of Astro Boy's head colored in blue.
History
In 1961, Osamu Tezuka established Osamu Tezuka Mushi Production as a video and animation production unit. It was officially incorporated as Mushi Productions Co., Ltd., the following year.[3] Tezuka served as acting director of the company until 1968, when he left to start another animation studio, Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd., as a spun-off division of Mushi Productions dedicated to manga production and copyright management.[3]
In 1970, Tezuka moved the headquarters of Tezuka Productions to the second and third floors of a cafe business across from Fujimidai Station in Nerima.[4] The second floor was reserved for employee offices and production assistants, while the third floor was Tezuka's own workspace and office.[4] For the first few years, the studio took sub-contracted animation work from Mushi Production, which included a variety of animated shorts and a full television series, Fushigi na Merumo (Marvelous Melmo), which was broadcast by TBS for 26 episodes from October 1971 to March 1972.[5][6] After Mushi Production filed for bankruptcy in 1973, Tezuka Productions took on animation production full-time along with its manga and copyright businesses and began growing rapidly as an animation studio.[5] In 1976, Tezuka Productions relocated again to the Takadanobaba Seven Building (高田馬場のセブンビル, Takadanobaba no Sebun Biru) in Takadanobaba, Shinjuku.[4]
From 1980 to 1981, Tezuka Productions produced a remake for Astro Boy that ran for 52 episodes on Nippon TV. Tezuka had been dissatisfied with the first Astro Boy series produced at Mushi Production, and had wanted to create a remake for the series since 1974.[7]
In 2007, Tezuka Productions began a multi-year project to digitize and color all of Tezuka's published manga series, comprising over 150,000 pages.[8] Tezuka's former personal assistants reproduced the color charts that they originally used for all-color pieces while Tezuka was still producing series, in order to ensure that the new coloring process remained faithful to the colors used in Tezuka's time.[8]
In 2008, Tezuka's son, Makoto, announced that he would complete Legend of the Forest, his father's final unfinished work, at Tezuka Productions.[9] The film was completed in 2014, premiering at the 2014 Hiroshima International Animation Festival in August, and in North America at the Japan Society in New York City on February 21, 2015.[10][11]
Works
Films
- The Genesis (1968, short film)
- One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book (1978)
- Unico: Black Cloud, White Feather (1979, short film)
- Undersea Super Train: Marine Express (1979)
- Phoenix 2772 (1980)
- Fumoon (1980)
- Bremen 4: Angels in Hell (1981)
- A Time Slip of 10,000 Years: Prime Rose (1983)
- Jumping (1984, short film)
- Bagi, the Monster of Mighty Nature (1984)
- Broken Down Film (1985, short film)
- Galaxy Investigation 2100: Border Planet (1986)
- Phoenix: Karma Chapter (1986) (co-produced with Madhouse)
- Push (1987, short film)
- Legend of the Forest, Part I (1987, short film)
- Muramasa (1987, short film)
- Self-Portrait (1988, short film)
- Tezuka Osamu Story: I Am Son-goku (1989)
- Black Jack: The Movie (1996)
- Black Jack: Capital Transfer to Haien (1996, short film)
- Jungle Emperor Leo (1997)
- Astro Boy: Mighty Atom - Visitor of 100,000 Light Years, IGZA (2005)
- Black Jack: The Two Doctors of Darkness (2005)
- Dr. Pinoko's Forest Adventure (2005, short film)
- Jungle Emperor: The Brave Can Change the Future (2009)
- Buddha (2011) (co-produced with Toei Animation)
- The Life of Budori Gusuko (2012)[12][13]
- Buddha 2 (2014) (co-produced with Toei Animation)
- Pluto (TBA)[14]
Television series
- Marvelous Melmo (1971-1972)
- Astro Boy (1980-1981)
- Don Dracula (1982)
- Blue Blink (1989-1990)
- The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion (1989-1990)
- The Three-Eyed One (1990-1991)
- Dear Brother (1991-1992)
- In the Beginning: The Bible Stories (1997)
- Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick (1997-1999, from episodes 19-26)
- Unison (2001-2002)
- Astro Boy (2003-2004)
- Phoenix (2004)
- Black Jack (2004-2006)
- Mokke (2007-2008)
- Genji Monogatari Sennenki (2009)
- Kids on the Slope (2012) (co-produced with MAPPA)
- Samurai Warriors (2015) (co-produced with TYO Animations)[15]
- Young Black Jack (2015)
- Dagashi Kashi 2 (2018)[16]
- Dororo (2019) (co-produced with MAPPA)[17]
- The Quintessential Quintuplets (2019)[18]
- Adachi and Shimamura (2020)[19]
- How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Ω (2021) (co-produced with Okuru to Noboru)[20]
- Astro Boy Reboot (TBA)[21]
Original video animations
- Lion Books (1983)
- Love Position: The Legend of Halley (1985)
- Phoenix: Yamato Chapter (1987)
- Phoenix: Space Chapter (1987)
- Symphonic Poem: Jungle Emperor Leo (1991)
- Ambassador Magma (1993)
- Black Jack (1993-2011)
- The Last Mystery of the 20th Century (2000)
- Ravex in Tezuka World (2009)
Video games
- Astro Boy (2004)
- Astro Boy: Omega Factor (2004)
- Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo (2004)
- Astro Boy: The Video Game (2009)
- Astro Boy: Tap Tap Rush (2011)
- Astro Boy Dash (2013)
References
- 会社概要・組織図 [About Us - Organizational Chart] (in Japanese). Tezuka Productions. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- "Facilities". TezukaOsamu. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
- 手塚治虫と手塚プロダクションの変遷 [Evolution of Osamu Tezuka and Tezuka Productions] (in Japanese). Tezuka Productions. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- 虫ん坊 2010年02月号 (in Japanese). Tezuka Productions. February 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia. Stone Bridge Press. p. 433. ISBN 978-1933330105.
- "Marvelous Melmo (Merumo) - ふしぎなメルモ". Viki. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- Osamu Tezuka (1979). ぼくはマンガ家 手塚治虫自伝・1. Daiwa Shobo. p. 193. ASIN B000J8ID1G.
- "Tezuka's Company to Digitize, Colorize All His Manga". Anime News Network. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- "Tezuka's Final Unfinished Anime To Be Completed by Son". Anime News Network. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- "Special Screening: Legend of the Forest, Parts 1 & 2". Japan Society. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- "Japan Society in NY to Hold N. American Premiere of Tezuka's Completed Legend of the Forest Film". Anime News Network. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- "Guskou Budori Anime Remake's Teaser Trailer, Poster Unveiled". Anime News Network. March 13, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- "The Life of Guskou Budori". Warner Bros. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
- "Universal, Illumination Get Film Rights for Urasawa's Pluto Manga". Anime News Network. 2010-10-20. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
- "Samurai Warriors TV Anime's Cast, Staff, Story Revealed". Anime News Network. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- "Dagashi Kashi 2 Anime Reveals Teaser Video, Visuals, Staff". Anime News Network. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- "Dororo TV Anime's 1st Promo Video, Cast, Staff, Visual Revealed". Anime News Network. September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- "The Quintessential Quintuplets Anime Reveals Visual, Cast, Staff". Anime News Network. October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
- "Adachi to Shimamura TV Anime's Promo Video Reveals Staff, More Cast". Anime News Network. December 26, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
- "How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Anime Gets 2nd Season in 2021". Anime News Network. April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
- "ASTROBOY Reboot". astroboy-reboot.com. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Tezuka Productions on IMDb
- Tezuka Productions at Anime News Network's encyclopedia