TMS Entertainment

TMS Entertainment Co., Ltd. (株式会社トムス・エンタテインメント), formerly known as Tokyo Movie Shinsha (東京ムービー新社), also known as Tokyo Movie or TMS-Kyokuchi, is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1964.

TMS is one of the oldest anime studios in Japan; best known for produced numerous anime franchises such as Lupin the 3rd, Detective Conan, Bakugan, D.Gray-man, and Sonic X and feature-length films Akira and Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, alongside animation works for western animation such as Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series, Ducktales, Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears.

The company has animation subsidiaries collaborating in conjunction with the company, Telecom Animation Film (TAF), which co-animates shows with TMS, and Koko Enterprises, located in Seoul, South Korea. In 2010, TMS Entertainment became a wholly owned subsidiary for Sega Sammy Holdings in the entertainment and contents business.

Foray into animation
The company was originally established in 1946, however, the company started its venture into the animation industry under the name Tokyo Movie (東京ムービー) in 1964 by Yutaka Fujioka after his previous studio, Tokyo Ningyo Cinema failed. The first production of the studio was an animated adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's Big X. Tokyo Movie collaborated with a company called A production. Notable figures in A production include Daikichirō Kusube, Osamu Kobayashi and Tsutomu Shibayama, most of Tokyo Movie's animation productions would be made with A production.

Hayao Miyazaki was also associated with Tokyo Movie before founding Studio Ghibli. He co-directed Lupin III with Isao Takahata, provided the screenplay and key animation for Panda! Go Panda!, provided key animation for the first episode of Tokyo Giants, provided the original concept for Jungle Kurobe, provided the director role for Lupin III: Tales of the Wolf, provided key animation for the Ulysses 31 pilot in conjunction with Diffusion Information Communication, provided the director role for The New Adventures of Zorro, provided key animation for the Inspector Gadget pilot, and provided the chief director role for season 1 of Sherlock Hound. However, this most notable work is his role as the director of The Castle of Cagliostro, which is notable for being Hayao Miyazaki's first feature-length debut. Miyazaki eventually left to form Studio Ghibli.

In 1972, Madhouse was established with funding from Fujioka, and co-produced its earliest series with Tokyo Movie. In 1977, Fujioka reformatted Tokyo Movie into Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Its first production was Lupin the Third Part II, which aired in 1977–1980. The movie adaptation, The Mystery of Mamo, was the first feature-length movie produced in the studio's history. Another TMS subsidiary, Telecom Animation Film, was founded in 1975, but didn't start production until after Tokyo Movie was restructured.

In 1989, TMS released Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland in Japan and the United States. The movie was infamous for being in Development hell with figures such as George Lucas, Chuck Jones, Hayao Miyazaki, and Gary Kurtz being involved with the movie before dropping out. The movie was released as a commercial failiure, and in response to this, Fujioka decided to retire from the animation business. TMS, having to recoup Little Nemo's losses, increased production on locally based anime programs and became highly involved in animation for Western-based productions, including Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and Batman: The Animated Series.

Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, TMS animated for various companies, including DiC, Walt Disney Television Animation, Warner Bros. Animation, Marvel Films Animation, Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment, and outsourced to smaller studios such as Telecom Animation Film, Ajia-do, Magic Bus, Studio Jungle Gym, Nakamura Production, Tokyo Kids, DR Movie, and Orange.

Acquisition and expansion
In 1995, Kyokuichi merged with Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co. Ltd, animation production company. In 1996, the Los Angeles studio division was established for overseas TMS animation, and in 2000, the company’s name was changed to TMS Entertainment Co., Ltd. In 2001, the Paris studio division was established. In 2003, American brokerage group Merrill Lynch became the second-largest shareholder in TMS Entertainment Ltd. after acquiring a 7.54 percent stake in TMS. Merrill Lynch purchased the stake purely for investment purposes and had no intention of acquiring control of the firm’s management. In 2005 Sega Sammy announced they now owned 50.2% of TMS. In 2006, the Los Angeles studio was renamed to TMS Entertainment, USA, Inc. and the head office was relocated to Shinjuku, Tokyo. In 2007, the subsidiaries TMS MUSIC (UK) LIMITED and TMS MUSIC (HK) LIMITED were established. In 2012, the head office was relocated to Nakano, Tokyo, and in 2015, TMS Entertainment was designated as a subsidiary for SEGA Holdings Co., Ltd.

TMS Entertainment/Telecom Animation Film

 * The Blinkins (1984)
 * Mighty Orbots (September 8, 1984 - December 15, 1984)
 * Sherlock Hound (1984 - 1985)
 * Sweet Sea (1986)
 * Galaxy High (September 13 – December 6, 1986)
 * Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (July 15, 1989)
 * Soccer Fever (April 4, 1994 – April 3, 1995)
 * Reporter Blues (1991 – 1996)
 * Cybersix (6 September – 29 November 1999) (Japanese/Canadian co-production with NOA)

DiC Entertainment

 * Ulysses 31 (October 10, 1981 – April 3, 1982)
 * Inspector Gadget (September 12, 1983 – February 1, 1986)
 * The Littles (September 10, 1983 – November 2, 1985)
 * Rainbow Brite (June 27, 1984 – July 24, 1986)
 * Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats (September 5, 1984 – 1988)
 * The Real Ghostbusters (September 13, 1986 – September 5, 1992)
 * Dennis the Menace (September 22, 1986 – March 26, 1988)
 * Kissyfur (September 13, 1986 – August 25, 1990)
 * Sylvanian Families (September 18 – December 11, 1987)
 * ALF: The Animated Series (September 26, 1987 – January 7, 1989)
 * Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (September 6, 1993 – November 24, 1996)

Disney Television Animation

 * The Wuzzles (September 14 – December 7, 1985)
 * Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears (September 14, 1985 – February 22, 1991)
 * Fluppy Dogs (November 27, 1986)
 * DuckTales (September 18, 1987 – November 28, 1990) (Season 1)
 * Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (August 27, 1988 – November 19, 1990)
 * The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (January 17, 1988 – October 26, 1991)
 * Gargoyles (October 24, 1994 – February 15, 1997) (Assistance for Walt Disney Animation Japan, "Hunter's Moon, Part 2")
 * The Tigger Movie (February 11, 2000) (Assistance for Walt Disney Animation Japan)

Warner Bros. Animation

 * Tiny Toon Adventures (September 14, 1990 – May 28, 1995)
 * How I Spent My Vacation (March 11, 1992)
 * Animaniacs (September 13, 1993 – November 14, 1998)
 * Batman: The Animated Series (September 5, 1992 – September 15, 1995)
 * Pinky and the Brain (September 9, 1995 – November 14, 1998) ("A Pinky And The Brain Christmas")
 * The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries (September 9, 1995 – February 12, 2000)
 * Superman: The Animated Series (September 6, 1996 – February 12, 2000)
 * Waynehead (October 19, 1996 – May 17, 1997) (Opening)
 * The New Batman Adventures (September 13, 1997 – January 16, 1999)
 * Wakko's Wish (July 26, 1999)
 * Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (December 12, 2000)
 * Green Lantern: First Flight (July 28, 2009)
 * Justice League: Doom (February 28, 2012)
 * Superman vs. The Elite (June 12, 2012)
 * Tom and Jerry Meet Frosty the Snowman (August 2019)
 * Tom and Jerry: Frosty's Winter Wonderland (Christmas 2020)
 * Tom and Jerry: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (Christmas 2021)
 * Tom and Jerry Meet Animaniacs (2023)
 * Tom and Jerry: The Space Giants (2025)
 * Tom and Jerry in Dragon Ball (2030) (With Toei Animation)

Other productions

 * The New Adventures of Zorro (September 12 – December 5, 1981)
 * Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (September 14 – December 11, 1986)
 * Bionic Six (April 6 − November 12, 1987)
 * Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light (September 21 – December 14, 1987)
 * Peter Pan and the Pirates (September 8, 1990 – September 10, 1991)
 * Fuzzy the Monster (October 11, 1994 - August 8, 1999)
 * Spider-Man: The Animated Series (November 19, 1994 – January 31, 1998) (With Korean studios)
 * An American Tail 3: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (November 16, 1998)