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Aardman Animations Japan is the Japanese animation division of Aardman Animations Limited.

Founded in 1999, it was initially set up in Tokyo as a subsidiary of Bristol-based Aardman to develop and distribute its own original productions in Japan and to take advantage of Aardman's European presence.

The Japanese division of Aardman Animations Limited was first established in September 1999.

The head office of the company was established in Tokyo, Japan.

During its early years, the Japanese division was mostly involved with developing of original Japanese anime and has also done animation and toy adaptations.

Aardman launched its first original anime, "Mr. Pumpkin" in 2001.

The anime was nominated for a prizes and was published in DVD.

This anime was later dubbed into Chinese and premiered on Cartoon Network in China in 2004.

Aardman Animations' first original anime was an original work and not an adaptation or a co-production with another studio, and firstly commissioned in 2001.

It was a comedy animated short series that aired on NHK's children's show "Tani Yori Tsubasa" on 21 April 2002.

It follows the lives of siblings Shinobu and Akira and the hot-headed Yuki-chan, who lives next door to them.

Four episodes were made and aired in Japan on NHK's"Tani Yori Tsubasa".

Although written by the Aardman team, it is designed to be a work that was created by 3D computer graphics.

The four episodes aired every Saturday between April 21, 2002 and June 30, 2002.

The series was sponsored by the Japanese toy company Taito who had taken out one half of the show's budget and the rest was provided by Aardman Animations.

Although it was released in six DVD compilations, the episodes that were released had different voices cast, as well as the release covers.

In Japan, the series was known as ""Suna ni to Mayonnaise"" ("Under the Mayonnaise Tree").

It was released as part of a boxset with "Lazy Town" in 2004.

However, the animation sequences used in the original show were not retained in the anime.

A short original anime series from 2001 made by Aardman Animations and later produced in-house by its own studio (re-using footage from Mr. Pumpkin, originally drawn by Alan Martin).

The series aired on NHK's "Blue-Vision" on 22 September 2002.

The series ran for 25 episodes with no second season.

The series focuses on the adventures of the alien Mr. S, his family, and his pet pheasant, Bessie, in their home in "the Moon".

Mr. S is the first resident of a quiet and happy moon where his "home planet" can never reach.

Socially inept and often misguided, he is the very definition of a no-nonsense person.

Bessie the pheasant is the "star of the show", as Mr. S' pet.

She has fun discovering and chasing her tail while she also learns what it means to be loved.

Although it aired for only 25 episodes, this anime has generated a cult following.

The character's likenesses, particularly of Mr. S's head were used for a man in a "Hello Kitty" animation.

(Note: in Japan, the word "Hello Kitty" is the name of a cat.

Since Mr. S is a pheasant, it was made into the Japanese word for "pheasant" so as to avoid any confusion.

The fact that the word is printed in English in bold letters throughout the show itself does not necessarily make this distinction clearer.)

This anime is also notable for having the last sentence of every episode begin with "And this is pheasant", implying that Mr. S is an egg-laying fowl.

This is one of the only instances of an anime series that has a recurring image from one episode to another, as well as being the only time this happens in a Japanese cartoon series.

(Note: Japanese sometimes have rhyming words or phrases for this.

For example, the last sentence of every episode of "Majin Boo", says "and this is Boo-kie."

However, these are often changed in episodes because of the linguistic difference between Japanese and English.)

The theme song "The Pheasant Song" was also composed and performed by British musician and producer Brian Eno.

A teaser for a feature-length film version of "Mr. S's Moon" was featured in "Inside Mickey Mouse".

The announcement of the feature was made by Gene Deitch (animation director for the feature-length films "The Brave Little Toaster" and "Planes", and also an executive producer of Disney's "The Aristocats") who said that it will be available on DVD in 2011.

He went on to say that the animation will have "more spectacular animation, special effects and computer-generated imagery than ever before".

Filming took place in Japan in late 2010, however, production was delayed and no specific release date was given.

According to the DVD commentary, there were financial and distribution problems due to the release of an unrelated film, "Tomorrowland", on the same date.

Discotek Media released "Mr. S's Moon" on DVD in Region 1 on April 6, 2016.

"Mr. S's Moon" was developed into a live-action film series by All Japan Animation, and several episodes of the series were produced.

It debuted on Japanese TV in 1998.

The film series was originally produced as a crossover movie between "Cabbage", "Mr. S' Moon", and "Ice Age".

However, plans for a crossover movie were scrapped, so the three films were produced separately and scheduled one after the other.

Animated in 1080i, these films were directed by Shigeru Nomoto and designed by Masashi Sogo.

The first film, "Mr. S' Moon", stars a penguin named Albert Leeks and is set in the 21st century on Jupiter, where Mr. S is the creator of a mouse colony.

It was released on September 6, 1999, on Japanese TV.

The film was a box office hit and became one of the most popular animated films in Japan.

The second film, "", stars Kyoichi Yamadera in the title role as Mr. S, who deals with the everyday problems of the mice on his own moon, after being separated from the human colony.

It premiered on December 18, 2000.

The third film, "Mr. S's Love", follows Mr. S as he comes back from outer space to work on a construction project and falls in love with his wife, who happens to be the moon goddess in waiting.

It was released on November 17, 2001.

"Mr. S' Love" was a box office flop, which led to a delay of the fourth film, "Mr. S's Space Adventure".

The film premiered on December 24, 2002.

It was the final film in the series.

The film was not theatrically released in the United Kingdom and Australia but instead on DVD in 2003 by Optimum Releasing.

This release includes three episodes of the series as bonus features, as "The Pheasant Song" had already been released on "Mr. S' Moon" in 2000.

In addition, the complete series was also released as a two-disc set, which includes the episodes, ""The Milk of Dreams"", ""The Treasure of Mr. S' Moon"", "Mr. S's Moon", and "A Gift from Mr. S" in order.

For the English version of the English dub, the original voice cast, minus the addition of Jerome Cianfrani as Mr. S, was used, as opposed to the shortened dub, which used the voices of the original voice actors for the entirety of the film.