Toei Company

Toei Company, Ltd. (東映株式会社 Tōei Kabushiki-gaisha) (pronounced toe ay) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a shareholder in several television companies. It is notable for anime, live action dramas known as tokusatsu which use special visual effects, and historical dramas (jidaigeki).

The name "Toei" is derived from the company's former name "Tōkyō Eiga Haikyū" (東京映画配給?, Tokyo Film Distribution Company). It's divisions are Toei Digital Lab, Toei Labo Tech, Toei Language Tech Center, Toei Animation, Toei Television Production, Toei Video, Toei Satellite Broadcasting, Toei Agency, Cloverway Inc.

History

Tokyo-Yokohama Films (東横映画 Tō-Yoko Eiga), incorporated 1938, had erected its facilities immediately east of the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line; they managed the Tōkyū Shibuya Yokohama studio system prior to V-J Day. From 1945 through the Toei merger, Tokyo-Yokohama Films leased from the Daiei Motion Picture Company a second studio in Kyoto. Through the merger, they gained the combined talents and experience of actors Chiezō Kataoka, Utaemon Ichikawa, Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Ryūtarō Ōtomo, Kinnosuke Nakamura, Chiyonosuke Azuma, Shirunosuke Toshin, Hashizo Okawa and Satomi Oka.

On October 1, 1950, the Tokyo Film Distribution Company was incorporated; in 1951 the company purchased Ōizumi Films.

In 1956, Toei established an animation division, Toei Animation Company, Limited at the former Tokyo-Ōizumi animation studio, purchasing the assets of Japan Animated Films (founded in 1948).

Toei was a pioneer in the use of "Henshin"/"character transformation" in live-action martial-arts dramas, a technique developed for the Kamen Rider, Devilman and Super Sentai series; the genre currently continues with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.

List of works

• Samayou Yaiba
• Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle – 1987
• Saint Seiya: The Movie – 1987
• Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary – 2014
• Sailor Moon R: The Movie
• Sailor Moon S: The Movie
• Sailor Moon Supers: The Movie
• Battle Royale
• Pop In Q (2016)
• Twas the Night Before Christmas (2019)