Kitty Films (キティフィルム ''Kiti Firumu'') was a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

established in 1972 in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

History

The company was first established in 1972 as Kitty Music Corporation under Hidenori Taga. It was a subsidiary of

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

and

MCA Inc. MCA Inc. (originally an initialism for Music Corporation of America) was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924. Originally a talent agency with artists in the music business as clients, the company became a major force in the film ind ...

, producing TV drama soundtracks. Their first was for the 1972 film ''Hajimete no Tabi''. By 1979 the company began to branch off into live action with the films ''Kagirinaku toumei ni chikai buru'' and ''

Lady Oscar , also known as ''Lady Oscar'' and ''La Rose de Versailles'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was originally serialized in the manga magazine '' Margaret'' from 1972 to 1973, while a revival of the s ...

'' (adaptation of the manga ''

The Rose of Versailles , also known as ''Lady Oscar'' and ''La Rose de Versailles'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was originally serialized in the manga magazine '' Margaret'' from 1972 to 1973, while a revival of the s ...

'', Kitty had no association with the 1979 anime version of the latter, which was made by

Tokyo Movie Shinsha , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as ''Lupin the Third'', ...

). However, major success first came with their anime version of

Rumiko Takahashi is a Japanese manga artist. With a career of several commercially successful works, beginning with ''Urusei Yatsura'' in 1978, Takahashi is one of Japan's best-known and wealthiest manga artists. Her works are popular worldwide, where they have ...

's ''

Urusei Yatsura is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from September 1978 to February 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were published in 34 ''tankōbon'' volum ...

''. Starting in 1981, it marked Kitty's entry into anime production. Over the next two decades, Kitty Films would become noteworthy in and outside Japan as the producer of most of the animated versions of Takahashi's

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series, including ''

Maison Ikkoku is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1980 to 1987, with the chapters collected into 15 ''tankōbon'' volumes. ' ...

'' and ''

Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected into 38 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The st ...

''. Takahashi had in fact attended the same college as Shigekazu Ochiai, the planner of most of Kitty's anime productions. Despite their fame as producer, the actual animation of Kitty's works was handled by several independent anime studios, some of which still exist today.

Studio Pierrot is a Japanese animation studio established in May 1979 by former employees of both Tatsunoko Production and Mushi Production. Its headquarters are located in Mitaka, Tokyo. Pierrot is renowned for several worldwide popular anime series, such as ...

did the animation for the first half of ''

'',

Studio Deen is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1975 by Sunrise producer Hiroshi Hasegawa and ex-Sunrise animators. The studio owns three subsidiaries: Danny Donghua (丹尼動画), a Chinese sub-contracting studio; Megumi (め組), a digital work sub-c ...

animated the second half (except for several of the OVAs) and all of ''

'' and ''Ranma'', while Madhouse handled the final ''Urusei Yatsura'' movie, some of the later ''Urusei Yatsura'' OVAs, ''

Legend of the Galactic Heroes , sometimes abbreviated as ''LOTGH'', ''LOGH'' or in Japanese (and also depicted as ''Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel'' in the anime intro), is a series of science fiction novels written by Yoshiki Tanaka. In humanity's distant fu ...

'', and '' YAWARA! a fashionable judo girl!'' Unfortunately, the company had suffered financial troubles from early on, which started to come to a head towards the end of the ''Ranma'' TV series in 1992. Hidenori Taga had in fact helped finance Kitty's film division by spending money from their music branch, and that year was forced to step down due to an unknown scandal, while Shigekazu Ochiai transferred to Pao House Studios (he died in 1999). Kitty continued to produce less well-known shows such as ''

Ping Pong Club is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Minoru Furuya. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1993 to 1996, with its chapters collected in 13 ''tankōbon'' volumes. It is about ...

'' (1995), but their output shrank to almost nothing by the end of the 20th century. Rumiko Takahashi did not work with Kitty again after the last ''Ranma'' OVA was released in 1996;

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

handled the animation duties on ''

Inuyasha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...

'', and TMS animated ''

Rumic Theater , or , is a Japanese manga collective composed of short stories written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. New stories are published annually in Shogakukan's ''Big Comic Original'' magazine (and other Shogakukan magazines) since 1987. A 13 ...

''. Kitty also had a subsidiary animation studio that produced a few anime series and OVAs. The studio's name was Kitty Film Mitaka Studio and never became as famous or successful as its parent. The studio was eventually disbanded. Kitty Films was eventually reincorporated as Kitty Group and mainly exists as a talent agency, having sold off the rights to most of the Kitty Films library.

Productions

*''

The Adventures of T-Rex ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1992 U.S./Japan coproduction with Gunther-Wahl Productions and C&D (Créativité et Développement); Hidenori Taga and Shigekazu Ochiai are credited as producers) *'' Ike! Inachū Takkyūbu'' *''Karuizawa Syndrome'' *''

Kiteretsu Daihyakka is a Japanese manga series by duo Fujiko Fujio and later Fujiko F. Fujio, which ran in the children's magazine '' Kodomo no Hikari'' from April 1974 to July 1977. The manga was later made into a 331-episode anime television series which ran ...

'' *''

'' (rights transferred to K Factory) *''

'' (sold to

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affiliate ...

, Blu-ray release sub-licensed to Warner Bros. Japan) *'' Miyuki'' *''

'' (sold to

) *''

Sakura Diaries is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by U-Jin. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Sunday'' from 1995 to 2000, with its chapters collected in twenty ''tankōbon'' volumes. It follows the ...

'' *''Sena Keiko Obake Movies'' series *''Sengoku Eiyū Densetsu Shinshaku: Sanada Jūyūshi the Animation'' *'' Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings'' *''Super Zugan'' *''

The Enemy's the Pirates! is a 1989 Japanese science fiction action comedy original video animation (OVA) series. It's based on a novel series by Chōhei Kambayashi (born July 10, 1953) is a Japanese science fiction writer. Born in Niigata, Kambayashi graduated Na ...

'' *'' They Were 11'' *''Tobira wo Akete'' *''Tokyo Jusshōden'' *''

'' (sold to

, Blu-ray release sub-licensed Warner Bros. Japan) *'' YAWARA! a fashionable judo girl!'' (sold to VAP) *'' Kishin Douji Zenki'' (rights transferred to K Factory) *'' What's Michael'' (OVA's)

External links

* Acres, Harley
"The Rise and Fall of Kitty Films"
March 3, 2007
Rumic World
Accessed 11 April 2007. {{Authority control Mass media companies established in 1972 Mass media companies disestablished in 1996 Anime companies Mass media companies of Japan Japanese record labels Universal Music Japan Japanese companies established in 1972 Japanese companies disestablished in 1996