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Established in 1946note , TMS Entertainment (pronounced "toms" in Japanese, short for Tokyo Movie Shinsha, also credited as TMS-Kyokuchi or Tokyo Movie on occasion) is one of the oldest and most well-known (both in Japan and overseas) producers of Anime, and animation generally, in the world. Their most famous works are Lupin III, Case Closed, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Animaniacs. They have also done various other anime, including Soreike! Anpanman, Sonic X, Cardfight!! Vanguard, ZX Ignition, Spellbound! Magical Princess Lil'Pri, Megalo Box, Ulysses 31, Hamtaro, D.Gray-Man, Bakugan Battle Brawlers and adaptations of The Rose of Versailles, Dr. STONE, Fruits Basket and Cat's Eye; cartoons such as DuckTales (1987), Mighty Orbots, Batman: The Animated Series, Inspector Gadget, Visionaries and Cybersix, and even some full length feature films, such as AKIRA and Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.

Outside of Anime, they were also a popular studio for western animation. Their work first popped up in American cartoons in the early 80s, when they did animation for Filmation's The New Adventures of Zorro, as well as some of DiC's cartoons during that company's glory days. A few years later, Disney and Warner Bros. joined the list of clients, doing episodes of DuckTales (1987) and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh from Disney; Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, and Animaniacs from Warner Bros. Animation. On the Japanese side of clients, TMS has worked for Shogakukan with Detective Conan and Hamtaro, Kodansha with Ohayo! Spank and Kaitou Saint Tail and Shueisha with Dokonjou Gaeru and D.Gray-Man.

Starting off as an independent studio when established in 1946/1964, they were sold off to Sega-Kyokuchinote  in 1992 when the studio's founder Yutaka Fujioka left to retire (hence the name of their 1996-1999 productions as TMS-Kyokuchi). The studio was renamed TMS Entertainment in 2000note  and again in 2005 during the SegaSammy merger.

Their foreign workload has met a sharp decline, thanks to factors such as rising prices. The 2011 earthquake in Japan, which resulted in damage to their warehouse and halted many of their in-progress series, hasn't helped matters either. Whatever the case may be, TMS decided to focus mostly on anime (either their own or others, see below). The clients they once had have since moved to other studios. Disney opened its own overseas studio in Japan, using that one for a while before dumping them in 2004, as well as using other Asian studios, like Toon City and Rough Draft. DiC, in its twilight years, used various other Asian studiosnote  after The Littles (which itself was taken over by Studio Gallop in season three). Warner Bros. likewise ended its ties with TMS after Wakko's Wish and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, instead opting for cheaper animation studios like MOI Animation (most of the DC showcase shorts), JM Animation (the Jonah Hex short), Lotto Animation and Dong Woo Animation in Korea and Toon City as well (with Wang Film Productions on occasion). They reunited with TMS for Green Lantern: First Flight, Justice League: Doom and Superman vs. the Elite.

They were one of the minds behind the channel Animax (With Toei Animation, Sunrise and Sony) and the web site Daisuki (with Toei Animation, Sunrise, Sony, Nihon Ad Systems, Dentsu and Asatsu-DK).

Has nothing to do with TMZ.


    open/close all folders 

    Units of TMS 
In Japan:
  • Pre Tokyo Movie, or Tokyo Ningyo Cinema and Yutaka Fujioka's early days: Fujioka started in the animation industry in 1947 after finishing arts school, however the studio he was working at is unknown; all that is known about it is that he was doing stop motion animation at the studio. In 1956 he moved to Mom Productions when the studio was opening up doing stop motion animation and puppeteering for a number of projects, one of which that is known about is a Japanese localization puppet show of Casper the Friendly Ghost called The Adventures Of Casper, he left Mom Pro in 1960 to find his own studio Tokyo Ningyo Cinema, however Fujioka did not get a lot of clients and was forced to do adaptations of things like The Little Mermaid and A Mid Summers Nights Dream, Tokyo Ningyo Cinema went out of business in 1963 due to lack of clients, however the following year, Osamu Tezuka and TBS (Tokyo Broadcast Station) needed a studio to do Big X, Fujioka reformated his idea of a studio's layout to do hand drawn animation and that studio became...
    • Early Tokyo Movie (東京ムービー): This was the second attempt Yutaka Fujioka made to run a animation studio, under the name Tokyo Movie, the studio lasted between 1964 (When the studio was founded) to 1976/1977 (when Fujioka reformatted the studio into the TMS we know of today), most of the early Tokyo Movie productions were done with A-Productions as Tokyo Movie had very little animators until 1977 (Big-X was one of the few shows when Tokyo Movie did not use A-Pro as they were not founded until the following year in 1965), the studio was reformated into...
    • Tokyo Movie Shinsha (東京ムービー新社) or TMS as we know them today: Formed in 1977, This is the TMS that we know; Tokyo Movie Shinsha (translating into New Tokyo Movie Company) is the main animation studio of TMS.
  • Telecom Animation Film (テレコム・アニメーションフィルム): established in 1975 for use in western markets, as outsourcing work became more common. Prior to this however, Telecom got its start with a short called Obake Chan (produced in 1977, but not released until the year after), which is very unknown. Afterwards, they did a number of episodes of Lupin III: Part II, The Castle of Cagliostro, and started production on Little Nemo (which started in 1978 and finished in 1989). Most of the animators mentioned below come from this unit.invoked
  • TMS Photo (トムス・フォト): Also known as Toms Photo or Tomusu Photo, they serve as TMS's digital effects, photography and coloring unit. This unit was established in 1988 to do digital effects and photography on AKIRA and photography for Sunrise's Jushin Liger and Starship Troopers OVA. The unit is divided into three sections:
    • Dream Box (ドリームボックス), shortened to T.D.B.
    • Dream Factory (デジタル・ファクトリー), shortened to T.D.F.
    • Dream Image (デジタル・イメージ), shortened to T.D.I.
  • TMS Music (トムス・ミュージック): TMS' music arm.
  • Jinni's Animation Studio (ジーニーズアニメーションスタジオ) (occasionally known as TMS Jinni's): TMS's CG studio, established in 2002. Has worked on Hero Bank and Fireball.
  • Double Eagle (だぶるいーぐる): Formally known as Studio Sakimakura (スタジオさきまくら), the studio was founded in March of 2011, and has worked on Bakugan (Mechtanium Surge series), Cardfight!! Vanguard, Brave 10 and Lupin III Vs Detective Conan The Movie.
  • Studio 1: Founded in 2011, formerly known as V1 Studio. They worked on Case Closed movies since The Eleventh Striker and the anime since season 14.
  • 3xCube: Found in 2011, they worked on Anpanman since season 22 & The Pliot's Love Song.
  • Studio 777: Found in 2012, they have worked on Intrigue in the Bakumatsu.
  • Po10tial: Found in 2011, the studio worked on Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, however the studio was merged with Telecom in 2013 and said crew has worked on ZX Ignition and episode 2 of Space☆Dandy for Bones after Po10tial merged with Telecom but have been laid off after the animation of Gravestone of Daisuke Jigen was completed in April of 2014. Said staff members now work for Studio SHAFT.
  • 8 Pan: Formally known as Creative8, the studio worked on CG animation on Hamtaro Dechu from episode 26 onward, Yowamushi Pedal and Lupin III Princess Of The Breeze.
  • A-Productions (Aプロダクション): Founded in 1965 to help out TMS during Fujiko Pro's large work load, A-Pro split off from TMS in 1976 when TMS replaced them with Telecom, from then on A-Pro became Shin-Ei Doga. This unit was headed up by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata for a while, including during A-Pro's run on Lupin III: Part 1.
  • Die4studio - A recently established studio that worked on Dr. STONE: Ryusui.
  • Liverpool (リバプール) - Founded in 2003 and became a a wholly owned subsidiary of TMS since 2013.
  • Marza Animation Planet (マーザ・アニメーションプラネット) - A CGI animation studio founded in 2005.

In South Korea:

In the Philippines:

    Studios founded by Ex-TMS staff Members 
  • Mukuo Studio: Founded in 1968 and incorporated in 1971 by Takamura Mukuo.
  • Asahi Production: Established as the company's photography subsidiary in 1973 before splitting off and eventually becoming a regular for Sunrise. Still currently works alongside TMS as a regular subcontractor for both animation and camera services.
  • Shin-Ei Animation: After A-Pro split off from TMS in 1976, they got 98% of their stocks, 90% of it was sold to TV Asahi, 8% of it became Shin-Ei Doga. The 2% TMS did not give out to A-Pro was put into Telecom. As of 2010, the studio is now 100% owned by TV Asahi.
    • Ajia-Do: Founded in 1978 from a batch of animators at Shin-Ei that just did not what to only do Doraemon when it started production the same year (the show aired in 1979), the studio is mainly used by TMS on Anpanman.
  • Studio Gallop: To some extent, as the studio itself was founded in 1972 by Ex Mushi Productions staff. The animation unit started in 1977 after TMS fired a bunch of staff after how badly they messed up Episode 72 of Lupin III: Part II – resulting in Yasuo Otsuka having to redo almost the whole thing by himself. These animators stayed at Gallop until 1990, when they were fired again because Gallop wanted to improve their image. When these animators left, they then established...
  • Studio CATS: Established in 1982 by Hideko Kudo, who was a tracer for TMS. The company has worked on numerous productions, including those by Disney, Sunrise, and TMS.
  • KK C&D Asia: Formed by Tetsuo Katayama and Shigeru Akagawa in 1983 because of the way Little Nemo was going, the studio mostly did shows for DiC Entertainment with their biggest project being The Real Ghostbusters. The studio shut down in 2000 due to becoming too expensive for the US to ship off productions to Japan and for failing to compete in the anime market. Most of the staff now work for Production I.G.
  • Studio Ghibli: Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata worked at A-Productions, a TMS studio between 1965 and 1976. During the early-70's, the two would be in charge of A-Productions and would continue working for Studio Telecom before leaving for Studio Top Craft, which would later become Ghibli.
  • Spectrum Animation: Formed in 1988, the studio's first job was to supervise the Korean studios responsible for Captain N: The Game Master (as well as the animation for season 2). The company's first (and only) big break was on Batman: The Animated Series, providing animation to nine episodes note  and the movie Mask of the Phantasm. The studio also did some work for Cinar and the animated pilot for Defenders of Dynatron City. But, much like KK C&D, they too were unable to compete in the anime market and were forced to shut down in 1998. Most of their staff, much like KK C&D's, now work for Production I.G.
  • Walt Disney Animation Japan: Founded by Motoyoshi Tokunaga in 1988 from the former Pacific Animation Corp (the company behind ThunderCats (1985) and Silverhawks). The studio, obviously, served as Disney's Japanese unit. The studio stayed open until 2004, when Disney got rid of most of their traditional animation unitsnote . After that most of their staff members went to work for Madhouse, Studio Pierrot or Production I.G. The ones who did stick with Tokunaga went on to become...
  • Takahashi Studio: Founded by producer Yoshimitsu Takahashi. It was active from the late 80's to around 2000.
  • ufotable: Founded in 2000, just as TMS was halting work on Western productions. The studio is best known for their adaptation of Fate/Zero.
  • Brains Base: Established in 1996, the company is best known for the animated adaptation of Baccano! and the first season of Durarara!!.
  • Yuhodo: Founded in 2002 by Makoto Matsumoto.

    Noteworthy staff 
Noteworthy TMS staff members include (also counting their Telecom unit):

executives and producers

  • Yutaka Fujioka: Founder of TMS, he retired in 1992note . He died in 1996.
  • Koji Takeuchi: Came to TMS in 1977 from A-Pro. He is the president of the Telecom unit.
  • Shunzo Kato
  • Tetsuo Katayama: He worked for TMS in the '70s and early '80s. Left in 1983 to establish KK C&D Asia.
  • Shigeru Akagawa: He worked for TMS in the '70s and eary '80s. Like Katayama, he left TMS in 1983 for KK C&D Asia.
  • Motoyoshi Tokunaga: He did some stuff for TMS, then left the studio in 1988 to establish Walt Disney Animation Japan, where he stayed until the studio closed down in 2004. After that, he founded The Answer Studio.

artists

  • Toshihiko Masuda: Coming to TMS in 1980, he's mostly known for his work on Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs 1993. Would leave the studio in the mid-2010s and become an industry freelancer, usually cropping up on episodes of anime co-produced by Magic Bus.
  • Nobuo Tomizawa: Came to TMS from Nippon Animation in 1977. He is mostly known for being the animation director of "The Great Anvil Chorus" of Tiny Toon Adventures, was one of the animation directors of Little Nemo and as chief director for both Ramen Fighter Miki and The Daughter of Twenty Faces.
  • Sadakazu Takiguchi: Came to TMS in 1983 when people were leaving to go work for KK C&D Asia or with Hayao Miyazaki to work on Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. He did not became a director until 2003 when Hiroyuki Aoyama left as a freelancer. He has since worked on The Daughter Of Twenty Faces and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (stationed at Telecom of course).
  • Kenji Hachizaki
  • Kazuhide Tomonaga: Came to TMS from Oh! Production in 1978. He is mostly known for his key animation on The Castle of Cagliostro's famous Car Chase and Sherlock Hound, as well as being the animation director of the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Feat of Clay, Part 2". He was also the other animation director for Little Nemo.
  • Yoshinobu Michihata
  • Hiroyuki Aoyama: Came to TMS in 1980. He left in 2003 to become a freelance staff member for other studios, but came back in 2006. He's mostly known for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars for Madhouse and A Letter to Momo for Production I.G. A video that talks mostly about his work on Space☆Dandy his freelance gigs was made, you can view it here.
  • Yumiko Shirai
  • Yuichiro Yano: Came to TMS in 1982 and is mostly known for most of The Great Wakkorotti shorts from Animaniacs (the last one was by Jon McClenahan and shipped off to Wang Film Productions).
  • Hayao Miyazaki: Miyazaki came to TMS the first time in 1968 through A-Pro from Toeinote , doing Isao Takahata's Panda! Go Panda!. He left TMS in 1972 to go work for Nippon Animation because of lack of work, but came back to TMS through Telecom in 1977. Directing The Castle of Cagliostro and Sherlock Hound, and animating an episode of New Tetsujin-28, before leaving a second time for a number of reasonsnote  to go work for Topcraft to direct Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. After that, Miyazaki stole most of their staff and co-founded Studio Ghibli. The rest is history.
  • Saburo Hashimoto: He worked for TMS from the '70s until the early '90s, where he left for Walt Disney Animation Japan. Staying until it closed in 2004. He is now a arts teacher.
  • Keiko Oyamada
  • Sawako Miyamoto: She came to TMS in 1977, left in 1989 for Walt Disney Animation Japan. Then came back in 1994. Has since become a freelance animator in the mid to late 2010s.
  • Youichi Takada: Sometimes known as Yoichi Takada.
  • Isao Takahata: Takahata came to TMS from Toei through A-Pro in 1968, then left with Miyazaki to go work for Nippon Animation in 1972. He came back to TMS through Telecom in 1977, left with Miyazaki in 1983 to go work for Topcraft and went with Miyazaki when he co-founded Studio Ghibli.
  • Yasuo Otsuka: He came to TMS from Toei through A-pro in 1968 then to Telecom after A-Pro split off in 1976note . Mostly known for doing key animation on The Castle of Cagliostro and doing early drafts for Little Nemo. He also runs a TMS owned animation school, Anime Juku.
  • Yoshifumi Kondo: Mostly known for Whisper of the Heart by Studio Ghibli, he came to TMS in 1968 through A-Pro. He left for Shin-Ei Animation when A-Pro split off from TMS, after which he left for Nippon Animation, working with Hayao Miyazaki on Future Boy Conan. In 1980, he left to go back at TMS through Telecom and left in 1985 due to illness. When he got better, he went back to do contract work for Nippon which didn't last long. After that, he went to work for Ghibli until his death in 1998.
  • Teiichi Takiguchi
  • Takashi Kawaguchi: Did a number of things for TMS, then left to be a freelancer.
    • There are 2 known Takashi Kawaguchis out there in the world, the later is the Ex-TMS staff member.
  • Hiroaki Noguchi
  • Koichi Suenaga
  • Hisao Yokobori: The only known member of Telecom to have a Twitter account, See it here.
  • Yuzo Aoki: While not as known as Hayao Miyazaki, he is known for keeping Monkey Punch's style in Lupin III when others, like Toshihiko Masuda (Elusiveness Of The Fog), Nobuo Tomizawa (Farewell to Nostradamus) and even Miyazaki (The Castle of Cagliostro), toned his style down; which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
  • Yukio Okazaki: Worked at TMS in the '80s. He left in 1989 to work for Walt Disney Animation Japan for a few years before becoming a freelancer.
  • Atsuko Tanaka: Coming to TMS's Telecom unit from A-Pro in 1976, she's mostly known for key animation inThe Castle of Cagliostro, Sherlock Hound and several Ghibli movies including Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away and Ponyo. She was also the animation director of three Animaniacs episodes - "Taming Of The Screwy", "Ta Da Dump, Ta Da Dump, Ta Da Dump Dump Dump" and "Schnitzelbank", and directed The New Batman Adventures episodes "Growing Pains" and "The Demon Within". Do not confuse her with the seiyu of the same name.
  • Shojiro Nishimi: Sometimes known as Shijiro Nishimi and Shoujirou Nishimi, he came to TMS in 1984, left in 2003 to work at Studio 4°C, then came back to TMS in 2009. The last thing he did at 4°C under his original run were some animated clips to a movie that he made in 2008, but never came out until 2009.
    • He also did Storyboards for Atlus's Catherine, whose chief animation studio is Studio 4°C. However, he did it alongside Toshihiko Masuda and Sawako Miyamoto, who were doing key animation for it (stationed at Telecom).
    • He also produced a short titled Keep Walking Theater that started production in 2008 but did not came out until 2012 due to issues going on at 4°C. He did go back to finish it but went back to Telecom after it was done.invoked
    • Left Telecom again in 2014 to become freelanced; As of 2015 he is working on Mutafukaz at 4°C.
  • Noboru Furuse: A freelance staff member who has done some work for TMS as far back as Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats, anything listed here under his name indicates that he was stationed at TMS/Telecom during the time of production.
  • Keiko Yozawa
  • Chie Nishizawa: Worked at Telecom between 2000 to 2005, left in 2005 to become a freelancer.
  • Osamu Dezaki: A freelance director, he came to TMS in 1968 from Mushi and is notable for directing (among others) - Tomorrow's Joe, Aim for the Ace!, Visionaries, Mighty Orbots and took over for directing The Rose of Versailles after Tadao Nagahama passed away. He also did all four Hamtaro movies and the Air and CLANNAD movies for Toei Animation. Sadly, he died in 2011 from lung cancer. Often collaborated with character designer Akio Sugino.
  • Shingo Araki
  • Akio Sugino: A freelance artist who frequently collaborated with Osamu Dezaki (though he's done stuff without Dezaki, such as Cat's Eye and Toei's Gaiking).
  • Osamu Nabeshima: Worked at TMS from the early '80s, doing key animation on Inspector Gadget and Visionaries (also serving as co-animation director for the latter). He later served as the director of Kaitou Saint Tail, Hamtaro, D.Gray-Man, Zetman and most recently, Yowamushi Pedal.
  • Masatomo Sudo: Started as early as the 1980s, doing key animation on Mighty Orbots. He also did the character designs for Hamtaro. His most recognizable work however is his work on both character design and animation director for Detective Conan.
  • Junko Yamanaka
  • Hajime Kamegaki
  • Takahiko Shobu
  • Christophe Ferreira: One of, if not the only known, non-Japanese animators of Telecom. Provided Key Animation episode 21 of The Daughter of Twenty Faces and episode 34 of Soul Eater.
  • Mitsuru Soma: Freelance artist who has worked on a number of the Lupin III Yearly Specials and Anpanman movies for TMS. Like with Furuse, for anything listed here, he will be stationed at TMS during its production.
  • Yoshinori Kanada: Not officially affiliated with the company, but served as animation director on Visionaries (with Osamu Nabeshima, both men also animating the intro) and did some key animation work on Akira. He is probably better known for his work on the openings to Daitarn 3 and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, and for his unique and influential animation style as seen in several 70s mecha anime.
  • Toshiyuki Hiruma: Spent a few years at Telecom before going over to KK C&D Asia, he is now freelanced.

    Noteworthy productions from the 1960s 
  • 1964 Big X: TMS's first production, and the only production they got from Osamu Tezuka when he was still alive. Done due to Mushi Productions being full at the time.
  • 1965 Little Ghost Q-Taro (a.k.a. "Q-Taro the Ghost"): TMS's first production from Fujiko Pro.
  • 1967/1971 Chingo Muchabe: Made in 1967, but never aired until 1971. Was the final anime broadcast in black & whitenote .
  • 1967 Perman: First series only, both the second series and the movies are done by Shin-Ei Animation. Production was split between TMS and Studio Zero.
  • 1968/1977/1979 Kyojin no Hoshi, aka Star Of The Giants: All three series.
  • 1968 Kaibutsu-Kun: With Studio Zero.
  • 1969 Umeboshi Denka: With Studio Zero. Final black & white anime from TMS note .
  • 1969 Roppo Yabure-Kun: TMS's first Otaku O'Clock show.invoked

    Noteworthy productions from the 1970s 

    Noteworthy productions from the 1980s 
  • 1987 Starcom: The U.S. Space Force: Opening; series proper by KK C&D Asia.
  • 1987 Visionaries: Knights of the Magic Light: Also a co-producer with Hasbro and Sunbow.
  • 1987 Sylvanian Families: Some episodes, with KK C&D Asia, Sei Young and Mook DLE.
  • 1987 ALF The Animated Series: Openingnote  and the first episodenote , other episodes and the credits by KK C&D Asia.

    Noteworthy productions from the 1990s 
  • 1991 Watashi to Watashi Futari No Lotte: An adaptation of Lottie and Lisa.
  • 1992 My Patrasche (aka Flanders no Inu, Boku no Patrasche): An adaptation of A Dog of Flanders.
  • 1993 Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: Worked alongside Hong Ying, Saerom, Rainbow Animation Korea and Shanghai Rainbow Animation.
  • 1993 Animaniacs: 55 shorts list, bumpers list, the opening, Wakko's Wish, and every credits Couch Gag for Warner Bros and Amblin Entertainment.
  • 1996 Wankorobe
  • 1999 Shukan Storyland
  • 1999 Gozonji Gekko Kamen-Kun
  • 1999 Karakurizoshi Ayatsuri Sakon

    Noteworthy productions from the 2000s 
  • 2000, 2006, 2011 Hamtaro: Along with four OVAs, four movies, an all CGI show, a sing along DVD, 2 Hiragana specials, a school special and a numbers special.
  • 2000 Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker: Both the company's last Warner Bros. production, itself ending a 10-year streak, and final American production until 2009.
  • 2000 Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: A anime based on Atlus's Shin Megami Tensei game series. Co-produced with Actas.
  • 2005 Buzzer Beater
  • 2005 Tide Line Blue: Through the Telecom unit.
  • 2005 Fighting Beauty Wulong
  • 2005 Mushi King: A anime based on the Sega game of the same name.
  • 2007 Oshare Majo Love And Berry: A movie based off of Sega's Love And Berry.
  • 2008 Noramimi
  • 2009 A music video called Love To Live By.
    • Storyboard: Kazuhide Tomonaga.
    • Director: Toshihiko Masuda.

    Noteworthy productions from the 2010s 
  • 2011 Cartoon Style Fighting Kids aka It's Tropical: A British live-action/animated hybrid music video produced in the UK by Elnino and Studio 7-Machine Molle, but the live action was shot in France and the animation is done in Japan by TMS (Telecom unit); however, this video is NSFW due to all the bloodshed that goes on in it.
    • Animation Directior: Toshihiko Masuda.
    • Key Animation: Kazuhide Tomonaga, Yoshinobu Michihata, Sawako Miyamoto, Hiroyuki Aoyama, Atsuko Tanaka, Koichi Suenaga.
  • 2011 O-Jii-San No Lamp
  • 2012 Buta
  • 2012 Brave10: Production end only, actual animation for the series is done by the Studio Sakimakura unit.
  • 2013 Anisava: Production end only, actual animation done by DLE

    Noteworthy productions from the 2020s 

    Other Projects TMS (or their subdivisions Telecom and TMS Photo) had a hand in: 
Western Animation
  • The Animatrix: "Beyond" (Digital Paint, through TMS Photo)
  • Batman: Gotham Knight: "Have I Got A Story For You" (Key Animation through Telecom by Hisao Yokobori)
  • Gargoyles: "Hunter's Moon, Part 2" (Animation for Walt Disney Animation Japan, through Telecom; credited as T.A.F.)
  • Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (Key Animation through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda and Sawako Miyamoto)
  • Ōban Star-Racers (Key Animation through Telecom by Christophe Ferreira, episode 3)
  • Thunder Cats 2011 (Key Animation through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda, episode 1)
  • The Tigger Movie (Animation Cooperation for Walt Disney Animation Japan, through Telecom by Kenji Hachizaki, Keiko Oyamada, Teiichi Takaguchi and Nobuo Tomizawa)
  • Wakfu (Animation for the Noximilien and Orgest specials though Telecom by Christophe Ferreira and Sawako Miyamoto)
  • Waynehead (opening animation)

Anime; non Ghibli, may also include select animators

Anime; Through select animators, list not complete

  • Bodacious Space Pirates (Key Animation for episode 1 through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon (Key Animation by Osamu Nabeshima, Seiji Muta, Yasuchika Nagaoka and Hajime Kamegaki)
  • Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter (Key Animation for episodes 6 & 24 through Telecom by Christophe Ferreira & Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Code Geass (Key Animation for episode 11 of R2 through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Cross Ange (Key Animation for the opening and episodes 2, 6, 7, 12, 15, 17, 21 & 24 and 2nd Key Animation for episode 25 through Telecom by Sawako Miyamoto. Key Animation for episode 9 by Masaaki Kudo)
  • Deadman Wonderland (Key Animation through Telecom by Sawako Miyamoto)
  • Death Note (Key Animation through Telecom by Kenji Hachizaki and Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Diebuster (Key Animation through Telecom by Chie Nishizawa)
  • éX-Driver (Layout and Animation by Takahiko Shobu, Noboru Furuse and Mitsuru Soma. Key Animation for the movie by Satoshi Hirayama)
  • The Flowers of Evil (Key Animation through Telecom by Sawako Miyamoto)
  • Full Moon (Key Animation for episode 39 through Telecom by Yuichiro Yano)
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos (Key Animation through Telecom by Hiroyuki Aoyama)
  • Giant Robo (Key Animation by Hajime Kamegaki)
  • The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Photography Cooperation through TMS Photo. Key Animation through Telecom by Kenji Hachizaki and Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Himitsu ~The Revelation~ (Key Animation and Animation Direction through Telecom by Sawako Miyamoto)
  • Initial D (Character Design and Animation Direction for Extra Stage by Noboru Furuse)
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (2012 series, Key Animation through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Kiddy GiRL-AND (Key Animation through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Kids on the Slope (Key Animation through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda and Sawako Miyamoto)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (Key Animation through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Pokémon: The Series
  • Psychic Squad (Key Animation for episodes 27 and 37 by Hisao Yokobori, uncredited)note 
  • Shirobako (Key Animation for episode 18 through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Shenmue (Storyboard services for the third game, through Telecom, by Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Slayers Evolution-R (Key Animation for episode 2 through Telecom by Toshihiko Masuda)
  • Space☆Dandy (Production Assistance through Telecom; Key Animation by Hiroyuki Aoyama (Episode 1, 17, 19, 21 and 26, Animation Director on Episodes 2, 10, 17 and 19, 2nd Key Animation on episode 10, Assistant Animation Director on episode 12 and Key Animation Retakes on episode 16), Kenji Hachizaki (Opening and Episodes 2, 10, 17, 19 and 26), Atsuko Tanaka (Episode 2), Takashi Kawaguchi (stationed at Telecom, Episode 10) and Sawako Miyamoto (Episodes 3 and 5))
  • Summer Wars (Key Animation through Telecom by Kenji Hachizaki, Atsuko Tanaka and Sawako Miyamoto. Hiroyuki Aoyama was also stationed at Telecom for Key Animation but was stationed at Madhouse for Animation Direction and Storyboards)
  • Tekkonkinkreet (Key Animation through Telecom by Kenji Hachizaki and Teiichi Takiguchi)
  • Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter (Animation Assistance through Telecom by Keiko Yozawa)
  • Wolf Children (Key Animation through Telecom by Kenji Hachizaki)

Anime; Studio Ghibli

And it just couldn't be complete without working with Studio Ghibli on several occasions (all instances except for one through Telecom)

    Tropes associated with TMS Entertainment 
  • Animation Bump: Not just in animation itself compared to other studios used at the time, but color keys and shading as well.
    Bruce Timm: I think when we shipped them 'Clayface,' they said to themselves: They think they know everything, but we'll show them how to do this show. We'll change Batman's colors. We'll do special color key treatments on the villains when they're walking over the green vat. We'll blow them away.' If that's their revenge, thank you for proving us wrong. I was so happy with that episode." "The sequence where Daggett and Germs are walking over that green vat, those characters look like they're three-dimensional. They look like they're rotoscoped. When Daggett slowly turns toward the camera, the shadows really wrap around his face. It's as if they're real! They did all those colors themselves. We couldn't even ask for those colors if we wanted to. They aren't even in our palette. They had to specially mix those colors."
  • Big Budget Beef-Up: The Western Animation that came out of the studio tended to cost a lot more than most of the other animation studios companies that Disney and Warner Bros. were using at the time.
  • Cash-Cow Franchise: Most of the western productions TMS did animation work on (primarily those of Warner Bros. and Disney). On the anime side, we have Lupin III, Bakugan, Anpanman and Detective Conan.
  • International Coproduction: Some North American projects, like Visionaries, Bionic Six and Inspector Gadget.
  • Long-Runners: Several, the most obvious being Lupin III, Anpanman and Detective Conan.
  • Limited Animation: Justified throughout the '60s and '70s, as practically everyone, even Disney was doing it due to incredibly low budgets. They do tend to fare better than other studios (with some exceptions as shown below) when it comes to television animation, though.
    • Averted (for the most part) in their American work, often being considered one of the best Japanese studios. Notable exceptions to this include Dennis the Menace, The Transformers, and select Animaniacs segments such as "Home on De Nile" and "Cutie and the Beast".
  • Production Posse: Disney only worked with them when their TV animation division first began, though by 1989 they had phased them out in favor of Walt Disney Animation Japan. This sudden availability allowed Warner Bros. to work with TMS due to the latter needing money to pay back for Little Nemo's bombing , who used them for many of their shows throughout the '90s (Tiny Toon Adventures, Sylvester And Tweety Mysteries, Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series).
  • Troubled Production: Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland aside, The New Adventures of Zorro (1981) was plagued with these. The least of which being a small time frame for the first episode (five weeks, according to Lou Scheimer himself in "Creating the Filmation Generation")

Alternative Title(s): Tokyo Movie Shinsha

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