Tatsunoko Production

Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. (株式会社タツノコプロ, Kabushiki gaisha Tatsunoko Puro), previously known as Kabushiki gaisha Tatsunoko Purodakushon (株式会社竜の子プロダクション), often shortened to Tatsunoko Pro (竜の子プロ or タツノコプロ, Tatsunoko Puro), is a Japanese animation company. It was founded in October 1962 by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida along with his brothers Kenji and Toyoharu (or by the pen name "Ippei Kuri"). The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese of "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu being a nickname for Tatsuo) and "sea dragon", which was the inspiration for its seahorse corporate logo.

History

Since the studio's inception, Tatsunoko has specialized in television production; by contrast, rival studio Toei Animation focused chiefly on feature films and was just beginning to move into TV production when Tatsunoko was formed. The studio debuted in 1965 with the TV series Space Ace. Since then, many legendary figures in the anime industry have worked with Tatsunoko, including Mizuho Nishikubo, Hiroshi Sasagawa, Koichi Mashimo, Katsuhisa Yamada, Hideaki Anno (Tatsunoko provided animation work on the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series), and Kazuo Yamazaki. Sasagawa is notable for bringing his fondness for comedy animation to the forefront in Tatsunoko series such as the Time Bokan (1975) franchise.