About the studio
Tokyo Movie Shinsha is a slightly different entity from the modern TMS Entertainment, though it's the direct predecessor. It started as Tokyo Movie Co., Ltd. in 1964, founded by Yutaka Fujioka with investment from Tokyo Broadcasting System, inspired by Astro Boy's early success. *Everyone in early 1960s anime seemed to be chasing the Astro Boy effect, and honestly, fair enough.* Tokyo Movie's A Production unit employed Yasuo Otsuka, Osamu Dezaki, and a young Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki before they went on to found Studio Ghibli. The original Tokyo Movie shut down in 1976, with A Production spinning off into what became Shin-Ei Animation, and the company reformed as Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1977, producing Lupin III Part II and, later, the landmark 1988 film Akira. This 1977 entity is the direct ancestor of the TMS Entertainment operating today.