Zuiyo (瑞鷹株式会社 ''ZUIYO Co., Ltd.'', or: ズイヨー ''Zuiyō'') is a

Japanese animation is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening ...

company founded in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and headquartered in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. The studio has produced in the past a variety of series based on Western literature such as ''

Moomin The Moomins ( sv, Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of white, ...

'', ''

Heidi, Girl of the Alps is an anime television series produced by Zuiyo Eizo and is based on the novel ''Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning'' by Johanna Spyri (1880). It was directed by Isao Takahata and features contributions by numerous other anime filmmak ...

'' and ''

Vicky the Viking ''Vicky the Viking'', known as ''Wickie und die starken Männer'' () in Germany and Austria and in Japan, is an animated television series which tells the adventures of Vicky, a young Viking boy who uses his wits to help his Viking fellows. It ...

''.

History

Zuiyo Enterprise and Zuiyo Eizo (1969-1975)

The company was founded as Zuiyo Enterprise (瑞鷹エンタープライズ ''Zuiyō Entāpuraizu'') in April 1969, by TCJ former manager Shigeto Takahashi. The company was involved in the production of animated series for the TV anime staple ''Calpis Comic Theater'' (''Karupisu manga gekijō''), later known as ''

World Masterpiece Theater was a Japanese TV anime staple that showcased an animated version of a different classical book or story each year from 19:30 to 20:00 on Sunday on Fuji TV. It originally aired from 1969 to 1997 and from 2007 to 2009. Commonly abbreviated to ...

'', broadcast on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

. These series were based on

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

such as ''

'' and '' Andersen Stories''. These earlier series' animation were commissioned to two other studios:

Mushi Production or Mushi Pro for short, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Fujimidai, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. It previously had a headquarters elsewhere in Nerima. The studio was headed by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka started it as a rivalry wit ...

and

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 ...

, while Zuiyo was mainly involved in the planning. Between 1972 and 1973, Zuiyo Enterprise changed its name to Zuiyo Eizo (ズイヨー映像 ''Zuiyō Eizō'') after changing headquarter. However, the studio will continue to be credited as Zuiyo Enterprise in some foreign versions of its works. In this time Zuiyo was working on its first independent production based on

Johanna Spyri Louise Spyri (; ; 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories, and is best known for her book ''Heidi''. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, as a child she spent sev ...

's ''

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Use ...

'', an ambitious project on which

Isao Takahata was a Japanese director, screenwriter and producer. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he earned international critical acclaim for his work as a director of Japanese animated feature films. Born in Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture, Takahata joined Toei ...

and

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

also worked on. In 1967 Takahashi had already produced a short pilot for a Heidi series with TCJ, but the project was shelved. In the meantime Zuiyo also worked on ''

'', a German co-production with

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

and

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of t ...

, based on

Runer Jonsson Runer Jonsson (29 June 1916 — 29 October 2006) was a Swedish journalist and author. He was editor of ''Nybro Tidning'' and the author of the Vicke Viking series of children's books adapted into the animated series ''Vicky the Viking ''Vicky t ...

's eponymous book series. In 1974 ''

'' and ''Vicky the Viking'' were broadcast in Japan, soon gaining a huge success also in Europe. Nevertheless, Zuiyo Eizo found itself in financial difficulties due to the high production costs of its series, not enough repaid by the selling of its properties to European market. In

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, Zuiyo Eizo was split into two entities: Zuiyo Co., Ltd., which absorbed the debt and the rights to the ''Heidi'' anime and other previous series, and

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City. Nippon Animation is known for producing numerous anime series based on works of ...

, which was essentially Zuiyo Eizo's production staff (including Miyazaki and Takahata), which would continue to produce World Masterpiece Theater, retaining the rights of other series on which the studio was working on, such as ''

A Dog of Flanders ''A Dog of Flanders'' is an 1872 novel by English author Marie Louise de la Ramée published with her pseudonym "Ouida". It is about a Flemish boy named Nello and his dog, Patrasche, and is set in Antwerp. In Japan, Korea, Russia, Ukraine an ...

'' and ''

Maya the Honey Bee is an anime television series produced first by Zuiyo Enterprise and Asahi Broadcasting Corporation of Osaka. After the first 6 episodes, Zuiyo Enterprise would split into Zuiyo Company and Nippon Animation, which retained the rights of t ...

''.

Zuiyo

From here on, Zuiyo mainly dealt with the distribution and marketing of its previous creations, co-producing only occasionally new anime. Between 1979 and 1983 the studio temporarily returned to be named Zuiyo Enterprise. In 1979, the studio produced a theatrical re-edited footage film based on ''

''. Between the 80s and the early 90s, Zuiyo produced in collaboration with other studios some animated series such as ''

Serendipity the Pink Dragon is an anime television series produced by ZUIYO Enterprise that aired on NTV on 1 July 1983, ending on 23 December. The series was based on the ''Serendipity'' books by Stephen Cosgrove and character designs for the animation version were do ...

'' (1983), '' Elves of the Forest'' (1984–85), ''Fairy Dick'' (1992) and the OAV ''Fox Wood Tales'' (1991–92). In the

2000s File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty during the 9/11 attacks in 2001; the euro enters into European currency in 2002; a statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled during ...

, the studio was involved in the production of experimental CGI animated series and short films such as ''Popee the Performer'', ''RAHMAN'' and ''Elec-king The Animation''. Between 2010 and 2017, Zuiyo also produced a series of parody shorts in which Heidi's characters appear in a comedic-zany way: ''Tei nenpi shōjo Haiji'' (2010), 13 streaming commercials promoting a new model of

Nissan Note The is a supermini/subcompact hatchback or a mini MPV manufactured and marketed worldwide by Nissan. Introduced in 2004, the first-generation Note was primarily marketed in Japan and Europe, and was produced in Japan and the United Kingdom. The ...

, and ''Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji? Chara Onji'' (2016) and ''Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji? Chara Onji Z'' (2017) a series of short films starring Heidi's grandfather.

Select works

TV Series

* '' The Chronicles of Kamui the Ninja'' (忍風カムイ外伝 , ''Ninpū Kamui Gaiden'') – 1969 (co-produced with TCJ) * ''

'' (ムーミン, ''Mūmin'') – 1969-70 (co-produced with

and

) * '' Andersen Stories'' (アンデルセン物語, ''Anderusen Monogatari'') – 1971 (co-produced with Mushi Production) * ''

New Moomin is the second anime television series adaptation of the Moomin book series by the Finnish illustrator and writer Tove Jansson. It is a remake of the 1969-1970 ''Moomin'' series, which was loosely based on the books. It was produced in 1972 b ...

'' (新ムーミン, ''Shin Moomin'') – 1972 (co-produced with Mushi Production) * ''

Little Wansa is a mascot for Sanwa Bank designed by Osamu Tezuka. It was later turned into a manga series by Tezuka and an anime series from 1973. The hero of Wansa-kun was Wansa, a puppy who is sold for a pittance, then escapes, and spends much of th ...

'' (ワンサくん, ''Wansa-kun'') – 1973 (co-produced with Mushi Production) * ''

Fables of the Green Forest is an anime television series based on a series of books published in the 1910s and 1920s by Thornton W. Burgess which ran on the Japanese network Fuji Television from 7 January 1973 to 30 December 1973. It consists of 52 episodes and was p ...

'' (山ねずみロッキーチャック, ''Yama Nezumi Rokkī Chakku'') – 1973 (co-produced with Mushi Production) * ''

'' (アルプスの少女ハイジ, ''Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji'') – 1974 * ''

'' (小さなバイキングビッケ, ''Chiisana Viking Vikke'') – 1974-75 (co-produced with

, Taurus Film, Mushi Production (eps. 1–26) and completed by

(eps. 53-78)) * ''A Dog of Flanders'' (フランダースの犬, ''Furandāsu no Inu'') – 1975 (eps. 1-20, 24–26, property of

) * ''

'' (みつばちマーヤの冒険, ''Mitsubachi Māya no Bōken'') – 1975-76 (eps. 1–6, property of Nippon Animation) * ''

'' (ピュア島の仲間たち, ''Pyuatō no Nakama-tachi'') – 1983 (co-produced with Dragon Production, SHAFT, Studio Unicorn and Tama Production) * '' Elves of the Forest'' (森のトントたち, ''Mori no Tonto Tachi'') – 1984-85 (co-produced with SHAFT) * ''Fairy Dick'' (妖精ディック, ''Yōsei Dikku)'' – 1992 (co-produced with

Grouper Productions Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...

Marubeni (, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a '' sōgō shōsha'' (general trading company) headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest ''sogo shosha'' and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a ...

)

OAV

* ''Fox Wood Tales'' (フォックスウッドものがたり, ''Fokkus uuddo monogatari'') – 1991-92 (co-produced with Grouper Productions, Marubeni and Nippon Columbia)

Film

* '' Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji'' (アルプスの少女ハイジ) – 1979

Commercial

* ''Tei nenpi shōjo Haiji'' (低燃費少女ハイジ) – 2010 (co-produced with Studio Crocodile)

References

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

{{Authority control Animation studios in Tokyo Mass media companies established in 1969 Japanese companies established in 1969 Japanese animation studios Companies of Japan