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Kitty Films Co., Ltd.
Native name	株式会社キティフィルム
Romanized name	Kabushiki-gaisha Kiti Firumu
Company type	Kabushiki gaisha
Industry	Production company
Founded	1972; 53 years ago
Founder	Hidenori Taga
Defunct	1996; 29 years ago
Fate	Reincorporated as Kitty Group; properties now split between various companies
Headquarters	Japan

Kitty Films Co., Ltd. (キティフィルム Kabushiki-gaisha Kiti Firumu) was a production company established in 1972 in Japan. They were a pioneer in releasing full anime television series in a single set. The sound recording work by Ken'ichi Benitani on their 1979 film, Almost Transparent Blue, was co-nominated (with Benitani's work on another film) for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Recording at the 3rd Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony in 1980.

History

The company was first established in 1972 as Kitty Music Corporation under Hidenori Taga, 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 Almost Transparent Blue and Lady Oscar (a live-action adaptation of the manga The Rose of Versailles).^[1]^[2]^[3] Almost Transparent Blue received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Recording for Ken'ichi Benitani at the 3rd Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony in 1980 (shared nomination with Benitani's work on The Man Who Stole the Sun).^[4]

Kitty's entry into anime production began with the 1981 television anime series Urusei Yarsura, based on Rumiko Takahashi's manga of the same name. They would go on to produce most of the animated versions of Maison Ikkoku and Ranma ½, as well. The actual animation of Kitty's works was handled by several independent anime studios. Studio Pierrot did the animation for the first half of Urusei Yatsura, Studio Deen animated the second half (except for several of the OVAs) and all of Maison Ikkoku and Ranma ½, while Madhouse handled the final Urusei Yatsura movie, some of the later Urusei Yatsura OVAs, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and YAWARA! a fashionable judo girl!. Kitty was a pioneer in releasing complete collections of series, beginning with the limited-run 50-disc laserdisc collection of Urusei Yatsura in May 1987, which sold out quickly and led to many other companies releasing series in laserdisc and (later) DVD box sets.^[5]

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,^{[citation needed]} while Shigekazu Ochiai transferred to Pao House Studios (he died in 1999).^{[citation needed]} Around 1995, Kitty Enterprise was purchased by PolyGram.

Kitty continued to produce less well-known shows such as Ping Pong Club (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 handled the animation duties on Inuyasha, and TMS animated Rumic Theater.

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. The Kitty Records library is currently controlled by Universal Music Japan.

Productions

10 Tokyo Warriors
The Adventures of T-Rex (1992 U.S./Japan coproduction with Gunther-Wahl Productions and C&D (Créativité et Développement); Hidenori Taga and Shigekazu Ochiai are credited as producers)
Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel
F
Hanaukyo Maid Team: La Verite
Ike! Inachū Takkyūbu
Karuizawa Syndrome
Kiteretsu Daihyakka
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (rights transferred to K Factory)
Maison Ikkoku (sold to Pony Canyon, Blu-ray release sub-licensed to Warner Bros. Japan)
Megazone 23
Miyuki
Pastel Yumi, the Magic Idol
Radio City Fantasy
Ranma ½ (sold to Pony Canyon)
Sakura Diaries
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!
They Were 11
Tobira wo Akete
Tokyo Jusshōden
Touch
Twilight of the Cockroaches
Urusei Yatsura (sold to Pony Canyon, 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)
Zenki

References

^ ベルサイユのばら [The Rose of Versailles] (in Japanese). Allcinema / Stingray. Archived from the original on September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
^ 限りなく透明に近いブルー [Almost Transparent Blue]. Japanese Movie Database. Archived from the original on September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
^ 限りなく透明に近いブルー [Almost Transparent Blue] (in Japanese). Allcinema / Stingray. Archived from the original on September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
^ 第3回日本アカデミー賞作品 [3rd Japan Academy Film Prize Works] (in Japanese). 日本アカデミー賞協会 (Japan Academy Prize Committee). Archived from the original on September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
^ 増田弘道 (July 2007). アニメビジネスがわかる [Understanding the Anime Business] (in Japanese). NTT出版. p. 130. ISBN 978-4-7571-2200-0.