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| - Founded in 1972, Kitty was originally Kitty Music Corporation, which produced soundtrack albums for several live-action TV series and movies during the 1970s. In 1981, Urusei Yatsura was Kitty's first foray into anime production (although the actual animation production was done by Studio Pierrot during the first half of the series and Studio Deen during the second half), and also the company's first major hit.
- The company was first established in 1972 as Kitty Music Corporation under Hidenori Taga.It was a subsidiary of Polydor and Universal Music, 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 Kagirinaku toumei ni chikai buru and The Rose of Versailles (Kitty had no association with the 1979 anime version of the latter, which was made by Tokyo Movie Shinsha). However, major success first came with their anime version of Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura. Starting in 1981, it marked Kitty's entry into anime production. Over the next two decades, Kitty Films would become noteworthy in and outside Japan as the producer of most of the animated versions of Takahashi's manga series, including
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| abstract
| - Founded in 1972, Kitty was originally Kitty Music Corporation, which produced soundtrack albums for several live-action TV series and movies during the 1970s. In 1981, Urusei Yatsura was Kitty's first foray into anime production (although the actual animation production was done by Studio Pierrot during the first half of the series and Studio Deen during the second half), and also the company's first major hit. Kitty's association with Takahashi Rumiko continued after the end of the UY TV series in 1986, with the Maison Ikkoku TV series also premiering that year, and followed in 1989 by Ranma 1/2 (Studio Deen animated the entirety of both MI and Ranma, and Madhouse Studios animated Yawara!, the final UY movie, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes). Kitty continued to produce UY anime during the late 1980s in the form of Original Video Animations (the last of which was released in 1991) and a few more feature-length movies (there were six in total, the first being Only You in 1983, and the last being Itsudatte My Darling/Always My Darling in 1991). These works were produced under the aegis of producer Taga Hidenori and planner Ochiai Shigekazu (a longtime friend of Takahashi's; d. 1999). Other non-Takahashi anime produced by Kitty Films included Legend of the Galactic Heroes, F (1988-89), and the very popular Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl (1989-1992), which regularly scored higher ratings than its "sister" show Ranma 1/2. The early 1990s marked the beginning of the end for Kitty's golden era. The company was in dire financial straits, reportedly due to Taga's using money from Kitty's music branch to finance the company's anime productions. Kitty lost both Taga and Ochiai in 1992 (Taga resigned due to an unknown scandal, and Ochiai moved on to another studio), and Kitty's visibility quickly faded after the final Ranma 1/2 OVA was released in 1996, with its last noteworthy titles including Ping Pong Club (1995) and Sakura Diaries (1997). The end of Ranma also marked the end of Takahashi's association with Kitty; the anime adaptations of her works released since have been produced by other companies (Inuyasha by Sunrise, and Takahashi Rumiko Anthology by TMS Entertainment). Kitty no longer holds the rights to any of its anime hits and is now primarily a talent agency. Many now-well-known names in the anime industry cut their teeth working for Kitty Films on Urusei Yatsura, including Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell), character director and animator Atsuko Nakajima, and Junji Nishimura (Kyo Kara Maoh!).
- The company was first established in 1972 as Kitty Music Corporation under Hidenori Taga.It was a subsidiary of Polydor and Universal Music, 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 Kagirinaku toumei ni chikai buru and The Rose of Versailles (Kitty had no association with the 1979 anime version of the latter, which was made by Tokyo Movie Shinsha). However, major success first came with their anime version of Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura. Starting in 1981, it marked Kitty's entry into anime production. Over the next two decades, Kitty Films would become noteworthy in and outside Japan as the producer of most of the animated versions of Takahashi's manga series, including Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2. Takahashi had in fact attended the same college as Shigekazu Ochiai, the planner of most of Kitty's anime productions. Despite their fame as producer, the actual animation of Kitty's works was handled by several independent anime studios, some of which still exist today. 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, while Madhouse handled the final Urusei Yatsura movie, some of the later Urusei Yatsura OVAs, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Yawara! 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, while Shigekazu Ochiai transferred to Pao House Studios (he died in 1999). Kitty continued to produce less well-known shows such as Ping Pong Club (1995) and Shinkai Densetsu Meremanoid, but their output shrank to almost nothing by the end of the 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 Rumiko Takahashi Theater. As of 2007, the company mainly exists as a talent agency, having sold off the rights of most of their anime hits.
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