Madhouse, Inc. (株式会社マッドハウス) is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro staff, including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Madhouse has created and helped produce many well-known shows, OVAs and films, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! (produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha) in 1973, and including Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, Perfect Blue, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Trigun, Di Gi Charat, Black Lagoon, Death Note, Paprika, Wolf Children, Parasyte: The Maxim, the first season of One-Punch Man, the second adaptation of Hunter × Hunter, Overlord, and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. Unlike other studios founded at this time such as AIC and J.C.Staff, their strength was and is primarily in TV shows and theatrical features. Expanding from the initial Mushi Pro staff, Madhouse recruited important directors such as Morio Asaka, Masayuki Kojima, and Satoshi Kon during the 1990s. Their staff roster expanded in the 2000s to include Mamoru Hosoda, Takeshi Koike, and Mitsuo Iso, as well as many younger television directors.
The studio often collaborates with known manga artists, including Naoki Urasawa and Clamp. Madhouse produced adaptations of Urasawa's Yawara!, Master Keaton, and Monster, with Masayuki Kojima helming the latter two. The company has animated a number of CLAMP's titles, including Tokyo Babylon, two versions of X (a theatrical movie and a TV series), Cardcaptor Sakura and its sequel Clear Card, and Chobits. In the 2000s and 2010s, Madhouse and its subsidiaries, Madbox Co., Ltd and South Korea–based DR Movie, animated for various companies, including Imagi Animation Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, Marvel Animation, Studio Ghibli, TMS Entertainment
History
Madhouse was established in 1972 by ex–Mushi Production animators, including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri, with funding from Yutaka Fujioka, the founder of Tokyo Movie, and co-produced its earliest series with Tokyo Movie. In February 2004, Madhouse became a subsidiary of Index Corporation.[3] On February 8, 2011, Nippon TV became Madhouse's primary stockholder (replacing Index Corporation), via a third-party allocation of new shares.[4] NTV bought 128,667 new shares (each ¥7,772) issued by Madhouse for ¥999,999,924 total (about $12.4 million), raising its stake in the company from 10.4% to 84.5%. Index Corporation's stake in Madhouse fell from 60.91% to 10.54%.[5][6] In January 2012, Madhouse announced their acquisition of the animation rights to the Peanuts comic strip.
Business
The studio employs approximately 70 employees, with employment levels varying depending on the number of productions currently underway. Additionally, the company has invested in the animation studio DR Movie.[8] Madhouse has a subsidiary, Madbox Co., Ltd., that mainly focuses on computer graphics.[9]
Works
Television
1973–2000
- Aim for the Ace! (1973–1974, co-animated with Tokyo Movie)
- Manga Sekai Mukashi Banashi (1976–1979)
- Jetter Mars (1977, co-animated with Toei Animation)
- Nobody's Boy: Remi (1977–1978, co-animated with Tokyo Movie)
- Treasure Island (1978–1979, co-animated with
Collaborations
Madhouse designed the characters for Hudson Soft's game Virus (the first installment of the Virus Buster Serge franchise).[17] Madhouse worked with Square Enix on the OVA Last Order: Final Fantasy VII as well as Capcom for Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, and Street Fighter: The Animated Series.
They collaborated with Studio Ghibli by contributing key animation assistance to Hayao Miyazaki's films including My Neighbor Totoro
Foreign production history
In addition to Madhouse creating anime of Western media, they were also responsible for making a few notable American cartoons, particularly through collaborations with Western companies such as Hanna-Barbera, Film Roman, and HBO. Typically, though, many cartoons that has involved creative input from Madhouse in any way are done through its South Korean subsidiary DR Movie.
- The Jetsons (ジェットソンズ) (September 16, 1985 – November 12, 1987) (co-animated with Hanna-Barbera with Toei Animation; Season 3 only; uncredited)
- The Transformers: The Movie (トランスフォーマー：ザ・ムービー) (August 8, 1986) (co-animated with Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, and Toei Animation; uncredited, provides key and in-between animation)[38]
See also
- Triangle Staff, an animation studio founded in 1987 by multiple former Madhouse animators.
- Nomad, animation studio founded in 2003 by another former Madhouse producer Tatsuya Ono.
- MAPPA, an animation studio founded in 2011 by former Madhouse producer Masao Maruyama.
- Studio VOLN, an animation studio founded in 2014 by former Madhouse producer Keiji Mita.
- CLAP, an animation studio founded in 2016 by former Madhouse producer Ryoichiro Matsuo after working freelance.
- Nut, an animation studio founded in 2017 by former Madhouse producer Takuya Tsunoki.
External links
References
- madhouse.co.jp www.madhouse.co.jp, retrieved 2024-12-06^
- madhouse.co.jp www.madhouse.co.jp, retrieved 2024-12-06^
- https://madhouse.co.jp/company/history.html Madhouse Inc., retrieved 2014-04-14^