The Rise and Fall of Kitty FilmsBy Harley Acres
For some newer fans of anime, the name Kitty Films may not ring any bells, but for those of us who grew up with the romantic comedies of the 1980s, Kitty Films was a leviathan in the anime business. Kitty Films was solely responsible for adapting Rumiko Takahashi's first works for animation- Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, and Ranma 1/2. Kitty was first established in 1972 as Kitty Music Corporation. The company was a subsidiary Polydor and Universal Music, and was headed by Hidenori Taga, a name undoubtedly familar to Takahashi anime fans thanks to his role as executive producer of all of the above mentioned anime.
Initially the company specialized in soundtracks for televisions dramas and films, their first being for the film First Trip (初めての旅/Hajimete no Tabi) (1971) which saw Taga serving as the music producer for the film. [1] By 1979 the company had begun a film department to help branch out in new directions beginning with live action films such as Almost Transparent Blue (限りなく透明に近いブルー/Kagirinaku toumei ni chikai buru) and The Rose of Versailles (ベルサイユのばら/Berusai no bara) which were released under their "Kitty Records" imprint. Kitty suffered huge losses with Almost Transparent Blue and Daijoubu My Friend (だいじょうぶマイ・フレンド) (1983), and was only saved by the massive popularity of Urusei Yatsura. [2][3] It is believed that Hidenori Taga's practice of spending money from the lucrative Kitty Music branch to finance the Kitty Films branch was an early sign of the company's future problems. In his blog, a Japanese reviewer of the film Daijoubu My Friend jokingly comments on the percieved cost of the film, "The plot is not bad. The casting of Peter Fonda as Superman/Gonzi Troimelai is also great and suggests, 'behold the power of the Japanese Bubble Economy!' The music is also something with Kazuhiko Kato, Keisuke Kuwata, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takao Kisugi, and Masayoshi Takanaka, a gorgeous line-up that suggests, 'behold the power of Kitty.'" [4] Despite Kitty Films struggles they did have find success with Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (セーラー服と機関銃/Seeraa fuku to kikan ju) which has attained cult status outside of Japan as well. Urusei Yatsura was Kitty's first foray into animation, and it proved so successful, that Kitty continued to adapt Takahashi's anime for the rest of their existence. In addition to producing the Urusei Yatsura anime, Kitty also supervised the "Urusei Yatsura Fanclub" which was rechristened three months later as the "Kitty Animation Circle", a fanclub dedicated to all of Kitty's animation projects. Kitty Animation Circle, frequently abbreviated as "KAC", grew to handle the fan clubs and news letters for a number of Kitty's anime properties (chiefly those associated with Rumiko Takahashi). KAC was responsible for publishing monthly fan magazines (more accurately pamphlets given their size) such as Movement which gave well to We'll which ran into the late 1990s. Not only did Kitty Records branch off into Kitty Films, but also Kitty Artists, their talent management agency who were responsible for managaing the careers of the music group Picasso (known for their Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2 songs), Mari Ishihara (the live action Kyoko Otonashi from Maison Ikkoku: Apartment Fantasy), professional wrestler Devil Masami and many more. In truth, Kitty Animation was primarily an umbrella for smaller companies that completed the actual production work. For instance, the first half of Urusei Yatsura was handled by Studio Pierrot, while the second half and the entirety of Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2 were animated by Studio Deen. The final Urusei Yatsura film, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Yawara! were all animated by Madhouse. Kitty's connection with Rumiko Takahashi was primarily the result of Shigekazu Ochiai. Ochiai served as planner for the majority of Kitty's most famous anime productions, including Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2. Ochiai had worked as a writer alongside legendary manga writer Kazuo Koike at Saito Productions, the company founded by Takao Saito of Golgo 13 fame. Koike and Ochiai left to found Ichi Productions and eventually Ochiai did freelance work for Tatsunoko Productions as well. In 1977 Kazuo Koike's founded his manga school, Gekiga Sonjuku, which was formative to Rumiko Takahashi prior to her 1978 debut, and Shigekazu Ochiai worked there as an assistant to Koike, where he helped organize the students. [5] Ochiai would join Kitty Films in 1979, and it is likely his prior connection to Rumiko Takahashi via Gekiga Sonjuku that established her connection with Kitty. The beginning of the end was 1992, when many of the significant staff began to leave Kitty. Hidenori Taga retired amidst an unknown scandal, and in April Shigekazu Ochiai transferred to Pao House to work on DNA² and B Betterman. Ochiai was replaced by Youko Matsushita who was the producer of all of Takahashi's anime. Matsushita eventually left to work for Nihon Ad Systems Inc., which is an anime production company and anime character merchandising company. They are involved primarily with Shonen Jump titles like One Piece, Eyeshield 21, and Kodansha's Sgt. Frog. The end of Ranma 1/2 and Yawara! in 1992, marked the end of Kitty's major television programs. They continued producing less high-profile shows such as 1995's Ping Pong Club and Shinkai Densetsu Meremanoid (深海伝説MEREMANOID), which ended in 1998. After that, they no longer produced anime for television. Kitty continued to make a few animated OVAs, but their output had dwindled from the highs of the 1980s and early 1990s to almost nothing by the end of the century. Until 2013 Kitty still maintained a website, though now it is no longer active. [6] Kitty no longer hold the rights to most of the anime they produced during their heyday (for instance, all of Takahashi's anime are now distributed by Pony Canyon). They primarily function as a talent management group as of 2006, and have no involvement with any of their past anime hits. Footnotes
Harley Acres is an art history professor at Pikes Peak State College in Colorado Springs. If you'd like to listen to a live playing of Kitty Music's Maison Ikkoku: Apartment Fantasy vinyl album please click here. Or you can learn more about the film itself (from Kitty Films) here. |
