Mushi Production

Mushi Production, also called Mushi Pro and known by its Japanese name as Bug Production, was a Japanese animation studio led by the manga artist Osamu Tezuka and now headquartered in Fujimidai, Nerima, Tokyo. Tezuka started it in rivalry with Toei Animation, his former employer, after his contract there expired in 1961. The studio pioneered television animation in Japan and made well known series such as Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Princess Knight, Dororo and Ashita no Joe, along with adult oriented films such as A Thousand and One Nights, Cleopatra and Belladonna of Sadness. It also did overseas animation work for Rankin/Bass, including Frosty the Snowman. Low production budgets and financial difficulty led to bankruptcy in 1973, after which its assets were divided, and the company was re-established on 26 November 1977 as a legacy company. Many later studios were founded by its former staff.