The Story of Animerama: Origins
In the 1960s, one of the first studios to make anime for television was Mushi Productions. Towards the end of that decade, their desire to innovate would lead them to produce a trilogy of animated films under the label of “ Animerama .” These films were a major gamble on their part, a means by which they could tap into both adult and international audiences. This gamble ultimately ended in failure, and for many decades these films lingered in obscurity. It’s only in recent years that modern viewers have been able to rediscover them and reassess their place in the history of Japanese animation. This is the first is a series of essays chronicling the history behind this ill-fated trilogy. It will explore the careers of the two men who helped bring these films into existence, the fate of the studio that killed itself making them, and the legacy of their work on the Animerama films and beyond. This is the story of Animerama.