Toei Company
Toei Company, Ltd. is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a shareholder in several television companies. It is notable for animated, live action dramas known as anime and tokusatsu which use special visual effects, and historical dramas respectively. Outside Japan, it is known as the controlling shareholder of Toei Animation and the owner of the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai franchises.
Toei is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, and is therefore one of Japan's Big Four film studios.
The name "Toei" is derived from the company's former name "Tōkyō Eiga Haikyū".
History
Toei's predecessor, the Toyoko Eiga Company, Ltd., was incorporated in 1938. It was founded by Keita Goto, which was CEO of Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway, the direct predecessor to the Tokyu Corporation. It had erected its facilities immediately east of the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line; they managed the Tōkyū Shibuya Yokohama studio system prior to V-J Day. From 1945 through the Toei merger, Tokyo-Yokohama Films leased from the Daiei Motion Picture Company a second studio in Kyoto. Through the merger, they gained the combined talents and experience of actors Chiezō Kataoka, Utaemon Ichikawa, Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Ryūtarō Ōtomo, Kinnosuke Nakamura, Chiyonosuke Azuma, Shirunosuke Toshin, Hashizo Okawa, and Satomi Oka.On October 1, 1950, the Tokyo Film Distribution Company was incorporated as a subsidiary of Toyoko Eiga; in 1951 the company purchased Ōizumi Films. The current iteration of Toei was established in 1 April 1951.
In 1956, Toei established an animation division, Toei Animation Company, Limited at the former Tokyo-Ōizumi animation studio, purchasing the assets of Japan Animated Films, founded in 1948.
Toei was a pioneer in the use of "Henshin"/"character transformation" in live-action martial-arts dramas, a technique developed for the Kamen Rider, Metal Hero and Super Sentai series; the genre currently continues with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.
Toei was also the exclusive distributor for 20th Century Fox movies in Japan, until Fox's acquisition by Disney, which completed in 2019.
Toei films
This list compiles the films by their original release date, their common English titles and Japanese titles. The Japanese titles are not necessarily direct translations of their English counterparts.For feature films, Toei established itself as a producer of b-movies, that were made to fit into double bills and triple bills. It is predominantly known in the west for its series of action films and television series.
| Release date | English film title | Original title | Notes | |
| Weak-kneed from Fear of Ghost-Cat | Kaibyo koshinuke daisodo | |||
| Kaidan Chidoriga-fuchi | ||||
| Ghost Story of Broken Dishes at Bancho Mansion | Kaidan Bancho sara yashiki | |||
| Ghost-Cat of Karakuri Tenjo | Kaibyo Karakuri Tenjo | |||
| Planet Prince | Yusei oji | Chapter 1 | ||
| Planet Prince | Yusei oji | Chapter 2 | ||
| Ghost from the Pond | Kaidan hitotsu-me Jizo | |||
| The Final War | Daisanji sekai taisen - yonju-ichi jikan no kyofu | A New Toei Co, Ltd. Production | ||
| Alakazam the Great | Saiyu-ki | A Toei Animation Co, Ltd. Production | ||
| Invasion of the Neptune Men | Uchu kaizoku-sen | |||
| Ghost of Oiwa | Kaidan Oiwa no Borei | |||
| Ghost Music of Shamisen | Kaidan shamisen-bori | |||
| Jakoman to Tetsu | ||||
| House of Terrors | Kaidan semushi otoko | |||
| Ghost of the One-Eyed Man | Kaidan katame no otoko | |||
| Kai tatsu daikessen | ||||
| Yongary, Monster from the Deep | Dai koesu Yongkari | South Korean-Japanese co-production | ||
| Gamma sango uchu dai sakusen | ||||
| Fear of the Snake Woman | Kaidan hebionna | |||
| Killer's Mission | Shokin kasegi | |||
| Horror of Malformed Men | Kyofu kikei ningen | |||
| Voyage into Space | Japanese teleseries adapted into television film for American release | |||
| Yakuza deka | ||||
| Kamikaze Cop, Marihuana Syndicate | Yakuza deka, Marihuana mitsubai soshiki | |||
| ' | ||||
| ' | ||||
| Gekitotsu Satsujinken | ||||
| Kyoryu-kaicho no densetsu | ||||
| Message from Space | Uchu kara no messeji | |||
| Jigoku | ||||
| Time Slip | Sengoku jieitai | |||
| Shiroi te | A Kansai Telecasting Corp/Toei-Tokyo Production | |||
| Space Pirate Captain Harlock | Toei Animation Production | |||
| 125 Years Memory | Kainan 1890 | Co-produced by Toei, Creators' Union, Böcek Yapım | ||
| First Love |
Toei animation films
Toei produced/distributed shows
Video games
- Ninja Hayate
- Time Gal
- Chameleon Twist
- Chameleon Twist 2
Saburo Yatsude
Toei Animation stopped using Saburo Yatsude in 1999; since then they use Izumi Todo instead. The first anime that was created by Izumi Todo was Ojamajo Doremi.
In the Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger series, Saburo Hatte is an actual person who is godlike within the fictional reality that the show takes place in. In fact, his hand appears at the end of the first half of the series to cover the camera lens and end the show, later having the second half be made under Malseena's influence while in the hospital in the real world.
In the Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger spinoff, Super Animal War's third episode, he is portrayed by Jun Hikasa.
On April 3, 2016, an unknown Toei staff member going by Saburo Yatsude was interviewed while wearing a "Giraffe Zyuman" mask in reference to Zyuohger.
Saburo Yatsude's name is not inspired by Saburo/Hakaider.