Topcraft

Topcraft (トップクラフト Toppukurafuto, also written as "Top Craft") was an animation studio established in 1971 by former Toei Animation producer Toru Hara, and located in Tokyo, Japan. It was famous for the production of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and for doing animation for hand-drawn animation titles by Rankin/Bass Productions (New York City, USA). The studio went bankrupt and dissolved on June 15, 1985, essentially splitting the studio in half. Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata bought the studio while laying off most of its animation staff, changing its name to Studio Ghibli.. Topcraft's animators later formed another studio, called Pacific Animation Corporation, to continue working with Rankin/Bass on television shows like ThunderCats and Silverhawks, but eventually joined Ghibli once the studio was bought out by The Walt Disney Company and became Walt Disney Animation Japan.[1] Some animators, like Tsuguyuki Kubo, went to work for other studios, such as Studio Pierrot, working on Naruto and Bleach for them. In the end the buy out of Topcraft made the studio into the birth of Studio Ghibli. Topcraft's founder, Toru Hara, became Studio Ghibli's first manager.[2]