Tsuburaya Productions

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Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd.
Tsuburaya Productions' current logo

Type Film/television studio
Status Active
Led by
  • Takayuki Tsukagoshi
  • Masayuki Nagatake
Founder(s) Eiji Tsuburaya
Founded April 12, 1963
Head-
quarters
16-17 Nanpeidai, Shibuya
Tokyo, Japan 150-0044
Also known as Tsuburaya Special Effects Productions (1963-1968)
Parent company
  • Tsuburaya Fields Holdings (51%)
  • Bandai Namco Holdings (49%)
Website https://m-78.jp/

Tsuburaya Productions (円谷プロダクション,   Tsuburaya Purodakushon) is a production company and special effects studio founded by tokusatsu pioneer Eiji Tsuburaya in 1963. It is most famous for creating the giant hero Ultraman in 1966.

History

Toho's renowned director of special effects, Eiji Tsuburaya, founded Tsuburaya Productions in 1963 as a means to achieve greater creative freedom. Drawing from both Tsuburaya's staff at Toho and other artists from across Japan, the company's first assignment was the 1963 Ishihara/Nikkatsu film Alone Across the Pacific. Its first in-house project was Ultra Q, a black-and-white science fiction TV series about a reporter and two pilots who investigate mysterious events, in 1966. Boasting special effects comparable to Toho and Daiei's kaiju films, it was a tremendous success, and guaranteed a follow-up. Later that year, Tsuburaya debuted the color TV series Ultraman, starring one of the first kyodai (giant) heroes, to even greater ratings. Ultraman's formula of an alien warrior merging with a human host to defend the planet against kaiju and aliens would become the foundation for Tsuburaya's signature Ultra Series, which continues to this day.

Following Eiji Tsuburaya's death in 1970, his eldest son Hajime assumed control of the company. Tsuburaya Productions would remain a family business until 2007, when it was sold to TYO Inc. Today, 51% of the company is controlled by Tsuburaya Fields Holdings (the parent company of the Fields Corporation), with the other 49% controlled by Bandai Namco Holdings (the parent company of Bandai, Bandai Namco, etc.). Bandai's Ultraman products have been prominently featured in every Ultra Series installment since 2013's Ultraman Ginga.

Selected television and web series

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Selected films

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Selected TV specials

1960s

1990s

Selected direct-to-video specials

1990s

Trivia

External links

Comments

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