Studio Zero (スタジオ・ゼロ) was a manga and anime production company established in 1963, existing up to its main dissolution in 1971 where after it became a personal company owned by Shinichi Suzuki.
It was mainly run by Suzuki, though founded by him and other famous manga-ka that had lived at the Tokiwa-so apartments, including those such as Fujio Akatsuka, Jiro Tsunoda, Shotaro Ishinomori, and the Fujiko Fujio duo (Hiroshi Fujimoto/Fujiko F Fujio and Motoo Abiko/Fujiko Fujio A).
Even after its official dissolution and retainment as a private business, the Ichikawa building in which Suzuki used as his offices still displayed a billboard with the "Studio Zero" logo until 2003.
Overview[]
The Case of "Midoro Marsh"[]
Osamu Tezuka opted to let the busy Mushi Pro employees take a vacation during production of Tetsuwan Atom (known internationally as Astro Boy), and entrusted the production of this episode to the newly-formed Studio Zero. However, as many Studio Zero members were inexperienced with doing animation and had never drawn Atom before, the episode wound up significantly off-model. Tezuka wound up displeased with the work he saw, and when Mushi employees returned from their vacation, he attempted to order retakes during production and never again entrusted episodes to Studio Zero.
After the episode was broadcast, it was never seen again and theories revolved around Tezuka himself throwing out the film masters. However, a copy of "Midoro Marsh" did make it out in the episodes that were exported to the United States for the Astro Boy dub. The episode in its dubbed format, with Japanese subtitles on the screen, was broadcast on April 3, 2002 on a program about Atom's impact.
Later on, Mushi Pro would uncover the original audio masters as well as the film of "Midoro Marsh" and manage to merge them back together, putting the episode as a bonus feature on the DVD boxset of the series.
Works[]
- Tetsuwan Atom episode #34 “Midoro Marsh”
- Osomatsu-kun (1966)- Produced in phases alongside Childrens Corner
- Perman (1967)- Alternated production with Tokyo Movie
- Kaibutsu-kun- Alternated production with Tokyo Movie
- Umeboshi Denka- Alternated production with Tokyo Movie
- Sabu and Ichi's Detective Tales- Alternated production with Toei Animation and Mushi Production
- Fun Times Anime Theatre
- Tonari no Tamageta-kun- Contract with Tohoku Shinsha
- Chobin the Star Child- Contract with Watanabe Planning
Pilots and Other Involvement[]
- Q-taro the Ghost- Pilot film
- Kaibutsu-kun- Pilot film
- Kinnaru Yatsura- Unproduced pilot film
- Rainbow Sentai Robin- Planning and creation. Suzuki would also work as an animation director on the title.
- Moomin (1969)- Drawing cooperation
- Doraemon (1973)- Editing
- Perman (1983)- Production cooperation