[2][8][9] Inspired by the broadcast of the first domestically produced animated TV series Astro Boy on Fuji Television the previous year, TBS encouraged Fujioka, who was working at Tokyo Ningyo Cinema (東京人形シネマ, Tōkyō Ningyō Shinema), the film production division of Hitomi-za, which had produced puppet theater programs for the station, to establish a studio.

[2] However, because all the staff came from puppet theater backgrounds and were unfamiliar with animation, the studio suffered a huge loss and fell into financial crisis.

In order to restore management, the studio received capital participation from the TV production company Kokusai Hōei (formerly Shintoho).

Fujioka, the founder of the company, was demoted to director and head of the production department, and Rokuzo Abe of Kokusai Hōei was appointed as the new president.

Fujioka also welcomed Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki, Yasuo Ōtsuka, and Yōichi Kotabe, who had been forced out of Toei for overspending on The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun.

[10][11][12] Early directors, such as Tadao Nagahama and Masaaki Ōsumi, were all from puppet theater companies with no animation experience, but they produced a series of hits, including Obake no Q-Tarō, Star of the Giants, and Attack No.

The studio continued to produce a string of hits thereafter, including Tensai Bakabon, Lupin the 3rd Part I, Aim for the Ace!, and Gamba no Bouken.

[2] Kusube and A Production terminated its business alliance with Tokyo Movie, changed its name to Shin-Ei Animation, and began its own path.

[5][14] However, due to difficulties in raising funds and securing staff, production was slow to begin, so Telecom produced TV series and movies under Ōtsuka, including Lupin the 3rd Part II.

[14] The event also drew an unexpected response, with Telecom receiving requests to produce a TV series from countries outside the U.S., including Italy.

[16] In the early 1980s, Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS) began working on international co-productions by big-name directors with the goal of expanding overseas.

TMS began production of the Japanese-Italian co-production TV series Sherlock Hound in 1981 at the request of RAI, the Italian national public broadcasting company.

Kyosuke Mikuriya took over as director, and with Telecom leaving to focus on the film Nemo, TMS outsourced the animation to the fledgling studio Gallop.

[18] Osamu Dezaki directed the largest number of animated co-productions, including Mighty Orbots,[i] Bionic Six, and Sweet Sea.

Many prominent figures were involved in the production, including Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Osamu Dezaki, Yasuo Ōtsuka, Ray Bradbury, Jean Giraud (Mobius), and Chris Columbus.

[15][20][21] However, the production ran into difficulties due to various crosscurrents between Japan and the U.S. Miyazaki and Takahata, who were originally slated to direct the film, dropped out of the project, and the staff was replaced one by one in the following years.

[5][22] Young American animators who had heard rumors of the Nemo production also came to Kineto TMS to sell themselves, including John Lasseter and Brad Bird, who reportedly met Miyazaki there for the first time.

The production budget of 4.5 billion yen (19 million dollars at the 1984 rate) ran out before the animation work began, and the project was suspended in August 1984.

[2] Fujioka resumed production after securing an additional investment of 1 billion yen (6.9 million dollars at the 1987 rate) from Lake in 1987 and terminated his contract with Kurtz and took full responsibility for the film, becoming executive producer himself.

[5][21] It was an unprecedented project in the history of Japanese animation, but it ended in failure, and Fujioka took responsibility for it, relinquished all rights related to Tokyo Movie, and retired from the industry.

In 2003, American brokerage group Merrill Lynch became the second-largest shareholder in TMS Entertainment after acquiring a 7.54 percent stake in the studio.

[28] In 2011, the credits for Detective Conan and Anpanman were changed to TMS Entertainment, and animation production under the Tokyo Movie name ended.

TMS Entertainment transferred all of the digital content planning, development, and production business owned by its subsidiary TOCSIS to Marza Animation Planet in April 2019.

The first project is Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, which was distributed worldwide on Netflix from July 8, 2021, and was produced in collaboration with CG studio Quebico.