Company: A Production

In 1964, Fujioka Yutaka, a former sales manager for the puppet theatre company Hitomi-za (ひとみ座) produced the TV anime Big X under his newly-established company Tokyo Movie at the behest of broadcaster TBS who had become interested in airing animation after the immense popularity of Tetsuwan Atom. Because Fujioka lacked connections within the anime industry at the time, Big X's team was cobbled together out of anyone and everyone he could find. As a result, the series was staffed by many amateurs with little to no professional experience and boasted unstable production values, resulting in a poor reception.

In light of this, Fujioka sought to establish an animation department within Tokyo Movie. When he heard through TBS's agency that Kusube Daikichirou had quit Toei Douga he jumped at the opportunity to have an experienced animator from Toei head the department. Kusube, however, didn't want to work under Fujioka or anyone else, he wanted his own animation studio which would be in charge of all the production aspects, leaving the planning and management to Fujioka and Tokyo Movie. Fujioka agreed and Tokyo Movie entered into a partnership with Kusube's newly-formed A Production which lasted over 10 years.

In the early days, many animators including Shibayama Tsutomu, Kobayashi Osamu, Kabashima Yoshio, Ootsuka Yasuo, Takahata Isao, and Miyazaki Hayao gradually trickled from Toei Douga to A Pro and formed the backbone of the company's production team. The studio was in charge of many famous works including Obake no Q-Tarou, Perman, Kyojin no Hoshi, Tensai Bakabon, Lupin III, Dokonjou Gaeru, Ace o Nerae!, Gamba no Bouken, and so on.

On September 9, 1976, A Production became independent from Tokyo Movie and was reorganized as Shin-Ei Animation. The name "Shin-Ei" was derived from Shin A Production (新・Aプロダクション) meaning new A Production.