Mushi Production

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Mushi Production (虫プロダクション lit. bug production), or Mushi Pro for short, was a Japanese animation studio. Osamu Tezuka started it in rivalry with Toei Animation, Tezuka's former employer, after Tezuka's contract with Toei expired. The studio pioneered TV animation in Japan, and was responsible for many successful TV anime, such as Astro Boy, Princess Knight, Kimba the White Lion, Dororo, and Ashita no Joe, as well as more adult-oriented feature films such as 1001 Nights, Cleopatra, Queen of Sex (the first X-rated animated film), and The Belladonna of Sadness.

Mushi Production, plagued by financial difficulties, declared bankruptcy in 1973 and its assets were divided. Tezuka had already left the company by then, having stepped down as acting director in 1970 and formed a new animation studio, Tezuka Production (which made such works as Marvelous Melmo and Unico).