Topcraft (トップクラフト, also written "Top Craft") was a Japanese anime studio established in 1971 by former Toei Animation producer Toru Hara. It was famous for doing animation for hand-drawn animation titles by Rankin/Bass and for the production of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Macross: Do You Remember Love?. The studio went bankrupt and dissolved in June 15, 1985 essentially splitting the studio in half. Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata bought the studio when laying off most of its animation staff and changed its name to Studio Ghibli.[citation needed]. Topcraft's animators later formed another studio called Pacific Animation Corporation to continue to work with Rankin/Bass on shows like ThunderCats and Silverhawks but eventually joined Ghibli once the studio was bought out by Disney and became Walt Disney Animation Japan.[1] Some animators like Tsuguyuki Kubo went to work for other anime studios such as Studio Pierrot working on Naruto and Bleach for them. In the end the buy out of Topcraft made the studio into the birth of Studio Ghibli. Topcraft's founder Toru Hara became Studio Ghibli's first manager.[2]
