# Studio Ponoc (スタジオポノック)
**Studio Ponoc** (スタジオポノック; STUDIO PONOC, INC.) is a Japanese animation studio in Tokyo founded on April 15, 2015 by producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, a former [Studio Ghibli](https://www.edgepedia.org/studio-ghibli) producer, with the support of animators and other staff who had worked at Ghibli, including director Hiromasa Yonebayashi.[1](https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1499406294) The studio makes hand-drawn, hand-painted animated films for children and families.[2](https://www.ponoc.jp/Rudger/en/introduction/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | From the Croatian word "ponoć", meaning midnight or the beginning of a new day, reflecting Nishimura's goal of a new start for animation created in Japan[3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-studio-ponoc) |
| Location | Musashino City, Tokyo[4](https://jfdb.jp/contacts/7160) |
| Short-film label | "Ponoc Short Films Theatre", launched 2018 with the anthology *Modest Heroes*[5](https://www.ponoc.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022-03-02-UPDATED-Studio-Ponoc-Press-Release-for-The-Imaginary-Film-Announcement-December-2021.pdf) |
| Olympic short | *Tomorrow's Leaves* (2021), made with the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage[5](https://www.ponoc.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022-03-02-UPDATED-Studio-Ponoc-Press-Release-for-The-Imaginary-Film-Announcement-December-2021.pdf) |
| Streaming partner | Netflix, the exclusive streaming home of upcoming Ponoc films under a multi-film partnership announced January 25, 2024[3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-studio-ponoc) |
## Founding and name
He had produced Ghibli's *The Tale of the Princess Kaguya* and *[When Marnie Was There](https://www.edgepedia.org/when-marnie-was-there)*, each of which was nominated for the [Academy Award for Best Animated Feature](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-animated-feature).[3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-studio-ponoc) In an interview he explained one reason for the founding: because animation involves many people, making Yonebayashi's films required a studio that could gather the creators, and that became one of the reasons to establish Studio Ponoc.[6](https://nichigopress.jp/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/nat1803.pdf)
The name comes from the Croatian word "ponoć", meaning midnight or the beginning of a new day, and expresses the founder's aim of a new start for animation made in Japan.[3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-studio-ponoc) A Japanese gloss of the name adds the sense of "the start of a new day".[7](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%99%E3%81%9F%E3%81%98%E3%81%8A%E3%81%BD%E3%81%AE%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8F-3200480) The studio's stated audience is children who will live in the world to come, and those who were once children.[8](https://www.ponoc.jp)
## Early work and Mary and the Witch's Flower
It was released in more than 150 countries and regions.[2](https://www.ponoc.jp/Rudger/en/introduction/)
The production was large for a new studio. Yonebayashi drew all 1,282 storyboard cuts himself, using an iPad as a liquid-crystal pen tablet, and drew them in unusual detail, down to characters' expressions and buildings.[9](https://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0005542) The film used about 100,000 drawings, about 1.3 times the roughly 75,000 of his previous Ghibli film *When Marnie Was There*, and at peak about 70 creators gathered at the studio, working with outside staff as well.[9](https://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0005542) Nishimura has said that a feature film takes about three to four years from planning to theatrical release; *Mary* itself took about a year and a half of preparation and fourteen months from the start of animation to completion.[10](https://www.ch-files.net/ponoc/)
## Ponoc Short Films Theatre and the Olympic short
In 2018 the studio created a new production label, "Ponoc Short Films Theatre", and released *Modest Heroes: Ponoc Short Films Theatre, Volume 1*, its first anthology of short animated films, comprising a grand fantasy adventure, a moving human drama of love, and an action spectacle.[5](https://www.ponoc.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022-03-02-UPDATED-Studio-Ponoc-Press-Release-for-The-Imaginary-Film-Announcement-December-2021.pdf) The three shorts were directed by Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuki Momose, and Akihiko Yamashita, creators who had supported Studio Ghibli.[11](https://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0006187) The project grew out of talk of a spin-off short during the production of *Mary*, and the directors treated it as a chance to experiment: Yamashita's *Kanini & Kanino* used CG for everything except the characters, while his *Invisible* pursued a deliberately dark, rough art style.[11](https://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0006187)
In 2021 the studio created *Tomorrow's Leaves*, a short film commissioned by the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage and described by the studio as the world's first animated short film inspired by the Olympic Values; it was written by Nishimura and directed by Momose.[5](https://www.ponoc.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022-03-02-UPDATED-Studio-Ponoc-Press-Release-for-The-Imaginary-Film-Announcement-December-2021.pdf)
## The Imaginary and the Netflix partnership
The studio's next feature, *The Imaginary* (Japanese title *Yaneura no Rudger*), based on A.F. Harrold's 2014 novel illustrated by Emily Gravett, was directed by Momose and produced by Nishimura.[12](https://www.ponoc.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-08-21-UPDATED-Studio-Ponoc-Press-Release-for-The-Imaginary-Film-Ann...1-2023-1.pdf) It opened in Japanese cinemas on December 15, 2023.[12](https://www.ponoc.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-08-21-UPDATED-Studio-Ponoc-Press-Release-for-The-Imaginary-Film-Ann...1-2023-1.pdf) On January 25, 2024, Studio Ponoc and Netflix announced a multi-film partnership under which Netflix became the exclusive streaming home of upcoming Studio Ponoc films, with *The Imaginary* as the first title, released worldwide after its exclusive Japanese theatrical run.[3](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-studio-ponoc) The film's hand-drawn animation was heightened by first-of-their-kind techniques of light and shadow, developed with French creators, and its hand-painted backgrounds were created by art director Kosuke Hayashi and Dehogallery.[2](https://www.ponoc.jp/Rudger/en/introduction/) Critics received it as a visually rich fantasy in the Ghibli lineage; it holds a 91% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_imaginary)
## Hand-drawn identity
The studio was founded as a hand-drawn animation house at a time when 3DCG and digital production were rising in Japan, and its films keep hand-drawn character animation with hand-painted background art.[9](https://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0005542) • [2](https://www.ponoc.jp/Rudger/en/introduction/) At its Musashino studio, nearly all steps of production, from key animation and in-betweening to paint, photography, and art, are carried out in-house across two floors of an office building.[9](https://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0005542) Nishimura has argued that the vagueness and imperfection of 2D painted images let audiences around the world complete the images with their own cultures and experiences, which he gives as a reason hand-drawn and hand-painted animation is so appreciated.[14](https://www.dneg.com/news/yoshiaki-nishimura-inspires-at-dneg-london) The studio has also invested in its working environment, including a [Dolby Atmos](https://www.edgepedia.org/dolby-atmos) screening room on its premises so staff can watch their own work in a current setting.[15](https://online.stereosound.co.jp/_ct/17739198?o=0&tg=4K_UHD_BD)
## References
1. [『メアリと魔女の花』はなぜ生まれた!? 西村Pが語る制作の葛藤, アニメイトタイムズ](https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1499406294)
2. [Introduction, The Imaginary, Official Web Site (Studio Ponoc)](https://www.ponoc.jp/Rudger/en/introduction/)
3. [Netflix Acquires Global Streaming Rights to Studio Ponoc's Upcoming Animated Film Slate, About Netflix (January 25, 2024)](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-studio-ponoc)
4. [JFDB, （株）スタジオポノック](https://jfdb.jp/contacts/7160)
5. [The New Film from Studio Ponoc, Studio Ponoc press release (December 2021, updated March 2022)](https://www.ponoc.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022-03-02-UPDATED-Studio-Ponoc-Press-Release-for-The-Imaginary-Film-Announcement-December-2021.pdf)
6. [スタジオポノックの西村義明社長に聞く, ch FILES](https://nichigopress.jp/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/nat1803.pdf)
7. [スタジオポノックとは？, コトバンク（共同通信ニュース用語解説）](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%99%E3%81%9F%E3%81%98%E3%81%8A%E3%81%BD%E3%81%AE%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8F-3200480)
8. [STUDIO PONOC（スタジオポノック）公式サイト](https://www.ponoc.jp)
9. [美しさに恋する。ジブリ時代から続く米林監督の手描きイズム『メアリと魔女の花』, シネマトゥデイ](https://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0005542)
10. [スタジオポノックの西村義明社長に聞く、高校時代・留学・そしてアニメの世界, ch FILES](https://www.ch-files.net/ponoc/)
11. [アニメの未来を担うスタジオポノックこぼれ話！～米林宏昌監督×山下明彦監督対談～, シネマトゥデイ](https://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0006187)
12. [The New Film from Studio Ponoc, Studio Ponoc press release (August 21, 2023)](https://www.ponoc.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-08-21-UPDATED-Studio-Ponoc-Press-Release-for-The-Imaginary-Film-Ann...1-2023-1.pdf)
13. [The Imaginary, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_imaginary)
14. [Yoshiaki Nishimura Inspires at DNEG London, DNEG](https://www.dneg.com/news/yoshiaki-nishimura-inspires-at-dneg-london)
15. [スタジオポノックに、ドルビーアトモス対応の試写室が誕生！, Stereo Sound ONLINE](https://online.stereosound.co.jp/_ct/17739198?o=0&tg=4K_UHD_BD)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen production organizations › Animation studios › Individual animation studios › Japanese animation studios*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license