Japan’s National Film Archive To Screen Toei Animation Classics On 35mm This Summer

Japan’s National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ) has announced that it will host a major retrospective dedicated to Toei Animation this summer, presenting 50 theatrical features on 35mm film prints.

Running from late July through early September, the program offers a rare opportunity to see Toei’s films in their original formats at a time when most archival screenings have shifted to digital.

While the NFAJ has not published a full lineup, a teaser flyer confirms that the selection spans more than four decades of the studio’s output. Early works include The Tale of the White Serpent (1958), widely regarded as Japan’s first color animated feature, as well as Magic Boy (1959) and Alakazam the Great (1960). Also featured is The Little Norse Prince (1968), Isao Takahata’s influential 1968 feature that launched a 50-year creative partnership with Hayao Miyazaki, who worked on the film’s scene designs and key animation.

Later decades are represented by Galaxy Express 999 (1979) and Adieu Galaxy Express 999 (1981), key entries in Toei’s late-1970s sci-fi boom. The retrospective also highlights the studio’s transition into franchise filmmaking with titles such as Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (1989) and Sailor Moon R: The Movie (1993).

More recent selections include Digimon Adventure (1999) and One Piece: The Movie (2000), reflecting Toei’s emergence as a global force in IP-driven animation.

Though the full list hasn’t been published in one place yet (not that we can find anyway), the program positions one of Japan’s most important animation studio’s theatrical output in a brilliant historical context and offers audiences a unique chance to watch many of the films as they’ve not been seen in decades.