Japan’s Toho acquires North American animation company GKIDS, Studio Ghibli’s US steward

AP Film Writer

The Japanese entertainment giant Toho has reached an agreement to acquire the Oscar-winning animation outfit GKIDS, the companies said Tuesday. The deal gives Toho an established North American distributor and sales operation in GKIDS, which has become a force in animation since its founding in 2008. As producer and distributor of artist-driven animation, GKIDS has brought acclaimed films like “Wolfwalkers” to North American audiences and operated as the domestic stewards of the Studio Ghibli catalog. GKIDS won the Oscar earlier this year for Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron.” Toho, meanwhile, is home to internationally recognized brands, from Godzilla to popular anime franchises like “My Hero Academia.”