Tonko House is an animation studio based in Berkeley, California, founded by former Pixar Art Directors Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi. The studio is known for their 2014 short film The Dam Keeper which stars a young pig who gets picked on by students in school but later befriends a fox. An original net animation and feature film adaptation of The Dam Keeper are also planned. The studio's second animated short called Moom, based on a Japanese children's book by Genki Kawamura, was released in 2016.
On October 2022, they released a limited series to Netflix called Oni Thunder Gods Tale which is based on Japanese Mythology and a Japanese/American co-production. Besides Craig Robinson providing the voice of Noridon, a majority of the voice actors and crew consists of Japanese-Americans (notably George Takei as Tengu and Momona Tamada as Onari) involved during the series' production; the cast also consists of Archie Yates, Brittany Ishibashi, Seth Carr, Charlet Chung, Anna Akana, and Miyuki Sawashiro. Animation for the series is done by Megalis VFX, with help from Marza Animation Planet and Anima in Japan.
The official website for the company
and the studio's Youtube channel (which contains behind the scenes videos, podcasts, and test animation).
Tropes featured in their works include:
- Animated Adaptation:
- Moom is based on a Japanese children's book of the same name.
- They are also currently planning on green-lighting a Netflix series based on the Japanese stop-motion film Komaneko.
- The 2022 limited Netflix series Oni: Thunder God's Tale is based on a story called Onari's Lullaby by Emi Tsutsumi.
- Cartoon Creature: Moom's main character pretty much resembles Cheburashka but with a different design.
- World of Funny Animals: The Dam Keeper is populated by anthropomorphic animals.
- Silence Is Golden: The Dam Keeper and Moom appear to have no dialogue from the characters at all besides narration.
- Funny Animal: Everyone in The Dam Keeper
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: The main character in Moom if the trailer doesn't say enough.
