| Santa Company | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Kenji Itoso |
| Screenplay by | Hiroshi Nakamura Kenji Itoso Naohiro Fukushima Yumi Kamakura |
| Produced by | Kenji Itoso |
| Starring | Ayumi Fujimura Yūki Kaji Haruka Tomatsu Rie Kugimiya Takahiro Sakurai |
| Music by | Yūsuke Itagaki |
Production companies | Nexus Kenji Studio |
Release date |
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| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | $72,270 (estimated)[1] |
Santa Company (Japanese: サンタ・カンパニー, Hepburn: Santa Kanpanī) is a 2014 Japanese anime short film that follows the story of a girl, Noel, and her friends as they deliver presents on Christmas Eve. The film was directed by Kenji Itoso through his own studio Kenji Studio. Originally launched as a crowdsourcing campaign on the Japanese site Anipipo, the film aimed at raising ¥1,000,000 for production. The project was unsuccessful, raising only ¥904,001 of the original goal.[2] The project was re-launched, this time on Kickstarter, on December 3, 2013. On December 22, 2013, the film met its original goal of $50,000, and managed to raise $72,270 by the end of the campaign.
The project was scheduled to be delivered to backers by Christmas 2014, the film having been completed in July 2014.[3] Kenji Studio planned to hold a special screening of the film for families who were affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disaster. The film was screened at multiple film festivals around the world,[4] starting with the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 25, 2014.[5]
An extended anime film titled Santa Company: Christmas no Himitsu by Asahi Production premiered in November 29, 2019.[6] Another short film titled Santa Company: Midsummer Merry Christmas was released in 2021, as part of a campaign to raise awareness for marine debris.[7][8] In December 2022, two Kickstarter campaigns were being held for English subtitled and dubbed versions for the films. There was also a Kickstarter for an English translation of the manga.[9] On December 26, 2022, Kickstarter suspended the campaigns for Santa Company - Midsummer Merry Christmas and the manga. On January 14, 2023, the Kickstarter for Santa Company: Christmas no Himitsu was canceled due to difficulties with production and the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign only made US$7,288 of its US$9,238 goal.[10]