Tonko House Inc.

What Tonko House Inc. does

Tonko House Inc. is a privately held animation studio founded in 2014 by former Pixar artists Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, headquartered in Berkeley, California with production collaboration in Tokyo, Japan. The studio produces original animated content across multiple media formats, including theatrical and streaming short films (The Dam Keeper, Moom), a Netflix limited series (ONI: Thunder God's Tale, 2022), graphic novels (The Dam Keeper three-book series with First Second Books), web and broadcast series (Acorns on YouTube, Odomo on NHK, Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems with Hulu Japan), educational programs (The Dam Keeper Education Project with the San Francisco Film Society), and traveling museum exhibitions in Japan and Korea. The studio employs 11-50 people and has no disclosed parent company or institutional funding rounds in the input data.

The company's core technology is a hybrid animation pipeline that combines traditional hand-drawn techniques with CG and photogrammetry. The Dam Keeper comprises over 8,000 hand-painted frames, Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems comprises over 31,000 individually hand-drawn and painted frames, ONI uses a stop motion-inspired CG aesthetic developed with Dwarf Studios, Megalis VFX, Marza Animation Planet, and Anima Inc., and Acorns uses photogrammetry to render miniature worlds. The studio's go-to-market combines an event-driven motion (over 100 film festivals for The Dam Keeper, recurring exhibitions, and two self-organized film festivals in 2019-2020) with direct-to-consumer distribution through Netflix, YouTube, retail book channels, and museum exhibitions.

Tonko House generates revenue through content licensing and royalties (Netflix for ONI, Hulu Japan for Pig, NHK for Odomo), one-time publishing licenses (First Second Books graphic novels sold via Amazon and bookstores), exhibition and event revenue at museums, and YouTube advertising. Customer segments are horizontal: general family audiences, animation enthusiasts, and a secondary segment of educational institutions using Tonko House content for media literacy and social-emotional learning. The studio is founder-led, with no disclosed ownership changes, acquisitions, or restructuring events in the available material.

Name

Tonko House Inc.

Legal name

Tonko House Inc.

Website

https://tonkohouse.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tonko House Inc. is a Berkeley-based independent animation studio founded in 2014 that creates original multicultural animated films, series, graphic novels, exhibitions, and educational programs, distributing through Netflix, YouTube, NHK, and international museum partnerships for family and educational audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Original Animation Production

NAICS

Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Comics, Manga & Serialized Reading Platforms (BPAMAJAJ)

Keywords

• Animated film production
• Original animation studio
• Graphic novel publishing
• Animation exhibition events
• Children's animated series

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Streaming/Licensing Revenue: Netflix licensing deals for original series like ONI: Thunder God's Tale. The company produces content for streaming platforms.
2. Publishing Revenue: Graphic novel publishing through First Second Books for The Dam Keeper three-book series.
3. Exhibition and Event Revenue: Traveling exhibitions, film festivals, and educational programs at museums and venues worldwide generate revenue and build brand awareness.
4. Web Series Distribution: YouTube distribution for Acorns web series, reaching audiences directly through digital platforms.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Tonko House is an independent animation studio that develops and produces original animated stories across multiple formats, including theatrical and streaming short films, limited series, web series, graphic novels, broadcast children's programs, traveling museum exhibitions, and classroom educational programs. The studio creates, owns, and licenses its original intellectual property (such as The Dam Keeper, ONI: Thunder God's Tale, Moom, Acorns, Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems, and Odomo) for distribution through streaming platforms, publishers, broadcasters, and live exhibition venues worldwide.

Product overview

Tonko House Inc. is an animation studio that creates original stories across multiple media formats. The company's portfolio includes theatrical and streaming animated films (The Dam Keeper Short Film, Moom, ONI: Thunder God's Tale), a graphic novel series (The Dam Keeper Graphic Novels), animated short-form series (Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems, Acorns, Odomo TV), educational programs (The Dam Keeper Education Project), and experiential exhibitions. The studio's projects span films, books, games, and educational materials, with a focus on original storytelling that brings awareness to audiences of all ages. Projects are distributed through platforms like Netflix and YouTube, and published through partners like First Second Books.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Dam Keeper Short Film An animated short film telling the story of Pig, an introverted youth who maintains a windmill dam to protect his town from dark fog, targeting animation enthusiasts and festival audiences.
• The Dam Keeper Graphic Novels A three-book graphic novel series continuing the Dam Keeper universe story for readers, distributed via First Second Books through bookstores and Amazon.
• Moom An animated short film about memories as characters attached to forgotten and discarded objects in a mystical land, based on a Japanese children's book for family and animation audiences.
• Acorns A web series of 10 short episodes following three acorns on their journey to transform into oak trees, utilizing photogrammetry, distributed directly to audiences via YouTube.
• Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems A short-form animated series depicting Pig's memories of becoming the Dam Keeper through abstract and surreal visuals exploring themes of grief, responsibility, and growing up.
• ONI: Thunder God's Tale A four-episode limited series on Netflix about Onari, a courageous girl in the world of Japanese folklore gods who must follow her father's footsteps to protect her village, for streaming audiences globally.
• Odomo TV

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 film festival screenings globally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Megalis VFXcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2022CG production partner for ONI: Thunder God's Tale, contributing to the stop motion-inspired CG animation.
• Marza Animation PlanetcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2022CG production partner for ONI: Thunder God's Tale. Also collaborated on Moom production.
• Anima Inc.coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2022CG production partner for ONI: Thunder God's Tale series.
• NetflixcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2022Streaming platform partner for ONI: Thunder God's Tale, the four-episode limited series.
• Hulu JapanminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2019Co-creation partner for Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems series.
• Genki KawamuracoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Original author and producer of Moom children's book who invited Dice and Robert to direct the adapted short film.
• First Second BookscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2017Publisher for The Dam Keeper graphic novel three-book series.
• San Francisco Film SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Pilot program partner for The Dam Keeper Education Project bringing the short film to public school classrooms.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Cartoon Saloon: Irish independent animation studio behind Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea, and The Breadwinner — multiple Academy Award-nominated features. Directly comparable to Tonko House as an indie studio producing hand-crafted, culturally-rooted original animation recognized by major awards.
• Mondo Media: US-based independent animation studio producing original web-first and streaming content (Dick Figures, Camp Camp). Comparable as a small, original-IP animation studio operating in digital and streaming channels.
• Titmouse Inc. US-based independent animation studio producing original and service content across series, shorts, and features for Netflix, Amazon, and others. Comparable as a similarly-sized indie studio delivering hand-drawn and CG animation to major streamers.
• Laika Studios: US-based stop-motion animation studio (Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, Missing Link) producing original IP with frame-intensive craft. Directly comparable in scale and craft-driven model, though Laika is more theatrical-focused and significantly larger.
• Studio Ponoc: Japanese independent animation studio founded by former Studio Ghibli animators, producing original feature films with hand-drawn craft. Directly comparable to Tonko House as a small, culturally-rooted indie animation studio with festival and global platform distribution ambitions.
• ShadowMachine: US-based independent animation studio behind BoJack Horseman, Anomalisa, and Robot Chicken. Comparable as a multi-format indie animation studio with strong streaming and awards traction and a similar small-team, high-craft identity.
• Powerhouse Animation Studios: US-based independent animation studio behind Castlevania (Netflix), Blood of Zeus, and Seis Manos. Directly comparable as a small-to-mid independent studio supplying original animated series to global streaming platforms.

Broad incumbents

• Aardman Animations: UK-based stop-motion animation studio behind Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, with much larger scale and IP portfolio. Comparable as a craft-driven, award-winning animation studio with cross-media franchises, though Aardman is significantly more established and broadly distributed.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tonkohouse
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tonko-house

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tonko House Inc.