It’s not just Studio Ghibli who has used the software. Since the Italian company Digital Video began producing the Toonz program in 1993, many productions have used it, including Futurama, the recent feature Phantom Boy, MTV’s weirdo 1993 show The Maxx, kids films Anastasia and Balto, and even computer games like Discworld 2.
Mr. Atsushi Okui, Executive Imaging Director at Studio Ghibli said this about the release of OpenToonz:
“During the production of ‘Princess Mononoke’ in 1995, we needed a software enabling us to create a certain section of the animation digitally. We checked for what was available at that time and chose ‘Toonz’. Our requirement was that in order to continue producing theatre-quality animation without additional stress, the software must have the ability to combine the hand-drawn animation with the digitally painted ones seamlessly. From then onwards we continued to use the software while going through major updates to make it easier for us to use. We are happy to hear that this open source version contains the Ghibli Edition. We hope that many people inside and outside of the animation industry will utilize this software for their work. We would like to extend our gratitude to the staff of Digital Video.”