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Halo Legends to be Animated by 5 Japanese Studios (Updated)

The Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G, Studio 4°C, and Toei Animation anime studios are animating Halo Legends, a DVD anthology of seven short films based on Microsoft Studios' Halo game franchise. Microsoft's creative staff is approving the visuals and storytelling. Three of the creative directors are Frank O'Connor of Microsoft's 343 Industries, Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed), and Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, The Sky Crawlers). J-Spec Pictures' Joseph Chou (Appleseed) is producing.

Aramaki's short will cover the history of the Spartan warrior class from the games. Studio 4°C will animate two 30-minute shorts about "the entire 100,000 year history of the Halo universe." Toei's short "is outside of the official canon and pokes fun at some of the game's characters."

Warner Brothers will release the anthology on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and digital distribution in early 2010. A trailer is planned for the Halo panel at San Diego's Comic-Con International (CCI) on Thursday, and Xbox 360 users can see a preview this fall on the XBox Live service. Aramaki, Production I.G president Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, and Studio 4°C president Eiko Tanaka will attend the CCI panel, and the panelists will sign autographs after the panel at the Warner Brothers booth. The first trailer will also premiere on television on the Spike TV channel's GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley.

Not coincidentally, Studio 4°C also worked on Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight, two other Japanese-animated Warner Brothers anthologies based on American entertainment franchises.

Source: Los Angeles Times' blog via IGN

Update: Additional information from press release