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Pokmon: The First Movie
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Wikipedia article
'Pokmon: The First Movie' is a 1998 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama. It is the first theatrical release in the 'Pokmon' franchise.
The film was first released in Japan on July 18, 1998. On July 8, 1999, an of the film aired on Japanese television. In addition to an added prologue, the updated version included new animation and CGI graphics. The film primarily consists of three segments: 'Pikachu's Vacation', a 21-minute feature focusing on the series mascot Pikachu; 'Origin of Mewtwo', the 10-minute prologue added to the extended version of the film; and 'Mewtwo Strikes Back', the main 75-minute film feature. Overseas, the prologue can only be seen as a bonus short in DVD versions of 'Pokmon: Mewtwo Returns'. The events of the film take place during the first season of 'Pokmon: Indigo League'. The English-language adaptation was released in North America on November 12, 1999, by Warner Bros.
In Japan, the film received positive review, with praise directed at the film's emotional impact and exploration of ethical topics such as cloning, genetic modification and existentialism. However, the English-language version received generally negative reviews from film critics, with much of the criticism pointed at the poor voice acting and its inclusion of an anti-violence message despite it being a 'Pokmon' film. Further retrospective criticism of the English-language version has been targeted against the removal of most of the ethical topics, such as part of Mewtwo's origin story. Despite the reviews, it was a box office success worldwide, topping the box office charts in its opening weekend, and eventually grossing over at the worldwide box office. It also sold 10million home video units in the United States, including 4.2million VHS sales that earned in 2000.
During the end credits of 'Pokmon the Movie: The Power of Us' (2018), it was announced that a full CGI remake was set to release on the following year. It was released as 'Pokmon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution' in July 2019.
Plot
'Pikachu's Vacation'
The Pokmon of Ash Ketchum, Misty, and Brock are sent to spend a day at a theme park built for Pokmon. Pikachu, Togepi, Psyduck, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle cross paths with a group of bullies consisting of a Raichu, Cubone, Marill, and Snubbull. The two groups compete against each other, but it leads to Ash's Charizard getting its head stuck in a pipe. Pikachu, his friends, and the bullies work together and successfully free Charizard and rebuild the park, spending the rest of the day playing before parting ways when their trainers return.'Mewtwo Strikes Back'
Scientist Dr. Fuji is hired by Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, to utilize his expertise in cloning in order to create a living weapon based on an eyelash from mythical Pokmon Mew. Fuji is revealed to be allying with Giovanni as a means to fund his side project: the resurrection of his deceased daughter Amber. In a laboratory, the weapon eventually gains sentience and is named Mewtwo. Mewtwo befriends the salvaged consciousness of Amber, named Ambertwo, as well as the clones of other Pokmon in the laboratory. However, Mewtwo is left deeply traumatized after Ambertwo and the rest of the clones decompose and die. In order to stabilize him, Fuji tranquilizes Mewtwo, causing him to forget the time he spent with his friends.After Mewtwo fully matures and awakens from a long slumber in a laboratory on New Island, he learns of his origin as Mew's clone from Dr. Fuji. Infuriated that Fuji and his colleagues see him as nothing more than an experiment, he unleashes his incredibly strong psychic abilities and telekinetically destroys the laboratory, killing Fuji and the rest of the scientists. Giovanni, witnessing the carnage afar, approaches and convinces Mewtwo to work with him to further develop and perfect his mental abilities. However, after Mewtwo learns of his purpose to be a weapon for Giovanni's benefit, he escapes back to New Island where he plots revenge against humanity and Pokmon alike.
After Mewtwo rebuilds the laboratory and establishes a base there, he invites several trainers with hologram messages to battle the world's greatest Pokmon trainer at New Island. Ash, Misty, and Brock receive a message and accept the invitation, but when they arrive at the port city, Old Shore Wharf, Mewtwo creates a storm, causing the boats on the wharf to be closed off for safety. As a result, Ash's group are picked up by Team Rocket disguised as Vikings on a boat. After the storm sinks their vessel in the middle of the ocean, Ash and his friends use their Pokmon instead to reach New Island.
Escorted into the island's palace by the woman who appeared on the hologram, Ash and the other trainers who were able to reach the island encounter Mewtwo. The woman is revealed to be a brainwashed Nurse Joy after she is released from Mewtwo's mind control. Mewtwo challenges the trainers using cloned Pokmon coincidentally modeled after the deceased friends from his childhood. Meanwhile, Team Rocket also reach New Island and explore its inner sanctum with a Mew innocuously following them. After Mewtwo's clones effortlessly defeat the challengers' Pokmon, he confiscates them and expands his clone army. Ash chases after his captured Pikachu down the cloning lab, where Team Rocket's Meowth is also cloned. Ash destroys the cloning machine, frees the captured Pokmon, and leads them to confront Mewtwo and his clones. Mew then reveals itself and Mewtwo challenges it in order to prove his superiority.
All of the Pokmon originals battle their clones save for a defiant Pikachu and Meowth, who makes peace with his own clone after realizing the senselessness of their fighting. Horrified at the pain and anguish felt on both sides of the battle, Ash puts himself in between a psychic blast caused by Mewtwo and Mew's fighting, leading to Ash to become petrified. Pikachu tries to revive Ash with his electricity but fails. However, the tears of the Pokmon are able to heal and revive Ash. Moved by Ash's sacrifice, Mewtwo realizes that he should not have to be judged by his origins but rather his choices in life. Departing with Mew and the clones, Mewtwo turns back time to just before the trainers leave Old Shore Wharf, and erases everyone's memories of the event.
Back in Old Shore Wharf, the now-restored Nurse Joy has returned to reopen the Pokmon Center to shelter the trainers. The storm outside clears up, Ash spotting Mew flying through the clouds and tells his friends of how he saw another legendary Pokmon the day he left Pallet Town. Meanwhile, Team Rocket find themselves stranded on New Island, unable to remember how they got there, but enjoy their time nonetheless.
After the credits, a brief scene shows Mew flying towards the mountains.
Cast
Characters exclusive to 'Pikachu's Vacation'
Characters that appear in the radio drama and 'The Uncut Story of Mewtwo's Origin'
Characters exclusive to the radio drama
Production
Kunihiko Yuyama directed the original Japanese version of the film, while Choji Yoshikawa and Takeshi Shudo served as producer and script writer respectively. The film wasn't produced by Pikachu Project. According to Shudo, certain episodes in the anime were intended to tie-in with the movie prior to its release in Japan and provide background behind the events in the film. However, the controversy surrounding the "Denn Senshi Porygon" episode delayed the tie-in episodes, causing Shudo to expand the beginning of the movie and, thus, the length of the film.
Norman J. Grossfeld, former president of 4Kids Productions, served as the film's producer for the English-language North American version. Grossfeld, Michael Haigney, and John Touhey wrote the English adaptation, and Haigney served as the English version's voice director. The English script was heavily edited from the original Japanese one; along with various content edits, Mewtwo was portrayed more maliciously because Grossfeld felt American audiences needed to see a "clearly evil" villain rather than a morally ambiguous one. As such, the existentialist themes seen in the Japanese version were significantly toned-down.
The English version editors translated various Japanese texts, including those on signs and on buildings, into English. The Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions (formerly Shogakukan Productions) also altered various background from the original version of the film in order to enhance its presentation overseas. In the English dub, three Pokmon are referred to by the wrong name. Pidgeot was called 'Pidgeotto', Scyther was called 'Alakazam', and Sandslash was called 'Sandshrew'. 4Kids said that they decided to leave the Alakazam and Sandshrew errors when they noticed it as something for the children watching to notice and because they felt it was plausible in context that Team Rocket could make a mistake.'Pokmon: The First Movie' DVD Audio Commentary
Grossfeld also had new music re-recorded for the film's release, citing that it "would better reflect what American kids would respond to". John Loeffler of Rave Music produced the English-language music and composed the film score with Ralph Schuckett. Loeffler also collaborated with John Lissauer and Manny Corallo to produce the English-language "Pikachu's Vacation" score. Grossfeld also revealed that the English version of the film "combines the visual sense of the best Japanese animation with the musical sensibility of Western pop culture". Grossfeld revealed in a 2022 interview that while shopping the film around to distributors, one studio suggested having Leonardo DiCaprio dub over Ash's lines, a decision Grossfeld found "weird". Ultimately, he managed to work out a deal with Warner Bros.
Themes
Shudo explained in his blog that Mewtwo being torn over his life purpose reflects the film's theme of existentialism. In the Japanese script, for instance, the moment Mewtwo realizes he has a right to be in the world just as much as any other living creature represents the central message of accepting one's existence. These themes were largely toned down by 4Kids, as Grossfeld felt American audiences needed to see a "clearly evil" villain rather than a morally ambiguous one.
Marketing campaign
Toshihiro Ono, author of 'Pokmon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu', created a manga version of the film. Asked by editors to draw Mewtwo's birth, he received the source material to base the manga off of in April 1998 and finished the manga in May. In July of that year, a five episode radio drama titled 'The Birth of Mewtwo' was broadcast over the five Sundays leading up to the premiere of the movie in Japan. Written by Takeshi Shudo, the drama delves into Mewtwo's origin prior to the start of the film. It also explores the leadership of Team Rocket under 'Madame Boss', Giovanni's mother, and the last known whereabouts of 'Miyamoto' (), Jesse's mother. Due to its mature themes, it was never dubbed in English. The drama eventually served the basis for the 'Origin of Mewtwo' prologue that would appear in the extended version of the film.
Since the drama was conceived a few months after the manga, the events depicted in the drama do not match up with the events portrayed in the manga. Ono has even stated that "there's not much connection between the manga and the movie". VIZ Media. May 10, 2000. Retrieved on May 31, 2009.
In the United States, the first trailer was released in August 1999 and was shown before 'The Iron Giant' and 'Mystery Men'. The second trailer was released in the fall of 1999 and was attached to 'The Bachelor'. In addition, select theaters gave away exclusive Pokmon trading cards, to capitalize on the success of the trading card game. The cards featured likenesses of Electabuzz, Pikachu, Mewtwo, and Dragonite, and were dispensed in random order for each week it was in that particular theater. The subsequent releases of 'Pokmon: The Movie 2000' and 'Pokmon 3: The Movie' featured a similar marketing campaign. For the March 2000 home video release of 'The First Movie', had TV, in-school, and internet ads with companies such as Clorox, Kraft and Zenith Electronics, a contest to win a trip to Japan, and a limited edition Mewtwo card (different from that used for the theatrical release) was packaged with the video.
1999 Burger King promotion
Burger King released a limited series of toys with the purchase of any kids' meal to tie in with the film. Also promoted were six 23 karat gold Pokmon cards, each enclosed inside a large plastic Pok Ball. Every card is a 23 karat gold plated slab of metal inside a clear protective plastic case that came with a certificate of authenticity signed by Nintendo of America chairman Howard Lincoln. The first run of gold cards sent and released to Burger King locations were packaged in a limited blue box that sold out immediately. A large second print of gold cards were packaged in a red box until the film promotion ended.
Deaths
On December 11, 1999, 13-month-old Kira Murphy from California suffocated to death when half of the toy became stuck over her mouth and nose, causing her to suffocate, and was later found deceased in her playpen. 12 days later, a second child in Kansas survived a similar incident. These incidents led to a website titled "Pokmon Kills". On December 28, 1999, Burger King issued a recall of the toys. Adults were urged to discard or return both pieces of the toy. Customers returning the toy were given a small order of french fries in return. Nearly a month after the recall, another child suffocated from the toy. The dead children's families settled their lawsuits on undisclosed terms.
Release
The Japanese version of the film was initially distributed theatrically by Toho on July 18, 1998. That following year, the English-dub of film was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and was released in the United States on November 12, 1999. The film was theatrically re-released exclusively at Cinemark theaters in the United States on October 29 and November 1, 2016. The re-release included the 'Pikachu's Vacation' short film from the original release and was intended to commemorate 'Pokmon's 20th anniversary.
Broadcast airing
For TV syndication, the movie was digitally remastered for high definition and aired in TV Tokyo, as well as in other stations, beginning May 3, 2013. The remastered version also aired in Cartoon Network in the United States on January 4, 2014.Home media
The movie was released on March 21, 2000, in Region 1 format (United States and Canada) on both VHS and DVD by Warner Home Video. The original DVD release with the snap case contained numerous features deleted from later reprints, such as the origin prologue and most importantly, the 'Pikachu's Vacation' short film. Other options, such as Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, were also removed, leaving only the 2.0 stereo mix available, among other features.The original VHS release sold 4.2million units and earned in the United States by the end of 2000. By 2007, the film had sold 10million units on home video in the United States.
The film was included in the Blu-ray compilation titled 'Pikachu Movie Premium 1998-2010' in Japan on November 28, 2012.
On February 9, 2016, Viz Media released a limited edition Blu-ray steelbook containing the 'Pokmon' films 'Pokmon: The First Movie', 'Pokmon the Movie 2000', and 'Pokmon 3: The Movie', along with single releases on DVD. In accommodation with the 20th anniversary of the 'Pokmon' franchise, a digitally remastered version of the film was released on digital stores on February 27. On October 2, 2018, the three-film Blu-ray set was re-released as a standard one-disc edition.
Reception
Critical response
Reviews of the original Japanese version have generally been positive, due to the film's emotional impact and exploration of ethical topics such as cloning and genetic engineering. However, the philosophical themes were criticized for being too complex for children.While the English dub of the film received decent reviews from audiences, it received generally negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, just 16% of critics have given the film's English adaptation a positive review based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 3.57/10. The website's critics' consensus reads, "Audiences other than children will find very little to entertain them." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Anime News Network review called the main feature "contradictory", stating that "the anti-violent message that is pretty much crammed down our throats works directly against the entire point of the franchise" and criticized 'Pikachu's Summer Vacation' for being "incoherent, pointless and fluffy". Rating the movie two stars out of four, Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' called the movie "a sound-and-light show, linked to the marketing push for 'Pokmon' in general" and said that the movie had "no level at which it enriches a young viewer, by encouraging thinking or observation." Michael Wood of the 'Coventry Evening Telegraph' said that 'Pikachu's Summer Vacation' "can only be described as a mind-numbingly tedious piece, with no discernible storyline and lots of trippy images and silly voices". Wood did note that the main feature had a "mildly intriguing premise", but said that the rest of the film "was like a martial arts movie without the thrills".
Box office
In Japan, it was the second top-grossing domestic film of 1998, earning a distribution income of , and grossing a total of .In the U.S. box office, 'Pokmon: The First Movie' was an instant commercial success, debuting at number one and earning $10.1 million on its Wednesday opening day. This day is commonly referred to as the "Pokflu" because so many children missed school to see the film, much to the chagrin of educators. This was the biggest animated film opening for any film in the history of Warner Bros.RICK LYMANNOV. 13, 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/13/movies/pokemon-is-catching-and-keeping-them.html The film remained the only anime film to top the U.S. box office until 2021's 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train'. During its first weekend, it grossed $31 million and went on to generate a total of $50.8 million since its Wednesday launch in 3,043 theaters, averaging to about $10,199 per venue over the three-day span. It also held the record for being the animated feature with the highest opening weekend in November outside of the Thanksgiving holiday. Despite a 59.72% drop in its second weekend to $12.5 million, the film made $67.4 million within 12 days. It closed on February 27, 2000, earning $85.7 million in North America, and $77.9 million in other territories. It is the highest-grossing anime film in the United States and the fourth highest-grossing animated film based on a television show worldwide. It was also the highest-grossing film based on a video game at the time, until 2001's 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'. Commercially, Takeshi Shudo states the film fared better overall in the U.S. than it did in its home country.
In the United Kingdom, the film grossed 10.8million at the box office. It is also the highest-grossing Japanese film in France and Germany, where it sold 2,224,432 and 3,222,452 box office admissions, respectively. In total, the film's worldwide box office gross was $172,744,662 .
Accolades
At the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film garnered five nominations, of which it won two: Worst Achievement in Animation (OLM, K.K.) and Most Unwelcome Direct-to-Video Release (All nine Pokmon videos released in 1999). However, it lost Biggest Disappointment (Films That Didn't Live Up to Their Hype) to 'The Blair Witch Project', Worst Screen Debut (all 151 Pokmon) to Jar Jar Binks (played by Ahmed Best) in 'Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace', and Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More than $100 Million Using Hollywood Math (Takeshi Shudo) to 'Wild Wild West'.Soundtrack
'Pokmon: The First Movie Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture' is the soundtrack to the first 'Pokmon' film in the United States. It was released on November 10, 1999, on Compact Disc and Compact Cassette. "Don't Say You Love Me" by M2M was released as a single from the album.
CGI remake
During the end credits of 'Pokmon the Movie: The Power of Us' (2018), it was announced that a CGI remake was set to release on the following year. In December 2018, the release date of the remake was revealed as July 12, 2019. 'Pokmon' fansite Serebii reported that the film, titled 'Pokmon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution', would be directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Motonori Sakakibara.
On January 22, 2020, it was announced that Netflix would be releasing the English dubbed version of the film.
Notes
References
Buy Pokmon: The First Movie now from Amazon
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