From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.

This article is about the movies that are part of the Pokémon anime. For movies that exist in the Pokémon world, see Movies in the Pokémon world.

Pikachu the Movie

Pokémon the Movie

A Pokémon movie is a theatrical film usually released in Japan in July, centering on Pokémon and following, as the main anime series, Ash and his friends. Typically, the movies' animation is done by Team Koitabashi of OLM, and each has at least one hour of footage. Nine of the movies also have a Pikachu short that is shown before the main feature, and all of them have a manga adaptation.

The locations in which the movies take place have been, since Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, based on real-world locations outside of Japan. Topics explored are typically deeper than those explored in the episodes aired on television, usually featuring Ash and his friends confronting antagonists who wish to use Pokémon for selfish purposes. Nearly every movie involves Legendary Pokémon, and many of them debut a Mythical Pokémon belonging to the ongoing generation of the core series games, with event distributions for certain Pokémon featuring in the movie running concurrently.

To date, there have been 23 theatrical Pokémon movies and three movie-length special episodes. There has also been one live-action movie, Detective Pikachu. Additionally, the miniseries Pokémon Origins is a similar length to a movie when all of the episodes are combined.

List of movies

While these movies were released during the time Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon was airing, they are not set during its timeline. Instead, the first two movies are set in an alternate continuity, completely independent of the main series, while the third is a CGI remake of a previous movie.

Like with the first two Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon movies, the movie to be released during Pokémon Journeys: The Series is set in the alternate continuity introduced in I Choose You!.

Movie Poster English title English release American distributor Japanese title Japanese release Japanese distributor 23 TBA TBA TBA ココ

Koko December 25, 2020 Toho

Release

When they open in Japan, they usually gross a large amount of money, typically ranking first for their premiere weekend. In 2008, Giratina and the Sky Warrior drew in a significant crowd despite the fact that it was released in the same weekend as the Studio Ghibli film Ponyo. In the United States, only the first five movies, those associated with the original series, received wide theatrical releases, however, the movies continue to be dubbed, being released directly to home video and, since Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, airing on Cartoon Network within a year of the Japanese premiere. Beginning with the dub of Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, the movies typically premiere on Disney XD. Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution was the first movie to see its international premiere on a streaming platform with its February 2020 release on Netflix.

The thirteenth movie saw a limited theatrical release in the United States as part of the "Pokémon Black Version and White Version Mall Tour". On December 3 and 4, 2011, White—Victini and Zekrom received a limited commercial release in US theaters, making it the first movie since Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias to receive a commercial theatrical release. All of the Pokémon the Series: Black & White and Pokémon the Series: XY movies have aired in theaters in Australia and New Zealand, with the Pokémon the Series: XY movies premiering there before the United States. I Choose You! also received a limited theatrical run internationally on November 5 and 6, 2017. The Power of Us was given a limited theatrical release starting on November 24, 2018.

Titles

The full titles of Pokémon movies typically begin with some variant of the phrase "Pokémon the Movie".

In English, from the 14th movie onward, all full movie titles begin with "Pokémon the Movie". The first three movies—Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One, and Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown: Entei—also include some variant of the phrase in their titles.

In Japanese, all movies except those in Pokémon the Series: XY begin with the phrase 「劇場版ポケットモンスター」 (Pocket Monsters: Movie Version). The Pokémon the Series: XY movies instead begin with the phrase 「ポケモン・ザ・ムービー」 (Pokémon the Movie).

Long specials

These special episodes do not appear in theaters in either the original or the dub, but run longer than the half hour that normal episodes fill. Due to this, they are often considered television Pokémon movies, not counting towards the running total.

Relation to the main series

Generally, Pokémon movies and long specials have little to no impact on the overall plotline of the anime and fans will argue as to whether or not they are considered true canon. Evidence going either way is sparse, with many details, such as the fact that Ash, Dawn, and Brock having met Dialga and Palkia in The Rise of Darkrai, Giratina and the Sky Warrior, and Arceus and the Jewel of Life going unmentioned when the Legendary Pokémon are seen again in The Battle Finale of Legend!. Other details introduced in movies, such as Ash's Aura abilities as well as Dawn's Lunar Wing, have in fact been referenced by the main series.

The three Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon movies are unique exceptions in these regards: I Choose You! is an alternate retelling of Ash's early journey in a continuity completely independent of the main series, with the following movie, The Power of Us, being an original story also set within that continuity. Finally, Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution is the first Pokémon movie to be a remake, being a CGI retelling of Mewtwo Strikes Back.

It is possible that early on, the movies were intended to have no impact on the main anime continuity, as Mewtwo's erasure of everyone's memories at the conclusion of Mewtwo Strikes Back means that the events of the movie don't have much continuing impact on the series. However, as the series has progressed, more references to past movies have been made, with Ash recognizing a Latios immediately in The Semi-Final Frontier!, despite having only seen one previously in Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias.

Due to this inconsistency, it will be noted in the movies' individual articles when a reference has been made to them in the main anime. The placement of the movies in the anime timeline will normally be between the episodes aired before and after the date of the movie's Japanese premiere, though often with more recent movies, this placement can vary with regard to events in the main anime.

Pokémon Origins, which is not a movie but rather a miniseries, exists within its own canon separate from the main anime series.

Home video releases

North American home video releases

United Kingdom home video releases

Australian home video releases

Trivia

In other languages