Good evening/morning (it's 2:47 AM here, so you can go either way really) everyone. With it being Christmas Day now and with my friends all elsewhere or with their families, I'm extremely bored. So I'm sat watching the Pokemon movies on my netbook, as barring the 'Phantom Pokemon' feature length tv special and the new movie about Kyurem, which to my knowledge is only in Japanese at the moment, I have a complete set. And I've started noticing that for kids films, they'r....well, they're pretty fucked up. Here's a short list of what I've noticed so far that when you think about it, it shouldn't be anywhere near what is in essence a set of kids films. And yes, it is incredibly sad to be sat watching pokemon movies at 3AM on Christmas Day if you're 25. Don't judge me, damn it. We all have problems.
Oh, and obviously, spoilers for more or less all the pokemon films. Doubt that really needed saying but hey, at least my ass is covered now.
- Violence. Now, with a lot of the series being based around battling, it's kinda hard to avoid fighting in these movies. But they can get really quite dark at times. Mewtwo flat out kills Ash in the First Movie, pretty much. There are a lot of times when the villains go way too far. It's strange, as the most iconic is of course Team Rocket's Giovanni, but he clearly only intends to control pokemon, and then the world (Insert Nostalgia Critic 'Of course!' clip HERE), but while he causes harm to Mewtwo in the special 'Mewtwo Returns', he never actually intended to do any lasting harm, merely break his will. Some of the later villains have flat out intent to kill. They're insane. Zero from 'Giratina and the Sky Warrior' almost takes out several towns and doesn't even care, The Collector from 2000 can see that Lugia is already under a lot of pressure but only cares about his own goals and therefore attacks Lugia, even though Ash is riding on Lugia at the time. They're just a little TOO evil for cartoon villains, you know?
- Animal cruelty. Yeah, we've all heard the jokes about Pokeballs being airtight, but hear me out. As the films go on, they get darker and darker in tone, until we get to Zoroark Master Of Illusion, in which the villain grabs hold of both Zorua and Celebi during the film and damn near chokes the life out of both of them. Pokemon battles always seem to be more of a sporting contest than any serious attempt to cause harm, as seen in the credit rolls for many of the films when Ash battles various trainers but everyone's teams are always fine afterwards, usually sharing some of Brock's cooking in the earlier films. To see the villain attempting to kill what is on all levels a small furry animal seems a little too....mean spirited, to say the least.
- Death. While death is sort of seen in the games with Lavender town (most jarring childhood experience ever...), it's never really had much weight to it. It's hinted at, but rarely actually seen. Although from what I recall of the anime from my youth, Ash had a nasty habit of dying every now and then. But the films...wow. First Movie, Ash is turned to stone, presumed dead. Second, he nearly drowns. Third, Entei flat out threatens to kill Charizard. Fourth, Celebi arguably dies, even if it is revived shortly afterwards. We get to movie 5, Heroes Latias and Latios, and one of the primary pokemon characters actually dies for good right at the end. Heroic death, sure. But you expect a miraculous revival, and it never comes. The movie gives a giant middle finger to your expectations and leaves the thing dead. A little harsh, don't you think?
- Sexual content. Oh yeah, I went there. We all see Brock's endless failed attempts to score, which in and of themselves are rather worrying, but Ash himself is portrayed as something of a player at times. There's an obvious 'will they wont they' going on with Misty for the first few films, and she herself mentions the possibility that ther might be something more than friends to them in 2000, a sentiment Ash later echoes by referring to Misty in Jirachi Wishmaker. But then you have the strange moment in Ranger and The Temple Of The Sea where May and Ash are swimming, and Ash catches a glance of May surrounded by heart-shaped fish. What gives? It was never really hinted at before in any of their movies. She's just sort of....there. There certainly wasn't as much as there was with Misty.
But the worst thing I've noticed on this subject comes from the third movie 'Spell Of The Unknown', which itself is REALLY fucked up. Insane crystal dream world under the control of a six year old girl with deep psychological issues? Seriously, watch it if you haven't already and tell me you're not just a touch creeped out by the kinda jarring tonal shift from the peaceful green world of normal Pokemon life to the insanity of the crystal world. But I digress. Watch the scene in this movie where the kids reach the Pokemon centre and Ash is unexpectedly reunited with Professor Oak and his mother, Delia Ketchum. Delia steps out of the van and Pikachu runs up to her, and she picks him (it? pretty sure Pikachu was confirmed to be male but even Ash called Pikachu 'it' more often than not) up, giving Pikachu a hug as she talks to Ash. WATCH PIKACHU CAREFULLY. He blatantly cops a feel off Delia. He very visibly squeezes her chest. Her shirt even wrinkles to make it obvious. Now THAT is fucked up. So fucked up is inspired me to create this topic.
Overall, the movies are pretty decent up to a point, although once the Black and White era rolled around they REALLY seemed to be losing it if you ask me. But every now and then I notice these strange out of place aspects to them that seem a little....off, for kids movies. Which is what these films were surely intended as. For kids animated movies, they deal with some surprisingly heavy issues like death, loss, parental responsibility (Ranger), obsession, etc. While they do seem a touch out of place, in a way they kind of work, since I'm sure most of the intended age group probably don't notice, or don't understand enough to be affected all that much. But these darker aspects give the movies a broader appeal as they still contain a little something for older fans. The tone shifts get by because of the colourful visuals, but if they'd been done in live action, they'd have been pretty disturbing films.
Also, Pikachu feeling Delia's boobs is just wrong. Especially when, to my knowledge, we still don't know who Ash's father is :/
Comments? Opinions from fellow movie fans? Anyone think it might be interesting to see the games change tone to something a little more broad in scope? You gotta admit, the games seem a bit tame compared to the movies. I'd like to see some of the darker aspects of the movies carry over into a new generation of Pokemon games. Give us older fans something deeper than simple badge collection and the Elite Four.
Oh, and obviously, spoilers for more or less all the pokemon films. Doubt that really needed saying but hey, at least my ass is covered now.
- Violence. Now, with a lot of the series being based around battling, it's kinda hard to avoid fighting in these movies. But they can get really quite dark at times. Mewtwo flat out kills Ash in the First Movie, pretty much. There are a lot of times when the villains go way too far. It's strange, as the most iconic is of course Team Rocket's Giovanni, but he clearly only intends to control pokemon, and then the world (Insert Nostalgia Critic 'Of course!' clip HERE), but while he causes harm to Mewtwo in the special 'Mewtwo Returns', he never actually intended to do any lasting harm, merely break his will. Some of the later villains have flat out intent to kill. They're insane. Zero from 'Giratina and the Sky Warrior' almost takes out several towns and doesn't even care, The Collector from 2000 can see that Lugia is already under a lot of pressure but only cares about his own goals and therefore attacks Lugia, even though Ash is riding on Lugia at the time. They're just a little TOO evil for cartoon villains, you know?
- Animal cruelty. Yeah, we've all heard the jokes about Pokeballs being airtight, but hear me out. As the films go on, they get darker and darker in tone, until we get to Zoroark Master Of Illusion, in which the villain grabs hold of both Zorua and Celebi during the film and damn near chokes the life out of both of them. Pokemon battles always seem to be more of a sporting contest than any serious attempt to cause harm, as seen in the credit rolls for many of the films when Ash battles various trainers but everyone's teams are always fine afterwards, usually sharing some of Brock's cooking in the earlier films. To see the villain attempting to kill what is on all levels a small furry animal seems a little too....mean spirited, to say the least.
- Death. While death is sort of seen in the games with Lavender town (most jarring childhood experience ever...), it's never really had much weight to it. It's hinted at, but rarely actually seen. Although from what I recall of the anime from my youth, Ash had a nasty habit of dying every now and then. But the films...wow. First Movie, Ash is turned to stone, presumed dead. Second, he nearly drowns. Third, Entei flat out threatens to kill Charizard. Fourth, Celebi arguably dies, even if it is revived shortly afterwards. We get to movie 5, Heroes Latias and Latios, and one of the primary pokemon characters actually dies for good right at the end. Heroic death, sure. But you expect a miraculous revival, and it never comes. The movie gives a giant middle finger to your expectations and leaves the thing dead. A little harsh, don't you think?
- Sexual content. Oh yeah, I went there. We all see Brock's endless failed attempts to score, which in and of themselves are rather worrying, but Ash himself is portrayed as something of a player at times. There's an obvious 'will they wont they' going on with Misty for the first few films, and she herself mentions the possibility that ther might be something more than friends to them in 2000, a sentiment Ash later echoes by referring to Misty in Jirachi Wishmaker. But then you have the strange moment in Ranger and The Temple Of The Sea where May and Ash are swimming, and Ash catches a glance of May surrounded by heart-shaped fish. What gives? It was never really hinted at before in any of their movies. She's just sort of....there. There certainly wasn't as much as there was with Misty.
But the worst thing I've noticed on this subject comes from the third movie 'Spell Of The Unknown', which itself is REALLY fucked up. Insane crystal dream world under the control of a six year old girl with deep psychological issues? Seriously, watch it if you haven't already and tell me you're not just a touch creeped out by the kinda jarring tonal shift from the peaceful green world of normal Pokemon life to the insanity of the crystal world. But I digress. Watch the scene in this movie where the kids reach the Pokemon centre and Ash is unexpectedly reunited with Professor Oak and his mother, Delia Ketchum. Delia steps out of the van and Pikachu runs up to her, and she picks him (it? pretty sure Pikachu was confirmed to be male but even Ash called Pikachu 'it' more often than not) up, giving Pikachu a hug as she talks to Ash. WATCH PIKACHU CAREFULLY. He blatantly cops a feel off Delia. He very visibly squeezes her chest. Her shirt even wrinkles to make it obvious. Now THAT is fucked up. So fucked up is inspired me to create this topic.
Overall, the movies are pretty decent up to a point, although once the Black and White era rolled around they REALLY seemed to be losing it if you ask me. But every now and then I notice these strange out of place aspects to them that seem a little....off, for kids movies. Which is what these films were surely intended as. For kids animated movies, they deal with some surprisingly heavy issues like death, loss, parental responsibility (Ranger), obsession, etc. While they do seem a touch out of place, in a way they kind of work, since I'm sure most of the intended age group probably don't notice, or don't understand enough to be affected all that much. But these darker aspects give the movies a broader appeal as they still contain a little something for older fans. The tone shifts get by because of the colourful visuals, but if they'd been done in live action, they'd have been pretty disturbing films.
Also, Pikachu feeling Delia's boobs is just wrong. Especially when, to my knowledge, we still don't know who Ash's father is :/
Comments? Opinions from fellow movie fans? Anyone think it might be interesting to see the games change tone to something a little more broad in scope? You gotta admit, the games seem a bit tame compared to the movies. I'd like to see some of the darker aspects of the movies carry over into a new generation of Pokemon games. Give us older fans something deeper than simple badge collection and the Elite Four.
