BACKGROUND
There will be very few people in the world who have not at least heard of Pokémon.
It became a global phenomenon from its beginnings in 1996, and has only expanded its franchise since then. This means that there will be even less children who grew up in the 1990s that have not had anything to do with Pokémon since its inception.
I definitely had heard of Pokémon in the 1990s. I loved watched the original series, Pokémon: Indigo League, on Saturday morning children’s TV, specifically SMTV: Live, I think, with presenters Cat Deeley and Ant and Dec. I played the Trading Card Game with my sister, even though I nearly always lost for reasons I will never understand. We even went to a Toys R Us store once just to get a new pack of cards because each one had a shiny Machamp in it. I still play Pokémon GO, the mobile game, although I have a love-hate relationship with it, frequently wanting to throw my phone when I don’t get the shiny Pokémon I want, or miss out on the walking distance I definitely did. But that’s my issue.
This means I was definitely the target audience for Pokémon: The First Movie when it came to cinemas. This was a little later than the official release date of 1998 in Japan, making its way to the US in late 1999, and eventually the UK around April 2000. I do remember going to the cinema to watch this film and I liked it. My sister, the bigger Pokémon fan, loved it. I just liked Pikachu and Togepi back then to be honest!
Pokémon: The First Movie continued the storyline of the Indigo League series, where Pokémon trainer, Ash, journeys with his friends, Brock and Misty, and his trusty Pokémon Pikachu, to battle trainers and collect new creatures. I was a fan of this series, but I actually remember very few episodes. I always liked the one where Misty had to do a mermaid show with her sisters, and the episodes about Gym Leader Sabrina and her hobby for turning people into dolls still creeps me out to this day, but that’s about it. Pokémon: The First Movie is hard to forget though, with the mystery of Mewtwo being central to the story and the almost philosophical discussions about creation, science, and life making it quite deep.
This film had everything – to please the fans, who were, mostly, young children. For that reason, Pokémon: The First Movie has not gone down in animation history as one of the finest films to have ever graced our screens. But with a healthy dose of nostalgia, Pokémon: The First Movie continues to be touted as a triumph by the most dedicated of fans. For me, despite still liking this film, I’m sitting somewhere in between the two schools of thought.
PLOT
For clarity, this plot summary is specifically for the English dub of Pokémon: The First Movie. Although the overall story between the original Japanese version of the film and the English dub are similar, there are a few differences, something that I’ll go into later on.
Pokémon: The First Movie begins with an invisible narrator discussing the concept of life, a great miracle and a great mystery, before stating that this is the story of the most powerful Pokémon of all. Inside a lab, we see a Pokémon, confused about where and what they are. It stares out at a group of scientists, who are monitoring its brainwaves. Suddenly, they notice the brainwaves surging, and the Pokémon breaks out of the water-filled tube it’s been kept in. Using its psychic powers and telepathy, it communicates with the scientists, who tell it that it is the clone of the mythical Pokémon Mew, with this new Pokémon being named Mewtwo. After hearing that the humans want to experiment further, Mewtwo decides they don’t care about it and Mewtwo destroys the lab, breaking free and escaping, proving to the scientists that they did in fact build the strongest ever Pokémon.
Seeing the destruction below, tough Gym Leader Giovanni lands by Mewtwo, saying he wants Mewtwo to be his partner, because together they can control the world, however, first, Mewtwo must trust Giovanni to help it control its powers. For this reason, Giovanni armours Mewtwo, saying this will focus the psychic powers. Yet, it soon becomes clear to Mewtwo that it is simply being used by Giovanni to battle trainers and, since Mewtwo never loses, to capture other trainers’ Pokémon. Mewtwo realises this is not an equal partnership and breaks his armour, flying away again, back to the location of the lab on New Island. Mewtwo vows to find its own purpose and purge the planet of all who oppose it.
Meanwhile, a new journey begins, as Pokémon trainer Ash, and his friends Brock and Misty continue their travels to help Ash become a great Pokémon trainer. On this day, Ash moans about being hungry, but immediately accepts another trainer’s invitation to battle. Ash easily defeats this trainer’s line-up of Pokémon, which include a Donphan and a Machamp, with his Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Pikachu, his most loyal Pokémon. He is being watched by their enemies Team Rocket, consisting of Jessie and James, and their Pokémon Meowth, who can talk, unlike most other Pokémon. Team Rocket want Ash’s Pikachu, believing it to be a very special kind of Pokémon. It seems that Ash is also being watched by someone else. A Fearow carrying a camera flies over head. We see that someone is watching Ash’s battle on a screen. His female assistant asks if this trainer should receive an invitation. Her “master” tells her to approve one for Ash. This “person” summons a storm.
Suddenly, a Dragonite lands next to Ash and his friends, handing them a holographic invite, inviting them to a special gathering on New Island that afternoon to meet with the greatest trainer of all time. Intrigued, Ash says they all must go. As the Dragonite leaves, it is intercepted by Team Rocket, who want to know what the invite said. The Dragonite accidentally drops one, letting Team Rocket know about the meeting at New Island.
Ash, Brock, and Misty arrive at the ferry port for New Island, where they discover the storm has stopped all ferries from going to the island. The port is full of trainers with their Pokémon. Police Officer Jenny addresses the crowd with Harbour Manager Miranda. They warn the trainers not to attempt to cross the water as the storm is deadly. Miranda states that a storm like this had been prophesised, and it has happened before. The previous deadly storm wiped out all but a few Pokémon, with their tears reviving all those lives that had been lost. Miranda warns this may not be the case this time. Despite the warning, and the fact that the nearby Pokémon Center has been shut since its nurse, Nurse Joy, went missing so their Pokémon will not be able to be revived, a few trainers head out, using either their Water-type of Flying-type Pokémon. Ash wants to do the same, but Misty says their Pokémon are not strong enough to manage the journey. As they stand by the sea, wondering what to do, a boat, being rowed by three Vikings arrives, and offers to take Ash, Brock, and Misty to New Island themselves. These “Vikings” are actually Team Rocket, but Ash and the others are not aware of that. Despite being suspicious, the three get in the boat and they head to the island. However, the huge, crashing waves soon cause the boat to overturn. Ash, Brock, and Misty use their Staryu and Squirtle to get through the storm, leaving Team Rocket, whose disguises have now been lost, to fend for themselves. Eventually, the storm calms down and Ash, Brock, and Misty see a castle in the distance. They head towards it.
Once safely on solid land, the three are greeted by the woman from the invite. Brock thinks she looks familiar, but the woman claims to have only ever been on New Island to serve her “master”. They are led to a hall, where they see three other trainers from the ferry port have also arrived. They introduce themselves and their Pokémon. The woman says these trainers are the only ones to have proven themselves worthy by getting here despite the storm, so no-one else is expected. They are told to release their Pokémon and await further instructions. Meanwhile, Team Rocket have also arrived at New Island, but do not have an invitation to allow them inside. They find a way in, seemingly through the sewer.
Back inside, a beam of light appears in the hall, and the “trainer” the others have been waiting to meet arrives. But they discover this “trainer” is not even human; it is a Pokémon. And it isn’t just any old Pokémon; it’s Mewtwo. Speaking telepathically, Mewtwo explains it is the soon-to-be ruler of the world, and the most powerful Pokémon of all time. Proving this, Mewtwo lifts up a trainer, Fergus, who disputed this fact, and throws him into the fountain in the hall. Fergus gets his Gyarados to attack Mewtwo, but Mewtwo simply fires its attack straight back. The female assistant is then taken out of her trance by Mewtwo, who has no further use for her. The woman is revealed to be Nurse Joy, the person who vanished from the nearby Pokémon Center. She was being used to help Mewtwo with his plan.
Team Rocket have found their way inside the castle, and are in some sort of laboratory, seeing Pokémon in cylinders around them. Jessie sits on a computer and starts up the “Replication System”. The system tries to take Meowth, and Jessie and James fight against it to keep Meowth with them. Robotic hands take a few strands of Meowth’s hair, and Team Rocket watch the process unfold, as a clone of Meowth is created. They also see a video about Mewtwo and how it was created.
In the hall, Mewtwo says its purpose now is to destroy the world, ridding it of all the humans and their Pokémon “slaves”. Pikachu says that the Pokémon are friends of the trainers. Mewtwo calls Pikachu “pathetic” and attacks it with its powers. Ash catches Pikachu. Another trainer, Corey, thinks he can capture Mewtwo and uses his Rhyhorn to attempt to weaken Mewtwo. Mewtwo blocks the attack. Mewtwo states it cannot be weakened or caught. Ash wants a proper battle with Mewtwo; Mewtwo agreed to one. Mewtwo awakens its own cloned Pokémon. Team Rocket watch as the clones walk out of the cylinders and leave the lab. Mewtwo reveals a huge stadium for the battle to take place. The trainers realise this was the only reason they were invited to New Island.
Ash, Corey, and the other trainer here, Neesha, attempt to battle against Mewtwo’s clones of Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard with their own versions of these Pokémon. Corey and Neesha’s Venusaur and Blastoise fight hard but are quickly beaten back. Ash’s Charizard is poorly trained though, and doesn’t listen to Ash, trying to fight against its clone in its own way, flying high into the sky and crashing back down to the ground… All looks lost, and the trainers lose the battle. Mewtwo claims all their Pokémon as the prize, planning to clone all of them. Pokéballs start chasing down all the Pokémon. Ash attempts to return his Pokémon to their Pokéballs to stop this, but it doesn’t work; Mewtwo’s Pokéballs just capture the trainers’ Pokéballs. Ash tells Pikachu to fight them off and run. Pikachu runs up a ramp, shocking the Pokéballs at random intervals to get them to stop following, but the pursuit continues. Ash runs after Pikachu, but see Pikachu get tired and fall off the ramp. Ash jumps off and catches Pikachu, who has been captured in a Pokéball, just before falling in the fountain. Ash follows the Pokéballs to Mewtwo’s lab. Ash fights against the machines to retrieve Pikachu and is successful. Team Rocket witness all the Pokémon being cloned.
Once the clones are ready, they head to the stadium, and the originals are released again. Mewtwo reveals all his clones, and Ash arrives with the originals. Ash tells Mewtwo not to let this fight happen between the clones and the originals, attempting to attack Mewtwo, but Ash is pushed away, high into the air. Luckily, Ash is caught by a bright pink bubble. It is revealed the pink bubble was created by the mythical Pokémon Mew, who was feared to be extinct. Mew has been watching the proceedings on New Island. Mewtwo wants to fight Mew, to show its power is superior to Mew’s. Mew doesn’t want to fight. Meowth translates for Mew, who says that the strength of a Pokémon is found in its heart. Mewtwo has no time for sentiment and orders the battle to begin, saying all special abilities have been blocked. Mewtwo goes after Mew, as the Pokémon battle their clone copies, who are meant to be stronger and more powerful. Ash watches the proceedings from a high ledge, whilst the other trainers watch on helplessly, as their Pokémon are forced to battle, seemingly to the death. Pikachu did in fact get a clone, and the clone starts to attack, with Pikachu refusing to fight back. Meowth speaks to its own clone, and realises the clones are more similar to the originals than they are different.
Ash starts to make his way down to the stadium wanting to stop this fight once and for all, however, he gets in the middle of Mew and Mewtwo’s fight and their attacks hit him. He is turned to stone. Pikachu is distraught to see Ash like this and desperately tries to shock him awake, but nothing works. Ash continues to lie lifeless in the middle of the stadium. Pikachu starts to cry, with the other Pokémon also crying for him. The power of their collective tears awakens Ash. Having seen this play out, Mewtwo learns that all Pokémon have power, but it is deciding how they use it and live their lives that determines who they are. Mewtwo chooses to fly away with his clones to find a new purpose. Mewtwo wipes the trainers’ memories of this night, and returns them to the ferry port.
Back at the ferry port, we see that they have gone back in time, as the trainers are being warned about the huge storm and the cancelled ferries. However, they see that the storm has now cleared and all is calm again. Nurse Joy also arrives to say she is available to treat any Pokémon that need assistance. It was like it never even happened. As Ash, Misty and Brock look out to sea, Ash thinks he sees something in the sky, but the other two don’t notice, so they think he imagined it. Ash says he thinks he saw a rare Pokémon, just like he did when he started on his journey to becoming a Pokémon trainer. This time he saw Mew.
The film ends with the narrator saying that Ash, Misty and Brock will continue their journey, where many more mysteries and adventures await them. But what happened to Team Rocket? Well, they remained on New Island, with no clue how they got there!
CHARACTERS & CAST
Since I have only seen the English dub of Pokémon: The First Movie, these are the voice actors that I will be focusing on here, although I will mention the name of the Japanese actor.
Ash Ketchum is the trainer that the original series, Pokémon: Indigo League, follows. He first began his journey to become a trainer at the age of 10, which seems a little bit young to be travelling on your own, but oh well! It was at this point that he first got his Pikachu, who is very loyal to him. Ash is dedicated to his Pokémon and his dreams of being a great Pokémon trainer, making him do reckless things, like trying to battle the most powerful Pokémon ever and getting into the middle of that Pokémon’s attack just to get him to stop attacking! Ash just wanted to have a nice day out at New Island, battling some trainers, probably hoping for a free lunch, not to have to deal with a Pokémon having an identity crisis. Ash can be a little bit annoying at times, when he doesn’t listen to Brock and Misty, for example, and always complains about being hungry, but his heart is in the right place, and he would do anything to keep his Pokémon and friends safe from harm.
Ash was voiced by Veronica Taylor. Taylor voiced the character of Ash, plus his mother Delia and some other characters, throughout the Pokémon series and various films until around 2006. Outside of that, she has voiced characters for other series including Sailor Pluto and Setsuna Meio for the Sailor Moon franchise, and April O’Neil for the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003-09). The Japanese voice actor of Ash was Rica Matsumoto. Pikachu was voiced by Ikue Ōtani.
Misty is Ash’s best friend and they meet early on in his journey to become a Pokémon trainer. Misty is the only person who can shout at Ash and have him actually listen! She is quite impatient with him, finding his complaints and whining quite irritating. Like Ash, Misty is also dedicated to her Pokémon and in Pokémon: The First Movie, she is one of the first to voice her concerns about the Pokémon battling their clones, seeing it as barbaric and unnecessary. But she isn’t upset enough to risk her life by getting in the way of Mewtwo and Mew’s epic battle; she lets Ash do that instead.
Rachael Lillis voiced Misty here, also voicing the character until 2006, along with Pokémon like Jigglypuff and Vulpix. Lillis lent her voice to other anime projects, such as Hunter x Hunter (2011-14), voicing Mito Freecss and Cocco. Lillis passed away in August 2024. Mayumi Iizuka was the Japanese voice actor for Misty. Misty’s Pokémon sidekick is Togepi, who was voiced by Satomi Kōrogi.
Brock is the other person who tags along with Ash and Misty on their journey. He has always been girl crazy, to the point where it becomes a little bit problematic if you watch the series as an adult! But whenever girls aren’t around, Brock does have some good ideas and good advice for Ash, for when he thinks Ash needs to take a minute and think before he acts. In Pokémon: The First Movie, he is immediately infatuated with Mewtwo’s assistant on meeting her, later discovering this is the missing Nurse Joy.
Brock was voiced by Eric Stuart, reprising the role until around 2006. Stuart is also known for voicing Seta Kaiba in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime franchise, amongst numerous other characters. Brock’s Japanese voice actor was Yūji Ueda.
Mewtwo is the antagonist of Pokémon: The First Movie, although it didn’t have to be that way. On discovering its status as a clone, Mewtwo is confused about what its purpose is, just being a “copy” of some other Pokémon, or an “experiment” to be tested on throughout its life. Mewtwo doesn’t want that, and knowing its strength, knows it doesn’t have to settle for that. However, Mewtwo thinks it can trust Giovanni when Giovanni claims they will be equal partners and take over the world together. This turns out not to be case, furthering Mewtwo’s belief that humans are bad, and that the Pokémon that “serve” them are weak. Mewtwo doesn’t want that for its future, so it decides to clone other Pokémon, so they can rise up against the humans and their Pokémon, proving that clones are worthy and more powerful than they are. Mewtwo is to set on this plan to enact revenge on humans that it doesn’t see that all Pokémon are worthy and that their strength doesn’t lie in their power. It takes a while for Mewtwo to learn that, but it does, and plans to figure out a new purpose, removing the memory of that night from the minds of all the trainers who were there.
Jay Goede voiced Mewtwo, although he is credited as Philip Bartlett in the film. Goede went on to perform roles on stage, including in the 1999 national tour of Cabaret, and played Grinch in the 2006 performance of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in San Diego, California. Goede also voiced Dr. Fuji, the lead scientist cloning Mewtwo. Mewtwo’s Japanese voice actor was Masachika Ichimura. Koichi Yamadera voiced Mew.
Mewtwo enlists the help of Nurse Joy in developing his plans, making her the face of his plot, so that Mewtwo could arrive as the big reveal later on. Nurse Joy was kidnapped from her role at the nearby Pokémon Center and taken to New Island against her will, being put into a trance by Mewtwo’s psychic ability so she would help. It’s quite dark for a children’s film when you think about it. Nurse Joy is quickly taken out of her trance as she is no use to Mewtwo once the trainers arrive with their Pokémon and she is left to watch this scheme, that she inadvertently played a part in, play out in front of her. Nurse Joy’s memory of the night is also wiped and she returns to work at the Pokémon Center none the wiser.
Megan Hollingshead voiced Nurse Joy. Hollingshead voiced this character in the series and films until around 2004, going on to provide voices for other anime series, such as Mai Valentine in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (2000-04) and Rangiku and Nemu in Bleach (2004-12) and its most recent series Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (2022-present). The Japanese voice actor for Nurse Joy was Ayako Shiraishi.
Now, to Team Rocket. Team Rocket consists of humans Jessie and James, and their sidekick Meowth, a Pokémon who can actually talk and not just say its name. Jessie and James are eager to capture Pikachu for their boss, Giovanni, but they are quite incapable of doing so. They frequently seem to get close to Ash, only for their plans to be thwarted at the last moment. Meowth is quite aware of Jessie and James ineptness and makes comments about it, being quite sarcastic at times. In Pokémon: The First Movie, although their initial plan is still to bother Ash and his friends, they find themselves in the middle of something so much bigger than that, and become distracted by Mewtwo’s war against trainers and their Pokémon. They probably wished they’d left Ash alone on that day!
Jessie was voiced by Rachael Lillis, who voiced Misty, and James was voiced by Eric Stuart, who voiced Brock. In Japan, Jessie was voiced by Megumi Hayashibara and James was voiced by Shin-ichirō Miki. Meowth was voiced by Maddie Blaustein for the English dub, voicing the character until around 2006. Blaustein also voiced other characters for animated series, such as Solomon Muto for Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. Blaustein passed away in 2008. Inuko Inuyama was the Japanese voice actor for Meowth.
There are three other trainers at New Island along with Ash, Misty and Brock. They all appear to be older, and are therefore more mature and more confident in their Pokémon training abilities. This shows when they are the first trainers to defy the authorities and go to New Island on their own, and when they seem to think they can defeat Mewtwo easily, but they soon realise that is not the case, regardless of what strategy they use. In the end, they can only watch on as their Pokémon are cloned and used against them, waiting to see what happens next. Ash, despite being younger and less capable a trainer, is the one to stop the fighting, something that the trainers Fergus, Corey, and Neesha must have been grateful for. Although since all their memories were wiped, I doubt they ever had any further contact with each other, or Ash, Misty or Brock after that night!
Fergus was voiced by Jimmy Zoppi, also known as James Carter Cathcart who went on to voice numerous other characters for the Pokémon franchise including James, Meowth, and Professor Oak in later series and films. He passed away in 2025. Fergus was voiced by Wataru Takagi in Japan. Corey was voiced by Ed Paul, also known as Ted Lewis, who voiced various characters for the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. Tōru Furuya was the Japanese voice actor behind this character. Neesha was voiced by Amy Birnbaum, who went on to voice other characters in the Pokémon franchise from this point. Aiko Satō was the original voice.
Rodger Parsons, credited as Ken Gates, returned to narrate Pokémon: The First Movie, as he had done with many other Pokémon series, including the first season, and the movies. In Japan, narration was completed by Unshō Ishizuka.
PRODUCTION
In order to talk about the production of Pokémon: The First Movie, it is necessary to go back and discover how Pokémon as a concept came into existence.
The idea for Pokémon was created by Satoshi Tajiri, who was a keen insect catcher and collector as a child. Tajiri later used this as a foundation for his video game work, as he started to develop a game about collecting “pocket monsters”, the phrase was later combined to become Pokémon, back in the 1990s. After the Game Boy was released by Nintendo, and a cable was produced to connect one console to another, Tajiri allegedly started to picture bugs crawling across this cable from one Game Boy to the next.
Tajiri used his ideas to start to develop a game with Nintendo. Pokémon Red and Green were released for Game Boy in February 1996 in Japan, with the aim to catch and train these new creatures. Connecting to other consoles allowed for players to trade Pokémon between themselves and to battle each other. These basic foundations continue to be developed and expanded for all the Pokémon games that have followed. The Pokémon Red and Green games were released outside of Japan, to North America, the EU and Australia, for example, in late 1998, going into 1999, with the names Pokémon Red and Blue, instead of Red and Green. Pokémon Yellow came into existence a year or so later[1].
From this point, an anime series was created based on the games. The first series, titled Pokémon: Indigo League (1997-99), came to television screens in Japan on 1st April 1997. It later came to the US in late 1998, reaching over to the UK and Europe in 1999. The story of Pokémon: Indigo League is all about 10-year-old Ash Ketchum as he travels around the Kanto region, competing for Gym Badges against Gym Leaders, and collecting new Pokémon, with his friends Misty and Brock, two former Gym Leaders. The popularity of this series across the globe led to the creation of the Pokémon franchise’s first theatrical movie, Pokémon: The First Movie, which still continued to follow Ash, Misty, Brock and their Pokémon, but with the added mystery of introducing a new Pokémon, Mewtwo.
Pokémon: The First Movie is obviously based on characters created by Satoshi Tajiri for the Nintendo games, as well as being based on direct events and characters from Pokémon: Indigo League. The screenplay for the movie itself though was written by Takeshi Shudo, who had previously written episodes of Pokémon: Indigo League, and went on to write further episodes for later series, as well as other movies, like Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (1999) and Pokémon 3: The Movie (2000). The director of Pokémon: The First Movie, Kunihiko Yuyama, also has history with the Pokémon screen projects, having directed all the Pokémon movies annually from this point, ending with Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! In 2017, and directing some episodes of the original series. Yuyama and Shudo had previously collaborated on the anime series Magical Princess Minky Momo (1982-83).
These were the creators behind the movie, which, obviously, was first released in Japan, in an anime style. However, Pokémon: The First Movie then had to be dubbed into new languages for Pokémon fans across the world. You might assume this was a simple process of translation, but it was not, and has caused some annoyance amongst viewers, who have become aware of differences between the original Japanese, and the English dub.
4Kids Entertainment, an American licensing company, were the distributors of the original Pokémon: Indigo League series, bringing Pokémon to audiences outside of Japan. This meant they were responsible for translating the movie as well, but they made some changes in the process of doing this that were not appreciated even by Pokémon fans.
The problems start at the very beginning of the film. In the English version of the film, we are told that this film is going to ponder the meaning of life and tell the story of the creation of the most powerful Pokémon ever. This then moves to Mewtwo in the cloning lab, deciding to break free after learning it is an experiment to be tested on. This English dub lacks any context to Mewtwo’s creation, which was actually present in Japan. Pokémon: The First Movie was meant to follow on from a few episodes of Pokémon: Indigo League, which would’ve introduced Mewtwo in some cameo appearances. However, these were not aired at the right time and ended up reaching viewers after the film had already been released. This is due to the four-month hiatus that was put on the Pokémon series, after hundreds of Japanese children experienced seizures after watching the 38th episode of the first series “Electric Soldier Porygon” in December 1997. The flashing sequences had triggered seizures, and later seemed to have a caused a mass hysteria event as many more children who did not have epilepsy began to experience symptoms in the days that followed. This episode was never aired again and was effectively banned[2].
To help with context for Pokémon: The First Movie, a radio drama called The Birth of Mewtwo was aired in Japan instead to help audiences understand how this cloned Pokémon was created. This drama was later animated and added to the movie as a roughly ten-minute prologue for the 1999 television broadcast of the film in Japan. However, despite this segment being available by the time the English dub, came to cinemas in 1999, this ten-minute segment was not included, only later becoming a bonus feature on DVD releases.
In this prologue, Dr. Fuji, the lead scientist in cloning Mewtwo says that he and his team have found the site of a shrine to Mew. Financed by Giovanni, the team find a Mew fossil, and, believing Mew to be extinct, plan to use it to unlock the secret to restoring life through cloning. In the lab, Mewtwo starts to think, wondering who it is and where it is. Sensing others, it starts to communicate telepathically, talking to a girl called Ambertwo. She says Mewtwo is a Pokémon, but a talking one. Ambertwo says it is just like her, and the cloned Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard. In the lab, the clones seem to be in a sleeping state. Ambertwo is revealed to be Fuji’s daughter, having cloned her after her death, despite his wife begging him not to and subsequently leaving him due to his obsession with his research. Still in their sleeping state, Ambertwo shows Mewtwo her “remember place”, where it is told about the sun and the wind, of sunrise and sunset. However, the clones start to fade away; in the lab, they are shown to be dying. Ambertwo fades last. Mewtwo feels sad at her loss, and starts to cry. Ambertwo says that the tears of a Pokémon are full of life. Her parting remark is to tell Mewtwo that life is wonderful. Mewtwo’s brain waves start going out of control, so the scientists administer a memory loss serum so it doesn’t remember all this. Eventually, Mewtwo calms down. It remembers something and someone as it grows, hearing the words “life is wonderful”, but it doesn’t know why.
With this prologue in mind, suddenly Mewtwo is not an evil villain anymore, wanting to take over the world, but a confused Pokémon wondering what its purpose is, and where it fits in this world, with its impressive psychic powers. Mewtwo is simply convinced it is superior to other Pokémon because of its strength, and wants to prove that is the case with other clones. Another difference between the two versions is that Mew is portrayed as the saviour of Ash and the others in the English dub, as it is seen to be defending them against evil, but in Japan, Mew actually thinks the clones should be destroyed, just because it sees genetically modifying Pokémon as wrong.
The battle between the two sides in the Japanese version culminates in the message that all life is precious, regardless of if it is cloned or natural. The English dub, however, decided to make this an anti-violence message, showing the clones attacking the original Pokémon, apparently to the death, with Ash stopping the fighting by sacrificing himself to save them all. This isn’t necessarily a bad message, and Western films do tend to have an obvious villain and an obvious hero, avoiding any grey area, but in the context of Pokémon, Pokémon never fight to do the death, and battle frequently, with the Pokémon fainting, not dying, whenever they are beaten. Battling is a major part of becoming a Pokémon trainer, so with that in mind, an anti-violence message makes little sense, especially as Ash and the others continued to battle other trainers and Pokémon in all the series that followed[3]. To be honest, I’ve never read too much into it, and struggle to see a huge difference in the storyline between the two, but I haven’t watched the Japanese version before and I am trying to understand the differences through other people’s reactions and opinions, which may vary.
4Kids Entertainment claim they made these story changes to the script in order to plug some plot holes that appeared in the Japanese version. One of these was around the meaning of Pokémon tears. This later appeared in The Birth of Mewtwo short prologue, as Ambertwo says their tears are full of life, but the English dub says the tears of Pokémon after a storm helped to revive all those who had died. Without having any awareness of the prologue, this is fine as a fix for the “plot hole” although it does feel like it was shoehorned in, as it is a very brief statement that is not revisited.
However, despite 4Kids Entertainment’s heroic attempts to “rescue” the story, the English dub contains multiple errors and mistakes. For one thing, the End Credits are full of typos, with names being misspelled. Another is that some Pokémon are misidentified during the course of the film. For example, a Pidgeot is identified as a Pidgeotto, by its own trainer; and Sandslash is called Sandshrew by Meowth. These are fairly easy mistakes to make, as they are at least part of the same evolution chain, however, Team Rocket misidentify Scyther as Alakazam, with the two Pokémon looking very different. Some also noticed that certain attacks used in battles worked against Pokémon types they shouldn’t have worked on. This is down to the type of attack being used and the Pokémon type it is being used against, as Pokémon all have different strengths and weaknesses depending on their “type”. But it takes real dedication to remember all these combinations, and that is something I don’t have!
One addition to the English dub I did like, though, was about Team Rocket. When they are dressed as Vikings and offer a lift in their boat to New Island to Ash, Misty, and Brock, Brock questions whether Vikings still exist. Ash responds by saying they mostly live in Minnesota. This made me chuckle, because it’s such a random thing to say, but actually, the joke has another layer to it, and that is because the American football team in Minnesota is called the Minnesota Vikings. I didn’t know that, but either way, I thought it was a good joke.
There has also been talk about the fate of a trainer who heads out in the storm to get to New Island on a Fearow, but they are not seen again. This trainer has been discussed online, with theories ranging from the trainer turning back to the ferry port due to the intensity of the storm, or a darker one about how the trainer may not have survived their journey. The likely story is that the animators simply forgot about them[4]! This can’t be blamed on the English dub though, as this is an animation error, not a script mistake.
MUSIC
When making an English version of a film in another language, it is not only the script that is changed, but also the music, in order to capitalise on the best musical acts in the English-speaking world. This was the case with Pokémon: The First Movie, where multiple songs were credited, having been written and performed by some very popular acts from the 1990s, however, within the actual film, there are just two songs that are played.
One is the “Pokémon Theme”, written by John Siegler and John Loeffler. It is performed by Billy Crawford. This is the same theme that accompanied the first series of Pokémon, although performed by someone different; the original singer was Jason Paige. It is an iconic song for many 90s children. In the film, the theme is played as Ash battles the trainer in the field, just before he gets invited to meet with Mewtwo on New Island.
The other song is “Brother My Brother”, written by John Loeffler, Ralph Schuckett, and Emosia. It was performed by American rock band Blessid Union of Souls. There is quite a mixed reaction to the use of this song within Pokémon: The First Movie, with some absolutely loving it, and others thinking it is misplaced. This was added in to the English dub of the film, so was not present in the Japanese version of the film. I personally find this song doesn’t suit the scene well, as it isn’t particularly sad, but I guess the point is that the song is almost pleading to the Pokémon to understand they are one and the same.
Then, the End Credits goes through excerpts of four songs in quick succession. The first song is “We’re a Miracle”. The track was performed by Christina Aguilera, who was riding high on the success of her self-titled debut album, and her No. 1 singles “Genie in a Bottle” and “What a Girl Wants”, around this time, having also recorded a version of “Reflection” for Disney Animation’s Mulan (1998) prior to that. “We’re a Miracle” was written by Todd Chapman, David Zippel, and Christina Aguilera.
This is then followed by “Free Up Your Mind”. It was performed by Emma Bunton, credited here as Baby Spice, as Bunton is best known for being a member of British girl group The Spice Girls. After the band split in 2000, Bunton went on to pursue a solo career, releasing her debut album A Girl Like Me in 2001. “Free Up Your Mind” was written by Bunton, Rhett Lawrence, and fellow former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, a.k.a. Sporty Spice.
“If Only Tears Could Bring You Back” is the third end credits song. It was performed by Midnight Sons, with the song being written by Marjorie Maye Pulice and Russ Desalvo. The song was inspired by the scene of Ash being revived by the Pokémon tears.
The final song to appear in the credits is “Don’t Say You Love Me”, which was performed by M2M, a Norwegian pop duo. This was their debut single. M2M later split in 2002, before reuniting in 2024. The song was written by Marion Raven, Marit Larsen, the two members of M2M, Peter Zizzo, Jimmy Bralower.
Two other songs were credited on the DVD of Pokémon: The First Movie, but I believe these songs are only heard in the short film Pikachu’s Vacation, which preceded the movie in theatrical releases. It was not available to view on my DVD copy of Pokémon: The First Movie, so the End Credits must not have been re-edited for the DVD release.
These songs were “Vacation” and “Catch Me If You Can”. “Vacation” is playing as the opening credits roll on this short film. It was written by Colleen Fitzpatrick and Josh Deutsch, and performed by American singer-songwriter Vitamin C. I only remember Vitamin C from her guest appearances on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show (1999-2002) – I still know the chorus to her song “Me, Myself and I” from her performance on the show – and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003). “Catch Me If You Can” is used for the sequence of Squirtle and Marill racing in the vacation resort pool, to prove who is the better Pokémon. It was written by Angela Trullinger and Briand M. Steckler, and performed by Angela Via.
The US soundtrack contains the eight songs credited in Pikachu’s Vacation and Pokémon: The First Movie, as well as several others that make no appearance in the film. These include the songs “Soda Pop” by Britney Spears; “Somewhere, Someday” from NSYNC; “Get Happy” by Irish girl group B*Witched; and “Makin’ My Way (Any Way That I Can)” by Billie Piper, showing that this soundtrack was really determined to make use of all those popular 90s musical acts. This soundtrack for Pokémon: The First Movie was released in November 1999, with a separate soundtrack for the score being released in 2000.
The composer of the score for Pokémon: The First Movie’s English version was John Loeffler. Loeffler was the longstanding composer for the Pokémon series, up until 2013, going on to also compose the score for the English version of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
RECEPTION
Pokémon: The First Movie, sometimes with the added subtitle of Mewtwo Strikes Back, was originally released in Japan on 18th July 1998. It later came to the US on 10th November 1999, before reaching other countries in the months that followed, stretching into 2000.
This film was released alongside the original short film Pikachu’s Vacation, something which I really liked a lot. I liked the actual movie, but I think I actually preferred Pikachu’s Vacation when I first saw it. In Pikachu’s Vacation, Ash, Misty and Brock drop off all their Pokémon at a resort, and they are told to look after Togepi. Togepi gets hungry and starts crying, with the group trying to sort the issue. Eventually, Bulbasaur rocks Togepi to sleep with its vines, but Togepi is woken up by a group consisting of a Snubbull, Cubone, Marill, and Raichu who are very loud. When they are told to be quiet, an instant rivalry begins, which sees the Pokémon want to go head-to-head against each other, but as Pikachu takes on Raichu in a race, they wake up Charizard who becomes angry and ends up getting his head stuck in a hole in some play equipment. The Pokémon learn how to work together to free Charizard, and hang out together for the rest of the day. This short film was written by Hideki Sonoda, and was directed by Kunihiko Yuyama.
In Japan, Pokémon: The First Movie was incredibly successful, both financially and critically. Financial figures are hard to come by for the Japan release specifically. In the US, however, the box office figures were easier to find. Pokémon: The First Movie broke box-office records by taking just over $52 million in its first five days of release in the US, and became the biggest Wednesday opening for any animated film in history at the time by selling out more than 3,000 US cinemas on 10th November. The term “Pokeflu” was even coined, thanks to the New York Times, for the reason why so many children were not at school on that day. A marketing campaign with Burger King, of around $22 million, was said to have boosted the film’s chances of doing well, with a total of 57 toys being distributed in kids’ meals over the course of two months, although some restaurants did run out of toys, leading to complaints from parents and children alike[5]. Outside of the US and Japan, Pokémon: The First Movie also had record-breaking opening weekends, in 11 international markets in the early months of 2000. It was top of the box office in various countries, including Germany, the UK, and Spain[6].
Pokémon: The First Movie has made a total of around $170 million at the box office. By the end of 1999, the film was in the No. 23 spot at the Worldwide Box Office, which is a decent result for the movie. However, it was quite a bit lower than a few other animated and family films for the year. Just two weeks after Pokémon: The First Movie was released in the US, Pixar’s Toy Story 2 came to screens, on 24th November 1999, so it had already been anticipated that Toy Story 2 would quickly overtake Pokémon: The First Movie. That was the case as Toy Story 2 finished in third place at the Worldwide Box Office, with around $487 million at the time. Disney Animation’s Tarzan was in fifth with just under $450 million, and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace took the top spot with just over $920 million.
Despite the decent box-office takings, Pokémon: The First Movie was not received so well by critics in the US and Europe. There is a massive divide between viewers and film critics, with many die-hard Pokémon fans willing to sing the praises of Pokémon: The First Movie, and critics taking shots for various reasons – mostly because they were adults who were not the target demographic for the film.
Let’s start with the positives. Many have said that Pokémon: The First Movie was colourful, vibrant, and cute, with its selection of adorable Pokémon and interesting backgrounds. This film was also good for kids, specifically fans of the games or the original series, since the story was simple to follow, and the runtime of the film was just 75 minutes. Millennials have a particular love for this film and the nostalgic element to it, as they likely watched it as children and enjoy revisiting it as adults. The sequence of Ash lifeless on the ground and the Pokémon crying for him is also said to be very moving, bringing a tear to people’s eyes – mine included. It is surprisingly touching for a Pokémon film.
On the other hand, some critics were quick to dismiss the “low-grade” animation style, with this not aging particularly well in an era of technological advancements in present day. This animation style is different to what you’d expect to have seen from the likes of Disney and Pixar at the time, either traditional hand-drawn animation or computer-animation, but Pokémon: The First Movie never claims to be anything but anime. It’s a different style but that doesn’t make it bad. It was also said that Pokémon: The First Movie’s story was so thin and lacked any ambition that it must’ve been made solely for merchandising opportunities, to add to the ever-increasing ways of expanding the franchise for money-making purposes. There were also later comparisons between the English dub and the original Japanese version of the film, with some stating that the Japanese film is superior, because it gives context to Mewtwo’s creation and doesn’t try to get across an anti-violence message that doesn’t make sense in the world of Pokémon with their constant battling.
In terms of awards, Pokémon: The First Movie won the Theatrical Film Award at the Animation Kobe, an event established by Kobe City in Japan to promote anime and other forms of media. The awards ran from 1996 until 2015. Pokémon: The First Movie joined a list of other movies awarded this honour, like fellow Japanese animated movie Spirited Away (2001) from Studio Ghibli and Pixar’s WALL-E (2008). Pokémon: The First Movie was also nominated at the 2000 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Movie. It was nominated alongside Toy Story 2, Big Daddy – and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, for some reason. Adam Sandler’s film Big Daddy was the winner here. At these same awards, Pokémon was also up for Favorite Cartoon, losing to Rugrats (1991-2004), but it did win Favorite Video Game. Pokémon: The First Movie was also nominated for Best Family Feature Film for 1999: Animated at the Young Artist Awards, but lost out to Toy Story 2.
Meanly, Pokémon: The First Movie received nominations at the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for 1999, which started handing out awards for the worst films of the year in 1978, and ended in 2006. Pokémon: The First Movie was up for Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing Over $100M Worldwide Using Hollywood Math – the winner was Wild Wild West– and Biggest Disappointment (Films That Didn’t Live Up to Their Hype), which was won by The Blair Witch Project. All the Pokémon were also nominated for Worst Screen Debut – the people behind these awards were clearly reaching here – but the winner was Star Wars’ Jar Jar Binks. Pokémon: The First Movie did end up winning something here: the Worst Achievement in Animation award, against movies I’ve never even heard of.
LEGACY
Pokémon may’ve existed since 1996, but 30 years on, it is still popular and its franchise is still expanding in various ways and forms.
Shortly after Pokémon: The First Movie was released, the remainder of the episodes of the original series, Pokémon: Indigo League, were aired, continuing Ash’s journey. The Pokémon series spawned many new storylines, locations, and new Pokémon. Ash’s journey concluded in Series 23 titled Pokémon: Journeys, which ended in December 2021. The series was revived as Pokémon: Horizons from April 2023, following two new trainers Liko and Roy. The most recent series started in April 2025 and is titled Horizons – Rising Hope.
There have also been over twenty animated films since the first film came to be. They were released annually for a time, but have not become as frequent since 2018. The most recent film was Secrets of the Jungle (2020). The live-action film Detective Pikachu (2019) was released in May 2019, with Justice Smith cast as Tim Goodman, and Ryan Reynolds voicing the role of Pikachu – which was just bizarre, but did actually make sense once I’d watched the film. Detective Pikachu was a lot better than I’d expected it to be. The likes of Bill Nighy and Rita Ora also make appearances in this film. It grossed just over $430 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film based on a video game; Warcraft (2016) was top of the list at that time. Both have now been overtaken by The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), A Minecraft Movie (2025), and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024).
Video game releases have also continued, with numerous other games coming to Nintendo consoles in recent years, such as the Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Switch. A new game titled Pokémon Winds and Waves is said to be in development for the Nintendo Switch 2, for release in 2027. A spin-off game Pokémon Pokopia recently came to Nintendo Switch 2, in March 2026, and has had some great reviews. The mobile game Pokémon GO launched in July 2016, and ten years on, the game is still free to play, with optional paid-for extras, and is expanding its Pokémon collection as the Pokémon video games do. The Pokémon Trading Card Game has seen a resurgence as of late as well, with cards on sale for thousands or millions of dollars. Influencer Logan Paul is said to have had something to do with the increased popularity of Pokémon cards. He sold a rare Pikachu Illustrator card for a record-breaking $16.5 million in 2026, which he purchased for $5.275 million in 2021[7].
Specifically relating to Pokémon: The First Movie were a couple of new films, one a remake and one a sequel television special. The remake was a CGI, almost shot-for-shot, remake of Pokémon: The First Movie titled Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back – Evolution (2019). It was released in Japan in 2019, before making its way to Netflix in February 2020 to reach a global audience. The new animation style was not widely appreciated. I didn’t particularly like the look of it either, but I did appreciate that it barely changed the story – though I hadn’t seen the original in years by that point so actually didn’t remember the story much at all! Another noticeable difference was in the change of voice actors for all the main roles, but there were also some minor changes, like the omission of the “Brother My Brother” song for the battle scene, and that Team Rocket picked up Ash, Misty and Brock, to take them to New Island, in a Lapras boat, not in their Viking disguises[8].
There was also the television special Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns, which aired in Japan in December 2000, before coming to other territories via a direct-to-video release, including in the US, around 2001. The story follows Mewtwo as it tries to find a new life for its self and the cloned Pokémon, having found a hideaway in Mt. Quena. However, Giovanni wants to find Mewtwo and plans to recapture it. Giovanni manages to find Mewtwo’s new home, as do Ash, Misty, Brock, and Team Rocket through total coincidence. Mewtwo eventually allows itself to be captured by Giovanni, to save the clones from being experimented on. However, Giovanni still manages to capture all the clones, and Ash and his friends. They eventually free themselves and try to rescue Mewtwo from Giovanni’s torture, and they succeed in defeating Team Rocket. Mewtwo wants to wipe everyone’s memories of these events, but Ash asks that it doesn’t do that, leaving their memories intact. Mewtwo then reappears in an episode of the Pokémon: Journeys series.
Some merchandise was also released around Pokémon: The First Movie, such as a novella detailing the story of the film, with another one being created specifically for Pikachu’s Vacation, as well as posters and new trading cards, alongside the DVD and VHS releases. With the 30th anniversary of Pokémon in full swing in 2026, numerous other pieces of merchandise have been spotted recently including very expensive Pokémon LEGO sets, a Pokémon pop-up shop at the Natural History Museum in London, until April 2026, a limited-edition greyscale Pikachu plush toy, and even a Pokémon collab with the JimmyPaul fashion brand[9]. The first Pokémon theme park also opened in Tokyo to mark this anniversary, called PokéPark Kanto, as part of the theme park Yomiuriland. It opened on 5th February 2026[10]. Other Pokémon attractions and experiences may yet be coming to Universal Theme Parks, most likely in Japan, in the years to come. These would add to, or replace, their limited-time Pokémon offerings that currently exist, including their Halloween event. The Halloween event has run at Universal Studios Japan for a few years now, and made a return in 2025. This event includes a dance party, themed merchandise and food options, and appearances by costumed characters, such as Pikachu and Gengar.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Pokémon has shown no sign of its popularity decreasing or waning in the decades since its creation in 1996. If anything, the Pokémon brand continues to increase its reach.
Pokémon: The First Movie was the first attempt to create a theatrical experience for the franchise, building on the success of thetelevision series and its global appeal. Further Pokémon movies may not have been as popular, with many not reaching cinemas outside of Japan, but the stories of Pokémon and their trainers just kept going.
Although I like Pokémon: The First Movie, and did watch it as a child on its initial theatrical release, I cannot categorically say that I have an everlasting love for this film. Sure, it’s pretty good, but that’s only the case if you’re a fan of Pokémon, or are at least aware of what you’re watching, and who the Pokémon even are. If not, then Pokémon: The First Movie gives absolutely nothing to those viewers. You had to have been a fan to enjoy this.
And that’s fine, because no movie will ever be universally appealing to everyone. Pokémon: The First Movie served its purpose. It continued Ash’s journey to becoming a Pokémon trainer, and introduced a completely new Pokémon. Plus, it made a whole lot of kids happy – and no doubt bored their parents!
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Gregory Wakeman, ‘Nintendo Released Its First ‘Pokémon’ Games 30 Years Ago. Here’s How the Beloved Catchable ‘Pocket Monsters’ Became the World’s Biggest Media Franchise’, SmithsonianMag.com, 27th February 2026.
[2] Credit: Benjie Goodhart, ‘’There was an explosion, and I had to close my eyes’: how TV left 12,000 children needing a doctor’, TheGuardian.com, 16th December 2022.
[3] Credit: Ryan Lambie, ‘How the US Version of Pokemon: The First Movie Changed Its Meaning’, DenOfGeek.com, 8th February 2017.
[4] Credit: Adriano Valente, ’25 Wild Things Only Super Fans Knew About Pokémon: The First Movie’, TheGamer.com, 13th November 2018.
[5] Credit: BBC News, ‘Entertainment: Pokemon zaps US cinemas’, News.BBC.co.uk, 15th November 1999.
[6] Credit: Mike Goodridge, ‘Warner Int’l scores $14.6 weekend with Pokemon’, ScreenDaily.com, 19th April 2000.
[7] Credit: Laura Sharman, ‘Logan Paul’s ‘holy grail’ of Pokémon cards sells for $16.5 million, with a diamond necklace thrown in’, Edition.CNN.com, 16th February 2016.
[8] Credit: Joshua Yehl, ‘The Biggest Differences Between Mewtwo Strikes Back and Pokemon: The First Movie’, IGN.com, 17th August 2021.
[9] Credit: Keza MacDonald, ‘Even for fans like me, the Pokémon 30th anniversary ‘stuff’ is a bit much’, TheGuardian.com, 4th March 2026.
[10] Credit: CBBC Newsround, ‘World’s first Pokémon theme park opens’, BBC.co.uk, 5th February 2026.
The Disney Purist 