Production of Pokémon animation

The Pokémon franchise has produced numerous animated works, most notably the mainline animated series, consisting of Pokémon the Series and its successor Pokémon Horizons: The Series.

Other notable works include the Pokémon movies, a few standalone specials, the CGI elements of the live-action film POKÉMON Detective Pikachu, and several mini-series. There is also a wide assortment of short-form content, including various web shorts, trailers, commercials, music videos, and promotional videos.

Several common systems, processes, and components are used in the making of Pokémon animation.

Overview

Main series and movies

A cel from the original series

The Pokémon animated series and their tie-in media are primarily produced in Japan by the animation studio OLM. Until the fifth season episode A Crowning Achievement, the series was animated using cel animation; from Here's Lookin' at You Elekid! onwards, all episodes are digitally animated. TV Tokyo, MEDIANET, and ShoPro are the executive producers for the series, while the Pikachu Project is the production committee for the movies. The copyright for the series and movies are held jointly by Nintendo, Creatures, Game Freak, TV Tokyo, ShoPro, and JR Kikaku. In 2001, an average episode cost approximately US$100,000 to produce.

In the West, The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) currently oversees production and distribution of the series in partnership with Iyuno, with lines for the English dub also being recorded at Goldcrest Post and Okratron 5000. 4Kids Entertainment initially licensed the series in the United States, producing the English dub in conjunction with TAJ Productions from seasons one to five. 4Kids was then the sole producer from seasons six to eight, after which the show was produced by TPCi (then known as Pokémon USA) and TAJ Productions for seasons nine and ten. From seasons eleven through twenty-two, the dub was produced by TPCi with DuArt Film and Video. Since the beginning of the twenty-third season, the dub is produced by TPCi with Iyuno.

In 2018, the creators of the live-action film POKÉMON Detective Pikachu, which features the titular talking Detective Pikachu, revealed that the original intention for Pokémon the Series was to have the Pokémon talk, but OLM faced challenges in developing a concept that Game Freak would approve.

The Pokémon movies are primarily produced by OLM, with Wit Studio and Sprite Animation Studios being credited as co-producers for The Power of Us and Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, respectively. The twenty-second movie, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, is a computer-animated remake of the first movie.

Other works

Various computer-animated trailers, commercials, and YouTube shorts have been produced by Creatures, Inc.

OLM, Production I.G, and Xebec produced the Pokémon Origins animated series.

Additionally, Pokémon Concierge is a 2023 stop-motion animated series produced by dwarf studios as a collaborative production between Netflix and The Pokémon Company.

Animation process

The animation process for Pokémon largely involves the use of reference materials, model sheets, and the storyboarding process, as well as occasionally relying on recycled animation.

Reference materials

Detailed reference materials, also known as setting materials (Japanese: 設定 settei, lit. "setting materials"), and sometimes referred to as model sheets or concept art depending on usage and context, depict designs, objects, and locations from a variety of angles. This material is given to artists in order to create consistent and accurate works, which is integral for both 2D and 3D artists alike.

Model sheets

In model sheets for animated productions, where flat colors are used, the color of each line or filled material represents a different intent when the artwork is to be colored, further providing the artist using the model sheets with additional context to aid their work.

• Black lines are used for lines that are not meant to disappear when colored.
• Red lines are often, though not always, used for specific particular color fills, such as highlights from exterior lighting within a scene whenever applicable.
• Blue lines best denote a division between a dark and light area, used for shadows. They're invisible when the figure has been fully painted or colored.

• Green or blue fills are used for shadowed areas.
• Yellow fills denote areas that serve as highlights.

A comparison of two poses from different model sheets of Arceus from Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life to best illustrate the purpose of differently colored lines and filled areas	Iono's model sheets from Pokémon Horizons: The Series

Storyboarding

Part of a storyboard from The Show in Pokémon Evolutions depicting a Kimono Girl and her Espeon, drawn by Tetsuya Wakano

Part of a storyboard from Run, Heroes, Run! in Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, drawn by Masaaki Iwane

Storyboards (Japanese: 絵コンテ e-konte, lit. "drawing continuity") are one of the earliest types of minimal production materials used for various media to allow artists to better visualize scenes that are going to be developed further, typically by background artists, modelers, animators, or a compositing team. They often, though not always, come after model sheets in the production line. This part of Japanese productions involves a sequenced series of storyboards that include specific details to assist with the process further down the production line, including planned dialogue and acting instructions.

Storyboards from HZ012 in Pokémon Horizons: The Series, by Yoshikazu Miyao, and from Regionals in Pokémon: Path to the Peak, by Kiana Khansmith

The next step of the storyboarding process involves creating a layout. Now that a cut or scene has been planned out, it is up to the job of an animator to create a layout that acts as the skeleton of the scene, for artists to follow when further down in the production line. These often feature more intense detail, depth, and perspective than the initial storyboard. When compiled, layouts are often animated with rudimentary motion of specific parts in order to aid animators in the next step.

Animators may also create an animatic, a sort of animated storyboard, typically with an early soundtrack or vocals, to help visualize a scene before it is fully animated.

Layout from The Wish in Pokémon Evolutions

After the layout phase, key frames (Japanese: 原画 genga, lit. "original pictures") are used to define the motion within a cut of animation drawn by the key animator. They are often corrected by those higher up on the production team, such as animation directors (also referred to as animation supervisors), chief animation directors, or character designers. They are then traced by in-between (Japanese: 動画 dōga, lit. "moving pictures") artists, who also draw the missing frames following the notes left by the key animator for timing and frame-pacing.

Occasionally, this production material is released officially, and in some instances, by staff on the series after their work has been completed.

As can be seen below, the color of each line or filled material represents a different intent when the artwork is to be colored. It shares these colors and their definitions with those used for model sheets.

Key frame from HZ015 in Pokémon Horizons: The Series by Masaaki Iwane	The finished scene in HZ015

A list of key frames uploaded to Bulbapedia can be found here.

Recycled animation

Reference materials showing the reticle for a Team Rocket mecha in the original series, denoted as BANK

The bank system (Japanese: バンクシステム bank system), also known as BANK animation or just BANK, is a specific Japanese technique derived from limited animation, wherein animation is re-used in part or in whole in a 2D animated production, whether that be direct re-use of the original animation, or by tracing existing animation to be used again. For instance, Z-Moves that are used in Pokémon the Series will often look identical upon being used again, due to the complexity of the motion and camerawork involved. Occasionally, banked animation is made a little less obvious, as it can also be used to describe the re-use of animation between different Pokémon, characters, and scenes than the original animation was used for.

Animation from The Moment of Lumiose Truth! partially reused in All Hail the Ice Battlefield! in Pokémon the Series: XY

Very rarely, whole content may significantly consist of banked animation, such as "recap episodes" (often produced to save time and put the project further ahead of schedule) or the fourteenth Pokémon movie (due to the choice to split one movie into two similar ones).

Scene in Pokémon the Movie: White—Victini and Zekrom	Scene in Pokémon the Movie: Black—Victini and Reshiram

Localization

Main article: Dub

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

When bringing Pokémon animated media to other regions, it goes through a process called localization. During localization, the work's writing, visuals, audio, and language are changed to fit the target region. Pokémon animated media also tends to be dubbed, or re-voiced, in the target region's language, rather than offering the original audio with subtitles.

Since Pokémon animated media is generally targeted towards children, localization will usually remove or alter material that may be seen as objectionable or confusing to young audiences in the target region's culture. In rare cases, entire episodes may be banned from airing in certain regions due to their content. Concepts that tend to be changed include:

• Japanese text in the environment, such as on signs or buildings.
• References to Japanese culture, such as the infamous change of calling rice balls "jelly donuts".
• Puns that are heavily reliant on the Japanese language.
• References to religion.
• The appearance and use of hand-held firearms. However, unrealistically or comically large weapons such as Team Rocket's mechas tend to stay unchanged.
• Nudity and dialogue that implies nudity.
• Characters whose designs may resemble racial stereotypes. For example: Jynx's design prior to its skin becoming purple; Lenora's apron; Ash Ketchum wearing face paint to disguise as a Passimian in SM064.

In the case of Pokémon the Series, localization tends to use North America as the target region, and versions for other countries will then build off of the North American version. For instance, M02's prophecy states that the earth will "turn to ash" in the North American dub, making a pun on Ash Ketchum's name while describing devastation; but the original Japanese instead just said that the world would be destroyed. In some European localizations, the pun is kept, but with a character remarking that the word used means ash in English.

References

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.