In order to escape a greedy Pokémon hunter, Celebi must use the last of its energy to travel through time to the present day. Celebi brings along Sammy, a boy who had been trying to protect it. Along with Ash, Pikachu, and the rest of the gang, Sammy and Celebi must encounter an enemy far more advanced than the hunter, with the fate of the forest hanging in the balance.
Direction
Kunihiko Yuyama channels Miyazaki's forest mysticism beautifully.
Score
Shinji Miyazaki's Celtic-fluted Celebi theme still haunts millennials.
Practical Effects
The Iron-Masked Marauder's mech suit is deliciously overdesigned evil.
Director
Kunihiko Yuyama
Rica Matsumoto
Satoshi (voice)
Ikue Otani
Pikachu (voice)
Unsho Ishizuka
Dr. Okido / Iwark / Narrator (voice)
Mayumi Izuka
Kasumi (voice)
Yuji Ueda
Takeshi (voice)
Tomokazu Seki
Kenji (voice)
Megumi Hayashibara
Musashi (voice)
Shin-ichiro Miki
Kojiro / Crobat (voice)
Inuko Inuyama
Nyarth (voice)
Keiko Toda
Yukinari (voice)
Mami Koyama
Towa (voice)
Kazuko Sugiyama
Celebi (voice)
Masahiko Tanaka
Suicune (voice)
Satomi Korogi
Togepy (voice)
Mika Kanai
Bayleaf (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the first Pokémon movie to receive a limited theatrical release in the US with the 'Pikachu Project' branding, though it bombed compared to its predecessors.
The 'Suicune appears from the lake' sequence remains one of the most breathtaking moments in the entire franchise — pure animated watercolor poetry that 2001 CGI could never.
JP
