Next summer the third feature installment of the POKEMON trilogy will make
its way to Japanese theatres. POCKET MONSTER: THE LORD OF THE UNKNOWN TOWER
will introduce yet another of those little "pocket things" to kids and
merchandising execs around the world. Kunihiko Yuyama is set to direct the
film, which will feature a short tentatively titled POKEMON 2000. If in the
U.S. or Europe one may ask, whatever happened to POKEMON 2? Well, fear not
Charmander chums, the second POKEMON feature, which was released in Japan
last summer, will hit U.S. theatres this coming summer. The makers of
POKEMON hope that the wave of success that the first flick is now
experiencing in the U.S. will help boost a franchise that is quickly
sinking in Japan. POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE made ¥4.2 billion or US$40.6
million in the summer of 1998, while the second failed to gross even ¥3.5
billion or US$33.8 million.



Read more about the influence of Japanese animation in the
December issue
of Animation World Magazine.