Next summer the third feature installment of the POKEMON trilogy will makeits way to Japanese theatres. POCKET MONSTER: THE LORD OF THE UNKNOWN TOWERwill introduce yet another of those little "pocket things" to kids andmerchandising execs around the world. Kunihiko Yuyama is set to direct thefilm, which will feature a short tentatively titled POKEMON 2000. If in theU.S. or Europe one may ask, whatever happened to POKEMON 2? Well, fear notCharmander chums, the second POKEMON feature, which was released in Japanlast summer, will hit U.S. theatres this coming summer. The makers ofPOKEMON hope that the wave of success that the first flick is nowexperiencing in the U.S. will help boost a franchise that is quicklysinking in Japan. POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE made ¥4.2 billion or US$40.6million in the summer of 1998, while the second failed to gross even ¥3.5billion or US$33.8 million.
Read more about the influence of Japanese animation in the December issueof Animation World Magazine.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
