Own it:
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With: Veronica Taylor, Racheal Lillis, Eric Stuart, Ikue Ootani (voices)
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Written by: Takeshi Shudo, Norman J. Grossfeld, Michael Haigney, John Touhey
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Directed by: Kunihiko Yuyama, Michael Haigney
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MPAA Rating: G
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Running Time: 75
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Date: 07/18/1998
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Pokémon: The First Movie (1999)
Fighting and Screaming
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
If you're over 10 years old I have four words for you: See Princess Mononoke instead. Based on the insanely popular characters created by Satoshi Tajiri, Pokemon is presented in two parts. First is the 30-minute Pikachu's Vacation, which is a colorful, psychedelic adventure of the Pokemons on vacation; fighting, running around, and screaming. The main attraction, the 60-minute Pokemon: The First Movie doesn't fare as well. A cloned Pokemon called Mewtwo plans to take over the world by cloning other Pokemons. The twin Pokemons battle each other, and since they look alike, there's no telling who might be winning. In the end, Mewtwo decides that fighting is wrong and flies away. And yet, we're told that this is just the beginning of the Pokemon adventures, which presumably means more fighting. The other current Japanese anime release Princess Mononoke offers tons more in the way of action, beauty, and life lessons. Pokemon is a dumbed-down version of this highly stylized animation that many parents will be forced to suffer through no matter what I say here.
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