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Pokémon: Jirachi, Wish Maker

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Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKunihiko Yuyama
Written byHideki Sonoda
Produced byYukako Matsuzaka
Takemoto Mori
Choji Yoshikawa
StarringRica Matsumoto
KAORI
Fushigi Yamada
Yūji Ueda
Megumi Hayashibara
Shin-ichiro Miki
Kōichi Yamadera
Tomiko Suzuki
Narrated byUnshō Ishizuka
CinematographyTakaya Mizutani
Hisao Shirai
Edited byToshio Henmi
Music byShinji Miyazaki
Production
company
Distributed byToho (Japan)
4Kids Entertainment/Miramax Films (International)
Release date
  • July 19, 2003 (2003-07-19) (Japan)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office$33.4 million[1]

Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker, originally released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation the Movie: The Wishing Star of Seven Nights: Jirachi (Japanese: 劇場版ポケットモンスターアドバンスジェネレーション 七夜の願い星 ジラーチ, Hepburn: Gekijōban Poketto Monsutā Adobansu Jenerēshon Nanayo no Negaiboshi Jirāchi), is the sixth film associated with the Pokémon animated series, and is the first one featuring the characters from Advanced Generation. It was accompanied by the short "Gotta Dance" (おどるポケモンひみつ基地, Odoru pokemon himitsu kichi, Pokémon dance secret base). It was released in theaters in Japan on July 19, 2003. The English adaptation was produced by 4Kids Entertainment and distributed by Miramax Films, released as direct-to-video on June 1, 2004. Although Cartoon Network currently airs the film in the United States, it aired on Toon Disney on March 9, 2007 (because Miramax, which was owned by Disney at the time, released this animated film), being the first Pokémon film to air on Toon Disney.

The featured song in this movie is Asuca Hayashi's Chiisaki Mono in Japanese versions while the English version was sung by Cindy Mizelle (however, the English version, titled Make a Wish, adds English lyrics in addition to the Japanese lyrics). This is also the first movie in which the original song is also used in the English version (that can be clearly heard). It is also the first time in which the names of the guest characters were the same in both the English and Japanese versions. This song is also to the tune of the lullaby May and Max's mom used to sing to them when they were little kids.

The movie's main location, Forina, is based on Wulingyuan, located in the Hunan Province of China.

Plot

Gotta Dance!

The plot centers on Team Rocket and their newest base. The Pokémon of Team Rocket had managed to successfully captured three Whismur, which were to provide entertainment to Giovanni when he arrived. To force the Whismur to cooperate, Meowth had a baton that, when a switch was pressed on the end, made Pokémon dance uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, Pikachu, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, and Lotad stumble upon the base, and attempt to free the Whismur. One of the running gags in the short is how the dancing Baton is activated or deactivated by accident, which leads to the accidental destruction of the base. Eventually, a Ludicolo and a Loudred are also involved.

Jirachi Wish Maker

The story revolves around the Millennium Comet, which appears in the night sky for seven days once every thousand years. It is, at the same time, when the legendary Pokémon Jirachi awakens from a long slumber to absorb the comet's energy. This energy, in turn, is released into the Earth itself, making an area known as Forina grow. This time, however, a magician known as Butler, along with his longtime girlfriend Diane, unearth the stone that had encased Jirachi, and take it away from Forina.

Meanwhile, in celebration of the Millennium Comet appearance, Ash Ketchum and his friends arrived at a wide crater, which is where the festival of the Millennium Comet is meant to be. They then decide to wait until morning and go to sleep. While they're sleeping, the festival arrives; Pikachu, Ash's companion, wakes up and wakes all the others, and they watch the festival being set up.

At the festival, May buys a seven-panelled novelty that is said to grant a person one wish if a panel is closed for each night the comet appears and is visible in the sky. When Ash and Max accidentally volunteer for one of Butler's magic tricks (because Max hears a voice coming from the rock Diane is holding and runs down to the stage), Max is introduced to Jirachi, who he hears talking from inside the rock. Butler lets Max take the rock, which hatches into Jirachi later that night. Hoping the wishing ability was true, Max wishes for candy, lots of candy, and it appears—but it is revealed that instead of creating the candy, Jirachi teleported it from a stall in the festival.

The intentions of Butler are soon revealed: he was a former scientist for Team Magma who was seeking to resurrect the legendary Pokémon Groudon. Butler had devised the perfect system, but could not find the necessary amount of power; to this end, he had hoped to use the energy Jirachi absorbed for his own purposes. Seeing this danger, the Pokémon Absol, whose presence usually indicated impending disaster, takes Diane and Jirachi, along with Ash and friends, back to Forina. Unbeknownst to them, Butler had set a trap once they returned to where Jirachi was found, and manages to capture Jirachi.

Butler attempts to harness Jirachi's power, but is interrupted inside the tent by Ash and his friends. With the help of Diane, they take Butler's bus to Forina so that Jirachi can go home; unknown to them, Butler's Mightyena places a tracking device on the bus as it is leaving. As Ash and his friends travel along bumpy terrain, the device falls off, but Butler still discovers where they are headed. Before the day Jirachi has to return Max feels upset about losing a friend so Ash tells him about one of his friends Misty and that even though they don't see each other anymore they will always be friends. But before they make it back to Jirachi's home they realize that Butler had followed them there; once again steals Jirachi, and tries to take its power again.

When Butler sets his plan in motion, however, a fake Groudon is created instead, and begins to turn Forina into a wasteland, absorbing the energy from the earth, killing all the plants in sight and absorbing all living creatures. When Diane is absorbed by the fake Groudon, Butler realizes his longtime relationship with Diane is what was important, and with Ash and Max's help he is able to reverse the process, causing the fake Groudon to melt down and die.

Eventually, Jirachi reabsorbs the energy used to create Groudon, and leaves for another thousand years of slumber. May, in all the excitement, forgets to close the last panel of her novelty, but simply brushes it off. Though she never reveals just what she wished for, she is confident it will come true.

During the end credits, May gets tired of walking until the man who sold her the wishing star gives them a lift with his truck. Then they look at stars, which form Pokémon from Teddiursa to Pikachu. After that they all watch the festival fireworks.

Cast

Regular characters

Main article: List of characters in the Pokémon anime series
  • Rica Matsumoto (Veronica Taylor in the English adaptation) as Satoshi (Ash Ketchum in the English adaptation), the main protagonist of the film.
  • Ikue Ōtani as Pikachu, Satoshi's/Ash Ketchum's first Pokémon and best friend.
  • Yūji Ueda (Eric Stuart in the English adaptation) as Takeshi (Brock in the English adaptation), an aspiring young Pokémon breeder.
  • KAORI. (Veronica Taylor in the English adaptation) as Haruka (May in the English adaptation), the daughter and former Pokémon coordinator of Senri/Norman, the leader of Tōka/Petalburg Gym. She is the older sister and guardian of Masato/Max and Jirachi.
  • Fushigi Yamada (Amy Birnbaum in the English adaptation) as Masato (Max in the English adaptation), Haruka's/May's younger brother. He frees Jirachi from his slumber after communicating with him telepathically and becomes a close friend of his afterward.
  • Megumi Hayashibara (Rachael Lillis in the English adaptation) as Musashi (Jessie in the English adaptation), a member of Team Rocket.
  • Shin-ichiro Miki (Eric Stuart in the English adaptation) as Kojirō (James in the English adaptation), a member of Team Rocket.
  • Inuko Inuyama (Maddie Blaustein in the English adaptation) as Nyarth (Meowth in the English adaptation), a member of Team Rocket. He is a Pokémon who can walk upright and speak the human language.

Guest characters

  • Kōichi Yamadera (Wayne Grayson in the English adaptation) as Butler, a popular magician in the Millennium Festival. He was formerly a scientist of Team Magma who was fired after his experiment to create a Groudon from a fossilized remnant of it fails. He now seeks to use Jirachi's power to create a Groudon from scratch. He is voiced by Kenji Nojima in a flashback to his childhood.
  • Riho Makise (Megan Hollingshead in the English adaptation) as Diane, Butler's romantic partner. She turns her back on him when his motives are revealed in favor of aiding Satoshi/Ash and his friends. She is voiced by Natsuki Yoshihara in a flashback to her childhood.
  • Papaya Suzuki as Pogey, a hippie who sells Haruka/May the "Wish Maker" in the Millennium Festival.
  • Tomiko Suzuki (Kerry Williams in the English adaptation) as Jirachi, the titular Pokémon. The "true eye" located on his abdomen is capable of great power. He uses telepathy to communicate. He resides in the land of Fauns (Forina in the English adaptation) and awakes only once every 1,000 years, returning to its slumber after seven days. Tomiko Suzuki (who had previously voiced in Transformers: The Headmasters and Transformers: Super-God Masterforce) died after suffering heart failure on July 7, 2003, 12 days before the film was released in Japan.
  • Megumi Hayashibara (Eric Stuart in the English adaptation) as Absol, a Pokémon who tries to hinder Butler's plot and leads Satoshi/Ash towards Fauns/Forina.
  • Katsuyuki Konishi as Meta Groudon, a gigantic Groudon-like monster that was summoned by Butler in an attempt to summon a real Groudon. Elements of Godzilla and the Night-Walker from Princess Mononoke were incorporated into the character.

Reception

Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker received mixed to positive reviews from critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 62%.

Box office

The film was a box office hit. It made $33,393,751 at the Japanese box office.[2] It is the third highest grossing film in Japan, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Finding Nemo.

Home media

The original Japanese DVD was released on December 19, 2003. The English adaptation was released directly to VHS and DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on June 1, 2004. This was the second Pokémon film (the first being Mewtwo Returns) to be released directly to DVD and VHS in the US. The film was released on DVD in the UK on October 23, 2006 to celebrate the Pokémon 10th Anniversary Tour in Britain. In the UK, the film was released by Paramount Home Entertainment. The film was not released on DVD in Australia and New Zealand until 2016.

References

  1. ^ Japan Box Office 2003
  2. ^ "2003 Japan Yearly Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
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