The United States in currently in the midst of protests erupting all over in support of racial justice, which has subsequently led to various high-profile figures and companies not only speaking out against racism, but also donating money to nonprofit organizations that tackle this issue. We can now add The Pokemon Company to this list, as the corporate entity behind last year’s Detective Pikachu and all things Pocket Monsters has made a sizable donation to both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Black Lives Matter.
Here’s The Pokemon Company’s official statement regarding its donations to these two organizations.
Both the NAACP and Black Lives Matter are getting $100,000 apiece from The Pokemon Company as a sign of further solidarity not just for the company’s black employees, fans and all who are impacted by “systemic racism and violence,” but to reaffirm its commitment to “friendship, inclusivity and equity.” In other words, it’s putting its money where its mouth is.
Needless to say that $200,000 isn’t going to fix racial tensions in one fell swoop, but it’s nonetheless nice to see when entities like The Pokemon Company provide financial backing to groups that are fighting to make the world a better place. Other companies and individuals who’ve recently donated a hefty amount of money to organizations committed to social justice include The Walt Disney Company, Angelina Jolie, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, Verizon and Michael Jordan.
The Pokemon Company has been around since 1998, just two years after the Pokemon franchise launched. Established as a joint venture between Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures Inc., the Company handles the brand management, marketing, production and licensing of the Pokemon TV shows, video games, trading card game and much more.
2019 marked a big milestone for the Pokemon franchise, which had already experienced a resurgence several years earlier from the Pokemon Go mobile game. While animated Pokemon movies have been a thing since 1998, Detective Pikachu marked the first time that this mythology was explored on the big screen in live-action, with Ryan Reynolds voicing the eponymous character and the cast also including Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Ken Watanabe and Bill Nighy.
In addition to receiving a solid amount of positive reception, Detective Pikachu also collected over $433 million at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time. A Detective Pikachu sequel is in the works, with Oren Uziel writing the script. Don’t be surprised if Detective Pikachu also ends up being the first step towards an entire Pokemon cinematic universe.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates now what’s happening with Pokemon on both the big and small screens, and be sure to check out our 2020 release schedule to learn what movies are supposed to hit theaters later this year.
