I don’t know about you, but in the winter time, I tend to gravitate toward all the “cozy” things, whether that be through my movies, TV shows, books, video gaming or… hot soup. As we transition from the holiday season to a brand new year, it’s simply the perfect time to curl up into my soft girl aesthetic. This time around, Netflix’s acclaimed series Pokémon Concierge helped me get into the spirit of that big time. While I felt like the new stop-motion series kind of came out of thin air, I enjoyed binge watching the unexpected Pokémon entry. Now it has me thinking about what I want to see from the iconic franchise next.
For some reason, Pokémon is not a major Hollywood franchise. It's weird, right? While there are tons of anime films produced in Japan, Hollywood barely got the first live-action Pokémon movie back in 2019 with the Ryan Reynolds-led Detective Pikachu film, and that’s wild to me. I expect this has something to do with rights and business strategy, but now that Netflix has gotten a partial hold of the franchise, both through Pokémon Concierge and the upcoming animated show Pokémon Horizons coming to the streaming service next month, I have thoughts about what should come in the future.
Where We Are At With The Future Of The Pokémon Franchise
For the time being, there’s a lot of crickets (or Kricketots, as I should say) when it comes to what’s next for Pokémon on the big screen. That fact simply feels wrong considering Detective Pikachu was such a success when it came out, grossing $430 million worldwide (per Box Office Mojo), becoming the highest-grossing video game of all time. 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie from Illumination only recently broke its record with its $1.3 billion haul. No one needs to sell anyone on how popular Pokémon is, it’s one of the most recognizable and beloved media franchises out there. So why isn’t the company cashing out on Hollywood movies as well?
Cash and money aside, I thought Detective Pikachu was a solid first try at a blockbuster movie, and I’d like to see more entries. Now, I’m sure somewhere a Hollywood producer is already pursuing that idea given the potential magnitude of the whole thing, but I next want to talk more specifically about my experience with Pokémon Concierge more in depth and why the series (available to stream with a Netflix subscription) informed a new perspective in regards to what I want to see from a big-screen Pokémon movie.
Pokémon Concierge Made Me Realize There’s Untapped Potential To Explore
When it comes to Pokémon television and movies I’ve seen in the past, while I enjoy them in their own right, it feels as though a lot of the storyline revolves around Pokémon fighting one another and Ash Ketchum trying to “catch ‘em all.” Don’t get me wrong, that’s the essence of Pokémon in a lot of ways, but it’s not the only dimension to be discovered. When I was watching Pokémon Concierge, I felt immersed in the vast world of the gaming franchise from a standpoint I never thought I’d see in a narrative storyline. Not unlike Pokémon Snap, there’s a calmness about Concierge that really provides an appreciation of the exploration for the many species of Pokémon outside of competition.
The show takes a softer approach to these cute creatures across its quick five-episode run, as a new concierge at Pokémon Resort has a series of sweet interactions with guests and Pokémon at the getaway that teach her lessons on how to relax and such. While one cannot deny the fun that comes with Pokémon competition, I realized there’s some untapped potential in storytelling inside the Pokémon world outside that front. I loved seeing the shy little Pikachu learn to be more outgoing, or witnessing Psyduck recover from his chronic headaches. It was so wholesome, and there seems to be a world of possibilities in regards to all the best Pokémon characters that have been created over the years that offer many possibilities in all sorts of terrain that could be well-matched with a human story as well.
Now I Need A Big Cozy Pokémon Movie, Stat
I know I’m not the only Pokémon fan who treasures every Pokémon I catch when I’m playing games like Pokémon Scarlet, lovingly naming them, cherishing each of their milestones as they transform, and learning each of their personalities, strengths and weaknesses as I form my team. So wouldn’t that be cool if that aspect of the franchise was told more thoroughly in its next big movie post-Detective Pikachu? Perhaps it could be about a trainer who gets disqualified from competition and starts taking in down-on-their-luck Pokémon who’ve been discarded from competition to form their own little found family, or something along those lines? Or maybe there's an explorer who is looking for a very rare (and storied) Pokémon species and goes on a world-trotting adventure to find it?
I feel as though there’s so many possibilities inside a cozy Pokémon movie to create a really cinematic experience that could be a blockbuster in its own right without it having to be the typical Pokémon movie full of battle sequences and action moments. Plus, when it came to Detective Pikachu, I remember finding myself way more interested in the world building in the first half than the more action-heavy CGI moments in the third act. Perhaps that’s just my taste, but I’m a lot less interested in the latter.
Another idea I want to float around now that Pokémon Concierge got me thinking is the idea of my fictional Pokémon cozy movie being a huge animation event that could employ inspiration from the likes of the Spider-Verse franchise or last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Pokémon will probably always look better in an animated format rather than a live-action/CGI hybrid form, and it would be cool to see a huge animation house wreak havoc with their artistry on Pokémon. I loved the unique stop-motion style of Concierge, and it reminded me there’s so much that can be done visually we haven’t even seen yet!
No matter the future of the franchise, I’m really happy Pokémon Concierge exists, and it has me more excited for the world’s future than ever. In the meantime, check out what upcoming video game movies and TV shows are coming up next.
