Pokémon the Movie 2000

Pokémon the Movie 2000 Original Motion Picture Score
Pokémon the Movie 2000 Original Motion Picture Score
Film score by Ralph Schuckett
Released	July 18, 2000
Genre	Orchestral
Producer	Ralph Schuckett
Ralph Schuckett chronology

Pokémon 2000: The Power Of One (Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture)
Pokémon 2000: The Power Of One (Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture)
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	July 18, 2000
Genre	Pop
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Various
Various artists chronology

Pokémon the Movie 2000
Pokémon the Movie 2000
	Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji	劇場版ポケットモンスター幻のポケモンルギア爆誕
Literal meaning	Pocket Monsters the Movie: The Phantom Pokémon – Lugia's Explosive Birth
Revised Hepburn
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Gekijōban Poketto Monsutā: Maboroshi no Pokémon Rugia Bakutan
Directed by	Kunihiko Yuyama
Screenplay by	Takeshi Shudo
Based on	Pokémon; by Satoshi Tajiri
Produced by	Choji Yoshikawa; Yukako Matsusako; Takemoto Mori;
Starring	See below
Cinematography	Hisao Shirai
Edited by	Toshio Henmi; Yutaka Ito;
Music by	Shinji Miyazaki
Production; company	OLM, Inc.
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	July 17, 1999 (Japan);
Running time	82 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$133.9 million

Pokémon the Movie 2000^[a] is a 1999 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama. It is the second theatrical release in the Pokémon franchise.^[1]

The events of the film take place during the second season of Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands, where Ash, Misty and Tracey enter Shamouti Island. While there, they discover the three legendary bird Pokémon, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Meanwhile, a collector named Lawrence III attempts to steal the three Pokémon to awaken Lugia, which proves dangerous for the legendary Pokémon, Lugia, and Ash himself.

Pokémon the Movie 2000 was released in Japanese theaters on July 17, 1999, by Toho. The English-language adaptation was released in the United States on July 21, 2000, by Warner Bros. The film earned less at the box office than its predecessor, Pokémon: The First Movie, but was still a financial success and received better (albeit still negative) reviews upon release.

Plot

Lawrence III, a Pokémon collector, strives to make a legendary prophecy occur. His plan to capture the legendary birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, will ultimately lead to the capture of the "Beast of the Sea" Lugia. Lawrence sets out in his flying hovercraft to the heart of the Orange Islands to capture the three legendary birds, referred to as the Titans of Fire, Ice, and Lightning. He successfully captures Moltres, but this upsets the balance of power the birds have over the world's climate. Weather across the world begins to go haywire, alerting countless Pokémon to the change. Meanwhile, Ash Ketchum and his companions, Misty and Tracey Sketchit, get caught in a freak storm, and are washed ashore on Shamouti, set in the center of the Orange Islands. Learning that the island festival celebrating the legend is about to begin, Ash is selected as the festival's "Chosen One" and kissed by a girl named Melody, the festival maiden.

At the festival's banquet, Melody explains to Ash he must retrieve three crystal balls from each of the legendary birds' islands and take them to Shamouti's shrine, guarded by a talking Slowking, where Melody will end his task by playing the festival's song, actually the song of Lugia. Ash immediately sets out, led by the troubled Pikachu. Taken to Fire Island by sea captain Maren, Ash and Pikachu find Moltres' treasure, but are interrupted by Team Rocket. Misty, Tracey, and Melody arrive via Melody's multi-purpose boat, followed by Zapdos who has come to claim the island; Pikachu and Zapdos communicate with each other with electric shocks, with Meowth serving as the translator. Lawrence appears overhead, attacking and capturing Zapdos as well as Ash and Co. accidentally. Meanwhile, Professor Samuel Oak, Professor Felina Ivy, and Ash's mother Delia Ketchum fly to the islands, but their helicopter crashes on Shamouti. Having no use for them, Lawrence frees Ash and the others and attempts to capture Articuno, accidentally awakening Lugia in the process. Trying to foil Lawrence's plans, Ash and the others free Moltres and Zapdos, who escape and bring down Lawrence's hovercraft.

Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres engage in all-out war, trying to destroy each other. Ash and Co. manage to escape, gaining Zapdos' treasure in the process, and are transported back to Shamouti by a mysterious water spout revealed to be Lugia. Lugia at first tries to stop the battle, but is outmatched by the birds' powers combined against it. It then telepathically explains the birds and the weather can be stopped by the legend's Chosen One, actually Ash in reality. Ash puts the two treasures he has on the shrine, and then heads off to Ice Island to retrieve the final treasure. To make it through the legendary birds' battle, Ash is assisted by Team Rocket, courtesy of a speedboat made from a dingy and the helicopter's discarded propeller, wishing to save the world to continue their villainy. The group race up to Articuno's shrine and retrieve the treasure, but before they can escape, the legendary birds appear and destroy the speedboat, just as Articuno is defeated. Lugia rescues Ash, Pikachu, and Team Rocket, but Team Rocket heroically jump into the sea upon realizing they are slowing Lugia down. Lawrence tries to catch Lugia, but Lugia uses its Aeroblast attack to destroy his airship and take out Moltres and Zapdos, before collapsing into the sea.

Misty and Tracey rescue Ash and Pikachu, who venture to Shamouti Island's shrine and place the final treasure with the others. Melody plays Lugia's song on her Ocarina, ending the storms and bringing peace to the legendary birds. Lugia rises from the sea, bringing the true Beast of the Sea with him, an underwater current that has been altering the climate. Later, after the birds return to their islands, Lugia departs after thanking Ash. Delia and the professors arrive, and having witnessed her son's actions, Delia asks him to be more careful, which he complies with. Elsewhere, Lawrence laments his decisions, deciding to start his collection again.

Team Rocket reaches the island a day later and is told by Slowking that the audience saw their heroics; the trio begin debating over whether they should change their ways or stay the same.

Cast

Main cast
Character		Japanese voice actor	English voice actor
Japanese name	English name	Japanese voice actor	English voice actor
Satoshi	Ash Ketchum	Rica Matsumoto	Veronica Taylor
Pikachu		Ikue Ōtani
Kasumi	Misty	Mayumi Iizuka	Rachael Lillis
Togepi		Satomi Kōrogi
Kenji	Tracey Sketchit	Tomokazu Seki	Ted Lewis
Musashi	Jessie	Megumi Hayashibara	Rachael Lillis
Kojirō	James	Shin-ichiro Miki	Eric Stuart
Nyarth	Meowth	Inuko Inuyama	Maddie Blaustein
Hanako	Delia Ketchum	Masami Toyoshima	Veronica Taylor
Dr. Yukinari Ōkido	Professor Samuel Oak	Unshō Ishizuka	Stuart Zagnit
Dr. Uchikido	Professor Ivy	Keiko Han	Megan Hollingshead
Koduck	Psyduck	Rikako Aikawa	Michael J. Haigney
Mariru	Marill	Mika Kanai	Kayzie Rogers
Barrierd	Mr. Mime	Yūji Ueda	Kayzie Rogers
Lugia		Koichi Yamadera	Eric Rath
Fire	Moltres	Rikako Aikawa
Freezer	Articuno	Yumi Tōma
Thunder	Zapdos	Katsuyuki Konishi
Fleura	Melody	Akiko Hiramatsu	Amy Birnbaum
Yadoking	Slowking	Masatoshi Hamada	Nathan Price
Gelardan	Lawrence III	Takeshi Kaga	Neil Stewart^[3]
Data Computer		Emi Shinohara	Emily Niebo^[4]
Yodel	Carol	Aya Hisakawa	Michelle Goguen^[5]
Earthia Island Elder	Tobias (Shamouti Island Elder)	Chikao Ohtsuka	Norman Altman
Michiko	Maren	Kotono Mitsuishi	Tara Jayne
Narrator		Unshō Ishizuka	Rodger Parsons

Characters exclusive to *Pikachu's Rescue Adventure*
Character		Japanese voice actor	English voice actor
Japanese name	English name	Japanese voice actor	English voice actor
Erekiddo	Elekid	Masako Nozawa
Narrator		Tamao Satō	—

Release

Theatrical release

The Power of One was released in Japan on July 17, 1999.^[1]

On March 2, 2000, Warner Bros. announced they had acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film outside Asia from 4Kids Entertainment, following the success the two companies had with Pokémon: The First Movie.^[6] The film was released under the Kids' WB label on July 21, 2000 in the United States, with a July 15, 2000 premiere at Mann’s Village Theatre.^[7]^[1]

Home media

Pokémon The Movie 2000 was released on VHS and DVD on November 14, 2000.^[8]^[9]

Viz Media and Warner Bros. announced that a limited edition Blu-ray Steelbook containing the first three Pokémon films will be released on February 9, 2016, along with single releases on DVD (These are: Pokémon: The First Movie, Pokémon The Movie 2000 and Pokémon 3: The Movie). In accommodation with the 20th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, a digitally remastered version of the film was released on iTunes, Amazon and Google Play on February 27, 2016. Blu-ray Release on December 13, 2021 in the UK.

Reception

Box office

As of 2015, the film is the 88th highest-grossing film in Japan, with ¥6.4 billion.^[10] The film made $133,949,270 worldwide at the end of its box office run.^[2]

The film was financially successful in the United States. It earned $9,250,000 on opening day,^[11] which was only less than $1 million behind the opening day of its predecessor.^[12] It reached third place for its opening weekend, grossing $19,575,608. On its second weekend it declined 68.3% to $6.2 million and descended to sixth place.^[13] It made $43,758,684 at the U.S. box office,^[2] barely over half of the first film's U.S. total.^[14]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the North American adaptation of the film has an approval rating of 19% based on 69 reviews, with the website's critical consensus reading: "Despite being somewhat more exciting than the previous film, this kiddy flick still lacks any real adventure or excitement. What it does contain is choppy animation and poor voice acting. Doesn't match up to virtually anything out there."^[15] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 28 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.^[17]

Plugged In (publication) said that "the plot is as tiresome as it was in the first movie. But the violence is tamed somewhat, so the positive messages shine a bit more brightly".^[18]

A more positive review was given by Gene Seymour of the Los Angeles Times. Seymour believed that the film "charms without talking down to its audience". He also compared it favorably to the first movie, stating, "...unlike its predecessor, 'Pokémon 2000' doesn't assume that everyone who sees it will know how to tell Togepi from Bulbasaur or Squirtle from Pikachu. Sure, I know now, but I'm not telling because I don't have to".^[19]

At the 2000 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film was nominated for "Worst Achievement in Animation" and "The Remake or Sequel Nobody Was Clamoring For". However, it lost "Worst Achievement in Animation" to Digimon: The Movie.^[20]

Soundtracks

In Japan, J-pop artist Namie Amuro sang the ending song "toi et moi".^{[citation needed]} A soundtrack containing Shinji Miyazaki's original score for the film was released on September 9, 1999 along with two original songs sung by Rica Matsumoto and Akiko Hiramatsu.^{[citation needed]}

Pokémon 2000: The Power Of One (Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture)

The North American soundtrack was released alongside the film in 2000 by WB's then-sister company Atlantic Records on compact disc and compact cassette and includes many songs by popular artists, many of which do not appear in the film. In the English dub, Donna Summer sings the closing song in the film, "The Power of One". The melody of has been noted as having a close resemblance to Rick Wakeman's theme for the film The Burning, with the two opening bars being identical.^[21] The song was released as a single and was remixed by Jonathan Peters and Tommy Musto. The song drew new attention in 2011 due to Republican candidate Herman Cain quoting the lyrics as part of his campaign for President of the United States.^[22]

"Weird Al" Yankovic provided an original song, "Polkamon", which is played during the ending credits. The last song played during the credits was "Flying Without Wings" by Westlife. Italian singer Laura Pausini sings the ballad "The Extra Mile", written, among others, by Australian singer Tina Arena. The B-52's also recorded the song "The Chosen One" for the movie.^[23]

In the United States, the soundtrack had sold 150,000 copies by April 2001.^[24]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performed by	Length
1.	"The Power of One"	Mark Chait, John Loeffler, Ralph Schuckett, Mervyn Warren	Donna Summer	3:49
2.	"Dreams"	LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Lee Jerkins, Rodney Jerkins, Mischke, Robert Smith	Alysha	4:04
3.	"They Don't Understand (Pokemon Version)^[b]"	Cole Diamond, Steve Diamond, Robbie Nevil, Rex Rideout	Dream Street	2:58
4.	"Wonderland"	Matt Rowe, Pamela Sheyne	Angela Vía	3:52
5.	"With All Your Heart"	Kasia Livingston, Phil Sillas	Plus One	3:40
6.	"The Extra Mile"	Tina Arena, Andrew Frampton, Pamela Sheyne	Laura Pausini	4:05
7.	"Flying Without Wings"	Wayne Hector, Steve Mac	Westlife	3:35
8.	"Pokémon World (Movie Version)"	John Loeffler, John Siegler	Youngstown featuring Nobody's Angel	3:48
9.	"Blah, Blah, Blah"	Jörgen Elofsson, Steve Mac	Devotion 2 Music	2:34
10.	"Polkamon"	"Weird Al" Yankovic	"Weird Al" Yankovic	2:03
11.	"The Chosen One"	Norman J. Grossfeld, Michael Haigney, John Loeffler, John Petersen	The B-52's	3:24
12.	"One Heart"	Wayne Hector, Steve Mac	O-Town	3:59
13.	"One"	Matt Rowe, Pamela Sheyne	Denisse Lara	4:13
14.	"Comin' to the Rescue"	Louis Cortelezzi, Norman J. Grossfeld, John Loeffler, John Siegler	O-Town	1:45
15.	"Pikachu's Rescue Adventure: Dance of the Bellossom"	John Lissauer, John Loeffler	Various	1:05
16.	"The Power of One: The Legend Comes to Life"	John Loeffler, Ralph Schuckett	Various	4:16

Chart performance

Chart (2000–2001)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[27]	51
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[28]	89
US Billboard 200^[29]	85