Until 2020, the Pokémon anime had made it an annual event to release a new film starring Ash Ketchum. 2020's Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle was the last such film to be released, leading to this unprecedented drought of Pokémon movies that has some fans like myself wondering about the anime.

Beginning in July 1998 with the release of Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back in Japan, it would become a yearly tradition for the franchise to release a new movie, often starring never-before-seen Pokémon such as Mew and Lugia. These releases were major events for the franchise, often resulting in special distributions of said Pokémon to players of the games, new TCG cards, and new waves of toys to be released. While the movies didn't always release at the same time each year, they were still remarkably consistent releases, and it seemed there was never a time when a Pokémon movie wasn't in production.

Pokémon's Movies Can Be a Mixed Bag

Not Every Pokémon Movie is a Great Watch

Of course, producing movies at that consistent rate means that sometimes, the movie doesn't get enough time in development before it needs to be released, resulting in a weak story that's just not adequately compelling. While early movies were written by the creator of the anime, Takeshi Shudo, later films would have different writers, and generally be less tied to what was going on in the main anime series. This often resulted in the movies feeling rather disconnected from the story that was being told in the anime, making them largely stand-alone stories that had to stand on their own merits.

As a result, the Pokémon anime movies can be of highly variable quality. The films have never done particularly well with critics, who often derided them as merely a way to sell more toys and having no substance or depth to them, which is a rather harsh assessment of the series. Pokémon movies gradually moved away from theatrical releases in the US to TV premieres, and stopped being regularly reviewed. It's fair to say the movies have a bit of a learning curve, in that they'll only appeal to people who know a certain amount about Pokémon.

For those who are familiar with Pokémon, however, the films are often a way to see powerful Pokémon letting loose in epic battle sequences, and they frequently put the full power of so-called Legendary Pokémon on display. As a general rule, the movies are often rather shallow with their character development, but even that has exceptions; Mewtwo in the first movie, for example, is a surprisingly well-developed villain. For Ash and his companions, however, the movies never really saw much growth for their characters.

Why Have The Pokémon Movies Faded Away?

Covid-19 and The End of Ash's Era

With the last film, Secrets of the Jungle, having released in late 2020 in Japan, it's known that production was impacted by Covid-19, causing the release to be delayed. With the uncertainty of that time period in full swing, it's likely that the production team for the movies was held back, because if there's no theaters to release the film in, there's no point in making the film. Fans weren't too surprised when no movie came out in 2021 or 2022, but now it's been four years, and there's still no indication of a Pokémon movie in the works.

The last three Pokémon movies were set in an alternate continuity, known as the I Choose You! continuity, so they weren't necessarily impacted by the events of Pokémon Journeys and Ash's winning of the world championship. Still, when the decision came to retire Ash, they ended that alternate continuity as well, with the "Distant Blue Sky" special. Not long after that, Pokémon Horizons began airing, testing out a new cast of characters who weren't ready to act as the stars of a movie.

It is known, thanks to the Game Freak "Teraleak", that a new Pokémon movie was in development in 2022, but the project was caught up in development hell and never ended up going anywhere. That movie would've seen a new cast replace Ash, but it wouldn't be the Horizons gang; rather, the movies would start another continuity that was supposedly aimed at older female audiences. What's clear from this is that the desire for Pokémon movies hasn't died off entirely; they still want to make Pokémon movies, but the situation has been too unstable for the last few years.

Pokémon Horizons Deserves the Movie Treatment

Liko and the Gang Need a Chance in Theaters

With Pokémon Horizons having now run for over a year and a half, the characters are finally well-developed enough to act as the stars of a movie. After all, the series is over 75 episodes in, and Ash's first movie came out between episodes 54 and 55 of the original series. Liko and Roy have been established and have well-defined personalities and goals. The Rising Volt Tacklers make for an excellent ing cast for a film as well, providing a degree of reliability that Ash never had. While such a movie would be a distraction from the plot of Horizons, there's nothing wrong with a movie framed as a side story.

With both the world and the anime series in a more stable place, 2025 is looking like it should be the year when Pokémon resumes releasing movies. Since every one of the preceding 23 movies starred Ash, a new film will surely be a breath of fresh air, whether it stars Liko and Roy or an original cast of characters. New characters offer the movies a chance to do something new with their plot as well, rather than going back to some of the more common plot structures seen in previous films.

The time has come for the return of Pokémon movies. They don't necessarily need to go back to yearly releases, but the film format offers such unique opportunities for Pokémon storytelling that it's simply a waste not to take advantage of it.