Pokemon: Detective Pikachu introduced fans to a whole new side of the Pokemon world, and a major reason fans were so accepting of this brand new take on the series’ famous monsters because they seemed to be perfectly translated into the real world. Much of this is due to the work of Detective Pikachu concept artist RJ Palmer, who had become famous prior to the film’s release for his viral realistic take on the series.
Palmer recently shared the various attempts at Charizard’s realistic design for the film, and gave fans a good idea of just how much work went into getting this integral Pokemon just right. Check it out below!
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Charizard was the very first thing I worked on and also one of the last. Charizard has always been one of my favorite designs. It was super cool to see what the finished effects for Charizard looked like. His animations were so good!
Most recent one is first. pic.twitter.com/qYtcN45IFf
— RJ Palmer@Fanime 1407 (@arvalis) May 24, 2019
Palmer shared the concept art to Twitter, and mentioned how Charizard was both the first and one of the last concepts he worked on during the course of the film. Some of the earlier designs featured a more dragon-esque take on the famous starter evolution until these ideas met in the middle with a realistic, but familiar take on Charizard. Charizard played a huge role in the film overall, and fans are definitely hoping it shows up again in the currently confirmed sequel.
Omar Chaparro, who stars as Charizard’s trainer in the film, opened up about “working” with Charizard for this and a lot of work went into both bringing Charizard to life, but believably acting alongside it to bring it to life. Like many fans, Chaparro would love to explore his character’s work with Charizard in the future.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is now out in theaters, so there’s still time to check out Charizard in action. The official synopsis for the film reads as such, “The story begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself.
Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City—a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.” You can read ComicBook.com’s spoiler-free review of the film here.
