Movies in general have to go through a ton of re-writes and revisions before eventually becoming what we see on the screen. The recent Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is no exception with several edits taking place before audiences got to see the finished product. We sat down with the screen writers for the film, Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez, to ask them what changes were made in earlier drafts and what were some scenes that didn’t make the cut that they would have liked to have seen.
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In our podcast, “A Wild Podcast Has Appeared”, we were able to sit down with the screenwriters to hash out earlier drafts that dove deeper into fan favorite Pokemon such as Jigglypuff and Mew:
Dan Hernandez: “There were things like that that were really fun. We had an extended scene with Jigglypuff at one point, and that’s the one that I kind of miss. There were little things like that, but as you started to really focus in on what is necessary for the story, or what was practical for the animators, there were certain things that just couldn’t all make it in at this point.
Benji Samit: “In earlier drafts, definitely went into more detail about ancient Mew and finding fossils, and this and that, and it was just … at the end of the day, we felt like, “You know what? You don’t need to go into all this. It is not in this movie.”
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Benji Samit: “Well, like I said, we had a longer sequence with Jigglypuff that ultimately was probably correctly changed to keep the story moving”
Jim Viscardi: “Would it have had singing?”
Benji Samit: “Yeah. There was a little more singing.”
(Photo: Warner Brothers Pictures)
While the ancient Pokemon Mew is given the briefest of nods with a newspaper article highlighting an artifact dig featuring the powerful psychic creature, Jigglypuff also makes an appearance singing its classic song, voiced by the original anime actress no less! While these classic battling creatures may not have been given all the time they could have in Detective Pikachu, we’ll keep an eye out on any potential future installments featuring the Pokemon Universe and Ryme City to see if they return.
What did you think of the cut scenes from the earlier drafts of the film? Would you have liked to have seen these included in the final cut of Detective Pikachu? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is now out in theaters, and you can read our spoiler-free review of the film here. The official synopsis for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu 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.
