Pokemon’s Ash Celebrates First Movie’s Anniversary

It’s been twenty-two years since the first Pokemon movie hit theaters in North America, becoming the biggest anime movie in the West and pitting both Ash Ketchum and Pikachu against the cloned force of nature known as Mewtwo and the original voice of the young protagonist, Veronica Taylor, shared her thoughts to celebrate the film’s anniversary. Having played the role of Ash for close to ten years with the English dub of the Pokemon anime, Taylor definitely has earned her place within the history of the franchise by introducing countless fans to the series over the years.

Pokemon: The First Movie first landed in America in 1999, bringing in a staggering $172 million USD around the world over the course of its time in theaters. Though it didn’t become the number one anime of all time for the long haul, with Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away taking the crown, followed by Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, recently, it’s definitely the most successful film of the Pokemon franchise. Recently, the film was remade using computer-generated animation with the film, Pokemon: Mewtwo Strike Back Evolution, which told the story beat for beat but with a new modern flair given to the proceedings.

Veronica Taylor reflected on the first film of the Pokemon franchise during its twenty-second anniversary, noting how appreciative she is of the fans of the long-running series and how the movie itself was able to create a number of connections by pitting Ash Ketchum against a giant psychic clone:

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Recently, Taylor made news earlier this year when she offered her services to the upcoming live-action Pokemon series, which was reported to be one early development for the streaming service. While we doubt that the platform would have Taylor playing Ash Ketchum in a live-action world, we could imagine that the studio would be looking for plenty of Easter Eggs to include for fans who have been following along with the franchise that has spawned countless video games, anime movies, television episodes, and more. 

What is your favorite Pokemon movie in the series? What did you think of the recent remake that used computer graphics to tell the story of the introduction of Mewtwo? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Pokemon.