Gotta catch ‘em all
Pokemon executive producer reveals what's behind the lovable creatures' global popularity
Story by ONSIRI PRAVATTIYAGUL
Know these words and phrases
feat
a task that needs a lot of work
knock-offs
copies of a genuine article to be sold at a lower price
heckling
rude remarks or questions
conceive
to form an idea, a plan, etc. in your mind
inception
(n) start
enunciate
to say or pronounce words clearly
reception
the type of welcome that is given to something
banned
not allowed to be shown or published for the public
allegations
public statements made without giving proof
endangerment
placing someone in danger
seizure
a sudden attack of an illness, especially one that affects the brain
strategise
to make a plan to achieve a specific purpose
plaster
(v) to completely cover a surface with pictures or posters
enamoured
liking something a lot
morality
principles concerning right and wrong or good and bad behaviour
unleash
to suddenly and strongly release something
consumed
to be filled with something so strong or important that it takes up all your time and energy
flaw
weakness
characterisation
the way that a writer makes characters seem real
merchandising
activities to sell goods by advertising or displaying them
impression
the effect that something has that makes it memorable
silhouette
the dark outline or shape of a person or object against a light background
conjure up
to see in your mind
|
Masakazu Kubo doesn't care for Pocahontas (very boring) and thinks Thailand Animation and Multimedia's mascot Hanuman can use a little design improvement. He ranks Lupin the Third, Monster Inc and Toy Story among his favourites.
And his preferences deserve a closer look as Kubo should know what he's talking about. After all, he's had a hand in delivering the global phenomenon, Pokemon, to the world.
In his capacity of an executive producer of Pokemon TV series and movies, Kubo simply explains Pokemon's massive, continuing success to a couple of simple factors.
“They're cute,” he reasoned during his special lecture titled “What Has Pokemon Brought to the World”.
“They look really cool when they fight, and Pokemon exposure has been wide.”
Wide it definitely has been. Pokemon movies have been screened in 46 countries and the TV series broadcast in 68 countries, including Thailand. Pokemon has generated billions and billions of baht worth of sales from its computer games, trading card games and animation.
Quite a feat considering it's all about the adventures of pocket monsters (Pokemon) and their handlers, also known as “masters”. It tells the story of Pikachu (the cuddly yellow Pokemon you often see in knock-offs on Silom) and his master Satoshi and friends, namely, Kazumi and Takechi, who all have different Pokemon-related dreams.
The good natured group travels around competing in different battles, helping those in need along the way, while facing troublesome heckling from the villains Rocket Gang in every episode.
But Pokemon wasn't conceived with a complete storyline. Its humble inception can be traced to a black-and-white video game in 1996.
Then came the card game. Suddenly, it was being developed into a TV series: sexless Pokemon robots were the central characters. Pikachu, the main Pokemon, was originally black and white rather than bright yellow as he/she is now. But the colour wasn't always intended to be yellow.
“The initial colour scheme of Pikachu was something near yellow, but it wasn't like [today's colour]. Actually, [it was] pretty far from where we are now. But please don't talk about that as I have to keep some secrets!” said Kubo.
At first, all Pokemon were conceived with the ability to talk, but the director and those involved decided that it would be best if they could only enunciate part of their names in order to “provide a source of drama”. The decision worked out for the better.
“Take Pikachu: All he or she says is ‘pika, pika’. Everyone in the world can relate to that,” Kubo said.
In April 1997, Pokemon launched the first attack on TV viewers in Japan to a fantastic reception from kids and adults alike. But by the end of the year, Pokemon was banned from broadcasting for four months due to an investigation for allegations of child endangerment (hundreds of school children fell ill or had seizures after watching a Pokemon episode, allegedly due to a colourful flashing sequence).
Kubo admits that it was a difficult time and stress was heavy. Still, he and his team strategised a way to keep Pokemon alive and well in the audience's mind.
“We needed to prove that we weren't in the wrong. And we also needed to remind people of Pokemon. So we came up with a `We Want Pikachu' campaign, prompting people to remember Pokemon. We plastered gigantic posters in train stations and video stores. We staged card game contests and stuff like that. Anything to keep Pokemon in the eyes of the public.”
Luckily, an American deal came through which relocated Kubo to the United States for several months.
In 1998, the first episode of Pokemon: The Series was shown on TV. American youngsters and their parents became instantly enamoured with the cute characters and harmless storylines full of morality and strong friendships.
Then it was time for Pokemon: The First Movie (the first of many to come) to be unleashed on the US. The movie, of course, turned out to be a monstrous hit. But there are differences in the Japanese and American versions.
As consumed as he is with his creations, Kubo can still see some flaws in his beloved Pokemon.
“There are too many characters. There are around 370 of them now. I don't think I can even remember all of them. And Pokemon is about an ongoing adventure — unlike Doraemon where they always come home. That will have to come to an end someday.”
ANIMATION SECRETS OF SUCCESS
Japan now holds 60 percent of the global cartoon market share, and Kubo believes that there are three secret ingredients to success: characterisation, storyline and merchandising.
Most importantly, the characters must leave a long-lasting impression. Kubo gives the following as a checklist for a potentially successful character:
- Can you tell your character apart, even when in silhouette?
- Does it have any special trait that's easy to recognise, such as a strange gesture or voice?
- Can children conjure up the image quickly? Can they easily draw it?
- Does the character have a simple name that anyone can remember?
- Will parents also like this character?
For storyline, Kubo recommends sticking to a universal theme. He strongly suggests that the creators explore the theme of family ties and the relationship between pets as “these two never fail as everyone in the world can relate to them,” he said.
| 
If you recognise the character in the pictures here in feature focus this week, you already know that this is a success story. The Pokemon character is known by children and adults in at least 68 countries of the world.