Wanna Be a Master: The Story of Pokémon/transcript

Prologue
Ash (in clip from Ash Catches a Pokémon): "Yes, we've got Pidgioto!"

Narrator: "It is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time."

Pikachu (in clip from same episode): "Pikachu!"

Narrator: "It's one of the most groundbreaking sagas in the histories of anime and video games."

Team Rocket (in clip from The Water Flowers of Cerulean City): "Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaain!!!"

Narrator: "It captured imaginations, with an irresistible force."

Lt. Surge (in clip from Electric Shock Showdown): "You're no baby."

Narrator: "And catapulted Japanese anime to the American mainstream."

Eric Stuart: "My whole life was changed by the opportunities that came to me with the success of Pokémon."

Sarah Natochenny: "It really is a tale of friendship and perseverance."

Veronica Taylor: "It's a cultural icon, and it really was done by visionaries."

Narrator: "But the Pokémon franchise didn't just change the way we look at anime or gaming, it changed the way both mediums are made."

Ash: [T]he greatest Pokémon master, OF ALL TIME!!!"

Shigeru Miyamoto (in Japanese): "There's so many accomplishments the people at Game Freak have done that really changed both the gaming and anime industries."

Brock: "Ash, I need you to take this for me and follow my dream."

Narrator: "What began as a duo of role-playing games for the Game Boy handheld console became a success story beyond Nintendo's wildest dreams."

Tsunekazu Ishihara: "Making Pokémon a hit brand was never really our intention, and we certainly didn't expected to be such a worldwide hit like it is today. But, it became a phenomenon."

(title screen) Wanna Be a Master: The Story of Pokémon

Part I
Narrator: "It's hard to imagine a time before Pokémon. The world was different then. There were no smartphones or tablets, the internet was just beginning to emerge, and video gaming was seeing a re-emergence thanks to a company called Nintendo. The Soviet Union collapsed. A US president named Ronald Reagan repealed the fairness doctrine - which brought on the rise of far-right media outlets like Fox News - and ignored victims of a new disease called AIDS, while in stark contrast, a doctor named Anthony Fauci did extensive research on it. It was a time of social division, and changing demographics in the United States. And the nations of Japan and China were seeing unprecedented economic prosperity."

Zack Beauchamp - Reporter, Vox: "In the United States, Ronald Reagan's repeal of the fairness doctrine and his response to AIDS tore us apart as a country, especially since it largely affected the LGBTQ community. And then we had Iran-Contra and the apartheid in South Africa, both of which were also his doing. And while Reagan was showing his incompetence, Japan experienced an economic boom. That caused a lot of violence against Asian-Americans. This kind of sentiment would return during the Trump era when China emerged as an economic superpower with Republicans continuing their jealousy of other non-white countries becoming more successful than us. Bush, Sr. would also end up being worse than Reagan before him."

Narrator: "But on the big and small screens, Hollywood had returned to the business of escapism. While in the nation with a booming economy, the film and TV industries' views were grim - at least in the animated world. The Japanese animation - or "anime" - released from the '80s to mid-'90s was gritty, explicit, and often times downbeat. Reflecting the fears of natural disasters and economic turmoil the Japanese had during that time; the latter of which eventually coming true. Instead of heroes saving the world, there were girls with guns, and sometimes, dark and gritty stories of war."

Tsunekazu Ishihara - CEO, The Pokémon Company: "Of course, you still had your giant robot programs, but they got darker due to the success of Gundam, which is a Sunrise Studios production. But, then you had titles like Akira which were extremely violent and nightmare-inducing; and are not for kids at all. And that caused a perception that the anime art form was inappropriate for children. Meanwhile, the video game industry was loved by kids everywhere - mostly thanks to Nintendo."

Narrator: "Nintendo's success caused a company called Game Freak to create something new for Nintendo's handheld console, the Game Boy.

Part II
Ken Sugimori - Co-founder, Game Freak: "The beginning of the player's journey is the most important part of the game, because if the player begins in the most real-world place in the game, at his own home, then the real adventure begins."

Junichi Masuda - Co-founder, Game Freak: "A great game should never be rushed. That was the lesson Miyamoto had to tell us when we wanted to perfect this passion project of ours."

Al Kahn - Former CEO, 4Kids Entertainment: "When I visited Japan back in 1996, kids were enthralled with these two games. It was the fact that they were able to interact with each other."

(...)

Zack Beauchamp - Reporter, Vox: Pokémon, both the games and the anime, lifted the latter industry out of this... sort of depression of the '80s and '90s and into an awareness and focus on adventure and wonder. This franchise stood by itself."

Steve Kent - Video Game Journalist: "Timing is everything in art. You put out Pokémon too early, then it's Dragon Quest or Doraemon. You bring it out too late, then it doesn't fit our imagination. You bring it out just as people are fearful of natural disasters and a collapsing economy, when Japan doesn't feel sure about itself... when you bring it out in the right place at the right time; suddenly, it's a new day. Also, it's a lot of fun. Not only is it a lot of fun to play the Game Boy games, but it's also fun to watch the anime."

Haim Saban - Businessman, Philanthropist: "People started seeing the world Pokémon laid down. People would say they want to be a Pokémon master, it was a sort of code, almost, that proved that you were one of the people that either watched the show or played the two games and you are connecting with other people who love the franchise. It became kinda like a handshake."

Narrator: "In the wake of Pokémon, everyone's careers had changed. Overnight, many of the monster characters that Tajiri created had become household names.

(...)

Narrator: "The cultural impact of the cross-media story was greater than even Game Freak could have imagined; not just in Japan, but around the world.

Zack Beauchamp - Reporter, Vox: "It wasn't a story of activism, it wasn't a story of oppression by white privilege, it was a story of a young child escaping his environment to go on an incredible journey. It was a story of following your dreams as well, this is what made it a success worldwide.

Narrator: "Both the games and the animated series did spectacular business across Asia, But, when Alfred Kahn and his company, 4Kids Entertainment, brought the franchise to the United States in 1998, they thought they would never be able to make it a hit. It turns out that Nintendo's marketing genius made the Pokémon brand a massive hit in the States as well.

(...)