ThePokémonanime’s second movie features an oft-maligned scene where it’s revealed that Ash is the “chosen one” spoken of in prophecy. However, this scene exists for one reason, and one reason only: the dub’s scriptwriters added it.
Pokémon the Movie 2000was the second film, written by Takeshi Shudo, the writer ofMewtwo Strikes Backand head writer for the first 5 seasons of the anime. Shudo was very personally invested in the film, and was essentiallythe driving force behind the creation of Lugia. In fact, he wrote several different versions of the script for the film, and included dozens of characters that were ultimately left on the cutting room floor. Shudo’s final script wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but he still seemed quite proud of it. That final script, however, was substantially changed for the American release.
Ash’s “Chosen One” Destiny Was a Dub Fabrication
The Entire Subplot Was Absent from the Japanese Version
Just like the first movie,Pokémon the Movie 2000received substantial changes when the time came to create the English dubbed version for American audiences. In Shudo’s version, the film centered on themes of “the existence of self” and “coexistence,” and those themes are still present to some extent in the English version. However, one of the biggest changes made in the English version was a change to the prophecy spoken of near the beginning of the film. The English version added a line to the prophecy, the eye-rolling pun of “thus the world will turn to Ash.”
The Japanese version actually makes it quite clear thatAsh wasn’t chosen for anything; instead, his decision to embark on the quest to gather the orbs was more a result of him being the only capable trainer in the area. Like most otherPokémonmovies, Ash just happened to be in the right place at the right time to help. By changing this, the English version puts a far bigger focus and importance on Ash than the Japanese version does, emphasizing his individual action. This newly emerged theme was at odds with the themes of coexistence that Shudo had originally put into the script.
The changes made to the English version were typically motivated by a feeling that American children wouldn’t be able to follow some aspects of the story, and attempted to simplify them.
This ultimately muddled the message of the movie, causing many critics to decry the film as being low-quality. The changes made to the English version were typically motivated by a feeling that American children wouldn’t be able to follow some aspects of the story, and attempted to simplify them. Thus, the movie added the chosen one line to the prophecy, making it plainly obvious that it was up to Ash to save the day. Obvious to the point of obnoxiousness, at least according to some viewers.
The Movie Almost Didn’t Feature Ash at All
The First Draft Included No Familiar Characters
In blog posts by Takeshi Shudo, which weretranslated and shared on Lava Cut Content, Shudo mentions that his first draft of the film was very, very different from what fans eventually got.In fact, the first draft didn’t feature Ash or Team Rocket at all, and presumably no other familiar characters either. Shudo said, “I let the staff read the first quarter of the script — I wanted them to get a rough idea of the general outline. In the initial script, there was no Ash and no Team Rocket. The staff pointed this out to me — even though I obviously wrote it that way on purpose…”
Shudo admits that this was something of a trick; by providing a script with an obvious missing element, he set himself up to make changes to the script upon being prompted to, making it look like he was agreeable to input from management. Shudo never really expected that he would be allowed to produceaPokémonmovie without Ashand the main cast, but by attempting to do so and then responding to criticism, he won himself more creative freedom to write the actual movie.
Still, one can’t help but wonder what that first script must’ve looked like. Shudo mentions having created far too many characters, several of which were based on types of people and professions that he felt were difficult to understand, such as the female fishing boat captain. Shudo spent a lot of time meeting real fishermen and other such figures to help understand them better, which was a significant amount of effort for a fairly minor character in the final film. Did she perhaps have a larger role in this first version? Fans may never know the truth, since Shudo passed away in 2010.
Pokémon the Movie 2000 is a Great Example of Why Dubs Must Respect the Original
The Dub’s Controversial Changes Would Never Fly Today
At the time, making massive changes to a script when translating and dubbing it was the norm.In many cases, the original Japanese script is used as little more than a guideline, and the English scriptwriters would do whatever they felt like, so long as it matched up with the actual animation. Many other famous anime were treated this way, such asSailor Moon’s Dic dub, orthe first versions ofDragon Ball Zthat were translated and brought to the US, which would even go so far as to combine scenes from multiple episodes while cutting others entirely.
As anime has grown in popularity, however, there has been a demand for more accurate translations with less meddling by the localization team. This really picked up in the mid 2000s, and now, treating an anime property like that is almost unthinkable. EvenPokémonitself has transitioned to having far more faithful scripts than what it used to have.
All in all,Pokémon the Movie 2000is still a pretty decent movie for fans, but it could’ve been a lot better if the English dub script hadn’t been meddled with so extensively. The fact that the film went through so many versions, including one that didn’t feature Ash at all, makes it quite unique for aPokémonmovie, and shows just how much thought and work went into crafting the original script.
