- Pokémon x Aardman? It’s a match made in animation heaven
- Aardman will be creating new adventures set in the Pokémon universe
- The official Pokémon channel on YouTube is streaming anime episodes for free
How’s this for a partnership: Pokémon and Aardman Animation, creators of Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run and Shaun The Sheep. The much-loved animation studio has announced that it’s working with The Pokémon Company International on a new “special project” that’ll come out in 2027.
The announcement is as fiendish as anything Feathers McGraw might come up with, though: posting on X/Twitter, all the announcement said was “Pokémon × @aardman Coming in 2027!”
The good news is that there is a little more information out there, and you don’t need to go somewhere where there’s cheese to find it.
What’s Aardman up to?
There’s an official press release that adds a little bit more to the story: “The collaboration will see Aardman bringing their unique style of storytelling to the Pokémon universe in brand-new adventures,” the announcement says.
Taito Okiura, VP of marketing and media at The Pokémon Company, added: “This is a dream partnership for Pokémon. Aardman are masters of their craft, and we have been blown away by their talent and creativity. What we have been working on together ensures our global Pokémon fans are in for a treat!”
This is the kind of news that puts a big smile on your face, and Aardman seems to be pretty chuffed too. Sean Clarke, Aardman MD, says he’s looking forward to bringing “our love of craft, character and comedic storytelling” to the world’s biggest entertainment brand. He and the team are “very excited”.
“Aardman and TPCi share an emphasis on heritage and attention to detail as well as putting our fans and audiences at the heart of what we do,” Clarke says. That will “steer us right as we together create charming, original and new stories for audiences around the world”.
I can’t imagine this being anything other than utterly Charmander-ing. Sorry. More details will be revealed “in the future”, Aardman says.
In the meantime, you can get your Pokémon fix on YouTube: the official Pokémon TV YouTube channel is now streaming full episodes of the anime series. The channel is “where you can explore the world of Pokémon with Ash & Pikachu! Experience some of the most iconic moments from their adventure with our full episodes, live streams, compilations and so much more!”
This feels like a good time to make my Pokémon joke. How do you get a cute animated creature onto a bus? Pokemon!