Pokémon 3 the Movie: Spell of the Unown (2000)

In the town of Greenfield, a young, lonely girl's dreams and wishes are brought into reality by a collective of reality-warping Pokémon.

Director:

Kunihiko Yuyama

Writers:

Takeshi Shudo (screenplay), Hideki Sonoda (screenplay)

Stars:

Veronica Taylor, Eric Stuart, Rica Matsumoto

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rica Matsumoto	...	Satoshi (voice)
Veronica Taylor	...	Ash Ketchum / Delia Ketchum (voice)
Rachael Lillis	...	Misty / Jessie / Goldeen / Vulpix (voice)
Ikue Ôtani	...	Pikachû (voice)
Eric Stuart	...	Brock / James (voice)
Madeleine Blaustein	...	Meowth (voice) (as Addie Blaustein)
Amy Birnbaum	...	Molly Hale (voice)
Dan Green	...	Professor Spencer Hale / Entei (voice)
Stuart Zagnit	...	Professor Oak (voice) (as Stan Hart)
Lisa Ortiz	...	Lisa (voice)
Kathy Pilon	...	Reporter (voice)
Peter R. Bird	...	David (voice)
Kayzie Rogers	...	Wobbuffet / Cyndaquil / Totodile / Mimey / Flaaffy (voice)
Ted Lewis	...	Tracey Sketchit / Schuyler (voice) (as Ed Paul)
Rodger Parsons	...	Narrator (voice) (as Ken Gates)

Storyline

Professor Shuri is a scientist looking for rare Pocket Monsters. He reads a storybook to his daughter Mi about the powerful Pokemon Entei. Shuri is currently searching for the heiroglyph Pokemon "Unknown". While searching through some ancient artifacts, Shuri awakens Unknown and is sucked into it. Mi next awakens Unknown while looking for her father. Unknown bonds with her and turns her mansion into a Crystal Tower. The crystallization begins to spread. Unknown lives to serve Mi and creates an Entei with the personality of her father to make her happy. When Mi next desires a mother, Entei kidnaps Satoshi's mother Hanako to give to Mi. Satoshi, Kasumi, Takeshi, and of course Pikachu set out to get her back.

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Plot Keywords:

pokemon | backpack | black hair | orange hair | water | 

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Taglines:

This Spring The Unknown Spells Adventure

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie, along with the Pikachu short "Pikachu & Pichu," marks the first appearance of Ash's Totodile and Noctowl for the American audience. This is because Pokémon: Whose Is the Waninoko!? Satoshi vs Kasumi! (2000) and Pokémon: A Differently Colored Yorunozuku! Catch It!! (2000) in which Ash catches Totodile and Noctowl respectively, did not air in America until after this movie was released, Pokémon: Whose Is the Waninoko!? Satoshi vs Kasumi! (2000) on May 5, 2001 and Pokémon: A Differently Colored Yorunozuku! Catch It!! (2000) on April 28, 2001.

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Goofs

Lee Quick's name is listed in the credits even though Officer Jenny doesn't have any lines of dialogue.

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Quotes

Musashi: Well you see... .
Kojirô: It's really quite simple...
Meowth: If anything ever happened to you, we'd be out of show business!

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Crazy Credits

As the credits roll, scenes are shown of Molly's new life with both of her parents.

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Alternate Versions

In the original Japanese version, Molly's (Mi's) mother's disappearance is not addressed on-screen. When the Japanese filmmakers were asked about this, they provided a detailed story about her and her absence. So Molly's mother is shown in the American version as a Pokémon researcher, like her husband, and her disappearance is explained early in the movie. The film's final credit sequence was re-edited so that the American audiences would be sure to see the return of Molly's mother and father, which is only shown in the Japanese version at the end of the final credits.

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Connections

Followed by Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (2007)

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Soundtracks

Pokemon Johto
Music & Lyrics by John Siegler & John Loeffler
Featuring Elan Rivera Elan Rivera and P.J. Lequerica (as PJ Lequerica)
Produced and Arranged by Neil Jason

User Reviews

Personal least favorite of the series; still great

Pokemon 3 was definitely entertaining. I will say it was not as good as I thought it was going to be, considering how the first two were insanely enjoyable kids movies, but if you liked them you are sure to like this one for the same reasons. This movie, was still, great like the others, and I enjoyed watching the newly introduced Pokemon and characters.

To me, the humor could have been left without, as usual, the sad scenes, were not as tear-jerking like in Pokemon 4Ever and the first movie, and the action was watered down a bit than what it was in the first two. There was really nothing spectacular, but every Pokemon lover has to know that it doesn't take a masterpiece to entertain, because of course the Pokemon series aren't masterpieces, but they still deliver great entertainment.

The plot to this movie was that the new legendary Pokemon, Entei, in this movie was able to speak with his mind. He was guarding over this girl Molly, for she believes he's her father. There's the Pokemon called the Unown, who are causing chaos all across this little town in the mean time. This movie's plot sounds so corny and stupid, but it's really not. This was a great film, and anybody who's fans of the first two feature length films or Pokemon in general absolutely needs to see the third and fourth installments.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

6 April 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Emperor of the Crystal Tower

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,240,752, 8 April 2001

Gross USA:

$17,052,128

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$68,411,275

Company Credits

Production Co:

4 Kids Entertainment, Kids' WB, Nintendo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1