Suppose there were a live action Pokemon TV show...

[LightningTopaz]

..what do you think it would be like?

Now, before you groan and gripe about how awful such a thing would be, let us assume the following:

--Said show is made by a crew that knows what they're doing
--The actors look and sound as close to the original characters as possible
--The Pokemon and attacks would be rendered in CGI (with the exception of Legendaries, most Pokemon would be plushies unless called to battle)

Assuming the above is true, I would see such a show as relatively faithful to the anime, with elements from the games and manga thrown in for good measure, as well as brand new regions and storylines. But there would be a few changes from the anime, the biggest being:

--Misty and Brock reside in Pallet
--Team Rocket is actually a threat (even Jessie, James, and Meowth would do some damage)
--The humans do a bit of fighting too (Live Ash doing karate, anyone?)

 

[FabuVinny]

I would actually stray from the anime as much as possible for the simple reason that it would save a lot of bother when it's impossible to create exact versions of all the characters.

Pokémon as plushies... interesting concept since this I can see this being the kind of show where the theme is hidden from reality. Though there's nothing wrong with Pokéballs.

 

[Habunake]

I'd like a Sitcom, you know, like "Everybody Loves Tyson", "Trainers", "Desperate Professors", "Kingdra of Queens", "Ketchum", "Secret Base Improvement", "The Gym", ect.

 

[ImJessieTR]

Yeah, that would be funny. The only thing I don't like is the plushie idea, mainly because pokemon is a world (wishful thinking -- ours) and making pokemon out of toys screams Barney to me. Yuck. Making it live action would reinforce the "reality" of pokemon, so, while not making remakes of the anime, it should still go by certain guidelines.

Would Misty and Brock still be leaders of their respective gyms? If so, that's one hell of a commute every day...

I like the TR of Mewtwo Returns -- hell, they're willing to torture baby pokemon just to taunt Mewtwo -- that's the TR I know and love. I agree that they should be badass.

I also agree with humans sharing in some battling. I mean, one criticism of pokemon is that people use animals to do their fighting for them and I think this would fix that.

I think it would have great potential. If the creatures in Narnia can be rendered photo-realistically now, then we could have a great pokemon live action show/movie.

 

[FabuVinny]

They would probably have to start with a movie to cover the development costs.

I don't get your point on commuting, though. Flint became the Pewter Gym Leader to let Brock travel and Misty wasn't the Cerulean Gym Leader until AG when she stays in Cerulean City.

 

[Adamant]

A movie MIGHT work, but a TV show could never have a high enough budget to avoid looking like total crap.

You guys haven't seen Live Action Sailor Moon, have you?

 

[Hikari-chan]

It would be funny, but it would cost alot of money... and it requires alot of 3D rendering, motion capture, and etc. wow...


=/

 

[FabuVinny]

Thus, it requires a movie budget to set everything up. A TV show could still work after that. (Maybe not 52 episodes a year like the anime but still...)

 

[Another Fan]

They would probably have to start with a movie to cover the development costs.

I don't get your point on commuting, though. Flint became the Pewter Gym Leader to let Brock travel and Misty wasn't the Cerulean Gym Leader until AG when she stays in Cerulean City.

I thought you wanted it not to be like the anime.

Yeah, I want some random new trainer some random pokemon (like a qwilfish or an unown or an absol or whatever) travelling just for the sake of battling or exploring. With new characters, personalities, etc. And something new and interesting.

 

[LightningTopaz]

Or suppose live Ash goes on his journey for some reason other than because he wants to be a master, and have some kind of objective to the journey (and have the being a master part be the icing on the cake.)

 

[FabuVinny]

I thought you wanted it not to be like the anime.

And? I don't see how that takes away from my point.

 

[Adroit]

Lol. If there were a Live-Action, I'm sure Naoki Takeshi would be Ash.

 

[Komedic Konservationist]

I think it would have great potential. If the creatures in Narnia can be rendered photo-realistically now, then we could have a great pokemon live action show/movie.

I thought the photo-realistic rendering in Narnia was rather lacklustre myself. A better example would be that program on dinosaurs.... the one that talked about Tyrannosaurus having feathers and stuff. I forget what it's called.
Perhaps it could be like a nature documentary, with realistic Pokemon and studies of how there ecosystem works. That would probably be interesting, because we need more light shed on what Pokemon are like in the wild.

 

[The Big Al]

Looks at live action Sailor Moon.
Looks at live action Dragon Ball Z.
Thanks God there is no live action Pokemon.

 

[FabuVinny]

 

[The Big Al]

At least Misty's shorts are longer. XP

 

[rossachu]

I thought the photo-realistic rendering in Narnia was rather lacklustre myself. A better example would be that program on dinosaurs.... the one that talked about Tyrannosaurus having feathers and stuff. I forget what it's called.
Perhaps it could be like a nature documentary, with realistic Pokemon and studies of how there ecosystem works. That would probably be interesting, because we need more light shed on what Pokemon are like in the wild.

Oh yeah!! That would be great! I've been waiting for someone else to say that for 4 years! I would have one request if they did make such a thing-
none of the style of narration heard in the current pokemon only shorts (pokedx observation unit, excessive puns, etc.)

 

[Aurelia]

my god. Ahhhh. i think pokemon should stick with the games and anime. Pokemon Fever already happened. And they're still coming out with new pokemon games and movies. Any more, and i dont think anyone would buy or watch.

 

[BenRG]

Could work

A decently-written live action with 'real world-ised' Pokémon could be fascinating. However, it would require a decent quality of scripting to make it work. It doesn't matter how flashy the SFX is in a show, it is all for naught if the plot and the characters are of poor quality. There would also have to be an early decision on the direction the show is going to take - Will it be episodic with only a few continuing elements (like Star Trek) or will there be a dominant meta-story where character and plot development are increasingly important as the show progresses (like Babylon 5)?

I, for one, would use animatronics and CGI for the Pokémon. The simplest would be a shoulder-rig for the actor playing Ash that has only an animated Pikachu head. The most sophisticated animatronics would be full-body units for Pokémon that you can ride on and, therefore, would need something life=-size that the actors can directly interact with.

Cost wouldn't be as much as you might think. Most of the development work has already been done. The producers would be largely buying 'off the shelf' proven technologies.

 

[Scrye-Maple]

..what do you think it would be like?

Now, before you groan and gripe about how awful such a thing would be, let us assume the following:

--Said show is made by a crew that knows what they're doing
--The actors look and sound as close to the original characters as possible
--The Pokemon and attacks would be rendered in CGI (with the exception of Legendaries, most Pokemon would be plushies unless called to battle)

Assuming the above is true, I would see such a show as relatively faithful to the anime, with elements from the games and manga thrown in for good measure, as well as brand new regions and storylines. But there would be a few changes from the anime, the biggest being:

--Misty and Brock reside in Pallet
--Team Rocket is actually a threat (even Jessie, James, and Meowth would do some damage)
--The humans do a bit of fighting too (Live Ash doing karate, anyone?)

LOL! Ash doing karate would be hilarious!