Narrator: Pokemon hit the silver screen with the feature length movie
"Mewtwo Strikes Back". But several problems before and during the
production almost led to the movie never getting off the ground.
Samuel Oak: It's not easy working with a 6'7", 269 lb. beast who'll blast to into oblivion if given the chance.... and that's if Mewtwo was in a good mood.
Narrator: Getting the world's most powerful Pokemon to star in a movie was not an easy task. Mewtwo saw acting in some film as an insult to his intelligence.
Mewtwo: As if they expected me to go along with their dumb movie for the money they were offering me!
Narrator: Mewtwo demanded to be paid a huge sum of money, more than the producers could afford.
Samuel Oak: It was no use. Mewtwo just wouldn't co-operate. So we had to go with our backup plan.
Lt. Surge: They wanted me to dress up in a Mewtwo costume as play his part, but I couldn't. You ever try standing up on your toes the way Mewtwo does? It killed my feet!
Brock: It was hopeless. It was looking like I would never get to see my beautiful self on the big screen.
Narrator: Then a miracle happened. On his way to Mewtwo's house to concede the money needed to acquire his services (which would have surely killed all hopes of the movie making a profit), Samuel Oak looked in the window and saw something amazing: Mewtwo was attached to a machine which recharges his powers. It turned out he was not as strong as everyone thought. The producers used this to blackmail Mewtwo into the movie.
Mewtwo: I reluctantly agreed to be in the movie.
Narrator: But Mewtwo wasn't the only problem.
Mewtwo: To be perfectly honest.... Mew's kind of a ditz.
Samuel Oak: That Mew wouldn't co-operate with anything. All it wanted to do was play around. Most of the early shots of it in the movie were taken without Mew even knowing. We had to trick it. Of course, when it came to the big fight scene, that's when Mew wanted to get serious. Pokemon....can't work with them, can't work without them.
Narrator: So, with everything set. "Mewtwo Strikes Back" turned out to be a smash at the box office. But more bad things were to come in the TV series. When "Behind the Cartoon" continues, we'll look at the real reason why Brock left the show.
Samuel Oak: It's not easy working with a 6'7", 269 lb. beast who'll blast to into oblivion if given the chance.... and that's if Mewtwo was in a good mood.
Narrator: Getting the world's most powerful Pokemon to star in a movie was not an easy task. Mewtwo saw acting in some film as an insult to his intelligence.
Mewtwo: As if they expected me to go along with their dumb movie for the money they were offering me!
Narrator: Mewtwo demanded to be paid a huge sum of money, more than the producers could afford.
Samuel Oak: It was no use. Mewtwo just wouldn't co-operate. So we had to go with our backup plan.
Lt. Surge: They wanted me to dress up in a Mewtwo costume as play his part, but I couldn't. You ever try standing up on your toes the way Mewtwo does? It killed my feet!
Brock: It was hopeless. It was looking like I would never get to see my beautiful self on the big screen.
Narrator: Then a miracle happened. On his way to Mewtwo's house to concede the money needed to acquire his services (which would have surely killed all hopes of the movie making a profit), Samuel Oak looked in the window and saw something amazing: Mewtwo was attached to a machine which recharges his powers. It turned out he was not as strong as everyone thought. The producers used this to blackmail Mewtwo into the movie.
Mewtwo: I reluctantly agreed to be in the movie.
Narrator: But Mewtwo wasn't the only problem.
Mewtwo: To be perfectly honest.... Mew's kind of a ditz.
Samuel Oak: That Mew wouldn't co-operate with anything. All it wanted to do was play around. Most of the early shots of it in the movie were taken without Mew even knowing. We had to trick it. Of course, when it came to the big fight scene, that's when Mew wanted to get serious. Pokemon....can't work with them, can't work without them.
Narrator: So, with everything set. "Mewtwo Strikes Back" turned out to be a smash at the box office. But more bad things were to come in the TV series. When "Behind the Cartoon" continues, we'll look at the real reason why Brock left the show.