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FILM NOTES
Pikachu's Vacation premiered in 1998 as the short accompanying Pokémon: The First Movie, produced by OLM under the broader Pokémon Company banner during the franchise's initial theatrical push in the West. Warner Bros. handled the domestic release, introducing American audiences to Pikachu and friends on the big screen at the height of Pokémon's global takeover. The short set aside the trainer battles of the main feature for something gentler, following a group of Pokémon left to their own devices, and it remains a touchstone for fans who see this stretch of the franchise as its most purely charming period, before the property scaled into a much larger media machine.
This 35mm cell pairs Squirtle and Pikachu, two of the property's most recognized faces, together in a single surviving frame. Pikachu needs no introduction as the franchise mascot, while Squirtle carries its own devoted following as one of the original starter Pokémon and a favorite among early collectors. A cell joining them speaks to the ensemble, ensemble-at-play spirit of the short itself, where the animals interact away from any trainer's direction. For collectors, this pairing represents a piece of animation history from the moment Pokémon crossed fully into American theaters.
