A New Home for the Pokemon Sun & Moon Series
Satoshi says Alola to Cartoon Network and Alola to Disney XD
It’s no secret, I’m a pokemon fan and I have been for the past 20 years and at the ripe age of 29 going on 30, I am not ashamed to admit that. I’ve played every game the series had to offer from classics like, Red and Blue to the much anticipated newly released Hawaiian themed Sun and Moon series (get excited). I’ve seen all 780+ of these pocket monsters and I adore how much the series has (dare I say it?) evolved.
As much as I’ve played the games, I’ve also found myself interested in the anime series as well. I started (like most) with the dubbed US series, which first aired in 1998 on Kids WB, then later moved to Cartoon Network. As time went on and my taste in anime became more refined, I moved over to the subtitled series and even sometimes watched it in complete Japanese, without ANY subtitles, just because I was fascinated by the battles and I’ve seen enough to know what was what and heard enough to understand some Japanese.
Eventually, I grew out of the series by the end of Pokemon Black & White in Dec. 2013, yet I still checked in and out of the development of Satoshi (better known in the US as Ash Ketchum) and his many adventures. But one thing about the Pokemon animated series that every fan knew was for the bulk of its run, it aired on Cartoon Network. But with the new Sun and Moon revamping the entire series, the anime followed suit and made some changes, not just with the format, but network as well.
When their corporate sister station Kids WB dropped the series in order to focus more on in-house produced series, Cartoon Network picked up and debuted the Battle Frontier story arc starting on September 8th 2006. Anime on Cartoon Network was booming more than ever, so I didn’t hesitate to wake up early to enjoy some good old fashioned Saturday morning cartoons and cereal (I’ll do the math for you, I was 18). Pokemon being part of that was a glorious bonus. The series was an obvious success for Cartoon network as it ran on the Network for 10 years.
Starting December 5th, 2016, Disney XD will be running not only the new Pokemon series, “Pokemon Sun and Moon,” but also the previous 19 seasons and 15 movies over the course of a multi-year distribution deal. This comes as a general shock for most, but at the same time with the direction of the series, it makes sense.
Satoshi has always been trapped in a 10 year olds body, but with every new series, he has seen some slight changes in his, hats, clothes and animation. The most dramatic change was with the X&Y series, where the character grew a few inches, slimmed down, and even had more details added to his eyes. Still, the biggest change is in his move to Disney XD, a network that has grown since 2009 when it was Toon Disney (2004–09).
Disney XD has been no stranger to big named cartoons, hosting series such as Star Wars Rebels, Ultimate Spiderman, and the popular anime series compared to Pokemon, Yo-Kai Watch. So, why is Pokemon Sun and Moon moving to Disney XD such a big deal? Pokemon when it first aired, had a rather childish tone to it, but as time moved on, the plots got deeper, darker, and more in depth. Character development on the humans as well as the Pokemon became more evident. Comic relief characters like Team Rocket took a backseat and started to appear less frequently throughout the series. The dialogue changes and darker tone became more prounounced in the subtitled series compared to the dubbed series, which is why I preferred to watch the former. Now Pokemon has taken a more light hearted tone, where everyone seems to be comic relief and Satoshi has gone through the biggest change of 20-year 10-year old life.
With a much softer pallet and a ridiculous look far from the previous series, Sun and Moon has placed Satoshi in school, with a bunch of other colorful and hilarious characters. Even your favorite yellow rodent has seen some changes.
Cartoon Network has seen many changes, so many that it’s gotten to the point where it shouldn’t be called Cartoon Network, just as much as MTV shouldn’t be called Music Television. Their demographic has changed and it’s attracting more individuals in the age range of 13 and up whereas Disney XD still has an audience that ranges from 6 and up.
Now that the Pokemon anime series has made its way back to being child-friendly, it’s better served on a channel like Disney XD where there’s a lighter tone for its characters. One of the rumored reasons for the move is a simple contract expiration for the Pokemon Company and Cartoon Network. But the failed renewal for this contract is obvious, no one is watching on Cartoon Network anymore. Cartoon Network viewers would rather watch the shows that have picked up a more adult tone, like Adventure Time, We Bare Bears, and the hilarious Regular Show.
I’m going to give this new series a chance as I am curious to see how much the revamp will affect the plot of the series. Hell, with this change, I’ll even give it a chance on Disney XD, just to see how much lighter the American version will be. At the end of the day, I will always appreciate Cartoon Network for successfully keeping the anime series alive for the last 10 years. Here’s to another 10 years of Satoshi being 11 on Disney XD.
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