Pokémon: Detective Pikachu Movie Props Are Equally Horrible & Adorable

The stand-in props for Detective Pikachu‘s animated Pokémon characters have been exposed and fans are responding with mixed reactions. Ever since the latest evolution of CGI, many film studios are producing more movies that combine live-action actors with animated characters and elements. Disney, for instance, has been heavily relying on live-action remakes of their classic animated films like The Lion King,Dumbo, and Lady and the Tramp. Video game publishers Sega and The Pokémon Company also hopped on the trend, releasing live-action animated films Sonic the Hedgehog and Detective Pikachu respectively in 2019.

Detective Pikachu takes place in a universe in where humans own Pokémon characters as pets opposed to battle heroes. As the title implies, the film takes on the mystery genre with Tim (Justice Smith), the son of renowned NYC detective, Harry Goodman, teaming up with his dad’s Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) to solve the mystery that led to Harry’s disappearance. Many classic Pokémon characters like Psyduck, Mr. Mime and Bulbasaur make cameos to help Tim and Detective Pikachu on their journey. Adhering to Pokémon lore, Mewtwo appears as the film’s villain and goes head-to-head against Detective Pikachu in one of the films many epic action sequences. The Pokémon themselves are created digitally, but for filming, Detective Pikachu required stand-in props to pose for the animated characters the actors are interacting with – and those stand-in Pokémon have now been revealed.

One Twitter user, @Some_Normie did some in-depth research on Detective Pikachu and blessed the internet by sharing images of the film’s Pokémon stand-ins found on the props company’s website. While the CGI animated Pokémon in the film are, for the most part, extremely adorable, the stand-in props are hit or miss. The Pikachu stand-ins are naturally adorable and pretty true-to-form. Charizard’s head is properly menacing in an appealing way despite looking a bit more dragon-like than typical. Snubbull is also aggressively adorable as the stand-in captures his grumpy disposition and massive under bite. Check out the many Pokémon stand-in props, below.

While most of the Pokémon props are cute, some of the stand-ins are downright disturbing. The stand-in Aipom, as many users pointed out, looks like a terrifying child one might find in a horror movie, while Pangoro resembles an evil clown that escaped from the circus. On the flip side, Mewtwo’s eyes look more crazy than intimidating. Additionally, while Greninja may always be a bit bizarre looking, this prop stand-in takes it to the next level.

Fortunately, these props are solely for the crew and actors’ use and not meant for the public eye. Even though some of these stand-ins are the stuff of nightmares, they served their purpose when it came to filming the movie. In which case, the final product was certainly worth enduring the process of the cast and crew interacting with some of these terrifying props while on set. Fans are now advised to immediately rewatch Detective Pikachu in order to cleanse these images from their mind and replace them with the adorable CGI versions of the Pokémon as presented in the movie.

Source: @Some_Normie/Twitter

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