Pokémon: The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon | |
---|---|
Genre | Action, Science Fiction |
Written by | Shinzo Fujita |
Directed by | Kunihiko Yuyama (chief) Masamitsu Hidaka |
Starring | see § Cast |
Composer | Shinji Miyazaki |
Country of origin | Japan |
Original language | Japanese |
Production | |
Running time | 45 minutes[1] |
Production companies | OLM, Inc. Shogakukan Production |
Original release | |
Network | |
Release |
|
Pokémon: The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon[lower-alpha 1] is a special hour-long episode of the Pokémon anime series created for the tenth anniversary of the franchise. This special premiered on Kids' WB on April 29, 2006 (with the Kayzie Rogers version). It became available on DVD in the United States on September 19 that year as a special feature on the 2-disc Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew release (with the Sarah Natochenny version), and the original dub aired on October 28 in the same year on Cartoon Network. In Japan the special was available for download[lower-alpha 2] on the official site October 13–31, 2006.
This special marked the first time English-language production was handled exclusively by Pokémon USA (now known as The Pokémon Company International). Previously, 4Kids Entertainment (now known as Konami Cross Media NY) was mostly responsible for the Pokémon anime English dub. As a result of this change, costs were cut, and the English-language version of the special featured an all-new voice cast, replacing the original voice actors for many major characters, many of whom had worked on the show for eight years. The only three who returned were Rodger Parsons as the narrator, James Carter Cathcart (under the pseudonym Jimmy Zoppi), who voiced several recurring characters like Gary Oak, and Kayzie Rogers, who voiced minor characters and over 50 Pokémon throughout the show. Beginning with this special, Cathcart additionally carried over the roles of James and Meowth (using the pseudonym Billy Beach in the special) and Rogers also provided the voice for Max (using the pseudonym Jamie Peacock in the special). Rogers also voiced Ash for the original version of the special, but was subsequently replaced by Sarah Natochenny.
This change caused controversy and extremely negative reception among many fans as it considered one of the worst Pokémon specials ever made. It was announced at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con that the version available on DVD would be improved from that aired on TV, with dialogue being re-recorded after the new voice cast became more familiar with their roles, and after Ash was given another new voice actor, Sarah Natochenny. The redub was included as a bonus disc on the home media release of Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
Cast
Japanese name | English name | Japanese cast | English cast |
---|---|---|---|
Satoshi | Ash Ketchum | Rica Matsumoto | Kayzie Rogers[lower-alpha 3] Sarah Natochenny (Redub) |
Masato | Max | Fushigi Yamada | Kayzie Rogers |
Junsar | Officer Jenny | Chinami Nishimura | |
Sonasu | Wobuffet | Yuji Ueda | |
Takeshi | Brock | Yūji Ueda | Bill Rogers |
Haruka | May | Kaori | Michele Knotz |
Kasumi | Misty | Mayumi Iizuka | |
Musashi Nurse Joy Zenigame |
Jessie Nurse Joy Squirtle |
Megumi Hayashibara Yuriko Yamaguchi Tomoe Hanba | |
Kojiro Nyarth Professor Oak |
James Meowth Professor Oak |
Shin-ichiro Miki Inuko Inuyama Unsho Ishizuka |
James Carter Cathcart[lower-alpha 4] |
Dr. Yung | Dr. Young | Hidenobu Kiuchi | Bill Timoney[lower-alpha 5] |
Narration |
Unsho Ishizuka | Rodger Parsons |