Pokémon: Jirachi—Wish Maker

Pokémon: Jirachi—Wish Maker
File:Pokémon Jirachi Wish Maker poster.jpg Japanese Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kunihiko Yuyama
Produced by	Yukako Matsusako Takemoto Mori Choji Yoshikawa
Screenplay by	Hideki Sonoda
Based on	Pokémon by Satoshi Tajiri
Starring	see below
Narrated by	Unshō Ishizuka
Music by	Shinji Miyazaki
Cinematography	Takaya Mizutani Hisao Shirai
Edited by	Toshio Henmi
Production company	OLM, Inc.
Distributed by	Toho (Japan) Miramax Films (United States)
Release dates	July 19, 2003 (2003-07-19) (Japan)
Running time	81 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥4.5 billion

Pokémon: Jirachi — Wish Maker is a 2003 animated adventure fantasy film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama. It is the sixth theatrical release in the Pokémon franchise. It was accompanied by the short Gotta Dance.

The film was released in theaters in Japan on July 19, 2003, by Toho. The English-language adaptation was distributed by Miramax Films and released direct-to-video on June 1, 2004. The events of the film take place during the sixth season of Pokémon: Advanced, being the first film to feature characters from Advanced Generation.

The featured song in this movie is Asuca Hayashi's A Small Thing (小さきもの, Chiisaki Mono) in the Japanese version while the English version, Make a Wish, was sung by Cindy Mizelle. The tune of this song is also used as the lullaby May and Max's mother used to sing to them when they were children. This is the first movie in which the original Japanese song is also clearly used in the English version, and the first time in which the names of the guest characters were the same in both the English and Japanese versions.

The movie's main location, Forina, is based on Wulingyuan, located in the Hunan Province of China.

Plot

Gotta Dance!

The plot of the short centers on Team Rocket and their newest base. After building their base, the Pokémon of Team Rocket manage to successfully capture three Whismur to provide entertainment to Giovanni when he arrives. To force the Whismur to cooperate, Meowth uses a baton that, when a switch was pressed on the end, made Pokémon dance uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, Pikachu, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip and Lotad stumble upon the base and attempt to free the Whismur. One of the running gags in the short is how the dancing stick is constantly activated or on by accident. This leads to the accidental destruction of the home thanks to the controllable dancing of the Pokémon, including a wild Ludicolo and Loudred.

Jirachi—Wish Maker

The story revolves around the Millennium Comet, which appears in the night sky for seven days once every thousand years. This is also when the Mythical Pokémon Jirachi awakens from its long slumber to absorb the comet's energy. This energy, in turn, is ringing life to the area known as Forina where it rests. This time, however, a magician known as Butler and his girlfriend Diane unearth the stone that encases Jirachi, and take it away from Forina.

Meanwhile, in celebration of the Millennium Comet's appearance, Ash Ketchum and his friends May, Max and Brock arrive at a wide crater, which is where the festival of the Millennium Comet is meant to be. Upon seeing nothing where the festival should be, they decide to wait until morning and go to sleep. While they're sleeping, the festival arrives; Pikachu, Ash's Pokémon companion, notices first and wakes all the others, and they watch the festival being set up.

At the festival, May buys a seven-panelled novelty that is said to grant a person one wish if a panel is closed for each night the comet appears and is visible in the sky. Later, Ash and Max accidentally volunteer for one of Butler's magic tricks because Max hears a voice coming from the rock Diane is holding, and runs down to the stage. Max is introduced to Jirachi, who he hears talking from inside the rock. Butler lets Max take the rock, from which Jirachi emerges later that night. Hoping its wishing ability is true, Max wishes for much candy, and it appears – but it is revealed that instead of creating the candy, Jirachi teleported it from a stall in the festival.

The intentions of Butler are soon revealed: he was a former scientist for Team Magma who was seeking to resurrect the Legendary Pokémon Groudon. Butler had devised the perfect system, but could not find the necessary amount of power to fuel and was fired from Team Magma, to his humiliation. To try and fuel his machine again, he hoped to use Jirachi's energy for his own purposes. Seeing this danger, the Pokémon Absol, whose presence usually indicated impending disaster, arrives to help Jirachi and alert the group.

Butler attempts to harness Jirachi's power, but is interrupted inside the circus tent by Ash and his friends. With the help of Diane and Absol, they take Butler's bus to Forina so that Jirachi can go home; unknown to them, Butler's Mightyena places a tracking device on the bus as it is leaving. As Ash and his friends travel along bumpy terrain, the device falls off, but Butler still discovers where they are headed. Before the day Jirachi has to return, Max feels upset about losing his new friend, so Ash tells him about one of his friends, Misty. He explains that even though they don't see each other anymore, they will always be friends (this dialogue was different in the original, where Ash just mentions that a thousand years to Jirachi would feel like just an instant to him). Before the group can make it back to Forina, they realize that Butler had followed them there and set a trap. Butler manages to once again steal Jirachi in an attempt to take its power again.

When Butler sets his plan in motion, however, a fake Groudon monster is created instead of the real thing. Absorbing the energy from the surrounding area, the monster begins to turn Forina into a wasteland, killing all plants in sight and absorbing all living creatures, including May, Brock and Team Rocket, who had followed them the whole way. When Diane is absorbed by the fake Groudon, Butler realizes his long-time relationship with her is what is more important, and with Ash and Max's help he is able to distract the fake Groudon.

Eventually, Jirachi reabsorbs the energy used to create Groudon, and uses Doom Desire to destroy it for good, before leaving for another thousand years of slumber. May, in all the excitement, forgets to close the last panel of her novelty, but simply brushes it off. Though she never reveals what she wished for, she is confident it will still come true. Before they leave Forina, Max hears Jirachi's voice one last time, reminding him that they will always be friends.

During the end credits, May gets tired of walking until the man who sold her the wishing star gives them a lift on his truck. Then they look at stars, the group sees constellations which form Pokémon from Teddiursa to Pikachu, and they all watch the festival's fireworks before continuing their adventure.

Cast

Main article: List of characters in the Pokémon anime series

Character	Japanese	English
Ash Ketchum	Rica Matsumoto	Veronica Taylor
Pikachu	Ikue Otani
May	KAORI	Veronica Taylor
Max	Fushigi Yamada	Amy Birnbaum
Brock	Yuuji Ueda	Eric Stuart
Narrator	Unshō Ishizuka	Mike Pollock
Jessie	Megumi Hayashibara	Rachael Lillis
James	Shinichiro Miki	Eric Stuart
Meowth	Inuko Inuyama	Maddie Blaustein
Wobbuffett	Yuuji Ueda	Kayzie Rogers
Butler	Kouichi Yamadera Kenji Nojima (young)	Wayne Grayson
Diane	Riho Makise Natsuki Yoshihara (young)	Megan Hollingshead
Bogie	Papaya Suzuki	Eric Stuart
Jirachi	Tomiko Suzuki	Kerry Williams
Absol	Megumi Hayashibara	Eric Stuart
Flygon	Shinichiro Miki

Reception

The film was a box office hit. It made ¥4.5 billion at the Japanese box office. It became the second highest-grossing domestic film of the year in Japan.

Critical reception

As opposed to previous films in the series, Pokémon: Jirachi—Wish Maker got fairly positive reviews. Film Music Central gave it a positive review saying that "It’s a fun story, it’s got an adorable mythical Pokémon at the center of the action, and a fairly straightforward plot".

Release

Home media

The original Japanese DVD and VHS were released on December 19, 2003. The English dub was released directly to VHS and DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on June 1, 2004. This was the second Pokémon film (the first being Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns) to be released directly to DVD and VHS in the US. The film was released on DVD in the UK on October 23, 2006 to celebrate the Pokémon 10th Anniversary Tour in Britain. In the UK, the film was released by Paramount Home Entertainment after Bob and Harvey Weinstein left Miramax on September 30, 2005. The film was not released on DVD in Australia and New Zealand until November 9, 2016. Paramount Home Entertainment re-released the film on Blu-ray and DVD on April 4, 2022 in the UK after ViacomCBS (now known as Paramount Global) acquired a 49% stake in Miramax for at least $375 million on April 3, 2020.

The film has had a Blu-ray and DVD release in the US by Miramax Echo Bridge Home Entertainment on April 3, 2012, which is now out of print, as a Miramax Multi-Feature compilation with 3 other Pokémon films, Pokémon 4Ever, Pokémon Heroes and Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys.

External links

• Official website

• Official pokemon.com site
• Pokémon: Jirachi—Wish Maker at IMDb
• Pokémon: Jirachi—Wish Maker at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

Movie #	Japanese title	English title	Released	Featured Pokémon
1	Mewtwo Strikes Back (ミュウツーの逆襲, Myūtsū no Gyakushū)	Mewtwo Strikes Back	July 18, 1998	Mewtwo, Mew
2	Revelation Lugia (幻のポケモン ルギア爆誕, Maboroshi no Pokemon Rugia Bakutan, Mirage Pokémon: Lugia's Explosive Birth)	The Power of One	July 17, 1999	Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia
3	Lord of the 'UNKNOWN' Tower: Entei (結晶塔の帝王 ENTEI, Kesshōtō no Teiō ENTEI, Emperor of The Crystal Tower: ENTEI)	Spell of the Unown	July 8, 2000	Entei, Unown
4	Celebi: A Timeless Encounter (セレビィ 時を超えた遭遇（であい）, Serebyi Toki o Koeta Deai, Celebi: The Meeting that Traversed Time)	Celebi: Voice of the Forest	July 7, 2001	Suicune, Celebi
5	The Guardians of Altomare (水の都の護神 ラティアスとラティオス, Mizu no Miyako no Mamorigami Ratiasu to Ratiosu, Guardian Gods of the Capital of Water: Latias and Latios)	Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias	July 13, 2002	Latias, Latios
6	Wishing Star of the Seven Nights (七夜の願い星 ジラーチ, Nanayo no Negaiboshi Jirāchi, Wishing Star of the Seven Nights: Jirachi)	Jirachi Wish Maker	July 19, 2003	Groudon, Jirachi
7	Deoxys The Visitor (裂空の訪問者 デオキシス, Rekkū no Hōmonsha Deokishisu, Visitor from the Sky-Splitting: Deoxys)	Destiny Deoxys	July 17, 2004	Rayquaza, Deoxys
8	Mew and the Wave Hero (ミュウと波導（はどう）の勇者 ルカリオ, Myū to Hadō no Yūsha Rukario, Mew and the Aura Hero: Lucario)	Lucario and the Mystery of Mew	July 16, 2005	Mew, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Lucario
9	The Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea (ポケモンレンジャーと蒼海（うみ）の王子 マナフィ, Pokemon Renjā to Umi no Ōji Manafi, The Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy)	Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea	July 15, 2006	Kyogre, Manaphy
10	Dialga VS Palkia VS Darkrai (ディアルガVSパルキアVSダークライ, Diaruga Tai Parukia Tai Dākurai)	The Rise of Darkrai	July 14, 2007	Dialga, Palkia, Darkrai
11	Giratina and the Bouquet of the Frozen Sky: Shaymin (ギラティナと氷空（そら）の花束 シェイミ, Giratina to Sora no Hanataba Sheimi)	Giratina and the Sky Warrior	July 19, 2008	Regigigas, Giratina, Shaymin, Dialga
12	Arceus: To Conquering Space-Time (アルセウス 超克の時空へ, Aruseusu Chōkoku no Jikū e)	Arceus and the Jewel of Life	July 18, 2009	Heatran, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Arceus
13	Phantom Ruler: Zoroark (幻影の覇者 ゾロアーク, Gen'ei no Hasha Zoroāku)	Zoroark: Master of Illusions	July 10, 2010	Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Celebi, Zorua, Zoroark
14	Victini and the Black Hero: Zekrom (ビクティニと黒き英雄ゼクロム, Bikutini to Kuroki Eiyū Zekuromu)	White: Victini and Zekrom	July 16, 2011	Victini, Zekrom, Reshiram
	Victini and the White Hero: Reshiram (ビクティニと白き英雄 レシラム, Bikutini to Shiroki Eiyū Reshiramu)	Black: Victini and Reshiram	July 16, 2011	Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom
15	Kyurem vs. the Sacred Swordsman: Keldeo (キュレムVS聖剣士 ケルディオ, Kyuremu tai Seikenshi Kerudio)	Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice	July 14, 2012	Kyurem, Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Keldeo
16	ExtremeSpeed Genesect: Mewtwo Awakens (神速のゲノセクト ミュウツー覚醒, Shinsoku no Genosekuto: Myūtsū Kakusei)	Genesect and the Legend Awakened	July 13, 2013	Mewtwo, Genesect
17	Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (破壊の繭とディアンシー, Hakai no Mayu to Dianshī)		July 19, 2014	Xerneas, Yveltal, Diancie
18	The Archdjinni of the Rings: Hoopa (光輪の超魔神 フーパ, Ring no chōmajin Hoopa)	Hoopa and the Clash of Ages	July 18, 2015	Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Hoopa
19	Volcanion and the Ingenious Magearna (ボルケニオンと機巧のマギアナ, Volcanion to karakuri no Magiana)	N/A	July 16, 2016	Volcanion, Magearna