Episode Stats:

Japanese Mini-Movie 3:  "Pichuu to Pikachuu"

(Pichu and Pikachu)

American Mini-Movie 3:  "Pikachu and Pichu"
Japanese Air Date:  July 8th, 2000
American Air Date:  April 6th, 2001
Important Places:  Millennium Town (no dub name)

Satoshi-tachi are resting in Millenium Town when they let their pokemon out for a while to relax.  Satoshi tells them that he'll return when both the hands on the clock are straight (six o'clock).  The pokemon are playing when Pikachu spots two Pichu brothers, playing near a ledge!  Pikachu goes after them to save them, but by the time it reaches the two pokemon they are already out of danger.  Pikachu notices that the two Pichu want to play with Satoshi-tachi's other pokemon, but since they can't hear the little mouse pokemon, Pikachu realizes that they must go to them.  The Pichu know how to get to the other pokemon, so Pikachu follows them throughout the city.  They are sidetracked after being chased by a Derubiru for a while, but a giant tire structure falls on the dog pokemon!  Pikachu and the two Pichu, along with the other pokemon in the area, work together to save Derubiru and prevent the mound of tires from collapsing.  Pikachu and the Pichu resume their journey, and Pikachu arrives just as soon as the clock strikes six.  Pikachu says goodbye to the two Pichu just as Satoshi calls everyone in for a party!  It's a celebration of the anniversary of the day Pikachu and Satoshi met!  All the pokemon enjoy delicious foods as the short comes to a close.
 

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Thoughts
This is my favorite of the mini-movies so far.  I really like the jazzy soundtrack, the better-than-average animation, and the setting--Satoshi-tachi spend far too little time in big cities (and way too much time in random forests and woods) in the TV show, so seeing Pikachu take in the wonders a big city has to offer is refreshing.  And of the three mini-movies dubbed so far, this third one fared the best.  Other than the regrettable loss of the opening theme, this mini-movie came out pretty good. 

Pichu, Derubiru, Yamikarasu, and Upaa keep their Japanese voices.

Title Card
The title card (the little thing saying "Pikachu the Movie 2000") was given a different animation for the dub and now reads "Pikachu the Movie 2001."  For your information, the Japanese version was released in 2000 (hence the "Pikachu the Movie 2000" card) while the dub was released in 2001 (prompting 4Kids to change the title card).

Music Edit/Cut--1 minute, 30 seconds
The opening animation (and the song "Pichu Pika Swing") was cut out entirely from the dub.  Originally, the camera zoomed out past the clouds, the short's title ("Pichuu to Pikachuu") danced on the screen, and then the opening animation (with credits and everything) played.  At the end of the song, Pikachu and the two Pichu appear at the bottom of the screen, jump up, and kind of pull the curtain to the next shot. 

In the dub, the camera zooms out past the clouds and the short's title ("Pikachu and Pichu") dances on the screen while Pikachu and the two Pichu appear at the bottom of the screen to do their scene transition.  4Kids basically copied the little animation of Pikachu and the two Pichu from the Japanese opening and pasted it on the dub's title screen. 

I don't even know why 4Kids did this.  They kept the opening theme to the other mini-movies, so why remove it from this one?  Were they really so pressed for time that they didn't have the time to get a song together for the opening? 

Dialogue Edit
The narrator for the dubbed mini-movie is the same narrator from the TV series, while in the Japanese version it's someone different.  Luckily, 4Kids decided to actually translate the narrator's dialogue (unlike the first mini-movie, where they completely rewrote the narrator's part), so I can't really complain.  It's better than nothing.

Music Edit
To no one's surprise, the ending credits were cut out.  Really, did you expect it to be left in?

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