Lord of the
"Unknown" Tower
ENTEI






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Dogasu's Backpack | Movies & Specials Guide | Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI

Pocket Monsters Movie #3
Pocket Monsters Mini-Movie #3
結晶塔の帝王ENTEI
("The Lord of the Crystal Tower Entei")

"Spell of the Unown"

ピチューとピカチュウ
("Pichu and Pikachu")

"Pikachu and Pichu"





"Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI" Synopsis

While on their journey, Satoshi and his friends are heading to the nearest town with a Pokemon Center to let their battle-weary pokemon rest.  The name of this town is Greenfield and it was supposed to be a peaceful resort area where one can relax...

However, in a large mansion lives an incredibly lonely girl named Mii.  One night, Mii is arranging these strange alphabet cards left behind by her missing father Sully when the mysterious pokemon Unknown suddenly appear.  Soon after the entirety of Greenfield is covered in these strange crystals!  Satoshi and his friends are reacting to this sudden change when the legendary pokemon Entei appears before them and then takes Satoshi's mother back with it to the Crystal Tower! Mii calls this Entei "papa," so does that mean her father Sully has become an Entei...?  Can Satoshi rescue his mother and restore peace to Greenfield!? 

Satoshi and his mother, Entei and Mii, and the link between parent and child that cannot be lost...it's a Pokemon adventure of love and courage!


"Pichu and Pikachu" Synopsis

Satoshi and his friends have come to a big city!  There, Pikachu meets the Pichu brothers - the mischievous younger brother and the more mild-mannered younger brother.  Pikachu then notices that the younger brother is goofing off on the top of a highrise building!  It ends up on the roof of a bus, dunked in a river, and catapulted onto the back of a Delvil!  Pikachu and its friends chase the Delvil to a secret base made up of tires where the ruckus they cause brings the whole thing tumbling down!  They call on the other pokemon in the area to come help and combine their powers to rebuild it.  But now it's time to go back home!  Pikachu, followed by the Pichu brothers, rush toward the building where Satoshi and his friends are waiting.  Will Pikachu make it back in time?

The Mythical Third Movie

The first idea the film's writer Shudou Takeshi had for the movie was very different from the movie that ended up being produced. The original idea was to have a real world dinosaur fossil discovered which would then open up questions about what happened to all the real world animals that used to inhabit the Pokemon world. This Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil was later going to come to life wreak havoc throughout the Kanto Region and it would have been up to Satoshi, his friends, and the Rocket-Dan to stop it. The main theme of the film would have been "What is this world that I'm in?"

Tyrannosaurus Rex

You can read more about this version of the film and why it was rejected here.


Promotions for the Movie

Coming Soon!

Behind the Scenes

Shudou Takeshi Sakai Noriko
This was the final film to be written by Shudou Takeshi, though in reality he only wrote the first draft due to illness. Sonoda Hideki was brought in to help finish the story, making this the only film in the series to have two people work on the screenplay. You can read more about his departure from the series here.
Pichu and Pikachu is sort-of kind-of banned in Japan following the 2009 arrest of the short's narrator Sakai Noriko. More information about this scandal can be found here.

Notes

The official English title for this movie in Japan, as seen on its title screen and various promotional materials, is "Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI"  The title is not a translation of the Japanese title (that would be "The Lord of the Crystal Tower Entei") and instead just seems to be a title the movie producers thought would sound cool.  The 4Kids dub ended up going with a completely different title altogether though an early promotional teaser for the film did use the original Japanese title.



The idea of the Unknown causing everything to turn into crystal comes from J.G. Ballard novel "The Crystal World." The two stories are completely different but screenplay author Shudou Takeshi liked the scenery depicted in the novel and wanted to see it brought to the big screen.

When Mr. Shudou heard that Takenaka Naoto had been cast as Entei he was ecstatic. Twenty years earlier Mr. Shudou had written the screenplay for the TV drama version of the popular manga New Tonda Couple (新・翔んだカップル) and had written one of the side characters with Mr. Takenaka in mind. The role was eventually given to somebody else and so the idea of finally getting to work with Mr. Takenaka after all these years was very exciting for Mr. Shudou.

Entei was purposefully written so that everything it says has meaning; it doesn't talk if it doesn't have anything important to say. One such line, "If that's what Mii wishes..." (ミーがそれを望むなら……), was written specifically with Entei's voice actor Takenaka Naoto in mind.

The mansion where Mii lives was based on the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, particularly its twin towers. Each of the towers in the movie represents a different version of Mii; the Mii from the fictional world she created and the Mii after she wakes up in the real world. The movie staff did not go to Germany for location scouting.

All 26 Unknown in the film have their own unique cries.

The pamphlet that went on sale at the time of the movie's release reveals Mii's age at various points in the movie. She's 5 years old throughout most of the film but she fights Takeshi she turns into an 18 year old. When she fights Kasumi she transforms again, this time into a 10 year old. Yajima Akiko performs the voice for all three versions of Mii.

Additionally, each room has its own theme. The room where Mii battles Takeshi is the "Spring Room" (春の部屋) and the room where she battles Kasumi is the "Summer Room" (夏の部屋). The room where Mii keeps Satoshi's mother turns into "Winter Room" (冬の部屋) after she screams when Satoshi arrives to take his mother back.

The Pikachu short is sorta-kinda banned in Japan following the arrest of Sakai Noriko. More information will be posted at a later date.


The production staff jokingly refer to this Pikachu short and the two that came before it as the "tug of war trilogy" since all three films feature scenes of the pokemon pulling on ropes for one reason or another.

Sources:
Shudou Takeshi's Blog Number 212
"The Easy Parts of the Plot to Figure Out "Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI""
The "Data-Book" that came with the Pikachu the Movie Box 1998 - 2006 DVD box set

Release / General Information

Japanese Premiere Date July 8th, 2000
Domestic Premiere Date April 6th, 2001
Runtime
("Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI")
70 minutes
Runtime
("Pichu and Pikachu")
23 minutes
Opening Theme
("Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI")
OK! 2000
("OK! 2000")
Closing Theme
("Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI")

虹がうまれた日
("The Day a Rainbow was Born")
by Mori Kumiko
Opening Theme
("Pichu and Pikachu")
ピチュピカ♪スウィング
("Pichu Pika Swing")
by Neo★Pockets
Closing Theme
("Pichu and Pikachu")
ともだち記念日
("Friend Anniversary")
by Sakai Noriko and Takenaka Naoto

Home Releases

Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI and Pichu and Pikachu have seen a number of home releases between the two of them.



Detailed information about each home release will be available shortly.
 
Main Staff
Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI

Opening Credits
Production
製作
Pikachu Project 2000
(ピカチュウプロジェクト2000)
Original Story
原案
Tajiri Satoshi (田尻 )
Superviser
スーパーバイザー
Ishihara Tsunekazu (石原恒 和)
Animation Supervisor
アニメーション監修
Kotabe Youichi (小田部羊一)
Publication
掲載
Shogakukan Monthly CoroCoro Comics
(小学館月刊コロコロコミック)
Supplemental CoroCoro Comics
(別冊コロコロコミック)
Monthly Comic GOTTA (月刊コミックGOTTA)
Shougaku Ichi-Nensei (小学一年生)
Shougaku Ni-Nensei
(小学二年生)
Shougaku San-Nensei (小学三年生)
Shougaku Yon-Nensei (小学四年生)
Shougaku Go-Nensei (小学五年生)
Shougaku Roku-Nensei (小学六年生)
Mebae (めばえ)
Kindergarten (幼稚園)
Educational Kindergarten (学習幼稚園)
TV-kun (てれびくん)
Ciao (ちゃお)
Executive Producer
エグゼクティブプロデューサー
Kubo Masakazu (久保 雅一)
Kawaguchi Takashi (川口孝司)
Original Character Design
キャラクター原 案
Sugimori Ken (杉森建)
Fujiwara Motofumi (藤原基史)
Morimoto Shigeki (森本茂樹)
Yoshida Hironobu (吉田宏信)
Ohta Toshi (太田 敏)

Nishida Atsuko (西田敦子)
Saitou Muneo (斉藤むねお)
Yoshikawa Reina (吉川玲奈)
Screenplay
脚本
Shudou Takeshi (首藤剛志)
Sonoda Hideki (園田英樹)
Production
演出
Hidaka Masamitsu (日高政光)
Sutou Norihiko (須藤典彦)
Character Design
キャラクターデザイン
Ichi'ishi Sayuri (一石小百合)
Matsubara Norihiro (松原徳弘)
Kagawa Hisashi (香川 久)
Chief Animator
総作画監督
Kagawa Hisashi (香川 久)
Art Director
美術監督
Kanemura Katsuyoshi (金村勝義)
Director of Photography
撮影監督
Shirai Hisao (白井久男)
Editing
編集
Henmi Toshio (辺見俊夫)
Sound Director
音響監督
Mima Masafumi (三間雅文)
Music
音楽
Miyazaki Shinji (宮崎慎二)
Opening Theme Song
オープニングテーマソング
Tanaka Hirokazu (たなかひろかず)
Animation Producer
アニメーションプロデューサー
Okuno Toshisato (奥野敏聡)
Kanda Shuukichi (神田修吉)
Animation Production
アニメーション制作
OLM
Producers
プロデューサー
Yoshikawa Chouji (吉川兆二)
Matsusako Yukako (松迫由香子)
Mori Takemoto (盛 武源)
Production
制作
Shougakukan Production
(小学館プロダクション)
Director
監督
Yuyama Kunihiko (湯山邦彦)

Principal Cast
"Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI"

Voice Cast
Satoshi Rika Matsumoto
松本梨香
Veronica Taylor
Pikachu Ohtani Ikue
大谷育江
Ohtani Ikue
Orchid-Hakase
Ishizuka Unshou
石塚運昇
Stan Hart
Kasumi Iizuka Mayumi
飯塚雅弓
Racheal Lillis
Takeshi
Ueda Yuuji
上田祐司
Eric Stuart
Kenji
Seki Tomokazu
関智一
Ted Lewis

Mii
Yajima Akiko
矢島晶子
Amy Birnbaum
Musashi Hayashibara Megumi
林原めぐみ
Racheal Lillis
Kojirou Miki Shin'ichirou
三木眞一郎
Eric Stuart
Nyasu Inuyama Inuko
犬山犬子
Maddie Blaustein
Mama
Toyoshima Masami
豊島まさみ
Veronica Taylor
Joi
Shiraishi Ayako
白石文子
???
Junsa
Nishimura Chinami
西村ちなみ
Lee Quick

Togepi
Ko'orogi Satomi
こおろぎさとみ
Ko'orogi Satomi
Chicorita
Kanai Mika
かないみか
???
Rokon
Aikawa Rikako
愛河里花子
???
Aipom
Kozakura Etsuko
小桜エツ子
???
Mantain
Konishi Katsuyuki
小西克幸
???
Reporter
Soumi Youko
沢海陽子
???
Cameraman
Sakaguchi Kouichi
坂口候一
???

Special Guest Voices
Entei Takenaka Naoto
竹中直人
Dan Green
John
Yakumaru Hirohide
薬丸裕英
Ed Paul
Rin
Katou Ai
加藤あい
Lisa Ortiz

David
Yamadera Kou'ichi
山寺宏一
???
Principal Cast
"Pichu and Pikachu"

Pikachu Ohtani Ikue
大谷育江
Ohtani Ikue
Pichu (older brother)
Touma Yumi
冬馬由美
Touma Yumi
Pichu (younger brother)
Ko'orogi Satomi
こおろぎさとみ
Ko'orogi Satomi

Nyasu Inuyama Inuko
犬山犬子
Maddie Blaustein
Chicorita
Kanai Mika
かないみか
Kanai Mika
Fushigidane Hayashibara Megumi
林原めぐみ
Tara Jayne
Koduck
Aikawa Rikako
愛河里花子
Michael Haigney
Iwaku
Ishizuka Unshou
石塚運昇
Ishizuka Unshou
Hitodeman
Miki Shin'ichirou
三木眞一郎
Miki Shin'ichirou
Waninoko
Nishimura Chinami
西村ちなみ
Kayzie Rogers

Delvil
Tatsuta Naoki
龍田直樹
???
Kapoeira
Nakamura Daiki
中村大樹
???
Kabigon
Ogata Mitsuru
小形 満
???
Buby
Yukiji
ゆきじ
???
Kimawari
Kozakura Etsuko
小桜エツ子
???
Tsubotsubo
Sakaguchi Kouichi
坂口候一
???
Koratta
Konishi Katsuyuki
小西克幸
???
Nazonokusa
Tsuji Kaori
辻 香織
???
Ohtachi
Yuzuki Ryouka
柚木涼香
???

Satoshi Rika Matsumoto
松本梨香
Veronica Taylor
Kasumi Iizuka Mayumi
飯塚雅弓
Racheal Lillis
Takeshi Ueda Yuuji
上田祐司
Eric Stuart

Special Guest Voices
Narrator Sakai Noriko
酒井法子
Rodger Parsons

Pre-Order Bonus

Fans who purchased a pre-order ticket also received a poster featuring all (at the time) 251 pokemon.

Pre-Order Ticket

This was also the first movie to give something out to everyone who watched the movie regardless of whether or not they bought a pre-order ticket. Everyone who bought a ticket received both a Kapoeira and a Pupuprin "Pokemon Card NEO" card.

TCG Cards

No event pokemon were distributed at this time.

Box Office Performance

Japan
Gross-to-date:  4,800,005,000 yen
Number of Days in Theaters:  63 days
Ranking:  2
→ 3 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 3 → 4 → 4 → 6 → Out of the top ten
Sources:  Pokepale

United States
Gross-to-date:  $17,052,128
Number of Days in Theaters:  66
Ranking:  4 → 8 → 15 → 23 → 28 → 37 → 55 → 44 → 57
Sources:  Box Office Mojo

The Manga Adaptation

The manga adaptation of Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI was printed in booklet included in a summer 2000 issue of CoroCoro Comics.

Manga adaptation

It was never collected into graphic novel format and is therefore one of the most difficult manga to get a hold of.

Soundtracks

A number of CDs were released specifically for this movie.

Detailed information about each home release will be available shortly.

Further Information

Comparison
("Lord of the "Unknown" Tower ENTEI")
Comparison
("Pichu and Pikachu")
Pamphlet
Tidbits from the movie's pamphlet

Rotten Tomatoes
IMDB Entry for 
"Pokémon 3 The Movie"

 

 

 

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