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| Season | Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest (Season 18) · Noibat & Pikachu’s movie arc (XY076–XY078) |
| Episode | Season 18, episode 41 · English episode 884 · Japanese episode 878 · Bulbapedia code XY078 |
| English title | Lights! Camera! Pika! |
| Japanese title | ピカチュウはスター！？ 映画デビュー！！ Pikachū wa Sutā!? Eiga Debyū!! — “Pikachu Becomes a Star!? Its Movie Debut!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 18 June 2015 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 21 November 2015 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Hideki Sonoda |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Getta Banban (Mad-Paced Getter) – Tomohisa Sako · Gaogao Ōrusutā (Roaring All-Stars) – Little Glee Monster |
| English opening | Be a Hero – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth |
| Previous episode | A Frolicking Find in the Flowers! (XY089) |
| Next episode | Tag Team Battle Inspiration! (XY090) |
Filler / stand-alone episodePikachu’s movieAired out of order
Lights! Camera! Pika! is the 41st episode of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest, the eighteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 884th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 878, Bulbapedia code XY078). It first aired in Japan on 18 June 2015 and in the United States on 21 November 2015. It falls within the season’s Noibat & Pikachu’s movie stretch (EP76–EP78).
Held back in the US from its production slot to Saturday 21 November 2015, between XY089 and XY090, for reasons Bulbapedia does not give — which makes it the season’s 41st episode on TV and DVD. In Japan it had aired on 18 June 2015 as the second half of a one-hour special with XY077, and Canada’s Teletoon showed it on 14 November 2015 with Hoopa — The Mischief Pokémon and the premiere of Hoopa and the Clash of Ages.
Synopsis
Ash’s Pikachu is cast as the hero of a film made by a Pikachu-loving director, and the episode shows both the making of the movie and the finished picture, Super Pikachu, followed by its bloopers. It opens cold in the middle of a scene: Pikachu Libre’s gang has captured Pikachu Belle and Pikachu Pop Star, Ash’s Pikachu stands before them dressed as a superhero, and when Ash shouts encouragement from off-screen and Serena hushes him, a director’s voice calls “Cut!” Earlier, walking through a forest, Ash, Serena and Clemont find a town full of Pikachu dancing in a circle, and when Ash’s Pikachu runs up a tower to greet them, the film director Frank is so struck by its star power that he asks Ash to let it play the lead in his next Pikachu movie.
At Pikachu Manor, Frank’s Pikachu-themed estate, he and his granddaughter and assistant Jean introduce five Cosplay Pikachu and an unfinished script, and the group offers to help. Jean explains that Frank has loved Pikachu since he was a boy. On set Gurdurr holds the microphone, Heliolisk, Magnemite and Swirlix provide the lighting, Braixen and Torkoal supply fire and smoke, Weezing makes mist and Frank’s other Pikachu generate the electricity. Because one stunt is too dangerous for Pikachu, Hawlucha performs it in a Pikachu costume. Serena films behind-the-scenes footage and interviews Frank, who says he wants to share his feelings about Pikachu with children around the world. The shoot ends with Pikachu flying into the sunset on a wire, Clemont edits the film overnight, and Ash, Serena and Bonnie record voices.
The finished film is screened for everyone, Pokémon included. In a peaceful town of dancing Pikachu, Pikachu Libre’s gang causes trouble and defeats Pikachu Rock Star and Pikachu, Ph. D. Super Pikachu arrives and drives the gang away, but they kidnap Pikachu Belle and Pikachu Pop Star and challenge the hero to come to a nearby mountain alone. Already injured, Super Pikachu flies off to face them and is badly beaten, but as the gang prepares to finish it, the Pikachu from the town arrive to block the attack. Combining their power, they drive Pikachu Libre’s gang away and rescue the captives. Everyone celebrates the movie, and the episode closes with a reel of bloopers and behind-the-scenes shots from the production.
Major Events
- Pikachu’s movie. The director Frank casts Ash’s Pikachu as Super Pikachu
- The episode shows the shoot, the finished film and its bloopers in four segments, whose Japanese titles translate as Pikachu Becomes a Star!? Its Movie Debut!!, How to Pikachu The Movie! OK! Action!!, The Lightning-fast Hero! Super Pikachu!! and Pikachu’s Shocking Bloopers
- No Who’s That Pokémon? or Pokémon Quiz
- Aired in the US on 21 November 2015, after XY089
- Debuts of Frank and Jean
- Anime debut of the Cosplay Pikachu
Trivia
- The English title plays on the film-set call “Lights, camera, action!”, for Pikachu’s starring role.
- The screenplay is by Hideki Sonoda.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kalos story.
Changes in the English Dub
- The dub keeps the stylised cards of the episode’s four segments, with Ash reading the first and the director, Frank, the others
- The dub ends with “That’s all, folks!”
- The first episode with music from the seventeenth movie and Pikachu, What’s This Key?
- An instrumental Getta Banban, replaced in the dub by another instrumental
Part of our Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.