Abstract
In this chapter, O’Melia addresses what Pokémon is, how it was received by the young American audience when it debuted, and how it both conformed to the established narrative and conventional norms of Saturday Morning, and how it conformed to foreign tropes and conventions introduced by Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, while also introducing its own. From this point, she further explores Pokémon’s influence and the reaction of the networks at the time by analyzing Digimon, a Japanese program of the same servant-monster genre, and Jackie Chan Adventures, a popular American production, looking at how they either reflected these emerging foreign conventions or more traditional ones in this second stage of the cultural transition and Japanese integration on Saturday Morning.
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Notes
- 1.
Michael Schneider, “The Weekenders’ Defeats ‘Pokemon’,” Variety, 5 May 2000, accessed 27 February 2015, http://variety.com/2000/tv/news/the-weekenders-defeats-pokemon-1117781251.
- 2.
The generalizations about Pokémon are based on the first five seasons, given the season names of “Indigo League,” “Adventures on the Orange Islands,” “The Johto Journeys,” “Johto League Champions,” and “Master Quest.” After “Master Quest,” Misty and Brock part ways from Ash . The series retains its initial feel, but this does change the dynamic of the series. These seasons are also focused on because these were the seasons aired on Saturday Morning at the height of Pokémon’s popularity.
- 3.
Anne Allison, Millennial Monsters (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), 227–233.
- 4.
Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl, “Drifloon on the Wind!,” Netflix, 22:00, 15 September 2007.
- 5.
Pokémon: Johto League Champions, “Moving Pictures,” Netflix, 22:00, 26 January 2002.
- 6.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Pokémon Emergency,” Netflix, 22:00, 9 September 1998.
- 7.
Nick Duffy, “12 Times That Cross-Dressing Team Rocket Stole the Show on Pokemon,” Pink News, 24 August 2016, accessed 12 September 2016, https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/08/24/12-times-that-cross-dressing-team-rocket-stole-the-show-on-pokemon/.
- 8.
Pokémon: Advanced Generation, “Abandon Ship!,” Netflix, 19:00, 15 May 2004.
- 9.
James Trapp, “Is the Monkey King the World’s Most Popular Superhero?” British Council, 3 February 2016, accessed 12 September 2018, https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/monkey-king-worlds-most-popular-superhero.
- 10.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Pokémon—I Choose You,” Netflix, 19:00, 8 September 1998.
- 11.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Electric Shock Showdown,” Netflix, 19:00, 25 September 1998.
- 12.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Charmander—The Stray Pokémon,” Netflix, 19:00, 22 September 1998.
- 13.
Digimon, “And so It Begins…,” Hulu, 22:00, 14 August 1999.
- 14.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Charmander—The Stray Pokémon.”
- 15.
Digimon, “And so It Begins…”
- 16.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Pokémon Emergency.”
- 17.
Digimon, “And so It Begins…”
- 18.
Ibid.
- 19.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Electric Shock Showdown.”
- 20.
Digimon, “Evil Shows His Face,” Hulu, 22:00, 22 September 1999.
- 21.
Digimon, “Now Apocalymon,” Hulu, 22:00, 24 June 2000.
- 22.
Ibid.
- 23.
Anime News Network, “Fox Kids Wins Broadcast Ratings,” Anime News Network, 19 February 2001, accessed 12 September 2016, https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-02-19/fox-kids-wins-broadcast-ratings.
- 24.
Allison, 277.
- 25.
Jackie Chan Adventures, “Shell Game,” Amazon Instant Video, 22:00, 14 October 2000.
- 26.
Jackie Chan Adventures, “Day of the Dragon,” Amazon Instant Video, 22:00, 17 March 2001.
- 27.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Pokémon—I Choose You.”
- 28.
Pokémon: Indigo League, “Charmander—The Stray Pokémon.”
- 29.
Jackie Chan Adventures, “The Power Within,” Amazon Instant Video, 22:00, 15 September 2000.
- 30.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, “Green with Evil, Part 1,” Netflix, 19:00, 5 October 1993.
- 31.
Jackie Chan Adventures, “Day of the Dragon.”
- 32.
Ibid.
- 33.
Superman: The Animated Series , “Legacy, Part 2,” Netflix, 22:00, 12 February 2000.
- 34.
Jackie Chan Adventures. “Day of the Dragon.”
- 35.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, “Green with Evil, Part 5,” Netflix, 19:00, 9 October 1993.
- 36.
“Dasshutsu,” Mobile Suit Gundam Part 2. DVD. Written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama (26 January 1980; Tokyo, Japan: Sunrise Inc., 1 December 2015).
- 37.
Transformers , produced by Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, and Hasbro, 1984–1987. Amazon Instant Video.
- 38.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, “White Light, Part 1 & 2,” Netflix, 38:00, 17 October 1994/18 October 1994.
- 39.
John Ortved, The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009), 51–52.
- 40.
IMDb, “Jackie Chan Adventures: Full Cast & Crew,” IMDb, Unknown, accessed 12 September 2018, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259141/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm.
- 41.
Jackie Chan Adventures, “Enter the Viper,” Amazon Instant Video, 22:00, 30 September 2000.
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O’Melia, G. (2019). Pokémon: “Gotta Catch All the Success”. In: Japanese Influence on American Children's Television. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17416-3_5
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