Take a look behind the scenes of ‘Pokémon Concierge’, the brand’s most intimate series yet

2023 still has a lot to say. On December 28 Netflix released ‘Pokémon Concierge’, a stop-motion animated series based on the enormous universe of Pokémon. To achieve its spectacular visual level, the dwarf studios team has had to reproduce each physical element seen in the series within the real world. Its “making of”, which you can see just below this paragraph, leaves no doubt: it is a real Christmas gift for fans.

The peculiarity of the filming set is that there is not a single actor in the flesh. The voice acting gives life to all the figures and stuffed Pokémon that bring ‘Pokémon Concierge’ to life. Psyduck, Dragonite, Pikachu, and the rest of the guest Pokémon move thanks to manual process that adds magic to the screen.

“We didn’t want to deviate too much from the setting of the Pokémon world, but we played around to figure out how to balance this with an element of surprise”, says Tadahiro Uesugi, concept art designer for the characters of the series. “Most importantly, we wanted people to see it and say, ‘That looks fun.’” They highlight that one of the challenges they faced was choosing the ideal material to represent each Pokémon. The detail makes the difference between Graveler and Psyduck, for example.

A fresh perspective on Pokémon

Accustomed to classic animation in the jump from the license to the small screen, ’Pokémon Concierge’ is a breath of fresh air for fans. “Protagonist Haru works as a concierge alongside fellow human characters like Alisa and Tyler, and where the Pokémon guests enjoy their leisure activities to the fullest,” says Netflix in the show’s official description.

The series consists of 4 episodes of around 20 minutes. You can now enjoy it in full through your Netflix subscription.