When Pokemon: Detective Pikachu's first trailer landed, the reimagined designs of its Pocket Monsters shocked many fans of the series. The furry appearance of iconic Pokemon like Pikachu and Jigglypuff didn't mesh with many's ideas of how the Pokemon should look, and gamers made their voices heard. Now, it's finally come to light why the decision was made to make some Pokemon furry in the film.

In an interview with Detective Pikachu's visual effects producer Greg Baxter and Producer Ali Mendes, the team explained that the change helped Pokemon to feel like part of the real world. According to Producer Mendes, the team didn't want there to be a startling dissonance between CG, cartoony-looking creatures sharing the screen with real people. Instead, the development team looked to creature design in movies like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for inspiration, and tried to put a more realistic twist on Pokemon.

Specifically, VFX Producer Baxter explained that the team took inspiration from real-life animals when redesigning the Pokemon that would appear in Detective Pikachu:

"...So Pokemon to Pokemon... some are furry, some are kind of leathery or snakey or whatever. But for every creature we took real-world animals and drew from that... Even though they're a creature that doesn't exist in our world, all of the elements of what makes them up in this movie are drawn from animals that do exist in our world."

While Pikachu doesn't bear much of a resemblance to real-world mice, it's understandable that the team might look to them for inspiration, resulting in a furry coat for Pikachu. Jigglypuff, on the other hand, doesn't really have a real-world counterpart, but considering its cat-like ears, round shape, and bouffant curl, the fuzzy route was likely what worked best in transforming it for the big screen.

detective pikachu jigglypuff fur

While some Pokemon fans will likely still find fault with the changes, great effort was put into making the motion and characterization of each Pokemon as true to the original as possible. The Pokemon Company oversaw the project, making sure that every Pokemon to appear in Detective Pikachu could instantly be recognized by players and fans, and ensured that the animations for each Pokemon properly fit their personalities.

Detective Pikachu is unlikely to please everyone, but the film has already received significant attention months ahead of its release, and its trailers have garnered considerably more positive votes on YouTube than negative ones. With The Pokemon Company already saying yes to a Detective Pikachu 2 and a potential Pokemon Cinematic Universe to follow, it's unlikely that the Pokemon starring in this film will be the final furry converts that series fans see in the years ahead.

Detective Pikachu premieres in theaters on May 10th, 2019.

Source: IGN