Overview
- The Pokémon Company and Disney announced a global distribution deal at the Pokémon XP fan event in San Francisco on Friday that moved 1997’s Pokémon the Series: The Beginning to Disney XD and to Disney+ in select markets.
- The new series, Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, will premiere on Disney XD and stream exclusively on Disney+ in 2027 and was introduced with a teaser and behind‑the‑scenes material at the panel.
- Aardman Animations is producing the stop‑motion show with director Tom Parkinson, creative director of IP development Nat McKay, and model‑making lead James Young, applying the studio’s tactile puppet and model craft to the Galar region.
- The series is told largely from Pokémon perspectives with no spoken human dialogue and relies on visual puppetry and Pokémon vocalizations, emphasizing visual comedy and handcrafted animation.
- The deal consolidates key Pokémon titles onto Disney platforms but does not resolve wider streaming rights for other Pokémon content held by services such as Netflix, a development that could affect future releases and licensing.