Background and Trivia |
- The Japanese version of the film was submitted to the US copyright office on April 9th, 2001 with the registration number of PA0001039727. The title used was simply "Lord of the Unknown Tower", and oddly did not reference Pokémon. The copyright claim was by Nintendo of America, Game Freak, Creatures, Shogakukan Productions Company, Oriental Light & Magic, Shogakukan, TV Tokyo, Tomy, East Japan Marketing & Communications and Media Factory.
On that same day the English dubbed verison of the movie was also submitted to the US copyright office under the registration number PA0001039725. The titles used were both "Pokemon: Spell of the Unknown" and "Lord of the Unknown Tower". While the copyright claim was the same, this noted the audiovisual materials as coming from 4Kids Entertainment, TAJ Productions, Betelgeuse Productions and Film Effects.
- An early Japanese trailer for the movie includes various new footage that wasn't used in the final film. Among this footage is a fleeting shot of Mewtwo standing at the mouth of a cave, gazing out at a thunderstorm, despite the Pokémon never appearing in the movie itself.
- The original idea for the third Pokémon movie, conceived by head writer Takeshi Shudo (who oversaw the anime and films from 1997–2002), centered on a resurrected Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil. Unlike Pokémon fossils, this was meant to be a real-world dinosaur, raising fundamental questions like what happened to the world's real animals?
Shudo envisioned the discovery of this fossil as a groundbreaking revelation. While historical records and photos of real animals still existed, no one alive had ever seen one, and scholars who explored the mystery often abandoned their research. Professor Orchid was to be one such figure. When the Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil's eyes began glowing blue, it would come to life, wandering aimlessly across land and sea. The resurrected creature would go around crushing everything in its path and even passing through Satoshi's hometown, Masara Town.
Satoshi, his friends, and the Rocket trio would all try to halt its rampage, with Team Rocket's wider organization eventually drawn in after their base was destroyed. The concept reflected Shudo's attempt to tell a bold story at a time when Pokémon Gold & Silver's release had been delayed and no new Pokémon were available to showcase. As a result, he developed this narrative, partly while hospitalized, over six months.
Ultimately, the proposal was rejected, with producers deeming that a movie "where a bunch of minerals gain consciousness and comes to life" was unlikely to succeed. Concerns also lingered over the second movie's lower box office compared to the first, and Shudo later admitted he drowned his sorrows in alcohol after the months of effort went to waste.
Not long after, the game developers sent over designs for new Pokémon from Gold & Silver, including Entei and Unown, directing the film team to incorporate them. That pivot led to the movie we know today. Shudo later recounted the story and its cancellation on his blog, particularly in entries #209, #210 and #211.
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