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The planet that Olimar lands on, in both Pikmin and Pikmin 2, is the natural habitat of Pikmin as well as many other lifeforms, many of them predators of the Pikmin. The planet is known as the Planet of the Pikmin or the Pikmin planet in both games. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl it is known as Distant Planet.
In the first Pikmin game Olimar crash lands on this uncharted planet during his vacation after his ship is struck by a micrometeor (most people refer to the rock as a meteor, but due to the size of the S.S. Dolphin it is most likely a micrometeor); Olimar must escape the planet before his life support system fails because the atmosphere is composed largely of oxygen which is toxic to Olimar's people.
In Pikmin 2 Olimar returns to the planet with his new companion, Louie, in search of treasure, in order to rescue the company he works for, Hocotate Freight, from bankruptcy.
The planet appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a fighting stage under the name Distant Planet. It features a forested section of the planet, similar to the Awakening Wood or Forest of Hope.
The Planet as Earth
Although ambiguous, the Pikmin planet is at least very Earth-like with similar geography. In an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, he states that the Planet of the Pikmin is in a state where humans are extinct. This explains why no human life-forms are encountered during the entire duration of the game. Pikmin 2's areas are comparable to those in its prequel, and there are new human objects. which can only be described as remnants of society before humans died out.
Whether or not the Pikmin planet actually is our Earth or an alternate version is yet to be revealed in the games or by Shigeru Miyamoto, the game's creator; either way, it is doubtful that the similarities are coincidental. Tin cans as well as many other man-made objects and structures from modern times can be found lying around in the first game (for example, parts of Perplexing Pool and The Distant Spring appear to be the remains of a bathroom), and most of the 'treasures' found in the second game are man-made or objects natural to Earth. These even include many items that are registered trademarks of existing companies.
During the second game, this statement is supported: when Olimar lands on or leaves the planet his ship is shown to be heading towards or coming from Africa. Most of the planet's geography has been shown to match Earth's, the Ship even stating at the time of the discovery of the Spherical Atlas that it exhibits the planet's geography as seen from space: both this and the Geographic Projection are two halves to a globe that clearly shows Earth and its countries.
Also in the first game, cardboard boxes scattered across the areas with 10s on them indicate that humans were living or had lived at that time. However, the proportion of these objects compared to Olimar's size in the instruction manual make this a bit unjustified, as the cardboard box would be the size of a matchbox at most. Furthermore, there are many different creatures to what we know at the present day. Perhaps this is an entirely new age where humans have died out and many other creatures have come to exist peacefully. Another interesting fact is that Bulborbs could possibly be evolved ladybugs, or simply exsist undetected by the potential humans.
Analysis of data in Super Smash Bros. Brawl has yielded the information that the Distant Planet stage is also referred to by the name Earth. This is deemed comparable to a debug name, only used in programming the game, but it makes clear that Nintendo designers see the planet as Earth.
The planet as seen in Pikmin
The planet as seen in the Pikmin 2 intro cut-scene. The Ship's engine glows over what appears to be somewhere in Africa as it lands.
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In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Planet of the Pikmin is a stage known as Distant Planet.
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