Shortly before the launch of Pikmin 3, Nintendo plans to release Pikmin Animated Shorts that will be released onto the Nintendo Network channel for the 3DS. If they are popular enough, they will be spanned into a full series. [1]
Revelation
On /03/11/13/, Shigeru Miyamoto announced in an interveiw with Polygon that he has teamed up with Japanese animation studio Toho Cinemas in order to produce a mini series of animation shorts based on the Pikmin series.
The first one, which was showcased at the interveiw, depicts Captain Olimar chopping up Pikpik Carrots into a drink. It is currently unknown the exact date when these cartoons will be released, but it will be sometime shortly before Pikmin3's launch.
Miyamoto states he was inspired by cellphone warnings before movies, and then he wanted to "do that, but with Pikmin instead." He also stated his experiement towards inspiring this feat was the introduction cinematic that started Nintendo's E3 in 2012. [2]
Films
So far, 3 short films have been described:
- A 2 minute film of "Pikmin running around".
- A 30 second "Put on your 3D Glasses" pre-film promo featuring Pikmin.
- A short film showing Olimar from such an angle implying he is torturing and chopping up Pikmin, only to ironically reveal he is merely chopping up pikpik carrots into a drink.