Help Wanted: Animators for Pokemon Related Fandub

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Help Wanted: Animators for Pokemon Related Fandub

"In the beginning of the summer of 2011, two of my cousins and I have made a plan to create an animated series based off of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red/Blue Rescue Team. We have decided to call it Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rise, Team Guardian, since the main characters will be on a team called Team Guardian.

The series would include the 4th Generation Pokemon and attacks (Mostly because I wanted Riolu and Buizel to be the main characters, and I wanted Absol to know both Dark Pulse and Giga Impact, all of which are 4th Gen), but the general dialogue won't be changed much.

However, when my cousins and I were discussing this project, we quickly realized that there were going to be many problems: None of us have good enough drawing/animating skills to make the series, the music wouldn't be synced with the animation (which would mean that remixes of the music would be needed to synchronize the music with the action), and there are only 3 of us and at least 45 parts to fill (not including extras). Also, I'll need help in writing the script (I can do most of the script, but I'll still need help).

The one other PMD-based series I've found was silly and failed to even begin to capture the emotion engraved in the dialogue of the game (and it stopped after 6 episodes anyways). If anyone is interested in helping to make an animated series based on one of the (arguably) best Pokemon games made, please contribute to this thread."

I put this message on two different forums, and there are many things set. I have some musicians willing to remix some of the game's music, and I have some voice actors willing to audition for some parts. I cam (more or less) make the script (though I might need some help with Ideas. I might get my cousins to help me). The only thing missing is the animation. That's why I came here: to seek help in my endeavor.
Not to beg, but... could someone help me?

DragonAirazel's picture
"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude" Zig Ziglar

"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude"
Zig Ziglar

Hi Paul--

There's some threads here concerning something similar to what you are trying to do. There's one concerning a fan-proposed Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon , and another concerning a fan-edit of Richard Williams The Thief and the Cobbler that you should read.
Take heed of the messages conveyed within.

I will advise you now that both those threads do not go well for the people proposing such ideas.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

So, you're saying that this is a bad idea? Even if this is just for the entertainment of others, and really a way to appeal to those who haven't played Pokemon in a while? I would still give them the credit.

"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude"
Zig Ziglar

Let me put this is simple terms for you.

You don't own the rights to Pokemon, they are property of Nintendo.
Being the owners, Nintendo has the right and privilege to determine, when, where, how and even why Pokemon can be produced.
You, just being a fan, don't have that privilege--as much as you like Pokemon.
You do not get to determine "what is entertaining for others" with Pokemon--outside of perhaps a review about the stuff. Only Nintendo, by rights, can do that, including with the intent to getting people who haven't played in a while to become interested in it again.

See, you want to make something with Pokemon, based on your judgment, without giving Nintendo any input in it, or seeking their permission.
That is like Nintendo deciding to come to your house and painting it a sickly green colour inside and out, whether you like it or not. They would be treating your property the same as you are treating theirs.
Its not about a matter of respecting their creation, in the painting example they are just going ahead and using their judgement....for WHATEVER reason, to do as they choose.
Obviously, if you don't like a sickly green paint job, there will be a problem and you'd likely ask them to stop or even undo the work, right?
Now look at the Pokemon thing from their perspective.......your "proposal" is to "go into their house and paint it a sickly green".

See, don't make the mistake that being a fan gives you any entitlement of ownership of a property, like Pokemon. You don't have any rights in that regards, you are just a mouth, just a consumer. Your interaction with Pokemon isn't two-way........it never has been. Its strictly one-way, from them to you.
They produce a product and you use it/consume it, but they dictate what you get. Its a monologue, not a dialogue. They get to determine how and what the product is, and get to guide it into being whatever it is or whatever it will become. If you don't like it, sure.....you can complain about it, you can even boycott it, but you cannot arbitrarily go in and change it to your own whims, and certain not do so and present it to other people to consume.
THAT is called copyright and trademark infringement, and still applies even if you do not make a dollar off the thing. Doing it, even "just for fun" and them putting it on the "net can get you into trouble...........especially if you do something like a entire animated series.
What if they don't want Pokemon to go in the direction you want to take it in?

Now, given what you have said before about your artistic abilities, I don't think you'll be able to produce something that will look comparable to the cartoons you love so much. In fact, I'll doubt you'll be able to produce even one episode. That's not a knock against you.......just that the effort to do this sort of stuff is considerable and MY GUESS is that you are not fully cognizant of the whole process--certainly not how to do it right.

Now, THAT SAID, I cannot say what you are capable of, I can only assume. The object lesson then comes from assuming that you MAY have the ability to make a cartoon comparable to the established Pokemon cartoons, and there in lies the problem.
Nintendo might very well take offense at your use of their property without their permission. If you make a cartoon series without their okay, they could even sue. You can imagine that would end up being expensive for you.....and in the worst case, it could ruin you.

But there's another perspective that I'll pass along, one that ones from a more personal position on this.
You are doing this because you love the Pokemon stuff, right? You want to give it the "respect you think it deserves", right?

Well, bullshit, I say. You are not respecting it AT ALL.

See, the copyright and trademark laws I mentioned above serve to not only protect Nintendo, they also protect you and me when we create something.
I'm a pro in the animation/cartoon and comicbook industry. This stuff is my livelihood, and eventually my legacy.
When someone comes along who decides they want to do something to a cartoon or such, and do it without the guidance or permission of the copyright holder, they are setting a precedent of mis-use and abuse. If that kind of abuse isn't enforced against, then the law means nothing, and ANYONES' creations can be infringed upon.

If you'd do it to them, then you could do it to me.
Obviously, that's wrong.

Disagree with that?
How about I come over to your house, just push you aside and take some of your stuff for my own use.
That is what you'd be doing with Pokemon.
If you truly respected the property, you'd enjoy it ( or not, at your discretion) as Nintendo offered it. Not change it to suit yourself, not argue that you have better ideas for how it should work. But just sit back and enjoy it, OR work to get employed by Nintendo whereupon you can ask to work on the property itself and THEN have the okay to do some of your own ideas.

That's how this works. That is why copyright laws exist and why they are fair to everyone--they work for you and me too. I make a big point of this because quite a few people don't realize all this, or they choose to ignore it.
Trust me when I say that, if someone where to use my creations without my permission, I'd be calling my lawyer and I'd be suing. I'd be entitled to PROTECT my creation, if I'm just Ken Davis, or if I'm a big corporation like Nintendo, which is perfectly fair.

I know.........you are just a high-school kid with an idea about making a cartoon. The long, painful lecture is..........well, its part of the "education" you'll get on the matter. You might not be totally serious about it, or you might have incredible focus and drive and be very serious about it--I cannot know which. I'd be rudely, dismissively mocking you if I assumed the former, so I credit you and assume the latter. And it it were the latter, you'd probably want to know in advance before you step into the steaming pile of trouble.

That's why its a "bad idea". Sorry.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

Here's a good article that explains and sums up the whole idea of infringement. Its worth a read by anyone who creates or strives to create:

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/12/19/sharon-moody-could-lawyers-get-involved/

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)