Disney+ and The Pokémon Company International announced a global distribution deal Aug. 28, bringing a brand-new stop-motion series and a beloved classic to Disney XD and Disney+ starting this year and continuing into 2027.
“Pokémon has that rare ability to mean something to longtime fans while continuing to feel completely relevant to young audiences today,” said Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family. Davis made the comments as part of the official announcement out of San Francisco.
The centerpiece of the deal is POKÉMON TALES: THE MISADVENTURES OF SIRFETCH’D & PICHU, a stop-motion series from Aardman, the British animation studio behind WALLACE & GROMIT and SHAUN THE SHEEP. It debuts on Disney XD and streams exclusively on Disney+ in 2027.
The show follows Sirfetch’d and Pichu as they journey through the Galar Region on a self-appointed mission to help and protect other Pokémon. Their good intentions rarely go according to plan, but the mishaps along the way are what cement their friendship, according to the announcement.
“These stories, full of adventure and heroism, all told from the perspective of Pokémon is made even more exciting through the lens of the incredible filmmakers at Aardman,” said Phil Rynda, Pokémon’s director of original animation. Rynda added that Aardman brought the Galar Region to life in a way that makes viewers “feel like you can smell the air, touch the tree bark, and want to adventure alongside our series heroes.”
Rynda joined Aardman’s creative team — director Tom Parkinson, Creative Director of IP Development Nat McKay and Model Making Creative Lead James Young — on a panel at Pokémon XP, where they walked fans through the show’s craft before debuting its official teaser trailer.
Related: Pokémon Go Players Unknowingly Helped Train Military Drones
The agreement also covers POKÉMON THE SERIES: THE BEGINNING, the first title to launch under the new partnership. Those 22 episodes of the original 1997 series, following Ash and Pikachu through their earliest adventures, started airing on Disney XD earlier this month and are already streaming on Disney+.
Movieguide® has kept an eye on this franchise since it first stormed American living rooms. Back in 1999, Movieguide® rated POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE “excessive”, warning that the trading-card craze and the creatures’ “special powers” leaned occultic and risked crowding out a child’s trust in God.
Two decades later, the franchise had softened considerably. Movieguide® gave 2019’s POKÉMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU four stars for entertainment, praising its father-son storyline and reconciliation arc while still flagging mild language and fantastical creature powers worth a family conversation.
That history matters here. Aardman’s brand of stop-motion has always leaned more whimsical than sinister — think clay sheep and a cheese-loving inventor, not dark magic — so parents have reason for cautious optimism heading into 2027.
Still, nobody’s seen an episode yet, and Pokémon’s central conceit — creatures with mysterious powers “evolving” into stronger forms — has never fully left the franchise, even in its gentlest entries. Families who let their kids follow Sirfetch’d and Pichu’s misadventures next year would do well to watch an episode alongside them and talk through what’s fantasy and what isn’t.
In the meantime, POKÉMON THE SERIES: THE BEGINNING gives nostalgic parents and their own kids a low-stakes way to revisit where Ash’s journey started, and it’s already available for families curious enough to press play.
Read Next: POKEMON 3: THE MOVIE
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
