An original production cel of Pikachu from Pokémon: The Movie, created during the late 1990s hand-painted era at OLM. Pikachu is shown under a full moon - small against a wide field and distant tree line, the kind of quiet cut that slips in between battles when the show lets you simply follow Ash's partner on his own. It feels like a pause between routes, when the journey is still long and the night does most of the talking.
The drawing is classic Pokémon: The Movie era Pikachu: rounded cheeks, compact body, and the slightly squared ears that defined the look before later redesigns softened him further. The pose captures a soft, almost melancholic moment — arms outstretched as if calling into the dark. This is the version of Pikachu that fronted the earliest games, cards, and movie posters as the franchise first went global.
The original background for this cut is not present. Instead, the cel is paired with a custom archival giclée background based on another Pokémon forest scene, reworked into a moonlit landscape to match Pikachu's scale and mood. The pairing keeps the production cel fully honest while giving the piece a cinematic sense of space, allowing Pikachu to read clearly even from across the room.
Pikachu is one of the few characters in anime whose silhouette alone can carry a scene, and this cel leans into that completely — small, bright, forward-moving under a huge sky. It condenses the feeling of the early journeys with Ash into a single frame.
Title: Pikachu
Series: Pokémon: The Movie
Chief Director: Kunihiko Yuyama
Studio: OLM, Inc.
Type: Original production cel with custom giclée background
Medium: Hand-painted acetate cel; archival pigment giclée background on fine art paper
Authentication: ORIOGI オリオギ certified. Includes Certificate of Authenticity.
Condition: Cel in very good condition with light line and paint wear consistent with age. Minor cel waviness present. Custom background not original to production.
