There are major entertainment partnerships.
And then there are the ones that make you stop for a moment and really consider just how massive the names involved actually are.
Disney and Pokémon now belong in the latter.
Disney+ has entered into a new global distribution agreement with The Pokémon Company International, bringing one of the world’s biggest and most universally recognized anime franchises into Disney’s streaming ecosystem.
And that is a very big deal.
We have already talked about one particularly exciting piece of this partnership, the upcoming Aardman stop-motion series “Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu.”
Yet tucked behind the excitement surrounding a completely new Pokémon production is arguably an even larger development.
Disney is becoming a global distribution partner for Pokémon.
The partnership has already begun with “Pokémon the Series: The Beginning,” which started airing on Disney XD earlier this month and is now streaming through Disney+.
For longtime fans, that means going all the way back to the beginning.
Ash Ketchum.
Pikachu.
A dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.
And the start of an adventure that would grow into one of the most recognizable entertainment franchises on the planet.
Pokémon hardly needs help finding an audience.
Since making its debut in Japan during the 1990s, the franchise has grown into a worldwide phenomenon spanning video games, trading cards, toys, movies, television, merchandise and countless other extensions.
Its animated series became an especially important gateway into anime for generations of kids around the world.
For plenty of young viewers, they may not have even realized they were watching anime.
It was simply Pokémon.
That distinction is part of what makes this Disney+ agreement so fascinating.
Anime has become increasingly mainstream outside Japan, with series that might once have been considered niche now commanding enormous international audiences.
Yet accessibility still matters.
Putting Pokémon programming onto Disney+ places one of anime’s most recognizable franchises directly inside a streaming service already used by families around the world for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and countless other pieces of entertainment.
A child opening Disney+ to watch Mickey Mouse, “Bluey,” a Pixar movie or their favorite Disney Channel series can now potentially find Ash and Pikachu waiting alongside them.
That creates another incredibly accessible doorway into Japanese animation.
And Pokémon might be one of the best franchises imaginable to open it.
There is no complicated introduction required.
Pikachu is Pikachu.
The character is recognizable across languages, countries and generations, while the basic ideas behind Pokémon — friendship, adventure, competition, discovery and growing alongside the creatures you love — have allowed the franchise to connect with audiences for decades.
Disney Kids & Family president Ayo Davis pointed toward exactly that generational strength when discussing the partnership, noting Pokémon’s unusual ability to remain meaningful to longtime fans while continuing to connect with younger audiences.
That makes the pairing particularly interesting for Disney as well.
Disney has spent decades building itself around characters and stories capable of crossing generations. Pokémon has accomplished something remarkably similar, with kids who watched Ash and Pikachu during the franchise’s earliest years now introducing Pokémon to children of their own.
This isn’t simply another animated series being added to a streaming library.
It brings two incredibly powerful family entertainment ecosystems together.
And it potentially places anime in front of viewers who may never have actively searched for anime in the first place.
That matters.
Anime’s international growth has been impossible to ignore, but deals like this can push it even further into everyday family entertainment. When a franchise as globally recognizable as Pokémon sits alongside Disney’s own characters inside Disney+, the dividing line between “anime” and everything else kids watch becomes a little less important.
It simply becomes another great story waiting for them to press play.
There is also something wonderfully full-circle about “Pokémon the Series: The Beginning” being the first title leading that charge.
Nearly three decades ago, Ash left Pallet Town with a particularly stubborn Pikachu and introduced countless kids around the world to an entirely different corner of animation.
Now those same adventures have another opportunity to do it again.
Only this time, Disney is helping open the door.
“Pokémon the Series: The Beginning” is now airing on Disney XD and streaming on Disney+, with the partnership between Disney+ and The Pokémon Company International set to expand further with “Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu” in 2027.