DISNEY+ ANNOUNCES GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL

Disney+ has announced a comprehensive global distribution agreement with The Pokémon Company International. This partnership includes the addition of the first anime run featuring the character Ash to the streaming service. A central component of the deal is a brand-new stop-motion animated series titled Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu. This specific production is being created by Aardman, the animation studio known for Wallace & Gromit. According to announcements from Pokemon.com, the new series is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in 2027. Coverage of the deal has been extensive across industry and gaming publications.

The Hollywood Reporter and Variety report that the stop-motion series is part of a larger distribution framework. Deadline notes that Disney+ has officially greenlit the new series as part of this global arrangement. Additionally, Animation Magazine and Nintendo Life have detailed the scope of the distribution deal. Technical details of the animation style have been highlighted by Gizmodo, which described the trailer as being full of claymation mayhem, while Kotaku characterized the look of the Aardman-produced show as delightful. The timing and visibility of the announcement were tied to the Pokémon XP event. According to Pokemon Press, an exclusive teaser trailer for Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu was revealed during the event.

This trailer showcased the collaboration between The Pokémon Company International and Aardman. The move represents a significant shift in how Pokémon content is distributed globally, moving both legacy content like Ash's initial anime journey and new experimental formats like stop-motion animation onto a single global streaming platform operated by Disney+. Future developments to monitor include the official release of Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu when it arrives in 2027. Industry observers will be looking for further details on the specific terms of the global distribution deal as reported by the Disney+ Press Center. While the current focus is on the Aardman collaboration and the early anime runs, coverage does not yet specify if other legacy series or future Pokémon projects are included in the broader partnership beyond the titles explicitly mentioned by the reporting outlets.